Printing for Photo Restoration
Traditional printing - For years the only way to process a print was o the darkroom and by hand.
It is still practiced but is a lengthy process and expensive.
It is a hand processed chemical method with prints on fibre paper but has become a bit of a niche market these days.
A great advantage is that it does give photographer a choice of papers to retain that authentic reproduction.
Issues with this method are that for the mainstream consumer the price would be way too much and is probably an impractical due to time scales and the practice is very limited and hard to find.
Prints produced in this manner are long life and authentic to the original.
Chemical Printing automatic - This is most cost effective solution for printing but seems to be limited to the choice of papers.
Those papers that can be found are modern plastic based and there doesn't seem to a true matt finish.
This process is best suited to those wishing for a clean modern reproduction of an old restored photo.
It provides a cheap and fast solution where volume orders are no problem and even have a cost saving.
Home printing - With modern technology the way it is and its advancements the home printer is another option.
Normally unless you have the space, these are limited by the size of the machine.
Whilst you can buy enormous printers that have their own and print from roll paper, most home office or studio users would opt for an A3 machine.
Papers for these machines comes in all manner of finishes and the inks can be archival and produce rich blacks.
Large format specialist printers.
These machines are often found in reproduction and print companies.
They can be fed with 100% cotton, rag rolled, acid free archive paper in large formats.
They use archive inks in many tones and is truly the best way to produce the look and feel of the old prints.
Although this is a modern process it's the best way to preserve your print for the future.
It's expensive but one of the best systems and can claim accreditations such as the Fine Art Trade Guild of quality and last 200 years.
With such a choice of printing methods and media it is up to the photo restoration artist to choose the method that suits the application, taking into account the customer's needs, cost and convenience.
It is still practiced but is a lengthy process and expensive.
It is a hand processed chemical method with prints on fibre paper but has become a bit of a niche market these days.
A great advantage is that it does give photographer a choice of papers to retain that authentic reproduction.
Issues with this method are that for the mainstream consumer the price would be way too much and is probably an impractical due to time scales and the practice is very limited and hard to find.
Prints produced in this manner are long life and authentic to the original.
Chemical Printing automatic - This is most cost effective solution for printing but seems to be limited to the choice of papers.
Those papers that can be found are modern plastic based and there doesn't seem to a true matt finish.
This process is best suited to those wishing for a clean modern reproduction of an old restored photo.
It provides a cheap and fast solution where volume orders are no problem and even have a cost saving.
Home printing - With modern technology the way it is and its advancements the home printer is another option.
Normally unless you have the space, these are limited by the size of the machine.
Whilst you can buy enormous printers that have their own and print from roll paper, most home office or studio users would opt for an A3 machine.
Papers for these machines comes in all manner of finishes and the inks can be archival and produce rich blacks.
Large format specialist printers.
These machines are often found in reproduction and print companies.
They can be fed with 100% cotton, rag rolled, acid free archive paper in large formats.
They use archive inks in many tones and is truly the best way to produce the look and feel of the old prints.
Although this is a modern process it's the best way to preserve your print for the future.
It's expensive but one of the best systems and can claim accreditations such as the Fine Art Trade Guild of quality and last 200 years.
With such a choice of printing methods and media it is up to the photo restoration artist to choose the method that suits the application, taking into account the customer's needs, cost and convenience.
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