Please help me restore a photo! Please Please!

09/24/2006 11:18:40 PM · #1

Heya everyone. My grandfather wanted me to see if I could restore this old photo of my grandmother and her friends (its got real bad coloring problems at the bottom) and I can't seem to do it. I have tried my methods so now I am handing it over to you guys! Please help!

And please do no resize because we are intending to print this. If you need a place to upload it, try my server HERE.

Thanks so much in advance:

Here's the pic

09/24/2006 11:27:36 PM · #2

ok im having a go <.<

09/24/2006 11:34:38 PM · #3

Whoa, that's vicious difficult. I've never tried anything like that before. I can make some improvement easily with a gradient in overlay mode but it's nowhere near good enough. I suspect someone with more experience in custom gradients could do better.

R.

09/24/2006 11:37:08 PM · #4

Even if you have to make it black and white I think that would be fine also, I have found that I was able to get a little bit closer doing that.

09/24/2006 11:37:08 PM · #5

I got rid of the yucky bottom but now to make that and the top match hmmm lol this is hard

09/24/2006 11:51:17 PM · #6

My problem isn't the color; as you say, it's begging for B/W anyway. My problem is blending the two halves semi-professionally.

R.

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

09/24/2006 11:52:10 PM · #7

ok heres my crap attempt

David.C

09/24/2006 11:55:04 PM · #8

Fortunately there is a fairly strait dividing line between the light and dark part. I don't have time to have a full go at it, but here is quick outline of what can be done to balance the tones.

- Create a new layer and fill with 50% grey and set the blending mode for it to Soft Light (the new layer will not be visible, but will still be there.
- select the light side by drawing a rectagular selection from the top-left to the bottom-middle of the dividing line. Try to get the 'marching ants' to be as centered on the dividing line as possible.
- save selection
- Fill this selection with black.
- Invert the selection (ctrl-shift-I) and fill with white.

-- The above creates a harsh 'line' where the tones where divided, we will soften this shortly, but first examine the harsh 'line' and see if it is down the middle fo the dividing line for the tones on the image.
- Use the transform tool on the new layer (black and white now) to get the dividing line the same as on the original.
- Once satisfied it is as close as possible, apply a gaussian blur to the black/white layer to 'smooth' out the sharp edge. Adjust the radius until it's as smooth as you can get it.

It won't be perfect by any stretch, will still need some cloning (or dodge/burn if preferred) to the division and will do nothing for the color cast -- but the tones will be closer to the same.

If one half seems to be adjusted too much while the other half could take a bit more, the black and white 'soft light' layer can be split into two seperate layers, a 'black half' with Multiply blending and a 'white half' with Screen blending. A gradient will need to be added on the 'line' instead of bluring and the opacity of each adjusted to suit. Much more precise results possible -- but at the expense of much greater complexity. Try the 'soft light' above first.

David

/Damn I type slow -- look at all that activity since I started.

Message edited by author 2006-09-24 23:57:51.

09/24/2006 11:55:50 PM · #9

Originally posted by xXxscarletxXx:

ok heres my crap attempt

That's about where I am at. I got better detail on the dress on the right, you have done better on the dress on the left, neither of us is even close on the legs. Mine's a little less contrasty too. I'd suggest you do your work on a less contrasty version, then make the contrast the last thing you do; it's a lot easier to blend in low-contrast situations, usually.

R.

09/24/2006 11:56:40 PM · #10

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by xXxscarletxXx:
ok heres my crap attempt

That's about where I am at. I got better detail on the dress on the right, you have done better on the dress on the left, neither of us is even close on the legs. Mine's a little less contrasty too. I'd suggest you do your work on a less contrasty version, then make the contrast the last thing you do; it's a lot easier to blend in low-contrast situations, usually.

R.

Lets combine them then? lol yeah im trying another >.<

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

09/24/2006 11:58:59 PM · #11

Originally posted by David.C:

You can do basic work on the bottom first by running a white-to-transparent gradient on an overlay or soft light layer, up from the bottom, first. A little experimentation on how far up to draw it is needed.

Your approach is interesting, I've never tried anything like that.

R.

Hye5

Canon EOS-5D

09/25/2006 12:08:34 AM · #12

Here's my quickie try at this. The top/bottom match is not very good, but I'm sure someone with more knowledge and time could enhance on it.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

09/25/2006 12:11:28 AM · #13

Marking this thread as a watched thread so I don't forget it and will start on it tomorrow.
It's quite fixable.

BeeCee

Nikon D40

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

09/25/2006 01:03:27 AM · #14

Here's my try... as you can tell, I don't know much PS!

Hmmm... it looks more contrasty, still, to me than it did in PS... maybe it's the size....? Anyway, I'm just going with light coming in a window so their legs are gonna be darker anyway :P But at least I got the colour better, no?

Message edited by author 2006-09-25 01:30:52.

09/25/2006 04:01:41 PM · #15

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

This is similar to what I tried....

Scarlet has the best attempt so far, thanks to everyone for all the tries.. Still looking for more tries. BradP , whatcha got?

Elvis_L

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

09/25/2006 04:10:38 PM · #16

I will give it a try when I get home in a couple of hours.

Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital

09/25/2006 04:18:35 PM · #17

Originally posted by Elvis_L:

I will give it a try when I get home in a couple of hours.

Thanks!

Tlemetry

Olympus E-300 EVOLT

09/25/2006 04:30:22 PM · #18

This is really interesting to see how you all work this photo.
I have a similar situation but its red all over.
I'm keeping my eye on this transformation. Good work guys!

Elvis_L

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

09/25/2006 04:31:22 PM · #19

Originally posted by Tlemetry:

This is really interesting to see how you all work this photo.
I have a similar situation but its red all over.
I'm keeping my eye on this transformation. Good work guys!

if it is red ALL over then that can be much easier to fix.

Message edited by author 2006-09-25 16:31:52.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

09/25/2006 04:33:21 PM · #20

If the picture is red ALL over, I think that would be a lot easier to fix. Maybe you could use channel mixer or what not to get a good bw out of it. Post it and lemme have a go.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

09/25/2006 04:36:38 PM · #21

Originally posted by jfriesen:

Heya everyone. My grandfather wanted me to see if I could restore this old photo of my grandmother and her friends

Question:
Do you want the "old" look to it? (faded / color cast) or fixed to be closer to real colors?

09/25/2006 04:40:14 PM · #22

Originally posted by BradP:

Originally posted by jfriesen:
Heya everyone. My grandfather wanted me to see if I could restore this old photo of my grandmother and her friends

Question:
Do you want the "old" look to it? (faded / color cast) or fixed to be closer to real colors?

I don't want an artificial "old" look to it. Try it any way you can and if it looks best the "old" way then great, lemme have it. But I like the original colors.

Thanks BradP

yanko

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

09/25/2006 05:28:52 PM · #23

Restoration is definitely not something I have spent a lot of work with but here's what I came up with.

09/25/2006 05:32:32 PM · #24

Originally posted by yanko:

Restoration is definitely not something I have spent a lot of work with but here's what I came up with.

This is a great attempt! Thanks so much! Do you have the big version edited so I can print it out? You can use the upload link in the first post of the thread! Thanks!

P.s. Anyone else want to give it a go?

yanko