Problem Photo Stuck to Glass

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Paulette Pyron

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Apr 2, 2008
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Lytle, Texas
A friend brought in a picture of Al Capone and his gang of buddies attending a Chicago Cubs baseball game. He and his "group" are all seated in the stands and Al is talking to an as yet unidentified ball player. The photo is stuck to the glass of the frame it was in. Anybody have any ideas on getting it "unstuck"?
 
Be careful with this one. The best remedy is to scan the image through the glass and make a copy.

We have had very limited success removing photos stuck to glass. Typically we just make copies. It could be VERY disastrous to attempt this, especially with what could be a historically significant photo.

Make sure to suggest spacers when re-framing the copy. That should prevent the problem from happening again the future.

GOOD LUCK!!
 
Get it to a paper or photo conservator (most paper conservators can deal with this, most of the time). Don't mess around with it yourself, especially if it has any age to it at all. There's a paper conservation program in Austin, so there ought to be conservators around.
 
I have in the past had mixed results with soaking the photo and glass in water overnight. BUT I wouldn't do this with something that is valuable, mainly with family photos.

Best thing, scan it through the glass and go from there.

Personally if I had a photo stuck to glass I would take it to a photographer that dealt with film,not a digital photographer. Let the person that works in that medium deal with it. I just had a pastel artist gingerly carry a pane of glass into the shop, wearing silicone oven mitts and looking scared to death while carrying it :) I just took it and carried it no problem.

Then I saw some schmutz on her pastel. I kind of got all freaked out and very wearily pointed at it, nervous about touching, and ruining her work. She just swept it off with her thumb and blended it in.

Reason for the ramble? Obviously let those that know the medium answer the question :) Probably worth the $5 -$50 bucks to get in good with a photographer you can count on.
 
Thanks all of you for you input. I am not going to do anything with this photo at this time. I did google it and I do not think it is of any value. One guy had 5 copies to sell on ebay and hadn't had any takers! I told my friend what y'all told me and left it up to him to find a conservator. I would copy it and frame it if that is what he wants but I don't think so. He is trying to find that $1,000,000. piece of art at all the flea markets. But it is good info to know. Thanks again.
 
I do know that Digital Custom has trouble restoring photos scanned through glass. The last time we had one of these, we came up with a solution that worked for the customer and for us. She gave her permission for us to do the following:

First we scanned through the glass.

Then we gingerly removed the photo from the glass, knowing that a half inch would separate at the bottom and remain on the glass. Remember, this was OK with the customer.

Then we scanned the bulk of the photo that we were able to remove.

Then we sent both images to Digital Custom. They were able to use the image scanned through glass as a guide to recreate the missing pieces of the photo.

It came out perfectly.

I would not do this with a valuable historic photo, but for an old family photo where a good reproduction was desired, this solution worked well.
 
Black and white photos and water can be a good mix....

Color photos and water is a big nono.....the emulsion on the photo "melts" and that's what causes the photo to stick to the glass.
 
I have digitally restored a number of images scanned through glass without any problem, it's just time consuming. I charge a nice fee. :)
 
Scan and fix it digitally, then reprint. I am working on one right now.

Previously, I have tried to dampen the photo with emulsion cleaner and a q-tip, which doesnt work either.

Ernesto
 
If you are going to attempt to soak it and it is a color print you may wan tto try and get some stabalizer from a mini lab to soak it in and then rinse with water. I have had zero luck getting a pic off of glass.

Good luck
 
Most black and white photos on fiber based paper will eventually just float off of the glass if left to soak. I have never had any luck with color photos and RC paper is terrible.
 
If you would like to post a digital copy of the picture or send me the file I may be able to help you identify the player in question. Perhaps we could give your customer a bonus.
 
It will be nice to know how much you charge customer for such work as removing from glas and reprint.
 
Oh come on people!

A razor knife and some windex and that piece of glass will be like brand new!

What? :shrug:

:party:
 
:faintthud:
 
"scan through the glass" is silly. Set up your polarized copy lamps and polarized lens and photograph the surface of the print just like you would any other framed piece behind glass. Better results than playing around with the depth and focus with a scanner.

Images stuck to glass go to a conservator. Doing it yourself is an invitation to disaster. Just when you are sure the print isn't really worth anything the customer will insist it is priceless for some reason.
 
I have never had much luck removing the stuck photos. When they are of no particular value, we have done what Kirstie mentioned above. The process was explained to the customer and they were thrilled with the results.
 
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