I recently started a new project of going through all my negatives and putting them in chronological order and in archival sleeves. Thankfully, for the most part I kept the original envelopes my printed pictures came in and wrote the date on them.
According to www.scanmyphotos.com/blog Kodak research has determined that negatives can last up to 1,000 years if they are stored consistently at 30-32 degrees with a relative humidity of 40%. I know my negatives have not been stored correctly, so therefore, they will most likely last 20 - 50 years. With that being said, my upcoming project will be to scan all my negatives, upload them to my FOREVER account as well as my Apple Photos and my external hard drive.
September is Save Your Photos month, so it seems like a great time for this project. I am very attached to my photos. Most of my family is gone so when I look at pictures of my mom it puts me back in the exact place and time the photo was taken. Negatives are best to scan as it is the original version of the image. I think of all the flooding and fires going on and I feel so bad for these people. They might not have their photos backed up or have time to grab their photos as they flee their homes. The sooner I get all these negatives scanned the better because they will start to break down. If your negatives start smelling like vinegar get some gloves and put the negative(s) in an envelope and take it to your local professional. They will be able to tell if it can still be digitized.
Once I have my negatives scanned and digitized I have a beautiful archival box to store them in. It is important to keep them out of sunlight and away from heat. I know my home is consistently 32 degrees with 40% humidity, but they will be kept in a cool interior closet.
If you want to start saving your photos I recommend checking out this site: www.saveyourphotos.org for great tips and resources.
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