G Grandparents restoration

[CAZWICK]

I have attempted to repair this photo of my g grandparents and added colour.
Not a very good attempt.
Although I would prefer black & white or sepia I have done this to disguise the grainy effect.
I would be grateful for any help or advice.
Is there any way of making the photo smoother and more natural looking?.
Many thanks.

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by CAZWICK

I have attempted to repair this photo of my g grandparents and added colour.
Not a very good attempt.
Although I would prefer black & white or sepia I have done this to disguise the grainy effect.
I would be grateful for any help or advice.
Is there any way of making the photo smoother and more natural looking?.
Many thanks.

Welcome to RetouchPRO Hope you enjoy your stay here and make lots of friends. Poke around, ask questions, offer help, have fun!

If you use Photoshop you can post fairly large pictures which are under 100k using the save for web function in Photoshop as described here:
Size, Quality and/or Format your Attached Images.. (Click here)

If you want to post a larger resolution that is over 100K then you can host your image elsewhere and attach a link in the thread, but also please attach an under 100K version, (so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links).
Other Hosts if you do not have your own site:
ImageVenue.com (3Meg max, free) pixentral.com (2Meg max, free) photobucket.com (1 Meg max free, 5 Meg PRO) mediafire.com (100 Meg per file, free)
Post a link in the thread to the site that is hosting the larger image.

You can also use these Free sites: (YouSendIt.com); (Podmailing.com);(Pando.com); (Sendspace.com) to send your original to your own email address, then open that email message, copy the link, and post that link in the thread.

Remember to attach a large and under 100K version in the thread so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links.

[learninlady]

Thas Leetle!

[TommyO]

Cazwick,
I think what OlBaldy is trying to say is, you image is too small for us to see what you have done. Here is what we see when we save it and zoom in. Follow his instructions for a larger, higher density image.

[CAZWICK]

Many thanks to Learninlady,Tommyo and OlBaldyfor your advice.
I am uploading another photo following instructions ( I hope) so I hope it is right!

[TommyO]

Cazwick,
It looks like the restoration is going fairly well. While we don't know what your image looked like to start with, there are a few things still to do.

I'm not so sure the color is helping. Most images from that era were not colored at all, unless it was a portrait.

Adding more detail may be more appropriate than making it more "smooth". Again, many images of that era were a bit grainy, especially those taken outdoors of the entire family. Your image looks like it probably was planned and taken by a more professional photographer. However, many images like it were not planned. They were taken by roaming photographers hoping to make a little money. They did not have the best cameras or follow the best procedures for developing. The result was generally poor images.

So, spending more time on fixing the faces and other parts, clothing, and other details may be well worth your time. Again, it appears you are very close. Just continue spending time with it. It's not unusual for a restore of this type to take 10 hours or more, when you include all the time making decisions on what to do, checking resources, and doing the work.

[Cupcake]

You are almost there.
I added the noise filter in CS2.
Burn , dodge, & blur tools.
I also fixed the little girls hair.
Texture added.





B&W then sepia.

[0lBaldy]

Cazwick, I agree with everything Tommy said

If you could post a large, high resolution copy of the original (or a link to one) it might help us help you bring out more details

Telling us what software you are using for the restoration would help also

[CAZWICK]

Tommo, Thankyou very much for your advice, it is very much appreciated.
Also Cupcake It is wonderful the difference already and I very much appreciate the time and trouble you have taken with it, so a big thankyou.
I wish to also thank 0lBaldy for your reply and I have uploaded the original photo which was already scanned when I received it.
I hope I have done it right regarding resolution etc.
Regarding software im afraid I only have the rather old and outdated Microsoft Digital Image!. Though it is easy to use.
And again many thanks for all the help and advice you have given me.

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by CAZWICK

Tommo, Thankyou very much for your advice, it is very much appreciated.
Also Cupcake It is wonderful the difference already and I very much appreciate the time and trouble you have taken with it, so a big thankyou.
I wish to also thank 0lBaldy for your reply and I have uploaded the original photo which was already scanned when I received it.
I hope I have done it right regarding resolution etc.
Regarding software im afraid I only have the rather old and outdated Microsoft Digital Image!. Though it is easy to use.
And again many thanks for all the help and advice you have given me.

I think you have done GOOD!!

I know next to nothing about Microsoft Digital Image ... sooo... I used what I have to try and find a bit more detail for you.. I used Photoshop V.7 but you could get the same results using a free program called GIMP..

I did different masked levels and curves layers to bring out details in different areas of the image then combined them to get the picture below..

To get rid of the white spots and some of the dark spots I used a free program called Polaroid Dust & Scratch Removal Utility first with the light dust box checked... Used with a hide all mask then painting white on the white spots to reveal the underlying repaired layer then after combining the layers ran the scratch remover again with the box unchecked and painted white to fix the dark areas.. (it comes with a stand alone also...but... I find much more control using the plug-in and using masks)

Keep on doing what you are doing, we are looking forward to seeing more

[CAZWICK]

Thank you so very much 0lBaldy for your help with the photo.It is so much improved and I very much appreciate it.
Also thank you for your words of encouragement!.
I have installed the Gimp and though it seems a little overwhelming in comparison to
Microsoft Digital I will endeavour to give it a shot.
I struggle grasping the layers,curves and all those elements but will persevere.
Again many thanks

[Kraellin]

the old adage of 'garbage in = garbage out' applies to digital images. a poor scan makes it that much harder to get a good restoration result. so, always do the best scan you can.

your current postings of the image are still a bit too small for good results. i know our 100k limit makes it difficult, but study the various ways of posting and i think you can make this better. i'm posting two images here to show you the difference of image sizes. the small one is the original size. the larger is 1000 percent of the original. notice in the small one how you see all the 'boxes' (pixels) of the image. it looks blocky and low detailed. in just blowing up your original and doing nothing else, it helped remove some of that. a better scan and larger image size would also help this a great deal.

[CAZWICK]

Thank you very much Kraellin for both your advice and example.
I see what you mean now, though not sure where to go with it.
I am a complete novice but attempting to learn.
Again many thanks, I very much appreciate it.

[Kraellin]

cazwick, i shld also add, welcome to RP

you're welcome.

my point in that posting of those pics, was that, if possible, do the highest resolution scan as is practicle to do so. that's all