How do you store your photos?
 

I have ~200 photos in my Cleveland Baseball Collection, ranging from press and wire photos to team publicity photos to George Burke and other photographer photos. They range in size from 4x6 to 8-1/2x11 with a bunch of sizes in between. For awhile now I’ve been using 8x10 top loaders for all that would fit, centering the smaller photos as best I can. Many of these I then put into clear pages so I can put them into albums, and I’ll put the larger photos directly in the clear pages but with a backer board for a bit more support.

I am wondering how other collectors store their photos. Do you use top loaders? Do you store different size photos together or separately? Do you store different type photos together, or separate out by photo type, ie all type Is together; wire photos together, etc? Do you use clear pages? If so, with or without a backer board? What’s best practice for preservation?

I mostly use magazine size bags and backing boards - as well as the comic book size ones sometimes and a few toploaders.

Small stuff I might attach to the backing board with clear photo corners that are supposedly archival.
A couple small photos I've put on stiff paper that's acid free and put in a sheet protector. With those I've included a writeup with as much as I can find put about the photo, and I really like doing that. (One recent pickup was a 1930's racing plane, and I was able to narrow the date down to a particular day - there's like 4 pages of writeup for one small photo)

The bags go into magazine size storage boxes.

The "proper" archival method would be a mylar sleeve stored in an acid free archival storage box. But that gets a bit expensive for a larger collection.

Backing board and mylar for the nicer ones.

Mylar is great in that you can truly appreciate the clarity of the image.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Maybe I'm just cheap.

The most common cause of damage to old photos is handing-- creases bends,d dinged edges, tears, etc. So finding a decent enough way to store then then leave well enough alone is my advice.

I store all flat items in those Itoya books. They get pretty big..

I also use these portfolio books also, very nice looking and are available in many sizes. Available at Michael's Arts and crafts store. They are usually not on sale but with the regular weekly 50% off regular priced coupon for 1 item, you can get then at a very good price

On the wall in frames. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Thanks!
 

Thanks for all the great ideas. I use the Itoya books for some larger items already, so will consider buying some new books to fit my photos. Otherwise, will look to get some Mylar for proper storage!

Mylar sleeves, stacked in a dresser.

...
 

Wgat is the best way, then, to stor your socks, tank tops and undies?

I like the idea of Itoya albums for a collection but I do like to see the backs of my photos. For ease of display top loaders are hard to beat. I guess it depends on the photo.

How do you store your photos?
 

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I put mine in 4mil mylar sleeves and then in itoya books. This allows me to flip through them, but I can easily take them out to view the back without handling the photo itself

That’s a good idea. Where do you source your Mylar sleeves?



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I use Mylites 4 for my photos. 4 represents the thickness as they also have Mylites 2 which are 2mm thick.

I get mine on ebay mostly. I use 2 different sizes for larger and smaller photos.
Here is the ebay search I use

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sac...lites+4&_frs=1

Good info, thanks.


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What’s the difference between Mylar sleeves? and the ultra pro 8x10 sleeves?

Also, is it better to lay photos flat (laying down) or upright? (Vertical or horizontal)

Thanks

Ideally you want the photos laying flat and stacked in a box. That’s the ideal situation for preservation anyway but not necessarily for viewing regularly. In terms of Mylar storage, try a google search for “Mylar vs. poly” and you’ll find lots of great info.


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I use mylar sleeves, inside of Ultro pro pages (which I trim on the top and on the binder holes side) THEN I but them in Itoya albums without the backing paper.

That way I can see the back.

Doug

photo storage
 

I store my photos in binders so I can look at them easily I get all my supplies from ;
https://www.archivalmethods.com/?gcl...SAAEgJir_D_BwE