subject: Your Family Album [print this page] When preparing your album, do not use any kind of glue such as rubber cement, white glue, or hot glue. These glues are not only unstable as they age, but they can cause discoloration or actual damage to the photo. Magnetic-page albums should never be used with any photographs, especially older ones, as the page is coated in a glue that will deteriorate the photo placed upon it. A good alternative to this type of album is the kind that has sleeves for the insertion of the photographs. This album generally has a plastic covering for each page for protection.
If you do not want to use a sleeved album, it is still possible to mount photographs in a regular, paper-paged album by the use of corners'. These are exactly what they sound like, paper or plastic pieces that will hold the corners of your photographs. You should check to make sure that the corners are made of a material that will not harm your pictures, however. Those corners that are safe will be designated as having passed the Photographic Activity Test (PAT).
Writing on photographs should be done with care. Older photographs, those taken before 1960 can usually be written on with a soft pencil. Using a pencil will not cause any deterioration of the paper. Photos taken after 1960 are generally coated with resin, and pencil will only smudge felt tipped pens can be used on these. Under no circumstances should you use ballpoint pens on either type of photograph, it will stain the photo and be impossible to remove.
If you are not great with srapbooking, nowadays there are many alternatives to preserve your photos online, have an album and even create your own family tree using them.
