Please examine the image at : catherineclay.com/clarenceshaw.jpg

Then please tell me how I might go about restoring it, removing the halftone dots and moire. I was trying with PSP 7.02, but could not shrink the pixels down small enough to do anything with it. Can this be done with any paint program other than PhotoShop? I really would like some sort of primer on this kind of work, if there is any. Thanks. Memphishooter

hey mr memphis (ms memphis?)

need url or imaged uploaded here. down at the bottom where it says attachments.

Kathleen, try this link. (http://www.catherineclay.com/clarenceshaw.jpg )

Memphishooter, I can't help but wonder if you could get a better scan by playing with descreening options in your scanner software. It will make the picture more blurry, but this seems to be very similar to the problem I'm having scanning textured photos from 25 years ago. I personally haven't found any great solutions for working on a digital image like that.

That being said, I did find reference to a plug-in package a few weeks ago that claims to solve this problem. Check out the tutorial here (http://www.reindeergraphics.com/tutorial/chap4/fourier13.html). It looks interesting, but also a little expensive to purchase just to see if any of the plug-ins will help solve the problem I'm working on (textured colored photographs) without knowing for sure. Looks like it might work well in your case though.

Jeanie

Jeanie,
Very interesting link but where did you find the price?

Memphishooter,
You might not be able to get rid of those dots becasue they are too pronounced without making it a painting rather than a picture. but the url Jeanie gave sounds like it has real potential. Maybe others have dealt with this problem better than I have. I have only tried to get rid of matte scan patterns or magazine photo patterns and even that was a sacrifice in sharpness. Good luck and hope others can be of more help.
DJ

Originally posted by DJ Dubovsky
Jeanie, Very interesting link but where did you find the price?Sorry, I backed up to the main page of the website and eventually found it under "ordering information" here (http://www.reindeergraphics.com/IPTK/index.html): $249.95, for which you get the plug-ins listed here (http://www.reindeergraphics.com/IPTK/contents.html).

Jeanie

Chris Russ was kind enough to send me a copy of Fovea Pro (the big brother to the package you mention) and I've been playing with it off and on since then, with the idea of a review highlighting any possible use in restoration and retouching.

While I am still planning on a review, and I'm confident it could be very useful, I must warn everyone that the interface can be quite daunting.

This is written primarily for the medical and astronomical community, and even to a sub-set of those communities (the 'image processors') and is quite without any trace of user-friendliness.

For further discussion, see the thread 'Fovea Pro' over in the software section.

Yeow! You were right about it being expensive. OK so that option is out. It sure looked good on that tutorial example. And as Doug says, it's a massive peice of software but a bit more than what we were looking for. Which gets us back to how best to help Memphishooter with his problem that doesn't cost over $200.

I did a portrait of a wedding couple from a xerox copy which was pretty bad but I ended up painting it to look presentable. There must be an easier way to get rid of that kind of printed pattern.
DJ

I expect to have to paint it, just dont know how, exactly. WIth layers that you uncover to make sure your features are where they are supposed to be?

Someone else has already done it, I am just trying to figure out the easiest way.

Just a stab in the dark, but have you tried using a median filter either globally or by masking sections and tayloring the filter to them? That should soften the "dots etc." and perhaps trying merging multiple copies each adjusted to accentuate the features you deem most necessary? Tom

image is to large to upload here. Please refer to address mentioned in initial thread post.

Scan large, blur slightly, then shrink later...
Scan your image in at the highest resolution possible. Scanning at 4 times higher than the final resolution works reliably well. Also rotate the image on your scanner so that it isn’t straight. Sometimes, scanning the original rotated to some angle (for example 15°) then rotating it back in an image editing software in conjunction with blur effect may further decrease the affect of moiré patterns. Next go into PhotoShop straighten the image. Then apply the Despeckle, Median or Blur filter to soften the pattern (play with each to decide which one works the best for you). Finally, resample it down to your desired resolution. You may also need to use the Unsharp Mask for a bit more sharpening.

-T