Restoring Old Photos

I know there are tons of information out there in Google.
Frankly having to sift through all of that can be very tiedious as some joe blow thinks he has the right method or whatever and in truth there are better ways to do it.
So Photoshop gurus what are some tips and tricks for restoring old photos? The photos I am attempting to restore are more than anything washed out more so than anything else.
I have attempted to adjust things in Camera Raw and tried different filters etc and have improved the photo some but it still needs work.
Thanks in advance for any advice =>

You didn't say anything about software but if you have access to photoshop, you could also try Julieanne Kost. I love her simple straight forward explainations. I may have to replay some but I never wonder which tool or key she is talking about. Here are a couple of links to her tutorials.
Restoration http://www.docstoc.com/docs/14731537/Adobe-Photoshop-Photo-restoration-techniques
Some really great videos of photoshop techniques.http://jkost.com/photoshop.html
Good luck!

Similar Messages

Restoring Old Photos - Actions

I have Photoshop's CS5 on a Mac. Colin Smith has a very nice video on restoring old photos with Channels and then using Content Aware Fill with the Spot Healing Brush.
I have about 140 scanned old photos which I want to improve before putting them in a PhotoBook. Can anyone give me the step by step Actions, with stops
and starts, so I can automate the process of cropping, improving color tone and Spot Healing these photos one after another and speed up the process?
I'd appreciate any help, suggestions, ideas.
MJG

restoring old photos isnt as hard as it seems you will be using mostly the image>adjustment comands when i usually edit i start off with adjusting the levels then i move on to the curves which adjusts your image so different sections are light and others are dark the next think i would do is move on to the hue and saturation this often seems overextreme as you dont what to turn a normal looking photo purple but adding a very slight change can often make a big difference. as an extra affect the photo filter can sometimes add alot to the photo. i often add a slight sepia tinge to my photos which makes them look very cool and vintagy.
the final think i would do is use the healing brush and fix blemishes and if this proves to be annoying as it sometimes can be as it makes certain sections look blurry the clone stamp tool is really cool! all you do is pick a section you want to clone over the top of a blemish then you click alt whilst clicking the area and you then position your mouse over the blemish and it will take whatever area you originally clicked on and place it ontop of the blemish (:
mainly i would sugest using the image>adjustment commands as they are really simple but really go a long way in cleaning up old photos
hope this helped!

Restoring old photos using E9

Is it posible to restore an old photo that has been partly sun bleeched using Elements 9?
Any tips would be very welcome.

This was good practice for me -- I never was any good at colouring black & white photos.
The original photo is a B&W that was hand-coloured. You can tell by looking at the photo left arm and the photo left eye for the places where the colour bled into adjacent areas. Also, there is red remaining in the cheeks, even though the rest of the face is bleached out. This suggests that a retoucher used very finely powdered rouge to colour the cheeks, and those solid particles would not bleach as much as the dyes used for the other colours.
So, hatstead's idea of eliminating the colours and starting fresh with a B&W image is a good one.
The thing I wanted to avoid was having areas of solid featureless colour, so I decided that I'd hand-paint everything and thus get more realistically varied tones. Turned out that the Color Replacement brush worked very well for that --
Duplicate background.
Convert to Black & White: "Portraits", "Contrast" +7.
Rectangular Marquee to select the faded area in the center of the image;
Transform Selection: "Skew" to align with the edges of the faded area.
Save Selection as "Faded Area".
Quick Selection tool: select the clothes.
Save Selection as "Clothes".
Select...Load Selection: "Faded Area" as "New Selection".
Select...Load Selection: "Clothes" as "Subtract from selection" This makes a selection of the faded area on the wall as well as the face and hair.
Select...Refine Edge: Smooth: 0, Feather: 3.1px, Expand: +3%.
Levels Adjustment Layer (masked to that selection): 0, 0.73, 255.
Select...Load Selection: "Clothes" as "New Selection".
Select...Load Selection: "Faded Area" as "Intersect with selection". This makes a selection of the faded area of the clothes.
Select...Refine Edge: Smooth: 0, Feather: 3.1px, Expand: +3%.
Levels Adjustment Layer (masked to the selection): 0, 0.96, 255.
Highlight the 3 layers (B&W, both Levels layers) and use Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E to merge them into a new layer.
Healing Brush tool: "Normal" mode, Source: "Sampled" to clean up lines, etc., left from the Levels adjustment.
Burn and Dodge tools targetting the Midtones at a strength of 4% to paint the folds and even out the tones in the photo left arm.
Burn and Dodge tools (same settings) to strengthen the appearance of the buttons and fabric edge of the center of the sweater.
Burn and Dodge and Spot Healing Brush to fix photo left eye.
Spot Healing Brush to fix blemish on upper lip (photo right), and on photo right upper arm.
Finished B&W image:
Color Replacement Brush, constantly varying the brightness and saturation of the colours to colour the image.
Quick Selection tool to select the child, then Inverse to select the background.
Save Selection as "Wall".
Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, masked to the "Wall" selection, set to "Colorize". Hue: 199, Saturation: 5, Lightness: -26.
Smudge Tool on the H/S mask to modify the edges of the hair.
Blur Tool, Strength: 56%, on the H/S mask to soften all edges:
Selection...Load Selection: "Clothes".
H/S adjustment layer, masked to the "Clothes" selection, with a Saturation: -35 to tone down the colours of the clothes and bring their colours more in line with the face.
Crop slightly to remove the white areas at the edges of the image.
The layers wound up like this:
And the final image:
Besides the practice with using the Color Replacement brush, I learned that using the Smudge and Blur tools on a layer mask is a great way to soften the edges of that mask.
Ken

Can iPhoto be used to restore old photos

I have an 8X10 1970 image taken with a kodak camera. The color is bleached out of the photo from being exposed to sunlight for many years, only the edges that were hidden by the frame have retained some color. Is there a way to use iPhoto to restore it?

Is there a way to use iPhoto to restore it?
It will depend on how bad the image corruption is.
As Larry said, iPhoto's tools are limited and meant to be used with new photos, not for image restoration.
The bleaching will have done two things - shift the color, because the different pigments will be deteriorated differently. And reduce the saturation.
Open the "Adjust" panel in the "Edit" panel.
Try first to get the color right by using the White Correction tools. Click the color picker and sample a spot that should be gray. Then adjust the Temperature and tint sliders. This will only work, if the color deterioration is the same in all parts of the image.
Then adjust the saturation of the photo.
If you cannot get the colours right, you might consider to change the photo to "Black&White" by using the B&W Effect. Sometimes older photos will still look great as B&W, if you adjust the contrast.

How can i restore my old photo stream after installing iOS8???

How can i restore my old photo stream?
because as i install iOS8 my phoyo stream lost.
please help me.
thanks.

As of iOS 8, photos are and photo stream are organized a bit differently: http://help.apple.com/iphone/8/#/iphbfeb468fc

Restoring old faded cracked and yellowed photos

I have a bunch of old pics I want to restore. I was going to just use photoshop or something similar but there are tons of them and I need a way to get it done quicker. I hear epson has very good auto restore software that comes with their scanners. I think iphoto might be to under powered for the job as some are very yellowed with time and cracked, etc...
Anyone have any ideas short of photoshop to get them done quickly and easily?

I've had fair success using iPhoto to fix some old photos, Especially the ones that have changed color due to bad processing. I've used the adjustments, especially the saturation, tint and temperature sliders and the retouch feature. I use Photoshop if this doesn't work. I've been scanning photos and tin types from the 1800s and have been able to improve them significantly, but it isn't fast. I have an HP scanner but have never used its edit functions. I just tried it and didn't find the options to be as good as iPhoto, as it is much harder to see the preview.

Restoring old paper photos into iphoto

I will be buying a digital camera and saw a feature on a camera in local store--called "restoring old images", where camera supposedly can take digital picture of old photo prints. The store's dvd showed restoring from a colored picture and it did look easy. I have boxes of old photos (both black and white and colored) and want to know if anyone has any experience in doing this, and what to watch out for. Is this camera feature a gimmick or can any digital camera do this? I would like for quality to be acceptable into Iphoto, then into idvd, then into imovie. Thanks....

Hello,
Is this camera feature a gimmick or can any digital camera do this?
I don't know about that camera's feature of restoring old images...how can a camera always read correctly what needs to be 'restored'?
However, you can use any digital camera to take a digital picture of old photos. It is recommended that the camera be about 5 megapixels, have macro focus, and that you use a tripod. You can then import the photos to iPhoto and retouch them yourself as needed.
You could also scan the old photos into your computer and then import the scanned photos into iPhoto. That is the method I use for my old photos. Most of my old photos are in albums and it seemed easier to just scan the photos instead of trying to photograph each one. Some scanners have the capability of doing some scratch and dust removal as well.
Timewise, both methods probably are the same. Using digital camera to take picture, you have to get each print ready to be photographed, make sure lighting is good, print is in focus, maybe clip it to an easel, etc.
Scanning prints, you can place several on the scanner at the same time, but you have to select them one at a time for scanning.
Just pick the method you prefer.
If you decide to get that camera, be sure you can try it out and return it if it doesn't perform the way it is advertised!

TS4062 restored iphone from icloud so I could have all my old photos but now I cannot get it to restore or sync with itunes either by cable or by wifi. I have tried with automatic download off/on, I have had red circles, hours of syncing, nothing, help!!

restored iphone from icloud so I could have all my old photos but now I cannot get it to restore or sync with itunes either by cable or by wifi. I have tried with automatic download off/on, I have had red circles, hours of syncing, nothing, help!!

Seems to be a common issue in discussions. Try this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1538
And let me know if it helps,

HT4890 I had a new I phone and I turned on iCloud and photostream , then only some photos from my old iPhone that I thought it was stored to my iCloud appeared in my new iPhone not all the old photos what can I do to restore my photos

I had a new I phone and I turned on iCloud and photostream , then only some photos from my old iPhone that I thought it was stored to my iCloud appeared in my new iPhone not all the old photos what can I do to restore my photos

Can you just back-up the old phone to iTunes and restore it from there?

HT4061 i have just restored old back up onto my iphone instead of backing up - the photos messages etc i had have now disappeared - stupidly i had not backed them up previosly is there anyway of unrestoring the phone???Please Help!!!

i have just restored old back up onto my iphone instead of backing up - the photos messages etc i had have now disappeared replaced with old ones - is there anyway of unrestoring the phone???Please Help!!!

Unless the photos are synced somewhere to your computer or somewhere else I don't believe you can.

How can I restore my old photos after a recovery if not backed up through itunes or icloud

Here's the story. I dropped my phone in a swimming pool. It did not start at first. I layed the phone in a bag of uncooked rice and after 5 days it seemed like it was going to startup again. However something was wrong with teh battery so we ordered a new battery. The phone started up with the new battery but it wanted to go into that recovery mode. I did go through the backup procedure in iTunes and then recovery. The phone is now starting up fine but it is blank from apps and photos like a new phone. I did not have any photos backed up over iCloud before this happened. However shouldn't the photos still be on teh memory card of the phone? I thought the recovery process just resets the phone to factory standard, not deleting my photos. How can I get my old photos out of the phone? They are not in the DCIM when I log on through Windows explorer as well.

What a crappy design. This is where Android is so much better. It seems to me like you have no control over your iPhone. It does whatever Apple has designed it to do without asking you first. On Android you can actually go in see all folders, document files, photo files etc and you have so much more control of everything. Apple s..cks!

How can I retrieve old Photo Stream photos from a lost iPhoto Library?

My laptop was stolen and with it an external drive that had my iPhoto library. I had an old backup and when I opened the backup and turned on Photo Stream, I saw all my old photos appear again! After a short while, it was removing old photos from the photostream and replacing them with newer ones. I'm now missing months of Photo Stream photos that I really want back. I tried creating a new library and enabling Photo Stream to try to capture those missing images, but I am not able to see anything older than Oct. I could really use some help if somebody knows a way to get those memories back...
Thanks
-Rob

I had an old backup
What kind of backup? Do you have a Time Machine Backup of your complete system from the time before the laptop was stolen?
To restore the Photo Stream images from that time you need to restore the folder
your home folder /Library/Application Support/iLifeAssetManagement/Assets
This folder contains the PhotoStream pictures that were part of the PhotoStream at that time.
To restore this folder from TimeMachine, open a Finder window showing this folder, make it the active window, and then enter TimeMachine. Go back in time in the TimeTunnel, till you see the correct date. Don't restore to the library but to a folder on the Desktop.
Regards
Léonie

I had an iPod touch, but it was stolen or lost. Now that I have a new one with a new Apple ID, is there someway I can access and download all my old photos and data from my old Apple ID to my new device? I still remember my old Apple ID and password.

I had an iPod touch, but it was stolen or lost. Now that I have a new one with a new Apple ID, is there someway I can access and download all my old photos and data from my old Apple ID to my new device? I still remember my old Apple ID and password.

Restopre from backup
To restore from backup see:
iOS: How to back up
If you restore from iCloud backup the apps will be automatically downloaded. If you restore from iTunes backup the apps and music have to be in the iTunes library since synced media like apps and music are not included in the backup of the iOS device that iTunes makes.
You can redownload most iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
Also,
- If you used PhotoStream then try getting them from your PhotoStream. See that topic of:
iOS: Importing personal photos and videos from iOS devices to your computer

How can i restore old backup without deleting my existing data

how can i restore old backup without deleting my existing data. unfortunately i have deleted few of my old photos and restored them from my old backup. i got the deleted photos but lost my recent data and photos. how can i get those too.

You cannot. However, if your back up is through iTunes on your computer and you do an internet search for something like "iPhone BackUpExtractor", I believe there is software that will help you access the SQL database that is your back up. You may be able to pull out what you need.
Once you restore from a back up, any data that was on the phone is gone.

HELP!!! CAN'T RESTORE OLD CATALOG TO NEW HARD DRIVE

July 12, 2010
Hello,
Thank you for any help you can give with this rather desperate problem.
I have installed a replacement hard drive in my Dell Windows Vista laptop and reloaded Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0. I am unable to reconnect Elements with my old photo organizer catalog.
Thus the system says I have Elements installed, with a catalog with zero photos in it. When in fact I have 12,000 fotos all captioned, dated and tagged for the Elements organizer.
Elements HELP has nothing about reconnecting to an old photo catalog.
Is it possible (???) that Elements does not keep the catalog separate from the program itself – so that when the program itself is lost in the switch to a new hard drive, the catalog is also lost (unless the user made a backup somewhere)?
Anyway, here’s what happened:
I had made a fairly recent backup of the catalog to an external hard drive, so I copied that backup onto my new hard drive. Then in the Elements Organizer, I clicked on File; Restore Catalog from CD, DVD or Hard Drive. In the window that popped up, I directed it to the backup file (Backup.tly) and specified a location for restoring files and catalog. Then I clicked on Restore.
Up came a window that named one of my 12,000 fotos and said these approximate words “File already exists, do you want to overwrite it?”. I finally said Yes, and then it went on to another of my 12,000 fotos and asked the same question. I assume it planned to go through all 12,000 fotos, but I can’t imagine why.
But instead of continuing, I then got a window that said, “Error encountered while restoring catalog. It is recommended that you contact your disc drive manufacturer and upgrade to the latest available firmware for your specific disc drive before trying again.” (By the way, all my other programs are working fine on the new hard drive.)
I sure hope someone out there can tell me what’s going on. Thank you so much.
Don

You copied the backup onto your new hard drive? Yes or no? Where was it before?
Then did you try to restore to the exact same location where you placed the copy?
HEre is the proper way to restore a catalog: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/402/kb402894.html
By the way ... you say: "Elements HELP has nothing about reconnecting to an old photo catalog." I disagree.
You say: "Is it possible (???) that Elements does not keep the catalog separate from the program itself" not only is it possible, but Elements does indeed keep the catalog separate from the program itself.

Restoring Old Photos

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for