For those who would like some insight into what such a process entails, I will be restoring to a degree and preserve a family article that documents the life and journey of some of my ancestors, who journeyed from India to South Africa in the 1800’s.
Upon abandoning the sensory assault of the bustle of town, and entering Orms Print Room & Framing, one is greeted by a great sense of calm. Though busy at any given time, the atmosphere created by Orms staff and the modern, minimalistic interior creates the ideal environment for a customer to focus and relax.
The walls are adorned with beautifully framed artwork, not only photographic. The likes of illustrations, mixed media, and fine art all share the space equally.
Situated across the road from the Orms Camera Store and Photo Lab, on the corner of Roeland Street and Upper Canterbury Street, Orms Print Room & Framing offers one the complete solution for any creative brief.
Catering to practically every professional printing and framing need, to display and décor concepts, exhibition services, design services, and great personalised photo gift ideas.
Print Room is also renowned for their attention to detail with their professional fine art printing, design and retouching, and hand printing.
To highlight some of the multidimensional services that the Orms customer has access to, I went to Orms Print Room & Framing to enquire about a resource that is quite underrated, their high-resolution scanning – specifically in relation to restoration and archiving images or documents. The Orms Print Room team are able to accomplish remarkable digital restoration, in particular to photographs that have been affected over time.
I, however, do not have a photograph to restore but an article of writing which provides documentation of the origin and life of Mr. K.K. Pillay, one of my ancestors. This document traces in quite detail my ancestral roots from India and provides incredible insight into his life after he journeyed to South Africa in the 1800’s.
The document is extremely old and has been typed on rather a delicate typewriter paper that I am afraid will only degenerate further over time. This is why I have asked the team at Orms to help me with the preservation of this important, historical family document.
The team suggested that the first step in preserving the document would be to leave it with them to scan each page in high resolution. Once scanned, they will do minimal editing as the aged aesthetic provides an authentic look. Once I receive the scans, my aim is to download the free Orms Create & Print Software available on the Orms Print Room & Framing website and create a replica of the article that I can then print as a softcover book with Orms Photobooks.
By doing this I will not only have a sturdy hardcopy, but also a digital copy of the article.
After consulting and handing my article over to Print Room, within four days my scans were ready to be collected. Don’t miss the next phase of this archival process where I download and work with Orms’ Create & Print Software.
By Saaiqa Ebrahim
