Colour restoration for old photos

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.

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Non destructive photo restoration with Photoshop

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...

Restoring badly torn photograph

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'

Retouch work - Removing people.

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'

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