9 min read Bringing history back to life: The basics of photograph restoration

Photograph restoration is the process of using digital restoration tools in order to create digital versions of images simply by improving their quality.

Although photograph restoration has existed for a long time, recently it has become much more reachable to the general public – with the development of photo editing tools like Adobe Photoshop and also consumer-grade scanners, now regular people can try their photograph restoration and get them to their original condition.

Anyhow, many people can afford the tools and equipment required for photograph restoration, merely having them does not assure your success.

In fact, learning how to use the software and restore deteriorated or damaged photographs is a complicated and long process that may require years of practice to become a true master.

That’s why so many people instead opt for professional photograph restoration services that can deliver much better results.

But what does the process exactly look like?

Let’s explore below.

How Does Photograph Restoration Work?

Photograph restoration can be a complicated process, but it can be broken down into easily actionable steps that need to be executed in a sequence.

First of all, you need to scan the photographs that you want to restore digitally.

Ensure that you use a dependable scanner that can produce the best quality images, which will be critical to editing the photos using the software. Scanning the pictures at 600 DPI or more is ideal.

Once you have transferred the photographs to your computer, you will need to use some different techniques to solve several issues.

Secondly, you’ll need to look at the color cast which can usually become distorted because of the scanning process and aging. You can use a white balance dropper tool to make the colors look more natural.

Another important photograph restoration technique is restoring dynamic and contrast range by using the different tool levels in Photoshop, which will help you to make the photograph look more natural.

Also, you may want to fix tears and rips by using a healing and cloning brush – it allows you to select the damaged area by using colors to neat and smooth the irregularities.

Anyhow, when considering these practices, always keep in mind that knowing them in theory and executing them actually in practice are two entirely different things, so it is better to opt for a professional picture-scanning service that can make sure that your photos are scanned and restored properly.

Benefits of Restoring Your Photographs:

1. Why Restore Your Old Photographs?

You are preserving your family history. With the advance in technology, it is possible to edit, save and even enhance your images in digital files that you can share with your family members or your friends, electronically. Too often, significant photographs are never seen being stored away in a box anywhere or buried inside your mobile phone more recently! Photographs are your best memories.

2. Preservation of Your Originals

One of the key benefits is that you get to preserve your original photos. In case your photographs are deteriorating, time is of the essence. Professional photo restoration services can thwart any further damage to the original material so much if it does take place.

3. Eliminate Scratches, Folds, Tears, and Fading

You can scan your old photographs yourself using digital technology and restore many defects using free tools such as Google Picasa. You can also use tutorials and software available online to help you restore old photos but to obtain the best results, you should consider calling in experts. Take a look at your old photos of the family that are faded, torn, creased, and need repairing and restoring and get your photographs restored from us right now.

4. Add Sepia or Full Color to Black and White Photographs

When restoring your old photos, we can apply a natural-looking sepia to your old black and white photos so that all the restored images match each other and look homogenous. We can even convert your monochromatic photos to full color. Our professional restoration services and editing procedures can add more focus and sharpness, along with adding lifelike shades to the photos.

5. Electronic Storage and Ease of Sharing

The restoration of old photographs allows you to convert them into digital images, which are easy to edit, store and share with your friends or family. With the advances in technology, it is now possible to take an entire photo album, convert it into digital images and store it on digital storage devices such as CDs, DVDs, or USB memory sticks. This can be an expedient way to retrieve images and safely secure additional copies that can last nearly indefinitely. You can easily share and transfer digital copies using email or print as many copies as you need.

6. Genealogical Benefits

The benefits of restoring old photographs are often considered to be priceless by historians. The genealogical benefits of such services are highly important to anybody looking to build their family tree. Expert restoration procedures should be used in the event of restoring any historically significant photos.