photozoom pro best settings old scanned photos

#Photozoom pro best settings old scanned photos software#
#Photozoom pro best settings old scanned photos professional#

This can provide even more specific adjustments, but is a little more difficult to use and can be overkill for many restorations. While this is usually desirable for modern photos, it may result in too much contrast with an old photograph. The 'auto contrast' and 'auto levels' features are two common ways to achieve this. These typically work by stretching the image histogram so that it spans from the far left (black) to the far right (white). If editing in duplicate or adjustment layers, you can achieve this by setting the blending mode to 'luminosity.' You can only increase contrast of shades (and not of colors) by performing adjustments on the lightness channel otherwise this can inadvertently exacerbate color casts, or change the overall hue. For contrast-enhancement in Photoshop, select 'Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels.' from the top menu. This has the added benefits of minimizing the risk of posterization, permitting quick and easy re-adjustment and reducing the overall file size. Alternatively, using adjustment layers is an even better solution. Perform any contrast changes in a duplicate layer that way the effect can be fine-tuned later using the opacity slider. Move your mouse over the before and after labels below to see how the levels tool changes the example photograph:

The most universal tool for fixing this is probably the levels tool in Photoshop (and other image editing programs). In other words: the photo begins to lose contrast.įortunately, this is also one of the more straightforward ageing artifacts to counteract. This causes the blacks to become less dark, and the whites to become less light. Perhaps the single most common form of degradation is fading. See the tutorial on archival digital photo backup. Restoration technique, personal preference, intended use and imaging technology all change - potentially requiring a new restoration at a later date (with a photo that has continued to degrade). All subsequent editing should be saved in a separate file.

#Photozoom pro best settings old scanned photos professional#

Regardless, you will need to either send the negatives off for professional drum scanning, or have a film negative capable scanner.īefore any editing, first save your original scanned TIFF or RAW/DNG file, and preferably in more than one location. However, negatives are often more susceptible to physical damage, so sometimes the original photo is still a better source. These provide more flexibility - if you are fortunate enough to still have them. A color scan can sometimes make the restoration process easier - even for a black and white image - since color makes it easier to identify and remove stains which aren't native to the photo. Saving black and white photos as grayscale image files can preserve disk space, but this isn't the only consideration.

#Photozoom pro best settings old scanned photos software#

If your scanner and software support RAW/DNG (digital negative) files then this is even better. Save the scan as a TIFF file to maximize detail preservation. This way your digital original can withstand more retouching before it begins to show signs of posterization. Scan at the highest bit depth possible: 16-bits per channel or 48-bits in total color depth, if available. Try experimenting with different settings so that you can see what the image looks like on-screen. The chosen scanning resolution will depend on the sharpness and focus of the original images, but should ideally resolve the speckles of noise/grain in the print. In general, use a dot per inch (DPI) resolution of at least 400-600 DPI for prints, and several times this resolution with film negatives.

Pay particular attention to the following:

Silverfast is quite powerful if you happen to have the film negative, while Vuescan is more than sufficient (and inexpensive) for printed photos. However, sometimes this can be too limiting, in which case Vuescan and Silverfast are two notable third-party choices. Often whichever software came with your scanner will work fine, especially since this caters to the capabilities of your particular device. Everything else being equal, flatbed scanners usually provide much higher quality than similar sheetfed scanners. Needless to say, try and use the best scanning equipment and software at your disposal. This step is critical, since it ultimately determines your restoration's potential. Before any digital restoration can be performed, the original photo (or film negative) needs to be scanned.