Restoration of Tintypes and Ambrotypes etc.
Tintypes, Ambrotypes and Daguerreotypes are some of the very earliest photographs, dating back to the mid-19th century. And there are still a surprising number of them around. Many of them have survived very well. But undoubtedly they will need restoration to some degree - often a lot.
Some of these old photos are not very clear to the naked eye, but a good scanner can bring out detail and immediately make the photo clearer, even before any restoration is done. This is true of the two photos below. Before scanning it was difficult to see very much at all. So even if restoration is not done, it is almost always worthwhile to scan these old photos to make them more visible.
All the above is also true of glass negatives. Scanning these and making positive prints out of them, is a useful step to help decide what restoration is needed.
 | Here is a tintype that was still reasonably clear. But it benefitted from restoration. And having a digital image meant that it could be printed out at a more useful size than the original. A tintype restoration like this would cost about £30. |  |
 | This is an Ambrotype - a Victorian-era glass slide. Judging from the clothes, it dates back to about the 1850s-60s. So it is not surprising that it is not in great condition. But, as you can see, a good restoration was possible. Some research was needed to decide exactly what clothes he would have been wearing and these had to be digitally "painted" in. But luckily, most of his facial features were intact - and that is always the most important part of any restoration. A restoration like this would cost in the range of £40-60. |  |
 | Some of these old photos have tremendous detail in them, once the scratches have been removed. Unfortunately, this one had a lot of fine scratches to be removed, which is time consuming work. A restoration like this might cost about £40. |  |
 | This Ambrotype had cracked completely across the middle. But it was worth putting in the effort to repair it because it was a a very sharp image. You have to admire the sitters - they would have needed to sit perfectly still for quite a long time, perhaps up to 30 seconds. |  |
You can see more examples on our Examples Blog page on this website.