Restoring old black and white photos

[TonyW]

I'm working on a project to restore a bunch of old (1890's) photos. Many have become coloured with age but they still have a lot of detail - I think they are prints directly from the original large plates. I have been starting by removing the colour by desaturating but I'm not happy with the result - I lose a lot of contrast and seem as though I may be losing information in the colour channels. I've tried converting to gray scale and the remove colour tool but neither improves things. Is there a better way? Although I can restore the contrast later I was expecting to be able to get a better starting point.

Also I'd appreciate any tips on workflow. For example is it better to remove spots and blemishes before or after burning and dodging in areas or making levels adjustments. Every time I do one I seem to do it a bit differently and I'm never sure if it would have given a better result if I'd done things in a different order.

[Wendy]

Tony,

the best way I have found to remove colour caste from old photo is using Levels ... but do the adjustments using each colour channel individually. Here is an example of how to do it:

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pic=1itVY1szdOvVoGUmuruiC1cMxI1ER1

My workflow is to correct the colour first then do blemishes and repairs.

Tor restoration techniques the book Photoshop Restoration and Retouching by Katrin Eismann is brilliant ... I bought it awhile back and picked up such a lot of information from it :)

Wendy

[TonyW]

Wendy: That's brilliant! Many thanks - it works so much better. I made 3 level adjustment layers for Red, Green and Blue and tweaked each separately although I found using Auto on each gave the best result. Got rid of all the colour cast and retained the original contrast and detail.

Only downside is that I now have 55 pics to do instead of 45 as I'm going to have to start over again :wink:

Thanks too for the book tip. Just ordered it - can't wait to get it now!

Tony

[Wendy]

Tony,

I originally bought Elements to resore an old photo album with 200 photographs ... the problem is that the more I learn the more I go back and start them all over again (I have now done some of them 4 times !!).

So one tip is to scan them all in ... keep the originals and work from a copy. That way when you start them all over again you will still have the original untouched scans.

Another tip ... start with the ones that are not too bad and you will learn a lot whilst fixing them ... then move on the really bad ones :)

Final tip ... don't tell anyone you are restoring old photos ... I gained an extra 50 photos that way :)

If you need any help just let me know

Wendy

[Mary]

Good Morning Wendy

I too am involved in major work on our own family pictures, my father-in-law's pictures back to 1902, a 30th anniversary slide show project and boxes that haven't been opened for 20+ years.

I am learning sooooooo much and the only caveat that I would add to yours is:

Don't tell anyone if you have a slide and negative scanner. I acquired a jillion projects that way.

Thanks for all your help - I think a "Restoration" area on the forum would be a nice thing. What do you think?

[TonyW]

I think a "Restoration" area on the forum would be a nice thing. What do you think?
That sounds like an excellent idea to me. A video tutorial would be really good too

I too have a large collection of family photos going back to the 1870's - I haven't even opened that box yet!

[Wendy]

Resoring old photographs can be really addictive ... its a wonderful moment when you get an old foggy image and suddenly as you restore it the foggy layer lifts and the image starts to appear.

... by now I have restored every old photograph around ... so if anyone does need any help just let me know :)


Wendy

[Carbone]

Wendy... do you accept contracts ? (just kidding!)

:lol:

Ray

[Wendy]

Ray ...

One time I resorted to taking old photos from a website ... then after restoring them I emailed them back to the guy.

He was a little surprised but next time I visited he had taken his off and replaced them with my restored ones :)


Wendy

[Carbone]

Wendy, you're quite... resourceful.. ;-)

Ray

[Jill]

I'm doing the family photo restoration thing, too! I love it but/and I'm learning as I go.

A special "RESTORATION" section WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA!! With videos. etc.

Does anyone on this site restore photos for a living??

[Kathy]

I would love to see a forum on restoring. Video tips would be great also.

I've just started restoring some old family photos aand slides as well and am planning on putting an album together for my parents ( who have everything if you know what I mean ) as this year's Christmas gift.

Tips greatly appreciated.

Kathy

[MikeH]

Does anyone on this site restore photos for a living??

Not as a living, but restoration is probably my biggest use for PSE3 at present.

Mike

[Wendy]

Mike,

It used to be my biggest use too but then I ran out of photos ... so I had to find something else to do :)


Wendy

[MikeH]

Wendy,

Ahhh I know where to send some then :lol:

Mike

[Wendy]

Mike,

:)


Wendy

[Jill]

Does anyone on this site restore photos for a living??

Not as a living, but restoration is probably my biggest use for PSE3 at present.

Mike

It just seems to be a market for this. There are a lot of people who would probably like to have their family photos restored and in jpeg format, etc. AND these people don't have the time (which we all know it takes time) or software, equipment or know how.

Just curious.

[Wendy]

Jill,

Each month I have a Family History magazine and there are quite a few adds in there ... after seeing the prices I was tempted to advertise too :). Discovering family history has become very popular and more and more people seem now to be interested in having old photos restored ... so there does seem to be a demand out there.

Are you thinking of taking it up?


Wendy

[Jill]

Jill,

Are you thinking of taking it up?


Wendy

Yes, Wendy. I'm thinking ahead. I'm still learning but I think there's definitely a market for this. I'm seriously thinking about it!!

[Wendy]

Hi Jill,

From the number of people who ask me to do their photographs then I would agree that there is a big market out there ... you will find that the more old photos you restore the easier it becomes and the quicker you get.

Good luck with it and please do let us know how you go on :)


Wendy