Adobe® Photoshop® CS5 Restoration and Retouching for Digital Photographers Only

introduction

You may be asking why the topics of photo restoration and retouching are being covered together in the same book. That's a reasonable question, considering that on the surface the goals of these two processes seem quite different. The goal of restoration with just about anything — old cars, antique furniture, and so on — is to repair and refurbish something until it resembles mint condition. In the case of old photos, the goal is to erase the years and return the photos to what they looked like when they were new.

The goal of retouching, on the other hand, is to take the original image to a higher level by enhancing its positive aspects and reducing or removing the distracting elements. The finished product becomes something more valuable than the original image because of those enhancements.

Though these two goals seem at odds, the truth is many of the same Photoshop tools and techniques are used to achieve both goals. Because of that, it doesn't make sense to discuss one of these subjects without the other. It also doesn't make sense for you, as a student of Photoshop, to learn to use these tools and techniques for only restoration or retouching. You never know when you may want to try something new. If you take the time to learn everything in this book now, you'll be ready to handle just about any image-editing challenge you're likely to encounter.

What's in This Book

This book is divided into four main parts. Part I deals with the fundamentals as they apply to restoration ...