Old Photo Restoration

[joaoandre]

Hello,
I restore old photographs digitally, and I was wondering if there was a way to provide my services through different businesses in different locations.
The photos would be sent to me via internet, and I would return the restored photographs the same way.
Any thoughts on how I should go about this?

Thanks for any contributions.

[vangogh]

There's definitely a way to provide services. There are millions of results for "photo restoration" in Google. It's definitely a viable business. I would think most people wanting to restore photographs would want to take them in physically to a store as opposed to sending them in online. Sending them in requires converting them to digital via a scanner, which takes people one step close to being able to restore them on their own.

It sounds like you want to have these places outsource the work to you. So someone brings in photos to their local printer and the printer scans the photos and sends you the digital copies. Many shops will have people on site that do the work, but there's no reason why you can't find enough that will send the work to you.

I'd start by contacting local printers and any other business in your area that does photo restoration. Go in, talk to them, explain what you do, and show examples of your work. They may not have work for you at the moment, but it's a step in networking with them. Make sure you leave a way for them to contact you in the future.

Building a website offering your services is probably a good idea as well. It could serve as a portfolio for any company you want to work with and it could be built up so people could upload images (for those that have converted their photographs to digital). While I think most people would sooner bring things in to a store, some might take the step of converting their images to digital or maybe some even started with digital images.

Mainly you have to figure out who would want to use your services and how they would prefer to work with you. Then you need to figure out how to reach them and let them know about the services you offer and why hiring you would be a good choice.

[Capitalist]

You might also try one of the outsourcing sites - oDesk.com, elancer, etc.

Note that there are lots of people on there doing "restoration" for almost no money. Ignore them. Put your best product out there and set your price, compete on quality.

[cbscreative]

I don't want to be the one throwing a wrench into the gears, but if you target the end user for this service, you need to have some way of dealing with lousy quality scans. When you're dealing with the public, you're going to get all manner of unusable digital files. It seems vangogh's idea of targeting professionals that you can do sub work for is more viable.

[joaoandre]

Thank you very much everyone for your replies. Lot's of very good points.
The thing is (and I probably should have mentioned that), I reside in Portugal, so all business has to be conducted online.
Thanks again,

João

[vangogh]

I do think you can set up a photo restoration business online João. It's just going to be a matter of working with the right clients. The average person may or may not be savvy enough to scan images and send them to you, but printers will and printers will have direct access to people bringing in their photos. I think building relationships with printers will be a good way to start.

That doesn't mean you can't work directly with people. However do be aware not everyone will have access to a scanner or know how to use it. Some definitely will though. You might want to build a website that allows people to upload images so the people who can convert their images into digital versions can send them to you.

If someone were to take an image of their photograph with a digital camera or smart phone would the resulting image be good enough for you to restore it? That might be an easier way for some people to get you the image digitally, though it may mean too much extra work for you.

[joaoandre]

I suppose printers are the best solution. People's scans might work, although photos would not have the quality to be restored and reprinted.
I guess I have to contact some printers. Are there any major printing chains I can reach?

[vangogh]

I have a feeling smaller and local would be the better choice. Just guessing, but I would think larger chains would do all this work in house. Even if they need someone they'd probably want you to work on the premises. You might also want to contact restoration businesses with a physical location. Some might be willing to outsource the restoration work.