onto the paper and some onto album pages about 20 years ago. Is there a way to remove them without ruining the pics? I would like to put them in archival albums?
2007-08-11 18:44:39 · 9 answers · asked by niecie 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
It would be ideal if you had the original negatives so that you can have them reprinted, but I am assuming they are gone. In this case then I would suggest before you do anything to have the images scanned.
After this what I would do is proceed to get a rubbermaid box and a humidifier. The basic concept is that you are going to place a sheet of photos inside the box and gradually increase the humidity inside the box until the glue sepparates from the paper. As there are a myriad of different types of humidifiers and rubbermaid containers you will have to use your imagination as to how to setup the humidifier box. By the way this is a technique which will also work with images affixed to glass.
The one thing which you really want to avoid is heat, as excessive heat will destroy the emulsion of the photograph. As these photos are most likely RC prints, or resin coated prints they are quite durable as they have an almost plastic like quality to them unlike older yet more aesthetically pleasing fiber based prints.
On a final note if the humidifier doesn't cause the glue to sepparate from the photo there is one final thing you can do. You can always immerse the paper and the photos into a pan of cold water. The key is to use cold water because hot water will cause the emulsion on the photo to peel. All photos whether you are talking about RC prints or Fiber based prints do in fact go through a water bath so as to clean any excessive chemicals off them in particular fix. Allowing the photos to immerse in cold water should cause the paper to disentegrate but at the same time the paper which is not archivally safe will release acids into the water. Once the paper is fully saturated with water you can peel the photo from the paper. Once you peel the photo from the paper I would suggest you run the photos in a continually bath of cold water for a few minutes to get rid of any acids which may have leached into the paper or surface. Anyhow like I said before you begin any of these procedures get the images scanned first without having the photos in hand and doing an evaluation of what process would work the best, it is hard to say which procedure to take.
2007-08-11 19:18:32 · answer #1 · answered by wackywallwalker 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Depending on what kind of glue it is, you might try using dental floss -- very carefully! You can tie each end of the floss onto a pencil or something to keep from cutting off the circulation in your fingers. I recently did this successfully with some old family pictures that I wanted to put on CDs to share with other family members.
2007-08-12 01:57:37 · answer #2 · answered by Frosty 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You will ruin them to try to pull or steam them off. Instead, scan them into the computer, then re-print them on photo paper. The glue your mom used is not likely to be acid free, which means the acid will eventually yellow the photos, and may ruin them. You could also put your photos onto a CD or DVD to preserve them.
Once you have preserved them, print your photos out in black and white on regular paper. Then use colored pencils to colorize them in lots of fun ways. Print them out on a half sheet, then fold it in half and make it into a card to send to your family for birthdays and holidays.
2007-08-12 02:02:08 · answer #3 · answered by Jeanne B 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They won't come off without ripping the photos but I took a cutting board and just cut them out of the albums, backing and all. It just makes a thicker paper and doesn't look bad. You can still use them.
2007-08-12 01:51:18 · answer #4 · answered by 'Sunnyside Up' 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
umm I dont know but you can cut around the album pages. the picture will be thicker but you wont risk the chance of ruining a picture
2007-08-12 01:50:00 · answer #5 · answered by dizzo92 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i don't know of a way but you can scan it and print out another one..
my dad scans all our pics(and i mean ALL) and saves them in his computer so that even though the original pics get destroyed, he knows that we can always print another one just like the original.. it's a good idea, though, you need a really nice scanner.
2007-08-12 01:51:20 · answer #6 · answered by *koLaSA* 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would try prying them loose very carefully with an exacto knife.
2007-08-12 01:53:15 · answer #7 · answered by *Freedom* 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
On a particularly humid day they should come off like magic!
But if it isn't humid, I would use a blow dryer and heat up the glue to take it off.
Good luck!
2007-08-12 01:50:41 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Sorry, but that ain't glue.
2007-08-12 01:51:56 · answer #9 · answered by mike 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋