What Spray Will Make Common Color Photos Archival?

Here is a site where you can evaluate the various systems and inks.

Dear Edignan, You are definitely a Polymath. Working with you must be a joy for many who have smarts.

From what you gave I got the idea that still there is no better than the Black and White silver Halide photographic print, for long life.

It is nearly enough of a shock to call artists to paint with oils, or only shoot archaic B&W film and print to paper if they want to be making the best possible art.

Hi Transcendian, I had my attention caught by your topic, being myself a little neurotic about photos conservation and worried about old family memories (I'm actually on a project of joining all the remaining photos in my family from the third generation up...) and my wife a really skilled scrapbooker... I have seen the link and the information available. This is great to be sure new prints will last for life... for your life I mean. The time stated in the link is good for you, your kids and maybe your grandchild. But there's no much to do longer than that, and that she wouldn't really care too much if the layouts made would last much more than 50 years after she was gone. I talked to my wife about it once (she was talking about acid free papers, glues and all that stuff...) and she told me one thing someone defended in a forum. Photos do fade, get old, change appearance, fashion and finish. And that it is indeed part of the photo history itself. That it is possible to see a photo age and period in time it was taken based on its appearance, frame, finish. And that it shouldn't be really avoided at all. My oppinion? After all, I love the digital era. Because only digital pictures are good? Not really. Because I am able to scan the old photos, prevent even reasonably damaged pictures from being lost forever, and keep as many copies as I desire, making easier to share. Even if the originals are no longer among us.

I would have to agree. As a photographer myself by trade (LINK to some work so you know I ain't pulling your leg), the digital age has raised expectations of clients. If a photo taken is of importance and longevity is required, I often insert a sealed CD (small type) inside the frame of an important photo and provide clients with a backup data file also for their computer. I do this as photos will age - so do CDs

Photos will age over time, regardless of the protections given. There are numerous styles and flavors of preservation, usually done at the time of printing. These involve special inks (inkjet ink is a big one to avoid) and also coatings of protective layers with chemistry of sprays varying between developers. Your average corner shop "photo store" are to be avoided for the production of REAL longevity prints. Even though some may advertise they have the ink and paper that produces long life (materials given to them by the likes of Canon, HP etcetera)...the process of preservation is much more involved than what the average photo developer is capable of.

An ad hoc spray of a print already mounted and desired to be preserved is fraught with failures and many variables. I usually recommend a scan in high DPI of a photo, a retouch and then print at a shop that has the paper, ink and final process that deals in preservation. Then the photo is properly mounted with the correct materials and sealed inside the frame.

I am a big fan of B/W photos and their prints generally last longer than colour.

If you can read past the sales hype, this manufacturer I use explains frankly and simply "longevity"... LINK

CR4 Admin: removed broken links

Other than the good advice you have already been given, I can tell you that the last bath in color processing (prints, slides, and negatives) is a glycerin/formaldehyde base. Perhaps a re-bath would extend the life.

Watercolorists use clear Krylon. Oils are finished with Damar varnish.

Your best photographers prefer B & W.

I've not kept up with this topic in decades but I do recall the frustration accompanied by the discovery that my slide collection was ruined by mold.

Someone at Eastman-Kodak told me that the dyes used in 35 mm color slides were organic in origin and more vulnerable to degradation than chemicals, especially in humid conditions.

That conversation has to be at least 40 years old and given the proven unreliability of my memory of late, is suspect.

One thing is clear: there is more to archival storage that protection from UV. But you likely already know that.

L.J.