I have a two-part photo frame with photos of my children. The photos have been in there so long....they are stuck to the glass.
I've tried pulling them off....but I only get a small piece and then the photo starts tearing. Is there a safe way to gets these photos off of the glass without further damage?
Maxi
First and foremost, before you do ANYTHING, make a digital backup of the image. If something goes wrong while you are trying to peel the photo off, the picture could be ruined. You will either need to locate the negative to make a new one or, even worse, if there is no negative, the picture will be lost forever.
HEAT – Using the low heat setting, take a hair dryer and blow warm air about 4-5 inches away from the back of the print. This heats up the area between the photo and glass and loosened the hold on the photo. We were able to pull back a small corner and then slowly continue the process until the whole photo was removed unharmed but a little curled (nothing putting it under a heavy book for a while won’t cure).
COLD – Freeze the photo and glass. Take photo and glass out of the frame and wrap in some newspaper to protect it from damage. Place it in Freezer for an hour, wearing rubber gloves to protect hands in event glass breaks, remove photo and glass from the freezer, and open the paper, gently pull up on corner of photo, it should come away from glass. If it still doesn’t, use a credit card and insert card between glass and photo and pry, gently, very gently, to separate the two. Moisture got between glass and photo that’s why they are stuck together so freezing it make is no longer sticky.
Joe
It might not be possible without damaging the photo so can I make a suggestion? Before you try to remove the photo, clean the glass to a spotless finish and take a scan of the picture through the glass. It may may not be 100% as good as the original but at least you will always be able to make a new print of the photo. If you cannot scan the image at home, any photo processing shop should be able to do it for you.
Alan
Before the digital epoch, most all photographic prints are made of paper coated with gelatin. The gelatin acts as a glue to bind the silver based image (black & white) and or the color (consists of dyes), to the paper base. It is the gelatin that is adhering to the glass. As others have advised, make a copy by taking a close-up using your digital camera or scanning with a flat-bed scanner.
Once a good copy is obtained you can now experiment with removal methods. Gelatin swells when wet and luckily it has low solubility. First try soaking in plain water. OK to make this a prolonged soak (hours even a day). The picture should float away. If not add a few drops of dishwashing soap. All this fails, soak in a 25% solution of glycerin available at the drug store. Glycerin was used as a pre-soak for b&w prints that were to be glazed by squeezing the print to polished glass or polished metal plates. The gelatin dries and then pops off the polished surface adopting a glossy appearance.
Color prints were treated with a pre-soak containing formaldehyde (stabilizer solution). This protects the gelatin and dyes from running and from an attack from mildew etc. This protection will be lost by the soak. That’s OK as likely they will still be good for a few more years.
Best of luck – water bath as above your best bet.
Anonymous
First, and before you do anything physical to the photo or frame, make a good copy of the photo as it is within the frame at the moment. Scan it on a good scanner, or photograph it with a good camera, making sure to avoid reflections. Store that digital copy carefully, and back up to another device.
Then you can get physical, but be prepared for problems.
Anonymous
I'm not an antique like you but even I know that you heat the glass and wait until you can peel the photo off. Stop asking this question because you have your answer.