Restoring Old Photos

Restoring old photos is one of the most important things we can do for our families.  It lets us bring information from one generation to another.  If you have the capabilities of doing this, I think it is our moral obligation to ensure that your childen and their children, will know their grandparents and their great-grandparents!

To restore an old photo you must first scan the photo into your computer.

Then you can clean up scratches and cracks with various tools in your photo editing programs.  I've explained the "My Computer is a Toolbox" concept in class - I have seven different photo editing programs on my computer and I know which prograams do which functions better.  Therefore, if I have to remove scratches, I use one program, if I have to restore color I use another program, etc.  No one program does everything well!

You can also "restore" faded colors with some programs (I use Paint Shop Pro Studio which I 've demonstrated in class).

After you have "cleaned up" the photo as best you can, you should save the new picture in various places, send it to all the members of the family, and make a few prints of the photo.

Picasa 2.1 (and other editing programs) sometimes will let you print in "Sepia" - a brownish tint often used in the 1930's and 40's!