Repairing Old and Antique Photographs
Repairing old photographs is different from fixing a modern print. Victorian and Edwardian photographs were made with processes that fail in their own particular ways, and knowing the process tells me what can be recovered. I restore old photographs from £9, working entirely from a scan.
Repairing Old and Antique Photographs in Practice
Drag the handle to compare the original with the restored version.
A Victorian portrait losing its surface
More than a century of handling had flaked the emulsion away in patches across the dress and background. Each loss was rebuilt from what survived around it.
A family group from the 1900s
The print had browned right through and the edges had crumbled away. Tone was recovered across all four faces and the borders squared off without cropping into the group.
Antique Photographs and How They Fail
If you can identify what you have, you will understand what has gone wrong with it.
Cartes de visite and cabinet cards
Small albumen prints mounted on thick card, ubiquitous from the 1860s to the 1900s. They yellow, crack along the mount and fade at the edges. The card warps but the image is often better preserved than it looks.
Tintypes and ambrotypes
Images on metal or glass rather than paper. They scratch, rust and flake, and glass ones break. Because the image sits on a dark backing, scanning them well is the main challenge — I can talk you through it.
Victorian and Edwardian portraits
Formal studio photographs, usually well made and surprisingly robust. Typical damage is surface scuffing, foxing from damp and a heavy overall yellow cast — all of which respond very well to restoration.
Early twentieth-century snapshots
Small contact prints with deckled edges, often in poor condition because they were handled constantly. Creases, fingerprints and fading dominate, and the low original resolution is the real limit on how large they can be printed.
Restoring an Old Photograph Without Risking It
The original never leaves your house. Everything below happens on a scan.
Scan rather than post
Antique photographs are fragile and irreplaceable, and the post is not worth the risk. A flatbed scan at 600 dpi is ideal; for a tintype or anything on glass, get in touch first and I will tell you how to photograph it properly.
Stabilise the tone
The overall yellow or brown cast of an ageing print is corrected first, which usually reveals considerably more detail than the owner expected was still there.
Repair the physical damage
Cracks along the mount, foxing spots, scuffs and missing corners are repaired by hand, rebuilt from the surrounding image rather than generated.
Keep it looking its age
A restored Victorian portrait should still look like a Victorian portrait. I repair the damage without erasing the character of the process — the soft focus, the grain and the tonality that tell you when it was made.
Old and Antique Photograph Restoration starts from £9. Payment is only taken once you have approved the proof — see full photo restoration prices.
Repairing Old and Antique Photographs: Common Questions
No, and I would strongly prefer you did not. Everything is done from a scan, so irreplaceable originals stay safely with you. A 600 dpi flatbed scan is ideal, and for awkward items like tintypes or framed prints I will talk you through photographing them instead.
Usually very well. Victorian studio photographs were carefully made and often survive better than snapshots from the 1970s. The typical combination of yellowing, foxing and surface scuffing all respond strongly to restoration, and the underlying detail is frequently excellent.
Up to a point, and honestly, this is where I will manage your expectations. A small contact print holds a limited amount of real detail, and enlargement cannot invent more. A good scan and careful restoration will let you print considerably larger than the original, but there is a ceiling and I will tell you where it is.
From £9 for tonal correction and light damage, £15–£25 where there is cracking, foxing or missing areas, and from £30 if you would also like it colourised. The quote is free and comes back within three hours.
Other Types of Photo Damage I Repair
Not the damage you have? These pages cover the rest.
Send me your photograph
A scan or a clear phone photo is enough to start. I will tell you honestly what can be recovered, and what it will cost, within three hours.
