Computers and The Internet

 by: Michael Wysmierski

There are times that people may have old photographs

they would like to restore to save the memories. Photos

usually get damaged through the times. The pictures may

get blurred, the color fades and the picture might acquire

marks and scratches. Thank the technology of today. People

can now save and restore their old photos with the help of

Photoshop.

Here are some steps to follow in restoring old pictures

using the Photoshop.

1. The person may use the Elements in Photoshop, which are

Dust and Scratch Filter to remove the marks, scratches an

blots in the photo. The Dust and Scratches Filter is

located on the Menu Bar and click on the Filter Tab. A drop

down will list elements and then he can choose the Noise tab

and select on the Dust and Scratches.

2. After clicking on the Dust and Scratches menu, a window

will

pop up with two control sliders. The first slider is for

the Radius and the other one is for the Threshold. There

will also be another window if the preview box will be

checked. These are the main options that will be used in

treating the picture.

3. Adjusting the Radius slider may remove the scratches.

However, there is a tendency that overdoing it may make

the edges blurred too. If that happens, the option is to

adjust the Threshold slider and this will allow the details

to go back and make the picture clearer with the scratches

disappearing. The person should be careful not to set them

too far or it will only create blotches on the picture.

4. In removing the marks, selecting the whole photo will

not diffuse these marks. The option is to select only the

part where the scratches are located. He may use the Lasso

to do this.

5. He can then feather the edges of the selected area so

that the selected area will not be obvious on the picture.

He can do this by clicking the Feather option and click

the Scratch and Dust Filter again. He can do the process

again of adjusting the Radius and Threshold sliders to get

the texture needed and remove the scratches.

6. It there are still visible marks on the other parts of

the picture, he can do the technique again by selecting the

areas he would like to adjust. To finish the process and

make the picture presentable, he can crop the image enough

to remove the cracks and torn edges of the picture. The

canvas may be use to equally crop the image.

7. A person may add drama on the picture by adding a drop

shadow on it. This will make the picture appear as if it

has been lifted off the page. The color may also be removed

using the controls Shift+Ctrl+U. He can then add color by

putting a little amount of Sepia. He can do this with the

Hue or Saturation tab. The contrast may be adjusted using

the Levels option.

This is one easy way on how to remove the blotches and

marks on an old picture. This 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.