need help removing spots, stains, etc

[dasailr03]

need a lil help removing the white stains, dust , etc. please advise

large size photo: http://www.imag.us/x/dmccorey/sample.jpg

[Duv]

I can't help you with your request but your corrected image appears to have too much blue or cyan in the skin and hair. Either reduce the cyan or boost up the magenta and yellow. This is a little contrasty but you'll get the idea.

Cheers
Dave

[Kraellin]

when i first saw your images, desailr03, i was a bit puzzled as to why you wanted help. it seemed from the before and after that you'd been doing a great job in cleaning up the tears and so on. and then i noticed the dreaded 'mold white'. that's that whitish, hazy, sort of faded, sort of 'what in the hell is that' kind of thing. and you've got a fair amount of it in this picture.

well, i hate that stuff and have had trouble in the past in cleaning it up on other images. it's a pain. so, i decided i could use the practice and took a shot.

now bear with me on this one, because the workflow on this was real scattered. i'd try one thing, undo it, try another and so on and i'm not real certain exactly what i did in whole. but, i do know the first thing i did was to add a contrast/lighten adjustment layer and bring up the contrast. this by itself will remove a certain amount of that haze. after that it was to do what Duv did and remove some of the blue cast throughout the image. i used another adjustment layer for that, a color balance one.

after those actions it becomes a bit more fuzzy as to what all i did. i duplicated the layer again and did a fair amount of the lighten/darken tool using mostly the darken part to bring that haze down even more.

there were some masking attempts but i mostly un-did those as i was happy with them for the most part.

i duplicated the layer again and did a lot of smudge and clone on various areas. some of this was just on the background and borders and some on her arms in cleaning those up and filling them in. but part was on various areas of her face also. the face and neck smudge/clone was done as lightly as possible to achieve a result but not lose texture and clarity. but the smudge/clone was mostly not done to remove the whitish haze. that was mostly done with the lighten/darken tool at about a 30% opacity setting.

it's not perfect, but it's certainly better and i hope that helps a bit.

craig

[philbach]

Well I felt in this case that just replacing the background would be easier than removing the spots.

I did that by selecting the girl and putting her on a separate layer. Then beneath her I added a new layer and filled it with a tan color. I used a sandstone texture filter and a render clouds filter on the background. I also used a curves adjustment layer to lighten up her head area while masking out the lightness effect away from the head.

[dasailr03]

thanks for the tips. i'm going to try them. i've made a few adjustment but still having problem with the underlying white spots. Is there a process I can use on the actual photograph to elimate as many flaws as possible prior to scanning.

[Kraellin]

on the original photograph you want to be very careful. 'white spots' could be anything from mold to dust to overexposure to something completely different. and, unless you know exactly what it is and how to remove it or color over it, i wouldnt touch the original with an expert conservator with me, other than a soft brush light dusting. it is HIGHLY recommended not to mess with the original! if that gets screwed up then you're really sunk. if you mess up a digital, no biggie; you just scan again or make another copy and try again, but with the original there is no try again. once it's gone, it's gone.

one thing you can do, perhaps, is to check your scanner for dust and smudges. the glass plate surface on a scanner oftens picks up dust and smudges and therefore gets transferred onto a scanned image. so, cleaning that every so often is a good idea. just bear in mind that you're cleaning something sitting over a bunch of electronics and electronis do NOT like water.

if you really want to try to fix the original, i'd check your local yellow pages or do a google search for conservators and then check them out pretty well with references and so on. like any other profession there are probably good ones and bad ones.

now, i do believe there are a few tips on this forum for cleaning photos, but i'd check those tips on photos you can afford to waste before doing them on something you really want to keep. there are probably web sites that could guide you also, but again, test on non-valuable pictures first.

craig

[dasailr03]

thanks was just wondering if there a simple fix i could try. funny thing is i have a lot of photographs with the same white spread. any other advice anyone? i'll work on the background & skin blemishes once i get rid of that white film.

[Ed_L]

I'm not sure just what that is, but it looks similar to what is known as "silvering" in an old B&W photo (but it's not). Here's a link to a tutorial on that subject. Depending on what that is, it *might* help if you try scanning that way.

Ed

[Kraellin]

dasailr03,

i'm no expert on this stuff, but if it's mold you might want to check this thread out: http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sho...highlight=mold i have seen this white film on images before and if i remember correctly, it's usually ones that have been subjected to moisture of some kind, so i would suspect it's a mold or fungus of some kind. but that's just my suspicion. check with a conservator to be sure.

craig

[bart_hickman]

The haze looks like it's mostly in the blue channel (which was greatly amplified by the way you changed the color balance.) So I did two things to the blue channel:
1. Create a difference layer and put dark grey (32) on most of that layer--ie., I subtracted 32 from the blue channel. I did a little bit of brushing with slightly lighter grey in some areas to remove some more blue.
2. Did a curve to further accentuate the dark blues (in the approximate range from 0 to 64)

This is really quick and basic and I'm sure it could be done better, but maybe it'll inspire some other techniques.

Another thought: perhaps you have a problem with photo texture? If so, then you should scan the image at 0 and 180 degrees and combine the two to eliminate that. This would also get rid of some of those bands that I think are due to the photo having been slightly folded or creased in some places.

Bart

[dasailr03]

thanks Ed_L & Kraellin. I'll try the technique on future scans. bart_hickman I sent you a request for a bit more info on your particular technique. Thanks once again fellahs.

[Flora]

Hi everybody,

dasailr03,

Welcome to RP!

I tend to agree with Bart about the haze and how it was accentuated ...

I worked on your picture without drastically changing the colours (I used the levels on each channel for a soft adjustment) and had no problem with the haze ...

[Cameraken]

Hi Dasailr

Welcome to RetouchPro

I know your question was about the dust and scratches. But I just thought it needed brightening up a bit.

Use levels and click the white of her eye for the white point and the black of her eye for the black point. This will get you closer to mine.

I also used a colour layer on the skin and some desaturation.


Ken

[dasailr03]

cameraken. I like what you did with the skin tone can you give me abit more details. specifically what you meant by. I also used a colour layer on the skin and some desaturation. i confess i'm still a bit of a newbie.

Hello Flora. Thanks for your contribution also. Can you post a pic so I can see what you were speaking of. specically what you meant by:
"I used the levels on each channel for a soft adjustment" how is levels on each channel done.

[Flora]

Hi dasailr03,

...me again...

I'm attaching the B&A restoration
... and the immediate result after my 'soft' Levels adjustment on the individual channels ....

If after this you still have some lightly 'hazy' patches, try creating a blank Layer set to Overlay on top and, sampling a darker brown colour from the picture, paint over them with a soft/fuzzy brush (Opacity 10-15%)

Hope this helps ...

[Cameraken]

Hi Dasailr

Here are a few quick steps to get you started.

Open the picture
Create a new Adjustment Layer > Levels
Use the darkest point on her hair for the black point
Use the background just above her hair for the white point
Click OK

This will brighten the picture but will burn out the Cheeks and forehead.

Paint with black onto the Levels Layer mask to bring these highlights back.

Create a new Adjustment Layer > Hue/Sat
Reduce the Saturation to -35
Click OK

Add a hide all layer mask and paint back the face so that the de-saturation only affects the face.

Add a new blank layer and set the blending mode to colour.
Use this layer to paint over any discoloured areas on the skin

Select All > Copy Merged > Paste
Run Neat image on this layer to reduce the Noise.

Hope this helps.


Ken

[dasailr03]

Thanks everyone for their support. I"m shocked totally as to the potential of this picture. WOW & DOUBLE WOW is all I can say. Thanks everyone for their input once again.

Cameraken: thanks for the step by step.

Flora: can you post your step by step so I can experient with the difference between your techniques and others.

Thanks once again. I'm glad this site is here because it truly feels wonderful to know there are some dedicated people out there who cares about helping.

[Kraellin]

took one last stab at this. added some brightness and contrast with an adjustment layer.
smoothed out the background more with smudge.
adjust the color balance with a white point. (the color balance tool in psp only uses the white point and not black and gray. smart fix uses all 3)
took out some of the minor hair frizzies.
cleaned up my bad clone on her right arm.

craig

[bart_hickman]

Here are the directions translated to Photoshop as best as I can figure out (I usually use Paintshop Pro X). The UI looks a bit weird because I have Photoshop 4.0.

Step 1: I effectively subtracted 32 from the blue channel. See the first diagram--note I've turned on the channel palette (red arrow) and selected the blue channel. Then I popped up a curve adjust tool and have set the curve such that it will subtract 32 from all blue pixels. Why did I pick 32? Because it seems like there is at least that much haze almost everywhere. Click okay on the curve tool.

In step 2, pop up the curve adjust tool again. There's still some haze left--it's especially visible in the dark area. So this time the curve is further attenuating the dark blues (that's the dip in the lower left part of the curve.). Click okay on the curve tool again.

That was pretty much all there was to it in my initial post. However, I added a 3rd step to further remove some haze from the green channel. So note in step 3 now I've selected the green channel, popped up the curve tool again, and now I'm attenuating dark greens. This seems to go an extra step towards removing the haze even further. That's it--pretty simple.

I included the layer palette that I used in Paintshop Pro for the PSPX users out there. You can see the three steps respectively in the three layers called "subtract", "blue curve", and "green curve". (I have a script that splits the image into an interactive RGB group so I can fiddle with the color channels and see the result in real time.) You could do it this way in Photoshop as well, but I didn't have an action.

The final attachment is the resultant fixed photo.

As I mentioned, there is some irregularity due to folds (some bands near the purple hair ribbon). Scanning at 0 and 180 degrees will get rid of that.

Bart

[Flora]

Hi,

Great jobs here!!! I always find fascinating when

Originally Posted by dasailr03

the potential of this picture

or of any picture can be shown in so many different ways!!!

Here is my 'step-by-step'

• First, when restoring pictures, particularly portraits where there is a lot of healing/cloning/reconstructing to do (work I do on very strong magnifications), I always want to check how my corrections are going to look like on the normal size (100%) image ... for this reason, I usually create a 'twin' working windows by going to the Window>Arrange>New Window For... Menu on PS' top bar ... (this, in PS CS2 if you use a different version this option can be called differently) Attachment 1.
  
  
• Whenever possible, I do all my corrections using the 'Blank Layer Technique' described in this Tutorial.. and that's what I did here for all the healing, darkening, lightening etc. to remove spots, scratches and reconstruct missing parts.
  
  
• After fixing the left arm (my left) I simply selected it, copied it on a new Layer (Ctrl+J), flipped it horizontally, moved it over the missing right (my right) arm and used the Transform Tool to adapt it there as naturally as possible.
  
  
• When all the scratches etc. had gone, I created a Level Adjustment Layer, which I used on the individual channels, to balance the colours in a non drastic way. Attachment 2, Attachment 3, Attachment 4.
  
  
• After this I created more blank layers set to Color, Soft Light, Overlay, Lighten and Darken to better blend in the corrections made so far and to balance the light 'haze' still present in some parts of the picture.
  
  
• I used Levels and USM for adjusting the contrast, and USM for a soft sharpening.

Hope this helps .... but you know where to find me should you have questions

[dasailr03]

Flora thanks for the info. As i stated before I like what you've done. Can you be a bit more descriptive in your step by step. I'm following the tutorial and it's coming along. Some of things i'm interested in are:

1. How did you smooth out the the skin.
2. Because the skin is so smooth out the white blotches. darks & highlights are gone. how did you do this?
3. The blue on her shirt is nice and rich. what technique?
4. The neck area is that a result of cloning or painting and or both? Very nice.

If possible can u send me the psd so I can study it. I'm exremely grateful for your help in this matter. Because the model is my wife I only want to do the best job and your version ROCKS!!

PS. r u in italy? what part. I lived in Naples for 3 yrs.

bart_hickman: Thanks for the tips. i'm going to practice.

[Flora]

Hi dasailr03,

thank you so much for your kindness!

I'm so glad you liked the result I got!

1. How did you smooth out the the skin.

For this picture, I only used the Dust&Scratches Filter as described in the Tutorial under SKIN SMOOTHING .... I actually wrote that tutorial so you can find most of 'my' techniques there ...

2. Because the skin is so smooth out the white blotches. darks & highlights are gone. how did you do this?

This was achieved creating a new blank Layer set to Soft Light and, using a very soft brush (Opacity 10-20%), I painted black over lighter areas/spots and white over darker ones as to minimize the 'spotty' look and have more balance.

3. The blue on her shirt is nice and rich. what technique?

... After removing all the scratches and damages, I was left with several areas where, because of the corrections, the colour had shifted ... like shirt and neck .... To correct that, I used another blank Layer set to Color and, continuosly sampling colour from surrounding areas, with a soft brush (Opacity 30-40%) I carefully painted the colour back .... For the shirt, I sampled only once from a 'rich blue' area, and painted all over the shirt with that ....

4. The neck area is that a result of cloning or painting and or both? Very nice.

.. Thanks!! The neck was the result of Patch Tool (on the biggest damage), Heal brush to 'smoothen' the correction, Color (as described above) and Soft Light (as described above) ....

To a certain extent, it's a pity this should be a 'surprise' because just to see the effort you are willing to put into this would make your beautiful wife very happy!!! .... But I'm sure she'll be delighted with the result!!!!

As for the .PSD .... I saved most of it .... meaning... because of space I had merged all the 'scratches/damages' corrections in one layer so the steps to be followed there (many of them... ) start from my first Levels adjustment onwards ... The file is 12.5 MB, too big for my email box to handle (10 MB limit) ... but I know my Provider allows me to put it up so you can download it from there ... I'll send you an email as soon as it's up!

r u in italy? what part. I lived in Naples for 3 yrs.

.... Yes, I'm in Italy ... in Milan .... quite a long way from Naples .... did you like it there?? ....

[dasailr03]

Ok here is what i've done so far. The pic on the left is my version and the right side version is the awesome FLORA'S (thanks for the great tips) version. As you can see mines is still a bit flat and doesn't have the life. So if anyone can give me a few pointer on how to bring out the color like the right side version i'm all ears...oh yeah i'm still having problems with them white spots..

ps. i cannot say thanks enough for everyone's SUPPORT & TIPS!!! THANK YOU!! keep em coming

[Kraellin]

The pic on the left is my version and the lefT is FLORA'S

ok, so whose is on the right?

craig

[Flora]

Hi,

dasailr03,

I just wanted to let you know that I've sent my .PSD file to the address you gave me ... (by the way I just stopped at your restoration site ... nice work!!) ...
You'll be notified and given a link to where download it ... I do hope it works because, not being at home at the moment ... (I'm not even in Italy right now...) I had to access to the services my Italian provider offers through a connection from another provider and, boy, they made me sweat for it!!!

the name of the file is: F_sample.psd and its size is 12.5 MB.

[dasailr03]

Yes Flora.. i got the file with no problems.. thanks!!!


Flora: I notice that your original base layers DOES NOT HAVE THE sCAN DOTS. how was u able to fix this in the base layer????.

[Flora]

Hi dasailr03,

Originally Posted by dasailr03

Yes Flora.. i got the file with no problems.. thanks!!!

Thanks for letting me know ... and ... boy ... am I glad about that!!!

Originally Posted by dasailr03

Flora: I notice that your original base layers DOES NOT HAVE THE sCAN DOTS. how was u able to fix this in the base layer????.

... I downloaded your large size photo at the address you posted .. (http://www.imag.us/x/dmccorey/sample.jpg) ... and, at that resolution, that's the way it came .... If the picture you are working on has scan dot, if possible, could you try to post the uncompressed original scan only in the original size on that site so I can download it and see....

[dasailr03]

Here is the file....

http://www.imag.us/x/dmccorey/Scan10049.JPG

Originally Posted by Flora

Hi dasailr03,

... I downloaded your large size photo at the address you posted .. (http://www.imag.us/x/dmccorey/sample.jpg) ... and, at that resolution, that's the way it came .... If the picture you are working on has scan dot, if possible, could you try to post the uncompressed original scan only in the original size on that site so I can download it and see....

[biskit27]

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/5...efix3nv.th.jpg

im out the door, but i took a stab, tell me whatcha think, ill post what i did when i get bak

[Flora]

Hi,

dasailr03,

ahhh ..the blasted photopaper texture!!!! .... May I ask how old is the photo? ...

Well, nothing good old *FFT couldn't handle ....

*FFT = Fast Fourier Transform ... the Photoshop Plug-in can be downloade free here .. I have all his version but what I used here is the RGB Version.

You can find byRo's excellent step-by-step FFT Tutorial here.