A faded photograph

Historic photo restoration is such satisfying work. With a good scanner and plenty of patience, you can work wonders. In this example I’ll be working with a faded photograph.

This old photo had been sitting in an oval frame for many years.

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I start with a general contrast adjustment. This improves the blueness of the shadow areas, but still leaves a lot to be done.

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I need to balance the sunlight-damaged part with the better-preserved part. I roughly select the oval frame …

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… and adjust the colours to match. This leaves a visible ring around the edge …

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… which I repair. Now I have a uniform image to work on.

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I select just the skin …

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… and bring some life into it.

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Then I invert the selection, and make some adjustments to the rest of the photo. I take the last traces of blue from her hair, add some contrast to her clothing, and whiten the background.

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Finally, I even out the skintone a little more, then whiten her eyes and teeth, and add some colour to her collar and ribbons.

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If you have a question about this article, please feel free to post it in Ask Damien.