Reviews
Part of How to sequence a family photograph project from triage to storage
What to buy first for a photo archive, paper or plastic, buffered or neutral
What to buy first for a photograph collection: paper or plastic, buffered or neutral, sleeve or envelope, how to choose photograph enclosures.
What to take away
- The first purchase is enclosures sized to what you have, which means counting before ordering.
- Paper enclosures hide the image and breathe. Plastic shows it and does not. Both are correct, for different problems.
- Neutral and buffered are not interchangeable for photographs. Neutral has no acid; buffered can absorb acid later.
- Look for enclosures that state a standard rather than the word archival, which is unregulated.
Paper or plastic
Every enclosure is a choice between paper and plastic. Paper hides the image, breathes, and costs less. Plastic shows the image without handling and does not breathe. Both are correct answers to different problems, and the deciding factor is usually the room rather than the print.
Storage conditions for prints
- 30-50%relative humidity acceptable
- 60%humidity never exceeded
- 30-35%humidity optimum
- 15-25Ctemperature range
That is worth pinning to numbers. The Canadian Conservation Institute's note on the care of black-and-white photographic prints cites International Organization for Standardization recommendations.
Relative humidity between 30 and 50 percent is acceptable for storing prints. It should never exceed 60 percent, and recent research indicates 30 to 35 percent is optimum. Temperature may run from 15C to 25C and must never exceed 30C, with daily fluctuations of more than 4C avoided.
It adds a caution that applies to every number in this field. Those conditions are the ISO guidelines, they are reviewed by the relevant committees roughly every five years, and they are not etched in stone. Treat published figures as a target, not a pass mark.
The reason for the upper humidity limit is chemical. Aggressive atmospheric compounds such as hydrogen sulphide, peroxides, ozone and sulfur dioxide combine with high humidity or high temperature to discolor the image, so a plastic sleeve in a damp room holds the wrong conditions against the print.
Use it for
- Paper envelope, neutral
- Most negatives and slides
- Paper folder, buffered
- Prints and mounted photographs
- Polyester sleeve
- Items handled often, cracked prints
- Polypropylene page
- Slides and small negatives
Watch for
- Paper envelope, neutral
- Seams and adhesive on the image side
- Paper folder, buffered
- Not for cyanotypes or albumen
- Polyester sleeve
- Traps moisture in a damp room
- Polypropylene page
- Never anything made of vinyl
Neutral versus buffered
Two words on the packaging do different jobs. Neutral enclosures sit in a pH range around 7.0 to 7.5 and contain no acid that will damage the contents, but have limited capacity to absorb acid arriving from the object or the air. Buffered enclosures sit near pH 8.5 and carry an alkaline reserve that neutralizes acids as they form.
Neutral versus buffered enclosures
Neutral
- pH range
- 7.0-7.5
- Acid capacity
- limited
- Best for
- photographs
- Risk
- none for photos
Buffered
- pH range
- about 8.5
- Acid capacity
- alkaline reserve
- Best for
- acidic neighbors
- Risk
- alkalinity damages some
For photographs the safe default is neutral, because some photographic materials are damaged by alkalinity. Buffered is the right choice where the enemy is an acidic neighbor, such as a print stored beside newsprint or in an old scrapboard mount.
Ignore the word archival entirely. It is not a tested claim. A stated pH, a stated material and a stated standard are.
Color first
Color materials should get good enclosures before anything else. The Canadian Conservation Institute note on the care of color photographic materials explains why they are structurally different. Color photographs made after 1935 use subtractive processes, with at least three gelatin layers holding yellow, cyan and magenta dyes. Some films run to sixteen layers.
Those dyes are what fade, and no enclosure stops light and heat as effectively as darkness and cold.
So the buying order is enclosures for color, then a dark box for them, then everything else.
The first order
- Neutral paper envelopes in your two commonest negative sizes.
- Neutral paper folders for prints, sized to the print rather than the box.
- A small number of polyester sleeves for cracked or frequently handled items.
- Two board boxes that the folders fill without slumping.
- Nothing else until the count is done.
Our plan for a photograph collection covers that count and the conditions, and the notes on reading the labels on supplies cover the terms shared with paper storage.
First order of supplies
- Neutral paper envelopes, two commonest negative sizes
- Neutral paper folders sized to the print
- Few polyester sleeves for cracked or handled items
- Two board boxes the folders fill without slumping
- Nothing else until the count is done
