New Life to Old Memories: Some of our Favorite Photo Restoration Projects

Maybe it's the nerd in me, but I'm so excited about this post. Over the past few months, we've had the privilege of putting lives on the wall in a really cool way: by bringing new life to photos that tell some valuable stories.

I'm not talking about 'old' vacation pics on your computer from 5 years ago, and I'm not talking about printing on the same material at the same size. I'm talking about scanning, fixing up, enhancing, and reproducing aged, damaged photos in a BIG way.

How old and how big? Glad you asked, because I'd love to show you just a little bit of what we've done.

Lyon County Historical Society

If you haven't been to the new Lyon County Museum, do yourself a favor and check it out. Not just because our work is there, but because there's some incredible history ready to be rediscovered. Right now, the early healthcare in the county is being highlighted, with the help of several 6-foot-tall panels designed, printed, and installed by us. (Content of the panels was provided by Jennifer Andries.)

The first panel you'll see when entering the exhibit. 

For just about all of the panels, we scanned, enhanced, and enlarged a series of photographs several decades old. They included doctor notes, staff portraits, building pictures, and much more. By scanning them at a high DPI, we were able to preserve the detail of the images incredibly well, allowing us to blow up even an 8"x10" (approx.) photo to 12 FEET wide.

An 8"x10" photo before we edited & enhanced it. Note the scratches & creasing. 

The print-ready digital file, removed of major flaws. 

The 12-foot-wide finished product, on display! 

WWII Submarine Print 

This one was brought to us by Tom Geske of Marshall, and initially, we didn't have much hope for it. It's an old print of a submarine he purchased a while back. It had been folded up and stored for quite some time, so it had significant creases in it. To make it harder, we didn't have a flatbed scanner capable of scanning it. 

But, with a digital camera and some quality time with Photoshop, we managed to not only enhance the image, but remove nearly all the creases and fix it up quite a bit. In the end, it was reproduced into a 48"x36" stretched canvas print, ready to be displayed & enjoyed. 

The print in its original state, creased and faded. 

 The print-ready image, edited & enhanced.

The finished canvas print.

Family Memory Lifewall Canvas

C.J. Molitor has a great family with some great memories, and we had a great time putting together a canvas collage (Lifewall Canvas) featuring just a handful of those memories. This finished print wasn't that large itself, but it did entail enhancing quite a few photos. Here are just a couple of them. 

KirPatrick's Pub & Grill

Aside from all of these, we've had a few other projects involving reproducing old photos. KirtPatrick's Pub & Grill in Balaton, MN ordered this series of canvas prints, plus a few more not pictured. All offer a taste of Balaton history.

Here are just a few of the prints we reproduced for KirPatrick's.

....More to Come!

We're already in talks with multiple business interested in bringing their stories to life. Stay tuned for more to come! 

If you're interested in getting a print restored & reproduced, stop by, give us a call, email us, or submit a form online. We absolutely love helping people and places tell the stories of how they came to be, and reminding them of the history they have yet to make.

Categories: canvas prints, for business, photo restoration, wall murals