Restoring Photos and Memories
Restoring images
is truly an art form and it could be for the purpose of archiving old images and
trying to repair images that have been damaged through time or as a result of a
devastating disaster. It’s amazing to
think of the hardware and software now accessible to people to try and restore
and keep their personal treasures of family, friends and their life stories
alive.
For some
inspiration, I have included in this recent blog post, a before and after image
from a library customer that came to the library and learned an introductory
level lesson on Photoshop and was able to get an old image that had some rips
and tears in it completely fixed.
Images courtesy of Paul L.
Always remember,
for best results ensure that the scan of the image is at a high resolution,
allowing you access to more pixels for easier cleanup jobs. Also, try more than one tool, a lot of guides
and books will offer the clone tool,
or even the healing brush tool as
your restoration weapon, but try playing with filters; blur tools, and
even the smudge tool. And most importantly, the image itself might
have had a degree of fading and colour change due to exposure of natural light
and other environmental factors. Play
with the image levels, brightness/contrast and curves settings.
Another example that illustrates
the amount of time and effort needed for some images is below in this stunning
video that was sent me. A collection of
images shot by Jacques Lowe of the Kennedy family and was restored only using
thumbnails.
And lastly, a group
of people who provide restoration services for those who have gone through
terrible disasters such as fire and storms.
BBC shot this news piece more recently after Hurricane Sandy and it
shows how remarkable the feelings of helping people “get back their memories".
Thanks,
Greg
One thought on “Restoring Photos and Memories”
I would never imagine I would be able to develop the skills to even attempt any repair project like this.
It is a credit to the Outstanding introduction courses with the hands on approach from the Digital Design Studio staff in support of our Great Library of books and available videos that provided me with these magical skills.
It is the leadership in the innovations & development of such programs like these, that make Our Toronto Libraries an outstanding service to the requirements of the library of Today – Well Done
I recommend everyone to watch these embedded video that truly explain the process Photoshop and how it can restore your memories like Magic