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Faded Pictures from faded 35mm slides
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May 2, 2021 08:45:24   #
akamerica
 
Several years I scanned several thousand 35mm slides that were taken in the late 1950s & 1960s. They had faded and the scanner did what it could. Now I have several thousand faded .jpg pictures.

Is there an app out there that will auto load each picture, auto adjust faded colors, clean noise, adjust clarity, contrast, etc., save the "much" improved picture, and then continue with the next picture without human help?

The key for me is that each picture is adjusted depending on that pictures appearance, so a batch edit that applies the same settings to all selected pictures would not produce the best result.

Any ideas guys?

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May 2, 2021 09:16:10   #
charlienow Loc: Hershey, PA
 
Can you post a couple of examples and mark download.

I used Adobe elements on some and Lightroom 6 on others.

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May 2, 2021 09:44:14   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
Any software that lets you develop a 'profile' or 'preset' will help you create a consistent set of adjustments. You probably will need to refine the results of the preset as applied to each image, but the majority of the standard work is done by the preset. I've developed my own Lightroom presets for several individual cameras and for the V600 scanned output of 35mm negatives. Investigate the JPEG editor(s) you have today and the results of their <Auto Tone> option, if any. You can download trial versions of most every digital editor software if you need to investigate purchasing something new. Test each tool on your original scanned files for a consistent test case of options.

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May 2, 2021 11:30:14   #
Rongnongno Loc: FL
 
akamerica wrote:
Several years I scanned several thousand 35mm slides that were taken in the late 1950s & 1960s. They had faded and the scanner did what it could. Now I have several thousand faded .jpg pictures.

Is there an app out there that will auto load each picture, auto adjust faded colors, clean noise, adjust clarity, contrast, etc., save the "much" improved picture, and then continue with the next picture without human help?

The key for me is that each picture is adjusted depending on that pictures appearance, so a batch edit that applies the same settings to all selected pictures would not produce the best result.

Any ideas guys?
Several years I scanned several thousand 35mm slid... (show quote)

Post a sample in the post-processing section. We have a couple of folks capable of wonders who may guide you.

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May 2, 2021 14:40:28   #
User ID
 
akamerica wrote:
Several years I scanned several thousand 35mm slides that were taken in the late 1950s & 1960s. They had faded and the scanner did what it could. Now I have several thousand faded .jpg pictures.

Is there an app out there that will auto load each picture, auto adjust faded colors, clean noise, adjust clarity, contrast, etc., save the "much" improved picture, and then continue with the next picture without human help?

The key for me is that each picture is adjusted depending on that pictures appearance, so a batch edit that applies the same settings to all selected pictures would not produce the best result.

Any ideas guys?
Several years I scanned several thousand 35mm slid... (show quote)

Faced with a similar situation I used to batch all the similar originals and run each batch at appropriate settings for that batch. Not automated, but pretty efficient vs individual adjustments for every original. No reason to expect automated one by one adjustment is better than batched adjustments ... might actually be worse !

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May 2, 2021 20:19:52   #
akamerica
 
Agree, especially given my impatient nature - hence the quest for an AI BOT. Oh well. Thx

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May 3, 2021 07:50:27   #
Dave H2
 
akamerica wrote:
Agree, especially given my impatient nature - hence the quest for an AI BOT. Oh well. Thx

Photolemur has an automatic adjustment which does a fair job. You just drag and drop images into the app and let do its thing. The results are not like doing it one at a time with a more powerful editor but may be worth a look.

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May 3, 2021 09:12:30   #
edkolb
 
I scanned over 9000 slides, starting in 1952, a few years back with some very dark and barely recognizable.
I enhanced them on Photoshop Elements and was amazed at how the color came to life.

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May 3, 2021 10:08:11   #
lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA
 
akamerica wrote:
Several years I scanned several thousand 35mm slides that were taken in the late 1950s & 1960s. They had faded and the scanner did what it could. Now I have several thousand faded .jpg pictures.

Is there an app out there that will auto load each picture, auto adjust faded colors, clean noise, adjust clarity, contrast, etc., save the "much" improved picture, and then continue with the next picture without human help?

The key for me is that each picture is adjusted depending on that pictures appearance, so a batch edit that applies the same settings to all selected pictures would not produce the best result.

Any ideas guys?
Several years I scanned several thousand 35mm slid... (show quote)


Re-scan with a more current scanner and its software. A new Epson 6xx, 7xx, or 8xx series scanner can do wonders with aged films. The software it just to always obvious as to how to clean the image up or restore color. But it is there. Tweeking in Ps or Lr might be needed as well, but to use Adobe software with a dumb or naked scanner would be a nightmare.

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May 3, 2021 11:47:28   #
Tote1940 Loc: Dallas
 
At least in my 60+ year old slides fading is uneven, some Kodachrome are pristine, some have fungus. Ektas not so bad , Ferranias like Ansco horrible, negative color who knows? They are very variable
Have scanned around 250k of those over 20 years , used mostly Vue Scan this software has a button to restore color and another for fading Sometimes helps a lot sometimes not
In important slides would scan as TIFF and try to improve using Adobe or equivakent
Main point fading is variable doubt a computer can fix automatically , you need to try manually By the way sometimes decreasing saturation and approaching monochrome sometimes saves image once you get rid of distracting color

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May 3, 2021 12:51:24   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Options:

Convert to B&W and adjust
Adjust curves
Re-scan with a 16-bits per channel scanner and an operating system that still support Digital ICE
Re-scan with a 16-bits per channel scanner with IR dust removal sensors using SilverFast 9 software
Re-"scan" using a dSLR or MILC in raw capture mode and post-process in Lightroom Classic

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May 3, 2021 13:55:20   #
ezslides
 
It's not automated, but take a look at Topaz JPEG to RAW AI. It is amazing.

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May 3, 2021 13:58:25   #
akamerica
 
I agree that much is in the original scan of the slides. I did that scan deed in 2009 with a almost best in class slide scanner that had like a slide show carousel auto-feeding the slides for their 30-45 second hi def scan. It ran overnight and saved my mind. Several times one of the cardboard mounts jammed in the feeder to tears in the morning.

That said when the scan of all was completed and a backup on another drive made the storage bin full of slides was donated to a land fill. Now I have time this summer in between salmon fishing, to sort through 66,400 pictures and cull those that have some meaning. Bring the selected to best viewing quality and call it a day.

Art

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May 3, 2021 14:00:15   #
akamerica
 
Copy of what I just sent another.

I agree that much is in the original scan of the slides. I did that scan deed in 2009 with a almost best in class slide scanner that had like a slide show carousel auto-feeding the slides for their 30-45 second hi def scan. It ran overnight and saved my mind. Several times one of the cardboard mounts jammed in the feeder to tears in the morning.

That said when the scan of all was completed and a backup on another drive made the storage bin full of slides was donated to a land fill. Now I have time this summer in between salmon fishing, to sort through 66,400 pictures and cull those that have some meaning. Bring the selected to best viewing quality and call it a day.

Reply
May 3, 2021 14:12:14   #
refilman Loc: California
 
To answer the original question:
You can make "droplets" in Adobe Photoshop out of any action. The droplets can be placed on your desktop and you can drag files (in bulk) to execute them.
If what you want to do is more conditional than a droplet, it turns out you can write Javascript to create Photoshop scripts (and lua to create Lightroom scripts). Though that requires a touch of programming skill

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