Newbie seeking advice on 1888 photo

[PSch]

Hello members of RetouchPRO

Please can somebody give me some advice on restoration of attached photograph (My Great Grandfather circa 1888).

I am totally new to photographic restoration and have purchased Karin Eismann's book (too advanced at present for a newbie like me), have access to PS7 but unfortunately do not have any experience - any ideas of an ideal workflow would be greatly appreciated. The image has yellowed over the years and I would like to make the image sharper, cleaner (there is a lot of crazing and noise to the photograph).

Apologies for posting this request but the shooting club he represented in 1888 would like a copy for their photographic gallery and I would like to give them a good quality copy.

Many thanks

PSch

[Flora]

Hi PSch,

Welcome to RP!

I'm in a bit of a hurry right now...but, if this is what you had in mind, please, let me know and I'll post a description of how I did it.

[PSch]

Hello Flora and thank you for your warm welcome to RP.

What an excellent job you have done. This is exactly what I was hoping to achieve, and yes, I would be very interested to know details of how you produced this result so I can try to duplicate it.

Many thanks

PSch

[Flora]

Hi PSch,

Thank you so much for your kind words!!

I really enjoyed working on your Great Grandfather's picture!

Quoting (I think it was Leah) Katrin Eismann's books 'live' on my desk beside my computer, and once you'll start working with Photoshop regularly, you'll appreciate how invaluable they are!!!

Back to your picture ....

What I did is the following:

• Duplicated the background.

• Used the Curves (here) to bring out a bit more details.

• Created a 'Luminosity Mask' *:
  
  * Press Ctrl+Alt+~, feather your selection by pressing Ctrl+Alt+D, enter the desired value (I usually go for 2-4 Pixels Radius), press Ctrl+J to copy your selection on its own Layer.

• Working on the Luminosity Mask, set the Layer blending to 'Multiply' (Opacity 70-75%).... If this increases the Saturation too much, press Ctrl+Shift+U to desaturate the mask.

• Duplicated the Luminosity Mask twice:
  1st duplicate Blending=Sreen (Opacity 50-60%)
  2nd duplicate Blending=Soft Light (Opacity 100%)
  This brightens up the picture and gives it a bit more contrast.

• Merge Visible*:
  * Create a new empty Layer on top of all the others.
  * Open your Layers Palette's Menu and, keeping the Alt key pressed, click on 'Merge Visible'.
  
  A new Layer containing all your corrections will be created on top of all the other Layers containing each single step you took before. ....
  
  This procedure enables you to carry on with your restoration from your advanced point... without losing any of the previous steps/Layers... thus giving you the possibility to retrace your steps and making changes wherever necessary.... even after you've 'finished' the job....

• Run the picture through Neat Image to remove the noise (You can find this wonderful free program and instructions on 'how to' use it here

• Converted the picture in Black&White (you can find an excellent tutorial on it here)

• Used Clone Tool and Healing Brush to clean up the Image.

• Created a new empty Layer (Blending = Overlay) and, with a soft Brush (Opacity 10%) I painted white over the parts I wanted to highlight (cheeks, etc.) and painted black over the parts I wanted to enhance (eyebrows, eyes etc.)

• Finally, I sharpened the Image using Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask.

Hope this helps .... I know it must sound very confusing, so, don't hesitate to contact me should you need it.