Old Pictures Question

[anathelia]

My grandfather passed away on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. My dad's trying to sort through old photographs to put together for the funeral home to put a DVD together, and he also wants to make one for his own personal keeping. Unfortunately, my dad's grandmother pretty much glued all the pictures to the pages of the photo albums and things like that. I'm hoping to find some tips on how to get them unglued without destroying the pictures. Some of them are as old as ~100 years old, so I'm hoping to find something delicate.

Also, if anyone speaks German and can read someone else's chicken scratch, I have something that looks like a letter that we found tucked behind an old photograph that we can't translate.

If anyone can offer any advice on the first part, it would be much appreciated! My dad's trying to see if he can get an extension until Monday to get pictures in to them because he's having such a hard time getting pictures. My grandfather apparently didn't like to be photographed.

Also, we're all a little tight on cash, so preferably we'd like tips on how to do it ourselves, without any commercial products or anything.

Thank you!

 

[Darrell]

If I were you I would just cut the photos off the page. Worst case scenario is that you have photos with a thick backing.

 

[Tim]

Get a cheap scanner/printer ($50-$75) and scan them in without removing them from the pages.
Remove the lid of the scanner and hold the book flat on the glass... It can be done and you can put it all together yourself instead of paying someone else to do it.

 

[StripedCat]

Here, I am German. Just let me try out what I can read of it.


edit: referring the problem with the glued photos - why not simply take pictures of the photos? Should be sufficient for your belongings.

 

[Diggin Deep]

My grandfather passed away on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. My dad's trying to sort through old photographs to put together for the funeral home to put a DVD together, and he also wants to make one for his own personal keeping. Unfortunately, my dad's grandmother pretty much glued all the pictures to the pages of the photo albums and things like that. I'm hoping to find some tips on how to get them unglued without destroying the pictures. Some of them are as old as ~100 years old, so I'm hoping to find something delicate.

Also, if anyone speaks German and can read someone else's chicken scratch, I have something that looks like a letter that we found tucked behind an old photograph that we can't translate.

If anyone can offer any advice on the first part, it would be much appreciated! My dad's trying to see if he can get an extension until Monday to get pictures in to them because he's having such a hard time getting pictures. My grandfather apparently didn't like to be photographed.

Also, we're all a little tight on cash, so preferably we'd like tips on how to do it ourselves, without any commercial products or anything.

Thank you!

I'm sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Regarding the letter - I don't speak German myself, but my Dad and his side of the family all speak German. If you would like, you could PM me with a copy of it or even email if you would prefer. I can't promise anything, but it may be worth a shot.

 

[anathelia]

If I were you I would just cut the photos off the page. Worst case scenario is that you have photos with a thick backing.

They're glued in freely on the page, so I can't cut them out, unfortunately. It would destroy the picture on the other side of the page.


Tim, I think it's provided with the cost of the funeral, and my grandfather had already paid for everything, near as I can tell. My dad's scanning in the whole pages, but he wants all the pictures in the computer anyway, because he was always asking my grandfather for old pictures and he said he didn't know where they were. He's been putting together a family tree for ages.

 

[Diggin Deep]

Here, I am German. Just let me try out what I can read of it.


edit: referring the problem with the glued photos - why not simply take pictures of the photos? Should be sufficient for your belongings.

Much better idea

 

[anathelia]

Here, I am German. Just let me try out what I can read of it.


edit: referring the problem with the glued photos - why not simply take pictures of the photos? Should be sufficient for your belongings.

Thanks! He's emailing it to me now, and I will PM it to you as soon as I get it on my computer.

 

[retro]

It looks like there are some promising solutions here, hopefully one of them will work.

http://scrapbooking.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/removingphotos.htm