These are some examples of the work I've done in photo restoration. Some of them are more like works of art because the originals were so badly faded or damaged there wasn't a lot to start with. It's a lot of fun for me and I'm enjoying doing it. I have scans of 2000-3000 family pictures that I've been working on for the past several years. Most of them just need scratches removed or spots taken out but these are some of the extremes I've come across. I scan them in at around 600-1200 dpi (higher if I'm going to blow them up) and then I use Adobe Photoshop to alter them where they need it. I try to improve the quality of the photo without changing who the person is. It's a fine line. I store the unaltered originals and altered copies on cds I burn myself which allows me to go back to the original if I need to. When I'm finally finished these pictures can be printed to look like photos again. The printer I use is an Epson Stylus Photo 1200 and it does a great job with photo paper. This is so much fun!

These three pictures came from the same photograph. Someone shrunk the originals down for use on a pedigree and then made a photo of them. I don't know who has the originals so these little ones are all I had to start with. The pictures on the right are about half an inch to a quarter of an inch tall in real life.

One thing I've learned is that it doesn't take very many strokes to turn someone into a stranger or a hollywood actor.

I got just about finished with it and realized I'd taken twenty years off her face on accident. Not to worry. A few wrinkles and some paint strokes later, she was back to her old self.

This was a basic one hour job. I rotated it a little and took the scratches out.

This one was a lot of fun, the bleaching in the middle was a good challenge, but with a little work I was able to get the enhance the detail and bring back the integrity of the entire picture. Like the handkerchief?

I took the original and worked it for an afternoon and I like it better than the professional version. My grandfather's face isn't so washed out and the tint is less extreme.

My grandmother paid 80$ to have this profesionally done at a well known restoration place but much of the detail was lost when they smoothed out the cracks, especially in the lower part of her skirt. They also tinted it too much, but I like what they did to the detail on the front of her dress. This was not digitally done, but was airbrushed and has a definite "painting" look to it.