Before you begin:

Keep in mind that any of these methods below might work, or they might not. These methods do not guarantee your success in removing old photos from albums. You might still damage your photos in this process. If you are concerned about damaging your images, take a photo of the image with your smartphone. Take several until you feel you have captured the photo free from shadows or other light sources that might alter the appearance of the image. Then re-print! This might be the easiest way to get difficult to remove photos digitized.

Dental Floss and Freezer Hack

If you have old family photo albums that are attached to adhesive or magnetic self-stick pages, carefully try to remove them. These types of pages have adhesive that will leave sticky residue on the back of your photos and their pages tend to yellow quickly. Remember not to stack your photos after you have removed them! The sticky stuff you just lifted them off of still remains on the back of your images. Your instinct is to stack them, but resist this urge! You will end up having to peel images apart and potentially ruin them. Instead, you should try to remove the sticky residue with warm water on a washcloth, gently rubbing away the residue and letting them dry.

For stubborn photos that are not peeling off the page, you can place the page in the freezer for 30 minutes. After removing the page from the freezer, take a long piece of unwaxed dental floss and a pair of gloves. Wrap and hold each end of the floss and gently start to slide the floss under the corner of the photo. The floss will help to separate the photo from the adhesive page.

If you have any photos that will not peel off the page, or are concerned you may permanently damage them, take a picture of the photo to re-print.

Blow Dryer Hack

Another trick is to use a blow dryer. The best way to use this method is by turning the blow dryer to it’s lowest setting, keep at least 6-10 inches away from the photo you are trying to remove. Slowly move the blow dryer back and forth across the image. The idea behind this method is to heat up the adhesive underneath the image without getting too close to loosen it from the back. If you get too close to your photo with the blow dryer, it might over heat the image and cause permanent damage! You can use this method in combination with the Dental Floss and Freezer trick!

Spatula Hack

Who knew spatulas might be the perfect tool for dislodging disgruntled photographs from their album pages! Turns out, those soft, very micro thin silicone spatulas can be very very good at prying underneath the photos. Again, as with any method, slow and steady is the key! If you try to pry too quickly, you might damage your photo!