Post by chromenut on Feb 23, 2012 23:31:20 GMT -5
Okay, let me try this again... I was telling this story about how Roy and I have been discussing me doing a recovery of an old photo he has. So let me start again. Y'all know I like fiddling with photos, I do a lot of digital paintings, acrylic on canvas, felt tip on linen, etc. One of the items I really and truly enjoy is repairing and recovering older photos.
So Roy says he's going to send me the photo and some slabs for doing this for him. Well, today I get them and OMG! ROY IS NUTS! The slabs he sent me are so darned gorgeous, I just don't feel worthy of them! Roy, these are beautiful, and while I may not be worthy, I'M KEEPING THEM! hahahahaha
Here's a shot of them. To give you a size reference, the sphere in the background is 2.25" across...
Lovely, aren't they!?!
So, I need you all to wish me luck on bringing this lovely old photo back to life. Roy was a cute kid, and his mom is a real looker! Lovely complexion, really am going to enjoy working on this photo! This photo was scanned in from a light bed, not a scanner. You lay the photo face up on a light bed, you use a mirror to reflect the light on the photo and a mirror to reflect the image onto your scanner. It's a bit of a PITA, but well worth the effort. If I'd tried scanning this in on a flatbed scanner, the massive volume of light used would have bleached this photo out and ruined it. So, here's the original, it's 2 3/16" wide x almost 3" tall.
Mind you, when you scan in, in the manner I described, you automatically get an enlarged photo, allowing you to work in the details much easier. This one is actually reduced by 60% to fit on these forums.
Now, to start the correction process, the first step I generally take is creating several layers in PNG format. While the file size is quite large, PNG gives you much more room to work on a picture than JPEG format does. Old school was to use TIFF format for photo corrections, but PNG allows you to use unlimited number of layers to correct the images.
So, here's the reverse image layer - it allows you to much easier correct rips, tears, etc., in a photo:
Now the most important reason for using a reverse image like this, or rather a negative image, is that you can much more easily see the outlines of the subjects in the photo. This allows one to trace out the outlines, which I will need on a later layer when putting this all back together.
After running through the negative image, removing the larger rips and tears, splotches and spots, you pull the image back and start on the softening layers. This helps remove some of the 'gunk' from old photos. Here's where I am after 30 minutes of work:
You can see Roy's quite the good looking young man now, and his mom is quite a sweet looking lady! From here, I have to produce at least a minimum of 11 layers, one for each color and tint used to restore the photo. Upon completion this photo should have a much more realistic and nearly 3d appearance. That is if I keep my finger's crossed and all turns out correctly.
So, wish me luck, I'm off to start on this. I figure about three weeks and I might be ready to start putting the layers together.
Only posting this so you can see the trade off that Roy sent me for the work! If he were close by I'd give him a great big hug for those slabs!!!!
So Roy says he's going to send me the photo and some slabs for doing this for him. Well, today I get them and OMG! ROY IS NUTS! The slabs he sent me are so darned gorgeous, I just don't feel worthy of them! Roy, these are beautiful, and while I may not be worthy, I'M KEEPING THEM! hahahahaha
Here's a shot of them. To give you a size reference, the sphere in the background is 2.25" across...
Lovely, aren't they!?!
So, I need you all to wish me luck on bringing this lovely old photo back to life. Roy was a cute kid, and his mom is a real looker! Lovely complexion, really am going to enjoy working on this photo! This photo was scanned in from a light bed, not a scanner. You lay the photo face up on a light bed, you use a mirror to reflect the light on the photo and a mirror to reflect the image onto your scanner. It's a bit of a PITA, but well worth the effort. If I'd tried scanning this in on a flatbed scanner, the massive volume of light used would have bleached this photo out and ruined it. So, here's the original, it's 2 3/16" wide x almost 3" tall.
Mind you, when you scan in, in the manner I described, you automatically get an enlarged photo, allowing you to work in the details much easier. This one is actually reduced by 60% to fit on these forums.
Now, to start the correction process, the first step I generally take is creating several layers in PNG format. While the file size is quite large, PNG gives you much more room to work on a picture than JPEG format does. Old school was to use TIFF format for photo corrections, but PNG allows you to use unlimited number of layers to correct the images.
So, here's the reverse image layer - it allows you to much easier correct rips, tears, etc., in a photo:
Now the most important reason for using a reverse image like this, or rather a negative image, is that you can much more easily see the outlines of the subjects in the photo. This allows one to trace out the outlines, which I will need on a later layer when putting this all back together.
After running through the negative image, removing the larger rips and tears, splotches and spots, you pull the image back and start on the softening layers. This helps remove some of the 'gunk' from old photos. Here's where I am after 30 minutes of work:
You can see Roy's quite the good looking young man now, and his mom is quite a sweet looking lady! From here, I have to produce at least a minimum of 11 layers, one for each color and tint used to restore the photo. Upon completion this photo should have a much more realistic and nearly 3d appearance. That is if I keep my finger's crossed and all turns out correctly.
So, wish me luck, I'm off to start on this. I figure about three weeks and I might be ready to start putting the layers together.
Only posting this so you can see the trade off that Roy sent me for the work! If he were close by I'd give him a great big hug for those slabs!!!!
