Epson Photo - Creative Hints and Tips

Scan and restore old photos

Chances are, if some of your most cherished photos have been displayed around your home for a period of years, you’ll notice they have visibly faded or discoloured. This can occur when the photos are exposed to heat or light or perhaps they’ve been stuck to a refrigerator or stored in a non-safe album.

These images aren’t ruined forever. You can restore, preserve and share your cherished memories all over again. You can make new prints from old photos, slides or negatives and quickly and simply colour-restore them to near-original condition.

One touch restoration

The new One-Touch Colour Restore Feature offered with Epson’s latest scanners makes it easy to restore photos automatically during the scanning process. No photo manipulation or complicated software is needed - it’s all done when you scan your original photo.

It’s worth trying the process out with some of your favourite photos. Sometimes, until you compare a scanned and restored photo with its faded original, the original’s discolouration or fading may not have been as obvious. Seeing the restored reprint can be very surprising – in fact, you’ll probably want to make copies of the restored photo for all of your friends and family.

For complete instructions on how to use your Epson scanner to colour restore, click here.

How to restore your photos

Step 1: Choose the photos you want to restore. Those with the most obvious discolouration or visible fading are most likely to show the most drastic improvements. Do not limit your search to colour photos only. Old, faded black and white or sepia-toned photos are also greatly enhanced using this process.

Step 2: Scan your photos one at a time. Place each photo on to the glass of the scanner and scan each with the “Colour Restoration” checkbox selected.

Step 3: Print the photos onto photo paper - we recommend you use genuine Epson paper. You may choose to either:

print the photos in the same original size
Create an enlarged print size

Remember to check the print size you want before scanning the original photo, so that the scanner will scan the original at the appropriate resolution (dpi). Decide before you start what your final print size will be.

Step 4: Save your scanned images in electronic files. Some people choose to save their favourite photos on to CDs to safely store in a place away from home. This way, additional copies can always be printed of your most cherished photos, no matter what may happen to your prints.

Tips:

Search your family’s collection for all your oldest photos. Photos you may have passed over years ago as not being worth framing due to their deteriorated or discoloured condition may now be ideal for restoration.
Your computer monitor will show you the before and after (restored) version of each scanned photo. If you like how the restored version looks on your screen, it will look even better when printed out on Epson photo paper.
If you have the original version of a print, the most original photo source will provide you with the most improved, restored reprint. For any prints that you’d like to reprint for which you still have the original negative or slide, scanning and colour restoring the negative or slide will give you a better result than scanning and restoring the print made from that negative.
Once you have scanned and restored your favourite prints, you may want to create additional prints for a photo album, framing or to enlarge and frame as gifts for friends and family.
For the longest lasting prints, print on to archival Epson photo papers using an Epson photo printer.

Recommended printing equipment and media:

For printing: Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper; Epson Archival Matte Paper(4” x 6” or A4), Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper ( 4” x 6” or 5” x 7” or 8” x 10” or letter), an Epson Stylus Photo Printer and an Epson Perfection Scanner.

*If you do not have a scanner or a digital camera, you can use personal photos from a CD, sample photos or graphics provided in your creative software programs.