Newbie....need help with scanning old photos

[liquid_katfish]

Hey Everyone,

My names kathy and im so glad i found this forum and i hope someone can help me.

I have old photos that are on rough photo paper and when they get scanned in the quality isn’t good and i want them to be as clear as i can get them, the photos are in perfect condition.

I have tried 3 different scanners to scan the photos, all were cannon scanners and i got the same result. i have a file attached to show what the image looks like when scanned.

So i was wondering if anyone had an ideas how to fix it? or if it can be fixed

And also i was wondering if anyone could tell me if this it true. I have been told that when scanning some old photos u can lose the whole image because of the scanner light??

Thanks heaps Kathy

[duwayne]

Re: Newbie....need help with scanning old photos

I ran the original through Neat Image noise reduction software using the preset chrominance filter (for muddy looking images). Then, in Photoshop applied Levels -> Auto. Be careful not to remove all the noise because the image will look "plastic". You might also try a little sharpening with the High-Pass filter. Caution is needed with sharpening so you don't sharpen the noise.

[Swampy]

Re: Newbie....need help with scanning old photos

Hi, Kathy and welcome to RTP.

Look around in your scanner software for the keyword "descreen". Most scan software has this capability. It should help reduce paper texture that gets picked up in the scanning process.

I never heard of losing the entire image due to scanner light.

[liquid_katfish]

Re: Newbie....need help with scanning old photos

I ran the original through Neat Image noise reduction software using the preset chrominance filter (for muddy looking images). Then, in Photoshop applied Levels -> Auto. Be careful not to remove all the noise because the image will look "plastic". You might also try a little sharpening with the High-Pass filter. Caution is needed with sharpening so you don't sharpen the noise.

WOW it looks great thanks
Im going to have a go and see how good i can get them cos i have about 200 photos to scan and fix. thanks

[liquid_katfish]

Re: Newbie....need help with scanning old photos

Hi, Kathy and welcome to RetouchPRO.

Look around in your scanner software for the keyword "descreen". Most scan software has this capability. It should help reduce paper texture that gets picked up in the scanning process.

I never heard of losing the entire image due to scanner light.

Thanks,

yeah i have used the "descreen" and i still got the same problem.

With the scanner light can u damage the photos?