Stabilizing Photos done on computer printer

Re: Stabilizing Photos done on computer printer


If you had negatives, the best way would be to take it to a photo store and have them scan the negatives.

If you want to preserve the printouts... you could have it framed on acid free matte board and use a piece of glass with UV protection... but this will only slow the process down. Your best bet would be to get the electronic files and have it printed on photographic pper. I know Boomer uses a lab to do that. She might be able to tell you more.

Ain't any such thing as "very old photos made with a computer printer" ... 'less you're conceptualizing in terms on the order of fashion trends or perishable foodstuff

Still, the archival properties of 'puter-printed photos typically is not all that great, due primarilly to the way most folks print, display, and store digital images. As with most else, you get what you pay for, and the more attention you pay to details, the better your results are likely to be. With top-shelf methodology and supplies, very good image life can be obtained - for a price and with some effort.

Generally, the accepted wisdom of the moment is that the best results will be obtained using premium OEM inks and papers specifically from your printer's manufacturer - costly, perhaps, but independent testing results bear out the conclusion. Also factors are how the image is presented and/or stored; laminating will help stave off age-fading some, protection from direct light will help some, and dark, dry, cool, air-tight storage will help even more. Finally, a digital copy on removeable media is the current ultimate in archival storage of digital images; 1s and 0s don't fade.



From a good article appearing last year in PC World Magazine:



More than you possibly might want to know about the production, presentation and preservation of digital images:

Wilhelm Imaging Research

Lyra Research

Rochester Intstitute of Technology Image Permanence Institute

Thanks Timber. My problem is that I didn't copy the photos myself. They were given to me and I don't have the original files on my computer. If I scanned them into my computer and copied them to a disk could I then have them copied to quality photographic paper at a photo lab?

Sure - but if they're in rough shape, you might wanna see about enhancing and restoring them first - suitably sophisticated image-manipulation software (PhotoShop comes to mind) isn't cheap, but its effective. A commercial lab worth the name will have the software and folks that know how to use it - for a fee. That, if you go that way, is still gonna be cheaper and easier than getting the software yourself and learning how to use it.

Thanks Timber. You're definitely right about the "learning to use it [the software]" -- the pictures would be disintegrated by then...