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Digital restoration of photographic images is necessary when
some of the following damage occurs on photos:
Light
Prolonged
exposure to UV (ultraviolet) light, contained in sunlight, is
especially damaging to photographs through fading.
Fluorescent and incandescent light can also cause photographic
dyes as well as inks to fade.
Keep your
pictures from extended exposure to all bright light.
Picture
frames using UV-resistant glass is readily available in better
photo and frame shops.
Moisture
Damp air
will lead to mold and mildew development on the print or film
surface.
Never
store pictures in the garage or basement.
Temperature extremes
and fluctuations in humidity
Cause
prints to crack and become brittle. Don't put any photographic
materials in the attic as well. The ideal storage temperature is
between 55 and 68 degrees with a humidity level between 30 and
40 percent.
The use of non
archival sleeves or photo albums containing PVC's (vinyl
polyvinyl chloride)
Cheaper
sleeves or albums have acids that contribute to yellowing and
sticking to the material. Like humans in a swimming pool and
fish in an aquarium, photographs require proper pH levels.
Use good
archival storage materials such as acid-free photo albums and
picture frame mats. These can be found in most quality art
supply and photography stores. We recommend using photo corners
to adhere your pictures to album pages and the beauty of it is,
you can easily remove them from the page and place them into a
new album or mat. So use the "sticky pages" to catch flies, not
your precious pictures!
Fumes from chemical
cleaners and paint supplies contain acids that break down the
prints
Fumes will
break down surface (emulsion) and cause staining and
deterioration.
Even the
air we breath every day has very minute levels of oxidizing
gasses which cause the silver in non-digital prints (black and
white especially) to shift color to a yellowish-green in the
lighter to mid tones and become mirror-like where the image was
darkest. Don't panic, you don't need to live in a hyperbaric
chamber to extend your own life, just common sense.
Proper
storage of your pictures will slow this eventual degradation
greatly.
Excessive touching and
handling of pictures
When you
touch a picture with your bare hands you expose a print to the
oils in your skin (which contain acids,) and you wear out of the
paper your photograph is printed on.
Again, a
good photo album or sleeve can help.
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