Breathe New Life Into Your Old Images

All of us treasure our photo archives. Pictures of our forebears might be the only things that remind us of them. But no matter how careful we are in handling those precious pictures, they inevitably look worse and worse over the years. Is there a chance to stop this process and even reverse it? Turns out there are ways to make old photos look new, both manually and digitally. Just think – you can get rid of stains, heal rips and tears, and boost colors all by yourself! Eager to learn the tricks? Then let’s dive into the process.

Manual Approach

First, we’ll have a look at how to make old pictures look new by hand. You won’t need many tools or special skills – all the tricks are doable. Here they are:

• Separate pictures that are glued together – If a bunch of your old images got stuck together, submerge them in distilled water for 30 minutes. The gelatine-like substance that covers your images softens, and you’ll be able to separate the images by gently sliding them apart with your finger. Then, dry your pictures face up on a paper towel. Make sure to secure the edges so that they don’t curl.
• Straighten your pictures – If your old photo resembles a roll of parchment, there is still a way to fix it. Just take a plastic storage bin and fill it with room temp water. Next, put a wire rack into the bin and place your photo on it. Make sure that the water does not touch the image, then close the lid and wait for several hours. The humidity will uncurl your photo. After that just leave the photo under some weight till it dries. 
• Clean off the dirt – Put on rubber gloves and proceed to gently clean your images with a soft brush. Wipe away the dust and residue. You can even use lukewarm water for more stubborn stains, just make sure to be gentle. After that leave your photograph to dry in a dark place. 
• Mend tears with a tape – Get yourself an acid-free tape and use it to secure a tear for any size. Just cut small pieces off the tape and use them to cover the rips. Just make sure that you use a tape with an acrylic-based adhesive so that the glue does not eat through your image.  

So you see, the manual method of making old photos look new isn’t that hard provided you have the tools, time, and patience.

Digital Approach 

If you are not quite sure that you have the chops to fix your old photos by hand, consider going digital. This method is a lot safer, meaning you won’t be working with the only physical copy of the image. To fix your pictures digitally, you need a reliable program. Go with PhotoGlory – this powerful but easy software has all the features you might need for the job. Let’s have a look at how to make old photos look new with it.

• Digitize your old images – Run your pictures with a scanner or photograph it anew, then open it with PhotoGlory.
• Cut off torn edges – If your image’s edges are too damaged or even partly missing, it’s more beneficial to crop them off altogether. Just pick the Crop tool and cut off all the torn corners with a click.
• Fix stains and scratches – The software comes with three tools for fixing the imprints of time. First, there is the Patch tool that is perfect for concealing larger stains or tears. Then, there is the Clone Stamp tool that works for medium-sized defects and can be used on detailed backgrounds. Finally comes the Healing Brush that is swift in removing fine creases and little scratches that plague your photo.
• Colorize your B&W image – If your old photo is grayscale, PhotoGlory will delight you by automatically coloring it. With just a mouse click, the software will use its advanced neural network to analyze the image and fill it with colors. You can even modify the colorization by hand if you want to set your own color accents. 

Boost faded colors – If your image once has been colorful, but now looks dull, bring back the shades with smart color grading. Either use the built-in filters and 3D LUT presets or fix the colors manually with HSL sliders or Curves.

And there you go – this is how you can fix your old images digitally with PhotoGlory. This software was developed for people of all skills and ages, so you won’t have a hard time mastering it.

Well, now you know how to make old pictures look new both physically and digitally. Pick whichever method calls to you and breathe new life into your images. Make them look as if they were taken yesterday!