Better Picture

[Thomas]

Hi everyone,
I'm a first time poster with, unfortunately, a terrible eye for what is and what is not pleasing to the eye. My friend wants a photo that looks look suitable for framing. If he likes it enough he may use it on his passport. I don't know where to begin. I know there is some digital noise and the picture is too dark. I'd like to brighten it up and make it look more professional. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[KenB]

If you'd post the image, I'd be happy to give it a try.


Ken

[Thomas]

That didn't work out the way I planned, let me try it again.

[KenB]

Ok Thomas, here's what I came up with.

autolevels
Nik Dfine to reduce chromo noise
Dust & Scratches Radius2 Threshold 12
Grain Surgery to further reduce noise/grain


I did try neatimage, but to me it softened it to much.
I also cropped it some, because you had said he wanted to use it for a passport.


Ken

[Thomas]

Wow,
I'm impressed. I only have PS6 but just using autolevels and Dust & Scratches to start is pretty wild. How would you remove grain and chromo noise with PS 6?

[KenB]

Ok I tried it again without using 3rd party plugins. Here's what I did.


Autolevels
Dust & Scratches Radius2 Threshold 12
Sponge tool set to desaturate at 48%
Selective Color adjustment layer, choose reds settings Cyan -22% Magneta +2%


Give it a try and see how it works for you.

Ken

[Mig]

Thomas,

Check out some of the tutorials at this site. There's some that might help. Also, do a search of the site for information on how to remove all that grain. There's ways to do it in photoshop without having to buy extra plug-ins.

The bad channel is the blue channel. It's noisy and it's also giving the picture problems with colour. Make some very loose selections via whatever method, feather the selection, etc., then work on different areas, and be gentle. Easy does it.

Who is this guy anyway?

Mig

[Thomas]

Ken, Mig thanks for the ideas and the kind assistance. I'm already trying some of the suggestions. I'm really surprised at what PS can do in the hands of the masters. The guy's a friend of mine who was willing to pose for one of my mediocre pics.

[ahmetturker]

My work.

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