Tintype photos

What a tintype is

A tintype, also called a ferrotype, is a photograph made directly on a thin sheet of iron coated with dark lacquer or enamel. Despite the name, there is no tin in it. The image was made in the camera on the plate itself, so there is no negative: each tintype is a one of a kind original.

Because it was made directly, the picture is a mirror image of the scene. Buttons on a coat appear on the wrong side and any lettering reads backward. The image layer was usually protected with a coat of varnish, which gives tintypes their soft sheen and, as it ages, their brownish tint.

How to recognize one

• It is metal. A small magnet sticks to it, and it bends slightly rather than tearing.
• The image is dark. Tintypes have a dark, low contrast look, with grayish whites rather than bright ones.
• No paper back. The back is plain dark metal, sometimes rusty.
• It is often small. Many are around 2.5 x 3.5 in, and the tiny gem tintypes are smaller than a postage stamp. Some sit in paper sleeves with an oval window, or in small cases.
• Clipped corners. Many tintypes had their corners trimmed so they would slide into a sleeve.

Tintypes are easy to confuse with ambrotypes (on glass, usually in a case) and daguerreotypes (on mirror like silvered copper, which looks negative or positive depending on the angle). A magnet settles it: only a tintype is iron.

How old is a tintype?

Tintypes were introduced in the United States in the mid 1850s and were most popular from the 1860s through the 1880s, though street and fair photographers kept making them well into the 1900s. Clues that help narrow the date:

• Paper sleeves with printed borders suggest the 1860s and 1870s.
• Clothing and hairstyles are often the most reliable clue. Wide skirts, men's beards and military uniforms point to the 1860s; fitted bodices and bustles to the 1870s and 1880s.
• Painted backdrops and props, like a fake balustrade or a painted forest, are more typical of later studio tintypes.

Damage typical of tintypes

Rust. Once the lacquer is scratched or flakes away, the iron underneath rusts, leaving orange-brown spots or blooms.

Flaking and cracks. Bending a tintype cracks the brittle varnish and image layer, which then flakes off. Our cracked photos guide explains this kind of damage.

Dents and bends. Thin iron dents easily, and a bent plate catches the light unevenly.

Darkening. Aging varnish turns the image darker and browner over time.

Scratches. The soft image layer scratches easily, especially on tintypes kept loose in a drawer.

Copying a tintype safely

Never clean a tintype with water, glass cleaner or a cloth: you can remove the image itself. Leave it in its sleeve or case if it is in one, and copy it there.

1. Soft, even daylight from a window. The varnish is shiny, so avoid a lamp at an angle that puts a bright reflection across the face.
2. No flash, which bounces off the varnish.
3. Phone directly above, parallel to the plate. If the plate is bent, take a couple of photos from slightly different angles and choose the one with the least glare.
4. Get close. Tintypes are small, so fill the frame. On many phones the standard camera focuses close enough; if not, step back and zoom in slightly.

A flatbed scanner at a high resolution works well for flat tintypes. Our scanning guide suggests settings.

Restoring and printing a tintype

Restoration cleans up rust spots, scratches, flaking and darkened varnish, and brings back contrast in the gray tones typical of tintypes. Because the original is a mirror image, the person's buttons and hair parting are reversed; we keep the photo as it is, exactly as the tintype shows it.

The restored image can then be printed at a size you can actually see: a small tintype printed at 5x7 or 8x10 often shows faces in a way the family has never seen them. Afterward, store the original flat, dry and dark, as described in our guide to storing old photos. Tintypes often sit alongside cabinet cards in family collections; that guide covers the paper portraits of the same period.

Updated October 8, 2026