Last week I was writing a piece about a very difficult late 1800’s photo restoration project with some sample images, and decided that I should also post it here. Photo restorations are a small but still significant part of what I do, and it’s a great way to keep productive, especially here on these cold, rainy winters here in Seattle! 

Before and after images of a very old 16″x22″ photo restoration project I was hired to attempt with a print that was starting to fall apart. The quality of the paper was very poor and was beginning to disintegrate. Luckily I managed to not only save the original, but was able to pull out a lot of detail that had either faded or been physically damaged on the original print.

photo restoration

Original print after very carefully scanning at a very high resolution then digitally re-stitching the two halves of the print together.

photo restoration

Left-side scan clearly showing all the pits (places where holes are forming in the paper) scratches, stains, and folds in the original print.

photo restoration

Right-side scan clearly showing all the pits (places where holes are forming in the paper) scratches, stains, and folds in the original print.

photo restoration

Close-up detail of paper quality with pits and worn print surface. The ink has held up surprisingly well over the years.

photo restoration

Lack of contrast due to fading ink, scratches, abrasion marks and what appears to be old food stains.

photo restoration

Bottom left corner showing how badly deteriorated the paper was when I received the print from the client.

photo restoration

Finished restoration showing all of the scratches and damaged portions fixed, as well as corrections in whites, blacks and overall contrast. I was not able to completely fix all of the stains, but nearly all of the pits and badly deteriorated parts were either patched or carefully repainted in using many layers in Photoshop in order to get the closest approximate restoration to the original print.

See more information about my company’s photo restoration service HERE, or contact me at rich@leightonphotography.com to schedule your photo restoration.

                                                                                          

Sharing and commenting via the social media links below helps me greatly, and is much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Rich Leighton
January 23, 2016
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