Restoration Tutorial
Old Photo brought back to life If we've heard this lament once, we've heard it a thousand times. Stephanie scanned this old photo for a friend who thought it would just be a click here and a click there to fix it. But approaching this kind of job takes a little skill and a lot of visual inquisitiveness -- then knowing what tools to correct what features of the image.
This is a typical problem with dime-store photo finishing where they're trimming costs in the fix bath of the Kodacolor processing machine. Not to worry, it's only a brown glaze over the photo, and we somehow know there is color data behind that glaze. We can't help the focus much -- the photo was taken with an inexpensive camera. But we can do something with the color.
Open the Photoshop window showing layers, it should open in a new window you can move aside.
For the sake of this demonstration, our goal was to restore the photo to the way it might look today, merely removing the brown glaze. No pains were taken to select and retouch specific areas as you would if you were doing a completely professional make-over. Additionally we're not going to take you through this step-by-step because it would take twenty pages. Instead, I'll only comment on the layers. This will help you see the process of evaluating what is needed, and why.
I have included the actual Photoshop Layers file that you can open and check all the settings. (LINK TO COME) Just double-click on any of the filters to see their settings. Modify them, or toggle the "Preview" button off and on to see the effect. Starting from the bottom, let's look at each adjustment layer.
Photo Filter: This was one of the most welcome filters to come along. You initiate it through Adjustment Layers rather than filters. We turned on the blue to counter the greens in the photo. (Actually the photo is still a little on the blue side. You can fix that)
Color Balance: next Adjustment Layer is Color Balance, working in all three values to attempt to achieve an acceptable flesh tone. Any time you're retouching photos, go for good flesh tones. If you've got those, all the other problems don't seem as bad because people react and relate best to people -- er, uh, flesh tones that is.
Levels: now we need to balance out the image because of the changes so far. The levels helps bring it back.
Hue/Saturation: the levels sort of flattened the color, so we'll increase the saturation here to increase the amount of color to work with.
Hue/Saturation: Another H/S is now needed to correct the orange sky. But before initiating the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, I first selected the sky areas with the Magic Wand. (In real life, you would take much more pain making the selection.) With the active selection (racing ants) when the Adjustment Layer kicks in, you see the part of the image to be corrected is WHITE in the mask thumbnail.
Hue/Saturation: Another one is needed to correct the water. Same routine as before. I had to do just some slight modification by adding white to the mask.
Hue/Saturation: When all the above were done, I noticed a circle of over-saturated color down at the bottom of the image. That had to be cured so I roughly circled it with the lasso tool, and gave it a fairly hefty Select > Feather so its edges would be very soft. Initiating the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, the problem spot is gone. (In the PSD file, toggle the preview on this one and see the dramatic result.)
Brightness / Contrast: Finally, to raise the key just a little bit, I added a slight amount of contrast -- and voila, finished. Total time for the modifications, and writing this tutorial: 45 minutes.
There is a lot more that could be done to this photo -- including selections of various features and acting on them separately. But you should have an idea of how some Adjustment layers, and insightful modifications can make a LOT of difference.
The pros would take a somewhat different approach, using curves and all manner of channel hacking. For that, you need to buy
Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann. She is the world's leading expert, and will easily show you how to get spectacular results on such a retouching job.
Good luck, and thanks for reading.
Color Balance: next Adjustment Layer is Color Balance, working in all three values to attempt to achieve an acceptable flesh tone. Any time you're retouching photos, go for good flesh tones. If you've got those, all the other problems don't seem as bad because people react and relate best to people -- er, uh, flesh tones that is.
Levels: now we need to balance out the image because of the changes so far. The levels helps bring it back.
Hue/Saturation: the levels sort of flattened the color, so we'll increase the saturation here to increase the amount of color to work with.
Hue/Saturation: Another H/S is now needed to correct the orange sky. But before initiating the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, I first selected the sky areas with the Magic Wand. (In real life, you would take much more pain making the selection.) With the active selection (racing ants) when the Adjustment Layer kicks in, you see the part of the image to be corrected is WHITE in the mask thumbnail.
Hue/Saturation: Another one is needed to correct the water. Same routine as before. I had to do just some slight modification by adding white to the mask.
Hue/Saturation: When all the above were done, I noticed a circle of over-saturated color down at the bottom of the image. That had to be cured so I roughly circled it with the lasso tool, and gave it a fairly hefty Select > Feather so its edges would be very soft. Initiating the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer, the problem spot is gone. (In the PSD file, toggle the preview on this one and see the dramatic result.)
Brightness / Contrast: Finally, to raise the key just a little bit, I added a slight amount of contrast -- and voila, finished. Total time for the modifications, and writing this tutorial: 45 minutes.
There is a lot more that could be done to this photo -- including selections of various features and acting on them separately. But you should have an idea of how some Adjustment layers, and insightful modifications can make a LOT of difference.
The pros would take a somewhat different approach, using curves and all manner of channel hacking. For that, you need to buy
Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann. She is the world's leading expert, and will easily show you how to get spectacular results on such a retouching job.
Good luck, and thanks for reading.
How best to store your photos
Storing your photographs properly goes a long way to their preservation... The preservation of photographs, and all documents and artworks, depends on the storage environment and the storage enclosures. Many institutions have climate controlled storage rooms with purified air, kept at constant moderate or cool temperatures (e.g., 65-70F) and moderate relative humidities (e.g., 35-50%). Some institutions even have cold vaults for certain types of photographs that are very prone to deterioration, such as color photographs and older films. Unfortunately, these conditions are not easily found or maintained in homes! However, there are things you can do to improve the storage climate for your valuable photographs in your home: store your photographs in the coolest and driest spot in your home that stays that way year round. Finished basements frequently are cool, but they are usually too damp for photo storage unless they are dehumidified. Dampness should be avoided as it causes photos to stick together, and promotes mold growth. Above ground interior closets maintain fairly constant temperatures throughout the year, and should be considered for storage.
All plastic and paper materials used to house and store valuable and heirloom photographs should pass the ANSI IT9.16 Photographic Activity Test (PAT). (The PAT was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is a test that determines whether or not a storage material will cause fading or staining in photographs.) In addition, other storage materials such as envelopes, folders, sleeves, and boxes should meet the standards described in ANSI IT9.2 Photographic Processed Films, Plates, and Papers--Filing Enclosures and Storage Containers. Many manufacturers make storage materials which meet these two standards and advertise them in their catalogs. more>>
Storing your photographs properly goes a long way to their preservation... The preservation of photographs, and all documents and artworks, depends on the storage environment and the storage enclosures. Many institutions have climate controlled storage rooms with purified air, kept at constant moderate or cool temperatures (e.g., 65-70F) and moderate relative humidities (e.g., 35-50%). Some institutions even have cold vaults for certain types of photographs that are very prone to deterioration, such as color photographs and older films. Unfortunately, these conditions are not easily found or maintained in homes! However, there are things you can do to improve the storage climate for your valuable photographs in your home: store your photographs in the coolest and driest spot in your home that stays that way year round. Finished basements frequently are cool, but they are usually too damp for photo storage unless they are dehumidified. Dampness should be avoided as it causes photos to stick together, and promotes mold growth. Above ground interior closets maintain fairly constant temperatures throughout the year, and should be considered for storage.
All plastic and paper materials used to house and store valuable and heirloom photographs should pass the ANSI IT9.16 Photographic Activity Test (PAT). (The PAT was developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is a test that determines whether or not a storage material will cause fading or staining in photographs.) In addition, other storage materials such as envelopes, folders, sleeves, and boxes should meet the standards described in ANSI IT9.2 Photographic Processed Films, Plates, and Papers--Filing Enclosures and Storage Containers. Many manufacturers make storage materials which meet these two standards and advertise them in their catalogs. more>>
