[OhThatGirl2001]

That looks great Jeanie, thanks for the step by step. The colors do look easier on the eye and I don't believe you've over- corrected. I like the results.

I have to laugh everytime I look at this picture. I was on 2 1/2 when it was taken but remember to this very day how my brother was not co-operating and was given a stern lecture - hence the big pout.

[Vikki]

Try using "Variations" in Photoshop to adjust the Magenta.

Whenever I do a coloring, I usually start off by applying a sepia type tone (only warmer) over the whole photograph. Another thing that I've read, and found to be true, is that when coloring, it's best to keep the contrast lower. Most of those types of photos don't have good contrast, and the color is usually subdued. Here's an example of what I mean. It's just a quick rendering, but another way to tackle the job.

[Hankster65]

Lisa,

Here's a tip you might use for future jobs....Go to the "Resources" area on this site and download Bruce Beard's Skin and Hair charts. Then you can use the color sample tool in Photoshop to get your basic color started.

[OhThatGirl2001]

Thanks Tim. I do use the skintone and haircolor palettes and find them very helpful. I find skintone's to be a little on the yellow side and often apply several layers of at least 2 skintone colors to get the result I want. I often have to tweak the color after I've done a test print depending on the results. Paintshop Pro has a neat tool that allows you to manually adjust the color and it has it's own skintones built in. If the color is too yellow or even sallow or grey, I use it to add depth. I made the mistake of adding more of a magenta color to this image as it printed a little muted compaired to the original. I do find epson papers to print true to color than HP. I've experimented with a few different papers and find they very greatly.

[DJ Dubovsky]

If you adjust your coloring on the skin tones, you should isolate the areas so you only change the skin tones but still keep that rich red in the dress. I think that color tuned out great.

Just a little tip:I like to color each area on seperate layers or save my seperate color selections to load later so I can go back later on and change any colors or saturations that I'm not satisfied with without affecting the other color areas.
DJ

[Sharon Brunson]

You havent stared too long, Jeanie. That is better. I find this interesting because this is so hard for me. The only thing I would add is maybe Lisa's right arm is still too yellow and from the start, the suit has been too purple. I'm going to try those areas but I doubt if I ever post it, I can do hideous things to color.



Sharon

[Sharon Brunson]

Okay, if my previous post doesn't make any sense, it's because I missed one whole page!!!!

Sorry about that.

Sharon

[OhThatGirl2001]

Thanks Vickki - the sepia tone gives the picture a more aged look as well as softer appearance overall. I know what you mean about the contrast - older pictures seem to have a great deal of shadows and less contrast due to the flash. I have read a tutorial which suggests you take the picture and colorize it adjusting the hue and saturation before you begin hand coloring. I start with basic level adjustments, midtone, highlight etc after I've scanned. Then I spend time fixing the obvious rips, dust etc. One lesson I have learned is to save, save, save. I have about 15 copies of this project with variations and saved as both a Paint Shop Pro and psd so I can later change the opacity or levels of each layer. The skin color is sure a challenge even with the skintone chart. I find most of the skin tones too yellow or orange. I end up making several adjustments to finally get a basic skin color.

Your quick rendering looks great. I appreciate you taking the time to help a newbie.

[Vikki]

Thanks
I also keep too many copies. I never delete anything until I get a print that I'm happy with. Sometimes I don't, so I have to do rework, which generates even more copies! More is better when you've put a lot of work into something.

Regarding skin colors. I find a photo that has the skin colors I like, and use those to make my own palette. I also find that it looks more natural if the people in the photo are slightly different colors, as is true in real life.

My biggest problem is trying to find the right color mix for blonde hair. I want to get the color that you see in photos done with Marshall oils. I have yet to find one color that works. I usually end up layering a few colors on top of each other, and I've never been completely satisfied with the results.

Little nusiance aside, this is still one of my top 3 favorite things to do digitally, so it's nice to chat with someone who enjoys it as well.

[OhThatGirl2001]

Hi Again Vikki (this time I spelled it right)! Blonde hair is a tough one too. I have a friend that works on Marilyn Monroe pictures that gave me some wonderful tips. He suggested using several layers for just the right shade of blonde. He used the platinum shade for highlights and the used a darker shade for the areas that were shadowed framing the face. Then an overall color. It really does make a difference. Here is a picture of my great Aunt in which I used that method to color. Her highlights were in platinum blonde and next to her face I used a pale gold blonde and finally for all over, I used bleached blonde.

BTW - the original picture was ripped, faded and someone scribbled all over the back side. This picture took me an entire evening just to smooth out her skin! Arrrg. But the challenge - was too much to pass on. She has my colorized picture in a frame and shows it to everyone. She loves to tell everyone - "see, I told you I was a blonde" - hard to imagine with her white hair now. LOL

[OhThatGirl2001]

I thought I would attach the original. It would be fun to see someone tackle this one. I know it was a challenge for me. If anything, you see the kind of work the goes into the before and after process

[Sharon Brunson]

Lisa, that is excellent. You are really talented. Kudos.

Sharon

[PHI]

Originally posted by OhThatGirl2001
I thought I would attach the original. It would be fun to see someone tackle this one.

Ok, here's my shot at it. I...

• Used WinImage's Remove Feature, Remove Horizontal and Remove Vertical for the scratches and specks
  
• Re-textured the cleaned area that resulted using the Dither operator
  
• Mildly sharpened the eyes, brows and lips
  
• Took the dynamic range of her right eye and then pushed the entire image to match. That burned the hair and the left shoulder a bit, but it really brought the face up, so I kept it.

Also - and this has nothing to do with the photo, really - but I really love the look on her face - I bet she was someone to really reckon with at this point in her life.

[PHI]

Argh... the high level of JPEG compression put a certain level of cruddism in there that's not actually in the edited image. Oh well. Se la vie, se la guerre!

[Sharon Brunson]

It's beautiful, Walt. And you did bring out her attitude.

BTW-when I looked on the WinImages site, I couldn't find a demo. Do you know if there is one?

Sharon