Tips on storing your photo prints

Introduction

Choosing photo albums for storage

• There are many types of photo albums available, including strap-closing books, spiral and ring binders, and albums with clamp bindings.
• Regardless of the design, albums should always be stored in an upright position. If they are lying on their side, the weight of the album may cause indentations in your pages or damage the photos.
• Be sure not to overfill a three-ring binder: If it doesn't close all the way, you could lose a page.
• The style of your album is less important than the album pages, which are in direct contact with your pictures and can potentially cause damage.

Use archival-quality album materials

• Avoid acid or lignin: When selecting pages for your photo album, look for ones that are acid- and lignin-free. These chemicals can yellow and damage pictures.
• Don’t use adhesive: Look for plain pages without adhesive, unless it's archival quality. Instead, use photo corners to secure your pictures.
• Use page protectors: To limit your prints' contact with air and preserve them for future generations, use page protectors and pocket corners. But beware of ones that contain PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which will eventually damage photos.
• Get the right pen: When writing in your albums and scrapbooks, use permanent pens with acid-free inks.

Choose long-lasting ink and photo paper

• HP Vivera inks and HP Premium Plus Photo Paper create true-to-life color photos that resist fading for generations¹ .
• For photos that last over 115 years², use HP’s best paper: HP Premium Plus Photo Paper. There are six special layers in each piece of HP Premium Plus photo paper, and each layer has a special job—from controlling ink absorption to creating a smooth, glossy photo surface.
• And HP offers affordable ink and photo paper value packs for printing volumes of photos.
• All HP inks and papers must meet rigorous print permanence and durability tests, and are specially designed to work together for long-lasting results.
• Tests show that when using the latest HP inkjet print cartridges, photos printed on HP Premium Plus photo paper resist light fading more than twice as long as photo lab-processed color photos.

Where to store your pictures

• That doesn’t necessarily mean the attic or basement. Store photos in a room that's relatively well ventilated and doesn't have dramatic temperature fluctuations.
• A closet, chest, or cabinet (with the prints in a box that limits light and air exposure) is a safe solution.
• For heirloom pictures, consider extra protection, such as a fireproof box or safe.

Avoid faded photos and other damage

• If you frame your pictures, hang them out of direct sunlight.
• If that's unavoidable, try rotating prints occasionally or using frames with anti-UV glass. This type of frame is often found at photo stores and frame shops.
• Aluminum frames are ideal, as they are lightweight and are not affected by humidity.
• HP Vivera inks resist the effects of filtered sunlight, indoor halogens, and common fluorescent and incandescent light.
• Be sure to put an acid-free mat between the frame and the photo to prevent your prints from sticking to the glass over time.
• When showing pictures to friends and family, try to avoid touching the surface of the prints. Skin leaves oils that can permanently stain a print after a number of years.
• To remove fingerprints and smudges, try using a cotton ball dampened with rubbing alcohol.

Learn more

• Explore additional options for archiving your digital photos, including archiving to an external drive and archiving photos to DVD.
  
  
• Preserve your photos—and your memories—by creating a scrapbook. HP has a variety of scrapbooking projects and ideas to help you get started.