Downsizing often leads to seniors wondering how to keep numerous boxes and albums filled with old photographs. These mementos capture memories of the past and are important links to a family’s personal history. Preserving them is crucial for future generations to learn about ancestors, and these photos serve as a joyful reminder of wonderful moments and memories.
The importance of photo preservation is even more pertinent to Floridians now. The brutal impact of Hurricanes Helene and Milton on Florida resulted in massive home damage, including destructive flooding that washed away cherished possessions. Whether you need to downsize for a future move or just want to be proactive in protecting your photos, here’s what to remember about preserving photos for the future.
How to Preserve Old Photos in an Album
Before digital cameras and small cameras built into smartphones, photographs required using a standard camera. Users had to take the film for development, and no one knew the quality of the photos until they were finally printed.
Polaroid cameras allowed for photos to be taken and viewed instantly. The small photos developed before the eyes of the photographer. Polaroids, as the photos were dubbed, became the first instant photo.
Members of the Baby Boomer generation and Gen X likely have photo albums filled with visual memories of trips, family outings, holidays, and candid moments with friends. How do you preserve old photos in an album?
One of the easiest ways to preserve these memories is by scanning them onto a thumb drive or saving them on a cloud-based system. In addition, sites like Snapfish and Shutterfly let users create an account that allows them to download photos and create digital photo albums. Users can add these photos to mugs or merchandise for a unique photo gift.
What Is the Best Way to Preserve Old Photos?
Digitizing photos is the easiest way to preserve old photos to ensure they last a lifetime. Senior Moves can help clients find companies specializing in digitizing family photos, or clients can have family members help with this project.
Seniors need a scanner and a computer to manage the preservation and digital conversion at home. Depending on the number of photos that need to be digitized, the project could take quite a bit of time.
How to Preserve Family Photos
Organizing digital family photos is crucial to managing them for future generations. Ideally, photos should be sorted into files that help identify the date/year and the event to which they are tied. For example, master files may be labeled by year with subfolders created to store photos for different events and occasions.
What Is the Best Way to Store Photos After Digitizing Them?
Many individuals do not wish to discard the old photos after digitizing them. This is completely understandable. However, organizing the photos is necessary to ensure they don’t clutter the home or become just another stack of items on a table. Use large storage containers to hold photos; use airtight containers and bags to protect these precious memories. Senior Moves recommends using vacuum-sealed bags for easy and safe photo storage.
When displaying photographs, keep them away from direct sunlight. The UV destroys the colors in photographs. Also, never use a cleaning agent to wipe down framed photos. The chemicals can seep beneath the frame and ruin the photograph. Use a soft cloth to wipe dust from frames.
This Is the Best Way to Store Digital Photos Long Term
Computers eventually hit the end of their functionality. Do NOT rely on a computer hard drive to store photos. Instead, save photos to a secure cloud storage site or online photo album hub. Use thumb drives for an additional backup storage option. Save digital photos in multiple places for additional peace of mind.
Best Practices for Archiving Old Photos
The Library of Congress offers fantastic tips and best practices for archiving photos. When saving digital photos online or on the cloud, they recommend adding tags and captions to help identify and categorize each photo. This tip simplifies finding photos, which is especially useful as the online photo collection grows.
The Library of Congress also recommends making multiple copies of the entire photo inventory, and one of the back-up files of photos should be stored with important paperwork. Consider storing a thumb drive of the photo library in a safe deposit box with other major documents (like deeds, birth certificates, etc.).
Save and Save Again
The digital advice of “save often” is extremely relevant for digital photo copies. The Library of Congress advises that individuals create new digital copies of photos every five years and recommends checking files yearly.
How to Preserve Old Letters and Documents
Photos are not the only important physical memento that should be digitized. Make digital copies
of important letters and legal documents, too. This ensures that these documents are preserved during a natural disaster. Scan wills, deeds, car titles, and any other legal documents.
Birth certificates and social security cards can be scanned, but hard copies are required for secure identification. Digital copies of these items also could increase the risk of identity theft.
Other Mementos Worth Digitizing
Scanning physical documents allows these items to be saved on a website, thumb drive, or a cloud-based storage site. Photographs and legal documents are scanned for long-term preservation, but seniors can also consider making digital copies of these mementos:
Children’s drawings
Greeting cards
Note cards with family recipes
Postcards
School documents (old report cards, programs from plays, concerts, recitals and graduations)
Newspaper clippings
Companies Specializing in Preserving Digital Memories
Some companies and professionals specialize in helping clients digitize and preserve photos and other mementos. Senior Moves connects clients to these professionals to ensure nothing is lost or misplaced when moving or downsizing. The Senior Moves team always recommends that clients digitize photos as a means of preserving them for future generations and mitigate loss in the event of a hurricane, fire, or other disaster.
To learn more about downsizing services, contact Senior Moves to schedule a consultation and discuss long-term solutions for preserving photo collections and other mementos.
