Tips on old photo restoration that are of grave importance

Before the era of digitization, photography was all about prints. Besides being expensive and time consuming, the worst part was that the photos in print may get damaged quite easily owing to numerous reasons. However with advent in technology, taking snaps is now a cakewalk. Not only that we can now capture images as electronic versions but also get old printed photos restored. People usually outsource such service requirements to professional companies offering image editing and old photo repair services. 

Below of some extremely relevant tips for effective old photo restoration, in different scenarios. 

Faded images

For faded pictures, look for channels. Each color in a file having RGB color space is separately held in channels of blue, green and red. In most of the cases, there is enough usable information available. After finding the channel showing king part of the image, you can discard the remaining by updating the color space to Grayscale. Finally adjust the levels. 

Missing pieces

Pictures may get torn, folded or damaged leading to missing of certain parts. Clone tool can help when it’s about fixing things like pen, gum, crayons and pinholes etc. The best method to be followed while using clone tool is to zoom in the image and use a smaller brush size. 

Selective color abstraction

There may be some discolored spots in old pictures. This can be because of the old image retouching techniques done straight on to the print versions. The said problem can easily be eliminated using Hue & Saturation adjustment layer. 

Color issues

There are many opinions when it comes to dealing with the color part for photo restoration.You can either opt for realistic coloring or else try to recreate the exact feel and look of images given for restoration. For getting some idea, you can refer some old-fashioned pictures. Experiment with different colors and in case if the color seems too saturated, lower the opacity for making it look perfect.  

There are many more techniques that expert companies offering old photo restoration services follow. About the same, you can read in the upcoming blogs. Even if you are planning to rely on a professional service provider, doing research on various image editing techniques and tips always help in multiple ways.