how to revitalize faded ink markings?

[marentius]

Hi,anybody has any idea on how to "revitalize" ink markings faded because of water,use or age?Is there any way to be able to see them,or catch them,maybe with the right combination of UV light and colored filters?I know it seems more an issue for a Las Vegas C.S.I. case.... ,anyway any information on the matter will be greatly appreciated.

[Bluehawk]

Hi,anybody has any idea on how to "revitalize" ink markings faded because of water,use or age?Is there any way to be able to see them,or catch them,maybe with the right combination of UV light and colored filters?I know it seems more an issue for a Las Vegas C.S.I. case.... ,anyway any information on the matter will be greatly appreciated.

There are five methods of revealing them that I know of:

> raking light

> Black light

> Infra red light

> polarized filtration

> microscopy

 

As for revitalizing the marks, my opinion is that that is a highly dicey bit of business unless you know FOR CERTAIN what the mark was originally made of... i.e. water or petro based, or whatever.

 

It would be very easy to totally lose a mark by unintentionally using a solvent... and, you'll only get one shot at it.

[marentius]

There are five methods of revealing them that I know of:

> raking light

> Black light

> Infra red light

> polarized filtration

> microscopy

 

As for revitalizing the marks, my opinion is that that is a highly dicey bit of business unless you know FOR CERTAIN what the mark was originally made of... i.e. water or petro based, or whatever.

 

It would be very easy to totally lose a mark by unintentionally using a solvent... and, you'll only get one shot at it.

 

Thank you for your suggestion,I remember some time ago I read something about IR light (or black light,I do not remember)to be used in conjunction with a colored filter.It was then possible to take a picture with an IR picture and to see the ink marks.Of course now that I need I cannot recall where this article was.You're right,noway I am gonna mess with some active chemical agent,the risk is way too big!!

[Dave]

What I've done before is make a good (600dpi+) scan of the mark, and then use a program like photoshop to edit the photo. You can do everything from removing colors to reversing the image...etc... you can spend a couple hours manipulating the image to get the marks to really stand out. This way, you don't do anything destructive to the markings and you still have a good chance of recovering the image that's there.

 

Dave

[Bluehawk]

What I've done before is make a good (600dpi+) scan of the mark, and then use a program like photoshop to edit the photo. You can do everything from removing colors to reversing the image...etc... you can spend a couple hours manipulating the image to get the marks to really stand out. This way, you don't do anything destructive to the markings and you still have a good chance of recovering the image that's there.

 

Dave

GREAT idea... now there's another possibility to add.

 

I think my age, or lack of prowess, is showing.