HI everyone!

I'm new here and don't quite know how it all works yet but I would still like to ask for help! I am taking a Photoshop class with HTML Writer's Guild and one of our assignments is to restore/retouch a photo. I didn't have any so I asked one of the lists I am on - and now I have a bunch! One is especially difficult and I would like to know what you think would be the best way to go about it. It is a photo (no negative available) that is actually two photos superimposed. Does anyone have any idea how I could go about separating them? I think this would be a great challenge photo too. Here is the jpg at full size and 50% quality. I also have .tif file which I have saved as a .psd if anyone is interested.

TIA!

Cass :)

Hi Cass, and welcome to RP. I'm not one to say that anything is impossible with Photoshop, but this one would take a real expert with a lot of time to kill. It's doubtful that even Flora would take a shot at this one!

Ed

hmmm poopy - that hard huh? Well one of these days I will try anyway just for the challenge (haha) of it. I'm sure I would learn alot...

Cass :)

Cass:

What you might want to do is check out some of the "challenge" images here at RetouchPRO. Perhaps you'll find something that's challenging, but not too challenging to start with.

http://www.retouchpro.com/challenges/index.php/cat/507

If you haven't seen it yet, an absolutely excellent book from which to learn techniques and develop skills for this type of thing is Photoshop Retouching and Restoration, by Katrin Eismann. There are two editions: The first is based on Phothoshop ver 6 (available for less money; topics/skills presented applicable to all versions of PS, but no content on PS7). The second edition is based on PS ver 7 (more expensive) and there are updates that address CS topics on Katrin's website. The owner of this site, Doug Nelson, was a contributing writer on the second edition. Look into used sources, e.g., www.half.com or www.Amazon.com (used) for favorable pricing.

The topics covered in this book + your classroom training + "just doing it" (practice, practice, practice on various images) = you'll eventually get it.

HTH...
~Danny~

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't think we are going to do too much more in class. However lots of people would like me to help them so I think I will get lots of practice. I wasn't so interested in touching up photos until this homework assignment and now I am getting quite excited about it esp with the prospect of helping others with their geneology.

Cass :)

Holy mackeral! I wouldn't even know where to start with an image like this. If I were the photographer, I wouldn't even show the image around, it would be placed immediately in the round file.

Holy mackeral! I wouldn't even know where to start with an image like this. If I were the photographer, I wouldn't even show the image around, it would be placed immediately in the round file.

Well it didn't :square: and now the descendent is wanting to get the most out of it since it is the only picture she has of some of these people... I guess it was taken by an amateur who screwed up but kept if for sentimental reasons... the lady who sent it to me didn't know the entire background. And heck, if I can get them apart, think of what I will have learned ;)))

Cass :)

Well good luck, because I think you're going to need lots of it to resolve your image. It makes unravelling the Gordian Knot look simple. Keep us posted on your progress, I'm sure I'm not the only one to be interested in how you get on.

I'm gonna be watching this thread; this looks pretty hard.
I played with threshold trying to make a mask to at least lift the front image... with only minor success, when I think I discovered a third image. I'm not certain, but think there are at least three images, maybe more.
This happened to me once when I failed to set the leader properly on a 35mm camera. I shot 10 or 15 frames before I realized the film had stopped advancing (the leader jammed the take up spool after three frames). This looks like 120 film but you can cock the shutter on some of those old cameras without advancing the film.

Chip

This is my first post, and let me tell you that you guys are some of the coolest people. Thanks Doug for putting this together, it's seriously the best resource available for anyone wanting to better themselves in this area.

I hope this image gets put on the challenge board, if only because we've worked on half the image and we'd probably be encouraged to do the other "half" of the double image if it were! Hahhaa.

Which brings up the fact that you guys are so awesome for putting so much effort into helping resolve specific problems for images that people bring to the forum, so many hours spent bettering your own skills but then sharing them with others.

Here's one artist's shot at the image. My next post will provide his method of attack, but it just looks like a lot of judgement about what belongs in *this* particular image, then removing what doesn't belong piece by piece, then enhancing the remaining image.


Image 257K so hosted here (Click Here) (http://www.retouchme.com)

I hope that I'm *welcome*to be a part of this community. I personally enjoy learning how to do the work. Hollywood Fotofix is a family owned company, and I'm in business development, not in the lab, so I've got a lot to learn.

Thanks in advance,
Austin

Austin,
That is great, i was thinking it couldn't be done but you have proved that it could be. I am finding out there is nothing that can't be done by some gifted people like you and using photoshop.
I'm impressed!!!
W. Rose (Wayne)

I agree with Wayne. Excellent attempt Austin. In looking at the image, it looks to me like it may be a triple exposure.

Cheers
Dave

I agree with Wayne. Excellent attempt Austin. In looking at the image, it looks to me like it may be a triple exposure.

wow! a triple exposure? yikes! I will send the tif file to Doug to see if he will take it as a challenge.

You guys are great!

Cass :)

I'm seriously impressed Austin, can't wait to hear how you went about resolving this one. As an aside, I agree with others here who say it looks like a triple exposure, that was my opinion too. I would'nt even have tried this one.

Neat work killabyte!

I was going to give this one a try, but I thought it might take me days to figure out :)

Regards

Austin

I am impressed. Can you share the steps.

Judi

Hi Cass : )

The book already mentioned has been a lifesaver for me. Perhaps I didn't at the time have enough basic knowledge of photoshop, but I'd read several other photoshop books and could never quite grasp the whole layering thing, until I flipped through Eismann's book. Suddenly it clicked, and the urge to toss my computer out the window was gone! Now if I can just figure out masks!
Your photo challenge...I go cross-eyed just trying to separate the two images! Looking forward to seeing anyone's attempts to fix it!

Lynn