How to recover old photos. Retouching, professional processing of black and white photos, model appearance in photos in a Photoshop lesson

From April 12, 2015 to early June, there were many posts based on these photos. Dmitry himself became interested in this process, bought a good scanner that allows you to digitize images from any media in a very high resolution, and started restoration. Moreover, his approach differs from most restorers and retouchers from Photoshop. The main goal is to recreate the original image, not a quick result. The examples below fully illustrate what has been said.
Personally, I have my own selfish interest in Dmitry's venture - all of a sudden something local history from the family bins pops up!))) If someone deems it appropriate to distribute this post, we will be very grateful!)))
Dmitry leads a group on Odnoklassniki https://ok.ru/profile/570398517042, connect!)))
Original taken from g_decor Restoration of old and damaged photographs.

We have a new type of service for the restoration of old and damaged photographs, color and black-and-white negatives, slides and archival photographic documents. The quality of the copy is significantly superior to the quality of the original material.

Time does its job: photographs on paper and film deteriorate over time, begin to fade, fade, become covered with small cracks and scratches. You can restore them to their original appearance with the help of photo restoration.

Modern methods of restoration allow extensive work on image correction:

1. Remove scratches, cracks, bruises, folds, dust effects and small interferences.

2. Increase sharpness to a certain limit on fuzzy and blurry photos.

3. "Glue" torn photos, while the place of "gluing" parts of the photo becomes invisible.

4. Restore lost parts of the image.

5. Adjust the brightness, contrast of the image, perform color correction.

6. If necessary, replace the background with a uniform one to highlight a specific object or person in a group photo.

It should be noted that the concepts of retouching and restoration differ from each other and have different tasks.

In the case of retouching, it is necessary to produce the most beautiful photo, hide flaws and show the image more spectacular than it really is. Similar photos can be seen in glossy magazines. There is an effect of a certain artificiality. Each photo contains an element of fiction. Such work, basically, is associated with the ability to use graphic programs and is purely technical.

In the case of restoration, the main thing is the impeccable preservation of the information of the original image, its historical authenticity. This is much more difficult to achieve. It is necessary to remove only the interference that interferes with the perception of the original. In the case of restoration, it is not enough to master the graphic editor, you must have the skills of an artist. A person without training and a certain experience of such work is not able to achieve a good result. The restoration of each photo requires a lot of time, painstaking work and care.

It is possible to scan historical photographs in extremely high resolution, allowing you to see the smallest details of the source without loss of quality.

Here are more examples of photos, "before" and "after" their restoration. Look.

Preserve your family archive for posterity. Only those who remember their "roots" have a future.

I would be grateful for the dissemination of information. Contact phone: 89139788415

Original entry and comments on

Today we will learn how to restore old shabby photos in Photoshop. There are many different examples on the Internet on how to do this. I want to bring to your attention the most, it seems to me, simple and understandable. Of course, it is quite laborious and will take some time, but for beginners in Photoshop it is ideal. No need for a bunch of tools, different masks and layer blending modes that get confused in the head. All you need is the Stamp tool and your patience. In addition, beginners during this lesson will make friends with this wonderful tool and will continue to use it in their work.

Let's start studying the lesson.

An old photograph has been lying around in the home archive for a long time, it's time to take it up.

First of all, go to the tab Image - Mode - RGB. If the mode is different, then put a tick on RGB.

Remove the lock from the layer. Double-click on the lock with the left mouse button and select OK in the pop-up window.

To be safe, copy the layer. Then we stand on the copy and increase the view. We start at the edges of the photo to practice on.

Take the Stamp Tool and check the settings. Since we are working in the very corner, do not be afraid to set the opacity and pressure to the maximum. We will stamp with a round brush, pre-select its diameter. Activate the Stamp tool, hold down the Alt key, a window appears on the screen as in a sight. We put it on the section that we want to copy, click the mouse. Then we release the Alt key, the sight disappears and we move the circle to the place we want to paint over, click the mouse. We see how a circle appeared on the damaged area. So let's practice on the corners. The more often we use the Alt key, the more carefully the desired area will be painted over.

Having trained on the corners, we move to another area, but we do not touch the face yet. Since the strip that needs to be masked is small, we change the size of the brush - we reduce the diameter. And again we aim at the area that we want to copy, hold down the Alt key, click the mouse, release the key, go to the area that we want to paint over, click the mouse.

Periodically reduce the view and look at what happens.

To compare, we turn off the eye on the copy layer we are working on. It is immediately clear: what and where is painted over.

In places near the eye, you need to greatly enlarge the image. Since it is already difficult to do this with the engine, we click on the right triangle. With its help, little by little we increase the image.

We select targets for the sight both above the seam and below the seam. In such areas, it is especially important not to rush and often aim and take areas for cloning.

When we clone the pupil, we reduce the hardness of the brush.

When cloning lips, we take a sample from the lips.

When cloning a pupil, it is possible and necessary to take samples from different sides of the pupil.

Try not to aim too close to the area that needs to be painted over, so as not to hit too much.

When we clone the stripes on the suit, we walk from different sides to the scratch. We worship from the bottom, then go to the top and clone from the top. Then again we go to the bottom and so towards the opposite we paint over the area. To get a transition from a white stripe to a black background, try to take into sight the area that is in the middle and includes both white and black stripes. Adjust this with the diameter of the brush, it can be changed more often.

With the final touch, paint over the white stripe, just to paint over.

Anyway, no matter how you paint over the background, it will not be even. So we are taking other steps. Use the Rectilinear Lasso Tool to select the shape of the baby.

Right-click inside the selection and select Feather.

We accept a small radius of shading. Since the photo is old, we do not need very clear boundaries.

Copy the selection to a new layer. We use the Ctrl + J keys for this.

Create a new layer by clicking on the second icon from the right in the layers panel and put it under the layer with the selected baby figure. We extinguish the eyes on the two lower layers.

Next we go - Run the fill. In order to have a place to take a color sample with a pipette, we will make the layer on which we worked with the Stamp visible (turn on the peephole on it by clicking on it). We check that we are standing on a transparent layer.

And now we use the Eyedropper tool to fill the layer with color.

We see that the background has become monochromatic. To diversify it a little, let's make it a little structural. Apply the Unlimited-2 filter, download it from here.

In the filter window, select the canvas.

Apply the Sharpen filter to the baby image. Let's check that we are standing on the layer with the baby.

We extinguish the eyes on the two lower layers and on the Layers tab, select - Merge Visible.

After that, I saved the file as a JPEG, made a frame from the lesson How to make a frame with torn edges. I instructed the program to slightly correct the image. On the Image tab, I selected Auto Tone and Auto Contrast.

Now you can compare the result.

With this method, beginners may well take on the restoration of old photos. As you can see, this method is very understandable, the main thing is patience. Everything will work out for us!

Printed photographs are fragile reminders of important moments and events of the past. Often old photographs are in a single copy, so damage to the photograph can greatly sadden the owner. Paper has been exposed to moisture, water, sunlight and dust for years. Sometimes, if stored incorrectly, even new pictures can become inappropriate. Learn the basic ways to restore your photos, learn how to do them at home, and start storing your photos the right way to preserve memories for generations to come.

Steps

Digital restoration of minor damage

Use the correct equipment. To recover photos at home, you will need a quality scanner and image editing software for your computer. For example, you can purchase a photo editor like Photoshop and a scanner that allows you to scan photos in high resolution, which is measured in dots per square inch. The higher the resolution, the more detailed the scanned image will be. In most cases, a resolution of 300 dpi is recommended.

Scan a photo. Place your photo carefully in the scanner and choose to scan in high resolution to capture all the details of the photo. Subsequently, save the finished image as a TIFF instead of a JPEG. The TIFF format will increase the file size, but will provide high detail and image quality. Save the image and open it in a photo editor.

Crop the image. Use the appropriate tool to remove signs of damage from the edges of the photo. The edges of old photographs are often deformed by high humidity or contact with water. If the damage is located around the perimeter of the photo, then cropping will help to quickly solve the problem.

Remove scratches and traces of dust. The Dust and Scratches filter, or the Spot Healing Brush tool in Photoshop, or similar tools in other photo editors make the process of removing imperfections much easier. Zoom in on the image and remove the traces of damage with the mouse cursor. Take your time and zoom out periodically to control the result. The filter will also remove some details, so don't go overboard with this feature.

• Open a new tab with a photo that fits the entire window to see the changes.

1. Repair tears and missing fragments. If the photo has tears, cuts, or missing fragments, use the Stamp tool to recreate parts of the image and damaged areas. Select a tool and select the part of the photo where you want to copy or use information on a mouse click. Move the cursor to the area you want to restore using the copied material.

   Print the image. After restoration, print the photo using an inkjet or special photo printer on glossy photo paper.

   Fix the tears with acid-free adhesive tape. Fix a tear or repair a torn photo with acid-free tape. Ordinary tape or duct tape contains an acidic adhesive that can damage the photo over time. Purchase archival tape or tape with an acrylic adhesive compound from the office supply department or specialty store. Cut off small strips of tape and fix the tears on the back of the picture.

   Use patch tape. A torn photo can be repaired with paper tape and acid-free glue. Patch tape is available at art supply stores or office supply stores. Apply a small amount of glue to a strip of paper and press down on the torn area on the back of the photo. Gather up any excess glue with a cotton swab. Leave the photo to dry face down on a towel and press down with a small book to keep the edges from fraying.

2. Create a humidification chamber for photos with warped edges. If old photos are wrapped or deformed around the edges, then a homemade humidification chamber will help solve the problem. The camera will allow you to saturate a dry, fragile photograph with moisture so that the paper at the edges opens and straightens.

   • Type water at room temperature 5-7 centimeters high into a plastic container for storage. Place a wire rack in the container and make sure the top is not submerged. Place the photograph on top of the grille and cover the camera with the lid. Leave for a few hours. Periodically examine the photo and wipe off any drops of water on the paper. When the edges straighten out, remove the photo and leave to dry face up on a towel. Cover the photograph with blotting paper or parchment and press down with a book.

In this tutorial, you will learn one of the ways to restore old photos.

Before proceeding with the restoration, it is necessary to draw up a rough work plan in order to do everything in sequence and not rush from one to another. The following sequence of actions is recommended:

1 . Work only with a copy of the scanned image.
2. Crop the image. Be careful not to touch on important details.
3. Determine the main problem areas for retouching, perform the necessary operations. This is the longest and most laborious stage.
4. We remove noise and other unwanted plaque. Do not try to completely remove the grain of the film and make a semblance of a digital picture! Indeed, during the restoration it is important to preserve the spirit of that time.
5. Adjust brightness, contrast, saturation. In color photographs, we adjust the balance of colors, especially pay attention to the correct skin color.
6. We increase the sharpness of the image.

So, let's start the process. Here is our original photo.

Step 1. Restoration usually begins with the correction of relatively large areas. For this, it is best to use the tool Patch(Patch tool). The figures show an approximate sequence of actions. First, large areas in the background are corrected, then smaller ones.

Step 2 After retouching large defects, we move on to small ones. To do this, we use the tools Healing brush(Healing Brush), Spot Healing Brush(Spot Healing Brush) and Stamp(Clone Stamp). Don't be afraid to experiment with these tools.

Tool Spot restorative The brush should preferably be used to eliminate only very small point defects. For larger areas it is better to use the regular Healing brush and Stamp.

The screenshot below shows the areas where the specified tools were used: in red - Healing brush, green - Stamp. I want to draw your attention to the fact that when working with the Patch and Healing Brush tools, there are unwanted effects when working on the edges of the image, especially if they are white. To avoid this, first simply paint over these areas with the nearest color with a brush, and then work with the repair tools.

Here is what should happen at this stage.

Step 3 Now we will work with more serious damage. To reconstruct the image of the man's left eye, we use the image of his right eye. An extreme case is taken here. If there are other photographs of this person, then it is better to take the missing parts of the image from them, so it will be more correct.

So, select the area around the right eye and copy to a new layer by clicking CTRL+J. Next click CTRL+T to apply the free transform.

Step 4 Right click inside the frame and select Flip Horizontally(Flip Horizontal).

Step 5 In order to correctly place the reflected copy of the eye, reduce the opacity of the layer and align the eye with the original image. Then press ENTER and return the opacity to 100%.

Step 6 Add a layer mask by clicking on the icon marked with a green circle at the bottom of the layers palette.

Step 7 Press D to reset colors then select tool Brush(Brush). With a black brush, mask out the extra areas. Remember that white shows and black hides. To get soft imperceptible transitions, use a brush with soft edges.

Tip: hold your finger over the X key to quickly switch between black and white. If you have hidden something superfluous, paint over this area with white. If you only want to see the mask, click on its thumbnail in the layers palette while holding ALT.

Step 8 Now, in a similar way, we restore the image of the left ear. To fine-tune the shape, use the tool Deformation(Warp).

A small area of ​​the hairline on the left side of the face is also restored. I remind you that each operation must be performed on a new layer. This should be the main rule of the work.

Step 9 After restoring all large areas, let's return to the tool Stamp and fix any bugs. You need to do this on a new transparent layer by checking the Sample all layers option.

You can merge layers if needed.

Here's what should happen.

Step 10 Select all layers. Merge layers into a group by clicking CTRL+G. Then create a new layer above this group by clicking ATL+SHIFT+CTRL+E, and call it Noise.

Step 11 Now we reduce the noise with the filter " Reduce Noise »(Reduce noise).
An important point: the most noise suppression should be performed in the blue channel, since it contains the largest amount of it. Preservation of details for this channel is desirable to set to 0%.

Step 12 After noise reduction, you need to restore the sharpness of the image. There are many different ways to do this, including several lessons on our website:

This tutorial uses a filter sharpening method. Colour contrast(High Pass), but I personally prefer the masked method as it is the most manageable. I will not dwell on the sharpening technique, those who wish can familiarize themselves with them from the above lessons. I want to add that if you plan to print a restored photo, you should sharpen it more, as printers blur the image a little. This is a pretty important point.

Step 13 Often there is a need to sharpen only in certain places. To do this, you need to create a layer mask, as we already did, and paint over the unwanted areas.

Step 14 Create a new adjustment layer Curves. Let's give the curve an S-shape to increase the contrast.

Step 15. Now let's compare the results.