Dear Suzanne, I know the following sounds a little odd, but I¹ve tried it and it really works: Thermal paper with faded text can be heated up with an iron or a hair drier, and the text re-appears, but as a negative image: white text on a dark background. Explanation: the dyes that make up the black text are not stable over time, and as the dye molecules change their chemical composition, they fade. This change is irreversible, so the formerly black areas will remain white. However, the non-text areas were never originally imaged with heat, so they still hold the potential of forming a black dye when thermally activated. So if you heat up the whole paper, the white areas react and turn black, but the faded areas are thermally inactive and remain white. As a result, the document becomes readable again.
Of course this ³treatment³ is irreversible, and there is no guarantee that it will always work. I have tried it a number of times out of curiosity, and it does seem to be promising. Whether this approach is deemed appropriate for archival material is another question. In terms of storing thermal paper safely, you might want to have a quick look at my summary of factors that cause deterioration of this type of material, and then choose a system that avoids all of these factors - see: Jürgens, Martin. The Digital Print, Getty Publications / Thames & Hudson, 2009, p.265-266. I have seen faxes from the 1980s in collections that are in perfect condition - they have been stored in the dark, in unbuffered, archival quality paper folders, under controlled environmental conditions. Kind regards, Martin Jürgens Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Netherlands > >------------------------------ > >Message: 8 >Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 22:03:57 +0000 >From: Prue McKay <[email protected]> >To: "[email protected]" > <[email protected]> >Subject: Re: [Consdistlist] Faded fax correspondence - how to store > and how to read (Suzanne Press) 3 Dec 2018 [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] >Message-ID: > <[email protected]> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > >UNCLASSIFIED >Hi Suzanne, >Here at the National Archives of Australia, when we come across fading, >darkening or otherwise deteriorating thermal copies (including old >faxes), we photocopy them onto archival paper, playing with contrast and >brightness until we get a decent, readable image. The original/s is/are >placed in a polyethylene bag and replaced on the file with the copy (as >our rules state that we must not destroy original material unless there >are exceptional circumstances). >The modern, thermally-fused toner on archival paper is considered to be >an acceptably long-term combination. >Hope this helps! > >Prue McKay >Senior Conservator, Exhibitions, Projects and Loans Preservation > >t +61 2 6212 6220 >e [email protected] >30 Vicars Street, Mitchell ACT 2911 >PO Box 4924 Kingston ACT 2604 | naa.gov.au > >We acknowledge and pay our respects to the traditional custodians of this >land and celebrate their ongoing culture and contribution to society. > > >Dear Cons Dist, > >I am advising on a personal correspondence from between 1970 - 1997 which >includes faded typed faxes. >They are either kept loose within this personal archive or in plastic >folders, in a University Library in Johannesburg, South Africa. Looking >at egs at random a 1996 eg the type of when received is still legible >but the typed text is faded. > >Questions: How best to store them? And how best, time wise, to make a >transcription of the text. I found with some, placed over a transmitting >flat light pad one can read the type. With a UV torch that light >strengthened the faded type to read more easily. > >Suzanne Press > > >Suzanne Press & Associates Ltd >Conservation of Works of Art on Paper >Suzanne Press ACR >Georgian House, 10 Bury Street, Flat 14, London SW1Y 6AA >w: 02079 305725 >m: 07831 538647 >e: [email protected] >www.suzannepress.com ><[email protected]> > >UNCLASSIFIED >________________________________ >If you have received this transmission in error please notify us >immediately by return e-mail and delete all copies. >If this e-mail or any attachments have been sent to you in error, that >error does not constitute waiver of any confidentiality, privilege or >copyright in respect of information in the e-mail or attachments. >________________________________ > ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to [email protected] Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
