What is digital photo restoration and repair?
We at Digital Photo Doctor use a technique known as digital photo restoration and repair.
During the restoration procedure, we use a scan or photograph of an original photo and edit that. We do not edit the original.
Our work includes removing creases, repairing tears, scratches and other damage. In addition, we can adjust levels to improve faded photos, as well as adjustment of colour or contrast levels. We will do our best to sharpen and improve blurring where possible.
Our aim is to return an image that is brighter, clearer, sharper and damage free.
Important Information
Evaluating photographs and scans
No two photographs are alike and neither is the work to repair them. For instance, simply adjusting the colour levels often restores a photograph to something approaching its original condition, where on other occasions, it has no beneficial effect. The latter in this case often requires a lot more work.
We therefore assess every photograph we receive and provide an estimate. It’s for your benefit, as we can then give you an idea of the cost of the work involved and the time frame. This is so that you don’t find yourself with a bill you weren’t expecting.
Digital restoration and repair with colouring
The example shown here is from the twenties and shows how things are rarely straightforward.
The subject is an officer in the Queen’s own Cameron Highlanders. His uniform puts him as an officer, though exactly what rank is unknown.
The photo itself was taken in India.
The photograph was faded with slight damage to several areas. The most obvious was the tear from left to right, which ran over half way across.
The restoration was reasonably straightforward, but the colouration needed research.
I was provided with the name of his regiment, but none of the information found mentioned their involvement in India and no information could be found about the exact uniform this officer wore.
We did however manage to unearth a picture of another tonally similar uniform. So we chose that.
Our choice to use this as an example is to show that in certain cases, the restoration isn’t necessarily what takes the time and therefore costs the money. In this case, we were being careful to represent the subject’s regiment correctly.
Keeping Photographs
Film archive storage
Image courtesy of DRs Kulturarvsprojekt from Copenhagen, Denmark
Many people have photos that they’ve “inherited”. Of course they evoke memories, but have doubtless lost a lot of their clarity and sharpness.
Photos are rarely kept as they should be to prolong their life. Temperature and climate-controlled environments are best for photos. They should be in albums with acid-free paper pages. How many people have those?
Although many keep their favourites in albums, often they have even more photos that they keep in boxes or bags. These generally find themselves in the attic or garage to keep them out of the way.
The chemical emulsions on the paper break down when exposed to the extreme changes in temperature, which causes the image to degrade.
The first sign this is happening is fading. Black and white photos start to look a little fuzzy and indistinct and colour photos loose their vibrancy.
Exposure to the air, sunlight, smoke, dust or moisture also cause the emulsions to break down.
The biggest factor of all?
Time.
Even when kept under the best of conditions, photos will eventually degrade.
Is there anything you can do?
You may well have considered replacing these damaged old photos with reprints from the negatives. Most likely, any negatives disappeared long ago, if you ever had them to begin with.
Without the photo’s original negative, it is impossible to develop another print.
Even if you do have the negatives, they are even more susceptible to atmospherics and more prone to breaking down over time than the photos are. If kept under perfect conditions, the negatives will last about fifty years. Sadly, this rarely happens and as a result, if they’re ever needed, they’re warped, faded, brittle and of no use.
So, this is where our Digital photo restoration and repair service comes in. We ask that you scan the original photo. Upload it here and we’ll send you back an estimate for the work to bring it back to life.
We work on restoring your photograph by erasing most if not all of the degradation that has occurred over the years, producing image files that can look better than the original, will never degrade no matter how many times they’re replicated. These, you can share with family, friends or on-line.
