I repaired a similar photo for someone a while back…see
http://tinyurl.com/c44m6 (see the second image – the wedding picture)
Here’s what I did for that image:
The first thing I did was make a copy of the layer to play with, keeping the original one for comparison. Then I used Photoshop’s Auto Levels, Auto Contrast and Auto Color controls under Image > Adjustments. This gave be a better picture, but it was still far too red.
So I used Image >Adjustments > Color Balance to try to get a good skin color. But I immediately noticed that there was a significant difference between their skin tones, possibly due to lighting. So I decided to correct them individually.
I grabbed the lasso tool and made a selection around her face, following the edges, feathered it about 2 or 3 pixels and copied and pasted it into a new layer. I then adjusted the Color Balance for a good skin tone just for her face. But I noticed that there were some bright reflections on her forehead and cheeks that were sort of bluish. So I made feathered selections around these areas , holding SHFT to add each area to my overall selection. Once my selection was complete, I feathered it 1.2 pixels. I used the Color Balance to make it match the surrounding skin, adding a tiny bit of Gaussian Blur and playing with Contrast Brightness all while still having the selection.
Then I made a copy of this layer and Gaussian Blurred the whole thing. This is a great way to make a woman’s skin look smoother! I reduced the opacity of this blurred face to about 75%. Then I grabbed my eraser tool, using a soft edged brush at about 30% opacity and began erasing around her eyes, eyebrows, lips, teeth and nose lines to add back in some sharpness from below. Multiple swipes with the eraser allowed more and more of the layer beneath to show through, giving a nice blend between the two layers.
I repeated this process for his face and also for his hair, making separate selections, copying and pasting and adjusting the color for each completely independent from the rest of the picture. And again for their hands. Then I noticed their eyes were still too red so I made selections around them, feathered about 0.4 pixels and adjusted the colors to what was just an educated guess.
In the version that is attached to this e-mail, I topped it all off by desaturating his suit. I used the Sponge Tool set to Desaturate with a value of about 70%. This brushed the color right out his suit. It worked so well I applied a moderate amount to her gown. Then I zoomed in on the basket and colored the leaves that should be green again by making a selection, copying and pasting and adjusting the Color Balance. I then erased parts that didn’t look right letting the layer beneath show through. Same thing with the flower in his lapel.
I was just ready to send off the final version when I decided to desaturate the background between them. Same procedure.
I hope this helps!
Peadge 🙂
"Morten A. Steien" wrote in message
I have had a fair bit af success by using levels adjustments and adjusted each channel to include only used pixels.
On Thu, 19 May 2005 15:00:32 +0200, Scott Schwartz
wrote:
You could try the auto color function. After that just adjusting the hue and
saturation should help too.
"Neil Hindry" wrote in message
I wonder if you can help me.
I have a few old photographs that I want to repair and they have a very heavy red hue.
What is the easiest way to get rid of the heavy red hue that is
spoiling
the
photographs and make them look normal & natural again? For information I am using PhotoShop 7.
I hope you are able to help me.
I appreciate any help or information given..
Thanks!
Neil
—
Bamsen