Many scrapbookers serve as the "family archivist" - in charge of a growing collection of important photos. Photographic prints aren’t permanent - and fire or water damage can wipe out history. The best prints start to lose detail after a few years and are deteriorated in 75 years. For many of us, photos from the 1920s and 1930s are some of the most rare and precious.

Most photos fade to white and become mottled. Old tintypes and other historical photos fade almost to solid black. Even fairly recent color photos develop an unattractive "orangish" cast. Many of these images will be lost if they are not recovered in the next few years.

Here are examples of normal "white" fading and mottling, a blackened tintype and a color print from the 1980s:



Until recently, rescuing a deteriorating photo cost several hundred dollars and took more than a month - while an artist painted the image with retouching paints. Moreover, since restoration was done on the actual photo, a poor restoration ruined the picture. Little could be done with color photos.

Digital technology changed the picture dramatically. Due to a huge decrease in the cost of professional restoration, restored photos are becoming popular with scrapbookers and as holiday gifts. The original photo is scanned, not painted, and extremely difficult images can be improved dramatically - including images that are almost black or very orange.

While digital photo restoration involves state-of-the-art technology, it is an art that requires a trained eye and skilled hand. It can be done well - or cause great disappointment. Image-Edit & Art (www.image-edit.com) offers top-quality craftsmanship by outstanding digital artists who handle thousands of images each month. Image-Edit is the consumer branch of the DigitalCustom Group, which provides digital photo editing services to corporate and individual customers throughout the U.S., Japan and Europe.

Here is work that Image-Edit did on the faded samples shown above:



If you scan your own image, and send it to Image-Edit through the Web, restoration typically is in the $35-$50 range for 5-day turnaround. Extremely complex "Grade 5" images are a bit more. The Web site is very easy-to-use and allows custom user instructions. For example, customers may choose to retain or eliminate sepia, textures or handwriting.

If scanning isn’t your bag, Image-Edit offers a service that includes two-way secure transport of your photo, a restored print up to 8x10 and archival CD of the "before" and "after" images for $69.95. The CD even includes an e-mail size digital file so you can instantly share the restoration with family. Additional images in the same mailer are only $45 for the same services. This convenient package won Image-Edit & Art an innovative consumer product award from the Photo Marketing Association in March at the Las Vegas trade show.

If you’d rather take your photo to a store, Image-Edit & Art will refer you to a photo or frame store that offers its high-quality restoration service. It has retail affiliations around the world.

Reference Links:

Image-Edit & Art: www.image-edit.com
Image-Edit & Art Restoration Mailers: www.imagemailer.com