Restoration of silver gelatin prints in the digital era: An innovative approach

One of the most common physical damage in silver gelatin prints is losses which occurs due to many deterioration factors (i.e. rodent attack, improper handling, fire, etc.). Conventionally, conservators compensated for the losses by making paper infills. While this method improves the physical structure of the treated print, it creates an unacceptable appearance due to the large contrast between the tone of the original photograph and the blank paper. Manual retouching of the missing part does not provide a better solution either, since it is achieved using a different medium (i.e. watercolors, ink washes, conté crayons, pastels, and graphite). Many conservators are now aware of the advantages of digital restoration in treating old photographs. Hence, the importance of this study, which focuses mainly on modifying conventional methods used to treat losses by combining it with a digital restoration technique. The concept of this idea is solely based on the authors' vision. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed novel technique. Experiments were carried out on two old photographs of no significant value. Both photographs suffered from losses, particularly around the edges. Missing parts were digitally restored using Adobe Photoshop Software. Restored image data was then printed on Japanese paper using two types of printers: inkjet and laser. Samples or each printing process was exposed to artificial aging at a temperature of 80° and 65% relative humidity for a period of 120 hours to study the long-term efficacy of the proposed technique; as well as the effects it has on silver gelatin prints. Several examination and analysis methods were carried out for technique evaluation including: visual inspection, scanning electron microscope equipped with an EDX unit, attenuated total Reflectance Fourier transform Infrared (ATRFTIR), colorimetric measurements, pH value measurement, and the Oddy test. Based on obtained results, laser printing is much more stable compared to inkjet printing; and therefore, it is considered the best option for this technique. All in all, one can conclude that the proposed technique is a very promising technique which can be efficiently used to restore losses in damaged photographic prints with slight effects on the original photograph.