need some help

Succiu · #1 03-30-2005, 11:00 AM

I've made my first attempt at retouching old photo's and I was pretty successful (I think

) on the first photo, but I'm having trouble with the second as the details are very blurred. Any suggestions on how to bring out the details would be great!

First attempt:

barry_uk · #2 03-30-2005, 02:57 PM

Nice photo of your nan Succiu, I did 10 mins work removeing those lumps from her face, using spot lifter, I then added slight blur then quickly added colour she does look like now look plastic ! I am no master but had fun doing what I did. B&W image is with out spot lifter only using blur tool to rid those spots.

Barry

Duv · #3 03-30-2005, 06:39 PM

Welcome to RetouchPro!!!

Is Nan.jpg the original or is it retouched? Did you run a noise reduction filter on it like Neat Image. It would also help if you could post a larger image around 85 kb.

Cheers
Dave

Caitlin · #4 03-30-2005, 07:53 PM

Also, could you give us an idea of the size of the original? (btw - 100k is the maximum file attachment size - the bigger the dimensions of the image you can send us the better!)

Sean2 · #5 03-30-2005, 08:18 PM

Here was my quick shot at sharpening and highlighting. Perhaps not enough or perhaps too much :-)

Sean

nebgranny · #6 03-30-2005, 10:14 PM

I can not believe it is the first time you did a color. It is fantastic!! Did you use photoshop? I am very very impressed !! I have been playing for a few weeks now and can not even come close!! Nice work!! Neb

nebgranny · #7 03-30-2005, 10:24 PM

I just gave it a new background then played with some effects within psp8
Neb..

Gary Richardson · #8 03-31-2005, 05:11 AM

Hi Succio, as others have already said, your image is a little on the small side to allow any real improvements, but I've had a quick play about with it.

I removed the blemishes, adjusted contrast with curves. Applied Neat Image.
Then I copied to a new layer and sharpened using USM, applied hide all mask to that layer and painted in sharpness around eyes and mouth.

Succiu · #9 03-31-2005, 08:10 AM

The photo was scanned from an 8x10 sheet filled with her classmates so it's very small to begin with unfortunately

Below is the original scan run through Neat Image with default settings (I don't know enough to mess with the other settings)

I would "Like" to enlarge the picture but it just seems to make things worse.

The image is just one of many that are going to be used for a memory quilt that a family friend is making.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to enlarge it without distorting it too much, I'd really appreciate it.

Nebgranny, yes I used photoshop to do the colors, I've been a photoshop amateur for about 8 years now lol

But this is the first time I've ever worked on a photo like that.

barry_uk · #10 03-31-2005, 02:31 PM

This is the best I can get it in size hope it helps you alittle.

Regards Barry

Duv · #11 03-31-2005, 10:58 PM

You might try writing an action to increase the size in 5% increments. Sometimes this can work quite well. Also, I think the Neat Image settings might be too aggressive. Can you post a larger untouched image?

Dave

Succiu · #12 04-06-2005, 11:43 AM

Sorry about the long delay, things have been a bit hectic around here lately.

At any rate, I finally got around to rescanning the image and below is a larger version.

I haven't done anything to this copy, although I have been messing around with a bit, the part that I'm having the most difficulty with is the glasses/eye area.

barry_uk · #13 04-06-2005, 03:45 PM

I had another play around, This is what I did was blur the image to rid those spots and enhanced it slightly turned b&w and duplicated it to add face colour, I tried to get those glass's to look real but failed

Now I have looked at the image again I now feel I over did the blur..

Barry.

barry_uk · #14 04-06-2005, 03:55 PM

Here is the face just cleaned up using blur tool. Wish I knew just how now to bring out the face better

Caitlin · #15 04-06-2005, 04:58 PM

Hmmm... this one is tricky.

I passed it through Neat Image.
Ran a dust & scratches filter on the non-essential area (excluded face and text).
Fixed levels on the central picture.
Tried to do a bit of hand retouching on the face with heal and clone tools.

The result looks a little like it has had too much unsharp mask run on it! (Though I didn't do any) I had a lot of white noise at the edge of her face and glasses to fix, not totally successfully. (Succiu you didn't have sharpen switched on on in the scanner when you scanned did you?, or maybe this is a result of the Neat Image noise filter.)

Hmm...On second thoughts I think that levels setting is a bit harsh - I've toned it down a little. (second pic)

Gary Richardson · #16 04-07-2005, 12:51 AM

Succio, with images like this with a strong texture, it is often advantageous to scan it again, change none of the settings on your scanner, but this time rotate the image 180 before you re-scan.

Then the two images can be combined. As the shadows from the texture in one will be 180 out of phase with the shadows on the other,by laying one image over the other, and using Lighten or Darken Blend modes, much of the texture cancels itself out, leaving an easier job of correction.

Caitlin · #17 04-07-2005, 02:02 AM

Gary - this is a great technique - I used it with a photo of mine a couple of days ago. What I did discover though, is scanner distortion can really put a fly in the ointment. I initially scanned in the corner of my scanner thinking it would make it easy to get an exact 180 rotation, but was unable to get the two images to fall into registration. When I moved to scanning in the centre of the platter the result was far more successful. I don't know if this is a sign of a faulty scanner... (Epson 2480)

Gary Richardson · #18 04-07-2005, 06:45 AM

Hi Caitlin, all scanners have a sweet spot, an area where they scan best. There's a post somewhere on this site that tells you how to determine it for your scanner.

Find it here http://cui.unige.ch/pedsi/scanners/w...eet/sweet.html

Also try this scanner tutorial.
http://digitaldog.net/files/Scanningtutorial.pdf

Succiu · #19 04-07-2005, 08:37 AM

wow, thats a great tip Gary, thanks

I couldnt leave all of the settings as default because the image comes out too small to be useful for our purpose, so I did have to make some adjustments, its still a huge improvement.

The first image is an older scan and the second is using the technique you described above.

Now maybe I can do something with it

EDIT: Oh, I also ran both images through Neat Image on default settings.

philbach · #20 04-07-2005, 08:46 AM

Well I did find that the blue channel seemed to be the best one. So I converted this image to black and white.

Gary Richardson · #21 04-07-2005, 10:05 AM

Glad it helped you Succio. Have to say the tips not mine, read it in one of the posts here some time ago, but I've used it myself quite a few times.

Succiu · #22 04-07-2005, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Richardson

Glad it helped you Succio. Have to say the tips not mine, read it in one of the posts here some time ago, but I've used it myself quite a few times.

Even so, it was a good tip that you passed on

_______________________________________________________________

I was still having trouble bringing the eyes out, so I dug around and found a picture of her with a similar facial expression.

I copy/pasted the eye area, did a free transform to repostion the eyes and then reduced the Opacity and Fill, it seems to me that it's still a bit too dark compared to the rest of the image, but then again, I'm not done

What do you all think? Too much of a cheat? (I have no shame

)

Gary Richardson · #23 04-07-2005, 03:52 PM

No such thing as too much of a cheat. IMHO anythings OK as long as it works and does'nt detract from the image. You've done a nice job with the eyes, and they certainly add to the picture. Look forward to seeing your finished image.

Caitlin · #24 04-07-2005, 04:11 PM

I think those new eyes look great Succiu - they fit into the picture very well. I think you might want to blur them slightly more to match the softer resolution of the rest of the photo though.

Thanks for those scanner links Gary - they look like they are going to be very useful!

EDIT: Sorry for taking this off topic - but oh dear! I just did a scanner test based on Gary's first link - result attached. Doesn't look too good at all. Curious to know if anyone else with the Epson 2480 get such poor results?

Succiu · #25 04-08-2005, 10:29 AM

Hey, thank you all for you input, this has been a very valuable lesson and very much appreciated

Here's where I'm at so far with the image. I still have a ways to go I think, especially on the hair (it really does look more "painted" than real. And I need to work on her shirt as well.

Succiu · #26 04-08-2005, 01:37 PM

ugh, am I on the right track with the hair, do you think?

Gary Richardson · #27 04-08-2005, 01:50 PM

Hi Succio, you've done a really good job on the hair, with the exception of the nape of the neck area. Here the hair does'nt seem to blend right into the neck line. Otherwise a really good restore from what was a pretty poor initial image.

Succiu · #28 04-08-2005, 02:29 PM

ok, I worked on the nape of the neck. I think I'll call this one good for now, as it will be transfered to cloth which will probably destroy most of what I've done anyway lol.

On, to the next one

Gary Richardson · #29 04-09-2005, 01:54 AM

That's got it, good luck with the rest of your images.