Scanning old photos

[JohnnyO]

Hi all, my wife and I were sorting through a huge box of family photos, and came across two small leather cases. Inside are framed cameo type portraits of her great grandparents taken in about 1865.

I would like to scan them and attach them to my tree, but am worried that the bright scanner might affect the quality. At the moment I haven't taken them out of their frames.

Anyone got any hints or tips?

Many thanks,

John

[MaryA]

I've never had a problem, I don't believe they would deteriorate with the few seconds it takes. Make sure you have your settings for a fairly high resolution, minimum 300, 600 if your scanner will accept it.

Some scan software even has a "restore" facility which I've used very successfully when there was little clarity in the photograph and it brought it up a treat.

[JohnnyO]

I've never had a problem, I don't believe they would deteriorate with the few seconds it takes. Make sure you have your settings for a fairly high resolution, minimum 300, 600 if your scanner will accept it.

Some scan software even has a "restore" facility which I've used very successfully when there was little clarity in the photograph and it brought it up a treat.

Thanks Mary. The photos are very good quality considering, just that my wife is reluctant to let me take them out of the frame . The Epson scan I have does decent resolution, so they should come out OK.

[luxor]

Why not just photograph them with a good digital camera? That works fine, no need to remove them from their frames and nothing but daylight required.

[MaryA]

my wife is reluctant to let me take them out of the frame

I can understand that, but is there a way to remove the frame to allow you to keep them with the glass, I understand that close contact with the glass for years may have stuck them together. Obviously I would agree with you that you need to have them scanned to preserve the images, the alternative is luxor's suggestion although I find, as an extremely amateur photographer, that it's difficult to make them look like a scan rather than a photograph of a picture which includes the frame.

[JohnnyO]

Thanks for the comments both, much appreciated. I've been doing a bit of Googling on this. Consensus seems to be that a scan causes less damage than flash photography. I do have a good digital camera, so may try it in daylight without the flash. It looks like the pictures have not stuck to the glass, and I can bend back the frame edge quite easily and see if I can remove them gently.

Think I will try the camera first though

[luxor]

Reflections could be a problem with large sheets of glass but something small should be OK, especially if you use a moderate telephoto lens. I normally lay the photos on a floor to receive light at about 45 degrees from a window above... usually just photos though; not glass. The classic guidance from old photo books was 'a north-facing window'... i.e. use diffuse light, not direct sunlight.

Good diagrams here:
http://photo.stackexchange.com/question ... ture-frame

[JohnnyO]

Reflections could be a problem with large sheets of glass but something small should be OK, especially if you use a moderate telephoto lens. I normally lay the photos on a floor to receive light at about 45 degrees from a window above... usually just photos though; not glass. The classic guidance from old photo books was 'a north-facing window'... i.e. use diffuse light, not direct sunlight.

Good diagrams here:
http://photo.stackexchange.com/question ... ture-frame

Thanks Luxor, some good tips on the site. Will have a muse tonight and have a go tomorrow...