Image Restoration - Historical Posters

Step 1
The first thing we do is find a suitable image; this is often the toughest part of the process! Our originals are primarily obtained from historical archives and museum collections. The originals are scanned at an extremely high resolution so we will have as much data as possible to work with.

Looking at some of these images makes you wonder where they have been. Many of the originals have been around for over 90 years! Perhaps they were originally hanging in a metro train station at the beginning of the war, or perhaps it was located in the window of a corner diner in some small town. Who's to know? But one thing is for sure, they are really in need of serious attention before they can be returned it to good condition.

This is a good example of the quality of image we often start with. It's not uncommon to use a source document that is faded, damaged, or even ripped in places.

When scanning the image, I like to get at least 300 dpi, that give me a lot of data to work with as an original. Scanning a poster is tricky in that most of us do not have huge scanning beds and have to do it in pieces and then stitch it together to get it back together in one big file.
On that subject, when scanning something like a poster, it is not unusual for the finished file to be upwards of 200 MB, so make sure you have a fast computer and LOTS of RAM (like 2 GB+).

Step 2

Once scanned and stitched together, I like to zoom in real close and check out all the little places on the document that needs to be repaired. sometimes it helps to make notes so you do not forget any parts. Recently, I have started making my notes on a separate image layer in Photoshop, that way I can type text and even circle the area that need to be addressed.

Step 3

Make a duplicate layer of the main image. That way you are never messing with the original data. This is an important thing to do, you may not see the utility in it at first, but if you mess up an image 8 hours in and need some original image data to fix it you will quickly become a believer!

Step 4

After duplicating the original data layer, I create adjustment layers to correct for color, brightness/contrast, and levels.

Step 5

Finally, I get to some actual retouching. Here is where I go through my notes and start correcting the image. I use a LOT of the different tools in Photoshop, but primarily focus on the Clone tool, a "little" healing brush (but this can make a restoration look "fake") and the paint brushes.

It is really important to preserve the original images character, some people call them flaws. but like the slight noise on a vinyl record, a historical images should not be worked to airbrushed perfection.

A heavily degraded image such as the one pictured here will probably take 8-12 hours to properly finish.

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