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I've been trying out an idea for a bit of a close-up bizarre/spiritual/medium type of routine. Not normally my thing but I'm just dangling my toes in the water here. For this idea though I'm after a very specific old photograph. I'd rather not go into the details of the photo here but the fact is, there aren't any old photographs of what I want (I've looked extensively).

What I want to know then is this, is there any way in which I could age it myself? I want the entire thing to look and feel as though it really is an old style photo. I can alter the picture on the computer and print it out but all the methods I've tried so far, soaking in tea, leaving in the sun, ect. haven't worked to my liking.

If anyone has any pointers that would be great.

it would help if you gave a bit of info as to the photo, and the routine. otherwise, you can usually print in sepia. distressing inks are also available

Well as to the content of the photo, it really isn't reliant.

I can age the actual picture on the computer. I studied photography and have worked in the area so editing isn't an issue. The thing I'm after is the aging of the paper in such a way that it appears as though it's been sitting in a memory box in someones attic for decades.

Sorry to be obscure about things. I'm not deliberately trying to be difficult. As I have said, the picture is irrelevant to the aging of the paper and as for the photo in relation to the routine, all I'll say is that it needs to stand up to close scrutiny. It is to be handled by spectators and so needs to look legit in as many ways as possible.

If the content of the photo isnt relevant, why not go out and buy an old photo?

Failing that, just stick it in an old frame.( or put it into an album with genuine photos.

Ive got to tell you that Ive seen huge amounts of gaffed photos over the years and none of them are 100% spot on.

The photo is irrelevant to the question, not the routine. I've looked about for an old photo which would suit but none tick all the boxes hence trying to make my own.

The frame idea is nice. I considered something similar like aging it and putting it in some kind of plastic wallet but ideally I'd like the actual paper photo to be able to be handled. I guess it looks as though this might just be a trial and error thing to work out then.

Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming if anyone thinks of anything.

Basic ways of aging a photo or other document is to lightly dab with a used tea bag (coffee is good but leaves tell-tale odour), dog-ear a couple of corners, perhaps rub a bit of soil across part of the photo etc. In effect, think about how such a document would age over time, where people would hold the photo leaving grubby finger marks on each side edge, consider how it might have been accidentally folded leaving a crease across, take a look at the back of the photo - that would show the effects of time as well as the front, there might even be some lightly penciled numbers as were common when photos were developed and printed at a local Chemist's shop. Sunlight may have faded the image a little, perhaps some fine wet & dry paper lightly rubbed across part of the photo would add an aged look.As with many other things, less is more and you only need to lightly age things otherwise the effect is unconvincingly OTT.

daleshrimpton wrote:Ive got to tell you that Ive seen huge amounts of gaffed photos over the years and none of them are 100% spot on.

Agreed, however without more info you probably aren't going to get to much more help. Is the photo colour or black and white? A person or landscape? What time period are you aiming for? A light sanding on the edge will give it that worn handled effect. You'll need a very fine sand paper and as Mandrake says less is more. Bending corners and rubbing the creases lightly with black ink will leave suitable marks. You can fade digitally or else print it an leave it on a sunny windowsill. Handle it with dirty hands, handling newspaper so you get the print on your hands will leave the sort of fingerprints photos generally get. Tim Holtz distress inks do a old photo ink. A layer rubbed on will age it a bit, but its easy to go over the top with distress inks. Plus for the cost they ain't much better than tea.

I won't ask about what the photo is of as it's clear you don't want to share that but can I ask what type of paper it will be printed on? I'm guessing photo paper rather than your bog standard type of printer paper. If so you may have an issue with the glossy finish. I can't comment as I've not tried to age something since I was at school and did what has already been mentioned with the tea bags.

I'd say that if you haven't already get hold of some older photos so you have something to compare against.

As already mentioned, if it is a colour photograph, this is different from a black and white photo and, I would say, the really old sepia pictures are different again.

I think it's a two stage process. First, the base photograph should be as close to the way a picture of the correct age would have been. Again as mentioned above, the paper you print on and the finish applied may make a difference. You might find you get closer to the correct look by, say, printing in matt then using a spray varnish, than printing on modern glossy photo paper. Spray and Shine is a glossy varnish in aerosol format, developed for crafting greeting cards and scrapbooks. You can get a partial shine or a very deep gloss look with it.

Once you have the photo, you need to age it. Mandrake's given some useful tips, but the main one is to think about what happened to the picture. Was it put in a frame on a wall, was it put in someone's wallet, was it left in a drawer? My father has a picture of my mother taken in the 50s and, because it's been in his wallet, there is little discolouration, but the edges are very tatty indeed.

On the subject of materials and tools, there are distressing inks, as Dale said. Look for the Tim Holtz Distress Inks made by Ranger. These can be applied using foam (you could use a make-up sponge or something called "Cut and Dry" foam), working on an ink repellant surface. You work from the surface, onto the photo, to avoid harsh lines, but be careful to keep the surface clean as you work round, or else you can get ink on the back in ways you don't want (for crafters this is usually unimportant as they are trying to make something look vintage, but not so as to pass examination). You can apply ink directly from the pad to edges to give extra "dirt". Tim Holtz has a couple of DVDs out and on one of them he shows how to age a photo, including adding a little tinting by hand (quite popular before colour photograph came along).

Other things you can do include using a scratching tool (it's a retractable wire brush), a paper distresser (actually a thread cutter, but someone worked out it works on paper edges really well) and a sander. Craft Tonic makes the first two items and Tim Holtz has a sanding grip designed for crafting. Very fine wire wool is another usfeul sanding tool.

You can also get stamps that are designed to add ditressing effects, such as splats, scratches and crackle. You can get inks that remove colour (there's one called Castaway and some crafters use bleach to discolour items), but obviously be prepared to have many goes before getting it right.

First of all, wow, thank you for the interest. I wan't really expecting much.

Well the type of photo I'm going for is something that looks similar to this lovely old photo of Charles Darwin:


(not actual photo, just an example)

I'm able to edit the photo so that it resembles this and print it however this is useless unless the paper matches the photos age.

Thank you part-timer, some in depth information to have a think over. As for the paper, I've got some slightly glossy, but not overly glossy photo paper, but also some card which is similar in texture to old photos I have already acquired to compare. The photo itself isn't an issue as I've composed the subjects in a way which looks correct for the time era.

Again, I'll have a play and see how things go.

This is quite useful: http://scottgrossberg.wordpress.com/201 ... ssed-look/

MatCult wrote:This is quite useful: http://scottgrossberg.wordpress.com/201 ... ssed-look/" target="_blank

That's really useful. That's the technique I was referring to above, but it will be much easier to follow from a video. The blending tool Scott is using takes pads of Cut and Dry foam (which I mentioned). I thought that just getting the foam (available as small pads or in a bigger sheet) would make more sense for TOM to buy, if he only wanted to do a photograph or two.

It has reminded me that Distress Inks are "water reactive", which is why they came off so easily in Scott's demo. They will react differently on photo paper (but may still have issues with greasy or wet fingers, so that may be another thing to test).

The Art Supply store here in town sells several different colored "antique color sprays" that can be used on paper of all kinds as well as photos, postcards and I've even used it on wood & metal. It's about $8.00 a bottle.

I don't have a name on hand but just look under artist supplies or if you want look up the Artists Guild Supplies in Northampton, MA - USA and ask them about it. I'm certain a company like Dick-Blick would have it as well.

Thanks for the link MatCult, I did have a brief look at that ink after it was first mentioned but it was really useful to actually see it in action. I'll have to see about picking some up this evening perhaps. I'll also take a look about some of the art online stores too for some of those sprays. It would be interesting to see how they would work, it seems like a spray could be a little too much to apply it to a photo. I have in my mind it coming out the same way spray paint might. I could be wrong. Still, worth a look.