My sister has emailed me about 100 old family photos they all need some type of repair. Domt know if i am up to that much fixin. Here is one before and after, (yes that is as far as i got.) What do you all think?
before


after

Excellent job.

She sent about a hundred? Wow, I hope that was an example of a really bad one -- not an easy one

Rusty

Rusty, i think that one was not to bad, some of them have those black speckles on them, I think they are a lot more tedious to work on. She is on a roll going thru mas pictures. I wil post some more later. Glad you like my results. I am kinda new at restoring.

You did a great job on that. I envy you for being able to do that.

suzib, i used the clone tool a lot, and the heal tool for little speckles. I am so happy you like the end result. One down 99 or so to go.

Judy, Very nicely done. You must be a very patient person. The time and discipline for that work is demanding. Again, very good work.

One additional thought on your restoration project...
It has been my experience that as old photos fade, they acquire a warm tone. Sometimes they were sepia to begin with, but even when not, the faded color is more towards tan than a cool blue.

If I take an old picture and change it to black blacks and pure white whites, it looks artificial. I think you will like the look better if you try to stick with warmer tones than the slightly blue cast you produced in your first one.

Here's an example. I had a lot easier photo to work with than you did. Most of my effort was cloning out speckles. I did some work on the cardboard frame but deliberately did NOT try to make the frame perfect. That photo is about 100 years old and I didn't want to make it look like it came from a studio yesterday. I also thought it was an appropriate touch to leave the handwritten note at the bottom.

Ed-Lucy-communion.jpg (53.77 KiB) Viewed 1030 times

Just my 2¢

Rusty

Rusty in my gallery is how i originally restored it. Is this better. My sis wanted the b & w. I agree with you.

sepia.jpg (59.77 KiB) Viewed 1017 times

Judy, I like the warmer one. Another thing you might think about doing is darkening and narrowing the border around the picture - not keep it such a stark white. I think you did a great job on the restoration. I have boxes of photos that I'm avoiding looking at...knowing they need scanned.

Thanks for all the input and compliaments. I will try it with a darker border. thanks.