For quite some time now, I have been restoring photos that have been damaged or have simply aged. This started when I discovered a box of my grandmother’s pictures from her childhood, and I decided to restore them. Using my skills learned in the design industry for retouching, minute adjustments and removal of small imperfections like dust etc, I was able to apply them to these old photographs.
I began by scanning them in at ~2400dpi (far greater than is required for archival storage) so that I could zoom right into the smallest blemish and repair it. Once all repairs are done, the image is downscaled to ~400dpi, archival quality.
Here is a video I created at the time, showing my step-by-step process for restoring one of these photos. This is my Grandmother’s music class, taken when she was aged ~8 years old, I believe. My grandmother can be seen i the front row, far right.
Photoshop has many different ways to do this type of work, and all are correct. This is how I generally do things, however others may do it differently. There is no right or wrong way to do it, merely a difference of opinion and preference. Some photos require lots of work, others do not require much at all. Most are fixable to some extent. Please contact me with any queries you might have, I would be happy to assist.