I am in dire straits here. I have tried everything to rejuvenate this image. I think what I am seeing is a light green colour cast but who knows if my eyse are playing tricks.

Any point in the right direction would be grateful and tips for fixing the photo using PS 6 or 7 would be best as that is what I am using.

I have attached the file.

Thank you in advance.

Gosh this is a toughie - I have replaced channels, channel mixed and all sorts of other tricks, but so far to no avail. It's almost as if there is not enough colour information to recover. Will keep trying though (I presume you want to steer clear of hand colouring?)

I only had about 15 minutes to work on this before rushing off to work, so I hope you can get an idea of where to head from here.

Here's what I did:

Adjusted color balance & levels (used adjustment layers for these)

Did some hand coloring (see the tutorial)

Did a quick vignette (also a tutorial for this)



I only worked on the face, hair and coveralls, but you can clean up the rest of it using the same methods.

Jakaleena that is great thank you for that.

Just a question did you isolate each area before adjusting?

(I don't do too much on the colour side of things and I am doing some heavy duty practicing).

Many thanks again.

Katie

Great job as usual Jak.

Bob

I did the oval "cropping" first to isolate the colors in the child, then went to CMYK mode and adjusted levels using each of the colors individually, then back to RGB and did some minor adjustments in levels again there. Went to selective color (image, adjust, selective color) and did some changes there (using absolute radio button). It's not to my liking yet as there are some blocky pixellated areas in the forehead and that straight edge of color to the left of the child, but that can be fixed. Maybe on your original you have more detail and can get a better result with these ideas.
:wavey:

Good job you two. Very attractive Jak. Blacknight I like the way that you have not coloured it and have rescued as much as you could. I had no joy - I resorted to handcolouring some parts, but hair and background remained problematic. Well done.

Originally posted by katie
I am in dire straits here. I have tried everything to rejuvenate this image. I think what I am seeing is a light green colour cast but who knows if my eyse are playing tricks.

Any point in the right direction would be grateful and tips for fixing the photo using PS 6 or 7 would be best as that is what I am using.

I have attached the file.

Thank you in advance.

Hy Katie,
I retouched your picture,probably the worst picture I've ever seen.
It hasn't been too much easy, I hope you like it.
Bye Massimo.
P.S. Sorry 4 my bad english

Notes:
I used b\w point with the curves' tool.
I selected some part of the picture so I was able to balance the colors separetely.
I also used all the tools for color balancement and levels too.

I worked only on tone. This took about 5 minutes.

First I duplicated the image, set blend mode to 'multiply'
I liked it, but wanted more, so I duplicated the multiplied layer
Flattened (optional, probably should have left it unflattened)
Added levels adjustment layer
Added color balance adjustment layer
Added gradient map adjustment layer
Added curves adjustment layer

If I was going to finish this, I'd probably add some red highlights to his face, and color his jumper, both via color blend layers. I'd consider a new background by adding a layer mask to the original image and putting a new bg behind it.

Originally posted by katie
Jakaleena that is great thank you for that.

Just a question did you isolate each area before adjusting?

(I don't do too much on the colour side of things and I am doing some heavy duty practicing).

Many thanks again.

Katie

You're welcome!

On the first step (adjustments) it was to the entire image. The hand coloring was done by selecting specific parts

Wow, the feedback you have all given me is fantastic.

Now down to learning a new technique. Colourisation. I have been avoiding it successfully but now some serious practice needs to take place.

Thank you all for your help and your attempts at the picture, it is great to receive such assistance. I have learnt quite a bit.


Kind regards,

Katie

:)

Here's my version Katie....WOW this was tough!!!:ogre:

Damn your talent! you all make me angry:D - Ken, really nice version and Doug you are about where I got to, natural but not a finished article, however you can be smug that you only spent 5 mins, not hours:) - Kafir nice job, seems no end of talent around here these days

I'm with Mike, I spent hours and got no where. Well actually I got somewhere, but not where I wanted to be. In the process I learned some things so it wasn't a total loss.

You've all done such a good job, Congrats!

Margaret

After your submissions , i don't even want to try :) they are so good..
5 - 15 mins is a time that I need only to think what should i do

good luck Katie with this one, hope you will post finished work

Jakaleena rules :)

foreigner

I did this on Photoshop 7 using curves, levels, and various layer blends and opacities. After the color was as close as I could get with curves/levels, I doubled up layers, set the top one to "color" mode, and painted over areas that were still off color, erasing away the extra color to clean it up, repeating this process for different areas. The fine tuning was done mainly with the clone tool, with some use of blur, dodge, and burn tools.

Phyllis Stewart
www.innographx.com

Sorry, it wouldn't let me delete the post to start over and upload the file...here is "green baby" described in previous post.

Phyllis

I gave it a shot too. Lot of adjusting with channels and h/s. Was a toughie.
Debbie

Great job, Phyllis! If you're ever looking for a job in the Washington area, I know a newly started company that would love to have you lend your talents to further their efforts!
:wavey:

I realize this may be "water over the dam" at this point, but I caught your post and thought I'd give my two cents.

What I initially attempted was to do levels, hue, saturation and the whole nine yards. It seemed however that getting the skin tone close created problems in other areas, so what I did was to separate the face, bib, shirt into single selections and adjusted each accordingly.

Anyway, here are my results. This took about an hour to get these colors to the point I thought was reasonably close.

By the way, I think I see a leg of a "raggedy ann" doll, so I'm under the impression this is a girl. So pink is the uniform of the day :)

I can honestly say that the work that moved me in the right direction took about 15 minutes - all the fumbling around took about 15 hours LOL

for what it's worth:

Margaret

Well done everyone, give yourselfs a pat on the back:) Nice effort all, Phyllis, really turned out well. No LQQER not too late at all, nice job and nice detective work:D

Gosh I am overwhelmed at the response to my post. I am still working through the suggestions and playing with the image. I will post the finished product when done.

A million thank you's everybody for being so helpful.

Katie

Good work, you guys!

Margaret, I really like your re-do of that background -- that window frame was sticking up in just the wrong place! The color fix is excellent also. It looked pretty easy to me at first, but I spent quite a bit of time on it also -- for me, the easiest way was to mask off the background and work on the baby since it was difficult to correct one without ruining the other.

Jak, Blackknight, Kaifr, Doug, KenB, Phyllis, DCarr, and LQQker -- all really nice work, and all with a different look!

Katie -- it'll be fun to see your finished image and perhaps find out the actual colors when photographed.

Thanks for the nice comments CJ.

I found that I couldn't bring up any satisfactory color using the usual methods, so I opted for coloring it.

I added a solid color layer for the pants first and filled it with a blue color and set the blending mode to color. Then in the layer mask for the color layer, I used a black paint brush to erase the color from everything except the pants. then I repeated the process with the shirt, face and hair - making a color layer for each of them.

Once I had the bits colored, I merged all those color layers with the background and then added another layer mask and erased all the background.

To make the new background, I picked two blues and did a gradient fill then rendered some clouds on it, blurred it a bit. It was too bright, so I added a fill layer in med gray at about 50% flattened the whole mess and voila!

I'll leave out all the intermediate steps that didn't work.

I know there are a gazillion ways to color - making intricate masks etc., but I find my way using the layer masks is much quicker and you don't end up with "cracks" between the colors.

Margaret

HI
Katie

I had a good look at your photo and felt that it just lacked tone. To start with.

So just read the tutorial on Curves, which I got of off this great site. I gave it a go, the steps are as follows.

Opened up the Info Palette,
With the Locking Eyedropper I clicked on the pillow behind the child, to get a neutral spot, to see if there was a colour cast. I found that the blue and green channels, to be out.
I opened up a new Curves ajustment layer, and ajusted the blue and green channels till all three channels where the same number. I then went to RGB and ajusted the curves till I got the tones how I liked them.
Next I opened up a new ajustment layer in colour balance and ajusted the colours to get better skin tones.
Done a little cloning on the face to remove the shadows.
Used the shappen tool to give the eyes a lift ( thankyou Jak)
and tidyed up the vignette.

I hope this can help you.

Good Luck







;)

Excellent description of what you did Terry. I just couldn't leave this alone so I had another go at it and this is the result. I adjusted curves until I got color I liked and then replaced the background. I like this one better than the first one I did.

Margaret

Well done Margaret, I like both your versions, but I think the new one slightly has the edge on the first. Certainly no shortage on help on this one:)

Thank you Mike - I liked the second one better too although I still have a ways to go.

so much to learn, so little time

Margaret

Nice job Margaret the second one is better, and I like the background, I would also take out the background if it was my photo.

very well done
:)

This is so frustrating!!

I was pleased with the second picture I posted yesterday and decided to do it again so I would remember what to do in the future - well, I've been at it for hours this morning and nothing is working. No matter what I do, I can't reproduce the result I had yesterday. Can't even come close :cry:

Can anyone relate or am I the only one who produces good work because of some fluke and then can't repeat the process?

Margaret

Originally posted by winwintoo
Can anyone relate or am I the only one who produces good work because of some fluke and then can't repeat the process?

Margaret

Yes, I too am guilty of not keeping track of everything I do. It makes it more fun not having to keep that constant record, which is an annoying interruption. But on the other hand, if you have the discipline to take notes, you can learn how to repeat your masterpiece techniques.

I guess it all depends on your priorities...are you more interested in just having fun or is your goal reproducible results?

Phyllis

Margaret,

You are not alone! I have done this many times myself - producing something that's OK. But, being the perfectionist that I am, I think it can be better. And rather than improve on the version I have, I start over thinking there must have been something early on in the process that could have been improved. And no matter how much time I spend, I have never once produced a second version that I liked as much as the first! :(

Jeanie

Margaret,

I've done that too. And even have done it when I've kept meticulous notes to boot!

I've come to the conclusion that, for me, there is a passion and newness in creating the first that adds something undefinable. And that, try as I may, any attempt I make at re-creating something I was very happy with the first time is more mechanical and less satisfying somehow the second time...

Thanks you guys - it's good to know I'm not alone.

I've had a terrible week - my printer wouldn't produce decent color, I have a job to do that I just can't find a way to fix and I've been seriously doubting my aptitude for this business. I was thinking of packing it in.

You've cheered me up. I will hang on to your words - some wisdom for those really down days.

BTW, I think I might have the printer problem licked.

Thanks again,
Margaret

Phyllis Stewart...you are my idol! You are so good at what you do. Any tips for us starters? I still don't have that book by Katrin Eismann yet, but plan to get it someday soon.

Anyway, I just love to play around and learn some new things, practice...practice...

I'm not too good with skin tones...
I did hand color the clothes.
I airbrushed the face a bit...great tut, Jak. That is one I have been using a lot!
PS7...auto color is a great feature.
I don't keep the best notes, because I try so many things.
Here is my try...

Well, Summer, I hope you start keeping better notes so you can teach us all a thing or two! I love what you did with that photo - if you see yourself as a "beginner" and produce work like that, just imagine what you'll be able to do when you get more experience!

Love it!

Margaret

thanks for the compliment winwintoo!
I really appreciate your comment. It's very encouraging. It's pictures like Phyllis' and yours and so many others at RetouchPro that have taught me so much.

I really liked your photo too...so clean and fresh looking. And I love what you did to the background!

By the way, Katie...is that your kid. He/She is beautiful...can't tell which it is though :(

Summer, thanks for the nice compliment. I learned an awful lot RIGHT HERE! I was fortunate to stumble across this site just a few months ago and have probably doubled or tripled my knowledge and ability just from seeing what other creative and knowledgeable folks do with the many features of Photoshop.

You have come to the right place if you want to improve your skills, that's for sure! And you already have a knack for it, as evidenced by your coloring of this project. Very nice, especially on the clothes...you made his little outfit look brand new. Maybe you could tone down the eye and lip color a bit, but all in all, that's excellent for someone who claims to be a "starter!"

If you seriously want to know how I personally approach projects, I will tell you. From what you say, you love to "play around and learn new things," so you are already doing what you need to do! Because, frankly, the only advice I have is to get intuitively familiar (down to a "gut" level) with what each filter and blending mode will do, by doing rather than by reading, preferably...by hours of playing around trying this and that. Then you will have a useful toolbox to go to when you have a goal or a certain look in mind.

It's kind of like a seasoned handyman who fixes a crooked door frame, for example. He doesn't look on the web to find a formula for fixing it, or run to Sears to find a special Craftsman "Door Frame Adjuster Kit." Nor does he consult a carpentry manual to see which tools he is "supposed" to use for "Job B143: Crooked Door Frame." No, he just instinctively reaches for his level. And when he needs to pry off the frame, he instinctively reaches for a crowbar or claw hammer or some other appropriate tool, whatever is handy and will do the job, depending on the size and condition of the wood, etc.
Another example is a "good cook" who doesn't need to follow a cookbook recipe to make something good with her chicken, because she instinctively knows what ingredients to use and how to mix and cook them for the sort of meal she has in mind.

Learn enough about the tools that you can use them instinctively to create the look you are after. Don't make the mistake of just collecting a bunch of actions or recipes for "how to do" this or that and getting stuck in ruts. They haven't yet written, and probably never could write, all the actions, all the tutorials, all the books that would be necessary to describe all that Photoshop can do...there are just too many permutations! (Yes, I'm a math teacher :) )

To sum up, the most valuable "tip" I can think of is this: Experiment! Read books and hunt for tips, sure, but most of all experiment--a lot! It's fun and it's the best way to get really familiar with your tools.

Phyllis
www.innographx.com

Phyllis - excellent advice.

Yes, Phyllis that was a nice bit of advice. Thanks. I too stumbled across this site late in the summer and that is when I began playing around with the "photo" part of photoshop. I have learned so much from this site and just being able to play around with the pictures, read tips from so many different approaches. I guess time and experimentation will teach me a lot. Thanks again for your advice. The work I see you do here amazes me. Keep up the great work!

My husband is a math teacher too...he used the word permute the other day and I had to look it up. I had heard of permutation but not permute...oh well...learn something new everyday.

As far as the eye color goes, I know it was a bit much, but I just couldn't get the effect I wanted so just went with it. And the lips were hard for me to...thanks for your comments!

Off to try again.....

Goldcoin, just re-submit the attachment in another post, or delete your first post and re-submit your post with the attachment. Doug doesn't look at them while they're uploading, but the "upload gremlins" are always around -- you're not the first person to have a problem, and I still get the "file too large" error message at times. Just check your file size, and try it again.:)

Hello Katie.....

This is my first, FIRST attempt to work on a photo that was posted.

I just kept humming, while working on this adorable little fellow, that famous tune, you
remember it. "Oh where,... Oh where, have all the pixels gone?" That ole black magic wand, just
made everything twinkle!!

Because of the volume of " different tries"..... it wouldn't help anyone else, even if I could recall
all or some of them.


Anyway, here is that little cutie!!

My hat is "off "the all those that posted their efforts, they were
awesome.

Thanks.....CJ Swartz :)

Here's my answer, or question as it were. Im not sure about this but maybe this might help. There is a magenta edge around the painting evidently where the frame prevented fading of the colors. It is not unusual that the reddish tints are the ones that fade. They are about the worse. How about this little bit of forensic detective work.

Maybe the clue is in the magenta edge. If one could create a new image using just that part of the picture then you would have a rgb version of close to what the unfaded image might have looked like.

Then, since what is missing is the difference between the unfaded portion of the picture and the faded portion. Just take the remaining colors and tints or even channels of the faded image and subtract them from the remaining colors and tints or channels of the unfaded portion. What is left should be the hues or tints that can be added back into the faded image. At the worse, shouldnt you end up with an image that matched the unfaded edges? Maybe that would restore enough color information to futher adjust and balance the tones.

It just seems to me that for starters we need to get the whole image to at least the state of the unfaded edges then proceed from there.

Just a thought. I dont have time today to test the theory.

Tex

In fact, now that I look at it a little closer, the best place to get a good sample of before and after areas of fading is at the 7 oclock position at the bottom with the sweater. The unfaded sweater has is a pastel blue.

Im not sure how to do it but if you can sample the faded and unfaded sweater in close proximity to each other then subtract the faded greenish color from the blue that should give you the missing tint. Then add that to the whole image for a perfectly restored image!

Yeah right, if it were only that easy. Good luck.

Goldcoin, welcome to RetouchPro, and thanks for offering assistance with this photo. He is really a cutie, isn't he!

Your skin tones look good, and I see you painted in some variation in tone also, which is good. (I have trouble painting in skin tones). I think that the clothes need a bit of texture (adding some noise, reducing opacity, or adding a texture filter), but the image is greatly improved over the original.

Hope you submit some work to the Challenges -- Retouch, Restoration, or others!

Tex you silver tongued devil - what you say makes perfect sense, but when I try to translate your words into action, I am lost.

I hope you will find the time to explain how to "then subtract the faded greenish color from the blue that should give you the missing tint. Then add that to the whole image for a perfectly restored image!" I for one would be forever in your debt.

Thanks,
Margaret

I am sorry for my tardiness in replying recently to the wonderful posts.

Busy busy busy.

Anyway this photo is for a client that at the time had not asked us to actually go ahead with the restoration. This week we got the green light so we are now scouring the wonderful tips in this thread and experimenting with them.

I promise with the job is complete that our version of the finished product is uploaded.

:cool:

Hi Katie, I know a lot of people have already posted a retouch of your photo but I just had to try my hand at it also. I am new to colorization and it looked to be a good challenge for me.

I would like to thank Jak for the tuts, they helped a lot as my first attempts looked ok but not as good as the one I attched to this post.

I only made a selection of the coveralls, the rest I made seperate layers and hand colored in, the hair, face and ears. I took the other layers and used the channel curves and brightness/contrast then blended the layers using opacity.

Hope you like it.

Very nicely done Scott. You say you are new to colorization - for an early effort, you've done a wonderful job - keep going!

Margaret

Here is my attempt at the photo after many tries.

Thank you all again for your input. It seems everybody loves a challenge.

Kate:D

Ignore that last upload - I attached the original.

Here is the new one.

Sorry.