Decades
Restore photos from the 1890s
The 1890s are where amateur snapshots begin: round and then rectangular Kodak prints of picnics, porches and bicycles, alongside the last formal cabinet cards. The common formats of the 1890s were cabinet cards, cyanotypes and Kodak roll-film contact prints.
Small 1890s contact prints are soft and short on detail, gelatin prints mirror and yellow, and cyanotypes fade if they were ever kept in the light. Scan 1890s prints once at a high resolution, by the edges, and let the restoration work on the copy.
Photo Restoration is the usual first tool for a 1890s print, then Face Restoration and the upscaler in the Studio if it is going into a frame. The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard restoration of a 1890s photo.
Original on the left, restored on the right; hover to see more of the repair. Made in the Studio from a scan of the print.
Print and file requirements
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dominant process | Dry plates and celluloid roll film; gelatin printing-out and developing-out papers |
| Common formats | Cabinet card, cyanotype, Kodak snapshot contact print, stereo card |
| Color | Monochrome; blue cyanotypes; warm gelatin printing-out paper |
| Cameras | Kodak No. 2 (1889), Bulls-Eye, Pocket Kodak (1895) |
| Typical size | 3.5 x 3.5 in Kodak No. 2 square; 4.25 x 6.5 in cabinet |
| Typical condition today | Soft small prints, mirroring, faded cyanotypes |
What matters for these photos
- Soft small prints, mirroring, faded cyanotypes on 1890s prints
- Faces in 1890s group and studio photos that are too small to enlarge
- 1890s tones drifted to brown or yellow, with the whites gone
- A single 1890s print that is the family's only copy, with no negative to go back to
Suggested order of passes
- 01
Run Photo Restoration on the 1890s scan
Targets the most common failure of 1890s prints: soft small prints, mirroring, faded cyanotypes.
Photo Restoration - 02
Repair the marks left on the 1890s print
A second pass for the scratches, creases and fading that 1890s prints usually carry together.
Scratch & Tear Repair - 03
Restore the faces
1890s faces are often small; natural strength keeps them soft and believable, strong rebuilds tiny ones.
Face Restoration - 04
Upscale for reprinting
3.5 x 3.5 in Kodak No. 2 square; 4.25 x 6.5 in cabinet is small for a frame; the upscaler adds the pixels with the 1890s shape unchanged.
Image Upscaler
Questions
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