Red Ink on old polaroid--can it be saved?

[Fridaydreamer]

Hi everyone,
I am fascinated by the wonderful discussions here, and while I have seen some related restorations, I have been having a terrible time with this one. I am admittedly very new to restoration and am eager to learn. I am relatively familiar with Photoshop (using CS), but still have much to learn there too. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful.

This is an old polaroid shot of my husband and two of his sisters--Due to an accident that destroyed almost all the family photos, this one, while less than great quality to begin with, would be quite a treasure to the family if we could salvage it. I know the original is very noisy, but anything that could bring out as much detail as there is and get rid of the red ink would be much-appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

Shaunie

[BillFrey]

Hi Fridaydreamer,

It's a difficult restore, but the color isn't the hardest part. Take a look at the red channel, the ink marks are more manageable there. You'll still have to colorize, but it won't be as much.

This restore isn't for beginners, imo, but if you're going to give it a try....

Start with a good scan, turning off all auto adjustments.
I would scan at least 600dpi at the size to be printed.

Go slow, clone with a small brush. There's a lot of damage and a large brush will just make the photo less realistic.

Good luck!

[sergio2263]

The photo is pretty blur as well. It's a hard job, being in this forum you are in good hands.


helen

[0lBaldy]

Shaunie, welcome to RetouchPRO

It looks to me as if the photo might have been in a protective sleeve or all the automatic denoising software in the scanner was turned on when scanned because even the cracks (which are generally sharp and well defined).. are blurry.. I agree with the others.. get the best scan possible.. Turn off all automatic scanner enhancement settings and anything that auto fixes. No sharpness, no levels, no tone or saturation adjustment, no brightness or contrast adjustment, no dust & scratch removal, no descreen or denoising or despeckle, no color adjustment, no auto anything. All of that can and should be taken care of in photoshop.

This also may help get a better scan.. Acquiring a second scan from a different direction will light the surface defects differently... So scanning from another direction and merging them together will 'cancel out' the unwanted crack shadows due to the different lighting.

Scan once as normal, then turn photo 180 degree and another scan (ensure straight scan edges etc.).
Drag the second scan image into the first scan image
Change top layer to difference mode
Use free transform to flip top layer 180 degrees
Push, prod and rotate until it goes black (it is now registered/lined up with the first scan), hit enter to keep transformation of transform
When aligned perfectly... change the layer mode from difference to lighten or darken mode, depending on the artifacts.
Combine/merge/flatten into one image/layer
(or post both scans here)

A larger version would also help a lot..

Attaching Files or Images to Threads or Posts

Size and quality for Attached Images!!

[Fridaydreamer]

Here is the photo at its actual size after rescanning it with all auto settings turned off and combining the 2 scans done at opposite directions--I haven't done anything else to it at all.

I couldn't figure out how to make it bigger and still meet the file size requirement, so if you need it bigger and can tell me how, I'd be glad to do that.

Thanks for your help!

Shaunie

[0lBaldy]

Shaunie, After you have posted your less than 100K version, you could also post a link to a site that is hosting your larger version, using any of these other host options or one of your own:
ImageVenue.com (3Meg max, free) or pixentral.com (2Meg max, free) or photobucket.com (1 Meg max free,... 5 Meg PRO) or Flickr.com (5Meg , free).

I used a copy of the red channel, colored and cloned .. I just did a quick job with this small version. I know the faces are bad and there is a lot of detail I missed but it may give you an idea of what is possible with a little practice and patience.. I am sure that others on the forum can do a much better job than what I have submitted here

You might even consider an artistic (Impressionist) version

[Fridaydreamer]

Thank you Bill--you've helped a lot. I didn't know about turning the auto adjustments off in the scan until you told me.

Shaunie

[Fridaydreamer]

Thanks Helen--hope I can put this good advice into practice!

Shaunie

[Fridaydreamer]

Thank you for your help OlBaldy! Can you tell me more about copying the red channel and what you did to work on it? When you said you colored and cloned, can you elaborate a little bit on the steps and order of operations?

Shaunie

P.S. Here is a link to the larger file:

http://www.fridaydreaming.com/PhotoS...d_2WayScan.jpg

[hawkeye60]

Cloning, healing brush, painting, curves, etc. Still needs more work but I'm tired.

[Kraellin]

a larger image would help immensely here.

and welcome to RP, Fridaydreamer.

[0lBaldy]

Craig the large image is in Post #9

Shaunie I shall be glad to elaborate some:

copy background
Crop
Do a good levels.. (Name layer levels)
Channels menu click on red channel so that it is the only one showing
Ctrl+A (select all)
Ctrl+C (copy)
click RGB to select all channels again
back to layer menu
Shft+Ctrl+N (new layer).. OK
Ctrl+V (paste) (the red channel should be here)
Ctrl+J (Copy Layer)
Ctrl+J (Copy Layer)
Filter>Polaroid Dust and Scratch (Light) (Can be downloaded free from here) (adjust to get rid of most of the white streaks)(click Correct)
Hold Alt key and click mask Icon at bottom of layer menu (Hide all Mask)
Foreground paint = White, small soft brush just a bit bigger than the white spots and lines, paint over white lines and spots (change color to black to correct mistakes)
Ctrl+E (Merge Down)
Ctrl+J (Copy layer)
Filter>Polaroid Dust and Scratch (Uncheck Light) (adjust to get rid of most of the black spots and streaks)(click Correct)
Hold Alt key and click mask Icon at bottom of layer menu (Hide all Mask)
Foreground paint = White, small soft brush just a bit bigger than the black spots and lines, paint over the black spots and dark areas you want corrected
Ctrl+E (Merge Down)
Ctrl+J (Copy layer)
Shft+Ctrl+N (new layer named "Clone").. OK
Clone, heal and fix cracks and things
Shft+Ctrl+N (new layer named "combine all").. OK
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+E (copy and paste into new layer)
COLORING
Shft+Ctrl+N (new layer named "shirt"... change mode box to "Color").. OK
uncheck the layer eyeball on the layer named "combine all" go down to the levels layer, select it and with the color picker select the shirt color
go back to the top select Combine all then shirt
fill shirt with the foreground color just selected (Alt+Backspace)
Hold Alt key and click mask Icon at bottom of layer menu (Hide all Mask)
Foreground paint = White, small soft brush paint over shirt and anything else you want that color (change color to black to correct mistakes)

Continue this coloring procedure for each color in the levels layer till entire picture is colored

[Fridaydreamer]

Hawkeye,
Thank you for the time you put into showing me your work! I really appreciate it.

Shaunie

[Fridaydreamer]

Thanks for the welcome, Craig! I'm already learning so much!

Shaunie

[Fridaydreamer]

OlBaldy,
WOW! Thank you so much for the very thorough, step-by-step instructions--that is exactly what I was hoping for and the results of what you posted are amazing. I can't wait to get to work following your instructions--my mother-in-law is going to be thrilled if I can master what you've given me here. I'll post my work when I'm done--hopefully I can do a good job and be a quick study of the knowledge you've imparted. Thank you for being so generous with your time and expertise!

Shaunie

[Kraellin]

ah, thank you, OB! that's MUCH better! (**mumbles something about oncoming senility and moves on**)

and you're welcome, shaunie

i'm just gonna let OB do this one while i mull over which retirement home i want to go live in

[Kraellin]

ok, i lied. i'm too compulsive to just let OB have all the fun

and, not to take a thing away from OB or his work, you'll find that everyone has their own style and techniques and that when photoshop or similar programs are involved, there's ALWAYS more than one way to skin the proverbial cat.

so, this is my 'first step' in just about any restore. it's simple. just 'find the picture'. that's it. that's all. just find the picture. do whatever you can to bring out as much detail as possible. restores rely on detail, on data. you want ALL the data you can get your hands on. so, techniques like brightness/contrast, shadows/midtones/highlights, fade reduction, unsharp mask, levels, curves and other similar actions are what i normally do first.

in this image, i kept it pretty simple. i started with a brightness/contrast adjustment layer, raising the contrast, but lowering the brightness to compensate for the raised contrast.

next, i added a levels adjustment layer and set both the black and white points.

those things brought the image into view much more and corrected a number of things. so, to do the next step i copy merged and pasted to a new layer. this brings all the previous layers into one combined layer on top of everything and is like having a new image to work with, only now, it has all the corrections you've made so far.

i duplicate that image, treating the first copy merge as a new background and we never work on the background.

then, on the duplicate, i ran an unsharp mask at 6/100/5. this takes some of the blur out and i can now see all of the eyes in all of the children, including the pupils and that helps a lot.

and that's all i did to 'find the image'. the next step would be clean up, but i'm leaving that to you guys (unless i'm lieing again ).

edit: p.s. it looks better at full size. because i had to cut down the file size, i've lost a bit of resolution here.

[Fridaydreamer]

Originally Posted by 0lBaldy

Shaunie I shall be glad to elaborate some:

Hold Alt key and click mask Icon at bottom of layer menu (Hide all Mask)
Foreground paint = White, small soft brush paint over shirt and anything else you want that color (change color to black to correct mistakes)

Continue this coloring procedure for each color in the levels layer till entire picture is colored

OlBaldy,
It's taken me a little while to have enough uninterrupted time to work on this, but I finally carved out some time last night. The only part I'm having trouble with is the Hide All Mask. When I follow the instructions, nothing happens on my screen as I paint. Is there something I'm missing? I know that's probably not a lot to go on, but I'm stumped.

Shaunie

[Fridaydreamer]

Thanks Craig--you're right, you really found a lot more detail than I thought was available! Thank you so much!

Shaunie

[0lBaldy]

Turn OFF all eyeballs except for the 'combine all' layer (black and white - Normal Mode) and the layer filled with color (a solid color - color mode) The layer filled with color should have a black mask
Click on the black mask to activate/select it... (the black mask should be outlined/highlighted.. NOT the colored square (click them both to see the difference))
After selecting the Mask, Paint with White 100% Opacity and Flow on the object you want colored

[Fridaydreamer]

OB,
I'm so sorry--your instructions are so good and specific, but it still isn't doing anything when I paint in white over the part I want colored. Nothing happens either on the photo or in the black square on the Shirt Layer.
Shaunie

[0lBaldy]

can you attach a screen shot of your work space including the layers pallet?

To capture your workspace as a screen shot.. Press the 'Print Screen' button on your computer keyboard

in Photoshop top menu File>New OK
Ctrl+V (paste)
Your screen should now be pasted in a new layer..
Alt+Shft+Ctrl+S (Save for Web)
when the dialog pops up click the 2UP tab...
there is a box on the right of the screen with 'Settings' on the left of it and a little blue triangle with a circle around it on the other side ... click the little blue triangle and another dialog should pop up... click 'Optimize to File Size'
another dialog box pop up... where it says 'Desired File Size' enter 99.8 (this keeps your file under the 100K requirement for posts on the forum)
look at the bottom of the second picture (right side) and make sure it is under 100K.. if it is then click 'Save' at the top right
when the dialog pops up check at the bottom where it says 'Save As Type' and be sure it says 'Images Only (*.jpg)' and give your picture a unique name... put it into your picture folder or where ever you can find it later. press 'Save' ( this method allows you to reduce a pretty large picture into the 100K for posting) it is ready for posting on the Forum

Post your screen shot

hope this helps

[Fridaydreamer]

Okay--here we go--thanks!

Shaunie

[0lBaldy]

OK think the problem might be solved..

try this

[Fridaydreamer]

Thank you for your patience--despite my screen shot, I had everything right except the overlay->Normal--don't know how I missed that. Thanks again so much!

Shaunie

[0lBaldy]

You are welcome!

Good Luck!

Happy Learning!

[Fridaydreamer]

I want to start over and try again now that I kind have a better feel for what needs to be done, but here is my first attempt. I know there are some details like the whites of the eyes that I missed, but feel free to make any suggestions or give me other tips/critiques. Thanks for all your help!

Shaunie

[0lBaldy]

For a first attempt and getting past all the hurdles I think it looks pretty darn good!
You might try Filter>Noise>Median at about 4 or 3 to reduce some of the noise

All you need now is Practice Cubed!

Good Job!

[Kraellin]

a little blurry. i'd do an unsharp mask in there at some point to bring things into clarity better. it's certainly a lot cleaner and more colorful than it was before you started