Restoring Old Color Photos

[mmtoler]

What do I need to do with photo software to restore original color to old discolored photographs? I have been out of the country for over 10 years and during that time began doing digital photography. I recently returned home to the US and found thousands of old family photos. I noticed that many of the old color photos from the 60s and 70s were either almost completely tinted green or red. How do I use either Picasa, ACDSee, or Adobe software to restore the orginal color? I was surprised to see that many of the Poloroid instant photos actually still had very good color, although not to current standards of vibrant colors you can get with digital cameras. I did notice that if the photos were processed by Kodak and not some other company, and printed on Kodak paper with a glossy finish, they were almost perfectly preserved from decades past. The worst most discolored photos were printed on a matte type surface paper and not Kodak. [email protected]

 

[Christie Photo]

In Photoshop, try "autocolor." I'm always amazed at how much closer this will get things. Then I tweek it a bit using "color balance."

-Pete

 

[Derrel]

Ctein ( pronounced KUH-tine) has recently released a completed update of his 2006 book on restoring color photographs. He is a true expert on the topic. Ctein is his entire,legal name.

Here are some on-line excerpts from his original book:

[DIGITAL RESTORATION: START TO FINISH ~ Excerpts by Ctein