A Crack On The Face

[gonink]

Yea well, we all have "cracks" as we age, but this is from a piece of glass. The photo had to be scanned in the glass because it was stuck to it and if I tried removing it the face was going to come off completely.

Not too mention the grainy, gooey, sticky, pixelated mess that covers her entire face.

I've tried new layers with nearby skin colors, blurring it, changing opacity. I've tried the blur tool. I've used gaussian blur. I just can't get this bad boy to straighten out without her face looking screwed up.

Any ideas?

[Frank Lopes]

Here are a couple of ideas

1 - Scan at, at least 300dpi. The higher the resolution the easier it will be to work on the image

2 - Using the clone tool very carefully, rebuild the areas that are affected by the glass crack and light transition.

3 - You will also have to address the areas around the nose, cheeks and mouth that have what appear to be water or mold stains. Those can be fixed with very light use of the Dodge & Burn tool.

But the most important thing, is start with a as good a scan as you can.

Originally Posted by gonink

Yea well, we all have "cracks" as we age, but this is from a piece of glass. The photo had to be scanned in the glass because it was stuck to it and if I tried removing it the face was going to come off completely.

Not too mention the grainy, gooey, sticky, pixelated mess that covers her entire face.

I've tried new layers with nearby skin colors, blurring it, changing opacity. I've tried the blur tool. I've used gaussian blur. I just can't get this bad boy to straighten out without her face looking screwed up.

Any ideas?

[gonink]

Frank,

Oh yea, I scanned it in at 300dpi. Never would do it any less.

I hadn't thought of the burn / dodge tool. I'll see what that does.

All other elements of the photo weren't too bad, but when it comes to fixing faces it sure does make it difficult.

[TommyO]

Chris,
Have you tried photographing rather than scanning ?
Sometimes it will result in a better image to start with.

Let us know.
Tommy O

[DCobb]

I'm not sure why I am posting this, but it is improved over the original.

dc