Sun Faded Image Restoration: Does it Really Work?

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 – sun-faded imagerestoration can work wonders for bringing your memories back to life.

How does the sun damage photos?

Though the sepia tone of old photographs certainly gives them a unique appeal, it’s not what you want to see in your most cherished photos. It’s a clear-cut sign of sunlight damage that will only worsen if you let it be.

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

Photos exposed to UV rays will quickly fade, crackle, and lose their depth. Modern photographs tend to be slightly more resistant to sun-fading, but older ones, with their lower-quality dyes and materials, are highly vulnerable.

Digital photo restoration services explained

Digital photo restoration services can help you preserve and breathe new life into your oldest, most faded photos. When performed by professionals, digital photo restoration can help keep your most cherished memories in pristine condition.

The goal of photo restoration

Although many botched restoration jobs you can find online make it seem like the goal of photo restoration is to completely disregard the nature of a picture and use a bit too much photoshop, that’s far from the truth.

The goal of expert restoration is to restore the original photograph to its former glory – only repairing the damaged parts and retaining the image’s authenticity without any additional fluff or poor photoshop. With professional services, your sun-faded photos will look like you took them yesterday, but they’ll keep their original charm.

Of course, the original photo is kept completely safe in the process as no work is done directly on it 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 such a photo, but you’ll need to be aware that you can 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

Sun-faded photo restoration is usually the only way to preserve your oldest, most cherished photographs. When done right, the restoration will stay true to the original photo and repair any scratches and damaged pieces, making it seem like they were never there in the first place.