How to store old family photos so they last

The enemies of old photos

• Light fades dyes and yellows paper.
• Heat and humidity cause mold, curling and prints sticking together — attics and basements are the worst places.
• Old “magnetic” albums with sticky pages and plastic film slowly damage prints and make them hard to remove.
• Tape, glue, rubber bands and paper clips stain and tear.

Simple, safe storage

1. Keep photos in a closet in the living part of the house — cool, dry and dark.
2. Use acid-free, “photo-safe” boxes, sleeves or albums.
3. Handle prints by the edges, with clean dry hands.
4. Write names and dates on the back lightly with a soft pencil, on the edge — never with a ballpoint pen.
5. Don’t try to pull photos out of a magnetic album if they resist; scan the whole page instead.

Make digital copies

A scan does not fade. Scan the photos that matter most (see our scanning guide), keep the files in two places — for example a computer and a cloud service — and share them with family. If a print is already damaged, a restored digital copy can be reprinted any time.