Restoration and Optimization

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The process of photo or film restoration begins with a good scan or digital transfer. Without a quality scan or transfer, the process of restoration can be very difficult. Therefore, we scan all photos and negatives at a minimum of 600 dpi to start. When transferring video to digital we capture at the high video quality possible.

Once the scan is obtained, we begin the process of cleaning up the image by removing scratches, dust spots, and improving the clarity and color of the image. All of this precedes any actual repair due to tears and misuse. In the video restoration we remove the same imperfections and color correct before we do any editing to remove bad video.

In all case, the process of photo restoration is a time-consuming process and the price to do the repairs can vary greatly based on the individual photos and the amount of work that needs to be done.

Colorizing

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When it comes to colorizing, we recommend that the photo you want colorized to be an image that does not require a great deal of repair work. Colorizing is the most time-consuming of all the photo repair processes and can be the most expensive. We therefore caution you to be sure it is a direction you want to take with any of your photos.

Because colorizing is a very interpretive process, if there are specific colors you want added, you must let us know and if possible, provide a sample. For example, if you want any specific hair color, building color, etc. a sample will help us in giving you the result you were hoping for.

The sample to the right is a before and after photo that I have started colorizing, featuring my mother. I happened to know what her hair color was, and the color of her bicycle and so on. I've only just begun work on this photo and it will be a continuing a work in process.

Photo Repair

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Photo repair is another service that can be performed on photos. That service can be very time consuming but, in the end, can result in some very dramatic results. 

Take for instance this photo to the left. The original was on hard card photo paper and over the years had started to deteriorate to the point where pieces were missing. The original black and white was no longer black and white and the contrast had faded eliminating a lot of detail.

When I received the original photo, the request was made to correct the black and white and remove the sepia fade. Repairs of this magnitude from very rough photos can be extremely time consuming. Plus, the size of the original made scanning difficult. So instead of scanning, the photo was digitized by photographing the original at a very high resolution

The finished photo includes repairs to the missing pieces, correction, optimizing, and adding detail. The final product looked good in digital format and in print. The positive part is that if the customer had wanted the sepia back in the photo, that could have been done after all the cleaning and repairing was completed.