Very faded photo

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

Had this photo lost too much detail in the face to be restored? If not, how would you do it? I'm really struggling. Thanks!

Photo

[0lBaldy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 0lBaldy]

Re: Very faded photo

If you use Photoshop you can post fairly large pictures which are under 100k using the 'save for web' function in Photoshop as described here:
Size, Quality and/or Format your Attached Images.. (Click here)

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 in the thread (like you did here), but also please attach an under 100K version (so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links).

First I cropped the image then tried Image>Adjustments>Equalize (2nd image)
Then on the original I adjusted/tweaked (curves and levels) All ten Channels then tried blending everything together

This might help give you a little better starting point

[Guest Close John Wheeler]

Re: Very faded photo

Hi CPorter
Before doing post processing, if you still have the original, getting the best possible scan(s) or copy stand image using Raw format with the camera will help quit a bit.

Some scanners are better than others and some allow changing the exposure of scanning as well to maximize getting detail out of the shadows and/or highlights.

Also do the scan to TIFF so the 16 bits are preserved and avoid loss through compression.

The above should help maximize what detail there is to recover with post processing.

Hope the incremental suggestions are helpful.

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

Re: Very faded photo

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond!

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

Re: Very faded photo

Sometimes (and only sometimes!) if you backlight the print you can get a bit more detail while also lighting it from the front. One has to really watch that backlight so that you do not pick up too much of the paper texture.

Sometimes it is worth a try, good luck.