Reddit reviews Gaylord Archival Archival-Quality Letter Size File Folders w/Full 1" Tabs (25-Pack)
We found 1 Reddit comments about Gaylord Archival Archival-Quality Letter Size File Folders w/Full 1" Tabs (25-Pack). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Preserve family records, newspaper clippings, photos and other paper documents for future generationsArchival quality: acid-free, lignin-free, passed P.A.T. (Photographic Activity Test), buffered to resist acid migrationYour family history deserves the same level of protection used by the world's leading cultural institutionsReinforced 1"H tabs resist damage and provide ample room for labels, while five score lines at the bottom of the folders allow for expanded capacityStore folders in archival-quality document and record boxes from Gaylord Archival (sold separately)
NO lamination.
Gaylord Archival supply sells on Amazon and are a good company. Hit up your family for gift cards to Amazon to help defray costs as this stuff is expensive.
Paper can be stored in archival folders (they look like manilla or white ones but are acid-free) or poly folders. (FYI, I blow through tons of these from B&H, they seem more affordable than the gaylord ones.)
Put anything fragile in the poly sleeves, as close to the size as you can. (Or, in other words, don't let it bounce around in a sleeve that it too big, nor be damaged by one that is too small).
ONLY buy poly folders that are PAT" passed. It will be in the description or a little logo and is the only certification that matters. You will see all kinds of "archival-friendly" terms which are meaningless.
I put my tintypes in a photo sleeve and then into a box. Between each, I put a piece of felt (craft store) or heavy acid-free paper so they don't scratch each other.
Newspaper is the most frustrating as no matter what you do, it will continue to yellow and become brittle. The acids in the paper destroy it form within and only de-acidifying will slow it. But this is expensive and may destroy the piece. Make newspaper your scanning priority.
If you protect the individual items you can skip, for now, the super-expensive archival boxes and use regular boxes. As long as the items are safe, in a climate controlled environment, have pretty even temperature year-round, and no smoke, regular boxes are fine. Invest in protecting each item first—that will give you more bang for your buck.
BTW, a flatbed scanner works GREAT for scanning tintypes. Just invest in a stand-alone scanner with the highest resolution you can find. The kind attached to a printer is not made for photos and not worth scanning with. I like this model as it scans slides and negatives, too.
Scan documents at minimum of 300ppi (archives scan at 600ppi) and photos at minimum of 600ppi. The smaller the image the higher resolution you should scan. Save images as TIF or PNG, not JPG.
Also buy some back-up drives and/or a cloud subscription. You will chew up hard drive space but hard drives are cheap. Backups and cloud storage insures that you are protected in case your hard drive dies (which they do) or your house burns down.
Lastly, you can buy cotton gloves but many archives now prefer clean hands to gloves. When wearing gloves, it is almost impossible to feel what you are grabbing, and very easy to damage paper. Wash your hands well before handling materials and you should be fine.
Source: I'm an archivist(ish—still in school).
UPDATE: Had wrong B&H link. Fixed.