Fix photo?

[jeb]

I have a few old photos like the one attached that have light area on them. This one is a stright line but others are not as distinct. Is there a way to darken/lighten just parts of a photo rather than all of it? Tks - jb

[ber61]

Start with a copy of the photo, never edit on the originals. Make a duplicate layer, make the adjustments so the faded side is correct, the correct side will get blown out but that's ok. Use a mask to hide what was the good part. Just a little patience and it might just work.

[jeb]

Tks, 61 - I wonder if one could then use the tool that forms panaromas to put back together? - jb

[angelize]

Hi Jeb, which Xara program are you using for this?

[steve.ledger]

Start with a copy of the photo, never edit on the originals.

Xara Designer Pro X (I see you list in your profile) is a non-destructive bitmap editor.
Once imported (or opened), you are not working on the original.
It's one of Xara's famed features..

[gwpriester]

I like to make a clone image, then apply Flat Stained Glass transparency. This darkens the entire image but also the lighter area.

Then I apply a Linear > Mix transparency to transition from the light area to the normal area.

If you could attach a slightly larger image we could show you.

[jeb]

Tks, all. Using DPro X.

Here is a larger pic from a very poor smaller photo. - jb

[angelize]

I have done a number of old photos and I think the important thing is not to over fix them. First make a high resolution scan of your photo. I like to use between 300 and 600 dpi depending on the photo. A high res scan will give you a better image to work with. (you can optimize the final image later for your website)

The first thing I'd start with is correcting the crooked photo you can easily do this by selecting the photo and using the fill tool and slightly enlarge and rotate the photo with in it's shape (this will also crop it slightly which will remove some of the blown out area) The large washed out area at the left can also be cropped off (double click the photo and pull in the side to crop) and the photo can be adjusted with just the brightness and contrast sliders to fix the top right.

I've attached a xar file for you to have a look at you can see what I have done using the image from your post.

[jeb]

Tks, Frances - This was just an example - I have others that are not so easy to crop out the bad part. Some good suggestions here - tks all - jb