How to Work from a Scan of a Mold-Damaged Photo
By ImgHeal · Updated
Use an existing scan safely and distinguish digital cleanup from treatment of an original with suspected mold.
Protect the original first
If an original smells musty or shows fuzzy, powdery, or spreading spots, isolate it from other family materials and avoid brushing or blowing on it. Digital restoration is not mold treatment. Use an existing scan when available and seek qualified preservation advice for the object.
Record the visible damage
Keep the full scan as a condition record. Note where spots, losses, and stains appear before making a working copy. Do not remove every irregular mark automatically; some may be image detail, paper texture, or evidence of the photograph's condition.
Review the digital result
Review cleaned areas at normal size and close up. Check faces, patterned clothing, and writing for repeated texture or invented edges. Preserve the unedited scan and describe the result as a digital viewing copy.
Check before you finish
- Keep the affected original away from other photos.
- Work from a duplicate of the scan.
- Do not describe digital cleanup as mold removal.
Further reading
- Library of Congress: Care, Handling, and Storage of PhotographsSafe handling guidance for photographic originals; a digital edit does not conserve the physical object.
Continue with a related guide
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