Photographs dating back to the Civil War often exhibit fading, chemical deterioration, and silver mirroring. Because of their historical significance, those photographs receive careful consideration and the utmost care to preserve accuracy and integrity.
This portrait of cavalrymen was unceremoniously cropped to fit a frame, leaving only half of the gallant soldier in the picture. Perhaps later, the photograph was taken out of the frame and subjected to some careless handling. Cracks and folds developed on the surface of the photograph that someone tried to repair by applying common masking tape to the back of the photo. Within a short time, the chemicals from the adhesive penetrated the paper and caused discoloration of the photo emulsion layer.
Fortunately for the customer who was interested in restoring this photograph to its original appearance, digital photo editing makes it possible to restore even the most heavily damaged photographs. Careful retouching removed the unsightly fading stains, and the cracks and folds were touched up to seamlessly blend with the undamaged surrounding areas.
Upon completion of the retouching, the final image was color corrected to remove the yellow tone that so many old photographs acquire over the years. Fine-art natural rug paper with a texture similar to that of the original photograph was selected to produce prints that, with proper display, would last for many years to come without fading or deterioration.