I could use some tips for cleaning up an old photo

[JR6ooo4]

this is a scan of slide from the 50's. DW's dad when he was in the service.

original

I would crop the rough border, but not much of the scene. Sharpen, some levels, remove the spots.

If you could describe what you would do in editing an old/blurry photo, I'll give it my best try. thanks.

Mikeeee

 

[pdmedic]

I'm no expert but if your wanting to get the specks and stuff out that can be done it just takes time as far as getting the photo into a better focus I'm not sure zooming in on it doesn't show a great deal of detail.

Hopefully someone comes along with a better answer.

What software are you using. If it's photoshop I used clone stamp to work on the spots it just takes time.

 

[JR6ooo4]

I'm no expert but if your wanting to get the specks and stuff out that can be done it just takes time as far as getting the photo into a better focus I'm not sure zooming in on it doesn't show a great deal of detail.

Hopefully someone comes along with a better answer.

What software are you using. If it's photoshop I used clone stamp to work on the spots it just takes time.

Ya, I can take care of the spots. I was looking for techniques for restroration.

I think this was scanned at 600 DPI. Should it have been more? or is that all that is needed for the original quality?

Mikeeee

 

[pdmedic]

I hope you don't mind I played with it for a couple of minutes just to see what I could do. I'm still working on learning photoshop so hopefully I didn't mess it up to bad. I did some adjustments on the colors and levels mainly through the auto adjust and worked on some of the major spots.

 

[MICKEY88]

 

[JR6ooo4]

they look nice, did you do anything other than the normal cleaning, crop etc.

Like a blur or sharpen or ...

Mikeeee

 

[MICKEY88]

on mine I did color restore and unsharp mask..with paint shop pro..

in addition to the cleanup and crop

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Here's my shot at it ...

I also use Paint Shop Pro Photo ... did the auto adjust, clarify, unsharp mask, cleaned up the spots a bit and bumped up the color somewhat

 

[dpic]

Honestly, other than a tad out-of-focus it isn't bad. In photoshop I'd use despeckle to get rid of the spots--"clone" would take too long and despeckle will blur the background to move the eye toward your dad. Then use the history brush from the original to paint back in the detail in your Dad. A quick levels for color balance, crop and you're good to go.

Focus Magic in a little app that can help with focus, but if it isn't there in the original it's hard to add focus after-the-fact.

 

[zackiedawg]

If you have the ability to scan at higher resolution...I would. I've restored a few old WWII photos of my grandfather - some were yellowed, creased, and spotted wallet-sized photos which I was able to clean up and make quite reputable 8x10s out of. The key was being able to scan at the absolute highest resolution you can - this allows you to clone out spots, creases, etc, work on color blending, and clean up edges and contrast lines at extremely high res (very large size), then reduce the size of the photo to a normal printable resolution and apply USM. The downsizing from a higher res will seriously improve your results in the final saved version, both sharpening the overall results, cleaning up the focus a bit, and reducing the scars from your editing, and will allow you to apply more USM for sharper effect without getting white halos around the edges.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Thanks for the tips. She has sent me four more to clean up for prints.... So far.

Mikeeee