There are times that people may have old photographs they would like to restore to save the memories. Photos usually get damaged through the times. The pictures may get blurred, the color fades and the picture might acquire marks and scratches. Thank the technology of today. People can now save and restore their old photos with the help of Photoshop.



The person may use the Elements in Photoshop, which are Dust and Scratch Filter to remove the marks, scratches and blots in the photo. The Dust and Scratches Filter is located on the Menu Bar and click on the Filter Tab. A drop down will list elements and then he can choose the Noise tab and select on the Dust and Scratches.

After choosing the Dust and Scratches menu, a window will pop up containing two control sliders. The first slider is for the Radius and the other one is for the Threshold. There will also be another window if the preview box is checked. These are the main options that will be used in correcting the image.

Adjusting the Radius slider may remove the scratches. However, there is a tendency that overdoing it may make the edges blurred too. If that happens, the option is to adjust the Threshold slider and this will allow the details to go back and make the picture clearer with the scratches disappearing. The person should be careful not to set them too far or it will only create blotches on the picture.

Selecting the whole photo will not diffuse these marks when going to remove them. The alternative is to choose only the part where the scratches are to be found. You may use the Lasso to do this.

You can then feather the edges of the chosen area so that the selected area will not be apparent on the picture. You can do this by clicking the Feather option and click the Scratch and Dust Filter again. You can repeat the process of adjusting the Radius and Threshold sliders to get the texture desired and do away with the scratches.

You can do the method again by selecting the spot you would like to alter if there are still detectable marks on the other areas of the picture. To complete the procedure and make the picture acceptable, you can crop the image enough to remove the cracks and torn edges of the picture. The canvas may be use to uniformly crop the image.

You can insert drama into the picture by adding a drop shadow to it. This will make the picture seem as if it has been lifted off the page. The color may also be removed using the controls Shift+Ctrl+U. You can then add color by adding a small amount of Sepia using the Hue or Saturation tab. The contrast may be balanced using the Levels option.

These are easy steps toward your photo restoration solution. Photoshop offers a user friendly program that packs quite a punch against scratches and marks that could otherwise ruin your treasured keepsakes. Now you have the means to restore these photos for display in albums or picture frames for everyone to enjoy.