When we are older enough to understand how life works, looking at the memories preserved in the old pictures can bring joys and sometimes tears of longing the precious moment. It could be the precious childhood memories with our late granny that we love to keep and pass down to the next generation. But the fact is, those old photographs are slowly decaying in the shoebox which seems impossible to preserve. An action must be made to save these valuable memories and preserve them in a better way.
Taking care of your old photographs, treat and store them properly is a must-do for everyone who loves to share their precious memories to the future generation. However, time is always the biggest enemy to preserve photographs because sooner or later, those pictures will deteriorate. The challenge is how to minimize deterioration because even the slightest exposure to the environment will bring a negative impact to the photographs.
Digitalization is the key to prevent old photographs to be decayed. You can use a scanner or even your phone to scan those pictures. You can choose, either do it yourself or using local services of image scanning to digitalize the photos.
Follow these steps to rescue and revive your old photograph:
- Scan with Flatbed Scanner or Phone
You can purchase an affordable photo scanner or use a multifunction printer. Today’s multifunction printers have a photo scanning feature. However, if you have none of the above, you can use your phone or tablet by downloading a document scanner application.
Scanning the photos using a mobile is the fastest and easiest way. The image quality may not as good as the physical scanner, yet is an affordable option to rescue the old photograph immediately. If you want to compare your scanning result with a professional scanned picture, you may mail some of your photos to the local image scanning service.
- Select Software to Improve the Scanned Photos Quality
After scanning all of the old photos, now you need to get an application or software to edit the pictures to make it looks better. Fix the faded colour, blemishes, stains, scratches in the pictures. You are free to choose any software to help you with the pictures editing. You can try Photos from Apple, Microsoft Photos or Google Photos which come with light and colour adjustment and cropping tools. Microsoft and Apple application also come with spots and blemishes remover tools. You can also download other applications in the app store if you think the default photo editing software does not fit your needs.
- Edit and Repair the Images
Let’s move on to the editing software! Check the toolbox in the application and find “healing brush”, “spot fix” or “clone stamp” tool to fix the scratches, rips or tears in the image. Use these tools to repair the blemishes by clicking or swiping. You can click on the “enhance” button to automatically balancing the colour, or you can do it manually by dragging the onscreen sliders for photo’s contrast and colour balance. When you have done the colour editing, you can use the crop tool to slice away the frayed edges.
You may check the specific instruction in the application’s help guide. Consider searching for a video demonstration on Youtube for a detailed tutorial. Keep in mind the second option is always available if you feel this job is too difficult to do. Get your phone and search for the reputable image scanning service Perth nearby your area to get your old photographs professionally edited.
Conclusion
Revive and rescue your precious memories before it’s getting fade away. You may able to preserve the condition of those photographs but for how long? If you cannot do it yourself, digitize old photos service is always available in your local area. Select a reputable one to save your treasured memories before it is too late.
