 |
» |
|
|
Browse & Buy
Product Support
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Introduction |
|
|
|
You do everything you can to keep your photos in good condition, but accidents happen. One-of-a-kind family
pictures can be damaged by fire, flood, and moisture in the air. And over the years, photos tend to fade, become
tattered, and get discolored.
Not to worry! You can restore your pictures using image-editing software. And in the process, you'll revive
precious memories and preserve them for generations to come. As with any important project, a little preparation
goes a long way. We'll help you analyze your photos so you'll know what changes to make when you begin your
restoration.
|
|
|
Step 1: Identify what's important |
|
Step 2: Plan to crop |
|
|
|
When you crop a photo, you cut away the unnecessary parts to bring focus to the important elements. Now that you know what to
keep and what to cut, picture how the photo can be cropped. It may help to cut a simple frame from a piece of paper and place
it over your photo. Thinking about this in advance will save you time when you're ready to do the actual cropping.
The edges of the photo to the left—which had been damaged by water—were
cropped out. Notice how the subject now takes up most of the
frame and the distracting elements, such as the door, are gone.
|
Step 3: Assess the damage |
|
|
|
There are ways to repair physically damaged photos, and identifying what type of damage exists will help you determine what
tools you'll need to fix it.
For cropping, adjustments to brightness, and to fix minor color problems,
download HP
Photosmart Essential. If, however, your photos have water stains (like
the image above), tears, or wrinkles in crucial places, or are missing
important pieces, you'll need the additional features of an image-editing
program such as Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop.
|
Step 4: Gather your tools |
|
In addition to your image-editing software program, you'll also need a scanner so you can create digital files of your
pictures and a photo printer to print your restored pictures.
HP
photo scanners and photo
printers come with great features like Real Life technologies that make
it easy to remove red-eye or brighten dark areas of a photo.
HP
Photosmart all-in-ones can scan, copy, and print, so they're a good choice
for home and office use. Plus they come packed with photo-friendly features
such as memory card slots and colour image displays.
Step 5: Learn the software |
|
If you're new to the software you're using, spend some time learning about its
capabilities. It's easy to get the hang of using HP Photosmart Essential, and
you can familiarize yourself with its restoration tools by going to the Help
section of the software and reviewing the editing topics. Or, just jump in and
begin using HP Photosmart Essential editing features. Remember to always work
with a digital copy of a photo so you're not altering an original file.
Step 6: Get ready to restore |
|
Now you've got a good idea of the project ahead. Take the next step by learning
about techniques for photo
restoration. You'll get tips for scanning your photos and learn about the
best tools for fixing photo flaws.
Award-winning
support |
|
|
|
|
Related links |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Printable version
