How To Restore Old Photos In Photoshop Elements 14

Restoring a damaged photograph

All sorts of nasty things can happen to precious old photographs—or precious new photographs, for that matter—and information technology is often impossible to locate the negative. For this exercise yous'll work with an uncropped version of ane of the photos you adjusted in the previous chapter.

The scanned image of an antique photo that you'll employ in this project is a challenging restoration job, because of big creases in the original print, among other flaws.

Unfortunately, there'southward no way to gear up such significant harm in just one or ii keystrokes but to rescue an of import heirloom photograph like this one, a little endeavour is worthwhile and the results can be dramatic.

Photoshop Elements provides the tools you lot'll demand to restore this motion-picture show to a disarming simulation of its original condition. You'll repair creases and replace parts of the prototype that are actually missing, fix frayed edges, and remove dust and scratches. You may be surprised to discover how easy it is to achieve impressive results.

Preparing a working copy of the prototype file

The showtime thing you need to practise is to set up a work file with a indistinguishable layer.

In the Organizer, find and select the file 08_04.psd, a scanned antique photo of twin babies, tagged with the Lesson eight keyword tag. Click the Editor button in the upper right of the Organizer window and choose Full Edit from the menu.
In the Editor, choose File > Save As. In the Relieve As dialog box, proper noun the file 08_04_Work and cull Photoshop (PSD) from the Format bill of fare. If the selection Salvage In Version Set With Original is active, exist sure to disable it before you lot save the file to your My CIB Piece of work folder.
Choose Layer > Duplicate Layer and in the Duplicate Layer dialog box, click OK to accept the default name: Background re-create.

Using the Clone Stamp tool to fill in missing areas

The start thing you lot'll practise is to eliminate the creases using the Clone Stamp tool. The Clone Postage stamp tool paints with information sampled from an prototype, which is perfect for both covering unwanted objects and replacing item that is missing, as is the case for the worn areas forth the creases.

With the help of the Navigator palette or the Zoom tool, zoom in on the pucker in the lower right corner.
In the toolbox, select the Clone Postage stamp tool (), which is grouped with the Pattern Stamp tool.
On the left end of the tool options bar, click the triangle and choose Reset Tool from the menu.
The Reset Tool command reinstates the default values for the Clone Postage tool: Size: 21 px, Mode: Normal, Opacity: 100%, and the Aligned option is activated.
In the tool options bar, open the Brush Picker. Cull Basic Brushes from the Brushes menu, and so select a hard mechanical brush with the size of 48 pixels. Fix the Mode to Normal, the Opacity to 100%, and select Aligned.
Motility the Clone Postage stamp tool to the left of the crease at the bottom of the picture. Hold down the Alt key and click to set the source position—the expanse to be sampled. Centering the source on a horizontal line makes it easier to align the castor for cloning. The tool duplicates the pixels at this point in your prototype as you paint.
Position the brush over the damaged area so that information technology is aligned horizontally with the source reference point. Click and drag to the correct over the crease to re-create the source image onto the damaged expanse. Every bit y'all drag, cross-hairs appear, indicating the source—that is, the area that the Clone Stamp tool is sampling.
To repair the upper part of the crease, set the source position in the area in a higher place the crease and drag downwards. This will help yous alloy the repair with the vertical edges of the photograph'southward mount.
Continue to elevate the brush over the creased, damaged area, resetting the source position equally necessary, until the repair is consummate.
The cross-hairs follow the movement of the brush. With the Aligned pick activated in the tool options bar, the cantankerous-hairs maintain the aforementioned position relative to the brush that was set when you made the first brush stroke. When the Aligned selection is disabled, the cantankerous-hairs return to their original position at the beginning of each new stroke, regardless of where information technology is made.
Now, smooth out the crease across the upper right corner. For this operation the Healing Brush tool () is the best choice, because the crease is quite astringent and has caused pregnant variations in the background color. The Healing brush set to a small brush size is also the right tool to restore large white speck on the ear of the baby on the correct.
Choose File > Save to save your changes.

Using the Selection Brush tool

The adjacent step in restoring this photo is to use the Dust & Scratches filter to remove the stray spots and frayed edges from the scanned image. This filter smooths out the pixels by blurring the image just slightly. This is fine for the background, merely the subjects—the children—should be kept as detailed and precipitous as possible. To do that, yous'll demand to create a selection that includes only the areas you lot want to blur.

In the toolbox, select the Selection Brush tool (), which is grouped with the Quick Option tool. Be careful to not select a painting brush tool by mistake.
In the tool options bar, select a round castor shape and gear up the brush size to about threescore pixels. Leave the other options at the default values: Fashion should be set up to Pick and Hardness should be prepare to 100%.
Elevate the brush around the edges of the photograph and move inwards. Increase or decrease the castor size as needed as you paint the selection to include everything only the children. There'southward no need to be too precise around the outlines of the babies. Information technology's no problem if some of your strokes overlap on the children; yous'll exist refining the pick in the next exercise.
Choose Select > Save Selection.
Proper noun the new selection Backdrop and click OK to shut the Salve Choice dialog box.
Painting a pick with the Choice Castor tool is an intuitive manner to create a circuitous pick. In images like this ane, where at that place are no distinct color blocks, few sharp boundaries between pictured items, and few crisp geometric shapes, the Selection Brush tool is especially useful.

Another advantage of the Choice Castor tool is that it is very forgiving. You tin can hold downward the Alt central while dragging to remove an area from a choice. Alternatively, you can use the Option Brush in Mask mode, which is another intuitive style of refining the option, which you'll be doing in the next exercise.

Refining a saved selection

As y'all progress through this book, you're gathering lots of experience with saving selections. In this procedure, you'll amend a saved selection and replace it with your improved version.

In the work surface area, make sure that your Backdrop selection is all the same active in the image window. If information technology'due south not still active, choose Selection > Load Selection, cull the saved selection, and so click OK.
Make sure the Selection Brush tool () is still selected in the toolbox.
In the tool options bar, select Mask from the brush Mode menu. Yous can see the mask as a semi-transparent colored overlay on the unselected—or protected—areas of the image. In this way, the Option Castor tool paints a mask rather than a selection.
Examine the image, looking for unmasked areas with details that should exist protected (places where the Selection Brush strokes overlapped onto the children) and parts of the backdrop that are masked and should not be.
Use the Navigator palette slider or the Zoom tool () to arrange your view of the paradigm, equally necessary.
Reduce the brush size for the Selection Brush to most 30 pixels, and then paint in any areas you want to mask. Press the Alt cardinal while painting to remove an expanse from the mask.
Switch dorsum and forth between Option and Mask modes, making corrections until y'all are satisfied with the pick (or the mask, if you similar). Your goal is to brand certain that fine details you want to preserve are masked.
Choose Select > Save Pick. In the Save Choice dialog box, choose Backdrop from the Choice card. Under Operation, actuate the Replace Selection option and click OK.
While the Option Brush tool is even so active, make sure that the Selection mode—not the Mask mode—is selected in the Way menu in the tool options bar. Proceed the selection active for the adjacent procedure.

Filtering flaws out of the backdrop expanse

Now that you lot've made your selection, you're ready to apply the filter that volition soften the selected areas, reducing the tiny scratches and grit specks in the background of the image.

If the Backdrop selection is no longer agile, choose Select > Load Selection and choose Properties earlier y'all click OK to shut the dialog box.
Choose Filter > Noise > Dust & Scratches.
In the Dust & Scratches dialog box, brand sure that Preview is selected, and and so drag the Radius slider to 6 pixels and the Threshold slider to 10 levels. Move the dialog box so that you can run across most of the prototype window, but don't close it all the same.
Examine the results in the image window. The frayed edges of the image should be softened and the stray dust and tiny scratches eliminated. Move the cursor within the magnified preview in the Dust & Scratches dialog box and elevate with the paw tool to change the surface area of the paradigm that is displayed.
Make adjustments to the Radius and Threshold values until yous are satisfied with the results, then click OK to close the Grit & Scratches dialog box.
Choose Select > Deselect, so choose File > Save to save your work.
The Dust & Scratches filter does a skilful chore of clearing away spots created past flaws on the negative, without affecting the unselected—or masked—areas.

Calculation definition with the Smart Brush

The Smart Brush provides a quick and easy style to apply an adjustment to but function of a photograph. Unfortunately, similar the Quick Selection tool, the Smart Castor makes its selection based on similarities of color and texture in an paradigm, which makes it a little difficult to use on an image such as our example. However, you have already spent time with the Option Brush to create a selection that will isolate the subjects of the photograph from the groundwork; for this exercise you can apply that saved selection to quickly tidy up whatsoever effect from the Smart brush that extends outside the expanse you intend to adjust.

In the Layers palette, select the layer Background re-create and choose Layer > Duplicate Layer. In the Duplicate Layer dialog box, click OK to accept the default name for the new layer: Background copy 2.
Select the Smart Castor tool () in the toolbox. The floating Smart Paint palette appears. If the palette does non appear, yous can open it past clicking the colored thumbnail in the tool options bar. Elevate the Smart Paint palette aside and then that you lot can see the two babies in the Edit window.
From the categories carte du jour at the top of the Smart Pigment palette, choose Lighting, and then select Darker from the listing of Smart Paint adjustments.
In the tool options bar, open the Brush Picker and set the brush Diameter to xxx px and the Hardness to 75%.
Make sure the layer Background copy 2 is selected. With the Smart Brush, paint over the face up of the baby on the left and over the arms and legs of both babies. You can hold down the Alt key equally you paint to remove areas from the selection. Don't worry virtually the selection spilling over onto the groundwork, just endeavor to exclude the babies' clothes.
Cull Select > Deselect Layers to brand the adjustment inactive.
From the categories menu at the height of the Smart Paint palette, choose Portrait, and then select Details from the list of Smart Pigment adjustments.
With the Smart Castor, pigment completely over both babies and their clothes. This time you can exist even more casual with your brushwork; don't worry at all if the effect spills over onto the background—you lot'll tidy it upwards in a moment.
Choose Select > Deselect Layers to make the adjustment inactive and close the floating Smart Paint adjustments palette.

Merging layers

Yous'll now merge the two Smart Brush adjustment layers with the Groundwork copy ii layer beneath them.

In the Layers palette, Ctrl-click to select the top iii layers: Background copy 2, Darker 1, and Details 1.
Choose Layer > Merge Layers. The three selected layers are merged into 1. The new merged layer takes its name from the layer that was on superlative in the stacking social club: Details 1. The Smart Brush adjustments are no longer active or able to be edited.
Make certain the new merged layer is still agile in the Layers palette and cull Select > Load Pick.
In the Load Selection dialog box, choose the saved selection Properties from the Selection bill of fare, and so click OK.
Choose Edit > Delete, and and then Select > Deselect. The groundwork is removed from effectually the 2 babies in the merged layer Details 1.
To see the effects of your Smart Brush adjustments, toggle the visibility of the layer Details one by clicking the heart icon beside its name in the Layers palette.
In the Layers palette, Ctrl-click to select the height two layers: Background copy and Details 1.
Choose Layer > Merge Layers. The 2 selected layers are merged into one. The new merged layer takes its name from the layer that was on meridian in the stacking society: Details 1.

Finishing up the project

Compared to the original condition of the photograph, the paradigm is already vastly improved, but if you lot're in a perfectionist mood yous can fix just a few more areas earlier saving your piece of work.

Utilise the Zoom and Manus tools—or the Navigator palette—to examine the unabridged paradigm, looking for nighttime or light flecks created by dust on the negative or the ravages of fourth dimension, especially in the dark areas of the photograph.
In the toolbox, select the Blur tool () and blazon 40 px as the brush Size in the tool options bar.
Click or drag the tool over any grit spots you observe, to blend them into the surrounding expanse.
Apply the Clone Stamp tool to remove the pink smudge from the dress of the baby on the right and the Healing Brush to remove the black marking on the calf of the child on the left.
Cull File > Save, and then close the file.
Congratulations, you've finished this lesson on repairing and retouching images. You've explored a variety of techniques for fixing visual flaws in your photos, from straightening an image to smoothing wrinkles from skin. You sampled one expanse of an image to repair another with both the Clone Postage stamp and the Healing Brush and worked with selections and masks. Yous learned how to reset a tool to its default settings and worked more with layers and the Smart Brush. Take a moment to review the lesson by reading through the review on the next page before you move on to chapter 9, "Working with Text."