Would like advice please trying to salvage damaged B&W negatives

[thebestcpu]

Hi - just jumping in here...from the looks of the window header - top center - you have Photoshop CC 2017:

View attachment 129942

Content Aware Fill was first available in PS CC 2019. You'll need to upgrade to have that option.

Going by memory, there is a Content Aware Fill available on earlier versions yet it is not as complete and capable and you can find it under Edit > Fill > Content Aware
Note that it will be grayed out unless you have a selection made.
I do recommend the upgrade as you have a much more capable Content Aware Fill with specific controls on where to sample for replacement locations etc.
John Wheeler

 

[JeffK]

Hi Jeff. Yes I just figured that out. Thank you.
I just purchased the newest version of PS but so far I have not been able to run the installer. (Chatting with Adobe now)

I've had my share of issues with installations - Adobe should be able to help you with this...

 

[photoscoo]

OK I am current now with PS. Got it installed.

Now to get accustomed to the content aware fill dialogue. My results so far are not what I expected.

 

[nurgle]

Hi, Actually you have "content aware", and it shows up in your menu, in part of the scale menu.

you just have to make a selection, then go to fill, and you will find the drop down Manu "Content aware" (that option will NOT show if you have not made a selection first.

regards, Sandy

 

[nurgle]

Hi, saw you not that you have tried.
here I say observation of that.

your are selection too much in on ego, being over sized area, my two arrows, as you have 2 lines, and neither are aligned with the line you are copying them from, use small sections that only contains 1 line, as shown in my small selection square, and small selections work quicker.

regards, Sandy

 

[nurgle]

Hi, saw you not that you have tried.
here I say observation of that.

your are selection too much in on ego, being over sized area, my two arrows, as you have 2 lines, and neither are aligned with the line you are copying them from, use small sections that only contains 1 line, as shown in my small selection square, and small selections work quicker.

regards, Sandy

View attachment 129954

OMG have just seen what bad typing and autocorrect have don't to what I meant to say. my apologies... read as "in one go" not ego. regards, Sandy

 

[photoscoo]

Hi Sandy!

U gotta love auto-correct.

Yes I am aware of the drop-down content-aware option. And you're right - my selection was too large. I will take smaller bites.

I am back at this now, determined to make progress today...

- Ken

 

[photoscoo]

Hi @photoscoo
As an example of the content aware fill capability, I selected one common portion of a beam in the ceiling, selected that bad areas, and then within the Content Aware Tool, allowed the good sampling areas only to be the good areas of the beam.
I made this into an animation GIF showing before and after. Without any special efforts, it did a decent job.
I made a full size GIF so hope that displays correctly. If not, will repost with a smaller version.
Just an example of another tool that could be used.
John Wheeler

View attachment 129331

Hi John,

I am trying this now. Getting the hang of it..

- Ken

 

[nurgle]

Hi John,

I am trying this now. Getting the hang of it..

- Ken

it also does not help that my right hand was re-assembled in 2009 after a power saw accident... and sometime my fingers hit the wrong keys.
regards, Sandy

 

[nurgle]

never forget that there my be a percebtibly slight taper in what looks to us like parallel lines.

even when square on to the camera there may be some pincushion or barrel distortion.

regards, Sandy

 

[photoscoo]

Well now PS has closed because the scratch disks are full.

I'm googling how to free up disk space. If you guys know how to delete PS temp files, can you please share? I haven't been able to locate them yet.

 

[photoscoo]

it also does not help that my right hand was re-assembled in 2009 after a power saw accident... and sometime my fingers hit the wrong keys.
regards, Sandy

Ouch.. wow that sounds like it must have been horrible.

 

[nurgle]

Ouch.. wow that sounds like it must have been horrible.

totally painless as it severed all the nerves... 400+ stitches (they lost count) and 6 hours of artery reconstruction. but hey, I am a clumsy old bugger.. hahahah
regards, Sandy

 

[IamSam]

My results so far are not what I expected.

Yes.........and I fear that "content-aware" is not going to be the solution.

This is going to be a very long and difficult restoration done with selections (Pen Tool), Clone Stamp and Brush Tool.

Here are some quick effort thus far.....

Before


First section isolated...


Second section isolated....


After

This is just one small section. This will take several months of persistent work to restore.

 

[nurgle]

Well now PS has closed because the scratch disks are full.

I'm googling how to free up disk space. If you guys know how to delete PS temp files, can you please share? I haven't been able to locate them yet.

Hi, you can delete all photoshop caches... for a start.

I think Temp files are hidden away. need to search and they are in cryptic file names. need an experts advice where to find them.

regards

Sandt

 

[nurgle]

2 you can always plug in a hard drive and transfer of non essential files in the meantime.

Regards, Sandy

 

[nurgle]

Yes.........and I fear that "content-aware" is not going to be the solution.

This is going to be a very long and difficult restoration done with selections, Clone Stamp and Brush Tool.

Here are some quick effort thus far.....

Before
View attachment 129960

First section isolated...
View attachment 129964

Second section isolated....
View attachment 129965

After
View attachment 129961
This is just one small section. This will take several months of persistent work to restore.

Very well done. highly professional.

 

[photoscoo]

I think I'm good now. I deleted a bunch of stuff - and then I was able to re-launch PS. I then did a purge all from PS and now I have 53gb free on my HD.

 

[photoscoo]

Yes.........and I fear that "content-aware" is not going to be the solution.

This is going to be a very long and difficult restoration done with selections (Pen Tool), Clone Stamp and Brush Tool.

Here are some quick effort thus far.....

Before
View attachment 129960

First section isolated...
View attachment 129964

Second section isolated....
View attachment 129965

After
View attachment 129961
This is just one small section. This will take several months of persistent work to restore.

That's excellent IamSam.

I started this project from scratch (no pun intended) today, and have been using a mixture of content aware fill, copy/paste and the clone stamp.

For sure this is going to take me a while.

 

[IamSam]

That's excellent IamSam.

Well.....it's a start!

Small sections with selections.....