help with antiquing techniques

[seanarmenta]

hello,

i searched the forums for this topic but didn't find quite what i was looking for...

here's a link to an example of the "finish" i'm trying to achieve: ©2005 Jeffrey Scott

i have my own toning technique -- i'm having problems with getting the scratches, cracks, peeled layers, water stains and other deterioration stuff.

any help would be appreciated.


thanks,

sean

[Sean2]

Hello Sean,

Nice picture. Looks like what would constitute "Glamour" photography today. You might want to put (N) for slight nudity, on your subject line.

How did you achieve the tone? It looks like one step up from sepia or a filter approach?

Regarding scratches:

Duplicate the photo and use the scratch Filter or gausian blur
Add an Hide All layer and as you erase the layer (white) the blurred skin or background will come through.

As well, Doug has a tutorial in scratches without cloning, where you offset the picture in the background and follow the same procedure.

There are a number of tutorials on this sight that deal with variant methods.

Hope that is helpful. Others may have neat tricks to share with you as well.

Sean

[seanarmenta]

just wanted to state that the image in the link i had provided is NOT my image... it is Jeffrey Scott's. i did include his copyright in the link. so again, it was just to serve as an example of the aged photo "look" that i was wanting to achieve.

sean, are you referring to the Dust and Scratches filter? thanks, i will search for the tutorials.


sean

[Caitlin]

Originally Posted by seanarmenta

sean, are you referring to the Dust and Scratches filter? thanks, i will search for the tutorials.

sean

Sean, I think Sean2 may have misunderstood your query. The filter he is referring to REMOVES dust and scratches. I am not aware of a way of adding them - I know in motion picture film what I have done is actually scratch etc a clear peice of film and superimpose that. I don't know if you could acheive something similar by damaging a blank grey card, and overlaying it? There may be a preexisting action someone has created but I'm not aware of it.

[Caitlin]

You might want to try posting your question in one of the photo-art forums, as I think people who hang out there are more likely to have some advice for you. Here is Restoration we tend to be trying to take the damage away!

[Kraellin]

you might also want to do some searching for an antiquing plugin. there are hundreds, if not thousands of plugins out there. surely, someone has come up with one for aging and antiquing.

also, just something to try; make an actual print of your original, then rip the print, scan it back into the computer and clone the rip marks over to the original. you might also try the same process with just folding.

i also created something similar one time using a 'tube' in paint shop pro of a lightning bolt. you add a bolt, do a little work with smudging and pushing and feathering, and maybe even taper the thing a bit.

as for the antique look, i've seen at least one plugin (somewhere) that would give the 'cracked' look. sorry, i've looked at so many plugins of late that i've forgotten where i saw half of them.

for just old general aging, i like the idea of the layer technique. take some interesting textures and make an image out of them. add them in as a layer and simply adjust the opacity. try several different ones, perhaps some reds or sepias. you might also try getting ahold of some highly textured papers at a hobby store and scanning them into the computer. then do each as a layer. you might want to mask different areas to give it a varied look. there are also filters that shld help with this as well. the 'old newspaper' filter and some others come to mind. try duplicating the original in a new layer, then use some of those filters to 'age' one layer. again, adjust the opacity and flatter the whole thing when you're happy.

i dunno if any of that will work, but might lead you down some roads that will.

K.

[seanarmenta]

thanks guys -- yeah, i don't think sean and i were on the same page LOL! i figured this would be the right forum due to the manipulation aspect. i will try the photo art forum.

thanks so much for everyone's help.

[deadants]

I did this in a couple of minutes using Alien Skin Xenofex 2

deadants

[Sean2]

Hi Sean,

Sorry! I did miss the gist of your post. I should have read more carefully. Anyway, regarding antiquing your photo, I believe Deadant has some good suggestions with the layering, and I might also suggest the recent "how to make a polaroid " tutorial that was put up recently, as scratches and dust might be easy to apply with the noise values.

As well, I was thinking about the long line or folds in pictures and am wondering if you could not actually draw a "wild" (scratch like)white line and stroke 1 or two thin black lines into it and gaussian blur - followed by dodge and burn to acquire the desired look?

Just a thought.

Sorry again.

Thanks to those who jumped in to correct my error