Enhancing faded handwriting

[fab4fam]

Hi I am trying to enhance faded handwriting on the back of an old family photo. I've tried a couple of things with no luck, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Do you still have a good, non-jpg-ed 16bit scan? 

Also I wonder if the letters might be Kurrent. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurrent

[fab4fam]

I do not have the original photo, I recieved it as a 1.5MB .psd file from my uncle.

It could beKurrent, the photo was taken in Kempten in Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany, my guess is late 1800s early 1900s. 

[c.pfaffenbichler]

The image you posted is jpg, so it is accorsingly damaged. 

Could you post some part without lossy compression and in full size? 

To me it seems the red channel offers the best contrast. 

[fab4fam]

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Thank you, unfortunately it’s not an easy task … 

[fab4fam]

Thank you so much for trying!

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Do you have any idea if it might be persons’ or places’ names?  

The lower line might be starting with »Anderi Renan« but I can’t clearly identify that. 

[Peru Bob]

Try converting to black and white and playing with brightness and contrast or other effects.

[Leslie Moak Murray]

Try Image>Auto Tone. Also try duplicating the layer and setting the dupe to "Multiply," then play with the opacity slider since this will darken it considerably.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Using a blank unedited Adjustment Layer (like Curves) set to »Multiply« works just as well with the added bonus that possible touch-up on the pixel Layer will carry through right away. 

[davescm]

Try a black and white adjustment layer set to multiply blend mode and with Reds turned up to 300. Then duplicate it (Ctrl+J)

You can go on to add a curve to make it clearer if you need to

Finally - group the adjustments and add a black mask and paint on the mask , over the writing, in white so that the adjustments only affect that area

Dave