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This lesson demonstrates how to improve time-damaged photographs, and to work along exactly you can download the photograph I have scanned Here. Unzip the file and open it onto Photoshop’s workspace.
Repairing photographs is not a precise science. Undoubtedly, you will require considerable patience and lots of time. Additionally, individual photographs have different needs, and require different filters and commands.
Note
An important point to bear in mind is there is no right or wrong way of rescuing photographs. My lesson demonstrates the steps I took for my image, and the exact steps may not be appropriate for your image; therefore, experiment with Photoshop’s photo enhancing filters and commands.
Time and the environment: Moisture, heat and light, effect different photographs in unique ways; different colour dyes - cyan, yellow and magenta, fade at different stages. Fading is inconsistent because (depending on the dye), colour reacts differently to the environment. In older prints, cyan is usually the first colour to fade; when cyan fades, the colour starts to shift in the opposite direction, which creates a red colour cast.
Auto Colour Filter: This command analyses both the highlights and shadows, it then removes the images predominant colour shift.
Levels: Every photograph is broken down into a curve that plots Density verses Exposure. The Levels editor is able to bend photographic curves, so that exposure in the Highlight, Midtones or Shadows, can be tweaked to improve the final image. Adjustments can be made to all layers (RGB), or to a single layer, (Red, Green or Blue). Attempt your colour repair using Auto Levels first, if this doesn’t improve your image; move onto the manual Levels editor. The manual Levels editor is influenced by the Input and Output sliders, or by entering data into it’s entry boxes. You can also set the brightness and darkness by utilising it’s dropper controls.
Input Levels modify contrast by darkening the darkest colours and lightening the lightest colour.
Output Levels restrict brightness levels by lightening the darkest pixels and darkening the lightest pixels.
Undo and Navigation Steps
Two ways of undoing steps are from the top menu, Edit then Step Backwards. Alternatively, click a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
Navigate (zoom in and pan) your image using the Navigator Palette,
or the Zoom Tool. 
Activate The Hand Tool by tapping the Spacebar, keeping the Spacebar pressed, pan your image in the usual way. 
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Scan, then open your photograph onto Photoshop’s workspace.
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If your scanned photograph has a border, then you might want to crop it out.
If you don’t, the border may confuse the Levels editor - you can apply a border when you have finished, if you wish. Therefore from the toolbar activate The Crop Tool.
And drag a crop bounding box marquee, (moving dotted lines), around the photograph - not incorporating the white border. Don’t release the mouse until you have fully applied the crop bounding box.
To complete the crop, (from the options palette), click the following Commit current crop operation, tick - or tap your Enter key.
Tip
Prior to clicking the Commit tick, you can reposition/resize the bounding box marquee by dragging (any one of the eight) outer square deformation boxes.
 
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For my next step, I removed small areas of noise - (dust or scratches); therefore, from the top menu choose Filter then choose Noise then choose Dust and Scratches. This filter can blur your image; therefore, choose your settings with care - for my photograph, I chose a Radius of 1, and a Threshold of 0.
Tip: Apply a sharpening filter, now, or at the end of the lesson, or both if you prefer.
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From the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose Auto Colour.
Alternative to Auto Colour, is the Variations filter. From the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose Variations. Experiment with the following settings, and click OK when you find a thumbnail you like.
 
Colour Balance Editor
Another way of correcting colour casts is by activating the Colour Balance editor from, Image then Adjustments then Colour Balance. Working with Midtones, adjust the Cyan, Magenta or Yellow sliders - this alters Colour Levels settings, removing colour casts.
5/ Automatic Levels
From the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose
Auto Levels - as you can see from my example, the red/yellow colour cast has been removed.
However, if you want to change the Levels manually, go back one step, to where your image was prior to the Auto Levels application. You can do this quickly by clicking a previous snapshot in the History Palette.
6/ Manual Levels Editor
From the top menu, choose Image then choose Adjustments then choose Levels, and you will see the following dialogue box.
Click the following Set Black Point icon. 
And hover the dropper over a dark area of your image, as demonstrated below.
Then left-click. This changed my photograph to the following.
If your image is too dark, do not click OK, instead, keep moving the dropper over different (dark) areas, until you’re happy with your image’s look - then click OK. As you can see by my example below, the red cast has been removed, and the result is slightly different then the Auto Levels filter result.
To balance White Levels, activate the Levels editor, and this time click the Set White Points dropper. Now, move it over lighter areas of your image, and when the image is lightened to your satisfaction, click OK.
 
Tip
In addition to the Set White and Set Black droppers, experiment with the Set Grey Point dropper, and find a suitable balance.
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It is time to repair and blend tears or stains, and to replace missing pixel data using:
The Clone Stamp, The Healing Brush, The Spot Healing Brush, The Patch Tool, The Blur Tool, The Eraser Tool, and The Dodge and Burn Tools. When you have repaired the damage, return to this tutorial and learn how to apply a sharpening filter, then how to apply a border.
8/ Sharpen Filter
To sharpen your image, choose Filter then choose Sharpen, then from the drop-down list choose, Unsharp Mask, or select a preferred sharpening filter. I set the following attributes, however, experiment and see how different settings effect your image. Sharpening Tutorial.
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Apply border if you wish. 
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Then rotate your image using the Free Transform command - Edit then Free Transform.
Remember, the best tool is experience, therefore, experiment with the filters and commands I have mentioned in this lesson, (as well as all Photoshop’s photographic tools), until your are satisfied with the result. There are limitations as to what can be achieved, if parts of your image are badly faded - like for example the sky in my photograph, then there is little you can do to bring back the missing data - it is lost forever. The sky of my scanned image is missing, and to replace it, I isolated it with a marquee, then applied a blue gradient to it, this emulated a gradient blue sky - similar to Replace Dull Skies lesson Here.
Wendi E M Scarth. Top of Page - Home.
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