Over-Exposed Photo Fix? ( with photo)

[EdBB]

<Blush>
I guess I shoulda read the message on attaching files before trying it.

Here is the photo in question - badly over-exposed. Any suggestions as to what to try? I'm using PS5.5 - should I upgrade to a more up to date version?

Thanx,

Ed

[Cassidy]

Try multiply, but image very very low res

[byRo]

EdBB, welcome to RetouchPRO.

Posting as a .psd file is going to use up a lot of space for a very small image.
Better off posting .jpg, remember max size is 100K.

As to PS5.5, you're getting pretty much behind the pack. There's a lot of people using PS7, and slowly people are taking up CS2. (I have them both and prefer working with PS7 - lower memory footprint)

Rô

[philbach]

Not a large file, but I opened it in photoshop and looked at the channels. I used a channel mixer adjustment layer with output blue channel and monochrome selected. 100%blue and 0% R&G. I then "stamped that info to a new layer and then copied the layer a couple of times using multiply blending mode. Finally I used a levels adjustment layer.

[Klaatu Baradda]

With such a small image, you're not going to get very detailed results. We recommend that you rescan the image at a larger resolution (at least 300 lpi or larger) so greater detail can be retreived.

Working in LAB mode, go to the Channels Palette and select the Lightness channel and do a Select All (cmd/cntrl+a), Copy (cmd/cntrl+c) it, then select the Lab channel then go back to the Layer Palette and Paste it (cmd/cntrl+v). This will place the copy on a new layer above your background image.
Change this layer's Blending Mode to Multiply then stamp a duplicate of this layer above it (cmd/cntrl+j). Repeat stamping it 3 times (or more) then merge visible layers (cmd/cntrl+shift+e).

What this is doing is simply taking the luminosity of the image (less color) and multiplying it with itself. Similar to what Phil has done above but leaving out the color information. You can still do a Levels adjustment on the a & b channels (or add a Curves Adjustment Layer and make the a & b channels steeper) to further enhance any information here that can provide details in the image (unfortunately, there wasn't much here with this shot).

With a better scan (at a larger size and with greater resolution) to work with, this image stands a good chance of being restored to a very acceptable level.

[EdBB]

CAssidy/byRo/Philbach/Klaaatu:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will see if I can get the owner of the original to let me borrow it so that I can rescan at 300 dpi.

I've tried most of the methods mentioned in your replies now. It's been a great learning experience.

Thanks again,

Ed