How to Reduce Glare When Photographing a Printed Photo

To reduce glare when photographing a printed photo, change the light and what the photo reflects rather than the photo itself. Keep the camera square to the picture, turn off direct flash and light it softly from the sides, then retake and compare the same faces and details. If the photo sits behind frame glass or album film and will not come out without force, you can photograph it where it is, as long as the photo and its frame or album can stay undisturbed. Results depend on the print and the room, so judge each capture rather than trusting the setup.

Start With the Photo as It Is: Loose, Framed or in an Album

A reflection can come from three surfaces: the print itself, the glass in front of it in a frame, or the clear film on an album page. Look at the photo from where the camera will be and work out which one is reflecting, because that decides how much you should move the original.

A loose, stable print can go on a clean, dry, flat surface. The Library of Congress advises handling photographs by their edges or housing, with clean hands or clean nitrile gloves, in a clean and dry work area, and warns that even soft brushes can scratch a photograph. So do not wipe the surface, tape or clip the print, or press a curled print flat to make it fit the setup.

A photo in a frame or album that does not come out easily can stay where it is. Photograph it in place: the glass or film becomes the surface that reflects, and the steps below apply to it in the same way. Do this only if you can see and light the photo without moving, opening or pressing on the frame or album. If a clear view would mean disturbing them, stop and treat the photo like the attached or fragile ones described next. Do not peel back album film or take a frame apart for this. Shooting through the cover is our practical suggestion for leaving the original undisturbed, not a conservation method.

A photo that is stuck to glass or an album page, or is cracking, flaking or otherwise deteriorating, is best left alone. The Library of Congress photographs FAQ says photographs stuck to glass are difficult and often impossible to remove without serious damage, and points to a photograph conservator for valuable or complicated items.

If a good digital copy of the photo already exists, asking for that file may save the recapture altogether. If your source is a drawing rather than a photographic print, the guide to turning a drawing into a puzzle covers that artwork and its medium.

Use a Simple Setup, Then Check What the Photo Reflects

Keep the camera centered over the photo and parallel to it, turn off direct flash, and start with soft, even light from the sides. Then look at the preview for anything the photo is reflecting.

Support the phone or camera so it stays still, with the whole photo in the frame and a small margin around it. If your camera has a timer, it lets you take the shot without moving it. Use diffuse daylight or soft lamps instead of direct sun. Washington State University's guide to photographing objects, hosted by the National Archives, recommends a steady camera centered on the work, flash turned off, and lights at about 45 degrees on either side so the light falls evenly. The Canadian Conservation Institute describes the same two-sided arrangement as lighting that evenly illuminates the surface and reduces glare.

Roughly 45 degrees is a starting point, not a precise rule. A glossy or slightly curled surface may need the lights moved, so judge the capture rather than the angle. For a framed or album photo, aim the camera square to the photo as it lies, and do not force the frame or album flat to match the diagram.

Before the first capture, study the preview. A window edge, a ceiling light, or the shape of the phone or of you are reflections of the room, and the next section deals with each one.

Reduce Reflections From Windows, Lights and the Camera Side

Leave the original where it is and change the light or the surroundings it reflects, then retake and compare the same area. Change one thing at a time so you can see what helped.

What you see	One change to try	What to check in the retake
A bright flash spot	Turn off direct flash.	Whether the detail under the spot is visible, not just whether the image looks brighter.
A window shape	If you are using lamps, close the curtains so the lamps are the main light. With daylight only, move or turn the setup only if it is stable and moving it will not disturb the original; otherwise adjust the light you have, or stop. Do not shut out your only light.	The same window area, and whether the subject is still evenly lit.
A ceiling light	Switch off that overhead light and keep your side light on.	Whether the reflected shape disappears or moves.
The phone, your hands or a bright room behind you	Place dark, matte material securely on the camera side, outside the picture and clear of the lens, lights and photo.	Whether the reflection weakens and the detail behind it shows. It may only fade, not vanish.
Glare across a face on frame glass or album film	Leave the cover in place and change the light or what faces the glass.	The same face. A cover can still show some reflection.
One side darker than the other	Check that both lights are similar and nothing blocks one of them.	Light across all four corners and the center.
Edges that lean or narrow	Realign the camera so it is parallel to the photo.	Straight, square edges.

The curtain and dark-material rows adapt the WSU guide's advice for flat work: opaque curtains make it easier to keep to one light source, and a black or non-reflective surface facing the object gives fewer reflections. On a tabletop, the side facing the photo is where you and the camera are. Keep any material steady and away from lamps, and never rest it on the photo. These are adjustments to try, not results we measured.

Compare Retakes to Separate Reflections From Marks in the Print

Look at the same features after each change. A bright patch that moves or fades when the light changes is most likely a reflection, while a mark that stays in place may belong to the print itself.

• Leave the setup in place until you have checked the capture. The WSU guide advises reviewing the image before moving the object or the camera.
• Zoom in on the faces or details that matter, the edge of any bright patch and all four corners.
• Keep the earlier capture until you have chosen between them. A brighter picture is not automatically a clearer one.

A mark that stays in the same place in every capture may be fading, a scratch, a crease or another part of the original. That is a practical cue rather than a diagnosis, and a print can have both glare and damage.

Researchers at Google, describing their PhotoScan work, noted that glare can saturate parts of a single picture of a print, so the detail underneath cannot be seen or recovered, and that its position tends to change as the camera moves. That is why changing the light and retaking matters more than editing. Better light can reveal detail the print still holds, but do not count on editing software to rebuild a face that glare hid in your only capture.

Keep the Clearest Capture and Check the Intended Gift

Keep the untouched capture, then check it against the guidance for the gift you are making.

• Save the unedited capture separately before you crop or adjust a working copy.
• If repeated retakes still hide an important face or detail, stop adjusting brightness. A scanner, another source photo or a specialist digitizing service may be the better route.

What a source photo needs depends on the gift. For puzzle-specific suitability, see our guide to using an old photo for a puzzle. For a crystal, the guide to old photos in a 3D crystal explains which visible details matter. When your source photo is ready, follow the steps for preparing a personalized photo gift order.