I'm getting ready to restore this old 1950's photo that is covered in mildew (or mold?). I've tried a few things, like desaturating the photo and using the pattern stamp to clean up the intense noise, but I'm wondering if I'm headed in the right direction. It's a big job and I could use advice on which Photoshop tools you would use to restore this photo. THANK YOU!
Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Advice on mildew damage et al
Collapse
X
-
Re: Advice on mildew damage et al
Well, that is a tough one. Fortunately, most of the damage is on the ceiling, wall and curtains, preserving the mother/child pretty well. It would not be too difficult to replace the bad ceiling, wall and curtains with parts from other images. Then focus the real restoration on the mother/child.
The channels look weird to me, in that there is not much difference between R, G & B other than a little contrast. You may want to check how you scanned it, color wise. Usually, the mold will be much less evident on one channel.
Another thought is to clean the picture prior to scanning & restoring. You could search RP for threads on cleaning photographs. But, be sure you have and excellent scan prior to that process, just in case.
-
Re: Advice on mildew damage et al
hi earthcharm, and welcome to RP.
on images like these, i use clone, airbrush and push (smudge) almost exclusively. the damage is too extensive for global filters. you might get lucky with one of the noise removal programs, but i doubt it and i just dont waste my time trying when i see one like this. it's just a roll up the sleeves and dig in... bit by tedious bit
tommy's tips seem good, especially the one about cleaning the image. this can sometimes save a ton of touch up work... sometimes not. just be careful. and i do know we've covered mold before, so there shld be some threads to search with possible links to remote sites, conservator sites on how to clean up mold.
so, dont be afraid to post your progress results and ask for more tips/help. and, good luck
Comment
-
Re: Advice on mildew damage et al
Wow! Thanks Craig. Those are the exact tools I've been working with so far which tells me I'm headed in the right direction. First, I'll rescan the photo with more precision if I can talk the owner into letting me take it home again. Then I'll be sure to share my completed restoration with all you pros at RetouchPro for a final critique/kudos. (-:
Comment
-
Re: Advice on mildew damage et al
you're welcome
one word of warning here; because you are using those tools, it will be very easy to overdo things, leaving a smudgy mess. i often find myself doing this. you work in close and you're cloning away and you pull back and it looks horrible. work in and out in magnification. do ALL of the cloning, smudging and airbrushing on separate blank layers and dont be afraid to undo or erase. i tend to prefer erase but at a very light opacity, like 5% or less. this allows me to tone things down without completely erasing all my work and allows a bit more of the original to shine through again. working this way, you simply use the tools and erase to get a good balance between cloned areas and original. on an image as badly damaged as this one, it's also a good idea to not try to bring the image back to 'perfection' but rather go for something that's simply 'good'. take it to that stage first. if you then still want to put in time and effort, why fine, but if not, why you've at least improved things. sometimes that's all you can reasonably expect.
Comment
-
Re: Advice on mildew damage et al
earthcharm:
You might be interested in looking at the OPR forum http://www.operationphotorescue.org/forum/. This is a forum where volunteers of OPR (Operation Photo Rescue) restore photographs for victims of disasters for free. It is a very worthy organization whose members love to help. You can browse the forums available through the link I provided above, but you have to register with OPR in order to post. Registering is free.
Comment
Related Topics
Collapse
-
by thedonjonThis photo has huge sentimental value to my friend who lost her son. I searched trying to find help on how to make skin look natural when you have to take out the marks and discoloration. I ended up with the face of the son looking "plastic".
Also, does anyone know why the original...-
Channel: Image Help
12-15-2017, 04:07 PM -
-
by ukpapasmurfI have tried numerous times to make a decent photo of this old picture of my cousin.
But every attempt seems to make it worse instead of better.
Could someone please advise/help me turn this into something worth offering her
many thanks
smurf-
Channel: Photo Restoration
03-28-2007, 05:15 AM -
-
I'm trying to fix and restore this photo, but I'm having a heck of a time. I have Adobe photoshop7 and I've used it for other things, but nothing like this. I'm about a 2 on a scale of 10 as far as experience goes.
This image is a scan of a negative. I have this scan and one that is...-
Channel: Image Help
01-21-2010, 10:30 AM -
-
by mtbowenHi,
I volunteered to try and retouch an old photo of my mother-in-law and her late husband. I have taken a few scans of the photo and keep getting these odd "blotches" throughout the image. I took a really close look at the photo itself and I believe I can see that there is something...-
Channel: Photo Retouching
10-18-2006, 07:13 PM -
-
I've never posted but have been coming to the forum for awhile and would love to get some advice on how to fix a photo.
I have an old photo was taken by my mum of my brother and was taken in the early 70's it is really damaged I have tried this tutorial http://retouchpro.com/tutorial...-
Channel: Photo Restoration
10-07-2009, 07:17 PM -
Comment