What is a newspaper clipping?

A newspaper clipping is an article or section cut or scanned out of a newspaper or magazine and kept on its own — separate from the rest of the issue. People save clippings as keepsakes and records: birth and wedding announcements, obituaries, honor-roll mentions, sports results, and feature profiles of family members or local businesses.

What is the best way to preserve newspaper clippings?

Digitize first. Every preservation authority — including the National Archives and the Library of Congress — recommends scanning or photographing the clipping before doing anything else, because the original newsprint is acidic and degrades on its own. For the physical clipping, store it flat in an acid-free, lignin-free folder or sleeve, keep it out of direct light and away from damp, and never tape, laminate, or store it touching photographs.

How do you keep newspaper clippings from yellowing?

You can slow yellowing but not stop it — newsprint yellows because the wood-pulp paper is acidic and reacts to light and air. Limit light exposure, store clippings flat in acid-free enclosures in a cool, dry place, and avoid attics, basements, and garages. The only way to keep the content itself from fading away is to make a digital copy while the clipping is still legible.

How do I digitize old newspaper clippings?

Scan each clipping at a high resolution or take a sharp, well-lit photo, and save it as an image or PDF. The goal is not just a file but a findable one — capture who the article is about, the publication, and the date so you can search for it later. Uploading the scan to a tool that reads the text and tags those details turns a pile of images into an archive you can actually navigate.

How long do newspaper clippings last?

Untreated newsprint becomes visibly yellow and brittle within years to a few decades, and far faster in heat, humidity, or light — the National Archives notes you can see the change in just a few days of sun exposure. Stored properly in acid-free materials, a clipping lasts much longer, but a digitized copy is the only version that lasts indefinitely.

Can you store newspaper clippings in plastic sleeves?

Only archival-quality, acid-free polyester or polypropylene sleeves — labeled as such. Ordinary plastic bags, page protectors, and bins are not safe; they trap moisture and can yellow the paper over time. Archivists also warn against laminating clippings, which is irreversible and accelerates damage.

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Newspaper Clipping

A newspaper clipping is an article cut or scanned from a newspaper or magazine and kept as a personal record — a birth or wedding announcement, an obituary, a sports write-up, or a feature profiling you, your family, or your business. Because it is printed on acidic newsprint, the original yellows and grows brittle within years unless it is preserved.

Most U.S. newspapers printed since about 1850 use ground wood-pulp paper that becomes discolored, brittle, and acidic over time — the National Archives notes you can see the change within a few days if a paper is left in sunlight.

Source: U.S. National Archives — Preserving Newspaper Clippings

Written & maintained by the Granite team · Last updated June 2026

Overview

Newspaper clippings are some of the most sentimental documents a household keeps and the most fragile. A grandparent's obituary, the announcement of a birth or engagement, a child's name in the honor roll, a "Women in Business" profile of a family member — these are saved in scrapbooks, taped into albums, or tucked into a drawer, and they start falling apart almost immediately. Newsprint made since about 1850 is ground wood pulp full of acid and lignin; the National Archives notes you can watch a paper yellow over just a few days left in sunlight.

That is why every preservation authority — the National Archives, the Library of Congress, genealogy archivists — gives the same first instruction: digitize it. A clean scan or photo captures the content before the paper degrades, and a digital copy can be shared with family and backed up so a single house fire or flood doesn't erase the record. The catch is what comes after the scan: a JPEG in a phone's camera roll named IMG_4821 is no easier to find in ten years than the brittle original was. The value is in capturing who the article is about, what publication it ran in, and when — and being able to find it again.

When you’ll get your Newspaper Clipping

A family member was featured, quoted, or profiled in a newspaper or magazine
You're keeping a birth, engagement, wedding, or graduation announcement
You saved an obituary or memorial notice for a relative
You're a business owner who was written up in the local or trade press
You're building a family archive or scrapbook and digitizing old clippings before they crumble

What’s on your Newspaper Clipping

These are the fields Granite reads and extracts automatically the moment you upload one.

Headline: The article's headline or title as printed — for a feature profile, often the subject's name set as the headline.
Subject: The person, business, or organization the article is about — what you'll most often search by later.
Publication: The newspaper, magazine, or website that ran the article, when a masthead or source is visible.
Section / Column: The section or recurring series the piece appeared in, such as "Women in Business," "Local," or "Obituaries."
Author / Byline: The journalist or author credited with writing the article.
Publication Date: The date the article was published — the clipping's primary date for sorting and timeline views.
Page Reference: The page or section reference printed on the clipping, such as "B3" or "Section 2, Page 14."

How long to keep it

Keep the digital scan permanently; the physical clipping for as long as you want the original, stored flat in an acid-free enclosure away from light and damp.

A newspaper clipping has no expiration and no replacement — once the issue is gone, the only copy is the one you kept. The original newsprint is self-destructing, so the durable record is the scan. Authorities recommend storing the paper original flat in acid-free, lignin-free folders, never intermingled with photos (the acid stains them) and out of direct light; but the content itself should be digitized and backed up so it outlives the paper entirely.

How Granite handles your Newspaper Clipping

Snap a photo of the clipping or upload the scan and Granite reads it — pulling the headline, who the article is about, the publication, the section, and the date — then files it into your Home documents and makes the full text searchable. Years later you find your grandmother's profile by typing her name instead of digging through a scrapbook, and because the content lives as encrypted, backed-up text, it survives long after the original newsprint has yellowed and crumbled.

FAQ

Newspaper Clipping: common questions

What is a newspaper clipping?: A newspaper clipping is an article or section cut or scanned out of a newspaper or magazine and kept on its own — separate from the rest of the issue. People save clippings as keepsakes and records: birth and wedding announcements, obituaries, honor-roll mentions, sports results, and feature profiles of family members or local businesses.
What is the best way to preserve newspaper clippings?: Digitize first. Every preservation authority — including the National Archives and the Library of Congress — recommends scanning or photographing the clipping before doing anything else, because the original newsprint is acidic and degrades on its own. For the physical clipping, store it flat in an acid-free, lignin-free folder or sleeve, keep it out of direct light and away from damp, and never tape, laminate, or store it touching photographs.
How do you keep newspaper clippings from yellowing?: You can slow yellowing but not stop it — newsprint yellows because the wood-pulp paper is acidic and reacts to light and air. Limit light exposure, store clippings flat in acid-free enclosures in a cool, dry place, and avoid attics, basements, and garages. The only way to keep the content itself from fading away is to make a digital copy while the clipping is still legible.
How do I digitize old newspaper clippings?: Scan each clipping at a high resolution or take a sharp, well-lit photo, and save it as an image or PDF. The goal is not just a file but a findable one — capture who the article is about, the publication, and the date so you can search for it later. Uploading the scan to a tool that reads the text and tags those details turns a pile of images into an archive you can actually navigate.
How long do newspaper clippings last?: Untreated newsprint becomes visibly yellow and brittle within years to a few decades, and far faster in heat, humidity, or light — the National Archives notes you can see the change in just a few days of sun exposure. Stored properly in acid-free materials, a clipping lasts much longer, but a digitized copy is the only version that lasts indefinitely.
Can you store newspaper clippings in plastic sleeves?: Only archival-quality, acid-free polyester or polypropylene sleeves — labeled as such. Ordinary plastic bags, page protectors, and bins are not safe; they trap moisture and can yellow the paper over time. Archivists also warn against laminating clippings, which is irreversible and accelerates damage.

Sources

This page is checked against primary and authoritative sources:

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