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Family History Documents and Artefacts => FH Documents and Artefacts => Topic started by: PrueM on Friday 17 June 05 13:06 BST (UK)
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Reading and viewing all the great photo restoration jobs on this board, and am really impressed.
One thing does bother me though...I read a thread about soaking a photo off the glass it was stuck to. As a photograph conservator I can tell you that the owner of this photo was very lucky that their photo came unstuck after soaking in water and detergent! I would not recommend this treatment.
Every photograph has its own individual inherent problems depending on its age, process, condition etc. Old photos in particular can be very difficult to treat, as people used to play with chemicals and it can be uncertain what the exact composition of the picture is.
I would recommend anyone who has a photo that is stuck to glass, that is broken into pieces, that has been burnt or faded or discoloured....to contact their local paper or photograph conservator for advice. In the UK, conservators may be located through the UKIC (UK Institute for Conservation), in Australia it's the AICCM (Aust. Institute for Conservation of Cultural Materials).
Keep up the photoshopping though! I'm inspired to do some of my own!
Best regards - Prue McKay
Canberra, Australia
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Prue
Please advise me how to store our old photos realistically. I have lots of photos from the 1950s onwards. They are just holiday snaps etc. They have just been in drawers, attics etc. I know about the acid free environment but this does seem a bit extreme for all of them (and costly).
What do I do with the old sepia photos which are obviously more precious to me from the 1870s to 1900. Alot of these are large, A4, and these were just in my Mums loft. They are in good condition now and are just in acid A4 plastic wallets! as I only recently found out about the acid free. Can they go in acid free wallets or tissue paper or what.
I know I said the recent ones were not special but I suppose in 100 years time they maybe. Do I just pick out the best?
Your advice will be appreciated.
Jane
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Here a link to storing photos that may help. http://aic.stanford.edu/library/online/brochures/photos.html
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Please advise me how to store our old photos realistically. I have lots of photos from the 1950s onwards. ... What do I do with the old sepia photos which are obviously more precious to me from the 1870s to 1900.
Hi Jane,
deadants link (see above) to the AIC is a good place to start. I would also recommend http://www.conservationregister.com/Storage.asp as a good general source for information about storage conditions.
Be wary of the term "acid free" - it doesn't always mean what it says. It simply means that, at the time of manufacture, the product was not acidic. It doesn't mean that it won't become acidic in the future. A better way to judge what is appropriate storage material is to look for "archival" or "photo safe" products.
I personally use photo safe polypropylene albums, boxes and sleeves to store all my photographs, from the oldest albumen prints (the ones from the 1860s -80s that some call "sepia" prints) to the snaps from my last holiday. Another good plastic is polyethylene. DEFINITELY avoid PVC!! There are so many formats and sizes of archival storage products today and prices are generally very reasonable. As you are in the UK I would suggest that you have a look at http://www.preservationequipment.com/Store/Products/Archival-Storage/Albums-$4-Binders for some ideas. It is best not to skimp on storage of photographs - they are sensitive things and as they get older they need to be taken care of, just like us!
ANy more questions, just ask. Always happy to help.
Cheers
Prue
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Thanks for the links and the advice
Jane
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Hi Prue
Thank you for all these hints. This is just what I need.
Can I ask as well, please what your advice would be for transparencies and negatives? I'm talking 1960's to recent. I know I can scan them, and I am going to have a go, so I can use them on the pc, but how about the originals?
Thank you again.
Best wishes
Emms
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Hi Emms :)
The same advice applies for negs and transparencies as for photos - use polypropylene or polyester/polyethylene enclosures and store in a cool, dry, dark place.
And yes - scan them ;) ;D
Cheers
Prue
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Hi Prue.
Thank you again. More good advice!
I thought I knew, but I'm not so sure now. Do I gather ther A4 plastic inserts sold in boxes of 100 etc are not the correct ones? Not polyethylene?
Thank you again.
Best wishes
Emms
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Hi Emms,
I would think the ones you get in big packs from the supermarket/stationers are absolutely fine - there's not much made of "bad" plastics like PVC these days :)
Prue
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Thank you Prue. :)
That's a relief!!
Best wishes
Emms
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hi
does anyone know of a way to remove pasted-in photos safely from an album?
on some photos which were pasted,but came loose,we have found invaluable inscriptions on reverse.
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Hi and welcome to Rootschat! :)
I can't help, but if you don't get any replies, try posting this as a new thread, as more people will see it.I'll be interested in the answers.
Good luck!
Emms
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S&N Geneology do a lot of really good acid free sleeves for storing photos and other archival quality products including acid free tissue paper.
They might be worth checking out.
Hope this helps.
Regards Krysa.
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I have scanned all my negatives. Mind you some of the coloring on the negatives fade. I do not keep my negatives anymore because sometimes humidity etc damages them. I have lived in many different climates and after seeing some negatives damaged I decided ti scan them and keep copies on different pc's etc and USB storage units.
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I have been reading with interest this chat about storing photos. I had a lot of the same questions concerning acid, PVC, etc. One thing I do agree with is scanning and storing the digital files.
That brings up another thing. Cd's, and DVDs also deteriorate with time. I have recently become aware of a product that would help. I have recently come across a company called Millenniata who make a disc that will last for up to 1000 years. Regular Cd's and DVDs have a coating that data is engraved into which degrades over time. With the Millenniata discs, the data is engraved into the metal itself. You need an LG drive to engrave them, but they can be read and the data can be accessed in regular drives. If you are interested go to www.millenniata.com (http://www.millenniata.com). I am not in any way associated with this company, but I do know some of the principals.
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I went to millenniata.com and find that I made some errors in my post concerning their discs. The coating on regular DVDs is an organic dye which begins to deteriorate as soon as it is engraved. I stated that the millenniata disc was metal. That is wrong. The website states that data is engraved into a inorganic "rock-like" layer. The DVDs require a special writer.
They also make a blu-ray disc. Some regular blu-ray drives can burn the M-Disc blu-rays. If you are going to buy a drive or writer, there are some that can burn and play both blu-ray and DVD.
I do not have a blu-ray player or drive, and no very little about them except that they can hold about 5 times as much data as a DVD. Before you buy a drive, go to the millenniata website and read all about it so you will be sure and get the right kind. I am really interested in this technology, and since I have a lot of photos and other family history data to store I am trying to find out what I can about it.
Hope this corrects any wrong impressions that I made with my last post.
Peggie