Heat-activated or ‘thermal paper’ may fade overtime. This happens because of the paper’s chemical coating reacting to other chemicals, water and many other types of oils. For the reason that most people keep receipts for financial track recording i.e. tax audits, rebates, warranty protection and/or refunds, losing significant info can very well result in serious results. One of the many serious consequences includes loss of monies or legal complexities. You would have a sigh of release when we tell you that the faded thermal paper can be restored. Yes, it is possible, however, the entire paper receipt has to be white and not brown or black.
In order to restore the thermal paper, you are going to require a few essentials, which include a scanner, a computer and a photo editing software. As a first step, scan your faded paper as a colored image into your computer. When done, run your favorite or preferred photo editing application so that you can use its special effects or tools to create a negative image. A negative image will have the faded print outlined in white. It may print the whole thing white as well depending on the type of paper, its print and the current condition.
Choose ‘Negative’ or ‘Create a Negative’ or similar option to turn the photo in to a black and white image. Once done, you will be able to see the information in a clearer way. However, you might require adjusting the contrast levels or also use ‘smooth’ or ‘sharpen’ features. You can also utilize a hair dryer to retrieve info from a damaged thermal paper. If you have a thermal paper’s scanned copy that did not restore the info of the print, you can tweak the copy by turning it into a negative.
For this, turn the hair dryer on and blow heat over the faded thermal paper. Blow the heat over the back of the paper and do this in a light manner as you don’t want to burn the paper with the heat. Also make sure that you keep the dryer at the distance of at least eight to twelve inches. This would help you ensure the paper doesn’t completely go black, losing all the info in it. You would be amazed to know that you can get this task done even if you don’t have a hair dryer. The alternative to hair dryer for this task is a light bulb.
You should save your restored thermal paper’s copy in your records while putting the original hardcopy in a cool, dry place. Make sure to store the originals in a place that doesn’t make contact with UV light, water or any sort of chemicals as these things can damage severely. Please make a note that you shouldn’t heat-activate the front of the thermal paper document. Doing so can damage the original thermal print information, especially when the heat source is held too close to the front of the paper. If you keep this in mind, you are in the safe zone.
In order to restore the thermal paper, you are going to require a few essentials, which include a scanner, a computer and a photo editing software. As a first step, scan your faded paper as a colored image into your computer. When done, run your favorite or preferred photo editing application so that you can use its special effects or tools to create a negative image. A negative image will have the faded print outlined in white. It may print the whole thing white as well depending on the type of paper, its print and the current condition.
Choose ‘Negative’ or ‘Create a Negative’ or similar option to turn the photo in to a black and white image. Once done, you will be able to see the information in a clearer way. However, you might require adjusting the contrast levels or also use ‘smooth’ or ‘sharpen’ features. You can also utilize a hair dryer to retrieve info from a damaged thermal paper. If you have a thermal paper’s scanned copy that did not restore the info of the print, you can tweak the copy by turning it into a negative.
For this, turn the hair dryer on and blow heat over the faded thermal paper. Blow the heat over the back of the paper and do this in a light manner as you don’t want to burn the paper with the heat. Also make sure that you keep the dryer at the distance of at least eight to twelve inches. This would help you ensure the paper doesn’t completely go black, losing all the info in it. You would be amazed to know that you can get this task done even if you don’t have a hair dryer. The alternative to hair dryer for this task is a light bulb.
You should save your restored thermal paper’s copy in your records while putting the original hardcopy in a cool, dry place. Make sure to store the originals in a place that doesn’t make contact with UV light, water or any sort of chemicals as these things can damage severely. Please make a note that you shouldn’t heat-activate the front of the thermal paper document. Doing so can damage the original thermal print information, especially when the heat source is held too close to the front of the paper. If you keep this in mind, you are in the safe zone.
