Jewellery retouching methods

[digipainter]

I often shoot jewellery & do minor retouching as required, usually cloning or apply a blured layer mask to smoothen the surface.

Recently got some rings which were too bad for shooting but had to shoot & needed a better retouching skills which I dont have.

Need some help in retouching such images. I am not sure if this is ever discussed as I could not find any thread via search.

Thanks.

[MBChamberlain]

I spent about half an hour on this using motion blur and median for the band. I didn't play much with the stone. If this is what you are looking for I'll type up a better decription when I have more time.

Michael

[barry_uk]

This is what I did in 10 mins simply coloured it and enhanced it,

Regards Barry

[digipainter]

Originally Posted by MBChamberlain

I'll type up a better decription when I have more time.
Michael

Thanks Michael, for your effort.
Please post in detail when you have time.

Our retoucher as of now use 3 different methods.

1. Airbrushing on a new layer with the colors matching & then reduce the opacity.

2. On a new layer apply G blur & then use a layer mask & paint the area where we want to retouch.

3. If the surface permitts then we clone it on a new layer & then adjust the opacity of that layer as per the requirements.

All the above methods make the jewellery look artificial due to the fact that the natural surface is no more the same.

In your effort, you too use the Motion blur (we used G blur) that reduces the blemishes but also give a "Retouched look"

Mind you that these shots are to be used as 2 feet in-shop posters, so they will be looked at close distance.
I am posting another image for you to work with.

[digipainter]

Originally Posted by barry_uk

This is what I did in 10 mins simply coloured it and enhanced it,

Regards Barry

Thanks Barry but that does'nt work.

[MBChamberlain]

If they will be used that large, they are usually 1-2 foot metal rings, gold or silver plated, with stones made of colored glass. Unfortunately that is the best way and it requires a good craftsman to do it. Other than that you have to choose between the "retouched look" or deal with the imperfections.

Michael

[byRo]

The ring is different from a "normal" one in that it has, for the most part, a matte finish. Thus GBlurs and motion blurs won't work well because they will destroy the surface texture.

Instead of trying to conserve the original texture, I did the normal clean-up work but then mixed in some new texture (soft grain, in fact) to mimmick the original surface.
Cleaned background, adjusted levels and contrast.

..nice change from fixing faces!

Rô

[Duv]

Rather than mix in grain, I tried the following:

Duplicate background
Filters: Noise: Dust & Scratches: 10/1
Edit: Define Pattern: Name it ring or whatever
Undo Dust & Scatches
Healing Brush: Set to Pattern, access ring pattern. Set blend mode to Darken and paint over ring. Set blend mode to Lighten and paint over ring.
Change layer blend to Luminosity and adjust opacity to suit.

Dave

[digipainter]

Originally Posted by MBChamberlain

If they will be used that large, they are usually 1-2 foot metal rings, gold or silver plated, with stones made of colored glass. Unfortunately that is the best way and it requires a good craftsman to do it. Other than that you have to choose between the "retouched look" or deal with the imperfections.

Michael

You are spot on the idea, I feel the same that the images I have seen in those glossy magazines of rings, watches, liquore & perfume bottles are too perfect to be acheived with such small size products.

For now I have to live with retouched look only, so need to find out better options.

Thanks.

[philbach]

Well I removed the gum holding the ring up. Blurred using lighten some of the parts of the gold bands. I used a blue filter on the diamonds. I increased the contrast and sharpened some of the diamonds.

[byRo]

Originally Posted by digipainter

I am posting another image for you to work with.

To get this one the way you want, would need a whole workover, not just simple retouching.
The screws are out of centre, the white / yellow lines are all crooked - up close, things get pretty ugly.
Pretty much have to dismount / mount the whole thing.

Rô

[creeduk]

Never retouched jewely so thought I would have a shot. Needs a bit more work on the masking around the bottom, cleaner gum would create less color on the bottom of the ring in the original shot maybe.

[digipainter]

Many members have posted their results & based on these results one thing is clear that the results which I want are not going to be acheived by mere retouching, it actually requires recreating the highlight shadows & the surface texture with the help of airbrushing & making it look real.........................quite a challange but surely skilled airbrush artist used to do that in old times manually.

Hope the same can be done in digital inviroment. I am going to try Painter lX with a intous 6x8 pen & see if I can do a better job on this.

Do we have any member with airbrushing skills on this forum??

Thanks

[creeduk]

I would imagine some one could do it a skilled artist, would have to basically redraw this thing. I would have thought the rings themselves could be physically restored a little at least to give a better shot, the original image is not great, also the focus should be softened afterwards if retouching is known about in advance.

[WilliamD]

Originally Posted by digipainter

the results which I want are not going to be acheived by mere retouching,
[snip]
quite a challange but surely skilled airbrush artist used to do that in old times manually.

Hope the same can be done in digital inviroment.

As has already been mentioned, photographing oversized models of small objects is a popular technique for producing perfect enlargements (think of cigarette packets on billboards). Unfortunately, it's probably not practical here. So you need to start with an object as perfect as possible, then photograph it to minimise any imperfections, as a main priority, (e.g. the dark reflection in the first picture is causing problems, lose it - even if the image loses something too). Finally, if there is still a lot to put right, a skilled retoucher will be able to put it right, but for a fee - simply using a blur to destroy the imperfections isn't really the solution if you want a photographic appearence AND a perfect object. (Meaning no disrespect to anyone who used blur - it's a quick fix, not a perfect one)

It may be contentious to say this, but I'd suggest this retouch might really be easier in the digital age - (many old images look seriously airbrushed when you look at them today). But it still needs skill, thankfully for retouchers, that still costs money

[Stroker]

Meh. I'm getting rusty and lazy.
Camera matching sucks and need to spend more time with the numbers.
Eyeballed the ratio and that's not good.
Should have used a better map as well.

3d render and comped in PS
because i'm a cheater like that

[Xaran]

Just an idea - I created the ring in Xara3D and added back the diamond.

Christine

[digipainter]

Originally Posted by Xaran

Just an idea - I created the ring in Xara3D and added back the diamond.

Christine

All the samples done till now yours is best, barring the color of gold is off,I suppose that can be controlled.
Well done!
Is it possible to make it less perfect ie: its too perfect for the real world, so may be you can reduce the transparency of the layer so the underneath image also show a bit.

I was discussing this with few others & I got to know that there may few software which can render 3D images on a layer of the original image.............still trying to find out which software has that feature.

Can Xara 3D also do the other ring I posted, if so I would like to see the result.

Thanks for your effort.

[Xaran]

Here's a sample of what could be achieved with Xara X1, Xara3D would not be able to cope with the shape of this ring but each section could be re-drawn in Xara or almost any other vector program to give the clean lines you are looking for.

As you will see I have only done part of it - I would be prepared to tackle the job at a price. Send me a PM if you want to discuss.

Christine

[digipainter]

Christine
you are there quite near the results I was looking for, rest can be managed in PS by mearging layers & controlled opacity.

I sent you a PM hope to hear from you.

[SteveB2005]

I know this thread is old, but I saw this ring and wanted to give it a shot. I basically used gradients, curves, tweaked the stone and airbrushed, also smart blur seems to work with some metals. regards steveb

[Nanls]

Okay, since you opened it up, I'll play.... and I have seen worse!
~Nancy~
Your right Edge, it's all in the time you take...took 10 more minutes to play... but still could use more time... back to work

[digipainter]

Nice try, looks gud.
I finally setteled for XARA, learning it as it can do better job than retouching.

Thanks

[edgework]

This wasn't a quick fix, but it was mostly time, not talent, that was required. I'm no illustrator, but using the air brush, it's not too hard to take the general regions already in the image and smooth them out into larger blocks of tone. I just keep sampling as I move the brush from one area to the next to insure that the colors I'm blending are from the real world object. Keep some sharp edges for realistic reflections, then some curves to brighten things up and shft the color. The gold was way too heavy in magenta and yellow, and too heavy overall.

[edgework]

Originally Posted by Nanls

Okay, since you opened it up, I'll play.... and I have seen worse!
~Nancy~

Nice touch with the sparkles.

[Nanls]

Thanks Edge, I like yours ... the surface still looks like metal, not painted. I have a bunch of jewerly that I need to retouch and try to stay away from the airbrush, but I might just sneek some in there....
~Nancy~

[ray12]

Digipainter,

I have been using a new feature in CS2 that I absolutely love for this purpose.

It is the new surface blur filter - found in with the regular blur tools.

It takes all the colors and the imperfactions and averages them into one SMOOTH color that follows the original. This ONE SMOOTH color is then used on the top most layer and a black mask is used to hide the effect. Then use a white brush on the mask to just paint in the smooth color - adding just as much as you want and exactly where you want. Since youre using a mask - you can change your mind and try several attempts easily. Ive attached a quick picture - its a bit overdone - but it shows the smoothing effect of the surface blur filter. I use it on skin to even out the complection colors - and in jewelery like this to get a more even tone.

I totally agree with some other posters - get an ultrasonic cup size cleaner setup - there is too much dust on your jewelry - and in macro - it really shows up. Small units cost around $60-80.

Also consider a photographic TENT - its a white translucent cage or tent you put your rings in - its white in all directions with a peep hole to put your camera through - You light it from outside the tent - Man does it produce Marvelous jewelry shots - Jewelry just sparkles and no hot spots or bad dark spots. BH Photo has 4 or 5 models.

Ray

[Jann Lipka]

I think most of the retouching ( except CGI that look s very fake )
here missed the most obvious flaw in the image -
black "tent opening" hole and white cardboard reflection .

I know it is there but the golden ring looks strange .

In my opionion it is just
a limitation of small object photography
( the lens opening is much larger then the object ) .

I would take away this to start with.

Here is a retoching ( I made on my own image )

Customer ( Art Director ) wanted a look with more accented, darker edges.

I' m not sure what the end customer ( jewellry shop ) will think , I know they tend to like more softer lighter looks .
Most of the things I see is on the verge to be too flat .

[digipainter]

Ray thanks for this new tool info, I just tried it on a couple of shots & yes it does a better job of taking away small imperfections.

[Janice Ong]

I had a hard time trying out all the techniques you guys have posted. Can someone simplify the best way for me to touch up jewelleries ???

I enclosed one raw pic and two final pics (the effect that i wanted )

Please help !!

Thanks.