Thursday, June 26, 2008

Using Photoshop to Restore Old Photos

By David Peters

Many people find that the pictures of years gone by need restoration to preserve the memories they hold. The fact is that many photos become damaged through the passing of time. The color may fade, the image may blur and the picture may even suffer from marks and scratches. With the help of the Photoshop program, these problems can be a thing of the past. Technology has enabled Photoshop to provide a solution to your photo restoration needs.

The Dust and Scratches Filter are available "Elements" in Photoshop to repair scratches and eliminate marks in your photos. Click on the Filter Tab in the Dust and Scratches Filter located on the Menu Bar to start your corrections. A drop down menu will appear that will list "elements." Then choose the Noise tab and select Dust and Scratches.

Once Dust and Scratches is selected, a window will pop up holding two control sliders. The first slider is for the Radius and the second is for the Threshold. If the preview box is checked, there will be another window visible. This window will show the main options to be used in treating the picture.

Adjusting the Radius slider may remove the scratches; however there the potential that overdoing it can make the edges blurred too. Should this happen, 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 cautious not to set them too far or it will only generate blotches on the picture.

Selecting the whole photo will not diffuse these marks when going to remove them. The alternative is to choose only the part where the scratches are to be found. You may use the Lasso to do this.

You can then feather the edges of the chosen area so that the selected area will not be apparent on the picture. You can do this by clicking the Feather option and click the Scratch and Dust Filter again. You can repeat the process of adjusting the Radius and Threshold sliders to get the texture desired and do away with the scratches.

If 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.

You can also add other features such as a drop shadow for heightened drama to the photo. This will add dimension to the picture and make it appear to lift off of the page. The color may also be removed by steps Shift+Ctrl+U. Different color techniques can then be added for eye-catching appeal. One such effect is achieved by adding a small amount of Sepia tone through the Hue or Saturation tab. This will provide an antiqued effect while still maintaining a classic look. The contrast can be adjusted by 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.

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