Photoshop Tutorial: Make old broken photos fresh

We'll tell you how to use Photoshop and a new photo for sampling to make a fresh, mottled old picture.

Old photos, even if the preservation of the proper, still can not avoid the years of pig-killing knives. Moisture, dust, mildew will damage the photos, chemical agents over time will slowly change the color of the screen, not to mention due to improper care caused by man-made damage. But with the help of a series of Photoshop tricks, we can keep these dying old photos alive again.

Digitalization is the first step in the rescue effort. Although it is not a good idea to use a digital camera remake, it is better to use a flatbed scanner scan. Even entry-level scanners can get high-quality digital images for media such as photographs. After the scan is complete, the next thing to do is to actually fix the operation. The sample file we chose has all the problems common to old photos, as well as the missing part of the screen. We can restore the complete face with the remaining half, and then adjust it to the overall lighting effect of the picture.

The next major task is to improve the details of the screen, remove all the dust and scratches in the screen. This work involves the integrated application of different filters, repair tools and cloning tools. Finally, we will also make the photos more exciting by hand coloring.

Operation Steps

01 Copying faces

Start Photoshop, open the electronic version of this mottled old photo, select the Lasso tool from the toolbar, as shown on the left side of the figure, and use the shortcut key ctrl+j to copy the selection to the new layer. Follow the window > Layer command to open the layers panel to reduce the opacity of the top layer to 65%.

02 Adjustment Layer

Perform the Edit > Free Transform command to enter the free transform mode, right-click, select the horizontal Flip command, and then move the layer over the missing right face. Hold down the CTRL key to drag the corners of the transformation box to fine-tune the dimensions of the layer so that the top and bottom layers match perfectly. Tap Enter to apply the adjustment.

03 Adding masks

Restore layer opacity to 100%, alt-click the Add Layer Mask button beneath the layers panel to get a black mask that hides all of the layer's contents. Select the Brush tool, use the shortcut key D to reset foreground and background color settings, and then select a round soft edge brush.

04 Mask Adjustment

Select the mask for layer 1 in the layers panel and use a white brush to smear on the mask to restore the face part covered by the black mask. If you make an error, you can use the shortcut key X to Exchange foreground and background colors, and a black brush to cover the wrong part.

05 Halftone Adjustment

Click the new Adjustment layer button below the layers panel to select a color level layer. In the pop-up panel, click the Cut to Layer button in the lower left corner block to make the level adjustment layer work only with the face part. Drag the gray slider to the left to highlight the screen, and then drag the shadow slider slightly to the right to deepen the dark part.

06 Effect Mask

Select the layer mask for the level adjustment layer, and then select the Brush tool. Use shortcut keys D, x to set the foreground color to black, and then use shortcut key 3 to set the brush opacity to 30%. On the color level layer of the mask, restore the eye socket, pouch and other shadow parts. You can adjust the brush size as needed.

07 Copy Shoulders

Select the background layer. Use the Rectangle Marquee tool to select the left side of the entire screen, and then use the shortcut keys to ctrl+j the layer. Set the new layer opacity to 65%, use the shortcut key ctrl+t into the free transform mode, flip the layer horizontally, and then hold down the CTRL key to zoom the image so that it matches the right shoulder contour.

08 Mask and Palette

Tap Enter to apply the adjustment, set the layer opacity to 100%, and then drag the layer to the top of the layers panel. Repeat the previous action, hold down the ALT key to create a black mask, and use a white brush to restore the missing part of the original image. Then follow the tips in step 05 to create an adjustment layer to make the tone more match.

09 Repair Damage

To keep the top layer selected, click the New Layer button. Rename the new layer to "spot fix", select the Stain healing Brush tool, check all layer sampling options in the upper option bar, set the screen zoom to 100%, and inspect the stain and scratches in the repair screen.

10 Clone Stamp

Create a new blank layer and rename it to "clone repair." Select the Clone Stamp tool to set the sample to all layers. Use the shortcut key 2 to set the tool opacity to 20%, and hold down the ALT key to sample the cleaning area to cover the rough part of the background.

11 Dusty and scratches

Use the shortcut key ctrl+shift+alt+e to merge all the layers into the new layer and change the name to "filter". Right-click to perform the conversion to a smart Object command. Perform the filter > Noise > Dust and Scratches command, set the radius to 7 pixels, and the threshold set to 5.

12 Noise Point and sharpening

To perform the filter > Sharpen >USM command, select a setting value of 128, RADIUS 8.5, Threshold 3. Click OK to apply the filter. Perform the filter > Noise > Add Noise command, set the quantity to 6, distribute the distribution to average, tick the monochrome option, and click OK.

13 Contrast Enhancement

Click the new Adjustment Layer button to create a curve adjustment layer. Near the upper-right corner of the curve click Create Adjustment Point, drag up the highlight screen. Then click to create a second adjustment point in the lower-left corner of the curve and drag down the shadow. The two-step operation finally obtains an S-shape curve which strengthens the contrast of the picture.

14 Open the sample file

Create a new layer at the top of the layers panel, named skin. Open the Blending mode drop-down menu at the top left to set the new layer blending mode to color. Open a color portrait photo of a pure background, and perform the window > arrange > Double level command to display the sample file side by side with the main file to help us sample the color.

15 Facial Color

Select the Brush tool, and hold down the ALT key to sample the skin color by clicking the left mouse button on the face of the colored photo. Return to the main file and smear the restore color in the appropriate section. For each different area of the face, hold down the ALT key at the corresponding position in the sample file and click Sample to get the most natural adjustment.

16 Softening Color

The adjusted color is too bright, we reduce the opacity of the layer to 70%. Create a new layer, rename it to Lip, and also set the blending mode to color. Click the sample color on the lip of the reference picture, and then restore the mouth color and adjust the layer opacity appropriately.

17 Remaining colors

Continue to sample the reference pictures, complete the work of different elements of the painting operation. We create separate layers for our eyes, ties, suits, hair and backgrounds, so that we can independently control their opacity to achieve the most coordinated adjustment results. Close the reference map when finished.

18 Final Retouching

Create a photo filter adjustment layer and select the Red Warming screen from the preset drop-down menu. Merge all layers into a new layer, and then use the Dodge depth tool to work with the screen locally. Finally, use the Clone Stamp tool to adjust the left and right eyelets light direction to uniform.

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Category:

• PS Image Processing