Visual Heritage offers an extensive range of restoration and reproduction services in Melbourne with an active interest in the care and preservation of photographs and works on paper.

All work is performed digitally using specialised software, digital restoration ensures that your original photograph remains untouched. Time can take its toll on different photographs in a variety of ways. Our experience enables us to handle the repair of all manner of imperfections. We understand that the originals we work with are irreplaceable and the utmost care is taken during handling.

PRINTING

The paper we use is a thick stock archival cotton based paper. Cotton paper is one of the oldest papers used and contains no lignin. Unlike paper made from wood pulp which does contain lignin, this means it won't disintegrate for years. It's a purely matte finish so it tends to bring out more details in the photographs, has the appearance of more contrast, looks brilliant under glass when being framed and can mimic some defunct darkroom papers.

The inks used are exclusively pigmented which means they are also archival. This means a much longer lasting time and fade resistance which is important even when under house lights which do omit UV rays. 

Using this technique also makes it easier to control colour and tone.

Examples of work.

19th century botanical illustration duplicate

Originally derived from a 19th century botanical book, this illustration was at the time hand coloured and stored in an archive until it came to us for reproduction. The original was put into a Mylar sleeve for preservation and rearchived for preservation. The copy was put into a frame with details of the botanic plant.

family digital photo restoration

Brilliant family photo showing the 1930s Australian summer at the beach.  This photo had been damaged through years. We carefully scanned the original and then worked on digitally restoring it by removing the creases, neutralising the tone and subtley bringing out some of the details in their faces which would have been part of the original darkroom process. We try to preserve the integrity of the original but in this case it warrented a bit of variation.

midcentury architectural drawing

An exciting project to work on, this architectural illustration was given to the client with their house purchase. The project was a large piece with objects of flora and figures drawn to scale. The paper and ink had discoloured while the paper had creased significantly. The details were preserved throughout the restoration while the paper was digitally restored, keeping the texture of the paper intact as much as was possible. The colours and pencil were digitally enhanced and where necessary, mimicked. We understood it had a subtle nature. (Finished restoration taken under glass).