well said Chris

Listen, just relax. What good is a signed photo you love if it's stored in an airtight bag, sealed in a box, stored in a safe??? We get this stuff because we are fans and want to enjoy it. If you have no intention of reselling take a few above mentioned steps and hang with pride.

The cheapest way if you are on a budget is just buy the acid free binder pages and cut the binder part off, slip the photo inside and put it in a frame. It's protected front and back by acid free now; plus there's another layer to protect from sun.

You most likely are handing these on a wall? Unless you have no roof, or you are hanging them on the outside wall the sun that get's though the double pane windows, curtains, and across the room is drasticaly weekened. I have signed stuff some in no sun and some in a decent amount of daily sunlight. They are both the exact same.

Sun can be bad if it's 12+ hours daily in direct lighting, unprotected. Honestly it will take 15+ years to see any change, I think by thne you can get another photo signed or have a different favorite to replace it. The only reason to panic is if you want to sell them. Even so do you think every item sold comes with a "Never exposed to sunlight Guarantee"??????

Everyone has an opinion. Realisticly what good is an autograph if it's stored away to never be seen by anyone other than you when you have to dig out the binder and flip the pages. Enjoy your collection. Display with ride and use as conversation pieces. Just use some common sense logic. Acid free paper, binder pages, tape, and most matte board is acid free now, so are most frames. If you have single sheet curtains guy buy a backing sheet or add another layer to block out the extra sun. I have that anyway since I hate the sunin the morning. You might have it already.

Do what makes you happy. What does it matter if 100 board members who don't even care about your signed stuff think you are doing a bad thing displaying it?? You obviously like them enough to frame them, so enjoy them.

musicfan wrote:

osiris wrote:They can be framed in the short term. But the acid in the paper & the fact that it's pressed against glass will damage them in the long term (they may well stick to the glass!). Scarybun's instructions will ensure they are not damaged in this way.

Scarybuns Didnt Answer This Question:

What If I LAMINATE Them First Then Put Them In The Frame With OUt The Acid Free Board? Will It Still "Ruin"?

Thnx!

many people (myself included) would consider laminating an autograph "ruining" it... by laminating it you are actually PERMANENTLY altering it... just my 2 cents... and the reply about framing with the acid free paper and acid free tape is probably your best bet

I've now hung up my Clemens Fritz picture on the wall. It's in a corner far away from the window and the matting doesn't touch the writing. I've also framed my Christoph Metzelder signed picture and am going to hang it up as soon as I get a frame for a third picture that's not an autograph and that has the same blue theme as the German footballer pictures.

I work for a sports store and we specialize in framing memoribilia for people. The biggest thing you should do when displaying is keeping it out of direct sunlight.

When we frame anything, we use UV protected glass. It wont keep it from fading if placed in the sun for long periods of time but wil help keep the signature fresh.

The Matting discussed earlier in the thread is also a good suggestion. The way we do our matting in our store, the matting NEVER comes in contact with the signature, only the corners of the photo or index card.

osiris wrote:What do you mean they didnt answer that question? You never asked that question!

I would never advise laminating. The website http://loricase.com/faq.html (which is dealing with old documents, but the principle remains the same) states...

"Lamination is not considered a safe conservation technique because the process may potentially damage a document due to high heat and pressure during application. Moreover, the laminating materials themselves may be chemically unstable and contribute even more to the deterioration of the document. Lamination also violates a cardinal rule of conservation, and that is to only apply treatments that do not alter the item and which can be reversed."

I.e. they may still have acid in them, and the heat might damage it too. And imagine if you apply it wrongly, you've ruined your autograph. Not to mention if you ARE successful in applying it, it will pretty much make any autograph monetarily worthless (should you wish to sell any in the future).

YEa I Did Ask That Question..In a PM... But He NEver Asnwered Back...lol..ITs Kool...Thanks For Answering.

What do you mean they didnt answer that question? You never asked that question!

I would never advise laminating. The website http://loricase.com/faq.html (which is dealing with old documents, but the principle remains the same) states...

"Lamination is not considered a safe conservation technique because the process may potentially damage a document due to high heat and pressure during application. Moreover, the laminating materials themselves may be chemically unstable and contribute even more to the deterioration of the document. Lamination also violates a cardinal rule of conservation, and that is to only apply treatments that do not alter the item and which can be reversed."

I.e. they may still have acid in them, and the heat might damage it too. And imagine if you apply it wrongly, you've ruined your autograph. Not to mention if you ARE successful in applying it, it will pretty much make any autograph monetarily worthless (should you wish to sell any in the future).

osiris wrote:They can be framed in the short term. But the acid in the paper & the fact that it's pressed against glass will damage them in the long term (they may well stick to the glass!). Scarybun's instructions will ensure they are not damaged in this way.

Scarybuns Didnt Answer This Question:

What If I LAMINATE Them First Then Put Them In The Frame With OUt The Acid Free Board? Will It Still "Ruin"?

Thnx!

They can be framed in the short term. But the acid in the paper & the fact that it's pressed against glass will damage them in the long term (they may well stick to the glass!). Scarybun's instructions will ensure they are not damaged in this way.

I Got Some Other POV's And They Said That Autographs CAN Be Framed...They Just Gotta Stay Outta The Light.....