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Please help me to fix this damaged, old, scanned, black and white photo


blasteralfred

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Hi gurus,
I am a PS newbie. I have a scanned copy of one old black and white photograph. The photo is damaged, in the sense that;
  • The color of photo become yellowish. Instead of "black and white", its now like a "sepia" effect
  • There are grains all over the image. Which means, the photo is not "smooth", instead, there are small damages, which overall makes a grains effect.
  • The photograph contain some stains / stamp marks.
I have tried some days going after tutorials and videos, but none of them worked for me. The most effective tutorial was http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2...to-rescue-vintage-prints-and-family-pictures/
Somebody please help me to fix this, 'm stuck, and I will be really thankful. I am attaching the image.

Thanks in advance

C6hHCND.jpg
 

gedstar

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Hi

This was done very quickly just as an example
To remove the sepia effect I just added a Black and White adjustment layer
To remove the grainy effect I used the dust and scratches filter, first I converted the image to a smart object that way I was able to mask out the effect on the face
Lastly I just used the spot healing brush on a new layer to remove the stains etc

C6hHCND1 as Smart Object-1.jpg
 
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IamSam

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Had a quick blast with several filters and spot healing work...
It may be your screenshot, but your image looks very muddy, and blurred. Looks like you went crazy with the Blur Tool.

Do you have a better image?
 

IamSam

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The problem I see with this image is that there is just too much lost information that would have to be replaced.

For example, the collar of the dress. It's appears to me to be lace. There's simply no tool available in Ps to manipulate the existing information of the image to make that collar look like it originally appeared, it would have to be replaced. The dress itself serves as another example. It may have had a pattern. But we can't tell that. So the dress recreation would be subjective. The hair would be yet another example. The face would be about the only part of the image that could contain enough information and would not need to be totally replaced.
 

blasteralfred

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The problem I see with this image is that there is just too much lost information that would have to be replaced.

For example, the collar of the dress. It's appears to me to be lace. There's simply no tool available in Ps to manipulate the existing information of the image to make that collar look like it originally appeared, it would have to be replaced. The dress itself serves as another example. It may have had a pattern. But we can't tell that. So the dress recreation would be subjective. The hair would be yet another example. The face would be about the only part of the image that could contain enough information and would not need to be totally replaced.

I agree about dress. But can we fix the skin and hair at least? The dress can be replaced.
 

IamSam

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The hair would also need to be replaced.

Repairing the face depends on your goal for the image.

You need to get to work with the Spot Healing Brush Tool and work on the tiny imperfections one by one.


Before.....
Screen Shot 2016-01-26 at 11.08.13 AM.png

After...
Screen Shot 2016-01-26 at 11.08.02 AM.png
 

IamSam

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This is after about 15 minutes working on the skin with the Spot Healing Brush Tool, the Brush Tool, and some Clone Stamp Tool.
(Of course there's a big T in the middle of the face that I have to stay away from!)

Before....
Screen Shot 2016-01-26 at 12.36.10 PM.png

After...
Screen Shot 2016-01-26 at 12.35.49 PM.png
 
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IamSam

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Wow man... you're an expert... brilliant..
@IamSam, can you post a better image, I mean, a higher resolution (original) version?
Thanks.

I'm very sorry but I did not keep a .psd file of the changes that I made to the face. I was just doing it as a quick demonstration of how you could do it. I just closed the document without saving the work. I didn't think that there was much that could be done with it since there's a big T in the middle of the face.
 

blasteralfred

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@IamSam oops, I never thought you discarded the psd file :sad:, but as you know, I am a newbie - a beginner. I used brush, but its not "perfect" as your work. I donno if I can say this, but I request, if possible (and if you have time), kindly post the image.
Thank you. Thank for your support.
 

IamSam

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@IamSam oops, I never thought you discarded the psd file :sad:, but as you know, I am a newbie - a beginner.
This is true, always save your work..............unless it's quick work done for a demonstration, then there's NO NEED to save the file! It's just clutter!


I used brush, but its not "perfect" as your work. I donno if I can say this, but I request, if possible (and if you have time), kindly post the image.
Thank you. Thank for your support.
Thank you, but it's not perfect. If your willing to post the original image without the black T on the face in the free edit forum, myself or someone here in the forum might do some work on it for you. But this is not the best solution, you should learn to do the work your self. We will help you.
 

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