Tough One..Help Please!!

[nebgranny]

Here is a tough one, all cracked! When running it through Neat Image it does ok, however you loose some of the detail. Any help and suggestions welcome. Neb

[Cassidy]

Neb if Neat Image is doing the trick then I'd suggest that you use the neat image as your primary layer, then import the original image as your secondary layer, run a highpass filter over it in overlay mode and then using a 50% grey paintbrush, paint out all the spots (on the highpass layer) and harsher elements. Should give you the best of both worlds.

[philbach]

Well I used levels than neat image at aggressive settings then copied the layer and sharpened the copied layer. I used a layer mask (Black) and then painted the mask with white to show various areas that I wanted sharpened.

[bart_hickman]

I used the PSPX NR tool set a bit weak to preserve detail and for some reason I like a bit of grain in this photo--makes it more sentimental and leaves the detail unharmed. I'm sure Neat Image is easy to tweak for similar effect.

Large defects that are not near important details get removed PRIOR to noise removal. defects near important details (eyes, mouths, etc..) get removed after noise removal. To do this I variously used clone brushing, makeover tool, scratch remover, and object remover to get rid of defects.

If you prefer darks parts of the photo to be silky smooth, use heavier NR settings and make use of an inverse image-based-mask to reduce the NR on the faces.

Bart

[nebgranny]

Thank you Phil and Bart. Both are nice. I think psp x did a really nice job on this photo. Neb

[Kraellin]

neb,

before anything else, run the polaroid d&s remover on the white specks first. this shld clean things up a lot.

Craig