Organizing Your Pictures

December 5, 2009

Photo storage and display essentials from Betty Muscott

Last weekend in my blog we discussed organizing hard copy or printed pictures; this weekend we will discuss organizing & storing your digital pictures in an archival format.

Burn Your Pictures To A CD

After you download your pictures to your computer, I recommend that before you start any work on them, that you burn them to a CD or DVD & preferably in the RAW. This will give you the maximum flexibility to both have a back up to your hard drive on your computer & to be able to work on them should your hard drive crash on you. Some of you have who more than one drive on your computer can make a copy to that drive, but drives are mechanical and can fail. Anything that can fail, someday will fail.

The Best CDs and DVDs For Storing Photos

I have consulted a computer technical expert about the kinds of CD’s & DVD’s are the best to use for storing pictures. I was advised that I should the CD- or DVD- because they will work on most machines, even the older ones. Try to avoid the CD+ or DVD+ or the RW’s.

CDs Don’t Last Forever

Did you know that CD’s & DVD’s corrode & rust? I didn’t until recently. Normally, they last from only 2-20 years depending upon how they are stored. The best recommendation is to store your digital material where you live, not in the basement or the attic of your home.

My Recommendations

So what do I recommend to do about the corrosion problem? I recommend two things: First, put your CD’s & DVD’s into special corrosion intercept digital pages & sleeves. They offer ultimate protection, acting as a barrier to static electricity and a harmful element that corrodes and tarnish CD’s—extending their life to 40-120 years. Second, purchase archival gold CDs, DVDs and PEN. Put any treasured pictures on archival gold CDs & DVD’s. Trust your memories to Archival Gold recordable media. It’s the most reliable solution found for safe-guarding your images against deterioration. Archival Gold CDs and DVDs incorporate non-corrosive 24 karat gold and patented Phthalocyanine dye to preserve and protect digital images hundreds of years longer than ordinary recordable media. They are now available with Scratch Armor to prevent against scratches, dirt, and fingerprints. Label them with the black Archival Digital Marker that’s non-toxic and solvent-free. Then put the CD’s that are in the corrosion intercept pages into a specially designed digital photo album.

Make Extra Copies

While you are making copies onto CD’s or DVD’s, be sure to make an extra copy (at least of your favorite pictures), and put these CD’s into an archival CD Storage Box to give to someone else in your family or a trusted friend who lives in another home for back-up safe keeping. You will have a lot invested in your pictures. It’s certainly worth while to have a plan to organize and store your precious pictures, and to follow that plan!

Preserving Your Photographs

November 28, 2009

Many of you have asked me if I have any ideas as a child photographer for organizing and preserving a large number of photographs. This is part 1 of a 2 part blog on that subject for you. The first part is about printed pictures, and next weekend we will discuss digital photography archival storage.

All Photographs Deteriorate Over Time

As you all know everything involving photography deteriorates over time, and it will do so more rapidly depending upon the storage methods and devices that you use. Therefore, you have to make some individual determination of just what pictures are important enough to preserve for future generations, and then learn how to do that safely.

Most Plastic And Paper Destroy Photographs

Many kinds of plastic and paper actually eat and destroy your photographs chemically. In addition, sunlight and moisture will take their toll on your pictures, too. Therefore, you should choose acid free archival storage materials for your photographs whenever you can find them.

Start With Archival Leather Shoeboxes

You should start with the normal 4 X 6 inch pictures and put them into archival leather shoeboxes. These shoeboxes can also be made of paper provided they are archival safe. Archival safe means the material that these items are made of is the same materials that museums use to preserve important documents and papers.

Make Copies Of Your Best Photos

From the pictures stored in these archival shoeboxes, choose some of your best pictures to have copies made to put into regular sized archival photo albums with archival safe photo pages. Then, for some of the very special ones, have them printed as 8 X 12 inch pictures and put them into archival safe oversize albums (also with archival safe oversize photo pages).

Put Special Photographs In Archival Safe Picture Frames

If the pictures are so very nice that they could be displayed on the walls in your home, have those enlargements made and put into picture frames of various sizes. You will need to use archival safe materials here as well if there is any matting involved in framing these pictures. Sometimes it is a good idea to have button backs made for your frames so that you can easily change your pictures.

Avoid Direct Sunlight Where You Display Your Photographs

Display your precious pictures on the walls which are not directly exposed to sunlight, because over time sunlight will bleach your pictures out. Or, you can have an extra copy made of the picture and keep it in your archival safe photo album. Do remember, that moisture and humidity are also enemies of your photos. You should store your pictures where you live, and not in your basement or attic.

How Can You Protect Against Fire?

What about a fire in your home? Most people feel that other than their loved ones, who are most important, the only other things they would miss in case of a fire are their photographs. However, if you get copies of your favorite pictures into the hands of other people, you will always be able to see them again.

Put Stunning Pictures Of Your Kids On Canvas For A Special Gift

November 19, 2009

Thanksgiving is just around the corner with the mad rush to Christmas in sight, but there is still time to be creative with your gifts this year. All too often the last minute rush of Christmas shopping has us buying gifts for our partners that are uninspired, and that a year later have either been forgotten or worn out already. If you want to give your husband or wife a really special and lasting present this Christmas, why not put one of your best pictures of your kids on canvas, as a meaningful gift that will last forever.

A beautiful canvas print isn’t cheap, but it is far better value for money than an electronic gizmo or a few shirts that might not ever get worn. Displayed on the wall of your living room or in your bedroom you will both enjoy looking at it every day for years to come. Good quality canvas prints will last for many years, long enough to be handed down to the next generation, so you can even look at your gift as a family heirloom in the making!

You may already have a perfect picture of your kids in mind; one where you have captured a happy moment, when they are full of life and energy smiling and with eyes sparkling. It could be a close up portrait just showing head and shoulders, or one showing them busy and active in a picturesque landscape, perhaps at the beach during the summer or running through the gorgeous fall leaves.

If you haven’t got a picture you are happy with, then grab your camera and your kids on a dry day (it doesn’t have to be sunny, you can get some gorgeous photos with the soft light of a cloudy day) and head out somewhere pretty; it could be a park or the beach, a mountainside or a the steps of a fine city monument. Take loads of photos of your kids, from close-ups to action shots. Keep shooting more and more pictures and think of fun activities that your kids will enjoy; jumping off rocks, peering into rock pools, hopping down steps, playing hide and seek behind trees. Catch natural shots as they play and set up a few more formal poses in between, while they are full of energy from their games.

You only need one picture for your canvas print, but you will end up with a whole series of fun pictures that you could use to create an album with later too. The hardest part will be choosing which picture to use for your gift. It doesn’t have to be technically perfect, it is the emotion of the picture that is important, so choose one that really conveys a happy feel.

So now you have one of your most important gifts sorted for Christmas and can relax a little, knowing that your canvas print will be delivered to you soon, saving you that last minute frenzy of the mall on Christmas Eve.

Colorful Boxes Make A Great Photo Storage Solution

November 17, 2009

Our digital cameras free us up to take more photos than we ever did on film. Our children grow so fast that we photograph them at every opportunity to preserve memories of them for ever. But the problem is, will those photos last forever? Digital photos are even more vulnerable than film used to be. A computer can crash losing all your files, and even if you have backed up all your pictures on to CD, those CDs can be corroded over time if not kept in optimum conditions. This is why it is so important to find a good long term photo storage solution, to protect all those precious memories that you’ve been collecting.

Backing up your photos on to archive quality CDs and DVDs is only the first step. Those CDs need to be protected from dust, humidity and great temperature fluctuations. Just sealing them in a plastic storage box isn’t the answer. Plastic can give off corrosive vapors that will gradually deteriorate the surface of the CD, affecting the pictures stored on them. CDs and DVDs need an acid free environment and then they can last for as much as 100 years with picture quality intact.
An ideal storage solution is to keep your CDs in a box storage system made from acid free paper, in corrosion proof sleeves.

Exposures have a great range of acid free boxes in perfect sizes for CDs and prints and you can choose from several color ranges, to match your home décor. In fact the boxes will look so good stacked on open shelves that you might be tempted to get more boxes to store other things in too. I can’t decide if I like the Brights collection or the Autumn Spice warm colors best, and then there is the Beautiful Baby Collection in pastels for all your baby photos.

The great thing about having safe storage boxes for your prints is that if, like me, you haven’t got around to making the definitive family album yet, you can keep collecting prints and know that they will be kept safely until the day you eventually do get around to putting them in your album. And if that day never comes you still have your photos neatly organized to look through and enjoy the memories just the same.

A selection of these boxes would make a great gift for an enthusiastic photographer too.  Print off a few special pictures to go in the box as part of the gift and you will be giving them the gift of memories lasting a lifetime.

Photo Safe Storage Boxes

November 11, 2009

Now that you have taken the time to print your pictures, where are you going to keep them? Photo safe storage boxes are the simple and perfect solution. Photo storage boxes not only can hold large quantities of pictures but do it in a quick, an organized manner.

Quality Does Matter
Since you invested time and money into printing out your pictures, you should take the time to buy quality storage boxes. These boxes do not have to be expensive but remember this is an investment. Photo storage cases that are designed to preserve your photos for years to come can fall into two main categories, archival storage boxes and acid free storage boxes. Archival storage boxes are built very durable with a very tight fitting lid. These boxes are designed to hold your photos for a long time by protecting them from light, pollution and other harmful items. Archival storage boxes are usually treated so that they neutralize any acid that the photo might come into contact with in the box. Acid free storage boxes are like the name states, the materials they are made from are free from acid. Acid free storage boxes might not have the same barriers that archival storage boxes but will protect your photos for years to come. For paper to be considered acid free, the acidity of the paper should be 7 or higher on the pH scale. Either of these boxes will not protect your photos as well if you store certain kinds of items with your photos. Paper and photo negatives are two items that should not be stored with your photos. Photos should not be stored in manila envelopes, shoe boxes, file photos or plastic baggies. Make sure the storage boxes are acid free, lignin and PVC free. All of these will ruin your photos, you will not see it over night, but they will cause your photos to deteriorate.

Size
Archival and acid free boxes come in different sizes. You need to consider what size pictures you are storing. You should be able to find boxes that will hold small 3×5 photos, medium size photos on up to much larger photos. You also need to consider if you will be storing any pictures that are mounted and or matted. These added features will increase your picture size, and you might need to purchase a larger box.

After you go out and purchase your storage boxes, chip away at those photos that you have stored in a temporary home or still in the computer. Design your filing system to fit your need, whether it is by months or occasions. This way you have made sure that you will have these memories to share with generations to come.

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