A little care in how you display or store your photographs and negatives can go a long way in protecting your investment and memories. Most traditional prints made on photo paper should be protected from the elements. This means placing them behind glass or in an album. When placing your print behind glass make sure the surface of the print is not in contact with the glass. Over time, temperature and humidity changes can cause the surface of the photograph to stick to the glass, thus ruining it if. Seperation is usually done by adding a colored boarder referred to as a matt between the print and the glass. Another important point is not to display your photographs in areas where they will be subject to direct sunlight. Even the best printing techniques can not prevent the image from fading as a result of prolonged exposure to direct sunlight.

Temperature and humidity control is also important. Low humidity and temperatures that are generally comfortable to you are acceptable. However, consistent temperature and humidity is generally more important than the actual humidity level or temperature. Controlling these is obviously difficult. If you are storing your images in albums you can achieve some measure of control by where you keep the albums. Cool, dry locations out of direct sunlight, like closets are good locations in the home.

If you are storing your photographs or negatives in albums, make sure the album pages are acid free. If not, over time the acid in the pages will literally eat away your precious photographs and negatives. If you are using plastic sleeves to store slides, prints, or negatives, make sure they are appropriate for long term storage of photographic media. Many plastic pages contain PVC which will destroy your photographs and negatives over time. When selecting a plastic sleeve make sure it is acid and lignin free and is not PVC based. Look for plastic sleeves that are polypropylene based and specifically manufactured for archival of images.

Despite best efforts, over time, images can fade. This is especially true of images processed at local one hour photo centers. Even the best films from the 50's, 60's, and 70's are likely to be exhibiting some degree of color shifting and fading by now. Fortunately with today's digital technology salvaging those irreplacable memories is possible. Many of today's consumer grade scanners come with special software that can correct color shift from old prints and slides, and have special adapters for scanning slides and negatives. If the scanner you own doesn't have this capability, you probably know someone who owns a scanner that does.

Although it is possible with professional developing and printing to obtain photographs with over 100 years of expected display life, some simple steps can help ensure long life of typical consumer photographs.