Best practices for storing 1000s of prints?

[Vaughn]

If the prints were not processed to archival standards, storing in archival material seems to be a waste of money.

The word of the day...

Edit

[Richard Wasserman]

If the prints were not processed to archival standards, storing in archival material seems to be a waste of money.

The word of the day...

Edit

You could be correct. If they were mine, I would would go the archival storage route as it would be the best possible solution. It can't hurt and maybe it would help even a little. It might also be an opportunity to get the photos organized which is a skill I struggle with.

[Vaughn]

Me, too. It all depends on the worth of the prints...cash value, as well as emotional, historical, and family value they might have.

Sometimes just a stack of loose prints can be a wonderful thing to come across.

[Richard Wasserman]

Me, too. It all depends on the worth of the prints...cash value, as well as emotional, historical, and family value they might have.

Sometimes just a stack of loose prints can be a wonderful thing to come across.

Indeed! I was cleaning out a cabinet in my parents apartment shortly after they had died and found about a dozen loose negative that my father had taken of my mother before they were married. They were obsolete medium format sizes which I contact printed and put them all in one frame. I made copies for several other family members and we all treasure them.

[Tom-Thomas]

[...]I have several thousand prints of varying sizes (4x5 up to 5x7), most of which are still in their original developer-supplied envelopes. I'm keen to preserve them, but the cost of archival-grade envelopes and other storage is too much for me.[...]

B&H sells Print File brand archival sleeves for $7.40 for a pack of 25 sheets and each sheet hold 4 (up to 5x7 size) photos. For a 1000 photos, you need 10 packs, which is $74. I think it is quite affordable.

[Alan Klein]

You could be correct. If they were mine, I would would go the archival storage route as it would be the best possible solution. It can't hurt and maybe it would help even a little. It might also be an opportunity to get the photos organized which is a skill I struggle with.

I would think the archival storage envelopes prevent air from getting to the print preserving them better regardless of the archival quality of the print paper. Since you're stuck with whatever print paper was used, there's not much else you can do about the paper itself. Then keep it at room temperature at 50%RH in a dark place.

[Ninny148]

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[Oren Grad]

What do we think about the prints 'breathing'? Have any of you encountered issues with prints being kept in air-tight packaging?

AFAIK "breathing" is a much bigger issue for negatives, and in particular for those on cellulose acetate base, which means almost all 35mm color negatives of recent decades. Cellulose acetate is vulnerable to chemical breakdown, and once that starts it is autocatalytic - the breakdown products themselves accelerate further breakdown. So you want any breakdown products to be able to escape from the enclosure.

The most important factors affecting long-term stability of chromogenic prints are light, temperature and relative humidity. Light exposure, high temperature and high RH greatly accelerate deterioration. So do what you can to have your prints in a place that's dark, relatively cool and relatively dry.

[Vaughn]

Just in case you have not checked out these folks:

https://conservation-resources.co.uk/

They sell a variety of materials. Like you mentioned, not cheap, but you might find something that can work for you.

I buy from the American version of this company:

https://www.conservationresources.com/

[nitroplait]

I'm from the UK, where unfortunately the archiving options seem to be very high-end and museum-focused. I don't see many shops catering to amateurs and family archiving projects, thus why I'm focusing on materials rather than specialist products.

Just buy polypropylene (PP) or polyester (PET) sleves with the right pocketsize for your photos: This for example:
https://www.fotoimpex.com/archival/c...che=1648537796
And binders to hold them. This for example:
https://www.fotoimpex.com/archival/a...che=1648537796

Fotoimpex ships to the UK, but there must be similar products available online locally if you want to avoid import duties.

Put the binders into a dry dark cabinet where you can easily access them and enjoy them.

I have a hard time imagining that "1000's of prints" can all be meaningful and would think that editing down the volume would be a loving act for future viewers.