Please help me fix this old photo

silverpuma

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Hi all,

I just found dozens of old photos of my family from decades ago but they need work to improve them. I'm a complete novice. I have scanned them into Picasa but a lot of them have been badly creased and fold marks clearly show. I don't have any photo editing software apart from Picasa.

Could you advise me how I could take the worst of these crease marks out of these photos. Is there fairly easy to use free image editing software I could use of is this a difficult job to do?

I have included a sample photo for you to see my problem..................thanks in advance for your patience and help :)
 

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I'm sure there is a lot of free software available, and others will no doubt tell you about them. I've used Paint Shop Pro for years, and is fairly cheap and cheerful at around £40. I also use Nikon Capture NX2 which is bit pricier.

Spending a few minutes with PSP only I've done this:-

img082b.jpg


probably gone too far in some respects, but you can balance the amount of repair to what you intend to do with the finished results.
 
Here is a quick attempt for you:
photo+fix.jpg

Send me a message and I will forward you the high-res version if you like.

I used photoshop elements and the clone stamp tool for this, not particularly handy with it but it seems to have done the trick!

I should think you would be able to do the same thing with Gimp GIMP - The GNU Image Manipulation Program which is an open source software similar to photoshop.

If not, why not download the trial of Photoshop and give it a go? :smashin:

EDIT: Opps! amgard beat me to it!

I left the colour in the old one the same and just changed the contrast a bit, this one has had a level correct:
av+fix+levels.jpg
 
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Yeah, use the clone stamp tool and lower the opacity and do it in several passes, it's far more forgiving than using full opacity. Selecting a different donor spot also helps reduce the patterning effect often associated with cloning.
 

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wow................this is great guys. I'm amazed at the difference. I'll try Gimp and do some experimenting. But thanks for the motivational push.
 
I'm not sure what others views on it are but I really like the free program Paint.net

It has clone stamps and layers etc. I found it a bit easier to use than GIMP
 
was bored and needed sumth. to do.. So i figured out i'd try to restore an old photograph.. i'd recommend photoshop, wich is free for 30 days from adobe.com and there is loads of tutorials out there for it as well.
640x480


bigger version:

http://bildr.no/view/1274369
 
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