Is It Possible To Restore Sun-Faded Photos?

September 29, 2022 3 min read

sun faded image restoration

Few things can take you down memory lane quite like old photos you keep stored away somewhere in the attic. Seeing places that shaped your youth, friends, and family members you haven’t thought of in a while can unlock long-forgotten memories instantly.

The only problem is that old photos can rarely keep their charm for long. Photographs tend to degrade after a while, especially if they’ve been exposed to too much sunlight. The good news is that you don’t have to let all your old photos fade away. Professional companies specializing in photography restoration can restore sun-faded photos, bringing back the vibrant colors and beauty they once held.

How does the sun damage photos?

While the sepia tone of old colored photographs may seem to look good, it’s not something you want to see in your most cherished photos. It’s a sign of sunlight damage that will only worsen over time. The colors will continue to fade, and the photo may brighten to the point where it becomes difficult to recognize who’s in it.

It’s no secret just how damaging the sun’s UV rays are, and just like they damage your cells, they damage other materials, like your photographs.

Photos exposed to UV rays will quickly fade, crackle, and lose details. Modern photographs are slightly more resistant to sun-fading, but older ones, with their lower-quality dyes and materials, are highly vulnerable. For a deeper understanding of causes and solutions for light damage to photographs, visit this guide from Archival Methods

Digital photo restoration services explained

Digital photo restoration services can help you preserve and breathe new life into your oldest, most faded photos. When searching for professionals to help with digital photo restoration, it’s important to know where to look and how to choose the right one. You want to be sure they can restore and help you preserve your most cherished memories in excellent condition.

The goal of photo restoration

While many botched restoration jobs found online—especially through 'near me' search queries—may give the impression that photo restoration involves completely altering the nature of a picture with excessive Photoshop, that’s far from the truth.

The goal of an expert restorer is to bring the original photograph back to its former glory by repairing only the damaged parts while retaining the image’s authenticity and avoiding excessive Photoshop manipulation of the details. By choosing the right restorer, your sun-faded photos will look like you took them recently. We've made an article where you can see some of our before-after photo restoration examples to understand what it can be achieved.

Of course, the original photo is kept completely safe in the process as no work was done directly on the photo but rather on its scanned copy.

Color correction 

Photos with only slight sun damage can quickly be restored with simple color correction. The restorer will analyze the photograph, assess how the colors have faded, and do their best to add natural tones that bring back the photo’s depth and restore the picture’s original colors.

Altering color saturation and tone

In some instances, color correction isn’t enough. Extremely damaged photos might need to be recolored completely, and some scratches or missing parts might need to be filled in.

Usually, it’s possible to fully restore a sun-faded photo, but depending on the extent of the damage, you may lose some quality elements in the process.

It’s affordable!

Though the task of a restorer is rarely simple, sun-faded picture restoration is convenient and affordable. Depending on the extent of damage, the service rarely goes over $60. You can quickly restore your priceless photos, breathing new life into them without breaking the bank.

Conclusion

The best way to preserve your oldest and most cherished photographs is to restore sun-faded photos. When done correctly, the restoration stays true to the original photo, repairing scratches and damaged areas so seamlessly that it’s as if they were never there.