Preserving the Past: Restoring Old Photographs - The Do's and Don'ts

At The Photo Record, we are passionate about preserving the rich history and memories captured in the old photographs that we share. Our mission is to breathe new life into them while respecting their authenticity and original essence. So, what edits do we make to the photographs we share?

Removal of dust and scratches
Some photographs are over 100 years old and have been scratched and damaged over time. Even the best preserved photographs often have dust marks on them. These often cannot be seen at the size shared on our website or on social media, but trust us, they are there. Other times you will clearly notice the difference in the before/after images. We remove these carefully while maintaining texture and the original image as much as possible.

Correcting contrast and boosting brightness
Old photos tend to fade over time and that is often a part of their charm. However, correcting contrast, even a little bit, can bring an old image back to life. In addition to correcting contrast, we boost the overall brightness a little, when required, to ensure the image’s details shine through. We work diligently to bring back the original tones without altering the integrity of the original photograph.

Repairing tears and damage
We delicately repair tears, creases and other damage using other parts of the photograph to fill in the gaps.

Enhancing sharpness
Over time, photographs lose their crispness and clarity due to a variety of factors such as aging, storage conditions or scanning quality. We enhance sharpness to bring back the original clarity, making the details pop and bringing a newfound depth to the image. However, it is essential we maintain a delicate balance when sharpening to ensure we don’t overdo it, as excessive sharpening can result in unnatural artifacts and compromise the authenticity of the photograph.

Cropping
Many old photographs come in frames or have been cut by hand , resulting in imperfect shapes. We crop the photo, while maintaining all important information, to fill the entire rectangle or square shape.

Noise reduction
Old film photographs can have a lot of noise that distract from the content of the image. Noise is a grainy or speckled pattern that reduces sharpness and overall visual appeal of the photo. There are times when we may reduce the noise a little to allow the photograph to shine. However, this is done with the integrity of the original photograph in mind. And some noise is simply gorgeous and the image would not be the same without it. It’s a balancing act.

What do we not do to the photographs we restore?

Add or remove objects
We never remove objects from an image. It can happen that in the process of editing, we accidentally remove a small item that at a zoomed in view appears to be dust or scratches. We review our images carefully to ensure that does not happen and we will add those items back in when we catch the mistakes. If you notice that we have missed something, please let us know and we will immediately correct the issue.

Only in exceptional circumstances will be add any objects to an image, such as those required by torn images with large missing parts. To date, we have not had to do so in the images we have shared.

Altering historical significance
We will always refrain from altering elements that are historically significant in a photograph. Our goal is to preserve the original context, story and truthfulness of each image.

We are committed to preserving and sharing the past and cherishing the memories captured in every old photograph we restore and we hope you enjoy the final result as much as we do!