Recently, I went through my parents’ attic and was surprised to find quite a few old photo albums of my grandparents and forefathers. A lot of the pictures were old and damaged yet they still held a lot of nostalgic presence in them. Chronicling weddings, birthdays, and more, I wanted to preserve them for my kids. Fortunately, there was a shop that offered photo restoration near me.

So with that goal in mind, I went there on one weekend and handed over several albums worth of photos and see them restored. It cost me nice chunk of change, but I can honestly say it was worth it. I also got my grandparents wedding picture turned into a wedding oil painting. If you’re interested in photo restoration, here’s some basics.  

Why They Get Damaged  

To begin, you need to know why exactly photos get damaged even if nothing happened to them. A lot of people think that as long as a picture is kept in a nice album or shoebox, they should be fine. Many a times they are surprised to  see how damaged pictures get after a few decades.  

The trouble is, before digital printing and photos, developing photos involved a lot of chemicals. The film used to take pictures were taken into the darkroom and chemicals were applied to photo paper. The film used to  be projected on the paper to cause a reaction. Further chemicals were applied to ensure that the images came out.

That’s a lot of chemicals being applied to paper. One of the problems with that is the fact that chemicals have a tendency to react amongst themselves and with the environment. It may not happen immediately though. Most people expect instant dissolving like acid. However, chemical reactions can also be pretty slow. Your precious memories captured in those pictures fade out and get destroyed with time.

Professional Handling

This is where photo restoration comes in. It can take all the old damaged photos and turn them back into their original state. The first step is to digitally scan the originals. The scanning should be done in high resolution so that all the details of the original picture are captured.

The next step is where the actual restoration process happens. It can be done by using a software and restore them into digital prints of original photo or a highly skilled artist can restore the pictures in the form of an oil painting by referring to the high resolution scanned pictures and using his imagination and creativity. Both these processes can convert a B&W picture to a colored one and vice versa. So you can even have a colored picture or painting of your grandparents and bring them back from B&W and Eastman color era to Technicolor.

Using the digital image-editing software, the restorer will retouch and insert in details if they are missing. Most of the time, small points of damage can be fully restored. Larger damage is another matter and can be restored only by painting. When done, a new copy is printed out for your use. But a digital print is not forever it will also fade out over years to come.

Here is where 100% handmade oil paintings come to your rescue. We all know that oil paintings have a lifespan that can outlive many generations and are the best way to preserve our family history. A skilled artist can easily restore an old photo to an oil painting, even if the original reference picture is more than 50% damaged or only a half of the face is visible. He can also convert the old worn out photo into a colored one based upon your memory of your loved ones and his imagination.  

It is incredible how much we can relate to these pictures once they have been restored in color. These moments in the past go from being a distant long lost memory, to one that we can relate to on a much more deeper and personal level and become a part of our present.

I was fortunate to find an expert who could do photo restoration into oil painting, it is possible to have it done via an Internet service like Mavenart.com. You will need to do the scanning or send the originals them. They will convert them into an oil painting and return the original to you.

When the restoration process was done, I proudly added my grandparents’ to our house. They are there waiting for my kids to look at them and smile.

Author : Shilpi Roy Views : 67

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