Polaroid photos are fun to share with friends but often suffer from wear and tear.
Polaroid photos are a lot of fun to share with friends, but they're also liable to fade or flake over time. Even new Polaroid photos are easy to damage if you bend or scratch them. Because they have neither a negative or a digital file to reprint the photo from, you may worry that your Polaroid memories aren't recoverable. Luckily, Adobe Photoshop software can correct much of the damage if you scan the Polaroid into your computer.
Instructions
Scanning and Importing the Polaroid
1. Place the damaged Polaroid face down on the scanner bed and close the top. If your Polaroid is flaking, be sure to gently wipe any flakes off the surface before laying it down to make sure that they don't obscure any part of the picture. If your Polaroid is so bent that it pops the scanner top up, place a book or other heavy object on the scanner top to keep it flat.
2. Open Photoshop, go to "File," select "Import," and select your scanner. A new window will open with your scanner's settings and options.
3. Adjust the settings as needed so they are set to the highest quality or highest dots per inch (DPI). Scan the Polaroid.
Repairing Faded Polaroid Photos
4. Select the scanned image in Photoshop and go to the "Image" menu at the top. Select both "Auto Contrast" and "Auto Color." Photoshop will automatically color and contrast your image. In many cases, this produces good results. If you do not like the effect, select "Edit," "Undo," or press CTRL + Z to undo the correction.
5. Select "Image," then "Adjustments" to make the corrections by hand.
Select "Vibrance" under "Adjustments" to increase the saturation of a faded image. Slide the bar along the saturation meter until you see the desired effect on the photo.
Select "Color Balance" to correct faded colors back to their original color. Color can decay at different rates, leaving photos with less red, for example. Remember to correct shadows, midtones, and highlights using the radio buttons in the balance box.
Select "Contrast" and bring down the brightness if the photo looks washed out.
Select "Exposure" if the photo is too dark or too light overall.
6. Save the file as a TIFF or PSD (these file types will not lose image data like JPG and GIF file types). Reprint your adjusted photo on photo paper by choosing "File" and then "Print."
Repairing Cracked or Flaked Polaroid Photos
7. Click on the "Magic Wand" tool and carefully select the area that is missing from the photo.
8. If you have Adobe Photoshop CS5 or higher, right click on the selection and select "Fill..." A box will appear with options. Select "Content Aware" from the "Use" drop down and click OK. Photoshop will fill the missing area with what it thinks belongs there.
9. If you do not have Adobe Photoshop CS5 or the auto-fill creates the wrong result, select the "Clone Stamp Tool." Then, click on a section of the photo that you want to clone to fill or cover the damaged space. Hold down the Alt key and a cross-hair pointer will appear. Left click when the cross hair is over the section you want to copy from. Then, move the mouse to the damaged area and hold down the left mouse button to color it in using data from the section of the photo you just selected with the cross hair. You may have to do this multiple times to fill in the missing section correctly.
10. Click on the "Smudge" tool in the left hand tool bar and hold down the left mouse button over the area you've filled to smudge any unsightly lines from the cloning or the auto-fill. Zoom in to check your work closely by clicking on the magnifying glass in the tool bar.
11. Save the file as a TIFF or PSD (these file types will not lose image data like JPG and GIF) and reprint your adjusted photo on photo paper. Go to "File," "Print."
Tags: Adobe Photoshop, file types, your Polaroid, adjusted photo, adjusted photo photo, cross hair, data like