Can I make this better?

[Siciliana]

Hi, I'm trying to restore some old photos of mine that are from the 1970's. I corrected some of the color cast, but the color still looks off. Is this as good as it gets or can I make it better? I fiddle with it and fiddle with it, pulling colors subtly one way or another but it never looks as good as a more recent photo. This version may be a little too cool (green/blue) and less saturated than others I've played with but apart from that, can I get any more realistic or is this as good as it gets for old prints? Even after correction it still feels like what I have to deal with that the color range is not as dynamic and it is just matter of which way I shift it. I know from memory that the gingham on the girls dress is kind of a peachy color. Any advice on how I can easily improve my technique or is this as far as I can go?

Before:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rastere...7627435751167/

After:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rastere...7627435751167/

[Siciliana]

Here is maybe a better version... changed that greenish cast, but now it gets into more of the blue/peach spectrum. It is really hard for me to make it look like a modern photo... is that simply impossible given the vintage inks?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rastere...n/photostream/

[Mike Needham]

There is some merit to keeping the vintage feel of the photo I think, it captures a time and evokes people memories, to make it 'modern' would probably compromise that in some way. Grain and the toning of the inks and paper aren't such a problem to my mind and the result you have, whilst a little milky is pleasing to the eye. I colour corrected it using a threshold adjustment layer and changed the Black, Grey and White Points. If I were to go further, I think I would choose lots of curves adjustment layers and lots of masks.

Your call in the end, I suppose my question is, do you want it to look modern?

[Siciliana]

Yeah, I get your point about the vintage look, which I don't mind, but I was just wondering, in terms of technique, if there is a way to bring out more authentic, real-life color. I guess maybe the only way to do that is to hand paint some colors back in. The image is a bit milky because the print is composed of half-tone style dots, which I attempted to reduce, but which also made global sharpening impossible because it would accentuate the pattern. I had to settle for sharpening on a few details and leave it at that.

[John Wheeler]

Hi Siciliana

I took your image and just brought it into ACR before PS and adjusted some tone, clarity, and a little vibrance. Not sure this is "better" though.

6098831847_f5ae94756e_o thru ACR.jpg

[fenix]

It is possible to retrieve quite a lot sometimes even tho it seldom gets as good as new. For this attempt I first used high pass filter for trying to save as much lines as possible and then I made a cleaning of the noise. Did some softening on the skin and added some tint.

I am new on this site and I know there is a policy regarding not giving away any freebies so i had to put some text on top of it.

[Cupcake]

Here is my look.