A restored photo is only as good as the picture we start from. Scratches, dust, cracks and fading can be repaired. A reflection, a blur, or a crop that cuts off the edge cannot, because that detail was never recorded. This is how to photograph an old print so the file is worth working on.
Take the print out first
Leave it in the album sleeve, the frame, or under glass and the camera records the plastic as well as the photograph. That usually means glare, a colour cast, and sometimes a faint second image of the room. Lift the print out, even if the corners feel fragile. If a corner is already torn, photograph it as it is. Don’t tape over the picture, and don’t write on the image.
Light it evenly
Daylight from a window is enough. Turn the flash off. Glossy paper throws a white patch back at the lens, and that patch replaces the face or the lettering underneath. If you still see a hotspot, move the print so the window is to one side, or tilt it slightly until the shine moves off the important part. The print should look evenly lit: no bright blob, and no corner sunk in shadow.
Hold the phone directly above
Lay the print on a plain table. Hold the phone flat, parallel to the paper, so the edges stay square. Shot from an angle, a face stretches and we have to guess the real shape. Fill the frame, but keep all four edges of the print in the shot. Those edges show where the photograph ends, and they stop a shoulder or a bit of sky being cut off.
Tap the face, or the sharpest part of the print, to focus. Look at the result before you move on. If the eyes are soft, take it again. A second photo takes a moment. A soft file cannot be sharpened into features that were never in focus.
A scan is better when you have one
A flatbed scanner gives even light and a square crop without the steps above. Use it if you have one. Scan in colour, even when the print is black and white, so pencil marks and stains stay visible. If you don’t have a scanner, a phone is fine. A free app such as Google PhotoScan can guide the shot and reduce glare.
- Don’t photograph a framed print across the room.
- Don’t photograph the print through a television or a computer screen.
- Don’t send a picture that includes your fingers over the corners if you can lay it flat instead.
What restoration can recover
We can reduce scratches, dust, cracks, fading and a mild softness, then make a colour version. The colour is a realistic estimate. Black-and-white film never recorded the original colours, so you also receive a cleaned black-and-white file. A person checks every face against the original before anything is sent back.
We can’t invent a face that isn’t in the picture. If glare, blur or damage has removed the features, that photo is sent in black and white only, with a note saying why, and it isn’t counted in your set. The same is true of a reflection that has wiped out a sign, a uniform, or a building behind someone: we can clean what is there, and we won’t pretend the missing part was photographed.
Before you upload
You can send up to 25 photos in one order. It’s £39, paid once, with no account. The files come back in 3 days, counted from when we have photos we can work from. If something needs a retake, we email you and those 3 days start again from the replacement. Originals and finished files are deleted 30 days after you first download them, so save copies when they arrive.