Got Old Photos? 5 Archive Gigs and How Each Works

Sorting and labeling prints

Photo archivist: five jobs saving family photos with a pencil and phone, simplest first. Number five: sorting photos, about $18 an hour on one wage table. A pencil and a table from home, and the family pays you directly. You sort the prints into piles as the family names who is who.

Names and dates go on the back, in soft pencil near an edge. You write on a firm surface with light pressure, so the paper never dents. Pens, stamps and sticky labels stay away from the photos. Word of mouth or a note on a local board finds the first family.

By our count, a single afternoon can turn a loose box into labeled piles. Clean, dry hands come first, and food stays off the table. Next, the same prints, copied with a phone.

Copying prints with a phone

Number four: phone copies of prints, just under $20 an hour on another wage table. Each print lies flat on the table, with no part over the edge. The flash stays off, and the phone is held steady above the print. Old prints can be copied if you're careful and never force them flat.

You hold each print by its edges, so fingerprints never touch the image. Asking each happy family for a referral is a simple way to find more. Say Rosa copies a shoebox of prints in three hours. By our count, three hours at $19 and fifty-two cents is $58 and fifty-six cents.

If practical guides like this help you, subscribe. Every official page is linked below. Next, the letters and recipes in the same box.

Copying letters and recipes

Number three: letters and recipes, $20 and ninety-six cents an hour on a filing wage table. Making copies from files is on that job's official duty list. Each letter or recipe card lies flat for its picture, one at a time. Clean, lotion-free hands are fine for paper, since gloves make thin pages hard to handle.

Pages turn slowly, never with a licked finger, which can break brittle paper. Everything goes back in the same order it came out. ID papers stay out of it, since identity information is hard to change if misused. Leaving two business cards with a happy family can bring their friends.

Say Ken copies forty letters and recipe cards in two hours. By our count, two hours at $20 and ninety-six cents is $41 and ninety-two cents. Getting the price signed keeps both sides clear on what you agreed. Next, the photos already on the family's phones.

Organizing phone photos

Number two: organizing phone photos, $21 and forty-three cents an hour on a library wage table. Sorting materials and returning them to their files is on that job's duty list. You copy the photos that matter into a new folder. The folder gets a clear name, like the event or the date.

Each photo gets a name that says what it shows. At least two copies go in different places, as far apart as practical. A memory stick may be the one thing to buy, unless the family has one. A written price with a full breakdown of costs is good practice.

Say Ivy organizes one family's phone photos in two hours. By our count, two hours at $21 and forty-three cents is $42 and eighty-six cents. Nothing goes online until the people in the photos say yes. And number one keeps the prints themselves safe.

Storing prints safely

Number one: storing prints safely, $24 and seventy-three cents an hour on a museum wage table. That table also covers trained conservators, so it's only a sense of scale. Preparing objects for storage is one of that job's listed duties. Each print goes in its own sleeve, or between sheets of acid-free paper.

Small groups go into folders, and the folders go into a box. The box is never overstuffed, and magnetic self-stick albums are avoided. Sleeves, folders and a box are the one small thing to buy. Stuck, torn or moldy photos are a job for a conservator.

You send the bill as soon as the box is packed. Say Noel sleeves and boxes a hundred prints in two hours. By our count, two hours at $24 and seventy-three cents is $49 and forty-six cents. Side income may be taxable where you live, so keep records and check what applies.

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