old newspaper photo

[michael79f]

I recently had a request to repair/restore an old newspaper photo for a client. They no longer have the original clipping and the digital image they gave me has a LOT of problems. My inclination is to hand paint, but any suggestions on how to approach the problem would be appreciated.

[plugsnpixels]

Re: old newspaper photo

A few thoughts:

Is the digital version they provided you with any better than what you've posted here?

What exactly do they want done? Will an artistic reconstruction suffice?

Is the newspaper accessible through an online newspaper archive (many are)?

One thought I had was to run the digital version through a scanning app that could descreen it (VueScan, etc.). But in the end I think you're looking at a hand painted reconstruction, for reasons other than the bad quality (crooked and too-tight cropping especially).

[michael79f]

Re: old newspaper photo

Thanks for your input!

The digital version I was provided with is a bit larger, but not much better quality. I cropped and compressed to meet upload requirements, but the original is only 796x362 (269K).

They want the best I can get out of it... an artistic reconstruction will do if I need to go that route.

I would have to ask the client about the publisher. I got the impression that this was a "copy" of a clipping.

I was wondering about descreening. I tried FFT just to see, but the noise in the image has no clear pattern that I could see.

Thanks again.

[plugsnpixels]

Re: old newspaper photo

I really think that under the circumstances an artistic reconstruction is called for. At a much higher fee of course! ;-) I suppose this will be displayed at a car dealership or garage?

Unless you can locate an online archive of the paper and that copy might even be worse; sometimes they look like very contrasty photocopies. Maybe a local library can help with an original.

[michael79f]

Re: old newspaper photo

I think that the fastest way to a finished job is to go the artistic route. This is the second time I've had a job of this nature, and was curious about how others approach the problem. The piece, incidentally, is for a private client who's grandfather(?) owned the garage.

Thanks again.

[chillin]

Re: old newspaper photo

Post larger image, I can't see the problem.

[Cupcake]

Re: old newspaper photo

Larger picture

[michael79f]

Re: old newspaper photo

Thanks for your interest everyone. As I mentioned earlier, the image I was given to work with is only 796x362. I cropped out a 247 x 296 section of that in order to meet with upload requirements here. I did not sample down, so that's the best (most detailed) version I have.

[chillin]

Re: old newspaper photo

Here is 796x362 below 100k. It could be done.

[michael79f]

Re: old newspaper photo

Hi Chillin
I've saved the client file as jpg 45 quality to get the full image under 100k. I did not crop or scale. Thanks for any input.

[plugsnpixels]

Re: old newspaper photo

That full frame version has more hope, but not a lot ;-). You can't even read the sign over the door, much less recover anything decent out of it without the artistic makeover.

Curious how the original disappeared after someone scanned or photocopied it.

[Cupcake]

Re: old newspaper photo

I would go with the artist way.