Use these Adobe Photoshop beginners tools to instantly improve images. The image at the very bottom was slightly washed out. A little adjustments using Curves can save the day.

Clone Stamp

The Clone Stamp Tool (In the Tools palate and resembles an ink stamp)
This tool is perfect when you have an old image you would like to restore. Use the option key (alt on PC) to make a selection of a quality section of the image that closely matches the are you are replacing. This is the are you are “cloning”. Now click on the area you want to restore. The cloned selection now covers the damaged area. Play around with the brush hardness and selection size parameters. These will help you to adjust your work to what best suits the needs of what you are restoring. I corrected the top image using the clone stamp tool to remove any damaged areas.

Levels

Levels (Control L or Ctrl L)
Improve your washed out images. Slightly darken the images. This will preserve the original details of the subject. If the image is slightly darker than it should be, use the same tool to lighten it.

Curves

Curves (Control M or Ctrl M)
Use this tool to adjust the contrast in an image, color channel by color channel. For example, an image may have a large percentage of red. This can alter how the image’s subject looks compared to how the subject would look naturally. Reduce the amount of red in the image separately from the blue and green channels (When in the RGB format).

These are just three essential tools for Adobe Photoshop Beginners. Photoshop is such a large program and the possibilities really are endless.

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