Copying a print.

While identification of the process is desirable in every restoration case, a frequent occurrence is the need to copy a colour projection print, exactly as it comes out of the can, and in these circumstances, it may be justifiable to make a colour copy without understanding how the process worked or what the original film looked like. It must be clearly understood that such a copy is of limited value.

Many colour films exist in archives as projection prints and a smaller proportion as intermediate elements or camera originals. A third alternative [particularly in the case of Technicolor or Eastman Colour] is where the film exists as some form of "protection master", made to store in the event of damage to the original material or fading of the dyes with time. In all cases, it is essential to know how the print, intermediate, or protection master would have been made in order to plan a successful restoration programme.