Photoshop: Restore an old print

Jon Adams

Discover how to remove blemishes from an old print you’ve scanned, so you can restore it to its former glory in Photoshop writes Jon Adams. In this video, we’ll take a look at settings for your scanner, cloning and spot healing to a fresh layer, and even a bit of toning too!

Published in Imaging Skills
6 Comments

  1. Thank you for putting this together, much appreciated. I will rescan at higher resolution (if my scanner does that) and then I have something to keep me out of trouble through the long winter nights.

  2. Really helpful. The only thing I would add is a tip on what to do with a torn print. I had a few images from my mother’s childhood which she had had in her ‘treasures’ box from the age of 10! They were not in the best of condition. Do not repair the print manually before scanning. I scanned both halves of the print and then used panorama to meld them. This gave a better result than anything I could do manually.

    Incidentally, if what you have is a tiny print, then don’t expect to enlarge it when printing.

  3. Like many people I have loads of old family photos some fairly large ones, I scanned one of my Mum when she worked at BOAC in the late 40s at Poole Harbour, escorting passengers to the Shorts Sunderland Flying Boats. I’ve already scanned that photo but I think I will revisit and see if I can improve on my original effort.
    Thanks Howard for asking and Jon for your video.

  4. Thanks Jon, lots of help and tips. Just need the time now.

  5. Really useful Jon. Thanks!

  6. Oh fantastic stuff John. I have a whole bunch of Boer War sepia images taken by my dad who fought in that South African war. They are only 3 x 2 inches so small. Would I still scan at 600? In other words does the size of the original photo make a difference at the scanning stage?

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