Hi all,

New here...New to retouch as well. I use a few diff. programs to edit. Microsoft Digital 10, Photoshop Elements 6, etc...Have trial download of lightroom, CS3 and paintshop pro X.

Anyway, I found a web stie with an incredible restored photo. I contacted the artist and she told me she retouches with CS3 (she is the one who told me to check out this retouchpro site as well) I am not fond of that software only because I can't seem to wrap my head around it just yet. However, I have practiced non-stop to try and get a match to her picture and mine, at best, looks like I colored it in with colored pencils! I have checked out many tutorials to no avail

If anyone knows how this picture is restored to look like it does, can someone tell me step by step how to do it so I may practice?

Please look at the baby in the blue blanket under samples section.

The site is: http://www.restoration-photo.us/samples.htm

Thanks,
Beth

Hi all,

New here...New to retouch as well. I use a few diff. programs to edit. Microsoft Digital 10, Photoshop Elements 6, etc...Have trial download of lightroom, CS3 and paintshop pro X.

Anyway, I found a web stie with an incredible restored photo. I contacted the artist and she told me she retouches with CS3. I am not fond of that software only because I can't seem to wrap my head around it just yet. However, I have practiced non-stop to try and get a match to her picture and mine, at best, looks like I colored it in with colored pencils!

If anyone knows how this picture is restored to look like it does, can someone tell me step by step how to do it so I may practice?

Please look at the baby in the blue blanket under samples section.

The site is: http://www.restoration-photo.us/samples.htm

Thanks,
Beth

There are a number of photographs on that link. Can you be more specific about the picture/touch-up you are trying to reproduce?

Yes, sorry. Ok, on that particular web site...on the top tool bar there is a tab that is called "examples". Once you click that, some restored before and after pictures come up. I want to know how to do the techniques for the baby picture in the blue blanket referred as "Faded photo restored & re-colored". I can't come close to anything like that. Like I said, mine looks like colored pencil fill in...I don't know how she got such vibrant colors, with "real" looking detail and softness without losing detail and looking blurry. When I try and "paint" or "change color" or "fill in" it looks completely artificial and lost detail. It looks nothing like a photograph. It certainly looks nothing like hers. I really really really want to know how to do those techniques because I have many family pictures that looks just like her before photo. Yellowed and faded. I even tried converting my pictures to B&W and tried coloring from there to no avail either.
So, if anyone knows how to do the exact (and every step) to get that “after” photo effect, I would greatly appreciate any and all help. Again, I am using Photoshop elements 6 (She used CS3). I downloaded the trial version (and am considering purchasing the CS3) to tinker around to see if I could mimic her technique in CS3 and couldn’t do it. Besides, a few people on another forum told me not to go with CS3 since I have Elements 6. They told me I could do it in 6. I just don’t know all the steps and what tools to use to achieve this.

It would probably help to settle down with one program, say CS3 and spend some time with a book and learn how to use all the tools, layers and masks and blending modes. Then you apply that knowledge to your photos. There is nothing intuitive about the program; it's all something you have to learn.
Retouching that photo probably included using about 6-7 different processes in CS3.

If you are trying to recreate the baby photograph, just to use one example, you can simply use a gradient map adjustment layer. Set the layer blending mode to Hue, and use colors like 442f27, 967c71, and d4a799 to set the correct flesh tone.

To start, you would have to clean up the edges and bring the faded colors out and correct the white balance.

1) crop the photograph inside the black borders so you have a clean-edged image.

2) Create a duplicate layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer). You create the duplicate so you can make adjustments to the new layer without compromising the original/pre-adjusted copy.

3) Set the blend mode of the new layer to Multiply. That will darken the image and bring most of the detail back into it. Flatten the image (Layer > Flatten Image).

4) Create another duplicate adjustment layer to adjust the curves (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves).

5) On top of that layer, create an adjustment layer to measure the threshold (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Threshold). This threshold layer is used to find your darkest and lightest pixels to correct the white balance.

6) Adjust the slider on the threshold dialog to the left until you have a single black pixel (or as near as possible). Make sure the pixel is part of the picture, not the writing at the bottom (I adjusted the threshold to 52).

7) Highlight your Curves Adjustment layer to make sure that is the one you are adjusting, zoom in on the pixel until it is nice and large on your screen, and then Double-Click the Curves icon on that layer.

8) Double click the left eye-dropper, and in the dialog that opens, set your R, G, and B settings to 7 (or some other suitably dark black). Click OK, and click once on the same eye-dropper in order to use it. Click on the black pixel you found with the threshold.

9) Click OK on the Curves dialog, zoom the picture out until it fits on the screen, and then double click the slider icon on the threshold layer. Now move the slider to the right until you have only one white pixel left (or as near as possible). This will identify the lightest pixel in the photograph. I adjusted it to 211. Click OK.

10) Zoom in on the white pixel until it is large enough to select cleanly, and then go back into Curves. This time double click the eye-dropper on the right. Set your R, G, and B to about 244 (if you make it true white ffffff, rather than this extremely light gray, there are parts of the picture that might print "inkless").

11) Click OK on the color dialog, select the right eye-dropper, and click on the white pixel (make sure you are on your Background copy layer).

12) Next, with your Background copy selected, create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer) with the blend mode set to Difference, and fill the new blank layer with 50% gray (Edit > Fill) from the drop down menu of the dialog.

13) Double click the threshold slider icon on the threshold layer and adjust it back to the left until only one black pixel remains (or as close as possible). This/these will be your neutral gray pixel(s).

14) Click the "eye" icon on the Curves Adjustment layer to make it invisible while you adjust the gray.

15) Zoom in on the black pixel, and then double click the Curves icon on the Curves Adjustment layer (it is selectable while invisible). Double-click the center eye-dropper and set your R, G, and B settings to 133, which is a nice neutral gray color.

16) Use the center eye-dropper and click on the black pixel in the picture.

17) Delete the threshold and blank gray layers, and then merge your Curves Adjustment layer down.

That should fix the white balance.

To fix the color:

1) Start by selecting the two color boxes in your toolbar. Just click on the color box to pull up the colors dialog. For the first one, set the color to 442f27, which is a nice dark flesh tone color. Then set the other to d4a799, which is a nice light flesh tone color.

2) Create a new adjustment layer for a gradient map (Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient Map). It should take the two colors you selected as the dark and light.

3) Click on the gradient itself to bring up the full dialog. Add a center point for a third color, click on the color box at the bottom, and use 967c71 for a neutral flesh tone color.

4) Set the blend mode of the layer to Hue (since this photograph already has color), or Color if you prefer. Either will work on this particular photograph.

5) Select the layer mask (which comes with the layer automatically), invert it (Ctrl + I), and use a decent sized brush with white to paint in the baby's face (Hold down Alt and select the mask if you want to enlarge it to see if you missed anything).

6) Make sure the layer mask is still selected, and blur the mask with a Gaussian blur to soften the edges of the mask (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur). Set the blur to about 3.0 pixels. Click OK and click on the mask again while holding Alt to bring the picture back up onto the screen.

7) Create a new layer (Layer > Duplicate Layer) and convert it for smart filters (Filter > Convert for Smart Filters). Then apply a Gaussian Blur to the new layer, set to about .5 pixels.

8) Select the mask on that same layer, press Ctrl + I to invert it (to hide the effect), and paint the face in with white to reveal the blur.

9) Flatten the image when it looks right. Adjust the opacity of the color or blur layer as suits your own taste.

Do the colors for the blanket and clothes the same way until you have the colorization the way you want it.

When you're all done, adjust the shadows and highlights as appropriate to get the tone you want.

That's about as much as can be done without a lot of work. This picture (from the web) is very low resolution and more than a little pixelated. Much more can be done with a higher res. image (though this could still be fixed. It's just more work with a poor quality image).

It would probably help to settle down with one program, say CS3 and spend some time with a book and learn how to use all the tools, layers and masks and blending modes. Then you apply that knowledge to your photos. There is nothing intuitive about the program; it's all something you have to learn.
Retouching that photo probably included using about 6-7 different processes in CS3.

I have to agree with Smak. I think I used about 4 or 5 processes just to do what I explained, and the picture still needs a lot of work.

Get a few books on the subject. Photoshop isn't a "play with it" kind of program.

Yes, sorry. Ok, on that particular web site...on the top tool bar there is a tab that is called "examples". Once you click that, some restored before and after pictures come up. I want to know how to do the techniques for the baby picture in the blue blanket referred as "Faded photo restored & re-colored". I can't come close to anything like that. Like I said, mine looks like colored pencil fill in...I don't know how she got such vibrant colors, with "real" looking detail and softness without losing detail and looking blurry. When I try and "paint" or "change color" or "fill in" it looks completely artificial and lost detail. It looks nothing like a photograph. It certainly looks nothing like hers. I really really really want to know how to do those techniques because I have many family pictures that looks just like her before photo. Yellowed and faded. I even tried converting my pictures to B&W and tried coloring from there to no avail either.
So, if anyone knows how to do the exact (and every step) to get that “after” photo effect, I would greatly appreciate any and all help. Again, I am using Photoshop elements 6 (She used CS3). I downloaded the trial version (and am considering purchasing the CS3) to tinker around to see if I could mimic her technique in CS3 and couldn’t do it. Besides, a few people on another forum told me not to go with CS3 since I have Elements 6. They told me I could do it in 6. I just don’t know all the steps and what tools to use to achieve this.

I wouldn't listen too much to those people on the other forum. Elements has a lot of good, quality uses, but there is no comparison between it and CS3. CS3 retails for $600 ($1000 for the extended version). Elements is inexpensive (relatively speaking) for a reason.

You get what you pay for (though you can check ebay for a full copy of CS3 and get it much cheaper than the MSRP).

The previous posters have given good advice. I only do this type of thing as a hobby so my analysis of this may not be 100% correct.

All good retouching begins with the scan of the original document assuming that it is an old photo and not a new digital image. I played around with the original image and it is too small to really do anything with. To do the smoothing that would be needed to make the small image look good would be time consuming and then probably would not look its best.

My guess is that the original scan of the pictue was first cropped and then the imperfections removed with skin and other smoothing where necessary. I would not be surprised if the retouched imaged was converted to grayscale and colorized.

I do use a Wacom graphics tablet, and that is very helpful if you do retouching as you have pressure control as you work.

As previous posters have stated there is not quick way to learning to use retouching software. Lots of practice is needed. There is a thread on this site relating to HOW DID YOU LEARN. It might be helpful to check this out.

dc

Hi Beth,

The best I can do is recommend a book,
'Photoshop Restoration and & Retouching' by Katrin Eismann..

She presents the art of restoration in great detail and at 460 pages
you will find it to be a good read.....

HTH....... Tom

I can't tell you step by step how to do it because it depends of the state of the image. However the tutorials section cover some of the basics:

Adding color to a black and white photo (http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=32)
Restoring an old photograph (http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=255)
Bringing Back the Detail of a Severely Faded... (http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=116)


... can someone tell me step by step ...

Beth, I doubt if anyone here could get the same result she did using the image given on her site. The image there is about 28k. In tech terms that means it almost doesn't exist. After you've been around here for a time you will see that if any extiensive work needs to be done on an image people will host the image outside of this site because of it' s 100k limit. So don't beat yourself up about this pic. Get some good scans of family pics and start there. I find it's alot easier when I love what I'm retouching.

Hi all,

Thanks for your help. I know, I know, there is no magic bullet. The gal that did the baby picture I wanted information on told me as much. She told me there were several steps.
I practiced for 5-7 hours at a shot trying to do this to no avail. It was driving me nuts. As one said, I had to research...study...read...about tools and techniques just to be able to incorporate. one single step. I know it takes major work. I just wanted to see if someone who was well versed in this could share what they knew to help me from banging my head against a wall and explain it to me in terms I could understand being that I am not a "pro". and a lot of what I am reading in doing research and tutorials have me confused.

Afrazier, thank you so much for taking the time to write the steps down for me. I will follow each step by step and see what happens.

As for the rest,
Thank you for your replies. Yes, I know it takes a lot of research and studying on my part. I have dug in and have been doing so but have gotten more confused in some areas than others. It got extremely frustrating to me.

So, you think once I familiarize myself with CS3 that it's worth purchase in spite of the fact I already have Elements 6? I forget where forum it was in but someone advised not "wrapping my head around "CS3 given I already had Elements 6. But it seems to be the consensus that I learn first and then go a head with purchase.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help me.
Beth

Slow down. Go with Photoshop Elements. Learn how to use all the tools it has. 2-3 months. You can't follow along with tutorials if you don't know how to use the tools. People in forums can't be expected to type out pages of instructions on how to fix a particular image. That's what books and tutorials can lead you to.
Once you have learned how to use Photoshop Elements, maybe you will want to move ahead and learn Photoshop.

Agreed. The step by step I gave you is only the first part in making the image workable, and it took me a long time to get to a point where I knew to do that. What those steps accomplish isn't what you saw on that website. You would still need to do quite a bit more. All that did was set the stage for a quality touch-up.
I'll say again that the image was low res., and there are other touch-ups the artist did to clean up the photograph ... but those other touch-ups are more difficult with a poor image.
To get what that person accomplished, you will need time, patience, a bit more knowledge, about ten more steps, and a high res. image.

BUT, the few steps I did give you are excellent starters for color management. Use them. Practice them. They go a long way towards creating great images.

The same question was being asked in both the Software and Photo Restoration forums, so I've merged the threads to keep replies all in one place.

Did this with Elements 3 with a layer mask tool add on.Not perfect,but with a little more work it shows what can be done with Elements.I use CS3 & Elements.Sometimes you do not need all the power of Photoshop.

Beth,
Just one more opinion : )
Yes, it takes time to learn. It is a complicated hobby, or profession. If you really enjoy it, then take the time... but pace yourself.

I started years ago at the beach and spent 2 hours a day studying a book and practicing the tutorials on a laptop using an older version of Photoshop. Once I felt it was worth it for me to upgrade, I did. You could spend many months learning under Elements, then upgrade when you know the time is right... you will want some of the additional features once your skill level gets to that point.

The photo's you're looking at on line are done by professionals. You will not get those results for a while, as in a year or two at least. However, if you will buy a book and go through the tutorials, you will have the opportunity to correct some images just like those on the site you referenced. I agree with Tom below. A very good book is Katrin Eismann's series. One is "Photoshop Restoration & Retouching, 3rd Edition" and the other is "Photoshop Masking & Compositing". You will need both. Both come with a link to her website where you can download all the images to work with. Believe me, there are more there than you can stand. You will be busy.

Good luck,
Tommy