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Your Course in a Nutshell

In this photo restoration course, you will learn how to restore photos using a freeware software called GIMP. I created this course for keen individuals who have little or no understanding of neither GIMP nor photo restoration, but wish to play an active part in the restoration of their own photos. With that in mind we are going to start from the basics, and steadily work on each skill to gradually increase your confidence and competence one photo at a time! By the end of this course, you will be comfortable with the tools used in GIMP to restore images, and have a clear understanding on how to correct and fix your own images, plus a basic understanding of photo colourisation.

  • Access to Platform - 365 day

  • Duration: Average students complete course in 12 weeks

  • 65 practice images (working files)

  • 11 Modules

  • 55 recorded tutorials - totalling 323 minutes!

  • Private Students Only Facebook Group

Student Testimonials

I am doing things that I did not think I was capable of!

Sue Schmidt

I am doing things that I did not think I was capable of. All in a Beginners Course and with freely available, no fee software. I am so happy that I decided to “jump in”.

he offers well orchestrated lessons that are user friendly and self paced

Jo Löberg

I have enjoyed Claudia’s instruction immensely! She offers well orchestrated lessons that are user friendly and self paced. This course has elevated my family tree to a whole new level of honoring my relatives and ancestors.

You feel like you have her live with you as you step through each of the techniques

Vicki Mayo

Never did I believe that I could progress so far in an on-line course. Claudia has managed to pull together a well organized self-paced course that is the best I have ever seen. You feel like you have her live with you as you step through each of the techniques. I'm so glad I stopped trying to learn the techniques on my own and took this course!

the best things that I did for myself in years.

Karen Bearns-Alleyne

I would absolutely encourage anyone to do this course. You don’t need to be a computer whiz since Claudia D'Souza gives clear direction and shows you exactly how to do whatever you need to do. There is no need to purchase expensive software programs and worry that you are wasting a bunch of money on something that you will never master. You will be shocked at how quickly you learn to repair photos that just a few weeks before you would have needed to pay someone to repair for you and the cost of that one repair pays for your entire course. Claudia is very approachable and very willing to help you develop your skills and offer you the help you need. It’s truly one of the best things that I did for myself in years.

About the Course

How is it structured and how will it work?

Duration:  Average students complete course in 12 weeks

Access to Tutorials & Materials: 12 months

Student commitment required to complete in 12 weeks: Tutorials, practice tasks, group activities & research 

Desirable: 192 hours total averaging on 6 hours per week

Essential: 42 hours total averaging 3.5 hours per week


WHO IS THIS COURSE AIMED AT?

In this photo restoration course, you will learn how to restore photos using a freeware software called GIMP. I created this course for keen individuals who have little or no understanding of neither GIMP nor photo restoration, but wish to play an active part in the restoration of their own photos.

With that in mind we are going to start from the basics, and steadily work on each skill to gradually increase your confidence and competence one photo at a time! Although not extremely difficult, photo restoration requires a high degree of concentration, patience and of course practice!!

HOW IS THE COURSE STRUCTURED?

The way the course is constructed allows you to skip or fast track the first Module – GIMP – the basics, if you are already familiar with the software, so you can move on and start with the restoration tutorials straight away.

Each module is made up of several short units, each accompanied by a video, notes and practice exercises. 

Complementing this course, we also have the Facebook Learning Group, ONLY for enrolled students, where you will be able to share your work, give and receive feedback and support from others, and keep motivated. I will also moderate the group and be on hand to answer questions.

By the end of this course, you will be comfortable with the tools used in GIMP to restore images and you will also have a clear understanding on how to correct and fix your own images, and a basic understanding of photo colourisation.

Hardware requirements

  • Desktop or Laptop Computer
  • Mouse (if using a laptop I strongly recommend the use of a desktop mouse! Your fingers will thank you!)
  • Scanner or Smartphone


Pc Technical requirements

  1. Pentium IV or faster processor 
  2. Minimum 256 MB of RAM 
  3. Downloaded and installed GIMP

Course Content

  • 1

    MODULE 1 - COURSE INTRODUCTION

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 1 - HELLO FROM YOUR TUTOR

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 1A - THE LEARNING PLATFORM

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 2 - WHAT DO YOU NEED IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS COURSE

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 3 - WHAT IS GIMP AND WHY IS IF FREE TO USE

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 4 - DOWNLOADING GIMP

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 5 - MAKING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR VIDEO TUTORIALS

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 6 ORGANIZING YOUR FILES AND FOLDERS

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 7 - USING AND PARTICIPATING IN THE FACEBOOK GROUP

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 8 - GIMP GETTING STARTED

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 9 - GIMP WORKTOP SET UP - MENUS AND SETTINGS

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 10 - GIMP QUICK OVERVIEW

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 11 - GIMP TOOLBOX PART 1

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 12 - GIMP TOOLBOX PART 2

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 13 - GIMP TOOLBOX PART 3

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 14 - GIMP TOOLBOX PART 4

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 15 - GIMP TOOLBOX PART 5

    • MOD 1 - LESSON 16 - GIMP TOOLBOX PART 6
  • 2

    MODULE 2 – GETTING ORGANIZED FROM THE START

    • MOD 2 - LESSON 1 - ORGANIZING YOUR FILES AND FOLDERS - REPEAT VERSION

    • MOD 2 - LESSON 2 - OPENING IMAGE FILES, SAVING YOUR PROGRESS AND SAVING FINISHED WORK

    • MOD 2 - LESSON 3 - USING A SCANNER TO DIGITALISE YOUR PHOTOS

    • MOD 2 - LESSON 4 - DIGITALIZING YOUR PHOTOS USING YOUR CAMERA PHONE
  • 3

    MODULE 3 - Enhancing badly taken photographs

    • MOD 3 - LESSON 1 - Straightening cropping and restoring perspective - Part One

    • MOD 3 - LESSON 2 - Straightening cropping and restoring perspective - Part Two

    • MOD 3 - LESSON 3 - WORKING WITH EXPOSURE, BRIGHTENES AND CONTRAST

    • MOD 3 - LESSON 4 -ADJUSTING AND CORRECTING COLOURS - PART 1

    • MOD 3 - LESSON 5 - ADJUSTING AND CORRECTING COLOURS - PART 2

    • MOD 3 - LESSON 6 - CORRECTING RED EYE

    • MOD 3 - LESSON 7 - Improving sharpness and blurring imperfections

  • 4

    MODULE 4 - RESTORING FADED PHOTOGRAPHS

    • MOD 4 - LESSON 1 - DESATURATION AND LEVELS

    • MOD 4 - LESSON 2 - WORKING WITH CURVES

    • MOD 4 - LESSON 3 - THE BURN AND DODGE TOOLS

    • MOD 4 - LESSON 4 - ADDING DARK AND LIGHT LAYERS TO BRING OUT DETAILS
  • 5

    MODULE 5 - REMOVING STAINS AND SCRATCHES

    • MOD 5 - LESSON 1 - REMOVING DAMAGE USING THE HEALING TOOL

    • MOD 5 - LESSON 2 - REMOVING DAMAGE USING THE CLONING TOOL
  • 6

    MOD 6 - HALFWAY CONSOLIDATION

    • MOD 6 - LESSON 1 - WE ARE HALFWAY THERE! - MESSAGE FROM YOUR TUTOR

    • MOD 6 - LESSON 2 - STEP BY STEP - GUIDED RESTORATION 1

    • MOD 6 - LESSON 3 - STEP BY STEP - GUIDED RESTORATION 2
  • 7

    MODULE 7 - DEALING WITH NOISE, FUZZ AND UNWANTED TEXTURES

    • MOD 7 - LESSON 1 - INTRODUCTION - LET'S TALK ABOUT NOISE!

    • MOD 7 - LESSON 2 - REMOVING NOISE USING THE NOISE REDUCTION FILTER

    • MOD 7 - LESSON 3 - REDUCING NOISE USING LAYERS, BLUR TOOL AND SELECTIVE GAUSIAN BLUR FILTER

    • MOD 7 - LESSON 4 - REMOVING NOISE IN ONLY PARTS OF THE PHOTO

    • MOD 7 - LESSON 5 - REMOVING TEXTURES FROM PAPER PRINTED PHOTOS

    • MOD 7 - LESSON 6 - USING ENHANCE FILTERS TO IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOS
  • 8

    MODULE 8 - EXTREME RESTORATIONS

    • MODULE 8 - LESSON 1 - WHAT IS AN EXTREME RESTORATION - TUTOR OVERVIEW

    • MOD 8 - LESSON 2 - fixing missing parts of a photo

    • MOD 8 - LESSON 3 - REPARING FACIAL STAINS

    • MOD 8 - LESSON 4 - Putting a torn photo back together

  • 9

    MODULE 9 - photo manipulation and composites

    • MOD 9 - LESSON 1 - REMOVING UNWANTED PEOPLE OR OBJECTS FROM A PHOTO

    • MOD 9 - LESSON 2 - Combining two or more photos together

    • MOD 9 - LESSON 3 - Combining two portraits II + Vignetting a photo

    • MOD 9 - LESSON 4 - Adding Frames or Embellishments

    • MOD 9 - LESSON 5 - Adding Text to Photos
  • 10

    MODULE 10 - introduction to photo colourization.

    • MOD 10 - LESSON 1 - COLOURISATION - The importance of being historically adequate & how to research colour

    • MOD 10 - LESSON 2 - COLOURISATION - preparing your photo for colouring + WORKING WITH LAYERS

    • MOD 10 - LESSON 3 - CREATING A SKIN PALETTE

    • MOD 10 - LESSON 4 - COLOURISING - THE SKIN

    • MOD 10 - LESSON 5 - COLOURISING - THE EYES

    • MOD 10 - LESSON 6 - COLOURISING - HAIR CLOTHING AND BACKGROUND
  • 11

    MODULE 11 - putting it all together.

    • MODULE 11 - LESSON 1 - Putting it all together.

    • MODULE 11 - FINAL ASSESSMENTS

    • FINAL MESSAGE FROM YOU TUTOR

Meet your tutor : Claudia D'Souza

Founder & Lead Artist of The Photo Alchemist

Claudia D'Souza

In 2009, Claudia D'Souza, started researching her family history. Soon she was researching the fortunes and misfortunes of her German great grandad Frederick who, having made his fortune in Burma, was forced to flee to India following the invasion of the Japanese; the tragic life of British great grandma Jayne who, by the age of 23, had already buried three husbands; the mysterious origins of Portuguese Grandfather Candido, who was abandoned at a doorstep of a rich doctor, on Christmas Eve; to mention but a few. Photographs became a huge part of her newly found obsession, but she was sad to find that photos were scarce, and often in very bad condition. She searched for restoration services, but they all required her to part with her precious originals, and there was no way on earth Claudia was prepared to do that! So, combining her advanced IT skills with her Fashion History interest and Art skills, Claudia started exploring and developing ways of not only restoring and retouching old photos, but also adding carefully researched colour, enabling us to see the people in old photos, just like they saw themselves and each other. THE TURNING POINT In 2017, she started interacting with genealogists across the world via social media and, after sharing one of her pieces online, she was flooded with requests for help with old photos. Realising she could help others and feed her passion, she quit her job as a Marketing Director and launched “The Photo Alchemist”. Since then, Claudia has completed more than 1000 commissions for clients worldwide, and her work has been featured in publications in the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Brazil, Portugal and Denmark. More recently, she has developed 2 online courses, teaching others how to restore and colourise old photos and has also launched her YouTube Channel - The Joy of Photo Colourisation. Still most of her time, she spends digitally bringing to life photos from clients all over the world, without the need for them to part with their precious originals. But according to Claudia, the best part of her job is getting to know other people’s family histories and being trusted with precious family photos, often considered lost causes.