A tintype is a photograph made on a sheet of iron (not really tin) instead of on paper. In 1856 Hamilton Smith patented the process for producing tintypes. Most tintypes were sepia colored (light brown). The most common size was about 2 ½ " x 3 ½", although they were made much smaller for lockets and as large as 5x7. Tintypes were popular from1856 until the late nineteenth century when cheaper paper methods and better photographic equipment caused them to disappear as "old technology."
Many tintypes were placed in a paper or cardboard frame while others were used in jewelry or in photo albums. The photographer would frequently clip the corners to make the insertion in the paper or cardboard frame easier. You may find very small tintypes (about postage stamp size) in a photograph album. These were called Gem tintypes. Some schools had photographic albums for their graduating classes and they used the Gem sized tintypes for insertion in the albums. Tintypes were produced in the millions in the United States and are very commonly found today.
After processing, most tintypes were varnished to protect the surface from abrasions and atmospheric conditions. Today you will find that many tintypes that were varnished are experiencing a cracking in the varnish coating. Additionally, handling over 100 years or more have left fingerprints or acid from the skin has etched the surface. Acid from handling also tends to reduce the depth of the image, making it look flatter and duller. Pitting and rusting where varnish has worn off is another problem that restorers encounter. Finally, like any other item stored for years, moisture and dust can collect on tintypes, making them darker and masking detail that may have been in the original image. Examples follow in the next pages.
From the time they were introduced to the early 1900's tintypes were the preferred photographic process used by traveling photographers and by some studios. Tintypes were made mostly for portrait photography because of their relatively low cost and rapid development times, making family pictures affordable for the masses. However, the image quality was not quite as good as other photographic methods.
A frequent question from customers after receiving estimates to restore their loved pictures is "why is it so expensive? I hope the below details of our process help give you a better understanding. Below, left to right, are David, Melissa, and Ida.
The above tintypes are about 2 inches by 2.5 inches and are taped into paper frames with oval openings. They are of varied quality; the image on the right is the best quality while the center one is the darkest. The image on the left, however, as you will see below, is badly pitted and damaged.
The initial work in restoration involves scanning the image into a computer at a very high resolution using a very high-end scanner. The "normal" scanners people buy for their homes do not produce the quality necessary. Special scanning software is also used to enable the best possible starting point for the restoration.
The above images are only 72 dpi (dots per inch) to make them small enough to enable computer uses to view them quickly on the internet. For restoration, the images are typically scanned at anywhere from 600 dpi (large color images) to 6400 dpi (small, locket sized images). Scanning at the extremely high resolutions enables work on more minute detail. The smaller the dpi, the less effective the restoration. This is why it is always preferred that images are mailed to Grand Memories Photo Restorations for us to scan, rather than sending them via email.
This image (below) was a charm, one inch in diameter, that was in poor condition. It was scanned at 6400 dpi for restoration.
Closer scans of some of the images show you details of the damage that isn't visible to the naked eye just from a scan. The first image, at normal exposure, is still quite dark. The second image, and even closer scan, has been brightened to reveal the detail better. This image is David, from above.
These are closer images of Ida from above, the best quality of the four tintypes:
While the damage is less, it is still substantial. Here are closer images of Melissa, albeit very dark:
Even with lightened exposure, the image of Melissa is dark and show extreme damage. Finally, here is how the Charm looked:
After scanning the image at the high resolution, it is opened in Adobe Photoshop software. It is here that the "magic" is done. Most images exceed 100MB in size and require a powerful computer with at least 2 GB of RAM (memory) and a (or two) very large hard drive for storage. It also helps a lot to have two monitors for the detailed work.
Using Photoshop, the restorer has to "zoom in" to extreme close-ups of the image. At these close-ups, the actual image is not usually discernable. All one can see is dots and lines of various colors. The restorer must choose good portions of the image and use them to correct the damaged areas nearby. After a few dozen corrections, the restorer must zoom back out to see if the corrections were effective or if there were errors in his choices. If they were not what was desired, the restorer must "undo" the work and start again. Frequent saving of the file is imperative (hence the need for much hard drive space)! This process is repeated hundreds of times for each restoration.
There are many other methods used by restorers to make the images look good, including "painting" where images are not repairable, adjusting color tones, brightness, contrast, sharpness, blurring, smoothing, blending, and much more. The work is much more art than science, although computers are the brushes and paint used.
Many images such as those above could take anywhere from 10 to 50 hours to complete. While quicker work is possible, it is usually not as satisfactory. Imagine painting a portrait of a family member. You would want to take time and use brushes of various size. The same is true with restoration. If images are restored at low resolutions (the quicker methods), it is like painting a portrait with a large brush. It is hard to get any detail to show in such a case. And the results will be much more abstract than realistic.
The most difficult part of any restoration of people are the faces and hands. If eyes are badly damaged or obscured, the job of restoring the image may not be accepted by Grand Memories. The eyes are the "window to the soul," and if they are not restored exactly right, the whole image will be wrong. Noses, mouths, ears, and hands are also important and difficult. These areas take longer than other parts of an image and, like the eyes, if they are too badly damaged, the restoration request may be turned down.
Backgrounds are often brushed, smoothed, and blurred rather than restored. This can be done much quicker and therefore they lower the costs of restoration. If backgrounds are too detailed and need to be restored, the cost can climb quickly.
One other point needs to be made about restoration. It is tedious, detailed work that requires concentration and a keen mind. After one to two hours of work, it is not possible to continue on an image without a break. Sometimes restoring images can be frustrating with several "undos" required to make a particular part of the image correct. At that point, the restorer must step away and give the work rest- sometimes for a day or two.
It really isn't possible to know ahead of time how well the images will meet the satisfaction level of customers. Like any painting, the eye of the artist will be different than that of the consumer. Restoring an image such as these above is a challenge met with pride and determination. Grand Memories always hopes our customers will be satisfied. Let's looks at some stages of restoration next.
Remember how badly damaged "David" was (see above)? After about two hours of work, the "easy" parts of his face have been completed. But the image is still dark. It is not usually adjusted for contrast, color tones. sharpness, brightness, or other more broadly applied methods until restoration is completed. Nonetheless, for this example, the image is brightened, too, just to present the details better. The hair will be extremely difficult and, because of the damage, will not show texture but will be smooth and dark in any restoration.
And the same situation for "Ida" from above:
You can see the vast improvement after restoration is started, but you may also notice the imperfections. Some of these can be smoothed at a later time, but imperfections will occur in the process until hundreds of hours are spent on an image and that just isn't practical.
The restoring of Ida is much easier than that of David. But the charm was the worst of all. It required imagination and artistic license. After more than 23 hours of work, this was the result:
Estimates for restoration services include a FREE 8x10 print sheet of your choice. It can be an 8x10 (not recommended from small images with much damage such as these), two 5x7s, a sheet of wallets, or combinations such as one 5x7 and two 4x5s. The estimates also include a FREE CD ROM with several images from the restoration work. This enables the customer to obtain other prints or send pictures via email to other family members. And, of course, the estimate includes all the time and effort required to restore the picture (s).
The above tintypes would require extensive restoration services. The charm would cost between $400 and $500 because of the extreme time involved. The tintype of David would fall in the same range, as would Melissa. Both are in very poor condition and would require a lot of work.
The image of Ida is not as bad and could probably be completed in 8 to 10 hours. The estimate for Ida would be between $150 and $200.
Grand Memories hopes this information is helpful to you in understanding the work involved in photo restoration. We appreciate your business.
GRAND MEMORIES PHOTO RESTORATIONS