Help with parents' wedding pict

[cssiow]

Hi,

I am trying to restore an old wedding/family photo for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary which is coming up in December, and I just started learning photoshop so that I can finish this.

This is a great site. Thank you to all the coaches and tutors. I have picked up quite a few tips on fixing the fold/crease and the tear and the small spots/blemishes. However, I am at a loss on the the light whitish patches (looks like humidity/water stains) across the whole picture, and also the scotch tape marks. Obviously, the photo wasn't stored very well.

Seems like the right middle section is the best preserved with good contrast, brightness and clarity. I am trying to get the rest of the picture to look close to this.

Any advise on how to approach this will be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

[0lBaldy]

cssiow, Welcome to RetouchPRO Hope you enjoy your stay here and make lots of friends. Poke around, ask questions, have fun!

Can you post a larger resolution copy of the original scan.... you can host your image elsewhere and attach a link in the thread.
Other Hosts if you do not have your own site:
ImageVenue.com (3Meg max, free) pixentral.com (2Meg max, free) photobucket.com (1 Meg max free, 5 Meg PRO) mediafire.com (100 Meg per file, free) post a link in the thread to the site that is hosting the larger image.

A copy of your WIP (Work In Progress) would also help in garnering suggestions and help

Are the areas you are concerned with caused by "Silvering" .. AS it shows up pretty predominantly when leveled... A good fix for Silvering can be found here

A black and white after correcting for silvering only

[cssiow]

Hi 0lBaldy,

Thanks for the advise. Is that called "Silvering"?

As you can see, I am a complete newbie at this. Only started picking up my 1st photoshop guidebook (Photoshop CS5 Restoration and Retouching) last week. I am at chapter 4 currently of the book.


BTW, you did an excellent job cleaning up the silvering. Did you to the 1st suggestion (super saturation) or the 2nd suggestion (desaturation)?

I tried to go through the link you provided regarding fix for Silvering. However, most of it just went over my head (i.e. saturation, creating masks, blending etc). I guess I am still a ways off. However, I shall continue to plod along. I do want to give my parents this restored photo for their 50th anniversary.

Regarding a better quality scan, after many unsuccessful attempts (it keeps failing on upload), I finally uploaded a better quality scan of the picture. I think it's 300ppi. (about 40MB)
Here's the link
http://www.mediafire.com/?2x11601011x8lid

The link you gave references Ctein's book so I will try to borrow that from the local library.

[Cupcake]

Her is another look.

[cssiow]

Hello Cupcake,

The picture is gorgeous. I am sure my parents will be ecstatic. I am in awe that you can recover so much detail within the short time. Now I have plenty of time to go to the printers and get a good large print done.

Looking at the restored picture, I noticed that there are 4 Chinese words above the doorway which I can't quite make out. It looks like a congratulatory phrase written in calligraphy. It's customary for weddings of that period, and I believe it's black ink written on red paper.

I can't even see it in the original picture and so, didn't even realize it's there.

In the restored photo, I tried adjustments in hue, saturation, contrasts, but the best I could do is make out 3 of the 4 words.

Can anyone give me some pointers on how I should approach this?

Thanks.

[Cupcake]

look here this might help you.
http://markschinablog.blogspot.com/2...se-idioms.html

[cssiow]

Hi Cupcake,

Thanks for your help again.
With this info, i checked with some of my colleagues from China and some google searches, and finally deciphered the characters.

婚新爾燕

Thanks again.