RESTORE OLD PHOTO

[Terrence27344485zzfi]

I have an advanced degree from a premier university - WHY CAN'T I SIMPLY RESTORE AN OLD PHOTO?!!!! THIS IS NEITHER INTUITIVE, NOR EASY!!!

[Chuck Uebele]

Restoring old photos isn't easy. Can you post an example of what you're trying to do and where you are ha ing issues?

[Terrence27344485zzfi]

This photo from 1970 and I need to unsaturate it, I guess. And get rid of all the scratches and blemishes, but I am unable to use the Spot Healing Brush saying I need a Layer, then I think I did that, but now saying the photo is unediable. Not to mention the intimidating number of possibilities bracketing this entire tool! 

[Mylenium]

As already mentioned, it would be useful to have a screenshot/ low-res version of your photo at least so people can advise on what needs to be done and what functions and tools to use in which order. Restoration is simply masterclass stuff requiring lots of experinece and specific skills (unless you mean the dumb restoration filter)...

Mylenium

[Terrence27344485zzfi]

Posted above - tried the restoration filter to no avail

[Derek Cross]

Hi Terrence

Welcome to this friendly forum.

Photoshop is a professional image editing application with a steep learning curve. Having "an advanced degree from a premier university" won't be particularly helpful, you need (like the rest of us) to put the study in to learn how to use it
There are some terrific books and LinkedIn Learning have excellent step-by-step video tutorials (you can get 30-days free access) And, of course, you can pose specific queries on this forum.
Regarding restoring old photographs there are a number of techniques to use including a new one in Photoshop 24.1 Beta under the Neural Filters called Photo Restoration..

Have fun!

[Terrence27344485zzfi]

Thanks, I was beibng self-deprecating becasue I was having such difficulty.

[Test Screen Name]

Your degree has prepared you well to recognise the facts accurately. Restoring photos is a skilled process, this is why we still pay experts to do it. Photoshop has a steep learning curve, and experts have spent many years building up their skills.  

[Terrence27344485zzfi]

I came to that conclusion! But not willing to give up yet

[Trevor.Dennis]

If you are using the current version, then photo restoration is now remarkably easy.

[Terrence27344485zzfi]

Thank you!

[ThePhotoRetoucher]

As long as there isn't more than one face in the photo else the filer doesn't want to know. It manual work if there is 🙂

[ThePhotoRetoucher]

I second Dereck Cross, The linked-in courses are great there is a bunch by Neil Rhodes 🙂 Covering many of the issues with your photo. If you can post a higher-resolution image I can offer some specific advice. I would suggest first trying colour balancing, removing the cracks with spot healing and patch tools, maybe a duplicate layer set to "multiply" and painting back in to darken down some areas. Finish by running it through the colourise filter in PS with some zoned colours. That should keep it simple. When you have the restored image it would then be time to try "face restore" in photoshop.

[Terrence27344485zzfi]

That's helpful thanks -- it is clear I will have to watch some videos and start from scratch my education process. I was hoping to dive into the middle and fix it quickly.

[Derek Cross]

Try the new Neural Filter called Photo Restoration, which I mentioned in my post, it may restore your picture quickly (or not!).

[Stephen Marsh]

In computing, a year is a long time and information and techniques may become dated. The introduction of neural filters is a good example of this.

That being said, there are a small number of Photoshop authors whose works are timeless. One of these authors is Katrin Eastman:

https://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-Restoration-Retouching-Voices-Matter-dp-0321701011