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How to Restore Faded Color Photos

In 1935, the Eastman Kodak Company created the first commercially successful color film that was available to amateur photographers. Since then, consumers have been taking pictures and storing them in shoeboxes, desk drawers and old photo albums. Over time, these colored photos become worn out and faded. But if you have a scanner, a computer and the right software, you can now restore these old photos to their original shape. In fact, you may even be able to make them look better than the day they were taken.

Things You'll Need

Scanner
Photo editing software

Instructions

Using Corel Paint Shop Pro
- 1
  Scan your old photo and save it on your computer.
- 2
  Open Corel Paint Shop Pro (PSP). Click "File > Browse" and locate the photo you want to edit. Double-click it to bring it up in PSP.
- 3
  Click "Effects > Automatic Color Balance." The photo automatically adjust to bring more color into it.
- 4
  Click "Effects > Automatic Contrast Enhancement." This will automatically adjust both the contrast and the brightness in your photo, making it look even less faded.
- 5
  Click "Effects > Automatic Saturation Enhancement Tool." This should help adjust the photo to look more natural and less like you have edited it.
Using Adobe Photoshop
- 6
  Scan your old photo and save it on your computer.
- 7
  Select "File > Open" and browse to find the photograph you want to edit. Double-click it once you've found it to load it into Photoshop.
- 8
  Click the "Quick Fix" icon, located underneath the "Edit" tab.
- 9
  Select "View" from the toolbar menu and choose "Before and After." This will allow you to see your progress as you tweak the photo.
- 10
  Slide the tab on the "Smart Fix" meter a little bit at a time until you find the photo looks the way you want it to. It may take some time to get it just right. Repeat this step on the "Lighten Shadows," "Darken Highlights" and "Midtone" contrast meters, sliding the tab a little bit at a time until you get the photo looking how you want it to.
Using Ulead PhotoImpact
- 11
  Scan your old photo and save it on your computer.
- 12
  Select "File > Open" and browse to the photo you want to edit.
- 13
  Click the "Dual View" tab to see your before and after pictures, for easier editing.
- 14
  Navigate to the "ExpressFix" panel and choose "SmartCuves." This will automatically fix the color of the photo, but it will leave some "noise" in the photo. To correct this, click "Reduce Noise."
- 15
  Click "Photo > Color > White Balance." When the pop-up dialog box appears, leave the option "auto" set, but alter the values under "Perception Attribute" and "Fine-tune" to get your photo looking just the way you want it.

Photography