Tips on improving image appearance?

D
Posted By
dsnyder
Oct 18, 2007
Views
365
Replies
13
Status
Closed
Could anyone give my guidance on making the attached image more appealing? Not sure what to experiment with. Can I make the people more clear by adjusting contrast, blurring the background, etcÂ…

<http://cellocelli.com/School.gif>

Thanks for any guidance!
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appearance image improve tip

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RB
Robert_Barnett
Oct 18, 2007
Well, first of all learn to use the correct format. For a photo you want hundreds of thousands of colors and not the 256 you are limited to with GIF. Save you images as JPG or TIFF.

Robert
D
dsnyder
Oct 18, 2007
"learn to use the correct format"

That I can do. Didn’t realize that JPG was a more complete file that GIF. TIFF is too large for my application on the webpage.

<http://cellocelli.com/SCHOOL/schedule.htm>

I’ve learned to save certain files as GIF for better color matching in website design. But I can look at the original and resave. Anything else because the original isn’t a very sexy image to begin with. But I know there are people that could make it much nicer.

Just a humble cellist here, thanks for the help.
D
dsnyder
Oct 18, 2007
Ok, here’s a jpeg. Still not a great photo. But…any tweeking advice?

<http://cellocelli.com/School.jpg>
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Oct 18, 2007
dnsyder,

There are many things you can do to improve the attached photo.

– Color balance to get neutral colors (Levels or Curves), optimizing contrast, spotting for dust and scratches, red-eye correction, de-noising, local corrections and sharpening to name some.

Taking you through each and every step is a bit of a futile task, as it would be quicker for me to process the image itself. Unfortunately, I dont have the time to do this.

BUT, I can recommend www.retouchpro.com which is a community of retouchers. Try posting your image and your story there, maybe someone will offer you help. Ofcourse, maybe someone here will take on the challenge (you should probably post a bigger image / scan, though, if you want the to print the tweaked result).
P
Phosphor
Oct 18, 2007
That would be:

<http://www.retouchpro.com>, for those who like to click directly over to the site.

😉 XD
D
dsnyder
Oct 19, 2007
Mathias,
Thank you, I’ll check that site!

"Color balance to get neutral colors (Levels or Curves), optimizing contrast, spotting for dust and scratches, red-eye correction, de-noising, local corrections and sharpening to name some."
I look forward to learning some of these skills. I’m sure that I can find some quick tutorials if I search for them.

BTW, as I’ll only be using the image at a reduced size on a webpage do you think I can get away with the current scan?

Thanks again.
RB
Robert_Barnett
Oct 19, 2007
I would go in to levels and adjust the gray slider under the histogram to darken some of the highlight areas on the people. They are borderline blown out. I would also tweak the black slider a bit to add a little contrast so it is a little more poppy. You could also go in to Hue/Saturation and adjust he saturation a small amount like +5 to +10.

Robert
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Oct 19, 2007
Oh what the heck, some of us enjoy this kind of stuff… I think the little girls toothless smile got to me 🙂

Here’s what I could do:

< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1LgwPXJa4uU9Cleghv DCEj4ytH8y0f> Enjoy!
D
dsnyder
Oct 19, 2007
Thanks Mathias.
Looking much better!
J
johntolliday
Oct 19, 2007
G’day

I thought a little recomposition might make the picture a little more

intimate and help to draw the cello in a bit more?

< http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1e61YwLzGTJ9qv5wHF m5364KwPh9Ly0>

regards

John
RB
Robert_Barnett
Oct 19, 2007
Nice job Mathias.

Robert
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Oct 21, 2007
Thanks Robert!

I can recommend the link in dsnyders profile for a bit of excellent cello music 🙂
D
dsnyder
Oct 21, 2007
"I can recommend the link in dsnyders profile for a bit of excellent cello music "

Hey thanks Mathias! Cello training and years of practice I do have, web design I’m just faking. I’m in the process of launching and promoting the site now. Do you have any comments about specific likes/dislikes from what you saw or any constructive comments? I plan to build a mp3 player for a general ‘listening room’ from where people can hear all sorts of cool cello sounds.

Thanks for your help and feedback!

dsnyder

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