Genealogy: Preserving your family's history

Fixing up old photos yourself
Frustrated with wonderful family photos that are damaged with stains or tears? Rather than spend a lot of money to have them repaired professionally, do it yourself on your computer. While professionally restoring the original print of just one damaged photo can cost hundreds of dollars, you can buy a digital imaging program for as little as $60 that will allow you to make photos look almost as good as the first time they were developed.

First, scan in the photos you want to fix. (If you don't own a scanner yourself, you can send your pictures to digitizing services such as Seattle Film Works, or use a scanner at a computer-services shop such as Kinko's, for just a few dollars per photo.) Even before you actually scan in the picture, improve the image with your scanner by adjusting for discolouration or over- or under-exposure. After the image is scanned in, use your digital-imaging software's clone tool to repair imperfections by copying a similar undamaged area of the photo and pasting it over the tear or stain.

You can also use your computer to doctor photos for fun. For example, you could combine baby pictures of your daughter and your father to create a new image that bends time and proves she really does have Grandpa's eyes. Once you've scanned in the photos you want to combine, use your digital-imaging program's pen tool to trace around the part of the image you want to add to the other picture. Remember, you may need to resize that image to keep the sizes in your new picture consistent. You may also need to flip the image to keep shadows on the same side or improve the composition of your creation.

Once you've gotten your photos to look the way you want on the screen, you can print them out on photo-quality paper and preserve them in albums or give out copies to relatives. Alternatively, you can leave the pictures on your computer and use them in projects such as a family website, electronic family newsletter, or family saga book -- more on these projects to come.

To find out more about fixing up old photos or creating new images from old snapshots, see HP.ca's article on Photo Restoration.