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Century Old Photo Restoration
Feb 17, 2018 07:30:27 #
I have some old family photographs that I inherited from my mother. Some of these photos are more than one hundred years old. The photos are interesting as many are in the form of a postcard. The photos are a mixture of studio portraits, photos taken by family members, and, most interesting, photos taken of crews harvesting the fields in Nort Dakota using steam-powered tractors. As you can imagine, the photos are not always on photographic paper. They seem to be on cardboard similar to card stock. The card stock has grown soft over the years and soiled. How do I clean them? More importantly, should I clean them? I have scanned them into Photoshop and restored them as best as I can with the software. Any ideas?
Feb 17, 2018 08:01:01 #
I've done quite a few like you're describing. The stains, usually being a different color can be neutralized in Photoshop and converting a color scan to B&W helps get rid of the color difference also. I scan in color, get the color stain out, then convert to B&W if the original was such. Sepia toned prints may need to be left as color. I have some watercolors my dad did in the 50's and there was a yellow brown tint due to oxidation which I was easily able to get rid of in Photoshop. I've even done old hand colored pictures almost 150 yrs old. Almost anything is possible with Photoshop. Cracks in the emulsion are difficult but possible to repair in Photoshop.
Feb 17, 2018 08:01:06 #
peterwbarber wrote:
I have some old family photographs that I inherite... (show quote)
Maybe others have a solution for cleaning photos but I tried once and it did not go so well. I would leave them as is and work with what you've scanned. If you could show before and after examples, I'm sure you would get better advice, and I would love to see photos of steam powered machines in action.
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Feb 17, 2018 08:06:12 #
rodpark2 wrote:
I've done quite a few like you're describing. The ... (show quote)
If I'm imagining yours there as you described, you've done a great job restoring them (Scanning & Photoshop). I've done a few myself. Both from prints and negatives. I copied a batch of 104 old negatives to files for a family of friends. Many were discolored or shot really poorly to begin with. In fact since it seems to be unlabeled Safety Film and not Nitro-Cellulose film I'd guess the ones I worked with were actually old copy negatives on to some odd films with no brand name. Also there seem to be too many left handed people (people with rings on their "right" hands) and flipped car license plates. I'd post one of my better and important restorations but the person's identity is determinable from the image. I feel I'd need permission to show this.
Feb 17, 2018 08:19:57 #
These are a great example of antique photos. You've done a good job with those you've posted. I'm sure Adobe has some Photoshop tutorials that you can use to work out the damaged ones. Even with rips and discolorations Photoshop can do wonders if you have the skills. Good luck, we'd love to see more.
Feb 17, 2018 08:19:59 #
peterwbarber wrote:
I have some old family photographs that I inherite... (show quote)
There are many (older) books out there about photo Conservation and Restoration. Check Amazon, eBay, and a public library or art library. Even Kodak had published more than one.
Feb 18, 2018 10:06:07 #
I am a total amateur, but have worked(based solely on instinct) with restoring several old images...didn't have a scanner so was careful photographing them.
Then working with the photos to fix tears and scars and scratches(mainly using Picassa, and other photo imaging enhancers, Elements, etc. with pretty good results!
Best of luck!
Bert
Then working with the photos to fix tears and scars and scratches(mainly using Picassa, and other photo imaging enhancers, Elements, etc. with pretty good results!
Best of luck!
Bert
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Feb 18, 2018 10:55:21 #
I recover old damaged images by scanning and reprinting. Actually restoring the original photo object is a difficult and expensive process that would only seem to be something a museum would want to undertake.
Feb 18, 2018 11:01:05 #
You need to show side by side Before and Afters of your work otherwise we don't know what was done.
rodpark2 wrote:
I've done quite a few like you're describing. The ... (show quote)
Feb 18, 2018 12:34:20 #
peterwbarber wrote:
I have some old family photographs that I inherite... (show quote)
I was a photographer in the Navy so long ago that my duty station was the old USS Noah’s Ark. My first job after leaving the Navy was photographer for the Kansas State Historical Society. A good part of my work there was duplication and restoration of old photographs and glass negatives. I believe you would do well to avoid “cleaning” original photographs. You can, very, very carefully use commercial cleaning fluids on old negs, but beware.
Backmin 1957 my copy gear was a Linhof 4X5 on a tripod. It worked very well on older, yellowed or sepia prints and on daguerrotypes or tintypes, but not so well on more modern photos. Correct contrast was extremely difficult to achieve with such originals. I would have given anything for modern digital scanning and computer based software.
Feb 18, 2018 12:47:09 #
peterwbarber wrote:
I have some old family photographs that I inherite... (show quote)
No matter what post processing program you use, I'll bet there are many way to restore old photographs shown on YouTube. Some you might want to take with a grain of salt but others are often pretty good.
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Feb 18, 2018 19:52:39 #
To me, part of the charm of old photos is their imperfections. I scan our old photos then correct the exposure as best I can to bring out details. I like to keep the new copy as faithful to the original as possible.
Feb 19, 2018 00:12:57 #
peterwbarber wrote:
I have some old family photographs that I inherite... (show quote)
You don’t need to clean them. Just print the ones that you have restored and you have new photos. Archive the old ones.
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