The photograph checklist.

01 · ChooseThe photograph.

• Recent beats beautiful. The room will be full of people who knew them at the end, not thirty years ago.
• Ask two people who saw them regularly: "which of these looks most like them?" Not which is nicest.
• If the family disagrees, use the recent one for the service and the older favourite in the slideshow. They are allowed to be different pictures.
• Group shots are fine. Crop to head and shoulders, keep the whole head, cut below the collarbone, and do not cut through a shoulder someone is leaning on.

02 · CopyThe file.

• Do not send the original anywhere. Copy it, then work from the copy.
• Scan at 600 dpi, colour, no sharpening, no auto-correct. Save as TIFF or high-quality JPEG.
• No scanner? Photograph the print flat on a table, in daylight, no flash, phone parallel to the paper, whole print in frame.
• Avoid screenshots, social media downloads and photos of framed prints under glass if anything better exists.

03 · RepairThe line.

• Fix: creases, dust, scratches, fading, colour casts, glare, a date stamp, a distracting background.
• Do not change: the face, the hairline, the teeth, a mole, a scar, glasses, a squint, the expression.
• Missing pieces are invented, not recovered. If a face is torn, print it with the tear rather than accept a guess.
• Always ask for the untouched scan back.

04 · SizeThe pixels.

A 4×6 print scanned at 600 dpi gives 2400 × 3600 — enough for every piece above. A photograph received through a messaging app is usually enough for the card and the program, and not enough for the easel.

05 · PrintThe counter.

• Ask for auto-enhance and auto-crop to be turned off. They will undo a careful repair.
• Matte or lustre, not gloss. Gloss reflects the room.
• Mounted on foam board for any print on an easel. Unmounted paper curls.
• Check it in the shop before you leave: nothing cropped through a head, skin the right colour, correct size.

06 · AskThe funeral home.

• What size print does your easel take?
• Do you supply the frame or the mount?
• Do you print the order of service in house?
• When do you need the photograph — and the file?
• Is there a local printer you would recommend?

If the restoration will not arrive in time, print what you have. A visible crease is not a failure. An empty frame is.