Fixing fogged film in Photoshop

Is there any quick and/or easy method to doing this? Or is the film lost, so to speak. A friend (really, not me!) flew too many times without protecting the film in his suitcase or getting it passed via carry-on.

 

Thanks

If a scan of the fogged film has compressed tonal range, you could start with "levels" in Photoshop and move the black slider to the right and the white slider to the left, so that the tonal range now ranges from pure black to pure white. You will then probably need to use "curves" for more refined adjustments. Fogged film is usually of low contrast, so try increasing the contrast. If this is color film, play with saturation, vibrance, and brightness of individual colors. If the last approach does not work, convert to black and white and go from there. If you find a recipe for one image, it might work for others. However, the solution will probably not be "quick and easy". Edited October 16, 2017 by Glenn McCreery

The "Haze Removal" tool in Lightroom is very effective in removing veiling flare.

 

By my estimate, it would take at least 100 passes through carry-on X-Ray to raise the fog level of ISO 400 film by one stop. One pass through checked baggage, which uses an electron beam scanner, will fog the film in indelible streaks.