If you have a flatbed scanner and are fairly comfortable in its use then follow these basic guidelines to obtain the best image for restoration. If you do not have a scanner, there are many high street shops that can perform this service at a reasonable price. Please inform them that you would like the image for restoration purposes.
Guidelines
- Dust Off Your Photos – Use a lint free cloth or compressed air to blow any dust off your photos. Do not use paper towels or tissues. Never use water or cleaning fluids on your photos, furthermore do not try to remove stains or fingerprints.
- Clean the Scanner Glass – Wipe off your scanner bed with a clean, dry cloth, such as a microfibre cloth. A clean, dry handkerchief will do. Do not use paper towel or tissue; those leave debris behind and may even scratch the surface. If the glass on your scanner has smudges, first try rubbing it with the dry cloth, however if that doesn’t work, dampen a small piece of the cloth and try cleaning the glass again. Let it dry completely before putting anything on it.
- Scan Images – Your scanner and scanning software will allow you to choose a variety of settings so try to get as close as you can to those described here.
- Make sure your scanner set to scan a photograph and not a document
- Always scan in colour, even if the original photograph is black and white. (this is very important)
- Turn off all auto-correct options or automatic filters including sharpening, color correction, scratch or dust removal.
- Save the scan as a PNG file to avoid any image compression
- Scan at a resolution of 600 DPI
- Crop your scan to only include the image.
- Finally, name and save your image in a known location on your computer and importantly Remember to write some notes on the type of restoration you would like to have performed, ready for inclusion in the upload form.
