Restoring an old Photo

SG
Posted By
Syble_Glasscock
May 1, 2004
Views
394
Replies
15
Status
Closed
I posted a message a few months ago about restoring an old photo that is in really bad shape. Several replied, and suggested I post it where you could see it, so I contacted my ISP and they were going to e-mail me information about setting up a page for me, and they didn’t follow through. I have now changed ISP’s and I think you should be able to go to the photo
< http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/syble2@sbcglobal.net/detail ?.dir=/6670&.dnm=ac1b.jpg> I would appreciate your advice, do you think it can be restored, and do you know anyone online that you’d recommend?
Related Tags
old restore

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BH
Beth_Haney
May 1, 2004
I tried to look at it, but there’s a login required. (And I don’t have a clue how to do that!)
CS
Chuck_Snyder
May 1, 2004
Syble, you’ve apparently put the picture in a private area of Yahoo. Even with my Yahoo sign-in, it’s not accessible.

Chuck
BH
Beth_Haney
May 1, 2004
Oh, good, that means I’m not simply "login challenged"!
J
JPWhite
May 1, 2004
I can not get to the photo either. Why not post to PBase? It’s free for the first few weeks, which is long enough to get an answer from us here.

In the meantime visit the following web address and buy the best book (IMHO) for restoring photographs using Photoshop.

< http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0735713502/qid =1083454245/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-0190540-0577778?v=glance& amp;s=books&n=507846>

If that doesn’t work try

<http://tinyurl.com/27nxl>

JP
CS
Chuck_Snyder
May 1, 2004
JP: I agree completely with your assessment of Katrin Eismann’s book! It’s written for full Photoshop, but most of the techniques work in Elements also, especially if you’re ‘optioned up’ with the free add-on’s available widely.
PD
Pete_D
May 2, 2004
Syble,

What ISP are you using? Someone here might know what they use for internet web pages.
DS
Dick_Smith
May 2, 2004
Pete,

Can you amplify your post a bit. I’m consfuse about "what they use for internet web pages."

Dick
SG
Syble_Glasscock
May 2, 2004
I posted the photo at www.webshots.com. Go to Community, member (type in Syble2 as the member name), the album is Old Photos, and it is the only one posted (Curry Family abt 1900). Thanks for your input.
Syble
JF
Jodi_Frye
May 2, 2004
here is the link;

< http://community.webshots.com/photo/139279029/139281450vAUEa E>
MR
Mark_Reibman
May 2, 2004
Syble,

I’m referring back to your original post. Yes, it can be restored. There are many online services. I especially like the work of Vikki Hansen

<http://www.lifetimephoto.com/>

On retouchpro.com there is a list of 41

< http://www.retouchpro.com/links/index.php?sid=201893485& cat=2&start=0&t=sub_pages>

If you want to have it done professionally, this is a good start. You can also do a google search for photo restoration.

And you could throw it out to a forum right here and/or dpreview.com retouching forum, retouchpro and see what folks come up with there…. you’d get it for free, and you and others would learn something in the process.

Restoring facial detail is going to be very challenging.
PD
Pete_D
May 2, 2004
Dick,

ISP’s (some if not most) offer software as well as web space and make it a simple task to set up and maintain a web page/site.

So if Syble posted the name of the ISP someone here may be familiar with it and how to guide them to a fast and easy web page/site.

But none of that means anything now because Syble has the picture on line.

Syble,

Indeed that picture is repairable. Could look better in minutes; Look good in several hours; and look great if you have the time and patience (or money) to fix it.

Pete
SG
Syble_Glasscock
May 3, 2004
Mark I assume you have seen work done by Vicki Hansen and approved of it. I did an online search when I first received this photo, I e-mailed it to one of the sites, they sent me a preview, and it was horrible, the faces looked like someone from outerspace, so I’ve been afraid to commit to anyone else. Some of these faces are in really bad shape, but I’d rather leave the faces as is than have them completely distorted. I’m just not advance enough to work with faces that are this bad, and I wasn’t real sure it could be restored to look normal.
J
JPWhite
May 3, 2004
A quick 5 minute session in Photoshop was all I needed to eliminate the tear and coloration. With a few hours work I don’t see why this photo couldn’t be restored fairly. There are a considerable number of blemishes to touch up, but nothing the clone stamp can’t handle.

See my efforts (while I had 3 glasses of wine inside me) at

<http://www.pbase.com/image/28545389>

The image is 72dpi on your website which makes evaluation difficult. With a 600 dpi scan you should be able to do wonders.

JP
MR
Mark_Reibman
May 3, 2004
Syble,

Vicki is a mentor to many on some of the forums. Every restoration I’ve seen her work on has been impressive. If you aren’t in a hurry, browse through the retouchpro forum (you may need to register) and see what people have done with the challenges. You could conceiveably join retouchpro and simply submit your photo to the forum and see what they come up with. I think that would be kosher. The owner of the forum, Doug Nelson, is also a photo restorer and it would be worthwhile to look at his commercial site. His rates are also very reasonable.

As someone who is interested in photo restorations of this kind I’d love to see it posted as a challenge and take part in the learning process. You can always email Doug Nelson at retouchpro and ask him about it. He’s on the lookout for challenge material.

Even though we have a weekly challenge here, we haven’t done much in the way of restoration, especially one as advanced. I’m really curious to see what the masters can accomplish with this one.
MR
Mark_Reibman
May 3, 2004
I couldn’t resist trying facial restoration on second sister from left. After removing the color, I selected her right eye, flipped it horizontally and moved it to replace the missing left eye. Then I borrowed a nose from one of her siblings (she didn’t seem to mind) and pasted it into the damaged area. I could touch up the nose a little bit. It was fun to try. Fortunately there are body parts to be shared from other family members. Digital organ donars.

<http://www.pbase.com/image/28547136/original>

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