where to start :(

[carpman]

Hello, ok i have got a picture of a mate when he was young, thing is it is the only picture and i mean only picture of him when he was young.

I have done a few picture restorations but nothing on this level, he really wants to get it looking better so he can give it to his kids at xmas.

So where do i start?

I have a snapscan 1236s for scanning and can do upto 600dpi, i use gentoo linux so will be using Gimp.

I currently have it in a weighted book to try and flatten some of the creases.

Any ideas on how to get as much detail out of image so i have somewhere to start?

cheers

[Vikki]

Scan the image again, only this time, flip it 180 degrees. Then put each image on it's own layer (within the same file). By playing around with the layer blends, you should see quite a few of the creases are diminished. Once you have the best you think you can get, flatten, and start working from there. I suggest looking at each color channel, to see which one has the most detail/information.

[carpman]

Originally Posted by Vikki

Scan the image again, only this time, flip it 180 degrees. Then put each image on it's own layer (within the same file). By playing around with the layer blends, you should see quite a few of the creases are diminished. Once you have the best you think you can get, flatten, and start working from there. I suggest looking at each color channel, to see which one has the most detail/information.

Hello, so what you are saying is scan it twice the second being a flip of 180 degrees?

I take it you then mean import both scanned images in same gimp file and align them then play with layer blends?


some impressive work you have done on restorations, if i can anywhere near that i would be happy

[nebgranny]

OK...My TurnViki:
How can you tell which channel has the most detail? I am just learning about channels. What do I look for and how do I look for it??
When I look at them all I see is the graphic under a color of reg,green blue.. Thanks Neb

[chrishoggy]

Hi Neb,
If you look at each colour channel in turn, you will notice that the green channel on this photo seems to show the best detail etc. If you use photoshop, just click the eye symbol next to the colour channel to see just that channel. I've attached small copies of each channel from this photo as an example.
Hope that helps

[Cameraken]

Hi Carp
Welcome to Retouch Pro

Vikki’s Post is a great start. I have a piece of glass to cover the picture on my scanner. I start the scan then rush to my scanner and press down very hard on the glass.
You could even try doing 4 scans at 90 degrees to each other. Usually setting the blending mode to the top 3 scans to lighten helps (but you can try other modes)

This should reduce the dark areas around the cracks a lot and make the restore a lot easier.

You should be able to remove all the black lines in my picture with re-scanning

Ken.

[carpman]

Thanks for replies, will try scanner tricks.

A question though, what do you once you have found channel with most detail?


If can increase my knowedge i may have to go back to the couple of image si have restored and see if i can improve them

[twinkissed]

Well, I saw in another thread for another problem to first change it to CMYK and I like doing that. I can usually find a decent channel to keep that way. So I kept the magenta channel, changed it to greyscale and then adjusted the curves. Then I worked a lot with the poloroid scratch and dust filter in little sections. I notice a dot which could be on the picture but looked like a beauty mark and I like to try and keep as many features on a person as possible. I did a really fast job on this (only about 25 minutes) so it's just a start. My girls keep swinging on my arm like a jungle gym today so it's kind of hard to work and make outlines. I won't be working until naptime I see today Anyways, I hope this helps you atleast a little.

[carpman]

Gimp has no cmyk support with a plugin and that not great.


I need to do some reading how to use channels.

[Legacy~Art]

Well done twinkissed that is awesome work!!!

[roger_ele]

Hey Twinkissed - for a fast job awesome!

Thought I would mention some techniques - I have Photoshop and don't have/know GIMP, so hopefully this translates ...

To answer the question on how to get a channel into a layer you could ...
-turn off the eyeballs on the other channels then convert to greyscale
-I think select all, then copy, switch to a new layer and paste (I never use copy/paste but I hear some people mention it)
-Use Apply Image to paste a channel into a new layer (GIMP may have something similar)
-Channel mixer adjustment layer with monocrome checked

I would look long and hard at the original to see what the bulges are doing to the shape - his left eye (right side of photo) slants counter clockwise more radically than normal variations in face shapes. It makes me think that it is the bulging paper.

-dup layer so as to have an original to compare with or use peices of if needed
-Levels adjustment layer, set white and black point to bring up to normal tonal range

Then all on duped 'work' layer - this is the best way I have found to get past the mess and still keep the texture and detail of the original photo .... make sure that 'sample all layers' is unchecked!

-Clone tool blend mode set on lighten at 100%, pick a dark line that you know is damage and sample from right next to one end, (if there is a gradation sample from the darker side of the line so that you do not overlighten) and paint over the line. In lighten mode the only thing that will be affected is the dark line. Keep this up until all obvious dark spots are removed. The trick is carefully picking the souce points.

-Clone tool set on darken and do the same thing in reverse to the light spots.

You will end up with faint damage that is blendable/cloneable - whatever your favorite technique is for fixing faint damage - without turning it all to smudge mush ...

Regards,
Roger

[twinkissed]

Thanks everyone I don't have Gimp so I'm not 100% sure on this plugin but you may want to read into this and see if it would help for the CMYK or do a search on Gimp and CMYK to see if there are other options available. http://www.blackfiveservices.co.uk/separate.shtml I found it while searching on CMYK & Gimp.

If not I would use RGB and keep the green channel, then convert to greyscale. Then do a curves or level adjustment. Not sure what exactly they use in Gimp for this but something to bring the image out more but not too contrasted. As for the poloroid dust and scratch filter... I use the photoshop program but it also installed a standalone program which I have used in the past. Maybe that will help you.

[philbach]

I did find that cymk offered the best initial color and used color mixter. I separated the boy from the background. Levels, healing brushes, and eventually painted in the eyes.

I reconstructed the background.

[bart_hickman]

I wonder if you turn the picture over and scan in the back side (which should just be plain white with the inverse crease pattern). Then you'll have an inverted scan of the creases. Then maybe if you burn the original with that and it might even out your picture and get you closer to the finished product. Alternatively, maybe you can invert and adjust the backside scan and then subtract it from the original. I'm just thinking out loud.

Bart

[Cameraken]

Twinkissed and Phil. Great job.

I was waiting for Carpman to post a rescan before I tried this.
Are you going to post a rescan Carpman?

Bart.
That’s a great bit of lateral thinking.
But if you have the picture to scan the back then you may as well scan it in right. Even if your idea worked the problem is that the picture would still be distorted as Roger has already mentioned.

However you got me thinking.

What if we can’t rescan it?

An inverted layer would be very similar.
Now if we could create a mask to affect just the marks then you may just be onto something.
This is worth some thought. (Decrack action springs to mind to make a mask) I’ll give this some more thought.

Ken.