What Can You Do If Your Photo Is Sticking To Glass?

The digital photo restoration process will restore a photo stuck to glass and repair any damage caused.
But if your lucky you may be able to remove a photo stuck to glass,
if they are still wet.

How To Remove A Photo Stuck To Glass?

First thing to remember is that when photographs are wet the surface emulsion becomes soft and when two smooth surfaces meet they are very sticky like glue and when inserted back in water they will be easy to remove.
So we must remember do not let the photos dry out.
If your photo dries, it could be stained and stuck to each other or the glass that they are in contact with, removing them without causing more damage may be impossible and you will need to digitally repair photo damage.
When older photographs were developed with chemicals the last step the photographer performed is the wash, with water.
So gently rinse the photo in water use your fingers gently rub the photo in a try of water to clean, do not use anything else that may scratch the emulsion, use your hand so you can feel if the emulsion is comming off, if it is you will not be able to fix the damaged photo physically.
Now remove your photographs from the water, one at a time.
Hang your prints up to dry, or use a hair dryer blowing the air on both sides as the paper curls flip the photo over and repeat this untill the photo is dry.
Due to some water damage condition such as stains some prints may suffer permanent damage.
Make a copy of the photo before starting to remove the photo from the glass, just in case you run into problems. Soaking in plain water will work if the print has not been stuck to the glass for a long time.

Sometimes we get photos which have been stuck to the glass for many years these are much more difficult to remove. You can try to add photoflo to the water. Photoflo is the final rinse used when developing film, personaly I dont like to use it as a a final rinse because it leaves a chemical layer on your photos. Some say it helps the water penetrate into the emulsion that is stuck to the glass. If you use it let the print soak for a hour but keep checking it because if you leave it too long it can disolve or disintegrate the emulsion. Take extreame care, with gentle handling and lots of patience when trying to remove wet photos.

Warnings when trying Physical removal of a photo stuck to glass:

If the photograph has any mold damage do not soak it in water because it can break down the image in those areas. Different print types. The 1930 date is a good one to start with. These are very sensitive to water and may just wash away when they get wet so these are not good to wet. Use Q-tips and a little bit of water in small areas to test to see if it will cause the emulsion to come off or staining on older prints like the 1935 era. Some times the photograph will be completely lost and that is a risk one will have to take when trying to remove a photo stuck to glass.
Resin-coated paper (RC paper)
prints are a little easier to work with. Then the print can simply be hung with a clothes pin in a dust free environment for drying or use a hair dryer on low heat and dry on both sides I have done this many times and is a lot faster that waiting for the prints to dry. Photo-flo allows the print to dry spot free (the primary reason for it's use).
Fiber based prints
which is what many older black and white prints are, the print should be put between clean blotting type paper with weight on it to dry, and not hung like the RC print because it will curl like crazy. Photos stuck to glass or photos stuck to photos is one of the hardest things to deal with. When Water damaged photo emulsions stick to each other they become unseperateable.
The buttom line here is yes you can remove photos stuck to glass only when they are still wet. But If they are dry in doing so may do more damage than you want.

What Is The best way to repair a photo stuck to glass?

The bottom line to restore a photo stuck to glass is forget about trying to remove the photo from the glass, in most cases you will not be able to do so. So the best way to repair a photo stuck to glass is to restore the damaged photo without even removing it from the glass broken or not and scanning it then restore the flaws digitally.
If you need to restore your photo stuck to glass.
Contact Us we will be happy to do the photo restoration work for you and save you the time.

Thanks
Brian


If you decide to follow these guidelines to remove a photo stuck to glass Brians Gallery assumes no responsibility or liability for any treatment or damage to photos you may do.

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