At Old Photo Specialist, every restoration and reproduction is completed entirely in our studio. Your original photographs never leave our care and are never outsourced to outside services.

For more than four decades, we have restored historic photographs with a focus on accuracy, longevity, and preservation. Our work includes everything from delicate 19th-century images to recently damaged family photos.

We are especially known for restoring:

Large convex oval portraits
Antique photographs that resemble charcoal or pastel drawings (circa 1920s)
Historic panoramic photographs
Faded or damaged black & white, sepia, color, and oil-tinted prints

With over 60,000 photographs and artworks restored, much of our work comes from repeat clients and word-of-mouth referrals.

Archival Reproductions

Every restored image is reproduced using archival giclée pigment printing, widely regarded as the highest standard for image longevity and color fidelity.

After printing, each piece is carefully dried and then lacquer-finished to provide additional protection against moisture, handling, and environmental exposure.

This process allows our prints to be displayed for decades while maintaining exceptional image quality.

What Restoration Can — and Cannot — Do

Our restoration process can repair many common forms of damage, including:

Tears, cracks, and creases
Fading and discoloration
Surface scratches and stains
Missing or damaged sections

While restoration can significantly improve most images, it is important to understand that a severely blurry original cannot be made perfectly sharp. However, we can often improve clarity and contrast through careful restoration techniques.

Working From Originals

For best results, we strongly recommend bringing the earliest version of the photograph available.

Original prints contain important visual and chemical information that is often lost in copies or low-quality scans. Whenever possible, we work directly from the original before producing an archival reproduction.

Please note that we no longer accept severely faded color copies. Original prints are required for proper restoration.

Our Restoration Process

Unlike many studios that charge separately for scanning, digital repair, and printing, Old Photo Specialist combines the entire restoration process into one comprehensive price.

Our process includes:

Professional scanning or photography of the original
Detailed digital restoration
Archival pigment printing
Protective lacquer finishing

If additional restoration work is required, it is quoted in advance and never exceeds the estimate.

The Importance of Archival Printing

Many modern photo reproductions are simple color copies that can fade quickly when exposed to light. At Old Photo Specialist we produce only archival giclée prints using pigment inks, designed for long-term preservation.

Combined with our lacquer finishing process, these prints offer excellent resistance to sunlight, moisture, and environmental wear.

For families and genealogists preserving historical photographs, archival printing allows important images to be displayed while the originals remain safely stored.

Experience You Can Trust

Old Photo Specialist has worked with historic photographs since the late 1960s. Over decades of restoration work, we have learned that proper materials and careful technique make all the difference in preserving an image.

Under the right conditions, the restoration and preservation of photographs has never been better than it is today.

Our goal is simple:
to ensure the photographs that matter most continue to last for generations.