how can I take care of crazing in an image

[whelandw]

Hi all- My dad asked me to see what I could do with this photo of him with his dog taken about 60 years ago. Here is the link to the original https://whelanjh.dyndns.org/debby/dad.jpg . (secure link to our site)
While practicing, I have used the clone brush on a "scratch and dust" layer to remove the obvious damage to the photo (thank you Katrin Eismann), but what to do about the crazing in the image. Anyone have suggestions that they could share? I am running PSCS, but have not had much success using the healing brush... think it is one of those steep learning curve issues that I have not overcome. Thanks, Debby

[sdubose99]

Debby, the image isn't that sharp to begin with, so you can just do a dust and scratches filter and it won't negatively affect the look. To use the d&s filter, take the radius and threshold down to 0, then lightly bump the radius up just until the artifacts are removed. Then slide the threshold up lightly until the grain re-appears while still keeping the crazing away. I got good results at 2 radius/17 threshold. Then remove the larger blemishes and unsharp mask at a medium radius to improve the contrast...

Scott

[whelandw]

good call, scott!

Guess I was trying too hard. I followed your instructions and then added a bit of level/blending correction and it looks pretty good! Considering it was snapped with a box camera (are you old enough to know about those), and has managed to survive all these years, i think he will be pleased. I thought I might try to color it and see how it goes - must look for more tutorials. Thanks so much for the help. KISS method is truly the best! Debby

[Boss1]

Ok I know you are probably done with htis one, but I couldn't resist.

See my humble attempt to clean up your pic. It was a quick one and I mainly concentrated on the big problem areas. (rust colored areas, big tears and scratches...I reshaped his elbow as good as I could.

Boss1

[whelandw]

you did a great job

Thanks Boss1 -
You did a good job on dad's photo cleaning up the major problems with the photo. I continued on with the details and tried to color the photo a bit, but can clearly see I need much practice with this technique. The glaring errors in the original photo have been reduced considerably in your rendition! If I ever get my site up and running the way I want it, I wish to have before and after pix side-by-side to compare. Somehow work just gets in my way... If only I could be independently wealthy and could afford to retire from my day job, no telling what I could do! Many thanks for working on dad's photo. Debby

[sdubose99]

Hi Debby, I took a stab at cleaning and colorization...

Scott

[Flora]

Hi Debbie,

This is my first attempt at colorizing a picture following this Tutorial , which Leah and Vikki pointed out... (it takes a while to get the hang of it...)

Hope you don't mind me posting the result I got, even though you wrote you don't have much time for this at the moment... but, whenever it will be possible, you might give it a try ....


Ray, Scott,

Good job!

[whelandw]

thanks all

You all have inspired me to try to color the photo. What I have learned so far is to make sure to work in seperate layers for everything - and don't forget! https://whelanjh.dyndns.org/debby/dad+dog_color4.jpg is my attempt. (file size 75KB)
Flora - thanks for the tutorial link. I will try using the technique on my next challenge. Dad gave me at least a dozen photos that are in terrible condition and I have been slowly working through them adding a corner here, replacing a foot there and just having a fun experimenting. Having a purpose to learn a tool is a great motivator. Thanks all, Debby