Frequently Asked Questions by Blue Bottle Photo Works

How do I prepare photos for mailing?

How do I prepare photos for scanning and emailing?

-------Why should I choose Blue Bottle Photo Works to restore my photo?
What makes us unique and good at what we do, is the years of art and photography work experience we
have. We understand about the composition of a photo, the line of a check bone, the shadowing of light
direction, the hues and colors that make a great photo. We respect our work and respect your memories.

-------What are "Photo Progression Checks"?
That is just our terminology for emailing work in progress for you to view and give us feedback on the
project. This is a practice of ours to always keep you informed of how your service order is going.

-------I can't get my photo out of it's frame. Do I ship the whole thing?
Yes, it is best to ship anything that is stuck or attached to your photo. You may cause irreparable damage
if you try to free it yourself. We will not try to free it either. But our scanning equipment will be able
to retrieve the photo.

-------I am apprehensive about mailing my photos. I only have the one copy.
Is there another way of doing it?
There is always a way to work things out. Our suggestion is take your photos to an office supply store
or copy center. They will be able to scan the photos for you. Read our information on scanning photos.
Have them scan at 600 DPI and ask them to put the files on a cd disk. Scanning at 600 DPI will give us
more flex if you want to make enlargements later on. Then mail us the disk for us to work off of.
Your photos will never leave your office. ALL work is done "in house" and never farmed out.

-------Can I get an 8X10 copy of a wallet size photo?
Normal rule of thumb, you can enlarge a small photo to twice it's size without loosing detail or quality.
It is usually best to see the photo and go through some options available on our scanner to see what
we can do size wise. Photos have so many variables to them. Then we will be happy to email you and
let you know what we find out.

-------Can you restore a very old document my grandfather had? It is brittle.
Yes we can. We would suggest mailing it to us.The original would not be altered in any way. It is a
digital process. If we have the document in-house, we can decide if it is able to be scanned or if we
need to photograph it in sections. We have had real good luck with our section photography process
on old documents.

-------Part of my photo is missing, can you recreate an area?
In most cases, yes. We can follow the detail and add in areas. If you are missing a part that you have
in another photo, please send it as well. Any information will help to make your repaired photo look
natural and not repaired.

-------I have been shopping around and some restoration sites "after photos" look painted
and not real. Why is that?
Everyone restores photos in their own way. Maybe the site did not have much to work with in the before
photo. Some photos are beyond bringing them back to original. But, you can "over" fix a photo, and you
will loose the realism of the photo. You have to know when to say when and not mess with the photo
anymore. We will not commit on a particular site.

-------I have a wedding photo of my grandparents. It was black and white but is dingy yellow now.
Can I get it restored and would it be ok to order the print on glossy paper?
Yes, we offer different print mediums, including gloss and lustre (semi-gloss) photo paper. There is no
hard and fast rule for gloss versus semi-gloss. When this photo was originally made, matte was used.
BUT, they didn't have the choices we have today. It is really your choice. You need to take into consideration
where the photo is going to be displayed, the lighting in the room, the angle it will most be viewed at,
the decor of the room, etc. etc. We will print your photo on whatever medium you wish.

-------What is the advantage to transferring my home movies to DVD?
VHS was the best media in its day. But, every time you play your video it looses a little bit of quality.
It's not noticeable at first. Over time, it is very noticeable. VHS also has a tendency to get stuck in the player,
ultimately ruining the tape. VHS tapes have a life span of approx. 20 years, depending on their environment.
Technology has brought us DVD's. They do not loose quality with use, and are estimated to last 100 years.
DVD's take up very little space compared to VHS. Most people keep an extra copy in a safe deposit box,
"just in case". This guarantees the safety of your memories. With climate changes and diverse weather
conditions, this is a good ideal for photos too.