A simple question?

[SomebodyElse]

Hi all!

After recently finding some old family photos and giving a shot at restoring them, I decided to do a search for "image restoration photoshop" at Google to see if I might be able to find any tips ... little did I know I'd uncover this amazing website! I just want to say "Thanks!" to everyone who's given me ideas and advice (albeit unknowingly) through various posts and tutorials! I have really learned quite a bit browsing this site...

But on to my question: How do you know you're done with a restoration!? I know it's pretty easy to figure out when you've eliminated all the cracks and dust, or gotten the color to a point you feel comfortable ... but it seems there's always just one more thing you can do or try that (might) make a small difference in the outcome... just when do you "know" you're done?

(Next post I'll show a couple of images to see what you think ... )

Thanks again!

[Swampy]

I'd say you were done when you are happy with it (or when you feel it's good enough that a customer will pay for it )

[Mike]

What a great question. The last time I asked that, I was told that I did not have enough to do.....

I do not think that there is any one right answer, its when you and or the customer is satisfied enough with the result.

But do not worry about never being quite satisfied with what you have done, thats what keeps us looking for and trying out new and different ways to do the job. Perhaps when we get satisfied, then the artist in us has died?

Mike

[Peter S]

Yes a very good question.
I don't think you can know when it's done, because you will always think - could I have done it better this way, or that way maybe?
And if you show it to someone else, they'll see other things as well.
When you can't think of what else to do, it's as good as done I suppose.

[Duv]

More often than not, when you think you've gone far enough, you've probably gone too far.

Dave

[SomebodyElse]

Originally Posted by Duv

More often than not, when you think you've gone far enough, you've probably gone too far.

Dave

Yup. That's pretty much the philosophy I seem to be taking ... I think if you reach a point where you're satisfied -- just stop; otherwise you might find yourself spending twice the amount of time "improving" the image than it took to get it to the point you're satisfied ...

Thanks for the replies ... images coming shortly for everyone to critique ...

[Doug Nelson]

I say keep working on it until it starts to look "restored". In practice, that generally means going too far and undoing some stuff, at least at first, but you learn quickly enough what steps tend to go "too far".