new at restoration- need help

[rll07 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rll07]

i was wondering if anyone could help me with this photo
my aunt sent it to me of my grandparents but new at photoshop so my results have been less than good.. Thanks!

Grandparents my attemp

[CJ Swartz Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CJ Swartz]

Well, let's see what others say, but I like the overall look as is.

You've fixed a bit of the scratch near your grandmother's nose and cheek, (and the rest of the scratch should be fixed completely), and covered over the splotches on his hat and the window. You've increased the contrast to emphasize the detail. You've added a vignette to give it a softer look.

You could add a light sepia tone back to warm it up a bit, but that's just a matter of preference.

It's a lovely old photo that really shows off their faces and probably a good deal of their personalities -- you have a family treasure, and you've done a nice job of retaining it's honesty and authenticity.

[sdubose99 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sdubose99]

I think it's a good start, too. The tonal improvements in his hat are much better... Pay closer attention to the pattern you are cloning -- grandpa's cheek. You might spend more time with curves -- Open Image/Adjust/Curves; hold the CTRL key while clicking on a part of the picture you want to adjust -- this will add points on the curve. Hold CTRL and click again on something you don't want to change -- use that as your anchor. Then drag the points on the curve up or down away from the diagonal to see the effect.

Scott