All photographs will degrade in quality over time. Both digital prints and those made from conventional film will eventually fade and discolor. However, there are some things you can do to try to slow this process, and protect your pictures and memorabilia from those things that hasten their age. This is known as preserving archival integrity.
Next week in the Art Theory section of this course, you will learn some terminology relevant to archival integrity. Two terms that are most relevant, however, are "acid-free" and "lignin-free." Many scrapbooking products available for purchase already have one or both of these designations on them, letting you know that they are relatively safe for use on your layouts. Everything has a pH level associated with it, from 0 to 14. If a product has a pH level of 7, it is considered a "neutral", but if it has a pH level between 0 and 7, it is considered an acid. Acids will react with the chemicals in photographs, and can hasten the aging process. You should avoid use of acidic items (both products and found items) if your goal is long-term photo preservation.
Lignin is one of the components of wood, and over time it will turn acidic, making it a threat to your photos. Therefore, products containing lignin should also be avoided. We'll discuss what to do with items you are unsure about in future lessons.
In addition to paying attention to the products you use in your scrapbooks, you should take care in the storage of the albums and photos themselves. Moisture, heat, and sunlight will damage your photos and paper over time. Therefore, you should store your albums and other supplies away from windows and sources of heat and moisture. The area of the country where you live has a great deal of impact on how you will need to store your photographs (see Supplemental Reading below).
As you work with your photographs, you will almost certainly transfer oil from your fingers to their surface. If you have lotion or other cosmetics on your fingers, those can also transfer to your photos. Some scrapbookers choose to wear thin gloves while scrapbooking to prevent this transfer. I use a photo-safe cloth to wipe photos on layouts frequently to remove fingerprints and oils, and never apply lotion before or during scrapbooking.
There is no homework for this section.
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