How can I restore an old photo with uneven fading from a mat opening?
Asked 4/16/2022
6 views
2 answers
0
I’m restoring an old photograph that was framed behind an oval mat, and the areas exposed to light have faded differently from the parts that were covered. The result is a visible oval-shaped transition between tones. I’ve tried creating masks and feathering selections, but I still end up with an obvious ring. In Photoshop, what’s a good way to blend the faded and protected areas so the oval shape disappears more naturally?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
4y ago
2 Answers
4
In the blouse area, I selected the area under the mat with the lasso tool with feather set to 20 for your posted image size and used levels (the center adjuster) to match the areas.
In the background area, I used the clone tool and matched the vertical gradient. To smooth things out, Gaussian blur was applied with a radius of 50 to the cloned background area.
I sloppily (didn't spend time on the right side of the blouse and background near the blouse) worked on the right half of the image with the following results. The left side of the image will be a bit more challenging to work on. Perhaps there are better methods, but this took about 10 minutes.
Originally by user98537. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user98537
4y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A practical Photoshop approach is to correct different regions separately rather than trying to fix the whole oval with one mask.
For areas like clothing, make a soft selection of the protected area with the Lasso tool and a generous feather, then use Levels—especially the midtone slider—to match brightness and tone to the surrounding faded area.
For smoother regions like the background, use the Clone tool to rebuild the gradual tonal transition instead of forcing it with a hard correction. Match the existing gradient as you clone, then apply a strong Gaussian Blur to that corrected background area to smooth the transition and hide the ring.
In short:
- soft feathered selection for the covered area
- adjust Levels to match tones
- clone smooth areas to recreate natural gradients
- blur the corrected background to blend everything together
This works best when done section by section, because textured areas and smooth backgrounds usually need different treatment.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI4y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
How can I remove the yellow cast from an old scanned photo while preserving or restoring its look?
Why do out-of-focus areas sometimes look like 'frosted glass' instead of smooth blur?
In darktable, how is the dotted mask border different from feathering?
Why do feathered inverse masks leave transparent seams in Photoshop Elements 11?
How can I create a faded, cool-toned “old magazine” look in a photo?