Why Archival Quality Matters | Whitney Beth Photography | UT Full Service Photographer
 

You did it! You started printing your pictures! But how confident are you in their archival abilities? Would you be willing to submerge your images in water? Scratch them? Hand them off to your kids to look at? Why does this matter? Why take the extra step to seek out a printing place that offers archival quality prints? Most people choose their usual “go to” when finding out that archival prints cost a bit more. They're of the mindset of "at least they're printed." And that is true, to a point.

What if something happened? Some act of God or even the effects of time doing it's thing? If sticking your photos in a vase of water gives you major anxiety, then you need to keep reading. 

In the wake of my grandpa passing, my entire family simultaneously pulled out all their photo albums and dug through years of photos to find all that we had of him. In doing so, my mom stumbled upon an old magnetic album (the kind with the sticky pages and peel back film.) It was filled full of loose photos and mementos that hadn't made it into the standard albums. When my mom pulled the film back, she was heartbroken to find that most of the photos were stuck to the page. In trying to get them off, some were ripped, some wrinkled, and some came off just fine. The ones that came off fine were the old black and white pictures that were printed in a dark room. The prints that I offer are printed the same way that prints were made in a dark room. These babies are printed to last. 

*if my mom hadn't of had paper mementos stuck to the film sheets and I was 100% sure the prints were archival quality, I'd suggest soaking the entire sheet in water and letting the adhesive wash off. Then just lay the prints out to dry.*

This is why I offer and do what I do. It's not enough to just print your photos from your computer or some pharmacy, you need to know that they will last. Otherwise, why bother going to all this trouble to print them in the first place? I, as your photographer, am here to help. Help make it so that your grandkids can see these pictures, hold them in their hands, and learn about what life was like for you. All of my packages include archival prints and products so that you don't have to worry. I got your back. And if you're wanting to print your personal photos with the same level of confidence that I had when sticking that picture of Jones into a pitcher of water, then Persnickety Prints is the place to go. 

We are the most photographed generation. Lets make sure these pictures last long enough for the next.