negative scanning and repair

[bamthud]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum....I have been trying to scan in and archive some old concert photographs. Fair warning...these are NOT Good pictures to begin with...I am more than aware of that....However, I would still like to get the "best" version I can out of all the photos...and there are many These are just a few examples of the problems...(grain, color, halo, etc) I was hoping someone might be willing to offer some tips or advice...

Background---The film was 35mm 800 speed and very underexposed so they are very grainy and the colors are dull...I've tried to use a pandigital negative scanner....but most of the negatives won't even scan. Some I have photographed with a point and shoot digital camera...not the best option I know.... (these are giving me a halo effect light around the edges) like I said I'm not expecting a miracle however, even somewhat viewable for my personal use would be great! I edit in Corel Photo-Paint x4.

Thank you for any advice....or ideas

Sample Photographed Point-shoot
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/IMG_5075.jpg

Scan of Negative the isn't good

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/mandy79/CanandaiguaMandy5aNeg.jpg

Scan of Negative the turned out (fairly well)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/mandy79/PD_0297.jpg

Sample 2 Photo Print Scanned

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/mandy79/PD_0033.jpg

Sample 2 my attempt at fixing

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/mandy79/PD_0033a.jpg

[mistermonday]

Bamthud, welcome to RetouchPro. You inserted html code instead of proper links. Even after extracting the image address and going to it, the site says that the Album is Private, so you have not set up access permissions.
Regards, Murray

[bamthud]

sorry about that....I think they are fixed now....

[Repairman]

You could take a neg to a reputable/conventional/lab repro house and ask them to get the best they can out of the neg. You'll then have an idea of realistic expectations.

[Tony W]

Oh dear, these images a really pretty poor to work from as you have already identified. They actually look as if they have been shot on early 3200 ISO film rather than 800 ISO.

If you examine the images with a magnifier just how bad is the noise etc.

My first suspicion is your scanner is just not up to the job of capturing the required information and or the wrong scanner settings used. You should be aiming to capture your images at the highest ppi available and 48 bit colour and then optimising the image density without clipping in the scanner software using its histogram - if available.

I agree with Repairman that it would be worthwhile taking one or two to a reputable lab and have them make a high quality scan to see what if any improvements may be had.

Purely out of curiosity I took a couple of examples to see the effect of noise reduction only using Noiseware Pro at default settings in Photoshop. I have no idea what noise reduction applications are available in your Corel product so this may not be of much interest.

[bamthud]

Thanks...for the replies....I would love to be able to get them reprinted...but It's not in the budget right now.... as for the scanner settings that would be great too....but it was so cheap it doesn't even have any of those options...lol.

I like your noise reduction program.... I've been using neat image....it seems to loose detail?!? Of course that may just be that I'm not using it right...

Anyway....I have managed to save a few of the better ones by combining the scans and photos to create an acceptable photo....this is what they should all look like

with neat image
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...2_filtered.jpg

without
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9negcombo2.jpg

[Cupcake]

Here is a try.

[Tony W]

Your image using Neat Image looks pretty good to me as the reduction appears on this one to be quite subtle.

I have used Neat Image in the past and always found it to be a very capable program - losing detail with noise reduction unfortunately comes with the territory! The softening effect can be sometimes masked by using selective reduction and edge masking techniques to restrict the areas affected.

Unfortunately your examples seem to suffer from poor focus or motion blur at capture and therefore any noise reduction likely to exacerbate the problem of losing detail.

Anyway perhaps take comfort in the fact that it is better to see and hear Mr Manilow in soft focus low noise

[GoPhoto]

There are a few things that you can do:

1) Get a better scanner (if it's the scanner)

2) Outsource to a pro

3) Scan them, and then have the images restored by someone. if the image is badly damaged you'll probably want a professional restoration service.

The biggest question is how much time you have, and factoring in how much money it would cost to DIY vs. sending it off.

Good luck! Time and home storage conditions are really not kind to negatives, photos or slides.

[Tony W]

GoPhoto I think that the above post really belongs in the Classifieds