Photograph Restoration - ?

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ChrisGW

Photograph Restoration - ?

Legg inn av ChrisGW » 14. februar 2008 kl. 19.18

I have a lot of old photo albums from my parents. All at least 50+ years. Acid
is starting to get to them and I would like to know if there is a solution that
I can use to slow down the process? I have taken them off of the paper they were
mounted on, but would like to do more if possible.

Thanks
Chris

Allen

Re: Photograph Restoration - ?

Legg inn av Allen » 14. februar 2008 kl. 20.22

ChrisGW wrote:
I have a lot of old photo albums from my parents. All at least 50+
years. Acid is starting to get to them and I would like to know if there
is a solution that I can use to slow down the process? I have taken them
off of the paper they were mounted on, but would like to do more if
possible.

Thanks
Chris

I assume these are so-called "snapshots" and are black and white, not

studio photographs. If so, your problem may be more than the acid paper
in the albums. It might be (and probably is) caused by insufficient
washing at the end of the printing process. The last step in processing
b/w before final washing is "fixing" in a solution of sodium
thiosulfate. The fixing bath removes the part of the print emulsion that
was not processed by the developer (i. e., the parts that weren't fully
exposed), which would soon make the print useless if left in place.
Unfortunately, the thiosulfate that is left on the print will eventually
destroy the image; thus, a fairly long washing period is required as
the final step. If this is your problem, you can wash the prints in tap
water at normal room temperature for at least a half hour, changing the
water every five minutes. The downside of rewashing is that, if the
prints were glossy they are going to dry to a matte finish. Early
Polaroid prints right from the camera were especially known for fading,
but reprints made by Polaroid were, as far as my experience goes, very
stable. Now, if you are talking about _color_ prints, that is a
different issue that I can't help you with; perhaps someone else will
have advice about those.

I don't know how many prints you have, but you really should investigate
getting them copied; if you have just a few, it would probably be
better to have them copied commercially, but for a large number you
might want to buy a good scanner and editing software for your computer.
If you take the DIY option, you could either make prints yourself or
have them printed by one of the many shops that do this sort of work;
places like Costco do pretty good work and would probably be cheaper and
longer lasting than printing at home.

As you may have gathered,I've been in the same place you are in, but soe
of mine were around 100 years old. I hope that you can salvage as least
the most important images before it's too late. Good luck!

Allen

ChrisGW

Re: Photograph Restoration - ?

Legg inn av ChrisGW » 14. februar 2008 kl. 20.49

Allen wrote:
ChrisGW wrote:
I have a lot of old photo albums from my parents. All at least 50+
years. Acid is starting to get to them and I would like to know if
there is a solution that I can use to slow down the process? I have
taken them off of the paper they were mounted on, but would like to do
more if possible.

Thanks
Chris

I assume these are so-called "snapshots" and are black and white, not
studio photographs. If so, your problem may be more than the acid paper
in the albums. It might be (and probably is) caused by insufficient
washing at the end of the printing process. The last step in processing
b/w before final washing is "fixing" in a solution of sodium
thiosulfate. The fixing bath removes the part of the print emulsion that
was not processed by the developer (i. e., the parts that weren't fully
exposed), which would soon make the print useless if left in place.
Unfortunately, the thiosulfate that is left on the print will eventually
destroy the image; thus, a fairly long washing period is required as
the final step. If this is your problem, you can wash the prints in tap
water at normal room temperature for at least a half hour, changing the
water every five minutes. The downside of rewashing is that, if the
prints were glossy they are going to dry to a matte finish. Early
Polaroid prints right from the camera were especially known for fading,
but reprints made by Polaroid were, as far as my experience goes, very
stable. Now, if you are talking about _color_ prints, that is a
different issue that I can't help you with; perhaps someone else will
have advice about those.

I don't know how many prints you have, but you really should investigate
getting them copied; if you have just a few, it would probably be
better to have them copied commercially, but for a large number you
might want to buy a good scanner and editing software for your computer.
If you take the DIY option, you could either make prints yourself or
have them printed by one of the many shops that do this sort of work;
places like Costco do pretty good work and would probably be cheaper and
longer lasting than printing at home.

As you may have gathered,I've been in the same place you are in, but soe
of mine were around 100 years old. I hope that you can salvage as least
the most important images before it's too late. Good luck!

Allen
Thanks for your reply. I have about 500 pics and have been scanning them. The

prints from 1900 to about 1935 are in great shape. The ones from the 1940's are
going quickly. I really do not want to was them as you suggest, but I am going
to take the really bad ones to a shop and have them copied.

Thanks again

Chris

Allen

Re: Photograph Restoration - ?

Legg inn av Allen » 14. februar 2008 kl. 21.32

ChrisGW wrote:
Allen wrote:
ChrisGW wrote:
I have a lot of old photo albums from my parents. All at least 50+
years. Acid is starting to get to them and I would like to know if
there is a solution that I can use to slow down the process? I have
taken them off of the paper they were mounted on, but would like to
do more if possible.

Thanks
Chris

I assume these are so-called "snapshots" and are black and white, not
studio photographs. If so, your problem may be more than the acid
paper in the albums. It might be (and probably is) caused by
insufficient washing at the end of the printing process. The last step
in processing b/w before final washing is "fixing" in a solution of
sodium thiosulfate. The fixing bath removes the part of the print
emulsion that was not processed by the developer (i. e., the parts
that weren't fully exposed), which would soon make the print useless
if left in place. Unfortunately, the thiosulfate that is left on the
print will eventually destroy the image; thus, a fairly long washing
period is required as the final step. If this is your problem, you can
wash the prints in tap water at normal room temperature for at least a
half hour, changing the water every five minutes. The downside of
rewashing is that, if the prints were glossy they are going to dry to
a matte finish. Early Polaroid prints right from the camera were
especially known for fading, but reprints made by Polaroid were, as
far as my experience goes, very stable. Now, if you are talking about
_color_ prints, that is a different issue that I can't help you with;
perhaps someone else will have advice about those.

I don't know how many prints you have, but you really should
investigate getting them copied; if you have just a few, it would
probably be better to have them copied commercially, but for a large
number you might want to buy a good scanner and editing software for
your computer. If you take the DIY option, you could either make
prints yourself or have them printed by one of the many shops that do
this sort of work; places like Costco do pretty good work and would
probably be cheaper and longer lasting than printing at home.

As you may have gathered,I've been in the same place you are in, but
soe of mine were around 100 years old. I hope that you can salvage as
least the most important images before it's too late. Good luck!

Allen
Thanks for your reply. I have about 500 pics and have been scanning
them. The prints from 1900 to about 1935 are in great shape. The ones
from the 1940's are going quickly. I really do not want to was them as
you suggest, but I am going to take the really bad ones to a shop and
have them copied.

Thanks again

Chris
Sounds like insufficient washing is the culprit, as commercial

processing tended to get a little bit sloppy in mid-century. Another
thing: I hope someone in your family looked to the future (now, that is)
and identified all the people. There usually are a few cousins, great
aunts, etc that are hard to give names to after a couple of generations
have gone by. One side of my family (my mother's side), took photos like
crazy and I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures of them, mostly
showing people relaxed and having fun; my father's side never got the
bug, so I have only two very small images of my paternal grandfather,
who died six years before I was born. Strangely, that gf owned the local
weekly newspaper, and when he died they ran a picture of him that was
blown up, grainy and fuzzy, from a snapshot.
Allen

ChrisGW

Re: Photograph Restoration - ?

Legg inn av ChrisGW » 15. februar 2008 kl. 1.24

Allen wrote:


Sounds like insufficient washing is the culprit, as commercial
processing tended to get a little bit sloppy in mid-century. Another
thing: I hope someone in your family looked to the future (now, that is)
and identified all the people. There usually are a few cousins, great
aunts, etc that are hard to give names to after a couple of generations
have gone by. One side of my family (my mother's side), took photos like
crazy and I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures of them, mostly
showing people relaxed and having fun; my father's side never got the
bug, so I have only two very small images of my paternal grandfather,
who died six years before I was born. Strangely, that gf owned the local
weekly newspaper, and when he died they ran a picture of him that was
blown up, grainy and fuzzy, from a snapshot.
Allen

Several years ago I sat with my mother and went through each album and she
identified who she could. The one who I do not have a picture of is my Grand
Aunt. I never met her. My grandfather stopped talking to her around 1930 and he
would never talk about it. My father did not know why either, nor did he know
where she lived or who she married. I just recently learned both and that she
lived 3 blocks from my grandfather in Bellerose, NY and pasted away 1 year after
my grandfather.

Just printed out some pics and they came out really well.

Chris

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