Here is a picture that I have tried but never works out. After i put i together it just doesn't look real. Any suggestions?

nasty bit of work there, but it can be recovered. i did part of this; just too much work for me to do all of it, but i can tell you how i started.

the first thing i do is create a duplicate layer.

in the dupe, i use 'edit selection' on one piece of torn image to create a selection. i then control c, and control v to make a new image of that selection.

i repeat the process for all the torn pieces except the head and upper body. the head and upper body will remain as my base to work from.

this gave me several separate images. i then wipe the parts of the original that are going to be patched, but not the base i didnt select out earlier. that remains in place.

i take one of the replacement parts and control c on it to make a copy in the clipboard and then back on the original image i control e to place it down in roughly the right place. i move it as close as possible to where it shld be and check all the visual clues to line it up correctly. in some cases you'll have to undo your placed part because it's not rotated correctly. i had to rotate one or two of the pieces about one or two degrees to make them line up right.

after all the pieces are back in place it's then a matter of cloning out the break lines. i did a bit of this, but left it undone. this would take a fair amount of time.

after the major breaks are patched and filled, it's then a matter of cleaning the overall image. more clone, smudge, maybe some neat image and so on.

when all the patching and cleaning is done, then you'd prolly want to get the color back correctly. this would most likely be done with channel mixing, contrast, color balance and similar tools.

it's a lot of work, but it can be helped a great deal.

Craig

Here is a picture that I have tried but never works out. After i put i together it just doesn't look real. Any suggestions?

Hi Jennifer!
What a darling photo!
This is a perfect example for me of how much fun your photoshop tools can be.
If you use photoshop, you can lasso the pieces, copy, paste and move til you have them in a reasonably good order. Be sure to use your markers, such as lines on the arm, dress etc., to line up the pieces, move and rotate. Don't worry about little bits of missing pieces, as they'll be able to be replaced.

This is where your clone/stamp tool comes in handy. Many people ignore the extra features here, or simply don't know about them. Using the magic wand, tap the white areas you want to fill in.
Set your clone stamp on "darken" and at about 80 percent, and fill in the whiter areas until you're happy with the result. The important thing isn't the resulting line, it's the line up of the color. Lines can be removed later.

Now, remember you may want to add a bit of space above the child's head to balance the photo out. Be sure to adjust using your canvas resize option.
Attached is an example of how well this tool works. Didn't finish the restoration as I have quite a bit of work today, but you should get the gyst of it!
Teri
:rainbow:

Thanks for the great info you guys. This picture is one of my sisters and is one of the few pictures saved of our youth. Anyway is there a method to get rid of all those white dots without blurring the photo. I used neat image and that didn't work. When I tried to do this picture before i had to clone out everyone. Thanks!

hi jenjen,

you're welcome. i would have done more, but it was late and i was tired.

as for the dots, clone, push, smudge will work, but if you want a faster try, give polaroid dust and scratch remover a try. it will make a mask of all the dots and scratches that you can edit to suit and then clean everything in the mask. it's a great little app and is free. just be careful with it as it doesnt allow to 'save as'. so, it will overwrite your original. make a backup and use that.

Craig