Photo Restoration Help - Grainy

[felinawi]

Hi, I have this project ... this photo was really small, grainy and it looks a bit blurry and I am trying to restore it and possibly make it into a 8x10, but if not at least a 5x7.

I have more background work on imperfections but below are the links to the original scanned image (I scanned it in at 1200 dpi) and then the other link shows my results so far.

I guess I am asking how I can get rid of some of the graininess and what tips you would advise?... or steps you would take? I also may want to colorize some areas with a soft pink / blue.

Do you think in the end USM would do a good job so that I can make this an 8 x 10?

Thanks in advance.

Original Scan Link: http://netsolutionswi.com/post/originalScan.jpg

My progress so far: http://netsolutionswi.com/post/progress.jpg

[Nezbitten]

Re: Photo Restoration Help - Grainy

I think what you have is a fairly low grain image to start with. Are you referring to the flecks and specs throughout the image that appear to be natural damage? Burn in the bottom right corner and tad more sharpen and it would print to 7x5 ok. Perhaps it may be a good idea to remove the strange colour band across the bumper by desaturating the whole image.

[pularamakrishna]

Re: Photo Restoration Help - Grainy

hi. i can solve this. and can make it in to color photo

[crazyfly1]

Re: Photo Restoration Help - Grainy

A lot of the grainy went away by using the individual color sliders in the Black and White layer. I added 2 despeckle filter layers set to darken to get rid of some of the grain in the darks without softening the image.

[nazca13]

Re: Photo Restoration Help - Grainy

Here is my take.. I did add a color balance at the end for hint of color..I did not crop it because you can either clone in the missing part or just crop.

I wonder if you are saying that your pic increased in graininess after using the USM. If yes, it is best to use a noise reduction before USM. Try NEAT plugin for photoshop... it can work wonders too.

As suggested by crazyfly1 above the dust and despackle filter does work, but remember you can always mask the important parts back in.

If after all your work you still see the graininess.. try using High pass filter and mask back the important details like the people and car in this photo.

[felinawi]

Re: Photo Restoration Help - Grainy

Thank you Nezbitten, Pulara, Crazyfly and Nazca - I am sorry for the delay in replying we took a spring break up north to visit with family and I had very limited Internet access. I truly appreciate all of you taking the time to write and help me out / advise.

I did desaturate it to get rid of that color band in the bumper. I am playing with the despeckle filter also as crazyfly suggested.. all of this is really helping! I kind of get lost in NeatImage.. there are so many settings I feel like I may do something too much.

I love your results nazca13... do you have a good method for coloring... like i would like the skirt a very pale pink.. is there a good / easy way to achieve this? I was going to make a layer and paint pink over the area and then use my blending modes. Is there a better way?

Thank you for your help... when I am done I will post my results! If any of you can offer more assistance based on my questions above I hope you will

Have a great day everyone! You guys are terrific!

[nazca13]

Re: Photo Restoration Help - Grainy

most would tell you to add a new layer in color mode and choose a color and paint.. or add a hue/sat adjustment layer and choose colorize and adjust the color to your liking... for this pick I used color balance adjustment.

good luck either way...