News
Beware: Some Online Digital Image Files Being Deleted
On February 1, 2008 Sony will be closing its ImageStation website. At that point if you have not removed your files from their system, they will all be deleted. This is an example of the risk imposed when storing your digital image collection exclusively online. Companies are not required to maintain your collections into perpetuity. It's your job to make sure you always have access to your pictures. We recommend you use online services for sharing, printing, and making gifts from your photos but not for preserving them.
Sony does offer four options if you are an ImageStation customer:
1- Transfer your files to Shutterfly (another online company)
2- Download your images back to your computer
3- Order your images on CD or DVD (there is a charge)
4- Close your account and delete your images
Maybe now is the time to rethink your digital file storage strategy, whether you are a Sony ImageStation customer or not. There is a series of articles on digital image preservation on the Archival Advisor website. Check them out. |
Book Review by Daniel Burge
Caring for Your Family Treasures: Heritage Preservation - Jane S. Long & Richard W. Long
Have you ever been to a historical play with a historian or to a science-fiction film with a physicist? All you ever get are little whispers in the ear about how such-and-such "isn't historically accurate" or how that "is impossible according to the laws of physics." Nobody wants their fun ruined by a picky expert. My perfectionist, scientific mind wants to point out picky little errors in this book, but that would only spoil a review of what I believe could be a handy reference for anyone attempting to care for their family heirlooms. This book covers just about everything and to about the right degree for the layperson. So go buy it, read it, and use it for just those reasons.
 A frustrating dilemma for any conservation or preservation professional writing on this topic will become quickly apparent to the reader: the propensity to be ultra-conservative and only offer suggestions that seem to try to convert homeowners into curators and their homes into museums. What can an author do but suggest the "technically correct" conditions even though he/she knows darn well that most people could never and will never maintain temperature and humidity levels in their homes anywhere close to consistent? High-priced, custom-made individual housings for each and every personal artifact will be within the reach of only the wealthiest collector. But these suggestions should not put off the reader or average family historian. Take the suggestions as ideals to strive towards. Do your best to care for your objects. That's the only thing we could ever expect.
Ok, I can't help it. I do have to be picky on one point. I don't believe that wood-pulp papers, as a class, are bad for photos, and they probably aren't bad for anything else. The problem is found with groundwood-pulp papers or semi-treated wood-pulp papers. These products can contain a lot of lignin which will produce acids, peroxides, and discoloring agents over time. Quality, low-lignin (less than 1%) wood-pulp paper will work just fine as enclosures for your treasures. |
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Tips & Tricks
Permanent Pens Usually Aren't
Some pens are called permanent not because they last a long time but because they don't wash off with water. This is great for labeling clothes before you send the kids off to camp, but most people don't wash their heirloom collections. These "permanent" pens can still fade, and some do quite easily. Some are even very harmful to photos. So pick a pigment pen that won't bleed or fade over time and that is non-reactive with photos. |
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Term of the Month
Dye Diffusion Thermal Transfer (D2T2) - Also known as dye-sub or dye sublimation. A printing technique that uses heat to diffuse dyes from a donor ribbon into the receiver layer of the paper. D2T2 printers contain a roll of cellophane ribbon composed of three colored panels (yellow, magenta, and cyan), and one clear panel of an overcoat 
material. The colors are applied to the paper one at a time. The intensity of the colors is controlled by variations in temperature on the print head. The final step is the application of the clear overcoat. These prints look and feel like traditional color photos.
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Link of the Month
CD and DVD Care & Handling Guide by Fred Byers
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