Photo Restoration in Photoshop and Bringing Memories Back to Life

When Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast last fall, I remember reading stories about the survivors (by chance I’d escaped it myself by just hours a week before) and one theme kept popping up – people facing great danger to retrieve their family photos. Brave survivors were running into hazardous buildings, fighting through rushing floods and putting their lives at risk to retrieve precious memories. Those photos were people’s most valued treasures, and the storm was damaging them the same way it damaged their homes and their lifestyles.

I needed a way to help. It was unbearable to see these victims fight to recover their most prized photographs, only to find them damaged by the storm. Knowing Photoshop’s tremendous power for retouching and restoration, I looked everywhere for tutorial content to share, but nothing seemed right. I knew my background in photo restoration could be of use, and the solution seemed to be one that everyone could appreciate (we all have old, damaged photos – right?).

Luckily, the team at lynda.com came to the rescue. They offered me one of their studios to record a video series about using the tools in Photoshop to recover photos. I wanted to make the series available to anyone for free, and their team absolutely understood that.

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Starting today, lynda.com is offering free access to my “Photoshop Insider Training: Photo Restoration” video series to anyone through the “Like to Learn” tab on their Facebook page. The series, which totals 25 videos and more than 70 minutes of footage, will take viewers through the entire photo restoration process, starting with the scanning/uploading process and ending with my own personal finishing touches. For a preview of the series, check out the clip below.

Throughout the series, I discuss the role Adobe Camera Raw plays in the restoration process, including tips on toning, coloring and cropping. You’ll learn how to use Photoshop to remove dust, scratches and other distracting blemishes. The series even covers correcting serious problems like tears, creases, stains and water damage.

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To get started, go to the “Like to Learn” tab on the lynda.com Facebook page. After that, you can watch the videos for free and get started restoring your memories.