Setting Up A Postcard Portrait For Editing In Photoshop

In this post, we will cover my favorite way to set an image file up to be edited along with some best-practice tidbits.

Let's go ahead and open up Photoshop and get started.

Scan In Your Image (the front & back)

First, we need to get that postcard or photograph from your hands into Photoshop. I can’t tell you quite how to scan your image in -- everyone’s scanner is different!

Make sure you scan both the front and the back of the postcard or photograph. I do this even if the back of the image has nothing on it. I like knowing that the entire image has been preserved -- If something was to happen to the original, I would still know what the entire front and back looked like.

Open up both of these scanned files into your Photoshop using the File → Open command in the top menu.

Merge The Front & Back Of The Image

For editing purposes, I like to put the front and the back of the image on one screen, or canvas.

Once the image is completed, you can switch the front and back into their own separate files if you wish.

STEP I

Working with the front of the postcard, right click on the “Background” layer and select “Layer from Background…”. Name this new layer “Original Image - Front”, and hit OK.

STEP II

Create a new layer by clicking the create a new layer option at the bottom of the layers palette. The icon looks like a sticky note with the corner folder up. This should create a new layer named “Layer 1” above our “Original Image - Front” layer.

STEP III

In the top menu, select Layer → New → Background from Layer… This will convert “Layer 1” into a “Background…” layer beneath our “Original Image - Front” layer. Basically what we did was remove our image from the background to give us a little more room to play.

STEP IV

Now we need to increase the size of the image canvas (NOT the actual image) to give us more room. This way, we can look at the front and back of the original postcard in the same image. To do this, select Image → Canvas Size in the top menu.

We want to double the width of the image. In theory, the height should be the same for the front and back of the image. Select “Percent” in the drop down box beside Width. The drop down box beside Height should automatically adjust to “Percent” as well. Enter “205” as the width, and “105” for the height.

We are essentially giving ourselves a 5% allowance for human cropping error. We will crop the whole image down together to get it just right when we are finished with our restoration.

STEP V

Move the “Original Image - Front” layer to the left side of the canvas in order to make room for the back of the photograph.

STEP VI

Now, we need to grab the back of the photograph and move it onto the image with the front of the photograph already on it. On the image of the back of the photograph, hit Select → All in the top menu. This should give you little marching ants all the way around the image.

On your keyboard, hit the Ctrl key and the C key at the same time to copy the selection. Going back to the front of the photograph, hit the Ctrl key and the V key at the same time to paste the back of the photograph onto the image with the front of the photograph.

STEP VII

If you look in your layers palette, this layer is named “Layer 1”. Rename it to “Original Image - Back”. Move that layer to the right of the canvas.

I’ve also flipped the “Original Image - Back” layer horizontally in order to keep it just like if you flipped the postcard over. If you need to do the same, hit the Ctrl key and the T key at the same time to select the transform tool. Right click and select Flip Horizontal.

Organize Your Layers Palette

We want to keep our layers palette a little bit organized so we can find what we are looking for later.

STEP I

First, let’s create folders for the front and the back of the image. To do this, click the folder icon that says “Create a new group” in the bottom of the layers pallette. Click this twice to create two groups: “Group 1” and “Group 2”.

STEP II

Rename these groups to “Front” and “Back”, respectively. Click and drag the two “Original Image” layers into their correct folder.

Let's Finish Up Setting Up Our File

The entire purpose of restoring a photograph is to remember the photograph in, number one, it’s original glory, and, number two, to preserve the photograph for future generations.

With this fact in mind, let's do some quick spring cleaning for both ourselves and others whom we may share this image with.

I like to keep all the known information of a particular photograph with that particular image file. There are literally hundreds of ways people tend to do this, but I think the most efficient and most sensible way to do this is through the metadata of an image.

STEP I

In Photoshop, it’s really easy to edit the metadata. In the top menu, select File → File Info… A box will pop up allowing you to enter a whole lot of information about this particular image.