Dogs' Eyes Don't Have to Glow

Yes, you could simply color in the eyes on a dog's photo with a black marker. However, here's another trick that would probably have your family rewarding you with fabulous treats! Be certain to scan the original "bad eyes" photo at a high resolution, perhaps about 800dpi or more, so that when you zoom in on the digital file to edit the eyes you see smoother edges instead of pixels (tiny square boxes). Grab another good photo of it's eyes, scan that "good eyes" photo at a high resolution as well, then select the eyes (one at a time) from the new "good" photo's digital file and move them to cover up the glowing orbs in the "bad" photo. Or you could use the photo editing tool that is supposed to fix pets' eyes...but it's not a guarantee. Or, in this instance, these eyes came from a photo of a totally different dog. Be creative in rescuing such darling photos of furry family members.

Missing Pieces of a Photograph

This photo has suffered so much damage throughout the years, and the family hoped to recover whatever they could of the darling image before it completely fell apart. Fortunately there is enough of the original to "borrow from" to fill in much of the missing areas because the family was not looking to maintain historical accuracy. Budget constraints might cause you to place limits on the extent of restoration done by a professional. Be sure to fully discuss the options of printing a smaller size, cropping to lessen the area to restore, and any other ideas a specialist might suggest. There is a positive side to this limitation of funds you might be facing. In effect, you will end up with what can be considered a "more historical image" when restoration stops short of perfecting such a photo. No matter what level of restoration you can achieve (or afford to have done), the result will always provide you with the joy of a newly-found image for your family to print and share.

Eyes Closed, Eyes Open!

These photos came from some old negatives one of these two cute sisters had in her possession. Scanning them at a high resolution produced the original files with enough pixels to make larger prints. Restoring these pictures to the owner's satisfaction meant giving open eyes to her sister in her favorite of the prints--the one to the right. Evaluating the restoration requirements of photos can mean scanning at an even higher resolution than originally planned. The "extra" pixels can make little details like eyes much easier to work with...and on.

Once the color and damage were brought under control and the photos matched well enough, it was time to "borrow" the eyes from one and "give" them to the other photo. Thankfully there are digital tools to help skew objects and make them a better fit. Even though the sister's eyes were at an angle in the one picture, it was possible to turn them enough to make this family's favorite photo good enough to print as an 8x10"!

1870's Photo

Taken in the 1870's, we have been told this is the only photograph of an ancestor on my mom's side. It was offered to a family newsletter, and I was asked if I could do anything with it before publication. These old images are treasures as they are, but bringing out features allows descendants the opportunity to enjoy the portraits in a "new" way. A risk is making faces something they are not, so less restoration is the best with these historical items. Closely working with existing features and filling in the blanks, as it were, gives faces more life without creating a "new" portrait. When considering the improvement of these really old images, it is up to the family to determine just how much to enhance such old photographs. Be sure to scan the original and place the digital file in a safe place to preserve this irreplaceable photo for your family. A copy of the original scan can be printed and hung in a frame, while preserving the original print by placing in a safe, if desired. This is a copy of an image, and that limited the restoration possibilities for me to begin with. If I had the original to scan myself, it might have been a different result.