A family treasure brought back to life

Historic documents, such as marriage and birth certificates, also fall subject to the ravages of time.

Sophisticated scanners and software, in combination with professional artistic and technical skills, make it possible to digitally restore such documents.

This marriage certificate was especially difficult to restore due to two major issues. First, the  original printed document text had faded to the point where it was impossible to bring it back. I had to retype the text, using a similar font.

Second, the scotch tape marks were darker than the rest of the background. After many hours of work, I was able to isolate the design elements and the handwritten text from the background. I was then able to create a new background, similar to the original, to bring it all together.

I also needed to repair missing graphic elements, such as missing parts of the ribbon and roses.