Allison Meyer: HIST 697: Creating History in New Media

Soldier, May 2, 1942

Soldier, May 2, 1942

Original Scan

The original scan of this photograph shows the discoloration that has happened over time. (Above is a slightly scaled down version, the original scan was 596 x 830 with resolution of 300 dpi.) Other damage includes bends and creases in the photo, as well as areas with missing emulsion.

To repair the image I did the following in Photoshop 7.0:

  1. Crop image (crop tool)
  2. Fix color cast (Image > Adjustments > Auto Color )
  3. Fix the levels (Image > Adjustments > Auto Levels)
  4. Remove spots in sky and on uniform by using the healing brush at various sizes according to the need of the spot (healing brush tool)
  5. Fix chain link fence and sidewalk where the emulsion was missing (patch tool)
  6. Adjust overall sharpness of image (Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask: amount 50%; radius 3; threshold 0 )
  7. Add contrast/definition to trousers and skyline (burn tool)

Soldier, May 2, 1942, retouched photo

Retouched Photo