I was picking up my kids from my mother-in-law's the other day when I noticed an old photograph sitting on her coffee table. "Who's this?" I asked. "My parents." she answered. I had never had the opportunity to meet them before they passed away, but looking at the precious photo I saw several little spots and blemishes. "Will you let me borrow this," I asked, "and clean it up for you?" She excitedly agreed but at the mere mention of it, her eyes lit up and she fled from the room. She returned with a tiny photo of her parents that measured about two inches tall by about an inch an a half wide. It looked like they had been in a photo booth and were in the prime of their youth. You could tell they were happy and in love. She told me it was her absolute favorite picture of them, but her sister had bent the corner and it had completely removed part of her mother's face. I was happy to take her up on the challenge of trying to restore her treasured photo and took the tiny image home with me.

I worked and I worked on the photo for hours, it seemed. Once I processed the photo enough to remove the damaging crease and clean up all the nicks and spots, I decided to leave much of the photo as it was, to maintain the old-timey look of things. The next issue I had was trying to take such a small photograph and format it to be able to blow it up to a larger size without making it look too grainy or pixelated. After changing the file type I was able to increase the picture size enough to print an 8x10, while still maintaining the same look of the photo. As it all started to come together, I got excited. I couldn't wait to show my mother-in-law!

The next day when I sent her a picture of the restoration, she could hardly believe it! You could hear the tears in her voice when she saw her mother's youthful face again. Her memory was preserved forever! And now as a digital image, it wouldn't be damaged ever again! She was so excited about the picture she decided it would be the perfect Christmas gift to frame for both her sisters and her brother. What a wonderful surprise that would be! 

If you have precious old photos that need a little TLC, let me take a look at them and help you make them beautiful again, just the way you always remembered.