Faded Polaroid, Laminated and Scratched

[ramandu]

Here we go guys...how would you go about bringing life to this image?

I had to dropbox it, because of this forum's ridiculous 100kb limit on attachments.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14275556/001_Restore.jpg

Thanks,

Charles R. Lawson, CPP, AFP
The Highlander Studios

[John Wheeler]

Re: Faded Polaroid, Laminated and Scratched

Hi Charles

- First I would make sure I have the best image possible which may be by using a copy stand instead of a flatbed scanner. With a copy stand you can position the lights to get more detail and less reflection from the reflective Polaroid coating.
- From there you can assess how much of an image you have. If some parts are blown out/clipped then there will be no details to recover.
- White balance in LR or ACR
- Then a lot of TLC with restoration work (looks too bad to call it retouching). You are probably limited in what can be done as offhand, the shot looks like it was focused on the background so the subjects are quite "soft" even in the best case restoration.

All my opinion of course and hope this gives you a couple tips to check out.

[0lBaldy]

Re: Faded Polaroid, Laminated and Scratched

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

If you use Photoshop you can post fairly large pictures which are under 100k using the 'save for web' function in Photoshop as described here:
Size, Quality and/or Format your Attached Images.. (Click here)

How to attach Files/Images to your Posts or Threads:
(Click here)

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, as you did here... but also please attach an under 100K version (so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links).

To increase your limit on uploads from 100k to 200k and get other benefits consider becoming a patron @ RetouchPRO, see > Patron (Annual Donation) FAQ

Now to the problem at hand, First I would try to get as much detail as possible... either by Scanning, see > (Scanners, textures, scratches, cracks, silvering) or by Copying, see > Some Standard Copying Techniques

Then start the laborious task of spot cleaning and airbrushing/painting, see > Airbrushing .... I tried to eek out a little more detail from what you posted... the cleaning I will leave to you..