Old Photograph Question

me | 02/19/2002 | me

[Treebeard]

I have a photograph taken before 1883, of an ancestor. The photo has grown quite faint, but the face is still able to be made out. The top of the head has faded quite a bit, (this is a photo of an OLD man with long white beard).

Is there anything that can be done to restore some contrast to this picture, ie. electronic means/scanning, etc? Also, what(if anything) can be done to prevent the further deterioration of this picture?

Thanks for any help.

[JennysCool]

If possible, scan the picture and post it. You'd be amazed what some of the Photoshoppers around here can do!

[JennysCool]

If possible, scan the picture and post it. You'd be amazed what some of the Photoshoppers around here can do!

[babylonian]

Anybody have a recipe for prune nut cake?

[freedomson]

I work in the advertising world as a retoucher. Is it small enough (for use on web) to email me or are you working in hi-res?

[#1CTYankee]

Frame shops can restore old photos.

They can also use mat board to help prevent future derogation.
(Bainbridge has a special line of mat for this.)
Ask the framer about it.

[Treebeard]

It's pretty small, "carte de viste" size, perhaps two inches by one and a half inches or so. I'll try to post it today. Thanks.

[martin_fierro]

I got yer prune nut right here.

[smith288]

I oughta flag the admin moderator for that!

[OldFriend]

A UMAX scanner works wonders.........should be no problem to get this restored......good luck!

[Vivaldi's Manifesto]

I would contact the Image Permanence Institute located at
the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Very bright people there...

http://www.rit.edu/%7E661www1/

-vm (RIT '97)

[Fintan]

Anybody have a recipe for prune nut cake?

Heck, I'm still looking for the Astronomy Picture of the Day...

[Richard Kimball]

To prevent further deterioration, it needs to be stored flat in archival quality container (no acids in the paper) out of any sunlight.

For long term, it should be scanned at high resolution, and electronic copies made. Keep a copy of the original scan. Most of the time, when people restore photographs, they try to make it "look good" instead of trying to restore it to the original appearance. Depending on the size of the photograph, a good quality scan could be 20 to 40 megabytes. Also, scan and save in either TIFF or Photoshop format. JPG's lose a little resolution each time they're saved. Depending on the original value of the photograph, you may want to have a professional restoration company do the work. Hope this helps.

[mlo]

I do this kind of thing all the time. You need to find someone with a scanner and get a good, high resolution scan. If you need help after that let me know.

[The_Victor]

Oh man...., and so soon after lunch. Anyone have a process for getting Fritos out of a keyboard?

[Treebeard]

Print out Helen Thomas photo. Lay on keyboard. The keyboard will then throw up. Presto, Fritos gone!

[Richard Kimball]

Anybody have a recipe for prune nut cake?

#1 Prune - Nut Cake
2 cups self-rising flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon each nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice
1 cup broken nuts
3 eggs, beaten
2 jars junior baby food prunes
1 cup Wesson or Criso Oil

Mix dry ingredients, then add oil, eggs, prunes, nuts. Bake in greased and floured 10-inch pan for 1 hour at 350 degrees. I would assume you could omit the nuts, if you needed to.

Man. What I do to try and be a good Freeper and help my buddies.

[Treebeard]

Is this type of scan something a garden variety of HP PSC scanner is capable of doing, or do I need a bigger gun for this?

[TexanToTheCore]

If you call Silver Image in St. Louis, they may be able to either do the work or give you the name of someone who does.

I would treat this photo very carefully, it is a real treasure.

[LuisBasco]

Say, Old Friend, would you have any ideas how to scan slides into my computer? I have the necessary software to burn images onto a DVD, but haven't been able to find a scanning device capable of reproducing slide images with any detail/clarity.

Thanks