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Introduction |
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Many people would count photos—especially treasured family pictures—as their most valued possessions.
So what do you do when your pictures get ruined? Perhaps your photos have suffered water damage. Or maybe years
in a shoebox have caused fading, discoloration, or creases.
Photo restoration has become extremely popular, and with the right tools,
you can repair images of the people and places most important to you.
If you have photos to restore, we'll explain which techniques work for
which types of damage, so you can bring your memories back to life. Before
you start, read Photo restoration:
Before you begin and brush up on your image-editing skills. |
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Scan your pictures |
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The first step to fixing your photos is to scan them, so you can alter the digital
files. Take a look at HP's
photo scanners. Or consider an HP Photosmart all-in-one-a versatile machine
that can scan, print, and copy. Some models can even fax. And when your restoration
is complete, you'll be able to use the all-in-one to print lab-quality photos
to save and share with family and friends.
Get help choosing
an HP all-in-one.
Advice for scanning |
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Before you scan, check your pictures for dirt and dust, lint, or smudges. Gently clean the photos using a soft brush or
cloth—both available at photo supply stores. Unless your photos are very old, you may also use canned air, sold at
office supply stores.
Be sure your scanner glass is spick-and-span before you place a photo on it. Spray a small amount of nonabrasive glass cleaner
onto a soft cloth and wipe the glass to remove any dust or debris.
Scanner resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi). Higher resolution means your image will be sharper. A good rule of
thumb is to scan a master copy of your image at 300 dpi.
Get more tips for scanning
photos.
Copy and crop |
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Anytime you want to edit a photo, make a copy first and never alter the original. Then, as you begin each stage of
restoration, consider doing a "save as." That way, if you don't like your results, you can go back to your most recently
saved version.
Cropping is an essential tool for restoring photos. As we discussed in
Photo restoration: Before
you begin, not every part of every photo is essential to preserving
the memory. You can save yourself a lot of time and improve the image
significantly by cropping out unnecessary elements, especially if those
areas of the photo are severely damaged.
Cropping tools are available in all image-editing programs, including
HP Image Zone, which comes with many HP cameras and printers, and HP
Photosmart Essential, the free downloadable software.
As part of its preservation, the photo above was beautifully cropped to minimize its water damage.
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Brightness, contrast, and saturation |
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Over time, photos can become faded, too light, or too dark. If this is the case with any of the pictures you're restoring,
take this opportunity to alter the brightness, contrast, and saturation. Brightness changes the light levels. Contrast helps
distinguish between light and dark areas in faded photos. And Saturation will bring vibrancy to otherwise lackluster
pictures.
The photo above was lightened using the Brightness tool in HP Image Zone.
You'll find Brightness, Contrast, and Saturation tools in nearly any image-editing
software. Use the tools together to bring out the features you'd like
to highlight.
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Correct color |
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Fix flaws |
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For photos that have missing pieces or are torn or creased, use the Clone stamp in Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe
Photoshop. It's a similar process to copying and pasting. First, identify what you'd like to fix and find an undamaged
part of the photo that looks similar. Then use the Clone stamp to select an area to copy and paste over the damaged part.
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Remove marks and scratches |
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Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Photoshop have a Dust and Scratches filter that's useful for getting rid of dust,
specks, and scratches. Be sure to only apply this filter to the affected areas. Otherwise, you might remove important
details such as eyelashes.
Most image-editing programs have a Sharpen tool. Use it to fix a blurry photo before saving it.
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Printing and archiving |
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When you're ready to print your newly restored photos, make sure you have everything
you need to print pictures for yourself and to give out to friends and family.
Get professional-quality prints at home using HP
Photosmart printers.
And don't forget the supplies: HP
Vivera inks and HP
Premium Plus photo paper create true-to-life color photos that resist fading
for up to 110 years.1 And HP offers affordable ink and photo paper
value packs for printing photos to share.
Learn more about preserving
photo prints and preventing
photo fade, and keep your photo memories vivid for generations to come.
1Based on Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc., light fade testing under
glass (as of January 2005) on HP Premium Plus photo paper. For more information
on additional permanence testing factors, visit http://hp.com/go/premiumplusphoto.
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Printable version
