Hi everyone. I came across this site yesterday while searching for retouching tips. I work at a graphics and print shop and we had a request from a client to restore an old magazine ad that his recently deceased mother appeared in years ago. This was a rush job and the client will be picking the print up tomorrow. I just wanted to post my results and ask for feedback. This is a low res file (72dpi) as an example. Tips? Critiques?

Keeping in mind the image here is a lower resolution, there are still a few quick items I might point out. Whether or not you fix them may depend on whether the client is limited in what they want to spend, or desire.

One, there is still a fair amount of "offset moire" in the image. This is the dot pattern created by the newsprint, usually about 85 lpi. You can get rid of this several ways. (a) use the "descreening" function of your scanner (which may be too late); (b) use an external filter, such as the FFT filter often recommended on this site; (c) as a last resort, downsize the image to force the dots to merge somewhat, then turn around and upsize the image. The result will be a much softer image, which you can then sharpen the face, hands and objects again to make them stand out more.

Two, the whites on the sleeves are blown out and should be reduced somewhat.

Three, the tonality of the face and hands could be adjusted. Right now, the clothes stand out as the most important items. It should be the other way around. By improving the face, hair, hands, etc she will stand out as the very elegant woman she was.

Hope this helps. Hopefully, someone else will chime in too before your deadline.

Tommy

nice job on the folds and such, the clean up. that looks good. i tried a few test areas and some of those were difficult, so well done. what did you use there?

the lighting fix could have been a touch better, though. the whites are a bit over-exposed now (on my monitor) and the face is a bit dark yet. could use a little more contrast between face and hair.

so, overall, a good job, especially the cloning (if that's what you used for the folds).

Thanks alot guys. The client, unfortunately, came and retrieved the photo before I was able to get back to it with your suggested changes. I'm sure I'll be back here looking for more invaluable critiques and suggestions soon.

ok. too bad about the client picking this up.