Ancestor Portraits
Sun-Bleached Ancestor Portraits
A sun-bleached ancestor portrait is a common case: a frame on a sunny wall or a windowsill, where ultraviolet light broke the dyes down year after year leaves a washed-out image with almost no contrast, sometimes with a darker stripe where the mat protected it, and ancestor portraits from the 1850s to 1910s were rarely stored well enough to escape it.
Faded Photo Fixer is the tool for sun-bleached ancestor portraits: it targets a washed-out image with almost no contrast, sometimes with a darker stripe where the mat protected it and leaves the rest of the ancestor portrait alone. Output follows the shape of the upload, so the features, the period clothing and the studio props end up where they always were in the sun-bleached original.
Scan the sun-bleached ancestor portrait flat, or photograph it and run Photo-of-a-Photo Fixer first, so the sun bleaching is the only thing left to repair. The ancestor portraits come back in seconds, and the 4 free credits on sign-up cover the first Standard pass at the sun bleaching.
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.
What matters for these photos
- A sun-bleached ancestor portrait needed for a memorial, an anniversary or a reprint
- A washed-out image with almost no contrast, sometimes with a darker stripe where the mat protected it, spread over a ancestor portrait
- A sun-bleached ancestor portrait that is the only copy anyone has
- The features, the period clothing and the studio props, hidden under the sun bleaching
Suggested order of passes
- 01
Remove the sun bleaching
Faded Photo Fixer targets a washed-out image with almost no contrast, sometimes with a darker stripe where the mat protected it while keeping the features, the period clothing and the studio props in the ancestor portrait untouched.
Faded Photo Fixer - 02
Repair the rest of the ancestor portrait
Tintype & Daguerreotype Restoration addresses the usual wear on ancestor portraits, silver mirroring, a tarnished tintype surface and cabinet-card mounts that have gone brittle, once the sun bleaching is gone.
Tintype & Daguerreotype Restoration - 03
Upscale the ancestor portrait for reprinting
Adds the pixels a wall print needs after the sun bleaching repair, with the shape of the sun-bleached ancestor portraits unchanged.
Image Upscaler
This subject, by damage type
Questions
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