How Do You Flatten Out Old Photos?

Question

I've decided to scan in family photos from 1900-1970. Many of the photos are curled up to the point they need to be flattened out before scanning. Is there a good way to do this?

I don't want to take the photos to a conservator or anything. Yes, they are important to my family, but there are hundreds upon hundreds of photos so it would be costly. Also, putting them between pages of books or under a heavy object wont really work either as some of the photos are almost curled shut.

Answer 1

When grams passed away she had hundreds of old photos that were curled. We took wet towels, wrung them out as much as we could (two of us twisting it, hard). Laid the pics on a dry towel face down and put a dry dish towel on top, (they are thin) then the damp towel on top. Depending on how humid it is in your area it can take any time from five/six hours to overnight. The backing has to become humid enough to be able to uncurl the photo without cracking it.

Grams had a beveled glass on her dining room table, so we placed waxed paper on the table, flattened the pictures face down on the waxed paper and sloooooooowly placed the beveled glass top over them while a third person kept straightening and flattening them as we brought the glass down. We let it set overnight. Most of the pictures slid off the glass with the waxed paper, but some we had to carefully scrape off with a razor blade or a thin paint spatula.

It took three of us four days to do this because we could only get three to four hundred pictures on the table at once. Once they were straightened out we put them in photo albums in the best chronological order we could and Alpha-numerically numberd the albums and pictures. The rest of the family went through the albums and wrote down the ones they wanted copies of. This was in the early 70's.

Once they were flattened, scanning them into the computer would be so much easier and less expensive. Hope this gives you an idea. We kinda lucked out with the beveled glass top.

Answer 2

I wouldn't iron them flat. If they are old they could crack. I think the scanner sound be able to flatten them when you scan them. Or you could place another piece of glass on top of the picture before you scan it. That should help flatten them. even a piece of Mat board.. Good Luck and Happy Holidays.

Answer 3

get an iron and put it on the lowest thing, then flip your photo on the back try 2 straight it as much as u can then put the iron on it for a second, and trust me nothing will burn I did it before but like i said EXACTLY a second, DONT hold longer than that, it might mess up photo. well u know what i mean 1-5 seconds, but try 1 second first if it doesnt do it again but lift quick, hope this helps

Answer 4

i would not flatten them as they might crack