Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

Preservation and Conservation of Photographs

Guidelines for Care & Identification of Film-Base Photographic Materials by Monique Fischer and Andrew Robb, Art Conservation Program, University of Delaware. 1993.

National Park Service Conserve-O-Grams on Photography:
          Caring for Photographs; General Guidelines
          Caring for Color Photographs
          Caring for Color Photographs: Special Monochrome Processes
          Caring for Blueprints and Cyanotypes
          Storage Enclosures for Photographic Prints and Negatives

Caring for Your Photographs, an American Institute for Conservation publication (also available in print).

Family Papers and Photographs: Tips for Long-Term Care. A Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) PDF document.

Click here for Northeast Document Conservation Center technical leaflets (PDF documents) on types of photographs, care of photographs and preservation of photographs. Of particular interest may be the NEDCC leaflets A Short Guide to Film Base Photographic Materials: Identification, Care, and Duplication, Handbook for Digital Projects: A Management Tool for Preservation and Access, and Microfilm and Mocrofiche.

From Canadian Heritage - How to Care for Photographic Materials

General Photography Information

Search the Ransom Center Department of Photography and Film collection for definitions and descriptions of different processes and techniques.

Image Permanence Institute (IPI) is a university-based nonprofit research laboratory devoted to scientific research in the preservation of visual and other forms of recorded information. For downloads of PDF documents "A Consumer Guide to Traditional and Digital Print Stability", "A Consumer Guide for the Recovery of Water-Damaged Traditional and Digital Prints" and other documents click here.

Mike Ware's Alternative Photography is an informative, practical site for those interested in 'alternative' or historical photographic printing processes.

Digital Print Identification Website and the Process Database contains information on identification and preservation of digital prints.