Preserving Old Photographs (Page 2): Scan - repair in Photoshop and make copies of the digital file for all the kids and relatives. Large ones have to be scanned in parts and then put...

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

Scan - repair in Photoshop and make copies of the digital file for all the kids and relatives.
Large ones have to be scanned in parts and then put together in PS.
If stuck to glass I take photo and then clean up in PS.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Gspeed wrote:

We have about 35-40 framed photos, mostly very old portraits, of family members passed. No simple way to store and certainly not view, stacked in a pile in the basement.

Can anyone recommend a way to disassemble and preserve as digital files that can then be shared with other family members. We could then trash the old frames.

Surely we cannot be the only family with this issue. Any ideas?

P.S. Don’t be snarky.

~ Eileen

If you have original negatives, a camera with macro lens or a desktop scanner can scan them, or you can have them scanned by a service bureau or lab.

If you have prints, they can be copied with a macro lens or scanned, depending upon size. Get them out of frames and out from behind glass for best results.

My favorite methods bypass scanners. I use a digital camera with macro lens on a proper copy stand. I record raw files, and then process them in Lightroom Classic. When digitizing negatives, I use the Negative Lab Pro plugin for Lightroom Classic.

Ednsb Loc: Santa Barbara

I saw an interesting way to shoot images behind glass in the PhotoShop conference that just ended. The presenter shot the image at an angle then in PhotoShop use the perspective crop tool clicking at each corner and PhotoShop will correct it without any reflections. The presenter was Dave Cross. The presentation was behind a paywall but you might find he has done a YouTube video on the workflow. I haven’t tried it yet but intend to.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Strodav wrote:

To copy without disassembling the frames, use a co... (show quote)

Excellent shot and results ☀️💞☀️💞☀️

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Gspeed wrote:

We have about 35-40 framed photos, mostly very old portraits, of family members passed. No simple way to store and certainly not view, stacked in a pile in the basement.

Can anyone recommend a way to disassemble and preserve as digital files that can then be shared with other family members. We could then trash the old frames.

Surely we cannot be the only family with this issue. Any ideas?

P.S. Don’t be snarky.

~ Eileen

I scan all mine and distribute.
Done this for hundreds of them, still working on it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

DirtFarmer wrote:

For some reason it appears that there are reflections on the background, across the groom's coat, and extending onto the wedding gown.

That should be repairable.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

jerryc41 wrote:

That should be repairable.

Tough to repair.

The poster said the image was scanned, so I don't think the reflections came from his copying the original since I have never seen reflections like that in a scanned image. I suspect that his original is a copy that someone else made, and in the process got the reflections. The poster should be able to tell whether the reflections I see are in his "original".

Another possibility is that they are not reflections, but damaged portions of the photo, maybe from a previous removal from glass.

anotherview Loc: California

Agree. Family photos become more precious as time passes.

tcthome wrote:

Or take them some place, have them scanned & put on a disk, memory card, etc.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

anotherview wrote:

Agree. Family photos become more precious as time passes.

But only if the family knows who they are. That's why documentation is so important, and given the nature of digital, the documentation has to be inseparable from the image. If you have one file with the image and another with the documentation, they are very likely to get separated so you lose the documentation.

I have half a box full of photos from the family that are not identified, and everyone who might know who they are is gone.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

DirtFarmer wrote:

I have half a box full of photos from the family that are not identified, and everyone who might know who they are is gone.

I think we all have pictures like that - and no one alive to identify all those people. It's the same with many family trees. Family history generally wasn't a big deal several generations ago. I have records of my family - on both sides - just back to my great grandparents.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

jerryc41 wrote:

I think we all have pictures like that - and no one alive to identify all those people. It's the same with many family trees. Family history generally wasn't a big deal several generations ago. I have records of my family - on both sides - just back to my great grandparents.

My family has been interested in genealogy only sporadically. A Great Aunt did a family history in the '30s, and my Grandmother had some books on genealogy which passed down to me through my mother. So I got sort of interested and the internet provided a way to pass information. After looking through it for a couple years I came to the conclusion that the only people who cared about their family tree in antiquity were royalty. Keeping records for the hoi polloi was just not done. At some point, family histories became so important (to royalty) that people who aspired to royalty made things up and put them into the records. Roughly in the 1500s, people started to keep records.

So your genealogy is out there somewhere. It may be possible to find records back to the 1500s. Before that it's kind of spotty, maybe back to 1000. Before that, all bets are off.

OTOH, everyone has ancestors that go back to adam and eve (except for the aliens among us).

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I have one relative on either side of the family who did that research - somewhat interesting.