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 with an
online class from HP.
Scan your pictures
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.
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.
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 Photosmart Essential,
which comes with many HP cameras and printers and can be downloaded for free.
As part of its preservation, the photo above was beautifully cropped to minimize its water damage.
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.
Discoloration is frequently caused by water and smoke. If your photos have more serious color problems, such as too much
red or too much yellow, you may need to use the Levels and Curves tools.
Use the Levels tool in Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Photoshop to adjust the brightness and contrast of individual
colors. Levels is also particularly helpful for adjusting shadows and highlights.
The Curves tool in Adobe Photoshop is an extremely powerful tool
that may be used to make precise color adjustments. You can also
use HP Photosmart Premier to restore faded colors.
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.
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.
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.
You can also archive your photos, as well as order prints and picture-perfect gifts, on
Snapfish,
an online service of HP.
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.
Printable version
