Blow it up!

One of the difficult things about identifying old family pics Is that they small, really small....like 2.25 x 3.25 inches. Add in blur, exposure, natural aging, dust, fingerprints, sunlight and eventual abandonment it can seem close to impossible to identify.

Old Family photo that is about 2x3 inches in size

So what do I do? I blow them up. What I mean is that I scan them at a very high resolution essentially taking a very small picture and enlarging it 2-4 times its original size. This photo is the size I mentioned, while it is relatively clear there is fading and some sort of yuck on the left. Still...I see this picture and I am in love with their house...checkout out that trim! More importantly this unlabeled picture came with my grandmother's and hence great grandmothers pictures. I know it is a photo of family and family she was close to.

So I scanned this at 1200 dpi. To give some context...the higher the number the bigger it can be printed and the more detail saved. An average computer picture uploaded to the web is 72dpi. It will be seen online but is not meant to be printed. The average printed photo with be between 240-300 dpi. It gives a nice crisp image and is great for your average print. Anything larger is more for detail....and I needed detail. I needed to get up close and personal with these people.

After scanning them do some simple clean up: tweak the contrast, the exposure. A little of this and that and make them as sharp as possible. Doing it this way allows for me to really examine a picture.

Family photo scanned at 1200dpi and lightened up

This original is 2x3 inches.

The blown up version is 6x7 and because of the high resolution I can zoom in and get a look. Essentially I am using the camera as a magnifying glass and peering at a 1inch section of a very small photo.

There they are! I can see eyes, eyebrows and facial shapes. I can take a good educated guess (because I know my family tree) who this is....my great great Aunt Jenny and her husband William and their youngest daughter Julia.

Close up of family photo

This is a part of photo management I love. I am the family keeper of photos. Many people want nothing to do with old photos and just toss them. That always makes me so sad. It is not only a peek into the past but a peek at the people in your family and where they came from.

I understand that many people don't have the tools or time and that is why I do what I do. I can help. I can sort, organize, research, and set up albums, family trees, or create books of favorite memories. You don't have the time but I do! Contact me if you are interested!