DigitalCustom & Alinari Reach Deal to Preserve Historical Photos

September 23, 2002 - DigitalCustom Group, Inc. of San Francisco and Fratelli Alinari of Florence today announced that they have signed a broad alliance to advance the art, science and business of preserving and restoring historical and "heirloom" photographs that have become faded, deteriorated and otherwise damaged. The alliance provides DigitalCustom's restorers with access to Alinari's library of more than 3,500,000 images for reference, and to Alinari's expertise in the handling of historical photographs.

DigitalCustom's President, Jeff Makoff said, "The recent flooding in Europe spotlights the fragility of paper art works, especially photographs. Even when water, light, fire, and mishandling are not factors, we reach the archival end-life of millions of historical photographs each year. Institutions and individuals that are holding historical photographs must take action now to preserve the images. In cases where images are damaged, the damage must be repaired before time makes repair impossible and history is lost. Our relationship with Alinari is a broad partnership that will bring the best quality service to institutional and individual archivists."

Alinari's Information Technology Supervisor, Andrea de Polo said, "For 150 years, Fratelli Alinari has offered only the highest quality photography products and services. We have long recognized that photo restoration and repair are critical services. For this service, it was important for us to work with a partner that was committed to quality, and which also would pay attention to the complex ethical and creative issues in restoration. DigitalCustom's quality, consistency and commitment to photo restoration is unparalleled. It is natural for Alinari to go forward with DigitalCustom to develop the world's leading source for high quality historical image restoration."

More information about DigitalCustom Group is available at www.image-edit.com.

More information on Alinari can be found at www.alinari.com.