Digital technology helps safeguard photos, restore images
By Amanda Jaskulski, December 2009
Web Editor

Photo courtesy of Judy Winn

Photo restoration artists such as Judy Winn may be able to reconstruct and repair original photographs using digital technology.

Digital photography has changed the way we take and store photos due to its ease and convenience.
Keeping digital photos safe and in good shape is as simple as making a backup CD and storing it in a dry, dark place. When it was just film, there were negatives and prints to keep track of. Overtime, negatives can get lost and all that’s left is a single copy of a photo. This is especially true of much older photographs from decades past.

If you have a photograph of a relative or a special occasion that needs repair, you can take it to one of the several photo labs in the Valley and across the state that offer photo restoration as a service.

The amount of damage and wear that can be repaired is surprisingly extensive. Photos that are torn, scratched and even water damaged can be fully restored.

Photographic Works, located in Tucson and Flagstaff, offers simple retouching tasks such as removing red eye or blemishes, improving faded color or black and white or changing a black and white photo into color. They can also repair scratches, creases and tears and remove stains. They can even go as far as completely altering the photo by removing or adding subjects or objects or changing the background.

“There isn’t much we can’t do,” says Bill Schneider of Photographic Works. “It basically just comes down to time and money.”

The first step in the restoration process is getting the photo into digital form. For most photos, this is done by a high quality flatbed scanner. Judy Winn, owner of Digital Pix USA, says the quality of the scanner determines the quality of the final product.

The foundation for photo restoration is the scanner,” says Winn. “You have to have the right equipment for the job—a consumer scanner won’t produce the results you want.”

Bill Schneider agrees, “A lot of people think they can do it at home with their scanner, but it’s not that easy.”

Like Photographic Works, Digital Pix USA offers a wide variety of restoration services, as well as slide, film and video transfer. One of the most difficult jobs Winn has completed involved restoring a photo with a sizeable portion missing.

“A woman in her 80s brought in the only known photo of her as a baby,” says Winn. “Half of her face was missing, but I was able to work with what I had and restore it.”

“When we have to repair a photo with a missing face, it’s best to have another photo of the person’s face to go on,” says Schneider.

Once the photo restoration artist completes the work, a print is made or multiples if requested, and the final retouched file is burned to a CD as a digital archive and for reprints at a later date. Schneider says that Photographic Works offers a high quality CD called Archival Gold that is rated to last for 300 years with proper storage. Most regular CDs are estimated to last 25 years.

The cost of restoring a photo depends upon the time it takes, and the extent of the damage determines the time. For instance, Photographic Works quotes $75 per hour in 15-minute units.

To extend and preserve the life of your photos, Schneider suggests using acid-free coverings or archival bags to store photos and putting them in a fireproof, waterproof box. He also recommends using silica beads like the packets found in shoeboxes to control humidity as moisture inevitably leads to mold.

“It’s crucial to think ahead of time for what you’re going to do to store your photographs,” says Schneider.
Winn also recommends individually archiving them. She also suggests digitizing negatives and slides when possible.

“A photograph today looks the best it’s ever going to look,” says Winn. “It starts degrading right away, so preservation is key. When I work on someone’s photo, I don’t just have them or their kids in mind. I think of all the generations to come who are going to want these photos.”