Bad Tears.

[nebgranny]

I am trying to practice on a picture I found on this site. It is badly torn . I use PSP8 and tried to clone in a new background but did not do the best job. The completed photo posted has sort of a faded background , and it seemd to be put at places to cover up bad spots . Can someone tell me how to do this effect? I am sorry I can not remember what forumit is in. It is a soldier in a long coat with a medal in hand. Thanks Neb

[Duv]

Neb, welcome to the forum! I really hope someone can figure out which challenge picture you are refering to. This forum is much about learning and improving but it's also about sharing life's experiences and even how those experiences can influence what we are all trying to accomplish here. Personally, I'm excited about having someone aboard that can bring a different, mature outlook to this forum. Keep 'em comin!!

Cheers
Dave

[nebgranny]

Hello Duv: Thank you for the reply. I am trying to learn. I have always been self taught BUT...with the help of great people from the net. I love my computer and I really enjoy working with pictures for some reason. This is the place to get help and learn right? I am not afraid to ask questions to meet a goal , and learning new techniques it important to me. I hope I understood this place as being just that!!

Well thank your post. I hope someone can find it too..LOL Next time I am going to note where I am, but please remember I am just finding my way around here. Blessings Neb

[CJ Swartz]

Neb, if you upload the photo that you're working on, then we'll be able to work with you to learn how to do it better. I think you've said that you don't feel comfortable uploading any of your work, but please trust us that we are like you -- we enjoy working with photos, and enjoy learning how to do it better, and are glad to help someone new get started so they can join in on the fun!

I've looked at a long list of challenge photos, and can't figure out which one you are talking about -- but it might be in an old thread (rather than in the list of Challenges), and would be really hard to ever find without you giving us a hint by showing what you've done so far.

Carolyn

[nebgranny]

I am going to find out how to upload it now. I will first post the one I found to work on , then maybe post what I tried. But please remember I do not know a lot about all the techniques and just doing my thing the best i know how. Will think about posting what I tried...and got frustrated with. Neb

[nebgranny]

Well I saved it on my computer and here it is. I still do not remember which forum I picked it up on though. Maybe it will look familiar to someone. It is called 8131grandad-origa.jpg

This is my first time to upload. I do not know if this will work or not, but will give it a try. I did read Flora's post and went to the information someone posted about this. I must admit I have a slow learning curve so hope I understood this correct. Might help that it is a copy of a picture someone already posted and most likely compressed?? Thanks Neb

[Fizzgiz]

Yes please! CJ is right. Don't be afraid, no one will make fun of you. Everyone is here to help. I looked for the picture too, but with no luck. Now that you found it, I'll play with it, and see what I can come up with to help you. I can see already that the shoulder is out of my league, but that is what's great here, we all learn. So I'm excited to tackle this one with you.

[Fizzgiz]

I had the same message when I received your PM. So I went to the top of the page and clicked on my User CP, and got your message that way.

[Duv]

Neb, you post uploaded just fine. Perhaps you can now post what you have tried so far.

Cheers
Dave

[CJ Swartz]

Yippee, Neb! You uploaded your first photo, and it shows up just fine.

I haven't found the original challenge here yet, but I did find a member's completed version (looks very good) in the Gallery section:

http://www.retouchpro.com/gallery/sh...cat/500/page/1

[nebgranny]

Hi Again Duv:
How about I first post the end result of the original poster. I am trying to get up the courage to post my attempt. It is awful. I can however post another one I did awhile back which was not as bad. Would that work? I would like to wait to post what I have done until You can give me some help and pointers ok?? Neb

[Fizzgiz]

I am going to copy my very first restoration from my old computer tomorrow and post it, so you don't feel so bad. I made the mistake of thinking that I would never get it. Come to find out later, it was a really bad picture to start with, and I didn't have my basics down. Like I said in my PM, I'm working on a webpage to show my work, with one of the goals being how I've improved because of this site.

[nebgranny]

I just remembered I tried to do something with these two last night. I do not want to post too much but will send these two as my feeble attempts. The one of the larger family, needs better background behind the girl standing for sure but it was all I knew how to do. The window was another big challenge. I also need to learn more about layers, I am sure. Thanks for the yippie for the first post CJ. Neb

[Fizzgiz]

Hey, wadda ya talkin about?! Those are great starts. Sure it looks like you got some brush marks from clone stamping behind the girl, but yes that will be helped by a better understanding of layers and masks. Go to the tutorials and read The Awsome Power Of Layer Masks by Vikki. This one helped me out alot.
Thanks Vikki

[CJ Swartz]

Neb,

I don't know how to use PSP, but there are others here who do use it who can give you pointers, or can translate what we Photoshopers say .

Let's talk about how we can replace the missing pieces of his uniform. We're lucky with this photo because there is another arm that we can copy from, flip that copied piece around, and actually fit it into the hole in the other arm -- like a puzzle. In Photoshop, I made a selection (with the lariat, or other selection tool -- pen, quick mask, etc.) and then copied that piece to another layer all by itself. Then I used a menu command Edit-->Transform-->Flip Horizontal to flip it so it now looked like it belonged on his left side. Then I used the Move tool to place it along his left shoulder/arm.

[CJ Swartz]

Neb, looks like you've got a full head of steam!

I know that you need to make sure that this is a safe place before you show us what you are doing, and time will show you that none of the members here make fun of newbies -- we've ALL been newbies ourselves, and the more you learn, the more you see that there is still more to learn -- but it's FUN, so that's okay. I've been using Photoshop for a dozen years, but when I started here, there were lots of things that I still didn't know. The members here, the information here, and the practice that I did here let me learn a whole lot more, but there's still lots of things that I don't do well, and have to practice to be better.

You've already shown that you have an interest in photo-editing, and that you have learned some skills in computer use and photo editing. We're all at different levels here -- some are real artists and/or professional retouchers, most are people who just are obsessed with working on photos and pictures with their computer. You don't need to apologize or be nervous - you're already a member of this group for as long as you want to stay. There are a LOT of folks who have visited here for a long time and NEVER POSTED a single word or photo -- you've already done more than that.

So, stop fidgeting, and just keep talking with us -- like Fizzgiz has told you, there is a lot of information all over this website (it IS easy to get lost at first, but then you just find something NEW that you didn't know you wanted to learn about and find your way back to where you wanted to be eventually). If you have a question -- just ask it. Either a moderator or a member will probably give you an answer -- unless we don't know the answer either -- you're not the only one who doesn't KNOW EVERYTHING, y'know.

[nebgranny]

Hi CJ, Here it is..In PSP the function is called mirror. How does it look? Neb

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by nebgranny

Hi CJ, Here it is..In PSP the function is called mirror. How does it look? Neb

Good work, Neb; add another piece and he'll have a working right arm again! Mirror sounds like a better name than "flip horizontal" to me -- glad you have the function. From what I've read, PSP has most everything that Photoshop has plus some functions that it doesn't...

[Fizzgiz]

Yes, CJ, you're right about everything. I use PS6, but I just bought a new Dell computer, and I got a demo 30 day trial of PSP8 and I opened it last week. I didn't look around much untill today, and found that it does have more functions than PS. I'm trying to understand the differences as much as I can, before the trial runs out, so that I can relate to both in my own work and others. It's not that much different, just alot of name changes like you observed.
Neb, you're doing great!! I a mworking on this pic and will post soon. I have never fliped before, so this is new for me as well.

[nebgranny]

Good Morning: Thanks to everyone for all the posts and help yesterday. I really appreciated them. I look forward to finishing the picture via your help CJ and I appreciate all you are willing to do to teach me.

Fizz, looking forward to seeing your posts. Will you get them on today as you stated within a post?

Duv, I want to thank you for your first post to me. It gave me the courage to be here and post my needs. Thanks !!

I hope I have not misunderstood this site. I am seeing it as a way to learn from some very nice, helpful, not to mention talented people. All of the happenings of the past two days here have been the best! Of all my searchings for help with learning restoration techniques, this site has given me the most. I am excited to stay and learn more each day. I would like to work on pictures and learn new ways to fix them. To do that I may post quite a bit. What I am trying to get at is this...is there a max number of posts seeking help allowed. I did see that posting two works a week was acceptable. I am very excited to be here and want to do all I can to learn as much as I can in the days ahead!! What I am trying to convey is this.. I do not want to do anything that is not acceptable to this forum, but want to use it to grow and learn all I can!!

All of the happenings of the past two days here have been the best! Of all my searchings for help with learning restoration techniques, this site has given me the most. I am excited to stay and learn more each day. Thank you Sir Doug for all your work to have this site available. It is one of ..no it is the best out there Blessings Neb

[nebgranny]

Hi: I would like to have suggestions on how to finish the photo I am working on. Looks like the face needs a little work. I know how to clone a little but that is it and sometimes there are spots. Does anyone have any s Is there another way to restore tha facial flaws? This is a biggie for me, never ever tried to do much with faces. Then would be the tears and making a nice background or what ever it is in the restored photo posted . Thanks

[Fizzgiz]

I duplicated the background layer, flipped horizontal and lowered the opacity so I could see where I needed to move it to. Then I selected the move tool and adjusted the layer where I felt it was right. I then added a black layer mask, and with a white brush, painted out the arm only to reveal it. Then merged visible. That was fun!!

[Flora]

nebgranny, Fizzgiz,

Wow, I'm really impressed .... you managed that very well !!!!

Just two very small tips, when using/borrowing parts of a picture to replace something missing,

1) try to blend it in with the existing parts by fading or gradually erasing what's not strictly necessary to avoid the 'mirrored' look...

2) adjust light contrast and colour of the added parts to blend them in the new 'place', otherwise they are going to be a dead give away ....

Hope you don't mind me pointing these things out immediately .... I think that 'step-by-step' advice is less confusing ....

[barry_uk]

I just used smudge tool and copy paste a small area of the image then used the smudge tool to get the image as the same as possable however it is tricky i find to match the whole colour on the coat. With out colouring the whole thing, I have played around quickly to show you example what psp can offer.

Regards Barry

[nebgranny]

Hi Flora: You suggested try to blend it in with the existing parts by fading or gradually erasing what's not strictly necessary to avoid the 'mirrored' look
I am afraid to say I do not know what you mean by fading, I do know the eraser function.


2) adjust light contrast and colour of the added parts to blend them in the new 'place', otherwise they are going to be a dead give away ....

And again here, what tools to use?

I wish there was a place for beginners ..real beginners , I feel really stupid posting these questions, especially in a forum with people who obviously know their business. This is very hard.

Thanks for letting me vent!! Neb

I have not had an opportunity to read ALL the posts ,so maybe the functions you are referring to are explained there.

[nebgranny]

Hi Barry:
Thank you for posting your example. You seem to know the functions of the program much better than I. That is a plus. I can see I need to learn so much . Blessings Neb

[Fizzgiz]

Flora,
I was so excited to see that you posted here. I knew that I could and should have blended better, but I was just trying to give a quick shot at this, just to see that I could actually flip something. But adjusting the contrast and color of a selection did not even occur to me, and it is advice much appreciated. I would have gone to do this in another picture and probaly coudn't figure out where I went wrong.
Barry, Barry, please tell me that you use PSP as well as Photoshop or know them both or at least some of the features of each. What is the Smudge tool? The reason why I am asking is that we have a real need here for a page of corresponding tools between each program. Most people here use Photoshop, but that is by chance, and we don't want to leave out the newbies that use PSP. So, I've taken upon myself to try to make up a page with a list of features that tells them where the tools are located in PSP, so that when they get info, they can relate it to PSP(os even vise versa). PM me directly or email me if you have any info to contribute to my page.
Jessy

[barry_uk]

Ok I only used PSP7, This is what I did on opening the photo I when straight to my freehand tool and copied a small peace of the coat, I then pasted it
as transparent and draged over the new peace over the torn image, after that I then used the retouch tool in the tool panel. But needed to set it first
so I opened up my Tool options box, Size I did was 17 shape was round and then hardnes set to zero adjusted the opacity to max 100, then adjusted the step by 33 Density to 100. then set the build up checked then set it to smudge. Now I am done to retouch the copy peace alittle at a time to blend it using the smudge tool.

To get the tool options open if its not open already, go to view at top and then click on toolbar then simply check the toolpanel box,

Most of my pictures I play with is using the smudge or the push tool
found under the tool options once the retouch tool has been checked.
hope that helps someone. I do alot of animation using the retouch too
all great fun with faces.

the face colour I also did using PSP, first made sure image was in grey scale.
set then I increased colour to 16 mill 24bit, then in colours adjust when to Hue Saturation lightness, Set the hue to 27 saturation to 61 then lightness to 22. Thats all i did, apart from using the lassoo tool to highlite around the face.

Regards Barry

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Neb, I've had a quick play with your soldier image. Most of what I did is to use the cloning and patching techniques described by others in this thread.

The image had quite a few variations in tone, so to even these out, I first copied the restored image to a new layer, then de-saturated it to get a B&W image.

Then I created another new layer, set blend mode to Soft Light and filled with 50% grey.
Using a soft white/black brush set to 5% opacity you can paint light/dark into the areas that need adjusting.

Finally I created a layer set to colour blend, sampled colour from original, and applied to new layer.

By converting to B&W it is easier to adjust variations in shade, as there are no colour variations to complicate things. The colour is added back by the colour layer at the end.

I tried to retain the feel of the original, and for that reason have not "corrected" all the "faults" on the image.

[nebgranny]

Very Nice Work. Thanks for a great try .

I am still wanting to work on Vicki's tutorial. I pulled up the help topics in my PSP8 program on masks and this is what came up. Which one should I pull and then read and use? There are so many. Anyone want to take a guess? I really want to learn how to work on correcting faces .Thanks Neb