Need suggestions for improving old grandma photo

[Vick]

Hi,

My colleague recently lost her grandma. She asked me if I could do anything with the image she had. The image size she provided was 7 kb. I have changed image size to 8x10 and did whatever I could to remove pixelation. Any suggestions you can provide to improve image further would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks in advance.

Vick

[ShadowLight]

maybe some colour noise reduction...

Filter> Median (usually about 8 pixels, but in your case larger)
Fade > Mode: Color

[Vick]

Thanks for the info. I will give it a shot. The original image was 180 x 228 pixels, 7.08 kb. The details are lost in her hair though I can see some highlights. I wonder if I could brush in new hair?

I am not that familiar with portrait retouching. I mostly use Photoshop for image enhancements (landscape photography). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Vick

[Vick]

I think I posted it in the wrong section. I will post it in the appropriate section.

Vick

[0lBaldy]

Hi Vick, I just did a little clean up using the patch tool, blended the background, lightened some, sharpened the eyes and lips plus some minor repairs there, found some hair which seemed similar and tried to make it match (to cover up the black splotchiness) then added some grain as a final touch.. I don't think I would do to much more or it might look even more un-natural than what I did

~~~Before~~ ~ ~~ After ~~

[Vick]

OlBaldy,

Wow, Thanks. Did you add the ear and the earring or was it already there. How did you get that detail out? Did you use screen mode? I could not get that using dodging. Or did you add that part as a finishing touch?

Thanks for trying. I get the idea.

Vick

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by Vick

OlBaldy,

Wow, Thanks. Did you add the ear and the earring or was it already there. How did you get that detail out? Did you use screen mode? I could not get that using dodging. Or did you add that part as a finishing touch?

Thanks for trying. I get the idea.

Vick

The ear and ear ring were part of some hair I rejected but thought they looked OK and there was a hint of an ear already there so I added them as an afterthought