Hello everyone,

I've been playing with photoshop for over ten years and am addicted to say the least to all things photoshop related.

What I have here is an old photograph of my grandmother as a child which is in poor condition. The size is about 1-1/4 x 2-1/4". I'm guessing the original is a tintype since the back and border itself is all black. Also the fact that the image seems very dark itself and is peeling with lots of cracks.

So I did the best I could to restore this picture using levels and lots of patching and healing. I had problems patching up the background, but used a technique I read about in Katrin Eisman's Restoration and Retouching book where I sampled a small part of the cleaned up background, created a pattern from it and used the healing brush tool to match the texture (using my new pattern as the source).

I still think it looks too grainy... but maybe it's just me?

Excellent, Pam! You have much more patience than me. :-)

Swampy,
Thank you very much. I've read many posts of yours and have to also say thanks for the great tips you offer too!

Your right it does look grainy but considering the photo I think its the way it is
Really great retouch one can see a bit of work went in to it

zganie

thanks for comments everyone... this one's going into the restoration portfolio for sure :)