Making image look better

[Ran]

Hi,

Long time no see

I received this photo and was asked to try make it look better.

I was never good at making old/bad looking images look better.

I can use the "stamp tool" to clean the dots but what about the rest
of the photo.

Any ideas ?

Kind regards,

Ran

 

[Joy Foraker]

Interesting photo. You have an arsenal of tools to help you do the job as you know. I'm probably saying things you already know but here goes:

Always work on a copy, keep your original as background copy. Save your psd file frequently.

Blow your photo up very big when working on it and toggle back to see the effect after applying a tool.

If you have a specific problem, search here or google for a specific problem.

I think you could enhance (using saturate) your photo a bit before you start, you can always take it back a step or two later on. And, most importantly, I would lighten the background without disturbing the "antique" look about it.

I'm sure others (who have more experience than I) will have suggestions so we all can learn more. Good luck.

 

[boydphoto]

i hope this helps.

is this what you had in mind?

 

[Ran]

Hi,

That looks nice. Some parts look more sharp and clean but that makes
the problematic parts ( surrounding the image ) more noticeable.

Also the face looks a bit like it was "Photoshoped"

What techniques did you use.

Any recommendations ?

Thank you,

Ran

 

[JoeD]

Ran, a 297*470 pixels image is way too smal to get a descent result. The fact that it's a jpeg only makes things worse (artifacts). Ask them for an uncompressed image (TIFF for example) at the highest resolution as possible.

Important first is to correct the highlights, mid tones and shadows and 'levels' is a good tool for that.

The background should be easy to smooth out, but keep some very slight noise in it too make it look natural.
Smoothing the skin can be done with the blur tool (small soft brush, 10-20%) on a separate layer (select 'Use All Layers' in option bar). Darker areas and highlights can be adjusted using the dodge and burn tool (10%) on a 50% gray layer that is set to blending mode overlay (on top of the original image). Important is to make sure that you have contrast and detail in the eyes, the most important part of any portrait. Bringing out the darker areas can be done with curves, but in this particular image I prefer to selectively burn the darker areas with a 10%, soft dodge 'burn' and the tool set to "shadows".

All adjustments should be done non-destructive! Make all your corrections on separate layers if possible. Don't use the clone tool on the original, but clone on a new layer with "Use All Layers" turned on in the option bar.

I would convert the final result to black and white and add sepia tone if the owner prefers this.

Slightly sharpen the final result. You might consider to sharpen only those areas that are really important by using a mask.

To sum up some important aspects of success retouching;

• use large images, uncompressed
• plan ahead; try to figure out what kind of steps you need to correct a particular image BEFORE you begin
• work as much non-destructive as possible
• be patient; in most cases it's better to go over an area a few times, to use a smaller brush or to use more than one tool, instead of trying to fix things with one stroke or a single click on the mouse button
• try to work on selective areas if needed. For example; removing noise in a face doesn't mean you should remove noise in the complete image
• avoid to go over the edge with your tools; often 'less' is better. Going too far might make your image look artificial. Don't try to make a 1900 photograph look like it was taken 2 years ago, because that might also have a negative effect on the final result[/list:u]
  
  If you need to know more about retouching;
  • Book: Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann
  • Book: Photoshop Artistry
  • Web site: http://www.retouchpro.com/[/list:u]Good luck! 8))

 

[Ran]

Thank you Joe !

Of course if it was possible I would get a bigger image, unfortunatly
this is all I got to work with.

I use Photoshop on daily basis for years, but in last 3-4 years it's
mainly for texturing 3D models ( drawing, creating textures, burn&dodge,
lightnings . . . too much to mention ) and also editing photos but not
raising photo quality. So it's time to get into this field too.

Thanks again !

Best regards,

Ran

 

[Tron]

Hope you work it out Ran - Glad to see you back Bud. :} :} :}

 

[kiwi]

Heres another atempt

 

[JoeD]

Very good Stu, can't think of something that should be improved. Well done!

 

[kiwi]

Thanx

 

[mflintjer]

WOW Kiwi,

Very nice job on that!!

8)) :}

 

[Ran]

Thanks guys

I'm still trying but can't reach the level of what Stu done. Need more
practice.

Stu great job as usual. Are you still using cinema 4D ?

Rick, still using that white guitar ?

Best regards,

Ran

 

[kiwi]

WOW Kiwi,

Very nice job on that!!

8)) :}

Thanks

 

[kiwi]

Thanks guys

I'm still trying but can't reach the level of what Stu done. Need more
practice.

Stu great job as usual. Are you still using cinema 4D ?

Rick, still using that white guitar ?

Best regards,

Ran

Thanks Ran



Ya I am still using C4D,its really starting to come along now{the software}.Are you still using Max?


Give me a yell sometime...I am on MSN at my normal addie also.



Cheers

Stu.

 

[Ran]

Hi Stu

Yeap, I'm still using Max, I got less time these days, I added a partner
to my company ( www.3rd.co.il ) plus I'm in advertizing campaign now
so I'm mostly on the phone all day long [confused]

Best regards,

Ran

 

[infection]

wow.. thats a good job

 

[C9Mouse]

Hello Ran,

I thought I would give this a go, sin ce I've been reading up on fixing old photos myself. Here is what I came up with (as best as possible working with a JPEG):

A great book that would help with projects like this is The Photoshop 7 WOW Book, by Jack Davis. This book has tons of awesome tutorials on fixing, retouching, and working with photos. Not to mention working with styles, brushes, and more.

One of the best tricks I learned from Davis' book was a variation of the following (for getting rid of spots on photos):

1) Duplicate the layer on which you are working.
2) To the duplicate layer apply Filter > Noise > Dust & Scratches, and adjust the settings so that the spots are no longer visible (in this case it was Radius:6, Threshold:0).
3) Add a mask to the duplicate layer, it's the second button from the left on the bottom of the layer palette.
4) Click on the mask you have just made and go to Image > Adjustments > Invert. You now see your original image, the mask is black (fully transparent).
5) Take the brush tool at a convenient setting and paint with white over the damaged areas. Watch the spots disappear as you paint back the layer above.

Hope this helps.

- dc

 

[TaK]

Glad you?re back ran, do you remember me?