Take Care of Your Restored Photos: Don’t Store them in Your Typical Spaces

A cool and dry attic may seem like a good idea to store your restored pictures. However, with the changing weather conditions, your attic can cause acute damage to your pictures because of the degradation of ink and paper. Basements are also out of the question, since the heat and damp of a basement can cause the pictures to stick. Instead, choose a room that is temperature controlled and away from any vent ducts or radiators. Closets are best at this time of year.

Not too Much Light

The reason why your old framed photos faded was because overexposure to the light caused a reaction in the ink. With restored photos, try to keep them in dark spaces until you have to use them.  When it is time to put them back in their frames, find places that don’t receive direct sunlight or light glares. Make sure that the restored photos are printed on high quality paper.

Don’t Use a Pen

Most people make the mistake of using a ball point pen to write details on the back of their restored photos. When writing any details such as names, dates and locations on the back of the photo, always use a pencil or a felt-tipped archival pen that won’t smear.
Although, if you’d rather use another tactic, store your photos in an album that offers small enclosures with each pictures. This way, you can simply write a label and add it on the page instead of writing anything directly on the print.

Keep the More Precious Memories Digitized

We understand. Having your old photos displayed in beautiful picture frames above the fireplace is a wonderful Christmas gesture.  But if the much older photos were in too delicate a condition to be properly displayed, it’s better if you simply keep their restored scans on your computer.

Most of the images that Heritage retouches can be fixed with some hard work. However, photos that have been too damaged are often digitally scanned, repaired and then provided to the client in the form of a computer file. We also urge our customers to copy the image onto several digital sources so they have multiple copies on their devices.  Still, prints are nice, and we're the only Houston photo restoration service to offer 18 different types of paper for your prints!

And this is just the first part! In the next blog, we go into the details of photo gift giving, and explain how you can best display your restored photos and protect them at the same time. So stay tuned!