Image Help - - Colorizing

Cindy · #1 09-24-2004, 01:54 PM

I am restoring this picture for a lady at work, it was quite a mess, I had to basically reconstruct a face that was not there, anyways, I have it all restored, now she wants me to attempt to colorize it. All the dresses are pastel colored, what I do is make a layer above the picture, color on the layer, then blend with the color option. Am I doing this correctly? I colored each dress with a pastel color and then blended it and some of the pastel colors come out rather dark because the dress is rather dark, any advice on how I can keep the pastel look with the dark dress to blend into?? Thanx in advance. Cindy.

Flora · #2 09-24-2004, 04:28 PM

Hi Cindy,

I usually try to 'sneak' out of colorizing jobs ....

I gave a go at part of your picture following this Tutorial which is not the easiest but, once you get the hang of it, it can give excellent results ... Vikki, here, can really do magic with it!

As for the dark shade of the dresses which result in dark colours after the blending, you could try to lift their shadows using either Curves or Levels while leaving the rest 'as is' with the help of a Layer Mask ....

P.S. ... surely not the colours you had in mind but, somehow I liked it ....

Cindy · #3 09-24-2004, 04:51 PM

I put this message in the wrong thread the first time, sorry, but here is my problem, I had to restore and colorize a picture for a co-worker, I will provide the before and after. It is a B&W pic and she really wants it colorized. She said each dress is a pastel color, she told me what 6 pastel colors they were, what I do is make a layer above the picture, color with the pastel colors and then blend using the color mode. The darker dresses come out making the pastel color look darker, and not really pastel looking. Any idea how I can overcome this?? I appreciate any input you can provide. Thanx a bunch, Cindy.

Before Restoring

After Restoring

Cindy · #4 09-24-2004, 04:54 PM

Thanx a bunch Flora, I will try what you suggested, wish me luck and thanx for the link to the tut, I will check it out. Cindy.

P.S. I posted this under the need help post, I didn't see that before, anyways, I posted the before pic also if you would like to see what I put into this already.

Flora · #5 09-24-2004, 05:08 PM

Hi Cindy,

That's really an impressive restoration job!!!!

I'll try your colorizing way on the dresses after 'lifting their shadows ... I'll let you know....

P.S. I'll try to 'merge' your two threads ... I've never done this before ...

Flora · #6 09-24-2004, 05:14 PM

It seems to have worked OK!!!

Cindy · #7 09-24-2004, 06:56 PM

Thanx a bunch Flora, I appreciate it.

Flora · #8 09-25-2004, 08:24 AM

Hi Cindy,

I'm not sure if this is closer to what you have in mind, but I managed to lift the shadows and darker mid-tones in the dresses so the colours result lighter and brighter...

I just used the Curves ... pressing the Ctrl key I clicked on a point of the darker mid-tones...this created a small black square on the diagram which was my starting point. (see attachment).

I, then, colorized the dresses by creating new empty Layers (Blending>Color) and painting on them.

Cindy · #9 09-25-2004, 09:04 AM

Wow Flora, that is great, I will give it a go, thank you sooo sooo much for taking the time, how do you keep up with all the posts anyways??

Mark Adams · #10 09-25-2004, 02:06 PM

This is freaking hard!

I've spent hours on this and this is about the best I can come up with.

Cindy · #11 09-25-2004, 03:16 PM

LOL Mark, I agree, it is freaking hard, that's why I'm here looking for help. Your colorizing is wonderful, except it isn't really pastel, that is the problem I am having, I am going to try Flora's advice and lighten the darker dresses. If I can't get it to look pastel that way, then I am going to have to talk to her before I put to much more time into this. Thanx for trying. Cindy.

Vikki · #12 09-25-2004, 11:41 PM

Cindy,
Just an observation, but to me, it doesn't seem as if those dresses could have originally been pastels. The tone just looks too dark, and could be the main reason you're having a difficult time getting a good pastel.
Nice job on the restoration!

murkyt · #13 09-26-2004, 10:27 PM

I use the CMYK colouring method using channel masks and curves (http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161018) - works well for colourizing an image and you can adjust the lights and darks all in one go.

Mark

saby · #14 09-27-2004, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flora

Hi Cindy,

I usually try to 'sneak' out of colorizing jobs ....

I gave a go at part of your picture following this Tutorial which is not the easiest but, once you get the hang of it, it can give excellent results ... Vikki, here, can really do magic with it!

As for the dark shade of the dresses which result in dark colours after the blending, you could try to lift their shadows using either Curves or Levels while leaving the rest 'as is' with the help of a Layer Mask ....

P.S. ... surely not the colours you had in mind but, somehow I liked it ....

Hi!

This tutorial is realy great, but how do U know about the real colors of the picture? Is there any method?

Saby

Flora · #15 09-27-2004, 12:11 PM

Hi,

Cindy,

Thank you so much for your great feedback!!!

Mark, (Adams)

I fully agree with you .... It was very hard!!! (and I worked on one of the girls only!!!)

Vikki,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikki

...it doesn't seem as if those dresses could have originally been pastels. The tone just looks too dark....

My thoughts exactly ... but I wanted to try to lift those midtones anyway!!!

Mark, (murkyt)

Thank you so much for the link

... I had missed that!!!

Saby,

Quote:

Originally Posted by saby

...how do U know about the real colors of the picture?

Unless being told or given a sample ... well, I don't know ... I just try until the results seem natural and acceptable for the subject I'm working on ....