Hardwood flooring, final touches, and critique

[Extremelyrough]

Hello again new peeps. Hope all is well. I hate to join this place asking for help but here I go. I did check out the classified section first but noticed most of the people advertising services only had one post. So I would much rather help this place then theirs so I dont feel as guilty for posting here right away.
Anyways here is the deal. This is my first try at editing a photo and it probably will be the most important to me so I want to get it perfect. It is a picture of my grandparents before they were married and their anniversary is in about 2 weeks. I found this in an old album and Im sure they forgot all about it. I wanted to give this pic as a 8x10 to them for a gift. I have been working off and on for months on this and now Im stuck.

My biggest issue is the hardwood flooring needs rebuilt some how. I am going to use a border so only a spot of floor needs fixed.(3rd pic).


I darkened the dress and not sure if it came out right.(Too dark)

Im also not even sure if my computer moniter colors are right to begin with. So any suggestions and/or critique on anything is very much welcome.
I am using photoshop elements 10 on a mac.
Original scan-Original Scan.jpg
progress so far-Progress so far.jpg
What I want when finished-Wanted Outcome-Border.jpg

Thanks again for taking the time to read this.

[CarolB]

Since nobody has offered any help, I will give you my two cents. The picture has many, many cracks making any restoration difficult, especially for someone new to photo repair. As you can see where you attempted to do some work on the gentleman's face, you have distorted a bit. If you have a better picture of your grandparents I would suggest you go with that instead.

The picture has a lot of background that you would not need to include in the picture, as you mentioned eliminating some of the room.

I have attached a cropped version of your picture to give you an idea of what I mean. I'm sure someone with more expertise will give you some other suggestions/ideas.

Good luck!

I am sure your grandparents will love any picture that you do for them.

[Extremelyrough]

Thanks for the input Carol. The second picture is actually my progress so far. I did deal with all the many cracks by using the healing brush and it was a looong process. Im sure there was an better/easier way but I do not know how yet. I did remove the last pic and change the post around a little to avoid to anymore confusion.
I really like the border I have, so pretty much all I need is to somehow make the floor around the chair look good and keep it hardwood, preferably.

Edit: If fixing that floor is too much for a beginner, I am very open to other ideas and/or frames. I never had much of a creative gene but I will know what I like best if I see it. I do like that border of Carol's but maybe something that shows a little more of the photo.

[Flora]

Hi!

Originally Posted by Extremelyrough

...My biggest issue is the hardwood flooring needs rebuilt some how. I am going to use a border so only a spot of floor needs fixed.(3rd pic)....

I think you have done a very good job so far!!!
For the floor what I did is the following:

Final result Attachment 1

• Duplicated the background layer

• Loosely selected around the scratch with the Patch Tool and lightly feathered the selection. Attachment 2

• Trying to keep the boder of the image aligned, drag the selection on a 'good' area of the floor and realeased the mouse button. Attachment 3

• To minimize the scratches on the floor (or any other larger area of non vital importance) duplicate the recently corrected layer and run: Filter>Noise>Dust & Scratches (values in Attachment 4)
  

• Add a black Layer Mask to your Dust & Scratches Layer and working on the Mask paint white (semi-soft brush 100% Opacity) on the floor.
  

Beginners Tutorial on Layer Mask here

Great more advanced Tutorial on Layer Mask here

P.S. I worked on the original you posted here ... If the picture you are working on is bigger or has higher resolution you might have to tweak the Dust & Scratches values!

Hope this helps!

[Extremelyrough]

Thanks for that Flora. That does help get me on the right track. There is just so much to learn in this field. I wish I had more free time to learn faster.

So for me to add wood grain along the bottom edge of the rug, I need to find a good spot of floor and angle the patch(sort of like what u did to fix the crease/tear) and put a few pieces of the patch side by side and blend them together some how?

I hope Im clear enough and sorry to keep bugging ya. I wish I wasnt so anal about everything in life. I just cant help it. Born this way I guess.

[Flora]

Hi again!

Originally Posted by Extremelyrough

Thanks for that Flora. That does help get me on the right track.

Thank you!
Sorry I didn't ask before ... what software are you using?
I use Photoshop CS5 and all my explanations are based on that..

Originally Posted by Extremelyrough

So for me to add wood grain along the bottom edge of the rug, I need to find a good spot of floor and angle the patch(sort of like what u did to fix the crease/tear) and put a few pieces of the patch side by side and blend them together some how?

You are actually referring to the Select>copy>paste (a good part of the image over the damaged part) technique ...
Yes, you could do that after you have minimized/removed the cracks on the floor, otherwise, along with wood grain, you'll be transferring the cracks too..
But don't forget that the pasted 'good part' still has to be adjusted for lighting, colour, consistency, texture etc. in order to blend in as naturally as possible with the surrounding area ...

What I used in my example was the Photoshop Patch Tool ... which actually does all the above mentioned work in one go!!
In my example I used it only on the big tear only because:

• I thought that all you asked for was 'fixing' the somewhat blotchy repair on it.

• It is quite complex and difficult to use for substituting parts along edges of different colour and/or luminosity as it tends to bleed... and that's why I advised to align the border!

Originally Posted by Extremelyrough

I hope Im clear enough and sorry to keep bugging ya. I wish I wasnt so anal about everything in life. I just cant help it. Born this way I guess.

Having downloaded your 'progress so far.jpg', now I think I understand what you're really after ...

• Covering the distracting elements (partial armchair bottom right)

• lengthening and clearing the rug area for your 'Outcome Border'

What I think you can try is:

1. Cloning or using the Heal Brush Tool (as you have done until now) or
   
   
2. Select>Copy>Paste (very limited for lack of a larger 'good surface') or
   
   
3. Search the internet for a picture of hardwood floor and use it to substitute the whole floor in your photo or
   
   
4. Reproduce the texture/grain of a good part of your original floor over the rather 'flat' cloned or healed part.

Not much to be explained about the first 3 choices ... Just a matter of trial & Error ...


The 4th choice is done this way: (working on your progress so far.jpg)

• After painting, cloning or healing the floor over the desired area, loosely select a good 'grained' part of the floor and lightly feather the selection and add a mask to the selection layer (Attachment 1)

• Copy your selection on a new Layer (CTRL+J)

• Move the selection over the area where you want to add the grain (Attachment 2)

• Go to Filter>Other>High Pass and change the blending mode of the High Pass Layer to Linear Light (Attachment 3)

• Decrease the High Pass Layer's Opacity until you are happy with the result and, working on the mask (click to activate), use a soft black brush (100% Opacity) around the edges to remove the border. (Attachment 4)

Final result (Attachment 5)

Hope this helps.

P.S. How did you insert the images on the main body of your post?

[Extremelyrough]

Hey Flora. Thanks for all the help u have given me so far. I really do appreciate your effort and time more then I can express.

I use Elements 10 on a mac (its above my pics,sorry) so I dont have the patch tool. I thought u just used the lasso to draw the shape.

I hate to say this after all the work u did for me, I decided to move the border in closer. I think it will work better and cuts the amount of floor work to a minimum.

That now means all I need is to make the hardwood floor have a grain and uniform color under and around the chair.
New border layout.jpg
I guess the best way for me is make a floor layer, use the bright piece of floor like ur "attachment 1", and follow the steps in ur "choice 4".
Or since there is a smaller area now, use the good ole' clone brush.

Here is the layout from my first post if that is what u were asking? I followed all ur stickied threads to upload the pics.
1st Post layout.jpg
That should be it. Maybe someone else will need to redo a wood floor one day and find this thread useful.

Thanks again Flora. U have a really good thing goin on here with this site. Im sure its helped many people in many different ways.

[Flora]

Hi!

Thank you for your feedback and kindness!

I agree with you about 'moving the border closer' ... I hadn't suggested it because I didn't think cropping or hiding too much was an option for you...

No problem about my 'detailed tips' ... sorry they didn't help you very much, but as you said they may

Originally Posted by Extremelyrough

help many people in many different ways.

Take care...

[Extremelyrough]

Hello again. Well i have been busy as usual and now im a couple days away from needing my pic.

I did get a trial of CS6 to use. I tried the patch tool to make the floor a uniform color but it makes the chair, rug, and shoe's color bleed into the floor for some reason. Is there a way to prevent the bleeding? Im also having trouble making clone brush look right.

Or better yet, how could I make the floor layer uniform in color from here?(see pic)Floor-layer.jpg

Thanks again. Sorry to be so needy but my heads about to explode.

[Flora]

Hi again!

Ok ... Photoshop ... now I can help ...

Originally Posted by Extremelyrough

Hello again.
I did get a trial of CS6 to use. I tried the patch tool to make the floor a uniform color but it makes the chair, rug, and shoe's color bleed into the floor for some reason. Is there a way to prevent the bleeding? Im also having trouble making clone brush look right.

Originally Posted by Flora

What I used in my example was the Photoshop Patch Tool ... which actually does all the above mentioned work in one go!!
In my example I used it only on the big tear only because:

• I thought that all you asked for was 'fixing' the somewhat blotchy repair on it.

• It is quite complex and difficult to use for substituting parts along edges of different colour and/or luminosity as it tends to bleed... and that's why I advised to align the border!

The reason of the 'bleeding' is that (contrary to the 'Clone' Family) the 'Heal' Family blends in colour, luminosity and texture with the surrounding area. Which is absolutely great until you try to heal close to edges which, usually, you'd like to keep sharp and clean!

You could try to use the Heal Brush (doesn't work with the Patch Tool!) on a Blank Layer created on top (I always do it) where you can:

• hide just the bleeding with the help of a Layer Mask

• change 'Heal' corrected Layer's blending mode and/or Opacity until you are happy with the result

• delete the correction Layer and start anew

You could also try the 'Blank Layer Technique' with the Clone Tool as well.

Here a Tutorial I wrote ... just scroll down the page to the BLANK/EMPTY LAYERS SET TO.... paragraph.

Originally Posted by Extremelyrough

Or better yet, how could I make the floor layer uniform in color from here?(see pic)Attachment 91090

Thanks again. Sorry to be so needy but my heads about to explode.

OK ... If it is only the floor' colour you want to make uniform here is how I did it:

• Created a new Blank Layer on top of the Background
  
  
• Set the Blank Layer's mode to Colour
  
  
• Filled the layer with colour sampled from the floor
  
  
• Added a black Layer Mask and painted white on the Mask to reveal the colour correction.

SNAP-087-s.jpg

If, beside the colour, you wish to even out the luminosity too and remove the reflections, here is what I did:

Even out luminosity and colour

• Created a new Blank Layer on top of the Background
  
  
• Set the Blank Layer's mode to Multiply
  
  
• Sampled colour from the floor
  
  
• Used a Soft Brush (Opacity 30-50%) to gradually even out Luminosity and colour.

Remove the reflections:

• Created a new Blank Layer on top of the Multiply Layer
  
  
• Used the Heal Brush (sample>All Layers) set to 'Replace' around the edges (prevents bleeding) and set to 'Normal' away from the edges.

SNAP-088.jpg

SNAP-081-s.jpg

Hope this helps..

[Cupcake]

Here is another idea.
I got rid of the marks with the Healing Brush Tool set on Lighten-- at 2, very small brush. Go with the grain of the wood.