Archival Photo Restoration
Professional Digital Artist
Whether the photograph or document is a family treasure or a museum archive, photo restoration and photo retouching is best accomplished through a happy marriage between an artist's keen eye and many years of image restoration expertise.
Inside the family photo-box, life unrelentlessly takes its toll on the most treasured and irreplaceable of our photographic archives. After years of shuffles and scuffles they become dull, scratched, finger printed and downright worn out. Have no fear...
Photo restoration to the rescue!
All photo restoration and document restorative work is digital using a scan of your photograph or document. Your original archive is never damaged or altered in any way.
A digital scan of the image or document is first inspected then restored, pixel by pixel, at high magnitude. When the restoration is complete it's ready for you to download using my convenient website e-service or it is printed with archival light-fast inks on Epson® Pro stock.
Nearly every type of damage can be repaired
Rips, tears, spots, scratches, scuffs, gouges, mold, mildew, sun rings, colour fade, water damage, fire damage, creases, crackling, missing pieces, stains and chemical burn just to name a few.
Photo size is generally not an issue. Photos ranging from locket size to 11" x 14" and larger can be restored. Coloured photos, black and whites, certificates and documents... all can be professionally restored.
Negatives & slides are also 'restored' so to speak. Your slide or negative is scanned at high resolution. The resulting image is digitally restored in exactly the same manner as a photograph.
Archival document and certificate restoration. The same method is used for documents and certificates as is used for photographs, slides and negatives. The restoration begins with a digital scan and continues under high magnification.
Invitations, tickets and newspaper clippings and other paper-fibre memorabilia are also retored to their original condition. Imagine a pristine copy of Mom & Dad's wedding invitation, newspaper announcement and wedding photo all restored as a gift for their 50th Anniversary!
Photo and achival document restoration fees are relative to the amount of damage the photo or document has sustained. See examples of my recent work and fees in my digital photo restoration gallery.
Turnaround time? Well, how bad is the damage? Most restorations are complete within a few hours to a day to two. There have been, on occasion, intense restorations requiring weeks to complete. With PhotoPhix e-service, your photo is generally restored within 8 to 48 hours.
I have been asked many times... is a photo is ever beyond hope?
The answer is... not very often!
Remarkable photo restorations are achieved under the care of a professional restoration artist.
Horribly faded images magically re-appear. Where the emulsion layer has decayed and flaked off to such a point that significant areas of the photograph have completely disappeared... the missing pieces can often be digitally re-drawn and painted.
On rare occasions, only a partial photo restoration is possible. The partial restoration is a way of, at the very least, preserving what is left of an historical or familial archive before it degrades entirely.
Only a seasoned restoration artist is able to make the final determination regarding the fate of an archive. Personally, I never declare a photograph or document to be officially 'dead' without first attempting a restoration.
Restoration fees are based on: 1) the amount of damage the photo, document or certificate has sustained 2) whether the resulting image becomes a physical print or a download 3) the size of the print
Retouch & digital art fees are based on: 1) the extent of retouching or digital artwork required 2) whether the resulting image becomes a photo stock print or a giclée watercolour print 3) the size of the print or artwork
Print guarantee
Because I use only industry standard professional photo stock, print stock, watercolor print stock and archival light-fast inks your print is *unconditionally guaranteed to be free of defects for as long as you own it. * Read more...
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Questions? Email or call during business hours Mon - Sat 10:00 am - 5:00 pm EST: 705-431-2679 Kindly call ahead before stopping by the studio. Hours vary with the seasons and statutory holidays.
