Cracked photo and retouched image

[sluggo123]

A friend gave this picture to work on. I am new at this but I did the best I could, in fact probably over done it. Still some of the girls faces are too dark, the little girl in the center lost her right ear. I am using Photoshop 7.01 and Corel Paint Shop Pro X1
please critique:

http://home.comcast.net/~ebrown1927/...d/retouch.html

[DCobb]

Hi Sluggo, (I remember a cartoon character named sluggo from the old Nancy comic strip)

Took a quick try at the little girl with a missing ear.

On the unretouched photo I used the lasso tool and made a selection of the good ear and hen jumped it (CTRL + J) to its own layer. Then I went to EDIT and down to TRANSFORM and did a horizontal switch. Moved the ear to the other side. Lowered the opacity of the layer to position it and then returned the opacity to 100%. Added a mask and removed the extra of the selected part that was not needed.

Did a little quick retouching to get rid of the other artifacts and then flattened the image prior to positing.
dc

[Terry D]

The photo requires a very small clone tool at very high magnification to fill in detail with similar surrounding detail. The facial features were dark and flat... they needed sculpting with highlights on the foreheads and cheek bones, etc with some very pale white, of they can be dodged to a lighter tone very gently.

I didn't chase down every single dust spot, but the important details are done... I think that you lost the contrast in some areas with your version... pay close attention to shadows and highlights....

Cheers

[sluggo123]

Originally Posted by DCobb

Hi Sluggo, (I remember a cartoon character named sluggo from the old Nancy comic strip)

Took a quick try at the little girl with a missing ear.

On the unretouched photo I used the lasso tool and made a selection of the good ear and hen jumped it (CTRL + J) to its own layer. Then I went to EDIT and down to TRANSFORM and did a horizontal switch. Moved the ear to the other side. Lowered the opacity of the layer to position it and then returned the opacity to 100%. Added a mask and removed the extra of the selected part that was not needed.

Did a little quick retouching to get rid of the other artifacts and then flattened the image prior to positing.
dc

That is where I got the name sluggo from the Nancy strip. Always was in our Sunday Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
DCobb,
Thanks so much for your help, especially the steps you pointed out. Those will be very useful. I have never worked with Masks but I need to learn how to do that. Great job. I really appreciate the help you gave me on this, I had about 60 hours on this and probably 30 hrs was reading the books and making errors until I had I could get it right or at least as close as I could. Again thanks so very much.
sluggo.

[sluggo123]

Originally Posted by Terry D

The photo requires a very small clone tool at very high magnification to fill in detail with similar surrounding detail. The facial features were dark and flat... they needed sculpting with highlights on the foreheads and cheek bones, etc with some very pale white, of they can be dodged to a lighter tone very gently.

I didn't chase down every single dust spot, but the important details are done... I think that you lost the contrast in some areas with your version... pay close attention to shadows and highlights....

Cheers

Terry D,
Thank you very much for your help. I need a lot of practice. I used a magnification of 500 and my clone brush was set on 1 to 6px depending on where I was. On the larger parts I used 10 - 25 px. And I used the healing brush in some areas. This is my first try on such a cracked and spotted photo. I really would have like a little more detail on how you get a lighter tone using the dodge brush. I really am a beginner at this work. But thanks to the great info that you provided I will get into the dodging technique a few nights this week. The person I did the work for went head over heels in praise for what I had done but I knew it was not really very good. Again Terry, I really do appreciate all the help especially the time that you and D Cobb spent on this picture. Do you know of a good tut on using the dodging brush?
Sluggo

[Terry D]

You are welcome.

Dodging is a technique carried over from darkroom tricks. Just think of the tool as subtracting dark tones when you paint with it. Conversely the BURN tool darkens any tone under the brush.

With these tools you have choices for what tones they affect.

-Dodge the / HIGHLIGHTS, MIDTONES, SHADOWS

-Burn the / HIGHLIGHTS, MIDTONES, SHADOWS

-And how much they add or subtract / opacity and flow

The opacity and flow and hardness or softness of the brush or clone tool are also very effective ways of applying subtle changes in facial areas where you want to be very genlte with tonal changes.

Hope this helps.

T

[paulafrog]

These are good tips -- I would suggest after you are done and have the pic you provided I would duplicate the layer and add a small grain effect and put it at about 25% to add in some texture that matches all over.

[sluggo123]

Originally Posted by Terry D

You are welcome.

Dodging is a technique carried over from darkroom tricks. Just think of the tool as subtracting dark tones when you paint with it. Conversely the BURN tool darkens any tone under the brush.

With these tools you have choices for what tones they affect.

-Dodge the / HIGHLIGHTS, MIDTONES, SHADOWS

-Burn the / HIGHLIGHTS, MIDTONES, SHADOWS

-And how much they add or subtract / opacity and flow

The opacity and flow and hardness or softness of the brush or clone tool are also very effective ways of applying subtle changes in facial areas where you want to be very genlte with tonal changes.

Hope this helps.

T

Saved these tips, I am making a file on repairing old photos that need repair. Thanks, it is really appreciated more than you know.
sluggo

[sluggo123]

Originally Posted by paulafrog

These are good tips -- I would suggest after you are done and have the pic you provided I would duplicate the layer and add a small grain effect and put it at about 25% to add in some texture that matches all over.

More great tips, I will surely give this a try. This also goes on the tips on using tools to repair old photos. People are so helpful on this site. Thank you, Paula.

[Terry D]

Originally Posted by paulafrog

These are good tips -- I would suggest after you are done and have the pic you provided I would duplicate the layer and add a small grain effect and put it at about 25% to add in some texture that matches all over.

You are correct in adding texture back to the image Paul...I usually do this but it was heading for 4 am, I was tired and I don't want to give away ALL of my secrets.

T

I usually just lasso the larger areas that were retouched and add grain to those areas only... most old photos are full of grain and artifacts so doing it universally might be too much. But then with the layer, you could always erase all but the affected areas, thus leaving the grain where it is needed. OH.... go VERY gently on the addition of grain... better too little, than too much.

[rdk]

I greet.
It is necessary to change brightness of color. I have changed contrast on start and brightness. I directed bandy to part of whiteness color. I have boosted saturation of black color next. Probably, it deletes flaws on photo each personal technique. enjoy

They let's remember, that I am beginner ;D

[sluggo123]

D,
Looks great. Thank you I will put this on my list of things to try. So much help on this site.
sluggo

[Kraellin]

hi sluggo. welcome to RP.

you asked for a critique. i'm posting my own work on your image as such. ask me whatever you wish about it. i'll also say that if you're new at all this, you did quite a good job. nice detail work on the majority. i am curious as to why the heads look wider in your rendition as opposed to the original. did you change the aspect ratio of the image? also, the middle boy's face needs fixing as far as the shadows/dirt. it's too dark. on the woman on the right, sitting, her apron is way too white, probably blown out by an over-exposure of the original shot. regardless, a mask with some curves done and maybe some clone for texture, would help it look more natural. along the base of the image, in the carpet area, there are also some blown out white areas. depending on the client you're working for, these can be cloned out also. i normally do, but check with the client.

but the main thing is... 60 hours? uhm, that's a bit much, especially if you're going to make a living on this (i'm just teasing here. i know you're learning ).

it's a nice job. in fact, it's a very nice job! the only two things that really bug me are, the middle, standing boy's face being dark and his head looks wider.

btw, my attached took about 2 1/2 hours. still too long, but i didnt take any shortcuts like a noise reduction filter.

[sluggo123]

Originally Posted by Kraellin

hi sluggo. welcome to RP.

you asked for a critique. i'm posting my own work on your image as such. ask me whatever you wish about it. i'll also say that if you're new at all this, you did quite a good job. nice detail work on the majority. i am curious as to why the heads look wider in your rendition as opposed to the original. did you change the aspect ratio of the image? also, the middle boy's face needs fixing as far as the shadows/dirt. it's too dark. on the woman on the right, sitting, her apron is way too white, probably blown out by an over-exposure of the original shot. regardless, a mask with some curves done and maybe some clone for texture, would help it look more natural. along the base of the image, in the carpet area, there are also some blown out white areas. depending on the client you're working for, these can be cloned out also. i normally do, but check with the client.

but the main thing is... 60 hours? uhm, that's a bit much, especially if you're going to make a living on this (i'm just teasing here. i know you're learning ).

it's a nice job. in fact, it's a very nice job! the only two things that really bug me are, the middle, standing boy's face being dark and his head looks wider.

btw, my attached took about 2 1/2 hours. still too long, but i didnt take any shortcuts like a noise reduction filter.

Kraellin,
I love critiques, learned that while I was building web pages, Actually good ones make your work look better, and I learn a lot from them. I am really new to this, I did take a few lessons 3 or 4 years ago, then got busy doing a lot of other things. Forgot most of what I learned except always work on a copy, save often and blow em way up to work on them. I have trouble judging how to clone the correct colors and/or shades of gray in B&W. In this I haved been bugged by the black not being black and the whites are overblown. But some good advice as to how correct that problem has been given, now to study that. I have no idea as to why the boy's head is wider in one image, I am not sure. I did not change the aspect ratio knowingly, however, I loaded it into Paint Shop Pro Photo x1 and worked a while then one day I did not know what I needed to use there and being more familiar with Photoshop 7.01 I loaded into that app. Maybe the two different apps saw things differently. PSP has some nice features that are missing from Photoshop 7. And I swapped back and forth more than once. But I need to make a closer comparison when I do that. Sure glad you pointed that out. When I make a mistake it is very hard to detect it, but others see it right away. Finding my own mistakes is a very hard thing for me. That is why I like critiques.

As far as the darkness in the all the faces on the back row, that has tended to be a problem for me to lighten them, but some nice ideas have already come from the people here.

Sometimes after a few hours of close detail work I get tired and start taking short cuts and that is wrong. When one starts to get tired, the mistakes and shortcuts make things ugly. I try to stop immediately but then there is just one more little thing to do before I quit and then there is one more little thing to do and I should have quit along before that. That is one of the hardest lessons to learn, at least for me.

Thanks for your kind words and I sure like what you did, especially to the rug. The learning curve is steep but well worth the price. I will be back into working with the picture by Monday if all goes well. This is a good place and so many nice people here. Thanks again for your help. I am sure the questions will be coming as I try to come up to the work of the good people here.
sluggo.

If this does not flow smoothly and make good sense, my wife fell Thursday night and we did not know if she had broken her ankle or not. But she refused to go the the E.R. She said she would not feel any worse staying at home and going to the Doctor on Fri AM. We got her home Friday about noon with a severely sprained ankle. Then my Sciatica nerve which had been sligtly irritating turned in to a flaming roaring pain, after I spent Fri afternoon removing my old computer and large old heavy monitor out and putting up my new computer and monitor. That really did the trick. So this morning my son had to come over and take me to a clinic that is open on the weekend; no E. R. for me either. Now I am taking too much pain killer to make good sense, so it will be Monday before I start back on the image repair job.

[Kraellin]

thanks, sluggo

[learninlady]

I wanted to try too!

[pdcollins6092]

First time post here, I just thought I would give it a shot too.

[learninlady]

Wow!! Looks good.

[sluggo123]

to all who have helped with this project.
Sorry to be so long in getting back to you. Last Friday week ago, I moved my old heavy 19in vt monitor. No too heavy perhaps 30 -40 lbs, and due to a previous injury to the same lumbar disk, the disk once again becamer herniated pressing against the sciatica nerve, causing extreme pain and weakness in the right leg. Usually this heals itself in 4 - 6 weeks. Hope to be back here soon and working on the picture. I have not been able to get to my computer even to read emails until the past couple of days.
sluggo123