Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Using Photoshop Elements to Restore Old Photos

By David Peters

Of you are like me you have photographs in albums or frames that have been damaged by the sun or general wear and tear. Thanks to technology available through the computer and photo editing software, including Adobe Photoshop Elements, we can easily restore these cherished photographs.

Photoshop Elements is an easy to learn program. Using Elements you have options that can help restore your photographs. One of these tools is the Dust and Scratch Filter which can be used to remove any marks, scratches and blots on your old photos. The Dust and Scratch Filter is found on the Menu Bar under the Filter Tab. A drop down menu lists your choices where you want to click on the Noise tab and then Dust and Scratches.

After selecting the Dust and Scratches menu, a pop up window opens with two control sliders. The first slider option is called the Radius and the other one is called the Threshold. If the preview box is checked you may also have another window open. The main options we use when restoring photos are radius and threshold.

Try to adjust the Radius slider which should remove any scratches. Please be aware that overdoing it may make the edges blurred as well. If blurring does occur you can adjust the Threshold slider. This should allow the details to return and make the picture clearer with the scratches disappearing. Also, be careful not to set the sliders too far or you will only create blotches on the picture.

To remove any marks on the photograph you will want to select only the part where the scratches are located, not the entire photograph. To select these areas you can use the Lasso tool.

Once you have fixed the areas you may want to use the feather tool to feather the edges of the selected area so that the fixed selection will not be obvious on the picture. To use the feather tool you click the Feather option and choose the Scratch and Dust Filter again. You might want to do the radius and threshold adjustment process again to get the correct texture and make sure all the scratches and marks are removed.

To finish the process and make the photograph appear professional I recommend you crop the image enough to remove any cracks or torn edges of the photograph. The canvas may be use to equally crop the image.

You can also add drama to your picture by adding a drop shadow. Drop shadows make the photo appear as if it has been lifted off the page. You can remove color from the photo using tools Shift+Ctrl+U. Once it is black and white you can then add color by putting a little amount of Sepia. This is done on the Hue or Saturation tab. The contrast may be adjusted using the Levels option.

This is only one very easy way to remove blotches and marks on an old picture. It is also a good way to make the picture look new but still appear classical. It will be a pleasant and easy way to display pictures kept on old albums and cabinets for a long time. - 16651

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