The holiday season is well and truly here. Bank balances and wallets are stretched to the limit at this time of year. Don't worry if you need to pay for your Photo Restoration by credit card, then you can. I offer secure on-line payments using Paymate Express Payment. No sign up needed. Just secure easy on-line credit card payment you can trust. Available worldwide using Visa or Mastercard. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Christmas and summer is most definitely here. A great gift idea for someone special is to give a cherished memory. So if you have an old photo hidden away forlorn and forgotten, why not dig it out an make it a gift for someone special. Send me your scanned photo and I can copy, restore or maybe retouch it to make a wonderful Christmas gift. So start looking now, Christmas is coming. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

An early Christmas present for everyone. I made another slide show of some of the photo restorations I have done this year at PixelFIX. I hope you enjoy watching.  PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Sometime the restorations are small but have a big impact on the photo. Fixing red eyes in photos is a recurring problem in photography. Here you can see the difference removing the red eye makes to keep the photo looking natural. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

This photo sent to me by Suaree was to be used for a headstone, but the resolution was too low and there was too many blemishes for it to look nice when enlarged. So using Photoshop I removed the blemishes and corrected the colour. I also interpolation the image to increase the resolution and give the headstone people more pixels to work with Suaree was very pleased with the results and I was happy to be able to assist. Hi Richard, thank you for your work. I love the result and yes we allow you to use our image in your website. I am also going to be sending you another job. We are very impressed. - Suaree PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Leslie from Australia sent me this sad looking photo in need of some drastic colour restoration. The image is old and has discoloured badly turning everything a sickly shade of green. Using a photo filter adjustment layer I was able to remove 95% of the colour cast in one hit. Photoshop magic, love it.  PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

When colour film became popular back in the 1970's the technology of the film and the process of developing the prints was in it's infancy and was a technology that was advancing with each year that passed. As such many of those original colour photos have not lasted as well as ones from later years. Lesley sent me some classic examples of discoloured photos from that era. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Lesley From Australia sent through this old black and white photo for some repair work. It need the crease removed and blemishes repaired so it could be hung proudly on display at the local Life Guard and Surf Club. Hi Richard, Just a quick note.  The photo looks great thank you - Lesley   PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Here is some close up screen shots of detail from a recent restoration. Just showing just how much repair work is required when you zoom into the fine detail. The final image is actual very small in size and as such make working with fine detail so much harder. This is straight after scanning and zooming in to 100% so all the damage can be seen This is after some clean up and enhancements to reveal more of the detail.  PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Whilst the rest of New Zealand was lost in rugby fever, Alex sent me this very sad looking photo hoping to get a clearer view of the house and people. The image was very small and lacked detail. even once contrast was restored the image itself was out of focus and blurred. But non the less with the help of Photoshop the final image can now at least be recognised and enjoyed once more. "Hi Richard, Looks good, thanks" -Alex PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Spirng time has finally arrived, it always seems to take such a long time coming. But it's time to do that spring cleaning and make a start on those 'been meaning to do' tasks that we have all put off for too long. Now is the perfect time to look out those old photos and make sure they are going to get through another winter. If you find small spots or mildew on photos, act now before the images are lost forever. There are many chemical solutions that will kill mould and mildew, however, you cannot use them on photos! At PixleFIX we can help stop the spread of mould and also restore the damage caused. Please contact me for the best solution for your needs. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

The Rugby World Cup is nearly upon here in New Zealand. It would be great to see if anyone has any old rugby photos that need some attention. Or do you have any old photos of the All Blacks that have seen better days. To catch up on the latest news for the world cup click the link below. http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/ PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Been a little while since my last entry. Seems that there just isn't enough time to do everything in life. Who knew!! But here is a lovely photo that I Nicole sent me. It needed some restoration in Photoshop to repair the damage around the hair and also some colour balance changes and improvements to the contrast. Thanks Richard! - Nicole. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

This has to be one of the most satisfying restorations done to date. The original was torn into many pieces and required extensive Photoshop work to be painstakingly pieced back together. The original scan was the key to making this a successful restoration and invisibly repairing the ripped pieces into one full image again. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

For anyone wishing to back up their photos online I can highly recommend the service that SmugMug provide. Unlimited storage and really useful features. CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR FREE TRIAL https://secure.smugmug.com/signup.mg?Coupon=Pfg8YH6335Gy6 PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

This is another photo from Ryan who had a number of badly damaged photos that seemed beyond repair. But thankfully we were able to do a full restoration on them, using Photoshop,  for future generations to enjoy. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

I have been incredibly busy this last couple of weeks with new work and new hours. Also had some amazing restorations come through. This one from Ryan was from a batched of ripped photos. I will post the others soon. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Chris had this badly discoloured old photo. It had a ribbon over the corner that has made a different discolouration. There is also part of the shoulder missing and needed replacing. Below is the before and after. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Having to send and share large files over the internet for photo restoration work is made a lot easier when you have lots of space in your Dropbox so help make mine more spacious. Always have your stuff when you need it with @Dropbox. 2GB account is free! http://db.tt/m3O3Znv http://db.tt/m3O3Znv PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Well the house move has happened. An office will give me more space for restoration work. Which is all good. What is not good is the lack of internet. Slingshot is not my recomendation idf you are looking for reliable service. This would be the  first time I have had to use the mobile blogging feature offered by google. Hopefully I wont have to use it for too much longer.

Now you can have all the latest news and relevant information about photo restoration on your own website or blog. It is FREE and so very simple. Below is the widget as it would appear on your site. You can alter the size and the colour to suit your needs. Firstly - visit this website  http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/pixelfix-photo-restoration-and-repair Secondly - click on the 'Get Widget' button in the top right of the page Thirdly - copy the code and then paste on to your website or blog. DONE Get the <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/pixelfix-photo-restoration-and-repair">PixelFIX - Photo Restoration and Repair</a> widget and many other <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com/">great free widgets</a> at <a href="http://www.widgetbox.com">Widgetbox</a>! Not

It seems that photo restoration work comes along like buses. During the quiet winter months the jobs still trickle in but like buses they come along in groups of three it seems. So a busy week ahead with 3 new customers and 5 photos to restore. Some interesting and challenging jobs too. Stay tuned for more posts and photos. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

This is the scanner (HP Scanjet 7400c) I use to do all my scanning for photo restoration work at Pixelfix . I know it is an old scanner these days. I am on the look out for a newer one soon. But it still provides great high quality scans and is still going strong serving me well for the last 8 years. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Prevention is better than curing. Sometimes photos don't need restoring. They just need preserving before they get damaged and so they can be passed on to others in the family. At PixelFIX I can scan and copy old photos to preserve them and pass them on. They can be scanned and printed or scanned and put on to CD. Example of photo copied and printed. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Restoring those old family photos now will save time and money in the long run. Act now before the damage worsens. Small repairs can be inexpensive and have a higher degree of success. Send you photos by uploading here and receive a free quote PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

I posted this image a while ago now but today I thought i would add some explanation to my restoration techniques. I  always work in a non destructive method within Photoshop. The ability to work in layers means the original image can be left at the bottom layer for reference and all changes can be reversed. If you spend time making a good scan then it pays to make sure you can revert back to it at any time. So what layers do I use?  Well firstly I make a copy of the background layer. This enable me to run filters that can not be reversed such as dust and scratch filters. Above that you can see a clone layer. This is where all that obvious damage is repaired. Above that again is the dodge and burn layer. I do not use the traditional dodge and burn tool available in Photoshop. I prefer to use a soft light blending mode that can be adjusted and reversed if necessary. Next we have adjustment layers. These provide adjustment to the whole image, or just part of the image using a mask. F

This is the other image Elizabeth sent me to restore. Again it was a miniature portrait and I believe it will become the other half of a pair of cuff links. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Elizabeth sent me this sad looking portrait to be restored. The difficulty with this image was the size, the original was just over a centimetre in size. High resolutions scanning revealed the amount of damage that needed to be repaired. Below is the the original and also a large blow up of the restored photo.  Elizabeth - " thank you for sending those through, they look fantastic!" PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

The rugby world cup is on its way and here is a team photo that needed some restoration. Not the All Blacks maybe but still precious.  PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Celia sent me this photo to see if I could restore detail in the photo and make it enjoyable again. As you can see the fading was quite severe, causing whole blocks of background detail to be lost.  Celia - "It's certainly an improvement! Thank you." The lower portion of the face was also affected. This does make restoring this old photo much more difficult. But by using Photoshop I have been able to add some definition to the details of the face and the photo now looks a lot better. Below is the finished restoration. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

This is a typical case of a wedding photo that required some retouch work as it was needed for other purposes. So I was able to use Photoshop to remove the person on the right and make a new portrait for others to enjoy. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Sometime the results amaze even myself. This very old colour photo was looking very sad. But with the use of curves and by selecting individual channels of colour I was able to restore an amazing amout of hidden colour. I did not use any false colour layers on this restoration. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Just a fun way to display some of my photo restoration work I have done at PixelFIX  using Photoshop. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

The earthquake in Christchurch has destroyed many peoples personal belongings. Family photos are one of the most precious of possessions, irreplaceable in most cases and full of memories and significance. Some of these photos may be restored. At PixelFIX I can restore damage caused by water, creases, rips and tears. scratches, discoloured, burnt or dirt. It is amazing what can be repaired see here  for examples. To help those that have suffered in the earthquake I am offering a 20% discount on photo restoration at PixelFIX for the month of May. If you are a resident of Christchurch all you need to do is upload your photo for a FREE quotation and provide a current utility bill. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

There are lots of old photos like these hidden away. They do represent a slice of history and as such are very important. Not just as a family heirloom but as a documentation of the war and those that fought. Restoring these images and retaining as much from the original image as possible is very important. Below is such an image where creases and a damaged corner were repaired to look as good as new. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

One thing you have to do when running a website is spread yourself about, make your mark in as many places as can be. So below is a just a few of the places where you can find information about PixelFIX photo restoration.                            PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'http://www.elance.com/s/pixelshaw/ http://www.nzs.com/site-profile/pixelfix.co.nz/

Here is a badly damaged army photo that Jessica sent to me of her Grandfather for repair. Jessica has kindly allowed me to use the image and I am going to feature it on the website. This restoration required quite a lot of cloning with photoshop. Jessica was very pleased with the result.  "Wow, that looks amazing!" " Thanks for your great service"  - Jessica PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

I digitally restored this 80 year old photo and now it looks like it was taken yesterday. It is actually an old black and white image that was hand painted over to look like a colour photograph. It is one of the best examples of this type of work I have seen. So congratulation to whoever the original print processor was. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

Business is busy and the first part of my service is offing a FREE quotation on the work to be carried out. This week has been full of quotes. Assessing the work and trying to calculate the time required to do a job is not an exact science. The method I use normally, is to spend 5 minutes just quickly trying a couple of different methods on the most difficult part of the image. From this quick assessment I can then calculate the best route forward and also the eventual success of any restoration. A  price is then based on an hourly rate, or portion thereof. I always stand by my quotation, so even if I spend longer than anticipated I do not charge more than the quoted price. To obtain your FREE quotation complete the form here PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

A lot of older images were displayed in oval frames. As this was the fashion of the day. But this leads to many cut up images. This lady needed some repair and also to be made whole again. Vignetting was used heavily back in the day, and so this image has continued with that theme. Rectangular images can be framed a lot more easily, and can therefore be enjoyed more often. Have a great weekend everyone. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists. Click here for 'fancy view'

This blog page is powered by blogger and they have just provided some new interactive ways to view the blog posts. To view all this new fanciness you must go to http://blog.pixelfix.co.nz/view I will place a link for this view at the bottom of each post and also on the PixelFIX Facebook page. Below is a small video showing some of the different ways you can view the photo restoration blog at PixelFIX. PixelFIX - Photo restoration and photos repaired, from $15. The restoration and manipulation specialists.

Happy Friday to all, something a little different today. Below is some geeky stuff relating to what software people use to browse the internet with. The first graph shows what people use to view the pages of PixlFIX Photo rBlog.  The second chart shows the world wide usage of different browsers. As you can see viewers of PixelFIX Photo Restoration Blog are quite evenly split. Specific data relating to PixelFIX Blog. Pageviews by Browsers Internet Explorer 44 (34%) Chrome 39 (30%) Firefox 39 (30%) Safari 3 (2%) Mobile 2 (1%) Opera 1 (<1%) General web statistics worldwide. Web Statistics and Trends Statistics are important information. From the statistics below, you can see that Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome are the most popular browsers today. Browser Statistics Month by Month 2011 Internet Explorer Firefox Chrome Safari Opera February 26.5 % 42.4% 24.1% 4.1% 2.5% January 26.6 % 42.8% 23.8% 4.0% 2.5%             2010 Internet