Restoration help! Where do i start!

[VCOOPER]

I have a very damaged photo from the 60's. It is discolored when scanned and has silvering. As if that is not enough, it has been exposed sitting out in a frame without glass for a long time and there is just tons of noise.

I believe the picture is gray scale or black and white originally and that the stains are age.

I need a flow and advice badly. The young lady is now deceased so I would really appreciate any help as I want her children to have it to share with their children.

When darkening the photo for the tone, it just seemed to get more noise and that is when the silvering for the middle third of the picture became really obvious. I used levels on the silvering section, and still could not get a grip on the nose area.

At this point, I quit and have come for help and advice which is always so wonderful here.

Oops, the picture has also some water marks and mildew along the bottom.

[philbach]

Well your probably right about the initial print. The book on the table looks green but thats probably an artifact. You can upload a photo thats less than 200 k. It would be much easier for us to see. So resize the original to 1000 by 800 pixels or so and if you have photoshop use the save for web option. When that comes up select the optimize for file size option and select 195k.

Look at the RG&B channels and select the best one. To me its hard to tell which is best. Next use a black and white adjustment layer to convert the photo to black and white.

After that use a levels or curves adjustment layer to adjust contrast.

After that the fun begins.

[0lBaldy]

Phil, I think the limit for the OP is only 100K so in the option pop-up it would be 98K they would have to enter.. Unless they Opt to become a Patron... then the limit will go up to under 200K

Vcooper, You can post a fairly large pictures which is under 100k using the save for web function in Photoshop as described here:
Size, Quality and/or Format your Attached Images.. (Click here)
This may also help some... How to attach Files/Images to your Posts or Threads?(Click here)

If you want to post a larger resolution that is over 100K then you can host your image elsewhere and attach a link, but also please attach an under 100K version here (so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links).
If you do not have your own site to host your images then some alternative Image Hosts are: ImageVenue.com (3Meg max, free) or pixentral.com (2Meg max, free) or photobucket.com (1 Meg max free,... 5 Meg PRO) or mediafire.com (100 Meg per file, free) then post a link here in the thread to the site that is hosting your larger image. There are many other sites on the web to host your images also!
Just remember to also attach an under 100K version here (so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links).

[VCOOPER]

Wow,
Thank you so much for your quick response, I have saved the file again, but the max that was allowed is 100k. I hope this will allow for a better preview of the file.

If not, please let me know and I will try again.

I tried the rgb channels and they all looked the same

I then tried lab mode, again. Just could not figure out what to do.

Thank you for taking interest.

[philbach]

Sorry about the bad Information. Baldy was right the 100k limit on uploads. Vcooper a good job on the new upload many will be able to help you know.