Water Damaged photos

[Froggee]

Okay it seemed like a good idea at the moment....... The first 6 years of my life can be summed up 2 ziploc sandwich baggies at the moment. See when I was younger my childhood photos fell victim to a leak in the roof which happened to be in the closet...... My idea..... For Mother's Day to take those photos scan them all in (which I did), try me best at retouching them and put them together in a slide show with a song that I somehow remembered making my mom play over and over when I was about 3 or 4 (I don't think she knows I even remember the song). Well here I am checking out websites and come across what I think is a godsend. I can not believe I didn't find this site earlier....... So I have attached a unedited scan of a photo. One I was hoping to not only fix, but color tint, enlarge and frame for her. Is there hope or am I chasing my tail on this one? I have not quite got the hang of the clone stamp thing, I think I am missing something. I have seen photos where a trailer has been cut out of the background and when I try it, it looks like little circles of unmatched dirt even though I took the clone from the dirt directly next to the trailer.

[Ed_L]

Hi, is it Wendy?

You came to the right place! We have a lot of pros who can help you. You didn't mention which program you were using, but if you're using Photoshop 7 or higher, you can probably do better with the patch tool than with the rubber stamp. I just did this very quickly, taking a total of about 10 seconds. It still would need to be refined more, but it's a good start on the damage. No time to do any more at this time, but others will surely jump in on this.

Ed

[Froggee]

Thank you so very much for your help. You got further in 10 seconds than I have in the last hour

I guess it is showing that I am very green behind the ears

I am using photoshop CS (a gift from hubby that I am just wanting to get the most out of).

Off to learn the "patch tool"

[Froggee]

One more question........ The patch tool, is there a way that I can choose something other than pattern to patch it with? There are some areas of my face that become blurred when I use a pattern. I have tried most if not all of the patterns......... I was hopping that I could just patch it in with a color

[roger_ele]

Hi Froggee, welcome to RetouchPro!

Don't worry so much about texture, you can bring that back in, worry more about brightness and color. The patch tool and the clone/rubber stamp tool are both wonderfull tools - be sure to look at and experiment with them both.

To get the best quick start I would recommend this book:

http://www.retouchpro.com/reviews/ce...tails&itemid=3

It is the best and will get you going as quick as possible. We are very willing to help, but we might add some confusion by skipping around - you are starting from the basics. A lot of Photoshop is simple - but so ambiguos in its own way - because it is not a system for image manipulation, it is a toolbox for image manipulation - and you now what kind of variety woodworkers can get out of their tools ... each tool in the tool box can take a little learning.

Regarding clone tool -- little circles;
-Make sure the clone/rubber stamp tool is selected. On the tool options bar (right under the menu at the top normally) you will see the word Brush:, to the right of which is the size and picture of the brush you are using, click on that picture and change the hardness to 0. THis will soften the edges of the circles. Then change the opacity of the brush (same tool option bar) to whatever lower amount allows you to control your work. Think ligher touch and working from the darkside and from the light side of the same spot to get a natural gradation. You can aslo get to more complicated brush controls via the menu item Windows>Brushes.

Regarding the Patch tool - don't use a pattern. Click and drag around the area you want to patch. Then click in the middle of the selected area and drag it to another area. Try this with Source selected and with Destination selected and you will figure it out. Also try this with Trasparent checked and un-checked.

Have Fun!
Roger

[Flora]

Hi Froggee,

Welcome to RP!

Ed and Roger pointed you in the right direction with their excellent tips!

Starting to work with Photoshop, and feeling hopelessly lost with this "toolbox for image manipulation" as Roger described perfectly , I found great help here ... where, specially in the Basics Section, you can find descriptions, snapshots etc. of all the tools available and how to use them. They use Photoshop 7, but, in my opinion, a great starting point!

I had a quick go at your picture, which can be salvaged (with painstaking labour of love .... ) .... As long as you have details to work on, copy, clone or correct, you are never " chasing your tail" and your picture has plenty of details.

A 'vital' tip:

Never work on the original .... always duplicate your image and work on the duplicate.

With your picture, I started by correcting colour and brightness/tone as Roger suggested already. What I did is the following:

• Duplicated the background Layer by *clicking on it and dragging it on the 'Create New Layer' button at the bottom of your Layers Palette*. (I always do this to have immediate comparison after having made some changes).

• Clicked on the Channels Tab to work on the Channels individually.

• Clicked on the Blue Channel which gave me a very dark B&W version of the image. (Clicking on the "~" key, enables you to go back to the composite view while still working on the Blue Channel only (the only one highlighted).

• Press Ctrl+L to open the Levels dialog box and move left and right sliders torward the centre until you reach the very beginning of your 'histogram' peak on both sides. (don't worry if this leads to a terrible color ... we'll fix that!)

• Click OK.

• Repeat the same procedure with Green and Red Channels .... (If the image gets too dark or light in the process, very carefully move the Middle slider)

Now, the overall Colour should be much better and the picture much brighter too.
If, at this point, the contrast Shadows/Light is too strong, there are many ways to correct this, but here, I did the following:

• Duplicated the Levels corrected Layer (*...*), pressed Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate it completely, pressed Ctrl+I to invert it, changed the 'Blending' to 'Soft Light' (little down pointing arrow beside the 'Normal' on the Layers Palette...scroll down the menu...) and changed the Opacity of the Layer (around 50%), until the image wasn't 'muddy' anymore, but lights and shadows were more balanced.

This gave me the starting point for the restoration.

The rest of the restoration consisted of cleaning up the picture using Clone and Patch Tools, enhancing individual details using different Layers playing with Blendings and Opacity and lightly sharpening the image using Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask.

Hope this helps ....

[Froggee]

Thank you guys for your help and advice. I know being a newbie here and having this my first post, I should have given a little more info on myself and use of photoshop.... First I sent a link to hubby about the retouching book yesterday in hopes that it will find its way to me on Mother's Day Second, I have been tinkering in photoshop for about 2 years on and off. Never really sat down to "learn" everything though. Up to this point I have done some basic work on family photos that i have taken with my digital (a Fuji S2), but that sort of work has just been basic sharpening, color enhancing and even some things I learned from Down and Dirty Trick by Scott Kelby and The Digital Photographers Workbook by Simon Joinson. I have made a few company logos for our bussiness using instructions and ideas off various websites.

So basically what I know of photoshop is the tools, where they are and how to follow instructions

Hubby bought me photoshop CS because he knew that I fell in love with the photo filters and the highlight and shawdow option when I was using my 30 day trial

Flora, you did and amazing job and gave me hope that it can be done. I figured out the patch tool last night. The dragging the selected area and cloning from somewhere else. I felt sort of good when I saw the post on here this morning from Roger_ele suggesting the same thing
I did fight with coloring and found that the despeckle tool and the dust and scratch tool worked a bit. I did give up and move to another photo of just me when I started to feel that I would never be able to get a good color into the photo. But Flora you have given me hope...... Since I have finished the Logo for hubby and all my kids are in school, I am going to take advantage of being a "stay at home mom" and work on this photo today. I am sure the house will live if it is not vacuumed today right?

[Flora]

Hi Froggee,

thanks for your feedback!

Originally Posted by Froggee

...gave me hope that it can be done.

...So glad to hear it because that was exactly what I wished ....

Originally Posted by Froggee

I am sure the house will live if it is not vacuumed today right?

I couldn't agree more!!!!

[Ed_L]

I'm a little late getting back here. If you go to http://russellbrown.com/body.html , you will find some quick time movies that are pretty good at getting people going on things. There is a movie on the healing brush, and another on the patch tool that might prove interesting to you. It's something to get you going with a few good tips. Have fun. Flora is a restoration godess. Few of us can compare to her, and I'm not even on the same planet! Roger is also very good, and he offers a lot of help.

Ed

[Froggee]

In my short 24 hours here on this list I have to agree, what she was able to pull out of my baby photo in a few minutes to show me it can be done was amazing. Of course my day didn't go as planned. I had hoped to take advantage of that whole "Stay at Home Mom" title. Only our 9 year old stayed home sick (she was donating to the Movie Theater restroom on her knees Well last night she comes to me and says "Mom I am SOOO sorry, I forgot to tell you about my famous person report" then hands me the paper that tells how she is to dress up a doll, read a book on her person "Sir Francis Drake" and write a one page report on him. And it gave her a MONTH to do it. So me, being the mom of all moms, does some quick reading on the net, helps her put out a report, takes her to the craft store for $10 of fabric and buttons to dress a paper doll. Then off for printer ink, pet store for batteries for the trainer collar (the dog will not stop barking at night). Needless to say, here it is 7pm and I have gotten nowhere on my photo and my kids just ate cereal for dinner........

Let's see if I can get somewhere. So far I am patching still..... Only hubby called and said he is on his way home, so I guess I am loosing the puter for the night

[cedwar]

Flora...

I was surprised to see what happens when you inverted the copied layer and then changed the blending mode to soft light. Can you explain what is going on with that? What is soft light blending mode doing to the picture after inverting it (which looked like a negative image before soft light was applied)?
And if you dont mind explaining, why did you choose to go about it this way as opposed to some other way?

I know its a few questions, but thanks for any explanation you can give me.

...cedwar

[Froggee]

Okay Flora, I have a question here....... Today I am going to try my best to work on this gift....... Hmmmmm, maybe I should shower first......

Okay I need to focus

I followed your instructions (thank you VERY much), my question is did you hand color anything? Because I can not get the top of my hair to match the bottom colors. The top seems to be so dark with speckles still (that was even after despeckling and dust and sc ratch removal.) My mom's skintone looks so natural and even. Now if you tell me you got those tones just from the color adjustments I may just break down and cry............

When using the patch tool, this is what is happening. I am taking a dark area and selecting it. I have moved the dark selected area to a light (to patch the dark area with a light area) and all it is doing is lightening the area just a bit. Even using the clone tool, all it does is lighten the dark area just a bit (not enough to make a differance). Is there a step that I missed? Something that I may be doing wrong? I am loosing it here...... Maybe I am thinking too hard about it. Maybe it is frusterating that something you did in a few minutes looks a million times better than something I have been trying to do for several day. Okay back to photoshop........ She may get this present next Mother's Day, but darn it, she will get it

[Leah]

Originally Posted by Froggee

Maybe it is frusterating that something you did in a few minutes looks a million times better than something I have been trying to do for several day

Don't be disheartened - Flora is definitely the best I have ever seen at this kind of job and trying to get even close to the results she achieves is an ongoing process for most of us here. If you think you are learning and getting better, that's the main thing, and eventually you'll have a present for your mother of wich you can be truly proud...

[Froggee]

Thanks Leah

I have the same issues with photography. I see some amazing work out there and wonder why I can't get pictures of my kids to look as good, then I realize that most photographers take 30-40 pictures of that child and pose to get that one good one

I guess it is part of the "I want now" syndrome. I wanted to do something unique and different for Mother's Day, and even though I am a stay at home mom I still don't have the time to work on it like I need too. Even with the kids being 9, 11,11,11 and 13, they still want "mommy's" attention all the time.

Well I have showered, feeling clean. Here I go for another try at it

I am wondering if it would be easier to clean it up, desaturate it and recolor it?

[Flora]

Wow... Leah, Ed,

thank you so much for your words and kindness!!!!!

Cedwar

Originally Posted by cedwar

Can you explain what is going on with that? What is soft light blending mode doing to the picture after inverting it (which looked like a negative image before soft light was applied)?
And if you dont mind explaining, why did you choose to go about it this way as opposed to some other way?

The procedure is part of the 'contrast mask' technique and, sometimes, I use it as a 'softer' alternative to the 'Fill Flash' (Katrin Eismann).... I actually use it to balance the contrast between lights and shadows ... meaning toning down the highlights and lifting up the shadows in a picture.

The trick is 'playing' with the blendings .... When the Blending is 'Normal' you only see the top Layer as it is, (everything underneath remains hidden by it) ... As soon as you change the Blending (Multiply, Color Dodge, Soft Light, Overlay ..... etc.), the top Layer 'interacts' with the underlying Layer in the 'blending' specific way ...
So, like in this case, as soon as I changed the Blending to Soft Light, the top Layer which up to now looked like a 'negative', 'blended' in with the underlying coloured Layer producing a combination of the two which may or may not look 'muddy' until you adjust its Opacity ....

Froggee

Wow... first of all congratulations for your Family!!! (triplets?)

Originally Posted by Froggee

Now if you tell me you got those tones just from the color adjustments I may just break down and cry............

....Don't cry .... I didn't get them 'just from the color adjustment' ....
As for everything with Photoshop, there are many ways to correct that, but what I did here is the following:

• Created a new empty Layer on top and set its blending to 'Color'.

• Using a very soft brush (Opacity = 50-60%), keeping the Alt key pressed, (the cursor turns into a color picker), I sampled 'good' colour from your hair (close to your cheek), and carefully painted over the dark top of your and your Mom's hair.

As for the Patch Tool (just like the Healing Brush) ...You are not doing anything wrong... it just takes a while to get the hang of it .... just be careful to avoid getting too close to the borders of high contrast areas (better corrected with the Clone Tool) and, unless you use it on large 'flat' areas, try to sample from 'good' parts as close as possible to the damage ....

Speaking of Clone Tool .... Check that the 'Mode' (on the top Toolbar) is set to 'Normal', make sure you have a high Opacity (80-100%) and Flow (100%) and that the 'Use all Layers' box is checked.... I usually use a hard to semi-hard edge brush for cloning ....if the edges get too harsh, you can always correct them with the Patch Tool or Healing Brush.

Hope this helped ... and please....don't hesitate to contact me if you think I could help more..