Lose the Guilt and Save your Pictures in Three Simple Steps

Let me guess... you have family pictures - lots of them... prints, slides, negatives, videos... and you know you should protect them; you also suspect that the "pictures piled in the cardboard box in the attic" method isn't the best way to do it. But there are so many pictures! Since you don't have time to deal with them right now, you leave them where they are and feel guilty.

Well, no more! Here are three quick and simple steps to protect those pix and alleviate your guilt until you're ready to sort through and scan them:

          1.  Move the boxes out of the attic, basement, garage or barn and into your house. Photographic images of all types should be kept in a dark location with stable humidity and temperature since essentially they like to live where you do, but in the dark. A perfect spot would be a closet inside the house, away from bathroom or laundry pipes.

          2.  Get some big, clear, clean zip-top bags. If you have loose photo prints or slides, put them in clear plastic bags (nothing fancy; a clean, clear zip-top bag will do), close the bag and stack the bags carefully on top of each other in the box. This will keep things flat and protected from water damage. Photo albums are typically best left intact as they protect the photos from light and keep them flat. Securely stacking albums should be fine. Video tape should also be fine if securely stacked. Consider encasing everything in clear plastic bags for water protection.

          3.  Store everything off the floor, again in case of a water problem.

That's it - not bad, eh? Guilt gone?

Just do one more thing, please. Make a date with your pictures - in other words, schedule a time to open the boxes and dig into what's inside. (I highly recommend a double date with a friend with his or her own pictures.) 

And, stay tuned (as we'd say in the old days) - in a upcoming blog post I'll describe a way to sort through your pictures that'll make the task fun, I promise. In the meantime, enjoy your new "guiltless" feeling!