Restoring a photo - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

03/25/2005 02:49:28 PM · #1

I am trying to restore this old photo of my father. I have never restored a photo before and am not sure of the best way to do it. Does anyone have any tips for me? When I have tried to use the cloning tool on my editing programs it comes out a little blotchy. also i run into lots of problems with his mouth since the photo is so damaged in that area. Any help would be nice.

Thanks

KaDi

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

03/25/2005 02:53:21 PM · #2

Please upload the pic and post the thumbnail in this thread. Can't tell much from your description alone.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

03/25/2005 02:53:36 PM · #3

OOpS I fogot to post the pic. Its in my profile, Im not sure if I am posting the link corectly.

thanks again.

//www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=159604

KaDi

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

03/25/2005 02:55:40 PM · #4

Here it is:

(You just need to use the last icon to the right at the top of the message box--enter just the image ID in the box. In your case, 159604.)

edit to say: I'll take a swipe at it later if I get a chance.

Message edited by author 2005-03-25 14:57:05.

strangeghost

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/25/2005 03:08:53 PM · #5

I just finished restoring about a dozen photos from an album discovered after my 89 year old great aunt passed away in early February. Your photo is in bit worse shape, but it should be do-able. You should do levels, curves, etc, first, to establish the overall brightness and color balance you want. Then, go to work with the clone stamp and carefully stamp out all the damaged and cracked areas. This can be quite time consuming, but is the heart of the work.

Post some before and afters when you finish. Good luck!

-J

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/25/2005 03:20:31 PM · #6

If this really important or something you're going to do a lot of, I highly recommend getting a graphics tablet/stylus -- it makes it a lot easier and more effective. Search the forums for several recent threads discussing various ones people have/recommend.

strangeghost

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/25/2005 03:28:01 PM · #7

Here is one of my recent restorations. I've done a lot for both sides of my family in the last few years. Conversion to BW from sepia is just a matter of taste. I have versions where I left it sepia too.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/25/2005 10:34:27 PM · #8

Thank you all for your help, I am going to get a graphics tablet anyway, beacuse I need to have one for my Interior design class. Kadi thanks for showing me how to post my pic. Steangeghost your restoration looks great. i hope mine comes out as well.

wewillexplore

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

03/25/2005 10:37:03 PM · #9

if you want me to take a shot at it, email the largest file you have to mantonino@hotmail.com and I'll post my finished work in here.

M

03/25/2005 10:58:29 PM · #10

Mavric- that would be cool.. ill mail it.

Heres what I have done so far.

(before)

(after)

Message edited by author 2005-03-25 23:06:09.

03/26/2005 01:14:18 AM · #11

I've been working at it myself, this is what I have thus far:

Most of the bottom and BG is finished, almost no work on face and none on hat as yet. It occurs to me I'm wasting my time, if there's a higher-res version out there. So if you're interested, bear_music@yahoo.com, use "DPC restore" in the subject line.

Robt.

Canon EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM

03/26/2005 03:18:37 AM · #12

bear music..wow great job on the buttons and thats the small pic, Ill mail a larger one to ya. Its nice to see what people are coming up with. Thanks for your interest.

Mandy

orussell

Canon EOS Rebel T6s

03/26/2005 06:49:55 AM · #13

I PMed you Mandy.

strangeghost

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/26/2005 11:43:36 AM · #14

Bear, what are you doing, lots of clone stamping??

Originally posted by bear_music:

I've been working at it myself, this is what I have thus far:

Most of the bottom and BG is finished, almost no work on face and none on hat as yet. It occurs to me I'm wasting my time, if there's a higher-res version out there. So if you're interested, bear_music@yahoo.com, use "DPC restore" in the subject line.

Robt.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

03/26/2005 11:54:17 AM · #15

Originally posted by strangeghost:

Bear, what are you doing, lots of clone stamping??

Originally posted by bear_music:
I've been working at it myself, this is what I have thus far:

Most of the bottom and BG is finished, almost no work on face and none on hat as yet. It occurs to me I'm wasting my time, if there's a higher-res version out there. So if you're interested, bear_music@yahoo.com, use "DPC restore" in the subject line.

Robt.

Making selections of similar areas then using healing brush from one to the other, basically. When I finish with that, I will go back and work on evening the tones. The BG has been done with healing brush and then gaussian blur has been used, it still needs more work on left side. Mandy sent me the larger version so I'll start over, have something in a day or two.

Robt.

ClubJuggle

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

03/26/2005 12:10:01 PM · #16

If you like, send me the original and I will take a shot at this as well. I have a graphics tablet and Photoshop CS, both of which help tremendously for work such as this. If you're interested, send the file to dpc-thread-189013 {at-sign} clubjuggle dot com.

-Terry

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

03/26/2005 12:41:55 PM · #17

I am so happy that all of you are willing to help me out. I've been having fun and learning alot just by playing around with my photo editors. I am going out today to buy Adobe photoshop CS for my interior Design class, I'm sure it has better tools than my roxio and picture it programs do. Thanks a million times you are all great!

Mandy

Olyuzi

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

03/26/2005 12:46:21 PM · #18

I"m not photoshop expert, but try working on an enlarged version of the picture in PS so that you can see the individual pixels and work with small sized sqaure brushes. Sizes of 200% or 400% would probaby be abour right. It will be long and tedious work but would give you more precise control in being able to blend color and brightness.

wewillexplore

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

03/26/2005 01:26:12 PM · #19

I can't fix the lips very well yet - will try again later.

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

03/26/2005 01:41:26 PM · #20

Originally posted by Olyuzi:

Pixel-by-pixel is sometimes useful, yes, but usually near the end of the workflow. The key is to work on broad areas regularizing them to maybe 75% as you go, and then when you have the rough work done you go back and do it again to fine tune. By far the most useful toom if the healing brush, which is a much softer way to deal with rexture problems like this than individual-pixel editing. But when you get down to the deatilas, like the buttons and the piping, then the relly large magnifications and tiny brushes can help a lot.

Robt.

Olyuzi

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7

03/26/2005 01:50:05 PM · #21

Thank you Robert for that information. I work with PS6 and have no healing brush. What do you mean by "regularizing" broad areas to 75%?

Originally posted by bear_music:

Originally posted by Olyuzi:
I"m not photoshop expert, but try working on an enlarged version of the picture in PS so that you can see the individual pixels and work with small sized sqaure brushes. Sizes of 200% or 400% would probaby be abour right. It will be long and tedious work but would give you more precise control in being able to blend color and brightness.

Pixel-by-pixel is sometimes useful, yes, but usually near the end of the workflow. The key is to work on broad areas regularizing them to maybe 75% as you go, and then when you have the rough work done you go back and do it again to fine tune. By far the most useful toom if the healing brush, which is a much softer way to deal with rexture problems like this than individual-pixel editing. But when you get down to the deatilas, like the buttons and the piping, then the relly large magnifications and tiny brushes can help a lot.

Robt.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

03/26/2005 04:04:16 PM · #22

Originally posted by Olyuzi:

Thank you Robert for that information. I work with PS6 and have no healing brush. What do you mean by "regularizing" broad areas to 75%?

Originally posted by bear_music:

Originally posted by Olyuzi:
I"m not photoshop expert, but try working on an enlarged version of the picture in PS so that you can see the individual pixels and work with small sized sqaure brushes. Sizes of 200% or 400% would probaby be abour right. It will be long and tedious work but would give you more precise control in being able to blend color and brightness.

Pixel-by-pixel is sometimes useful, yes, but usually near the end of the workflow. The key is to work on broad areas regularizing them to maybe 75% as you go, and then when you have the rough work done you go back and do it again to fine tune. By far the most useful toom if the healing brush, which is a much softer way to deal with rexture problems like this than individual-pixel editing. But when you get down to the deatilas, like the buttons and the piping, then the relly large magnifications and tiny brushes can help a lot.

Robt.

By "regularizing" I mean I work with the cloning tool and the healing brush tool to get these areas about 75% "good enough", area by area. Eventually I have the whole image around 75% of what I want it to be, quality-wise. Then I sit back and take a look at the whole thing, and determine how to best to proceed from there.

Since you don't have healing brush, use the clone stamp tool with a soft-eged brush and run it at about 50-75% opacity, make repeated passes as needed.

Sometimes I even clone at 10-15% opacity for special uses, it's an important adjustment.

Robt.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

03/26/2005 04:32:13 PM · #23

You can also apply the cloned areas onto a new layer, preserving the original data underneath, which allows a quick before/after comparison, and also allows you to further adjust the opacity (and other characteristics) of the cloned pixels independently.

If I'm cloning in different parts of the photo, I'll put each on a separate layer. If you save regularly, the extra memory hit of these mostly-transparent layers shouldn't be too bad.

ElGordo

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS for Canon

03/26/2005 04:38:53 PM · #24

Mavrik, it is starting to look pretty good. When the original is as bad as this one it takes a lot time and attention to detail. Very expensive if done commercially.

SteveJ