Photo Restoration

I have been researching my family tree and sorting out a drawer full of old photographs. Many of them were badly damaged through mishandling and faded or stained, some were very old.
I wanted the most important ones professionally copied and started to look for someone who could do a good job. That is when I fell foul of the cowboys. It seems that anyone with a PC scanner and printer can set up a web site and call themselves a photo restorer.
I did eventually find one company who were brilliant. Try searching for restoraphoto as that may get you some free advice.
Avoid ads where the contact is a po box no. or they seem like a one man hobbiest.
Make sure they are not cheap ink jet prints made using dye based inks as they will fade quickly. Ask if they use archival materials and how long the prints wil last. How long have they been in business? Do they take credit cards? if not, how credible is their business? The people I eventually settled on did not even want money up front, it's nice to feel trusted.
Be wary, your photo's are precious.
I got caught and nearly lost one of my most important photo's. Good luck.