1/7     I'm trying to digitally restore a very old color photo.  I need to
        * Retouch scratches
        * Increase color saturation
        * Adjust brightness and contrast and hue ('Levels' in photoshop)
        What is the best order of operations here?  I can see spending several
        hours on this image and want to get it right the first time.
        \_ Levels before color (adjusting the levels will mess with your
           color saturation).  I don't think it'd matter much when you fix
           the scratches. --jameslin
        \_ Increase color saturation before retouching scratches, otherwise any
           artifacts from retouching the scratches will be magnified.  The
           same applies to Level if you're expanding the level ranges,
           otherwise the opposite applies.
           \_ I was thinking that too, but it'll only protect somewhat against
              artifact magnification.  If your monitor and printer aren't
              calibrated, for example, printing the picture might show
              artifacts you didn't see on the monitor anyway.  For retouching
              scratches I usually make a Levels adjustment layer with an
              insane gamma first so I can see potential artifacts, and then
              retouch the scratches on a layer below. --jameslin