I Restore ‘Unrestorable’ Photos, And Here’s The Result (10 Pics)
I occasionally take on requests to restore old photos in Photoshop. Some of these photos have suffered heavy damage, and I enjoy that particular challenge. Most are precious in one way or another to the client, and many times it’s the only photo someone has of a beloved or lost relative. I think it’s important to take one’s time when restoring such beautiful pictures. It’s easy to use shortcuts, but the best results come from meticulous care.
A woman’s only photo of herself as a young child, and the only image of her grandparents
The original vintage photo is on the left. On the right is the image after reducing the contrast adjacent to the tears and cracks, then filling the cracks using sampling of adjacent pixels. This can be done using tools in Photoshop like “content-aware” fill or the healing brush. However, in areas where accurate detail is critical (such as faces), I prefer to do this step manually by eye, as it keeps the highest number of undamaged pixels intact.
The image on the left shows the layer of sampled greys used to fill the cracks and tears. On the right, the green indicates the areas of missing emulsion (data). As you can see, it’s not as much damage as you might suspect. When photo editing the cracks, I work in a separate layer and fill only the areas of missing emulsion. I do not paint over undamaged or intact areas of the photo, and I do not blend the fill into the surrounding areas.
Much of the loss is in areas that are what I call “non-critical”, meaning there’s not much in the way of identifiable features. Carefully dodged/burned transitions in these areas will flesh out the face. The yellow areas are where critical detail has been lost. These areas contribute significantly to a person’s appearance. Loss in these areas can be difficult in photo restoration. But again, the areas are fairly small in relation to the size of the head.
Another thing worth paying attention to is the “big picture” areas of damage. Scanning a damaged black and white photo will often leave highlights and shadows that can be misleading. The dotted lines indicate where the large tears were, and where I need to pay attention to shading, distinguishing what’s in the photo vs. shadows caused by the scanner lamp. Knowledge of anatomy becomes critical at this point, so you can balance shading in a way that’s consistent with the shape of the skull and flesh. I usually squint or blur (then undo), so I can see the shape better.
The image on the left is what I believe to be a pretty accurate reconstruction of the gentleman in this cool photo. I arrived at using these sampling techniques (manual and digital), and blending using the smallest dodge/burn brushes. From there, I created details in the features that were both generic and suitable within the context of other features (right). This is where knowledge of anatomy and illustration skills help in restoration. You may not always be able to achieve “historical” accuracy with old photo restorations, but the end result will be much closer to the actual appearance than using other repair techniques. Save your shortcuts and tricks for areas of an image that are not as critical as eyes, mouths, noses. Working pixel by pixel is tedious, but the results can be rewarding.
Removed tubes from a baby photo
Repair of the only photo of the client’s mother from her youth
The only photo a man had of his mother, who died when he was born
An early 20th century family photo
A cat destroyed this favorite photo of a beloved uncle
Repaired emulsion loss from the only photo of the subject as a child
Restoration of a vintage photo with a large shadow
Only photo of an ancestor as a child
Repair and colorization of a long lost relative
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Share on FacebookThese are the best photo restorations I've ever seen. The first one with the grandparents blew my mind! And they're not only restoring photos, but memories as well. Incredible work!
The photo of the mother is especially touching! Oh I am so thankful for mine.
Load More Replies...I'm not bad with Photoshop and I've restored some photos but this is on another level. I wouldn't have even tried the majority of these, you explain it well and it make it sound easy but you are very talented. I can appreciate the hours you must have put in, great work.
Very good jobs. Here's one I did of my mother and sister. Image1-2-5...db8c7f.jpg
The one with the baby where you removed the tubes made me cry. What a beautiful thing to do
This is incredible! Love the dedication put into this. You are a beautiful human being.
Wow. You must be a time traveller who goes back in time, scans the original image when it was still pristine and then come back again. Mindblowing!
I've got an old photo of my brother and I … celebrating our birthday; he was turning 7 and I was turning five. Our birthdays were two years and one day apart so we always celebrated them together. My brother died at age 24 back in 1977. This is the only photo I have of the two of us together. I don't know if the distorted portion of this photo can ever be restored; my younger sister is sitting at the head of the table on the right but really can't even be seen. Is there Any chance the distorted portion can Ever be restored? Bdy-5d111e...4ef937.jpg
Excellent post. The author is obviously very skilled not only in Photoshop and/or anatomy. I think there's also a good knowledge of psychology here, imagination and the vision of the artist.
You're an angel with a gift straight from GOD. I have several photos that were severely damaged (as I'm sure many other folks do), and what you're doing is a godsend--I'm sure the families are so grateful for you and your amazing skills!
Michelle--you are TRULY AN ARTIST! I know how difficult this is...we had a disastrous flood in our home and the damage was so bad that all I could do was cry. Books, vinyl records, my husband's paintings (he used to be a wildlife artist full-time), and we had some photos ruined as well. I do keep all the photos now in in airtight plastic bins...Do you have a way to get in touch with you? I know how grateful the owner's of your posted photos are...the work you do is INCREDIBLE!
WOW! Just WOW. Amazing work and how rewarding it must be. Photos are still priceless possessions, especially those older ones. I would love to have some of mine restored.
How do we get in touch with this person for their services? I have photos that need restoration too.
Agreed these are amazing. I be been doing this type of work for like 20 years and you are the best sir
This is an incredible blending of science and art. You truly have a gift (and of course, tons of experience and hundreds of work hours).
These Are Amazing .You Have A Great Talent . 😃. I Have a Single Photo Of My Son That We Keep In our Living Room With us , the Colour has Faded Through Time . I am Terrified to get it Recoloured I Case it Gets Ruined . What do you Think . Any Ideas Please . Thank You .
Phenomenal work. . . Is there a class I can take to develop skills like this. . . This is another level of restoration.
I've done some restoration of photos as projects back when I was taking some courses on design in college and it's highly difficult to restore old photos back to their original glory and to have them colored after restore is even more difficult as you have to rely on descriptions often times even now with all those technological advances in Photoshop and other similar softwares, it's still difficult even for a veteran photo restorationist to restore photos back to their original glory and then some (such as adding colors and/or turning them into "HD photos"). I always love posts like these because people don't just restore any old photos since they will most likely have to shelf out a lot of money but photos that people want to restore are treasures to them even though to others, they're just "mere photos". This is why I admire photo restorationists like this guy, who puts in every dedication to the as though these are his own photos. Keep more of these coming BP!
These are amazing, thank you for giving people these precious treasures back xx
These are stunning. I didn't expect to be this impressed b/c people show restorations all the time, but...wow...I could feel the love and care in each photo.
Please post who does this service? I would love to have an old photo redone. Thank you!
Do you do any kind of photo merging?! Please email me at vfon092@gmail.com
I'm very comfortable with Photoshop and I've done a lot of photo editing and some restoration as part of my job but nothing like this. This is beyond anything I've seen so far. It's amazing and it probably means the world to those families.
Awesome talent to be able to bring such happiness to people! Excellent job.
OH. MY. GOODNESS. There are no words - truly fantastic work. I would love a tutorial.
Hi Michelle Spalding How can we be ibn touch to use your services? Here is my facebook handle - https://www.facebook.com/Vicevelo
I am only just getting into restoration.... I find it rewarding ..... This sort of thing.. 1-1-5d1bf5...47e737.jpg
These are freakin amazing! I would TOTALLY go to you, if I happened to have damaged photos.
Your restoration work is nothing short of amazing! I have a few pictures from my childhood that have been ruined and I would love to message you for a quote!
These are breathtaking, I can only imagine how much they mean to the people you do them for. Thank you also for breaking down a little bit of how you do it, fascinating.
You're a good woman, Michelle Spaulding. You've brought joy to these families. Keep up the inspirational work!
How do we get in touch with this person? I too have photos that need restoration.
These are amazing! I have some pictures that I would love to have restored!
I have a photo of my mom and family before she passed. Can you help me. Please message me
Amazing work! I've dabbled in this before in a very amateur way and now I'm inspired to try again ☺️
Hi there, you probably won't see my comment but I will try anyway. My last photo with my dad (who passed away few years ago) was ruined by me as a teenager, since I decided to edited it with very poor filter that were available at the time (we are talking about 2009). Could you please help me with that?
This is truly beautiful work. You've made people so happy, and really, what more can you ask for in this life?
This is wonderful. While I find many artistic threads on BP stunning, yours is incredibly heartwarming. The joy and consolation you must have given these families can’t be described with words. Please continue what you‘re doing and know that you’re making the world a better place.
I have some photos of myself and my family that I would love to have restored like this... I'm sure it's expensive though with all the time taken to do such meticulous work.
Amazing work. If I can find the one and only picture of my Sicilian grandmother I will find this man and have him restore it. I'd be so happy to see what she really looked like!!
Very nice work! How much do you charge and how would one go about getting in touch with you?
One more vote for the best restorations I have seen. Hats off to the author photo tech extraordinaire.
Wow, I am certainly impressed! :-) The picture of the mother who passed away when she had her son was the one really catching my attention :-).
Hi Michelle, How does one contact you if they are interested in hiring you to restore damaged photos?
May I ask for your email info? I would like ot to inquire in having my grandmother's wedding photo restored for her birthday in willing to pay and share her story which I believe you'll find interesting
You don’t only restore pictures of people, you restore.ove, and faith and happiness! Our pictures are Art of what we hold so dear, when our minds stop remembering g the faces we miss!
What a fantastic work! I have never seen it in this quality. This is the work of an Artist!
you are a true artist, amazing restoration work, the best I ever see
Thank you for sharing the details of the process you go through. It was fascinating to read how detailed and painstaking it is. Really beautiful work!
excellent work. colourisation has always fascinated me and the restoration on this is amazing.
I can imagine people bursting into tears when they see the restorations.
You are amazing. What you do is important. And I don't think I'll ever touch Photoshop again.
Wow! Amazing work. I was especially impressed with the photo restoration of the beautiful young woman that died in childbirth.
It made me shed a tear to see what magnificent work this is. You must bring so much joy to your clients.
"You're a wizard, Michelle" cit. Your work is so beautiful and heartwarming, I've never seen such perfect photo restoration
Not as good as yours, but it made my family happy. 1949_Mcken...17cf73.jpg
I did something similar to all my family old photos (it took so long to scan them all and edit them). But your photos are defiantly the best touch-ups I've seen. That's a true tallent.
How much do you charge to restore a photo? My aunt has a photo of her and her mother she'd like saved, its the only one she has of them together when she was a baby but its pretty bad looking. i honestly dont know if its salvageable
What a service you do, using your magnificent finely tuned skills to produce an artistry that is rare indeed. These restorations have no doubt had a profound spiritual and psychological effect on the persons for you made them and their families. This is what every artist strives for, yet few achieve.
Hello! I'm not sure if you still do this or if you use this page still but can you help me restore some photos!? I've tried a ton of apps but the photos have a ton of damage and I'm not sure how to fix them. Any advice or help would be super appreciated! Thank you!!
I have some military photos that need restoration. How do I contact you?
Plz can you Restore my childhood photo I can pay this is only photo of my childhood plzz 🙏 I am from india brother
Wow. that's gorgeous! They must very appreciate your work! Are you still doing this? i have an old photo of dad when he was 23 year old (now is 63!) think might you could help me?😋
I’m interested in having a photo restored and would like to speak with someone you can do this for me.
Fantastic work. I do professional photo editing and restoration as well. It's great to be able to restore and bring people's memories and cherished moments back to life. https://www.facebook.com/groups/URpixels/
I Can only say for your Fantastic work "WOW". I ,myself trying to learn Photo Restoration. It would be Appreciated if you could guide me to reach caliber close to your. Thanks. 2011thy@gmail.com
wow! these are incredible! I love the colorization as well! true talent to do this!
wow just wow! I even love the colorization of some of these! excellent job!
Wow, mind blowing! Your expertise in old & damaged photo restoration is really impressive. I've seen many restored photos and almost all of them were satisfactory. Anyway, old photo restoration helps preserving golden memories of the past and keeps our ancestors alive who keep blessing us through the frames. I wish i could your services...but, you know, I don't have that sort of photo memories and I regret it. keep it up! I attached my try! Photo-Rest...7d2849.jpg
I have one picture of my father who I was taken from at the age of 3 years. How can I contact you for an estimate of how much it would cost to restore?
He's really great at restoration! I've done a restoration of my father( who died in 1951 of cancer at the young age of 28) ...Because I was only 3 at the time, I don't have any memories of him...it helped me to love his memory of him I also desired a picture of my first dog, Poncho...I love it! Restoration restores love!
OMW ......... that's fantastic!!! I wish I knew how to contact you. I'd love to have a damaged photo of my son restored (who died many years ago in 1985 at age 13). Job so very well done xxxx
You really are a very talented man who obviously takes great care and pride in your magnificent work. You are also doing a very kind and fine service in giving people their precious memories back with these amazing photographs and even going as far as colourising some of them. That is very special. YOU are very special. 👍💕😊💖
More restored photos here: https://www.fotofixer.ro/portfolio/portofoliu-restaurare-fotografii-vechi/. I don't have an English version of the site yet, but the before&after images speak for themselves!
Another professional restoration by FotoFixer.ro. More like this at https://bit.ly/2WhMQzQ. restaurare...829f6a.jpg
These are the best photo restorations I've ever seen. The first one with the grandparents blew my mind! And they're not only restoring photos, but memories as well. Incredible work!
The photo of the mother is especially touching! Oh I am so thankful for mine.
Load More Replies...I'm not bad with Photoshop and I've restored some photos but this is on another level. I wouldn't have even tried the majority of these, you explain it well and it make it sound easy but you are very talented. I can appreciate the hours you must have put in, great work.
Very good jobs. Here's one I did of my mother and sister. Image1-2-5...db8c7f.jpg
The one with the baby where you removed the tubes made me cry. What a beautiful thing to do
This is incredible! Love the dedication put into this. You are a beautiful human being.
Wow. You must be a time traveller who goes back in time, scans the original image when it was still pristine and then come back again. Mindblowing!
I've got an old photo of my brother and I … celebrating our birthday; he was turning 7 and I was turning five. Our birthdays were two years and one day apart so we always celebrated them together. My brother died at age 24 back in 1977. This is the only photo I have of the two of us together. I don't know if the distorted portion of this photo can ever be restored; my younger sister is sitting at the head of the table on the right but really can't even be seen. Is there Any chance the distorted portion can Ever be restored? Bdy-5d111e...4ef937.jpg
Excellent post. The author is obviously very skilled not only in Photoshop and/or anatomy. I think there's also a good knowledge of psychology here, imagination and the vision of the artist.
You're an angel with a gift straight from GOD. I have several photos that were severely damaged (as I'm sure many other folks do), and what you're doing is a godsend--I'm sure the families are so grateful for you and your amazing skills!
Michelle--you are TRULY AN ARTIST! I know how difficult this is...we had a disastrous flood in our home and the damage was so bad that all I could do was cry. Books, vinyl records, my husband's paintings (he used to be a wildlife artist full-time), and we had some photos ruined as well. I do keep all the photos now in in airtight plastic bins...Do you have a way to get in touch with you? I know how grateful the owner's of your posted photos are...the work you do is INCREDIBLE!
WOW! Just WOW. Amazing work and how rewarding it must be. Photos are still priceless possessions, especially those older ones. I would love to have some of mine restored.
How do we get in touch with this person for their services? I have photos that need restoration too.
Agreed these are amazing. I be been doing this type of work for like 20 years and you are the best sir
This is an incredible blending of science and art. You truly have a gift (and of course, tons of experience and hundreds of work hours).
These Are Amazing .You Have A Great Talent . 😃. I Have a Single Photo Of My Son That We Keep In our Living Room With us , the Colour has Faded Through Time . I am Terrified to get it Recoloured I Case it Gets Ruined . What do you Think . Any Ideas Please . Thank You .
Phenomenal work. . . Is there a class I can take to develop skills like this. . . This is another level of restoration.
I've done some restoration of photos as projects back when I was taking some courses on design in college and it's highly difficult to restore old photos back to their original glory and to have them colored after restore is even more difficult as you have to rely on descriptions often times even now with all those technological advances in Photoshop and other similar softwares, it's still difficult even for a veteran photo restorationist to restore photos back to their original glory and then some (such as adding colors and/or turning them into "HD photos"). I always love posts like these because people don't just restore any old photos since they will most likely have to shelf out a lot of money but photos that people want to restore are treasures to them even though to others, they're just "mere photos". This is why I admire photo restorationists like this guy, who puts in every dedication to the as though these are his own photos. Keep more of these coming BP!
These are amazing, thank you for giving people these precious treasures back xx
These are stunning. I didn't expect to be this impressed b/c people show restorations all the time, but...wow...I could feel the love and care in each photo.
Please post who does this service? I would love to have an old photo redone. Thank you!
Do you do any kind of photo merging?! Please email me at vfon092@gmail.com
I'm very comfortable with Photoshop and I've done a lot of photo editing and some restoration as part of my job but nothing like this. This is beyond anything I've seen so far. It's amazing and it probably means the world to those families.
Awesome talent to be able to bring such happiness to people! Excellent job.
OH. MY. GOODNESS. There are no words - truly fantastic work. I would love a tutorial.
Hi Michelle Spalding How can we be ibn touch to use your services? Here is my facebook handle - https://www.facebook.com/Vicevelo
I am only just getting into restoration.... I find it rewarding ..... This sort of thing.. 1-1-5d1bf5...47e737.jpg
These are freakin amazing! I would TOTALLY go to you, if I happened to have damaged photos.
Your restoration work is nothing short of amazing! I have a few pictures from my childhood that have been ruined and I would love to message you for a quote!
These are breathtaking, I can only imagine how much they mean to the people you do them for. Thank you also for breaking down a little bit of how you do it, fascinating.
You're a good woman, Michelle Spaulding. You've brought joy to these families. Keep up the inspirational work!
How do we get in touch with this person? I too have photos that need restoration.
These are amazing! I have some pictures that I would love to have restored!
I have a photo of my mom and family before she passed. Can you help me. Please message me
Amazing work! I've dabbled in this before in a very amateur way and now I'm inspired to try again ☺️
Hi there, you probably won't see my comment but I will try anyway. My last photo with my dad (who passed away few years ago) was ruined by me as a teenager, since I decided to edited it with very poor filter that were available at the time (we are talking about 2009). Could you please help me with that?
This is truly beautiful work. You've made people so happy, and really, what more can you ask for in this life?
This is wonderful. While I find many artistic threads on BP stunning, yours is incredibly heartwarming. The joy and consolation you must have given these families can’t be described with words. Please continue what you‘re doing and know that you’re making the world a better place.
I have some photos of myself and my family that I would love to have restored like this... I'm sure it's expensive though with all the time taken to do such meticulous work.
Amazing work. If I can find the one and only picture of my Sicilian grandmother I will find this man and have him restore it. I'd be so happy to see what she really looked like!!
Very nice work! How much do you charge and how would one go about getting in touch with you?
One more vote for the best restorations I have seen. Hats off to the author photo tech extraordinaire.
Wow, I am certainly impressed! :-) The picture of the mother who passed away when she had her son was the one really catching my attention :-).
Hi Michelle, How does one contact you if they are interested in hiring you to restore damaged photos?
May I ask for your email info? I would like ot to inquire in having my grandmother's wedding photo restored for her birthday in willing to pay and share her story which I believe you'll find interesting
You don’t only restore pictures of people, you restore.ove, and faith and happiness! Our pictures are Art of what we hold so dear, when our minds stop remembering g the faces we miss!
What a fantastic work! I have never seen it in this quality. This is the work of an Artist!
you are a true artist, amazing restoration work, the best I ever see
Thank you for sharing the details of the process you go through. It was fascinating to read how detailed and painstaking it is. Really beautiful work!
excellent work. colourisation has always fascinated me and the restoration on this is amazing.
I can imagine people bursting into tears when they see the restorations.
You are amazing. What you do is important. And I don't think I'll ever touch Photoshop again.
Wow! Amazing work. I was especially impressed with the photo restoration of the beautiful young woman that died in childbirth.
It made me shed a tear to see what magnificent work this is. You must bring so much joy to your clients.
"You're a wizard, Michelle" cit. Your work is so beautiful and heartwarming, I've never seen such perfect photo restoration
Not as good as yours, but it made my family happy. 1949_Mcken...17cf73.jpg
I did something similar to all my family old photos (it took so long to scan them all and edit them). But your photos are defiantly the best touch-ups I've seen. That's a true tallent.
How much do you charge to restore a photo? My aunt has a photo of her and her mother she'd like saved, its the only one she has of them together when she was a baby but its pretty bad looking. i honestly dont know if its salvageable
What a service you do, using your magnificent finely tuned skills to produce an artistry that is rare indeed. These restorations have no doubt had a profound spiritual and psychological effect on the persons for you made them and their families. This is what every artist strives for, yet few achieve.
Hello! I'm not sure if you still do this or if you use this page still but can you help me restore some photos!? I've tried a ton of apps but the photos have a ton of damage and I'm not sure how to fix them. Any advice or help would be super appreciated! Thank you!!
I have some military photos that need restoration. How do I contact you?
Plz can you Restore my childhood photo I can pay this is only photo of my childhood plzz 🙏 I am from india brother
Wow. that's gorgeous! They must very appreciate your work! Are you still doing this? i have an old photo of dad when he was 23 year old (now is 63!) think might you could help me?😋
I’m interested in having a photo restored and would like to speak with someone you can do this for me.
Fantastic work. I do professional photo editing and restoration as well. It's great to be able to restore and bring people's memories and cherished moments back to life. https://www.facebook.com/groups/URpixels/
I Can only say for your Fantastic work "WOW". I ,myself trying to learn Photo Restoration. It would be Appreciated if you could guide me to reach caliber close to your. Thanks. 2011thy@gmail.com
wow! these are incredible! I love the colorization as well! true talent to do this!
wow just wow! I even love the colorization of some of these! excellent job!
Wow, mind blowing! Your expertise in old & damaged photo restoration is really impressive. I've seen many restored photos and almost all of them were satisfactory. Anyway, old photo restoration helps preserving golden memories of the past and keeps our ancestors alive who keep blessing us through the frames. I wish i could your services...but, you know, I don't have that sort of photo memories and I regret it. keep it up! I attached my try! Photo-Rest...7d2849.jpg
I have one picture of my father who I was taken from at the age of 3 years. How can I contact you for an estimate of how much it would cost to restore?
He's really great at restoration! I've done a restoration of my father( who died in 1951 of cancer at the young age of 28) ...Because I was only 3 at the time, I don't have any memories of him...it helped me to love his memory of him I also desired a picture of my first dog, Poncho...I love it! Restoration restores love!
OMW ......... that's fantastic!!! I wish I knew how to contact you. I'd love to have a damaged photo of my son restored (who died many years ago in 1985 at age 13). Job so very well done xxxx
You really are a very talented man who obviously takes great care and pride in your magnificent work. You are also doing a very kind and fine service in giving people their precious memories back with these amazing photographs and even going as far as colourising some of them. That is very special. YOU are very special. 👍💕😊💖
More restored photos here: https://www.fotofixer.ro/portfolio/portofoliu-restaurare-fotografii-vechi/. I don't have an English version of the site yet, but the before&after images speak for themselves!
Another professional restoration by FotoFixer.ro. More like this at https://bit.ly/2WhMQzQ. restaurare...829f6a.jpg
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