Son grieving dad's loss asked the internet to restore old photo of his parents — and the internet stepped up
As a four-year-old toddler, the man had scribbled on the photograph's original look with zigzagged crayon markings.
When a loved one passes away, even the most colossal archive of old photographs cannot fill up the void left by their absence. However, some modest tweaks and edits can certainly breathe a new life into those photographs and restore the memories one spent with their loved one. A man—who goes by u/tremillow on Reddit—lost his dad a day ago. He contacted Reddit’s popular “Photoshop Request” group to request an edit on an old photograph featuring his parents. In less than 24 hours, nearly 8,000 people upvoted his post, and dozens of Photoshop nerds stepped up to create stunning, rejuvenated photo versions.
In response, Photoshop geeks and image manipulators, referred to as “Wizards” on the subreddit, offer their free and paid photo restoration services while adding links to their Paypal accounts, “Buy Me A Coffee” accounts, or tip jars. This man shared a vintage photograph of his parents with the request, “Can anyone edit out the crayon my dumb*** self did to this picture of him and my mom when I was 4?”
The picture featured his dad and mom smiling at the camera with their arms curled around each other. In the background was a crowd with other couples in dancing positions. His father, dressed in a black coat suit, had long hair and a mustache, and his mom donned a white dress. The photograph, otherwise lovely, was marked with crayon scratches that dulled its effect.
Tons of “Wizards” replied to the man’s post with edited renditions of his photograph. A version shared by u/dannst91 received the most attention on the platform. They not only removed the crayon scratches from the man’s photo but also brightened the colors, so the photo appeared to be more natural in terms of shadows and light. The scratches were reduced to faded green markings that were barely visible in the foreground. The editor shared two versions of the edited photo.
People were amazed by their editing. “My body actually jerked back, and my eyes widened. This is nuts. Great job,” commented u/Jaci_D. u/ActualMerCat said, “It’s wild how modern this looks. The original photo is very 70s. Yours looks like it could have been taken last night!” Other people tagged it with words like “incredible” and “amazing.” In a comment, the editor explained their process, “It is a combination of several traditional techniques to prepare the photo, clean it, remove as much as possible of the scratches, marks, etc. in the traditional way in Photoshop, and then the use of AI for light, color, texture, resolution, transfer of original details and final composition.”
u/Deathmarkedadc shared a version that people peopled. This editor completely erased the crayon squiggles and heightened the photo with enhanced color contrast. “This is by far the best one,” said u/Adveloq. A rendition by u/Fragrant_Bicycle5921 was complimented for “background lighting choice,” whereas u/thigsbig was recognized for maintaining the original colors in the revised photo. The owner of the photograph has not commented yet or updated about the version he would like to choose.
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