Suggestion on restoration please

[Jill]

Hi everyone!
I am attaching a before and after of a restoration I just finished. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out but am not happy with how long it took me! I am wondering if anyone could suggest a different technique to try. I scanned at double the size, zoomed way in and then spent most of my time using a very small brush and cloning and history brushing all the cracks....and a bit of lightening of the stained areas with masking/levels/dodging etc. It is hard to see on this example but the whole picture had cracking all over it. You won't hurt my feeling with a critique I would love that too. You all are so good at what you do and explaining nicely I am not worried!

[Vikki]

Jill,
Wonderful job!
You've used the same techniques I use. Mostly cloning. It does take time, but as you do more you get faster. I really don't think there are too many quick fixes and tricks to this. It really is work!

Hope you don't mind my perfectionistic tendancies, but I have two suggestions. These are steps I would take if it were mine.
There is a slight telltale sign where the crack went through the man's shirt. I would use the dodge/burn tool to go over that area. Darken it up a bit, and slightly lighten the area around it, to make it blend in.
The other thing is the baby's face. It has a bit of a splotchy look to it. I would use an enhancement technique to even it out.
I'm posting an example of what I mean.
Otherwise, great job. It looks original.
~Vikki

[thomasgeorge]

First, great overall job! I particularly like the soft older global tone--it really adds a nostalgic air to the photo. Like Vikki pointed out, the babys face is a bit splotchy but not bad and not really distracting. Second--sounds like you did what I would have done so I cant offer any help in the saving time dept.--however from the results you obtained I would say you took exactly as much time as was needed. Trying to hurry it through usually just results in less than satisfactory results and, as you do more restores, you will find that things begin "speeding up" as your experience grows. Just my rambling thoughts....Tom

[DJ Dubovsky]

Jill
I don't think there is any magic techniques to get around extensive cloning except where plain backgrounds are etc. But for places of great details you have to do the tedious work. Here is a technique that works well on some of the larger scratches. You can try it and see if you like it. Sometimes it works well sometimes you may have to do it by hand cloning.

To get rid of large scratches or clone out power lines etc., you can use the pen tool to define the path of the scratch or line and then use the clone tool to remove it. Here’s how to do that.

1. Select the pen tool and draw a path as close to the center of the scratch as you can. Double click on the Work path in the paths palette to save it.

2. Select the Rubber Stamp tool and set the option to clone (aligned). If your removing a light scratch, set the mode to darken and if the line is dark as in power lines, set the mode to lighten.

3. Choose a soft brush slightly wider than the widest part of the scratch

4. Alt-Click (option-click for Mac) beside the start of the scratch to be fixed to set the source point for the cloning operation. Same as you normally would.

5. Turn off the path in the paths palette pop out menu to hide it. Or just (Shift-click on the path) Then drag the path over the stroke button at the bottom of the palette. The scratch should be gone.
DJ

[Jill]

See how great you guys are!
Thank you Vicki, I like how you add an example! I sure appreciate the tips.
ThomasGeorge, also thank you for your advice..I guess time it is, I hope I get faster! practice practice!
Debbie... I sure will practice what you suggested...the dreaded pen tool, I must give it a try again! I did buy the book I saw you recommended "Katrin Eisman" and is great and just full of great info...I have just started reading.
One last question....how much would you charge for this job...including one 8x10 (or smaller)? I did it as a trade
Thank you guys again for your insight!

[Ed_L]

Jill,

I think you did an overall excellent job. And *I* know what you mean about the time issue. I guess I'm getting a little faster, but it just doesn't seem like it.

Vikki, would you mind telling us what you did on the baby's face? It looks great.

Ed

[Vikki]

Ed, the technique I used is pretty simple, and I use it all the time now. One word of caution though, you need to use a light touch or your photo will look too blurry. This technique is also in Katrin's book, but with a few different steps.
I use Photoshop 4.0 so everyone should be able to do this. (You may find that the history brush will work instead of the snapshot)
1. Duplicate your layer.
2. Run the Gaussian Blur filter on the duplicate layer. Just enough to blur out the blotchiness.
3. On the same layer, apply the Noise filter. I find that a setting of 2 is pretty good. You want to try and match the noise level of the original.
4. Now take a snapshot of this duplicate layer.
You can delete the duplicate now.
5. On your original (or if you prefer, a duplicate), use the Clone tool, set to "Snapshot" as the source, and just paint out the blemishes. Remember keep your brush opacity low. You can always go back over it.

Jill, about the charge for your photo. I would consider that a basic restoration, as their was no damage to any critical areas, and only a few cracks on less then half of the photo. I would charge between $25-$40.

[DJ Dubovsky]

Jill
I go along with Vikki on the price range. That is about what I charge too and it includes the 8x10.

Vikki
Thanks for another good technique. My skill collection is growing fast.
DJ

[Ed_L]

Thanks Vikki. I have Katrin's book too. But I don't remember that technique. Gotta open some pages again. That looks like a winner.

Ed

[Matt Elder]

Nice job Jill. I think the others have made comments that I won't rehash. The only other area would be the tiles above the tap. Maybe it is my eyes but be cautious with straight lines. The eye is very good at picking up breaks and this happens in the 2nd last tile - it needs to be down a little bit. It's being picky though.

Ed_L - I think the page Vicky is referring to is page 101 - working with history.

[Jill]

Thank you Matt and Ed also! I appreciate all comments, I need all the help I can get (I am getting better all the time from these sort of tips, and much less frustrated knowing others are on/or have been on the same track).
I did try the pen tool again and with your explaination Debbie I got it! Very useful I see for many purposes....AND I tried Vikki's tip on the baby's face and just think that is great! I went back and re-read two of my photoshop books and sure enough....similar hints that I must not have understood at the time and just skimmed ~ thank you for explaining in easy terms, you guys are wonderful!
~Jill~