Tintype query. help needed.

Scimitar · Mar 21, 2015

I have three tintypes of my deceased mother, taken by a street photographer in the 1930s. The images are very dark, barely visible, I have tried without much success to scan them for the family Archive. Is there a way of restoring the images to enable a more successful scan. The tin is very soft and storage has not been of the best and there is some risk of the emulsion flaking off. I presently have minimal darkroom facilities.

Thanks for any help, or pointers to an alternative source of information.

Scimitar

bvy · Mar 21, 2015

If they're truly important to you and in as poor condition as you say, then I think you need to engage the services of a professional. I wouldn't experiment with them. Try to get a good high resolution (raw) scan just to be safe, and then look into restoration services.

summicron1 · Mar 21, 2015

contact the Getty Conservation Institute at the Getty museum in LA -- they have specialists in this sort of thing. My sister works there and has lunch with them, is how I know.

ced · Mar 21, 2015

Why not show a sample of the scan you already have as someone may have an idea on how to pull something from that?

removed account4 · Mar 21, 2015

Scimitar said:
I have three tintypes of my deceased mother, taken by a street photographer in the 1930s. The images are very dark, barely visible, I have tried without much success to scan them for the family Archive. Is there a way of restoring the images to enable a more successful scan. The tin is very soft and storage has not been of the best and there is some risk of the emulsion flaking off. I presently have minimal darkroom facilities.

Thanks for any help, or pointers to an alternative source of information.

Scimitar

hi

i too had silver gelatin tintypes from an old family photo collection,
it was a mini / jewel print that i scanned, and it was made about between 1905-10
the image wasn't dark like yours .. but i had to do some "rebuilding" to make a "master" image
i am not sure what sort of scanner you have, or how good you are with software that is connected
with the whole turning your image into numbers-thing
but what i did was make an electronic reproduction. i adjusted a little before i made the conversion
and then once i had my faximile , i change the contrast / brightness via levels until it looked good.
if i lived near you i would ask you here and i would do it for you, it really isn't too hard ..
the hardest part is being patient as the light beam converts the silver into numbers ..

good luck !
john

ParkerSmithPhoto · Mar 21, 2015

Scimitar said:
I have three tintypes of my deceased mother, taken by a street photographer in the 1930s. The images are very dark, barely visible, I have tried without much success to scan them for the family Archive. Is there a way of restoring the images to enable a more successful scan. The tin is very soft and storage has not been of the best and there is some risk of the emulsion flaking off. I presently have minimal darkroom facilities.

Thanks for any help, or pointers to an alternative source of information.

Scimitar

I would take your scan and do some very simple work with an editing program which cannot be discussed here, so PM me it you'd like some feedback.

Scimitar · Mar 22, 2015

jnanian said:
hi

i too had silver gelatin tintypes from an old family photo collection,
it was a mini / jewel print that i scanned, and it was made about between 1905-10
the image wasn't dark like yours .. but i had to do some "rebuilding" to make a "master" image
i am not sure what sort of scanner you have, or how good you are with software that is connected
with the whole turning your image into numbers-thing
but what i did was make an electronic reproduction. i adjusted a little before i made the conversion
and then once i had my faximile , i change the contrast / brightness via levels until it looked good.
if i lived near you i would ask you here and i would do it for you, it really isn't too hard ..
the hardest part is being patient as the light beam converts the silver into numbers ..

good luck !
john

I have facilities to scan,and have done so at 4800dpi very large files, about 18mb, I did try changing the tone curve and the contrast and brightness, however that hasn't helped much I will try fiddling through my Corel Photopaint software with which I have some experience. I don't have facilities to scan into RAW so I am working with Jpegs, mind I don't understand RAW anyway!
I appreciate your comment re inviting me to visit, but living in Nottinghamshire in the UK...!

The sort of advice I thought may be forth comming with my enquiry was:- swab gently with such and such chemical solution...duh!

THanks for the thoughts.
John.

ParkerSmithPhoto · Mar 22, 2015

Scimitar said:
I have facilities to scan,and have done so at 4800dpi very large files, about 18mb, I did try changing the tone curve and the contrast and brightness, however that hasn't helped much

Try duplicating the layer, then change to MULTIPLY mode. Repeat until you have good density, then adjust levels.

smieglitz · Mar 22, 2015

ParkerSmithPhoto said:
...MULTIPLY...

I think you mean SCREEN here. Multiply darkens.

ced · Mar 23, 2015

18mb is not a large file. I will be happy to try something.
You can use a file transfer programme and send me a copy of the image.
Here is my contact details.
cedmus@gmail.com

paul_c5x4 · Mar 23, 2015

Scimitar said:
The sort of advice I thought may be forth comming with my enquiry was:- swab gently with such and such chemical solution...

The danger with applying any chemicals to a print is that it may irreversibly damage the image. If it is the underlying metal surface that is tarnishing, then nothing applied to the surface will help.

As you are in the UK, perhaps a call to one of the following may help:

National Media Museum
The Centre for Photographic Preservation
The National Archives

Your local museum may also be able to help with either the conservation or in signposting you to someone that can.

dwross · Mar 23, 2015

You might get better results from photographing the plate with a d-camera. In PS 'levels' set the black point where you think the densest part is and the white point at the lightest. You may have to try a couple of times to get the best contrast. Save each version as a separate file and compare them as you go. Good luck!

(and all the recommendations about seeing a conservation specialist are very wise)

Tintype query. help needed.

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