Legacy Studio offers a wide range of digital imaging services, from professional-level printing of any type of photo to full restoration of badly damaged images. The philosophy of restoration, as an alternative to conservation, is based on the idea that most old pictures have value only to the owner, and only for the images they contain. Bona-fide antiques or collector’s items—
an original Matthew Brady photograph, for example—would best be left to a professional conservator. The cost of conservation, however, is beyond the means of most of us, and not warranted in the case of the portrait of Great-grandma taken by an unknown photographer. In that case, the value is in the image, not the paper on which it was printed.
Please refer to the service example pages here to see some previous restorations. Or you can click on the “Next” link at the top or bottom of this page. Printing is priced separately from the restoration, and a number of options are available—see Print Options, below. Originals up to 8x10 inches, and negatives and transparencies from 35mm to 4x5 inches, including APS, are acceptable for scanning. Oversize prints up to 11x17 inches can be scanned for an extra charge. Any type of digital media is acceptable. Refer to the price list for more information.
Additional services include blurring or replacing the background, burning or dodging, addition or removal of a subject, and colorizing. In some cases, a feature of an image can be repaired using part of another suitable image taken around the same time. This is priced as addition of a subject. Facial reconstruction without another image source is usually possible, but more time-consuming.
Print Options. Paper finish choices are Enhanced Matte or Professional Luster photo paper. The matte surface looks best for older photos, because it closely matches the usual type of studio print paper used in the early 1900’s. Professional Luster works well for more modern photos, and is visually identical to today’s professional print paper. Most customers choose 8x10 final prints, but any size to 12x18 is possible with either of the above papers, and panoramics up to 18x44 can be made using select roll-fed paper.
Other Services. In addition to restoring and printing your photo, I can write the image to a CD-ROM, in two file formats: (1) a high-resolution, uncompressed tiff file, suitable for high-quality printing, and (2) a lower-resolution jpeg, for e-mail and small reprints.