Photo Restoration Help PLS

"Scot" wrote:

New to CS and am trying to figure out how to restore an old photograph. It is black and white and the center is ok, but parts of the photo have faded to white from the edges inward a little bit. One "white cloud" encroaches onto the persons black dress a bit.
Any idea’s on tools to try or links to tutorials?

That kind of repair is subtle and touchy. You’re best off with a complete tutorial on retouching. I’ve seen several books from the better PS publishers (Focal Press, etc.) that would probably give you the details you need to correct such shaded faults. Search Amazon for "photoshop" and "retouching" and you’ll find them.

—
| James Gifford * FIX SPAMTRAP TO REPLY |
| So… your philosophy fits in a sig, does it? |
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Scot wrote:

Any idea’s on tools to try or links to tutorials?

Maybe: <http://www.retouchpro.com/tutorials/index.php?>

—
Regards
Madsen.

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 21:15:30 GMT, James Gifford
wrote:

"Scot" wrote:

New to CS and am trying to figure out how to restore an old photograph. It is black and white and the center is ok, but parts of the photo have faded to white from the edges inward a little bit. One "white cloud" encroaches onto the persons black dress a bit.
Any idea’s on tools to try or links to tutorials?

That kind of repair is subtle and touchy.

Agreed. Retouching is a real art. There not easy quick step filters that can get you a great final product. And by the way, do not every use the dust and scratches filter.

But before you buy a book, try using the rubber stamp tool to clone similar areas. And in the case of a patterned area you can copy the pattern from an intact portion of the pic, put it on a separate layer, then move it into position, and then touch up with the edges with the rubber stamp (as well as the dodge and burn tools which help match the shading).

After you try that, then you’ll start to know exactly what you don’t know and will have a better time picking out a book. A large bookstore will have plenty of different books for you to paw through.

— JC

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 20:59:17 GMT, "Scot" wrote:

Hi Everybody,
New to CS and am trying to figure out how to restore an old photograph. It is black and white and the center is ok, but parts of the photo have faded to white from the edges inward a little bit. One "white cloud" encroaches onto the persons black dress a bit.
Any idea’s on tools to try or links to tutorials?
Thanks!
Scot

One of the best books on this subject that I know of is Katrin Eismann’s "Photoshop Restoration & Retouching," now in its 2nd Edn.

Thanks Everybody for the great tips!
Scot

Rather than using the rubber stamp tool, wouldn’t the healing tool be of more use for repairing the part of the dress that has a white cloud over it? That would maintain the texture of the dress itself instead of copying bits from another part (which is essentially what the clone tool does).

Any comments on this would also be appreciated as although I can get by ok with PS7, I am still effectively a newbie.

Martin

"J C" wrote in message

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 21:15:30 GMT, James Gifford
wrote:

"Scot" wrote:

New to CS and am trying to figure out how to restore an old photograph. It is black and white and the center is ok, but parts of the photo have faded to white from the edges inward a little bit. One "white cloud" encroaches onto the persons black dress a bit.
Any idea’s on tools to try or links to tutorials?

That kind of repair is subtle and touchy.

Agreed. Retouching is a real art. There not easy quick step filters that can get you a great final product. And by the way, do not every use the dust and scratches filter.

But before you buy a book, try using the rubber stamp tool to clone similar areas. And in the case of a patterned area you can copy the pattern from an intact portion of the pic, put it on a separate layer, then move it into position, and then touch up with the edges with the rubber stamp (as well as the dodge and burn tools which help match the shading).

After you try that, then you’ll start to know exactly what you don’t know and will have a better time picking out a book. A large bookstore will have plenty of different books for you to paw through.

— JC

Duplicate the layer. Drastically increase contrast by dartkening the dark values while leaving the whites alone. Set the blending mode to Multiply. This will find any subtle detail in the high values. You might need to duplicate the new layer and set THAT to Multiply as well in order to bring out enough detail. It won’t find detail that’s not there, and will accentuate the texture of the paper.

The tricky part is blending the retouched area back into the photo. Option/alt click the "make layer mask" icon in the Layers palette to make a layer mask which hides the retouched layer. Then use a soft brush set to white to paint the retouching back into the photo. Blend the edges with the brush opacity set low.

Good luck!
Tom

In article <wyoEb.393817$>, Scot
wrote:

Hi Everybody,
New to CS and am trying to figure out how to restore an old photograph. It is black and white and the center is ok, but parts of the photo have faded to white from the edges inward a little bit. One "white cloud" encroaches onto the persons black dress a bit.
Any idea’s on tools to try or links to tutorials?
Thanks!
Scot

Thanks Tom,
I will give it a try.
Scot

"Tom Nelson" wrote

Duplicate the layer. Drastically increase contrast by dartkening the dark values while leaving the whites alone. Set the blending mode to Multiply. This will find any subtle detail in the high values. You might need to duplicate the new layer and set THAT to Multiply as well in order to bring out enough detail. It won’t find detail that’s not there, and will accentuate the texture of the paper.

The tricky part is blending the retouched area back into the photo. Option/alt click the "make layer mask" icon in the Layers palette to make a layer mask which hides the retouched layer. Then use a soft brush set to white to paint the retouching back into the photo. Blend the edges with the brush opacity set low.

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 09:35:59 -0000, "Martin"
wrote:

Rather than using the rubber stamp tool, wouldn’t the healing tool be of more use for repairing the part of the dress that has a white cloud over it? That would maintain the texture of the dress itself instead of copying bits from another part (which is essentially what the clone tool does).
Any comments on this would also be appreciated as although I can get by ok with PS7, I am still effectively a newbie.

I suppose that would depend on whether there is any image detail in that area, if not, then you need to put the detail there with the rubber stamp.

— JC