Hi all,

Could somebody please critique me first attempt at a colourisation of my grandmother. It was a rather shoddy passport sized photograph to begin with and I'm reasonably pleased with it so far, though I'm well aware there is much that could be done. I don't like the hair.

Thanks for all your imput.

Nick

Overall, I think you have captured the essence and the colours look fairly genuine to me. I think if you are still not entirely happy with this photo maybe a bit of burning of the eyes at maybe around 6% may provide a little more definition. Comparing the two photos the hair looks reasonable, maybe tonal definition is what is bugging you?

you've definitely lost some detail here in the colorizing. did you do any prep work on the image first, cleaning, or anything of that nature? or was it just the colorizing and if so, then what steps did you take?

Craig

edit: oh, and welcome to RetouchPRO :)

Nick

Welcome to RetouchPRO

That’s great for your first attempt.

I think the reason you are not happy with the hair is that you have made a very sharp line between the hair and the background.
I took the easy route and made the background the same colour as the hair.

There are some people here who are really good at colorizing. Do some searches to find their work. In the meantime I’ve posted my effort.

First I ran Neat Image then after colouring I sharpened it up.
I also used levels to increase the contrast. Usually a flatter image makes colouring easier but I thought you picture was a little too flat.
Try to vary the skin tones a little.

Ken

Thanks for the feedback.

I removed a few spots and used the dust & scratches filter (perhaps a little too much)

I colourised it by selecting each area (skin, hair, lips, teeth, eyes & background) and used New adjustment layers, curves. With the quickmask tool to refine the selections.

any ideas for improvement?

Many Thanks,
Nick

That looks fantastic Ken!

There seems to be so much more depth and it's such a sharper image.

Did you use a selection tool for the blusher, or was it brushed?

Thanks very much!

Nick

btw, when I saved your image and opened with photoshop, opening the zoom tool brought two numbered targets at different places on the image......?

You will definatly have to run a curves/levels adjustment to get more details in the hair. The coloring method I currently use is using a gradiant map adjustment layers. I am trying to remember where I learned that technique but can't remember where I found the tutorial for it. May have been in a book---anyways- Used neat image to clean up the noise some and sharpened her eyes. I also use blank layers in color mode for makeup- ie blush and lipstick. I'm going to go hunt for that tutorial now, if I can't find it I may just have to write a new one. Any q's-just ask.

~Amber~

Thanks Nick

The two spots are from where I sampled colours. If you want to delete them click on the colour sampler (in the eyedropper drop down menu) then go to the top toolbar and click the clear button.

I am also just learning to colorize but I have done quite a few. So I would appreciate comments also.

I use layer upon layer set to colour blending mode and then alter the opacity.
I use a layer for each item and name them to avoid confusion.

The blusher was done exactly the same, painted onto a new layer with a soft brush and blending mode set to colour. I always use a colour that is too bright then reduce the layer opacity.

There was a small area on her right cheek that would not colour because I had pushed the contrast up. So I added a layer set to normal blending mode and reduced the opacity.

For large areas I do the same but add a layer mask

In this case I sepia toned the image first which took care of the hair and the background in one go.

One problem using this method is that file sizes tend to be massive. I’ve just finished doing a 10x8 at 600dpi and the PSD file was too large to fit on a CD.

Hope this helps.
Nice Picture BTW.


While I’ve been typing away Amber has just posted - excellent (see I told you there were some great colorizers here)

Amber is talking about using a gradient map where the layers (I think) are set to overlay mode
The tutorial she mentions is here

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp

I have had varying success with that method. Sometimes it has worked and other times I’ve been very disappointed. You have to get the gradients correct to make a good job

I may have another go after seeing Ambers work.

Ken

Hey, thanks for finding that link Ken- I was really starting to think I was losing it! I do it alittle differently than the tutorial. I usually use the color mode instead of overlay, and sometimes I have to vary the opacity. and I usually don't make a selection, after making the map I use a hide all mask (the black mask) and then "paint" in the color where I need it. That way I can go back and correct and add/subract color if I need to. On the hair in particular I gaussian blurred the mask to make it blend alittle into the background so there isn't an obvious line. If you have any q's just ask.

~Amber~

Amber. You’re Welcome.
I have every link to every tutorial because I need them. :)

I am so glad that you mentioned that you set the blending mode to colour. I’ve tried this method several times and most times I finished up doing the same. The thing is that if you do set the blending mode to colour then (it seems to me) that you loose the advantage of using a gradient.

This method looked great (and the results in the tutorial certainly were) but this method of using layers set to overlay seems to only work in some cases. You seem to have to match the colour gradient to the B&W values for it to work (I am having difficulty writing what I mean, As usual, I hope you understand)



Nick.
Do you see what Amber did with the hair. I took the easy route but blurring the line looks more natural.



Ken

Hi Nick

I have trouble with hair as well. Mmm, OK, I also have a problem with coloring skin, eyes, mouth..
Anyhow, if you look up posts here by Vikki, she's a wealth of information on the subject.

Cheers
Dave

Here's the link to the colorizing tutorial that Viki Hanson showed me.
http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161015&page=1

Thanks Deadants for the link, great stuff

Thank you all for all of your excellent advice, and help. It's all been great. I don't have time to write a decent post just now but here's my 2nd attempt.

I've been a bit lazy with the hair (thanks to Ken) and haven't bothered with the jumper or shirt yet but thanks to you guys, I'm sure you'll all agree it's loads better than my original effort.

I think I shall try one more time with this image (possibly an alternative method) and will post it when I've finished.

Thanks!

Nick

yup. MUCH better! needs a bit of sharpening and spec removal, but MUCH better!

Craig