How to approach this restoration

[AHeaps]

Hi,
I am fairly new to photo restoration. I have done a few easier restorations but recently I was given a picture to try and restore that's in pretty bad shape. It is faded, and the edges are torn. But the main problem is that it is covered in black spots. I had a quick go at removing the spots using Dust and Scratches set to lighten, but this left a lot of white areas all over the photo.
I would greatly appreciate some advice on how best to approach this - do I sort out the spots first (if so, how?), get the levels adjusted so the photo is clearer or fix the damaged areas?

I was going to upload a copy of the picture, but can't get it below the 100kb file size limit.

Many thanks in advance.

[Tony W]

Re: How to approach this restoration

Normally it helps to first to get the image into a fit state relating to contrast density prior to attempting the rest of restoration.

Obviously you want to do it yourself so why not just post a crop section of your image so we can see the problem and make suggestions. If you do this do not try and correct first. Also state what software you will be using

[AHeaps]

Re: How to approach this restoration

Thanks Tony, I'll do that when I get a chance.

[AHeaps]

Re: How to approach this restoration

Okay, here's a crop of the photo before any edits. The background is pretty similar shading to the rest of the pic, so I think it may be tricky to get the levels right.

retouchprosmall.jpg

I've also uploaded the crop after applying a D&S layer set to lighten, which does shift most of the black dots, but then leaves lots of white.

retouchprosmall despeckle.jpg

[Tony W]

Re: How to approach this restoration

I know that you needed to lower image quality to post but unless your original contains much more detail I suspect that this will not be a totally satisfactory restore.

I quick play to alter contrast and density and then using a mask based on find edges filter and applying median filter to get rid of mainly the black spots reveals the underlying image showing very little in the way of detail.

The underlying emulsion looks like it has been affected although there is likely to be JPEG artefact caused during the conversion to fit size here

If this is a full size crop then you may want to try scanning again at a higher resolution to see if you can gain any more detail. If not you may have to walk away from this one

[0lBaldy]

Re: How to approach this restoration

AHeaps, Welcome to RetouchPRO
Hope you enjoy your stay here and make lots of friends.
Poke around, have fun!

RetouchPRO is a place for help, with abundant offerings of knowledge, opinions, or just interesting thoughts, We are a remarkably troll-free and welcoming group.

Each post helps thousands of future users, not just you.

Just one thing to help the forum... If you use Photoshop you can post fairly large pictures which are under 100k using the 'save for web' function in Photoshop as described in this thread:
(Size, Quality and/or Format your Attached Images..)
The save for web function in the latest Photoshop is hidden under File>Export>Save for web (legacy)

This thread explains (How to attach Files/Images to your Posts or Threads )

If you want to post a larger resolution that is over 100K then you can host your image elsewhere and attach a link in the thread, but also, always please attach an under 100K version (so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links). (always link to the highest resolution.. or the largest size you can upload)

If you become a "Patron" You can attach files up to 1MB to any post, You won't see any ads on the site, There's a private forum just for Patrons, You can display an automatic signature under your posts, Your posts will clearly identify you as a Patron, so everyone knows of your generous support.

Welcome aboard !

[Gary]

Re: How to approach this restoration

A bit of everything, including a few spare parts from the Web. :^)

[AHeaps]

Re: How to approach this restoration

A bit of everything, including a few spare parts from the Web. :^)

Looks good. I have managed to remove the black spots using a dust and scratches layer set to lighten and an currently trying to fill in the white areas that this has revealed.