Restoring an old B&W photo

[Rob Philip198991]

I'm trying to restore 53 year old B&W print of my parents. No negative available, so I'm having to work from a 3x5 print. The ultimate goal is to have something good enough that I can create a decent looking 8x10 print of the rightmost 4 people in the photo.

In order to have as much data as possible with which to work, I scanned the photo at my scanner's stated hw resolution of 4800dpi, and had it open up the shadows as much as possible. I didn't attempt any cleaning of the print other than lightly brushing off any dust.

I'll embed a small segment of the original that illustrates the problem. Lots of cracks and "spots" in the emulsion, to the point where it's difficult to see the fabric of the dark wool suit. My brain can "see" how it should look, but I'm having difficulty convincing either PSE or PSP to clean up the cracks and dots and show me the fabric pattern.

A reduced version of the original scan is at

http://sonic.net/~rbp/group_at_table_resized.jpg

And a reduced version of my in-progress work (I've only worked on the right side of the photo so far) is at:

http://sonic.net/~rbp/work_in_progress.jpg

Any suggestions as to how to make that durn suit look "natural" would be more than welcome!

Here's a good example of all the worst in the original photo:



--
Rob

 

[MagicAngel]

First thing to keep in mind is that you will only want to 'save' the areas with image detail. The rest of the cracked areas, like your example, that are blurred, just waste them with the dust and scratches filter turned way up. There is no detail to worry about, so blast them away. That will give you more time to work on the finer details of the image details.

Create new layer and fire dust and scratches on it enough to remove the cracks, then mask that area so that the image detail areas are not blasted away. From there you can work on the details.

I'm trying to restore 53 year old B&W print of my parents. No
negative available, so I'm having to work from a 3x5 print. The
ultimate goal is to have something good enough that I can create a
decent looking 8x10 print of the rightmost 4 people in the photo.

In order to have as much data as possible with which to work, I
scanned the photo at my scanner's stated hw resolution of 4800dpi,
and had it open up the shadows as much as possible. I didn't
attempt any cleaning of the print other than lightly brushing off
any dust.

I'll embed a small segment of the original that illustrates the
problem. Lots of cracks and "spots" in the emulsion, to the point
where it's difficult to see the fabric of the dark wool suit. My
brain can "see" how it should look, but I'm having difficulty
convincing either PSE or PSP to clean up the cracks and dots and
show me the fabric pattern.

A reduced version of the original scan is at

http://sonic.net/~rbp/group_at_table_resized.jpg

And a reduced version of my in-progress work (I've only worked on
the right side of the photo so far) is at:

http://sonic.net/~rbp/work_in_progress.jpg

Any suggestions as to how to make that durn suit look "natural"
would be more than welcome!

Here's a good example of all the worst in the original photo:



--
Rob

 

[Vernon D Rainwater]

I'm trying to restore 53 year old B&W print of my parents. No
negative available, so I'm having to work from a 3x5 print. The
ultimate goal is to have something good enough that I can create a
decent looking 8x10 print of the rightmost 4 people in the photo.

In order to have as much data as possible with which to work, I
scanned the photo at my scanner's stated hw resolution of 4800dpi,
and had it open up the shadows as much as possible. I didn't
attempt any cleaning of the print other than lightly brushing off
any dust.

I'll embed a small segment of the original that illustrates the
problem. Lots of cracks and "spots" in the emulsion, to the point
where it's difficult to see the fabric of the dark wool suit. My
brain can "see" how it should look, but I'm having difficulty
convincing either PSE or PSP to clean up the cracks and dots and
show me the fabric pattern.

A reduced version of the original scan is at

http://sonic.net/~rbp/group_at_table_resized.jpg

And a reduced version of my in-progress work (I've only worked on
the right side of the photo so far) is at:

http://sonic.net/~rbp/work_in_progress.jpg

Any suggestions as to how to make that durn suit look "natural"
would be more than welcome!

Here's a good example of all the worst in the original photo:



--
Rob

Hello Rob,

Most of my comments really are NOT helpful -- mostly my opinions -- but I do not see any methods that I could do better than what you have accomplished so far and realizing you are not finished with even the right part..

Your project is not an easy task. Of course, when we work with deterated photos (especially when the emulsion is cracked, etc) it is especially hard to work with.

After looking at the original image and your work in progress, I don't believe you will be able to retain much of the fabric details in the dark clothing. The problem is that (there actually is not much detail there) AND after getting the cracks and blemished fixed, there just isn't much (in between the damaged areas) that can be used to rebuild the original fabric details for the dark clothing.

I believe you will have a better chance of salvaging some of the lighter details.

You obviously are having to resort to cloning a lot of the bad areas OR other methods that are basically the same principal as cloning. I believe you may want to consider getting all Facial features corrected to be as natural as possible then next the clothes to look natural (even though some of the detail will be missing) then you can correct most of the Background by using the Noise filter (Dust and scratches) by selecting and applying ONLY to the Background. I would NOT use Dust & Scratches filtering for ANY of the facial areas.

The image (especially the facial features are actually very good and you should be able to be correct to where you will be very pleased with that part. It appears that the photo (originally) was one of the better quality images for it's time.

In my opinion, the corrections you have made (to part of the right) is definitely being effective. Yes, it will take quite a long time and with patience you will succeed.
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

 

[Rob Philip198991]

Thanks for the feedback.

It's the dark suit jackets that are providing all the problems - the light jackets on the women are not problematic at all, nor the facial details. Nor the background or the out-of-focus table.

Unfortunately, "just waste them with dust & scratches", even at 25 pixel width just ends up blurring the cracks and white spots and making the result a grey that is in between the white of the scratches and the dark of the fabric.

Now, admittedly that's easier than the blurring I caused with clone tool & scratch tool but it's still not the effect I'm trying for. I don't mind losing the detail in the fabric - indeed the example I gave is sufficiently out of focus already that there isn't much detail, but there are other portions that are more in focus where I'd like to hang on to a little more detail.

What I'd like is to figure out how to darken the scratches (rather than just blur them) and then somehow manage some sort of (probably blurred) hint of texture.

I'm sure that a huge part of my problem is that I don't know how to effectively use the tools I have available to me...

Rob

 

[Vikki Hansen]

I'm not sure, but are you looking for a solution that you can apply globally?
If so, I don't think you'll get satisfactory results.

One thing to do before using dust & scratches, is to clone out the larger blemishes. These are contributing to the "gray" areas. You may find that adjusting the levels on the d&s layer will help with the "gray" areas as well. You may even want to apply d&s, with a layer mask, more than once. Run once for light areas, another for dark, etc.

If you're not familiar with the d&s technique as used with a layer mask, here's a short tutorial I wrote. Perhaps it will help.
http://www.retouchpro.com/tutorials/index.php?m=show&id=63

Thanks for the feedback.

It's the dark suit jackets that are providing all the problems -
the light jackets on the women are not problematic at all, nor the
facial details. Nor the background or the out-of-focus table.

Unfortunately, "just waste them with dust & scratches", even at 25
pixel width just ends up blurring the cracks and white spots and
making the result a grey that is in between the white of the
scratches and the dark of the fabric.

Now, admittedly that's easier than the blurring I caused with clone
tool & scratch tool but it's still not the effect I'm trying for. I
don't mind losing the detail in the fabric - indeed the example I
gave is sufficiently out of focus already that there isn't much
detail, but there are other portions that are more in focus where
I'd like to hang on to a little more detail.

What I'd like is to figure out how to darken the scratches (rather
than just blur them) and then somehow manage some sort of (probably
blurred) hint of texture.

I'm sure that a huge part of my problem is that I don't know how to
effectively use the tools I have available to me...

Rob

--
Vikki Hansen
http://www.lifetimephoto.com

 

[Rob Philip198991]

I'm not sure, but are you looking for a solution that you can apply
globally?
If so, I don't think you'll get satisfactory results.

Not really - the "big" problem is the two dark jackets. And I don't mind taking a lot of small steps - but I'm kind of stranded at the intersection wondering what path I need to take to get to where I know I need to go...

One thing to do before using dust & scratches, is to clone out the
larger blemishes. These are contributing to the "gray" areas. You
may find that adjusting the levels on the d&s layer will help with
the "gray" areas as well. You may even want to apply d&s, with a
layer mask, more than once. Run once for light areas, another for
dark, etc.

That looks to be a good long way in the direction I need to go - I'd started to get glimmerings that "layers" were going to be the solution to my problem, and your tutorial answers the question of how to go about using them...

Thanks for the help..

Rob

 

[CaseyJ]

The image posted seems to be in grayscale. Scan the photo in RGB and then look at the different color channels in Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Often one of the color channels will be easier to work with than a grayscale image.
CaseyJ

 

[lnd]

I'm trying to restore 53 year old B&W print of my parents. No
negative available, so I'm having to work from a 3x5 print. The
ultimate goal is to have something good enough that I can create a
decent looking 8x10 print of the rightmost 4 people in the photo.

I would crop to the area you want to keep first to make a less unwieldy file to work with. There are some fantastic experts on this forum who will probably come in with good tips.
--
Larry D
http://home.clara.net/lnd

 

[Rob Philip198991]

The image posted seems to be in grayscale. Scan the photo in RGB
and then look at the different color channels in Photoshop or Paint
Shop Pro. Often one of the color channels will be easier to work
with than a grayscale image.

Indeed, it was scanned as a greyscale. I'm rescanning it as a color image right now.

Not 100% clear on what you mean by one color channel being easier to work with, but maybe that'll be obvious once I go looking..

Are you guessing that the imperfections might have a common color that could be edited out, or ???

Rob

 

[CaseyJ]

Indeed, it was scanned as a greyscale. I'm rescanning it as a color
image right now.

Not 100% clear on what you mean by one color channel being easier
to work with, but maybe that'll be obvious once I go looking..

Are you guessing that the imperfections might have a common color
that could be edited out, or ???

Rob

Yes, often the imperfections are predominately in one color channel or another. If so just delete the offending channel(s) and work with the best channel(s). You are in black and white to start with so you will not lose any color by deleting one or two color channels. Just a thought.
CaseyJ

 

[Rob Philip198991]

Indeed, it was scanned as a greyscale. I'm rescanning it as a color
image right now.

Not 100% clear on what you mean by one color channel being easier
to work with, but maybe that'll be obvious once I go looking..

Are you guessing that the imperfections might have a common color
that could be edited out, or ???

Rob

Yes, often the imperfections are predominately in one color channel
or another. If so just delete the offending channel(s) and work
with the best channel(s). You are in black and white to start with
so you will not lose any color by deleting one or two color
channels. Just a thought.

Alrighty then. I've got an RGB scan, but I'm having no luck finding (never mind deleting) "color channels" in Photoshop Elements 2. Am I missing something obvious?

I'll try PSP in a moment..

 

[Vernon D Rainwater]

The image posted seems to be in grayscale. Scan the photo in RGB
and then look at the different color channels in Photoshop or Paint
Shop Pro. Often one of the color channels will be easier to work
with than a grayscale image.
CaseyJ

There seems to be a difference of the type of image than the one that I saved. The version of your image that I saved was RGB. Also, I specifically checked the channels and unfortunately, there was little to NO difference in the three channels Red, Green, Blue as compared to the sum of all which of course is (the RGB) display.
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

 

[Vernon D Rainwater]

The image posted seems to be in grayscale. Scan the photo in RGB
and then look at the different color channels in Photoshop or Paint
Shop Pro. Often one of the color channels will be easier to work
with than a grayscale image.
CaseyJ

There seems to be a difference of the type of image than the one
that I saved. The version of your image that I saved was RGB.
Also, I specifically checked the channels and unfortunately, there
was little to NO difference in the three channels Red, Green, Blue
as compared to the sum of all which of course is (the RGB) display.
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

I just re-checked and BOTH the image before any adjustments as well as the Work in Preogress images are in RGB NOT B/W (Monochrome).
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

 

[CaseyJ]

Alrighty then. I've got an RGB scan, but I'm having no luck finding
(never mind deleting) "color channels" in Photoshop Elements 2. Am
I missing something obvious?

I'll try PSP in a moment..

PSE does not have channels. Try PSP and split to RGB and look at each of the R G B images to see if any are better than the others.
CaseyJ

 

[Rob Philip198991]

I just re-checked and BOTH the image before any adjustments as well
as the Work in Preogress images are in RGB NOT B/W (Monochrome).
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain

That's odd. The original was scanned in B&W.

Perhaps when I saved the .jpg files PSE converted them to RGB.

Anyway.. I've done an RGB scan, and discovered that PSE doesn't let you split color channels.

PSP, as it often does, just goes "unknown error" when I try to have it split colors.

On a complete side-note, I'm getting good and sick of the bugs in PSP 8.1 - I'm going to be hard pressed to justify paying for it when the eval period ends, given the number of times it has barfed while executing commands on this (admittedly large) scan.

 

[Rob Philip198991]

Alrighty then. I've got an RGB scan, but I'm having no luck finding
(never mind deleting) "color channels" in Photoshop Elements 2. Am
I missing something obvious?

I'll try PSP in a moment..

PSE does not have channels. Try PSP and split to RGB and look at
each of the R G B images to see if any are better than the others.
CaseyJ

Yeah.. I figured that out

But PSP just barfs with "unknown error" when it tell it to split RGB.

One of the many things to cause PSP to just barf. I don't know about prior versions, but 8.1 feels like BETA software to me.

 

[CaseyJ]

I just re-checked and BOTH the image before any adjustments as well
as the Work in Preogress images are in RGB NOT B/W (Monochrome).
--
Vernon...

Vernon,
They open as grayscale images in PS7 on my PC.
CaseyJ

 

[CaseyJ]

Yeah.. I figured that out

But PSP just barfs with "unknown error" when it tell it to split RGB.

One of the many things to cause PSP to just barf. I don't know
about prior versions, but 8.1 feels like BETA software to me.

Upload the RGB image in place of the grayscale image currently posted online and I will look at the channels in PS7.

I also have PSP8 and use it all most every day for certain task which it is better than Photoshop. I use it to set the illuminant temperature of photos. My external flash causes a slight yellow cast in pictures taken indoors and I have a script to batch correct the white balance by changing the illuminant temperature. It never barfs for me.

CaseyJ

 

[Mr Macgee]

Here's a quick go-over... I'm not sure it's worth anything, but thought I'd put it up. I'm inserting a resized version, and the full version will be linked to below. hope it helps!



"www.amherst.edu/ samasint/restored.jpg"

I'm trying to restore 53 year old B&W print of my parents. No
negative available, so I'm having to work from a 3x5 print. The
ultimate goal is to have something good enough that I can create a
decent looking 8x10 print of the rightmost 4 people in the photo.

In order to have as much data as possible with which to work, I
scanned the photo at my scanner's stated hw resolution of 4800dpi,
and had it open up the shadows as much as possible. I didn't
attempt any cleaning of the print other than lightly brushing off
any dust.

I'll embed a small segment of the original that illustrates the
problem. Lots of cracks and "spots" in the emulsion, to the point
where it's difficult to see the fabric of the dark wool suit. My
brain can "see" how it should look, but I'm having difficulty
convincing either PSE or PSP to clean up the cracks and dots and
show me the fabric pattern.

A reduced version of the original scan is at

http://sonic.net/~rbp/group_at_table_resized.jpg

And a reduced version of my in-progress work (I've only worked on
the right side of the photo so far) is at:

http://sonic.net/~rbp/work_in_progress.jpg

Any suggestions as to how to make that durn suit look "natural"
would be more than welcome!

Here's a good example of all the worst in the original photo:



--
Rob

 

[Vernon D Rainwater]

I just re-checked and BOTH the image before any adjustments as well
as the Work in Preogress images are in RGB NOT B/W (Monochrome).
--
Vernon...

Vernon,
They open as grayscale images in PS7 on my PC.
CaseyJ

I use PS 7.0, and as previously stated, BOTH images are RGB. There MAY be a reason (I have not checked this) when I click a posted image to Save AS, I never save it as JPG, instead; I will save it with the ONLY other option which is BMP.

I like to work with TIF files and the BMP is the image I start with for posted images That may be the reason it is (on my Computer) as RGB.

The first thing I checked was Channels and there definitely was NOT any difference in the three channels and (of course) if the original scan was made as a Monochrome (B/W) then the 3 channels would be the same.

I could check and save (at least one of the images) as JPG to start with and see if that is the reason but my Connect speed is rather slow since I use Normal "twisted Pair" Telephone Connection so I am reluctant to download the file again -- it takes a L O N G time...ha.
--
Vernon...
http://www.pbase.com/vrain