Greetings Everyone!

I have been given a batch of photos from a friend to fix up. Most are simple color cast / tone / exposure problems. However some of the photos have, ummm, 'junk' on them. Looks like glue from scotch tape on a few, another has some 'crusty' yellowish material - almost looks like a hair was on the photo and collected what looks like mustard. A few shots that we agreed were wortless we tried using q-tips and distilled water to breakdown the matter. It worked a bit, but I'm worried about this damaging the other pics - is there a recognized 'safe' way to clean these before scanning?

Thanks!

Doug

(I'm an absolute newbie to restoration, but learning. RP and all of it's fine members have taught me a lot - but <sigh> still have so far to go...)

The safest way is to scan the prints at high resolution, then check the individual channels for the problem. Stains can usually be cleaned up pretty well without taking the chance of damaging the original image. If you need help with the stains, there are a lot of magicians on the site to help. It's best to attach the image to your post if you need help. Good luck. Welcome to RP!

Ed

Ed...

Thanks for the welcome! It's nice to be here - and everyone is so kind! :-) Nice place to hang and learn.

Of course, thanks for the advice too. I'll post a scan tomorrow, they're not at my current location. The photos aren't really stained so much as there is obvious 'goo' on some photos, glue from tape, and a few have other 'matter' on the surface. One shot feels like a topographical map with this yellowish dirt - I thought it might be easier to repair (scan) after first removing this debris as, in a few shots, it completely obscures the image data.

Thanks!

Doug