How to Restore Old Photos with Photoshop

by: Michael Wysmierski

There are times that people may have old photographs they would like to restore to save the memories. Photos usually get damaged through the times. The pictures may get blurred, the color fades and the picture might acquire marks and scratches. Thank the technology of today. People can now save and restore their old photos with the help of Photoshop.

Here are some steps to follow in restoring old pictures using the Photoshop.

1. The person may use the Elements in Photoshop, which are Dust and Scratch Filter to remove the marks, scratches an blots in the photo. The Dust and Scratches Filter is located on the Menu Bar and click on the Filter Tab. A drop down will list elements and then he can choose the Noise tab and select on the Dust and Scratches.

2. After clicking on the Dust and Scratches menu, a window will pop up with two control sliders. The first slider is for the Radius and the other one is for the Threshold. There will also be another window if the preview box will be checked. These are the main options that will be used in treating the picture.

3. Adjusting the Radius slider may remove the scratches. However, there is a tendency that overdoing it may make the edges blurred too. If that happens, the option is to adjust the Threshold slider and this will allow the details to go back and make the picture clearer with the scratches disappearing. The person should be careful not to set them too far or it will only create blotches on the picture.

4. In removing the marks, selecting the whole photo will not diffuse these marks. The option is to select only the part where the scratches are located. He may use the Lasso to do this.

5. He can then feather the edges of the selected area so that the selected area will not be obvious on the picture. He can do this by clicking the Feather option and click the Scratch and Dust Filter again. He can do the process again of adjusting the Radius and Threshold sliders to get the texture needed and remove the scratches.

6. It there are still visible marks on the other parts of the picture, he can do the technique again by selecting the areas he would like to adjust. To finish the process and make the picture presentable, he can crop the image enough to remove the cracks and torn edges of the picture. The canvas may be use to equally crop the image.

7. A person may add drama on the picture by adding a drop shadow on it. This will make the picture appear as if it has been lifted off the page. The color may also be removed using the controls Shift+Ctrl+U. He can then add color by putting a little amount of Sepia. He can do this with the Hue or Saturation tab. The contrast may be adjusted using the Levels option.

This is one easy way on how to remove the blotches and marks on an old picture. This is also a good way to make the picture look new but still appear classical. It will be a pleasant and easy way to display pictures kept on old albums and cabinets for a long time.