Difficult Restoration

[jcbruck]

Hello to all of you! I've been quietly lurking about for a few months learning as much as I can from all this site has to offer, however, I ran into a big challenge with this picture. First off, I'm utilizing Photoshop 7 for all of my restorations; this particular pic is of my father and three uncles when they served at an Army hospital back in the early 60's. The main problem with this photo is the scotch tape that's located throughout the entire image. In many areas the density has changed causing color and focus shifting - for lack of a better description! Since I'm having difficulty - particularly with the grass and some of the uniforms where the tape has been place - I was hoping to get some guidance from the experts here. Any comments that you can share would be greatly appreciated! TIA, John in Colorado!

[jcbruck]

Oops...Difficult Restoration

Let's try this again! Sorry! -John

[CJ Swartz]

Welcome to RetouchPRO, John!

I don't know whether you tried to upload the photo or not, but it's not attached to your post. It would be much easier for folks here to help when they see the actual image and damage. You will need to keep the file size under 100k -- easiest to use Save for Web and choose the optimization that looks best at that file size. You attach the image to your post by clicking on "Browse" in the Attach file section just a bit below your posting window (down below 'Options'). If the file is too large to upload, you usually get a "Warning" screen and you can just back page to your post and try again with a smaller file sized copy -- sometimes the system just doesn't bother to warn you and posts your comment w/o your image and doesn't bother to explain...

[dcarr]

Hi John and welcome,
I don't have time to do anymore right now, but Here's what I did to get the discoloration out. I converted the picture to LAB mode and copied the lightness channel. The I reconverted to RGB went to the blue channel and pasted the lightness copy twice. That has restored the color. Now all thats left are the cracks. You can use the clone, patch and healing tools for those. I think this will help you start.
Debbie

[phili1]

Hi Jbruck. I gave it a try. In most cases the clone tool is best for this type of restoration. The cuts and grass is subject to opinion but I find it best to go over it several times, first witha stationary clone and then random. I did this fsat because I tought you might want to do the final but it will give you an idea. as far as the tape, there is no real way to bring up what is behind it, so you have to fool it. Clone some one else face parts to the missing ones, very small amounts till you build it up. I found that you only have two faces to be concerned with, the rest is uniform and the alliend clone will do it for you. No one knows what the clouds looked like in the original so you can randomly clone that. The next thing is curves tool and adjust till you get the contrast and tone you want. Hit it with an ubsharp mask and youv got it. The main problem is not the tape but the overall picture when you enlarge it blurs slightly. Youshould be able to get at least a 5 x7 and maby an 8 x10 out of it. Anyway I hope this helps you. BY the way if you have the original and you scan it into photoshop your results should exceed the output of what is here.

[jcbruck]

dcarr & phili1, I can't thank you both enough for the great suggestions you provided! I've utilized those tools and I'm happy to say, I've made great strides..........the restoration is going well! I hope to post an example just as soon as I get a little more tweaking done! Again, thanks!