Old photos: separate cleaning from inventing detail
`old-photo-cleanup-restore` handles creases, cracks, fading, and mold together. The goal is readable, shareable, printable history—not influencer filters. Over-smoothing makes features wax-like; inventing clothing patterns rewrites family memory. Color and invented detail are creative: disclose publicly and retain untouched scans; legal or publishing contexts need a sharper line between technical repair and fictional content. Stabilize tone and stains, repair local damage, only then optional artistic color.
Recommended steps for old photo cleanup and restoration
- In `old-photo-cleanup-restore`, sort physical damage, chemical fade, and mold before choosing denoise, descreen, or colorization order.
- When mending tears or missing corners, preserve fabric and skin micro-texture—skip blanket Gaussian blur.
- Deliver raw scan, repaired neutral, and optional colorized outputs—filenames state purpose and date.
Old photo restoration Q&A
Does colorizing or inventing detail in `old-photo-cleanup-restore` falsify family history?
Label public shares as illustrative restoration and keep uncolored masters; scholarly or legal uses must separate repair from invention.
Cracks are fixed but faces look like wax—how do you recover?
Use frequency separation or blended layers to keep pores and micro-wrinkles—avoid huge-radius blur; rebuild cracks in layers then reintroduce texture.
Colorizing a black-and-white heirloom—what do relatives challenge most often?
Colorization driven only by modern taste drifts from the era—cite reference swatches or mark the work as artistic restoration, not “true color.”
Does colorizing or inventing detail in `old-photo-cleanup-restore` falsify family history?
Label public shares as restored illustration and keep unscanned masters; scholarly or legal uses need a sharper line between repair and invention.
Restored faces look waxy?
Blend back pore and micro-wrinkle detail; avoid large-radius blur—frequency separation helps control structure without plastic skin.