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Archiver > GENEALOGY-TREASURES > 2001-05 > 0990102888


From: Tim Kemp WB4BAH <>
Subject: Re: [Genealogy- Treasures] Old Photos
Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 08:34:48 -0400
References: <45.6951920.283451c5@aol.com> <002b01c0deab$9aa8c6e0$6401a8c0@kimmy> <003801c0ded6$40fc0640$766697d1@computer>


Definitely not an unreasonable price. That is cheaper than what most
places I am familiar with charge to repair even VERY SLIGHT damage. In
fact it is so low that I would be concerned it might not be quality
work.

Repairing major damage can run hundreds more depending on how extensive
the work must be. I would be very wary however of any professional who
gives a quote over the phone without seeing the photo first as this one
did for your cousin. He had no way of knowing how much work needed to
be done without actually seeing it. If he found the work to be more
extensive than he expected he just might would stop when he figured he'd
done $200 worth and tell her that was the best that could be done.

If you are adept at programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Paintshop Pro,
etc. there is no reason you cannot save the money, do it yourself, and
often do a better job than the pros since you won't have to rush as they
would to get it back to a customer. I takes lots of time, an enormous
amount of patience, and a very steady hand (which I am losing), but you
can repair water spots and streaks, scratches, tears, faded photos, etc.
yourself. I do my own. I have done dozens of old (1860's to 1920's)
photos of my family.

I spent over three months working on an old, very scratched up postage
stamp size photo of my great-grandmother (circa 1890). It was in
terrible shape. It was so scratched that in some places I had to use
another picture of her to decide how parts of the eyes and face actually
looked. She had evidentally had a stroke or Bell's Palsy and part of
what I kept thinking was damage to the original print around the eyes
was not damage at all, but was droopy eyelids. I spent 2-3 weeks trying
to fix something that wasn't broken.

When I sent a 5x7 print of the results to my aunt who owned the original
she took it and the original to a lab which specializes in
restorations. She asked them what their charge would have been, not
telling them it was not done by a professional. They told her someone
had done some very good work for her and they quoted her $1300-$1500 if
they had done it.

If you would like to get an idea of just what you can do on your own,
email me and I will email you the before and after of that one.

Linda Baker wrote:
>
> I have a copy of an old photo. The origional has spots of some kind on it.
> My cousin owns the orgional, when she called a pro to see about the cost of
> having something done to restore it she was quoted $200. The photo is about
> 5X7. Is this a reasonable estimate? Is there something she could do on her
> own? Can you experiment on a copy made on a scanner?
> Thanks list,
> Linda

--

Tim Kemp Amateur Radio Station WB4BAH




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Genealogy info on KEMP, STROTHER, MURPHY, and allied families.

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