Quality Photo
Restoration Service and Photo Retouching - Digitally Restoring
your old photographs at Image-Restore.co.uk
Photo restorations are
essential
You are preserving an important
part of your family history. Your family will have to continue on
the memory for the next generation. If left un-restored the
negative or print could end up un-restorable and future
generations won't have that vital visual link to their past
Image-restore can offer a large
array of photo restoration services from simple touch ups to
combining many images to help restore
an old photo that has been heavily damaged. It is not just old
photos either, modern colour photos can be altered, manipulated
and touched up to your needs. Two school portraits into one,
remove a person from a photo or perhaps add one back in.
We have restored team photos from
Clapton football club from the 1890's, repaired
a 56 inch Panorama photo of the Windmills of Kinderdyke in
Holland, repaired mouldy board based photos and restored flood
damaged photos, even previously unseen negatives of the Beatles
purchased at Christies!
Anything is possible. We can
even tie knots in buildings!
Interview with Neil from
Image-Restore
Ed: Can you explain the cost of a
photo restoration?
Neil: Certainly, but don't think of
it as cost, think of it as investment. You are preserving your
memories. Price should be a concern, yes, but not the primary one.
You have made the decision that your photo needs restoring, so I
am here to help you transform it.
Ed: But don't you just hit the 'filter'
button and it's all done?
Neil: No absolutely not. Take a
closer look at the image you are sending me to restore and be
honest with yourself. There may be an obvious big rip or scratch,
but look closer. Is the surface of the emulsion all scratched and
dull? Is there a spider's web of fine scratches embedded in the
emulsion filled with fine dirt? If so then I have to remove these
as well.
Ed: I can barely see the fine
scratches why does it matter?
Neil: If I ignore them It may be okay
to print to a typical 6x4 inch sized postcard as you would not see
them. If you wanted me to make an enlargement then the fine
scratches would also be enlarged. You would then have to pay a
second time to have them restored and removed.
Ed: Fair point, but how do I know
you have done anything at all other than remove the rip or tear?
Neil: I restore what damage there
is. You may not appreciate it at first but just compare the
original to the restored image. If it's a digital file you can
compare the before and after. You will see how there are subtle
differences in the tones, the shadows are richer and the
highlights stand out more, edges are more defined, it's punchier
and less flat than it was. Nearly all of the flecks of dust,
scratches, stains and faded tones are restored.
Ed: Nearly all?
Neil: Yes, sometimes if the image
is overworked it can look 'restored'. This is not what I am about,
I don't airbrush back in areas like some restorers. I tend to use
the tone and textures from what's there and restore it. I simply
cannot bare the mix of badly matched, soft smooth-toned
backgrounds and the gritty texture of an original photo, it just
doesn't work and certainly does not look natural.
Ed: It sounds like you are very
passionate about your work. Will you take on anything?
Neil: I will be honest, in some
instances there is not much that can be done. I will always
discuss beforehand what can be achieved and what expectation can
be met. Sometimes it maybe that there is very little detail there
to start with and all there is to do is a simple clean up and try
to recover some tone and contrast. Others can require a complete
rebuild of the lighting. By this I mean where there was very
little tone to add back in light and shade, to give the feeling of
depth. This doesn't work for all images but most can be rescued.
Ed: I've heard that some people
provide inkjet prints. Do you do that?
Neil: No, heaven forbid no. I
appreciate that there are some very good inkjet printers, but I am
old fashioned I guess and trust the tried and tested chemical
colour process. Your photos will be printed on Fuji Crystal
Archive paper for 100 year fade resistance, or so the
manufacturers claim.
Ed: That's reassuring. Thank you
for explaining.
Neil: You're very welcome.
If you are thinking of sending me an
email with your image in to be restored, then this article on saving
your image correctly for photo restoration will be useful.
