RESTORATION OF OLD POLAROID PHOTOGRAPH

With time many Polaroid pictures become discolored, cracked and curled. Scratches and tears may result in separation of layers that cause further damage to the image. Such Polaroid pictures have to be restored with extreme care.

Since attempting to scan a photograph in such state of distress may result in poor quality of scan and in worst case further damage and even destruction of a photograph, first step in restoration has to be humidification and flattening of the photograph. By slowly introducing humidity into the layers of a photograph it can be uncurled and made pliable ones again. Quite often the process of humidification and flattening has to be repeated many times before a photograph becomes reasonably flat.

Ones a photographed is flattened and dried it has to be scanned at high resolution to produce a digital file suitable for restoration.

After the file is created it is retouched to remove any signs of damages, such as scratches of the photo emulsion, tears and rips. Color correction is applied to restore the original tones of a photograph. After that the final image can be printed on variety of available glossy photo papers. The most recommended is LexJet Sunset Photo Gloss paper that offers excellent ink retention characteristics and longevity with high gloss finish that resembles the original Polaroid prints.

click to view before and after images