How to Restore Water-Damaged Pictures
Photos are priceless memories, a moment frozen in time that can't be replaced. It's important to store photos in a clean and safe location so that they don't become damaged by water, humidity and dust. If a photo has been damaged by water, it becomes sticky and will adhere to whatever is placed upon it. Water can also seep into frames and plastic pages, causing the picture to stick to the frame or plastic. Removing the picture from the frame glass or plastic will often cause portions of the picture to stick and tear, but there is hope. Water-damaged photos can be repaired by using photo-editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.
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Things You'll Need
- Water-damaged photos
- Clothesline
- Hair dryer
- Computer
- Scanner
- Adobe Photoshop or similar photo-editing software
- Printer
- Photo paper
Instructions
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Hang your photos from a clothesline to dry. Use a hair dryer if you want to speed up the process. Make sure to blow the air on both sides of the picture to prevent the edges from curling from heat pressure.
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Scan your photo and save it to your computer. Scan at a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) to ensure a high-quality image.
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Launch Adobe Photoshop. Select "File" and then "Open" to open your photo.
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Zoom in on the area that you want to fix. Click on the magnifying glass icon in the toolbar and the mouse will change to a magnifying glass with a "+" sign. Click on an area of the image to zoom in.
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Select the clone stamp tool (stamp icon) from the Tools palette. Set the Mode of the stamp tool to "normal," located within the top menu. Then select a brush and brush size appropriate for the size of the correction needed. Select a feathered brush to allow the selection that you are repairing to naturally blend with the rest of the photo.
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Repaint the damaged area of your photo by using the clone stamp tool. Hold down the "Alt" ("Option" on a Mac) key and click with your mouse simultaneously to select an area of the photo that is not damaged that you would like to clone. Now, move your mouse over the area that needs to be repaired and hold your mouse button down to paint the area. Repeat this process of cloning and selecting an area that is not damaged to paint and restore a section of the photo that is damaged.
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Save and print your photo. If you have photo paper, you can print your photo from home. Or, take your photo file, once saved to a CD or flash drive, to a local photo printing facility to have your photo printed. Many photo printing facilities such as CVS, Walgreens and Costco also make it easy and convenient for you to upload your photos to their online site and pickup your prints at the store.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
