Quickly repair old photographs with iPhoto on Mac

If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to scan your old photos into your Mac. A traditional scanner or a multi-function printer will get the job done, although it’s also possible using a high-end digital camera and a tripod. The process can feel a little laborious, but it’s well worth persevering with because once all of your old prints have been saved as digital images, their existing quality is preserved forever.

There are a whole host of photo-editing apps to help you clean up vintage prints, although most of the time everything you need is available in iPhoto. Simple crops and re-alignments are a breeze to implement using the Quick Fixes feature available in the app, although exposure settings are also available if you want to tweak the contrast or colour cast. Whatever the problem may be, it’s time to bring all of your old photos back to life. Follow the nine steps below to get a feel of how to make instant, on-the-spot repairs.

1: Rotate your image

Import the image and hit the Edit button to access iPhoto’s editing options. If the orientation is incorrect, use the Rotate function to fix it.

2: Straighten it up

Click the Straighten button next and use the slider on the right-hand side to rotate the image. A grid will appear to help you work out when to stop.

3: Crop it down

If there’s any sort of border surrounding the image, the Crop tool will help remove it. Set the pixel constraints and then drag the corners of the box.

4: Check the temperature

Switch to the Adjust tab. Begin adjusting any unnatural colours using the Temperature slider at the bottom. Subtlety is key here, so go carefully.

5: Apply a tint

Continue adjusting the colour of the image using the Tint slider. A negative figure will add more magenta, while a positive figure will add more green.