Removing discoloration, noise, and bluish splotches

[WarrenG]

One of the issues I still struggle with when trying to restore an old photo is getting rid of the noise/grain and discoloration. Below is a photo of my great aunt, her 3 daughters and their husbands during WW II. I need help with solving the discoloration, noise & grain along the bottom and the bluish splotches across the entire photo. Would appreciate detailed steps to follow in restoring this photo. Photo is scanned at 600 dpi in jpeg format.

 

[[ iLLuSioN ]]

Here you will find a few causes of your "noise & grain".

Scanning reflective old photos

Scanning reflective old photos

forum.luminous-landscape.com

 

[chrisdesign]

1. With the curves tool you can eliminate a lot of the blueish splotch.



2. Desaturate the image.



3. Remove the remaining grain with the spot healing brush. (Soft round brush with about 50% opacity) This can take an hour, so work patiently.



4. Retouch the details in the faces and uniforms.
Finally I added a personal touch of a warmer gray tone to the image.

This is my result.

 

[WarrenG]

1. With the curves tool you can eliminate a lot of the blueish splotch.
View attachment 119029


2. Desaturate the image.
View attachment 119031


3. Remove the remaining grain with the spot healing brush. (Soft round brush with about 50% opacity) This can take an hour, so work patiently.
View attachment 119032


4. Retouch the details in the faces and uniforms.
Finally I added a personal touch of a warmer gray tone to the image.
View attachment 119033
This is my result.

Wow - great job. Thank you so much. I'll try duplicating your work flow and see if I can get results as good as you did. This has always been my achilles heel in restoring old family photos. You've provided me a straight forward work flow to use.

 

[WarrenG]

Here you will find a few causes of your "noise & grain".

Scanning reflective old photos

Scanning reflective old photos

forum.luminous-landscape.com

Thanks for the info. I downloaded the color deconvolution plug-in mentioned as one of the solutions in the link you provided. Will see how it works.

 

[chrisdesign]

Wow - great job. Thank you so much. I'll try duplicating your work flow and see if I can get results as good as you did. This has always been my achilles heel in restoring old family photos. You've provided me a straight forward work flow to use.

I'm happy if could help you.