You’re finally ready to get that old photo of grandma repaired. You know the one that’s been in that shoebox on the kitchen counter for the last 3 months? Somewhere 20 years ago someone spilled a Tab on it and it has a crease from where someone tried to fold it in half. Either way, it looks rough. You’ve scoured the internet and phone book looking for a photo restoration service, but there are so many choices, you just aren’t sure what you’re looking for.
There are a lot of great photo restoration companies out there that can help you out, all promising various services like free prints, free color correction, tone adjustments, etc. But here are the 5 things you MUST know before choosing someone to restore your image.
1. Those other free services they include? Worthless.
You want your photo restored because it’s damaged. But look! This company also offers free “tone correction” with each order. While you may be enticed by all the free “extra’s” many companies include, be advised that most photo editing software, like Adobe Photoshop, has built-in automatic tools that auto-correct things like contrast and color. Unfortunatly, many companies just press those buttons and send the image out. These adjustments should be done by hand, as the automatic settings often leave the photo looking worse than before
2. That company down the road you hired? They may send your photo to India
Sad but true. Like any service these days, your retouching work may be farmed out to some remote little office building in India or the Philippines. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, as you will probably get a great result. However if you have special requirements for your photo restoration job, they may not be translated very well and could cause your photo to need additional work when you see the proof. Simply ask the photo retouching company if they sub out work before you commit to anything.
3. Many of the services you might pay for, you can get for free
So you’d have the perfect wedding photo, if it weren’t for the red-eye and zit on your niece. You may be tempted to take this to a photo restoration company to have retouched. Don’t. Just download Picassa from Google (it’s free) and let it help you automatically correct this and other little photo enhancements. Leave the big problems for the restoration experts.
4. The inclusion of a “free print” should not be a deciding factor
Many companies offer a “free print” with your photo restoration job. Usually, these are printed on standard cheap photo paper on a home printer. If you really want the print, just use Walgreens or Walmart.com and pay the $0.11 to get one, or ask the company EXACTLY what you are getting.
5. Always get your photo scanned yourself
This one makes a bit more work for you, but don’t trust any company to include the scanning. Most will either overcharge you or will scan at a lower resolution. You can take the photo to Kinkos or any other similar store and have it scanned at 600dpi and send the company a digital copy via email. Also, if you have issues with the retoucher, they will only have a digital version and you won’t have to wait days or weeks for them to return your original photo before you can move on to another vendor.
Doug Walls is the owner of FixUpPix.com Photo Retouching and Restoration, an online retouching company.
You’re finally ready to get that old photo of grandma repaired. You know the one that’s been in that shoebox on the kitchen counter for the last 3 months? Somewhere 20 years ago someone spilled a Tab on it and it has a crease from where someone tried to fold it in half. Either way, it looks rough. You’ve scoured the internet and phone book looking for a photo restoration service, but there are so many choices, you just aren’t sure what you’re looking for.
There are a lot of great photo restoration companies out there that can help you out, all promising various services like free prints, free color correction, tone adjustments, etc. But here are the 5 things you MUST know before choosing someone to restore your image.
1. Those other free services they include? Worthless.
You want your photo restored because it’s damaged. But look! This company also offers free “tone correction” with each order. While you may be enticed by all the free “extra’s” many companies include, be advised that most photo editing software, like Adobe Photoshop, has built-in automatic tools that auto-correct things like contrast and color. Unfortunatly, many companies just press those buttons and send the image out. These adjustments should be done by hand, as the automatic settings often leave the photo looking worse than before
2. That company down the road you hired? They may send your photo to India
Sad but true. Like any service these days, your retouching work may be farmed out to some remote little office building in India or the Philippines. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, as you will probably get a great result. However if you have special requirements for your photo restoration job, they may not be translated very well and could cause your photo to need additional work when you see the proof. Simply ask the photo retouching company if they sub out work before you commit to anything.
3. Many of the services you might pay for, you can get for free
So you’d have the perfect wedding photo, if it weren’t for the red-eye and zit on your niece. You may be tempted to take this to a photo restoration company to have retouched. Don’t. Just download Picassa from Google (it’s free) and let it help you automatically correct this and other little photo enhancements. Leave the big problems for the restoration experts.
4. The inclusion of a “free print” should not be a deciding factor
Many companies offer a “free print” with your photo restoration job. Usually, these are printed on standard cheap photo paper on a home printer. If you really want the print, just use Walgreens or Walmart.com and pay the $0.11 to get one, or ask the company EXACTLY what you are getting.
5. Always get your photo scanned yourself
This one makes a bit more work for you, but don’t trust any company to include the scanning. Most will either overcharge you or will scan at a lower resolution. You can take the photo to Kinkos or any other similar store and have it scanned at 600dpi and send the company a digital copy via email. Also, if you have issues with the retoucher, they will only have a digital version and you won’t have to wait days or weeks for them to return your original photo before you can move on to another vendor.
Doug Walls is the owner of FixUpPix.com Photo Retouching and Restoration, an online retouching company.
| June 21st, 2010 | Posted in photo retouching |