In this article we’ll review a basic formula for digitally restoring vintage and antique family photographs. The formula is best for restoration beginners or those who have basic photo editing skills.

A while back, my mom sent me a few family photos from the mid-century era and earlier. She had digitized them using a scanner connected to a computer and asked if I could improve their condition (they were pretty splotchy from age). I agreed to the challenge.

Although I do have knowledge of Adobe Suite, I found the process to be very easy and I think that anyone would be able to do this on any photo processing app that allows you to spot remove and adjust certain settings like contrast and brightness.

Formula for Digitally Restoring Vintage and Antique Family Photos

Spot Removal + Increase Contrast + Increase Brightness

Tips for Digitaly Restoring Vintage and Antique Family Photos

300 dpi - If you plan to print your photos again, make sure they are 300 dpi. If they were scanned into the computer you shouldn’t have a problem as that is the default.

Non - destructive editing - Always use non-destructive editing when editing anything priceless like an antique family photo. Any app that allows you to retain the original photo as you add and remove layers of editing is considered non-destructive because the original is maintained intact and can be easily restored. Photoshop and Lightroom are non-destructive options.

This photo of my grandmother was taken in 1946 by my grandfather, and it got me thinking. The way we capture photos nowadays is so different than it used to be given that we have a camera in our hand at any moment of the day. While there might be a handful of photos of my grandmother as a young woman, there are hundreds of me as a young woman. And there being so few photos of my grandmother in her younger years, it leaves me wondering what this lady was all about at that age, ya know?

The photo was not in terrible shape and only took me about five minutes to clean up. I used spot removal and added significant contrast (to 20 or so) and it looks so much better!

Here is a photo of my great (great, great… great?) grandmother and her daughter (my great… great? grandmother). Apparently it is circa the 1870s. Wow! I felt honored that my mother trusted me with this project. I am so lucky to live in an age with non-destructive photo editing capabilities.

Here, I removed many splotches that were cluttering the photo. This took quite a while, however it wasn’t difficult. Then I turned up the contrast significantly (to about 20), and this had a huge impact as you can see. With heightened contrast you can actually see the details of facial features much better. What a fun way to learn about my family. My mom has me lined up to do about 100 more and I can’t wait!

With yours - good luck and have fun! Feel free to hit me with any questions in the comments below :)

- Jessie