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This Is How You Can Restore Damaged Family Photos

How you can restore these photos to their original phase, you might want to follow our tips

By Eada HudesPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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Photos are mostly taken to preserve memories. In the growing digital era and the evolution in the field of technology, it has become easier for us to protect our photos for a long time. When photographs of your family get damaged or deteriorated, you are often motivated to bring them back to life by getting them to their original appearance and condition. There are a lot of methods such as physical and chemical treatments which can be used to enhance the aesthetic sense of the photograph which has been aged. You must know that there are a few downsides of using these treatments, and they can do as much harm as good. However, there are some things which we can do to preserve the beautiful memories captured before the introduction of the pixel. It is not the right thing to take these photos under these treatments even when people are aware of the risks those alterations might have.

You might come across your family photos and find out that some of them have already been damaged to one degree. There can be photos which got affected by fading, staining, creasing, and tearing; thus leaving all the marks. If you are thinking as to how you can restore these photos to their original phase, you might want to follow our tips:

  • Assess the Damage: You can scan the image using Photoshop to assess the damage to the photo and formulate a plan according to the condition of the picture. Target the global areas first so that the overall structure of the photo can be refined. You can make total adjustments in the first place. If you plan on doing the details of the image, the tone and contrast of the picture are altered.
  • Levels and Curves: In order to restore damaged photos, the next step will be to adjust the curves and levels. Adjusting the curves and levels will adjust the contrast as well within the same setting. Using the levels function, you can get the tone of the image back to normal. Try using the black dropper to get an immediate improvement in the overall appearance of the picture. Do not panic if you push the curves too far away. You can always get them back to the original condition by clicking on the CANCEL button.
  • Tackle the Details: Once the curves and levels have been addressed and adjusted, you can zoom in to the details and start addressing them. Make sure that you can see all of the damaged areas and zoom in accordingly. If the photo is experiencing a tearing, you can use the clone stamp tool to sample similar pixels nearby and fill the damaged area. Start with the edges and work your way to the center of the image. Do not worry about maintaining proper boundaries as we will be cropping them out later on.
  • Detailing: Now is the time to zoom in to every nook and corner of the image and deal with things like dust, scratches, and creases. Spot Healing brush has been introduced to Photoshop, and dealing with the dust and removing scratches has never been easier. Make sure to zoom in tight, and you will be able to repair the finest pixels and make the image look more realistic.
  • Crop for a Clean Edge: Once all the extra elements such as dust and crease are taken care of, zoom out and use the Marquee tool to crop out any additional edges. By doing this, you can get newer and cleaner edges using this tool and make the picture look fresher. You can even create a photo collage by taking all the photos and arranging them in a specific style. By doing this, you will be able to relive all the moments at that time with a single photo.

Rescuing the memories is always gratifying. By restoring the images, all the time spent in bringing the pictures back to life will be worth it. Edits will become easier after a few attempts, and there is no need to worry about it.

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About the Creator

Eada Hudes

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