The Future of Type I Photos

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by the-illini

How do you store photos? I have been using the Itoya Art Portfolios, but they slide around a little bit so I would like to find something else.

There really isn't a perfect solution that will satisfy everyone so you really have to play around with several options and see which suits your collection best. For more run of the mill photos I have no issue with storing them in standard albums with plastic pages readily available throughout the hobby or using the Itoya albums as you mentioned.

For any of my more special or valuable photos I keep them housed in mylar sleeves with museum board backings. These are then placed in 3" tall archival quality drop-front boxes that hold (off the top of my head) 30-40 prints. This is an expensive option but makes for a fantastic long-term solution and the photos present beautifully.

The mylar/museum board/drop-front box setup is likely overkill for most hobby-related applications but quality of the materials is second to none. It's how major institutions handle their collections and what you'll see if you visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame for research purposes and ask they pull files for you. In terms of the photos sliding around you'll notice there is a LOT of room inside the sleeve for the photo to "breathe." This is actually by design as you don't want to stuff brittle photos into enclosures that are too tight, and keeping edges of the photos away from corners of any storage solution is preferable.

I get my black drop-front boxes from https://www.universityproducts.com and both the black museum board and mylar from www.talasonline.com.