Suggestion for B/W Photo Editing

I am looking for suggestions regarding which photo editing software might be a good choice to use for dealing with the issues to be described.

I inherited a large number of World War 1 B/W photographs taken by my grandfather. I want to get these scanned and edited with the possible idea of publishing them as a local history resource. I have attached 2 images to show what I am dealing with.

My main questions for this post are related to software, but I do know that I have to work on the quality of my scanning process. If anyone has suggestions on that aspect of this project, they would be appreciated as well.

Please look at the image of just the girl's head and notice the white spots, particularly on her lips and forehead. These are nothing that I can remove from the prints I have. They appear to be problems introduced when the prints were made, probably by dust of course. Can any software package automatically do a good job fixing spots like this? I am hoping to automate as much as possible since time will be a major factor for me. Also note in the full photo that there are lots(!) of white spots to deal with, so minimizing manual work would be strongly preferred.

My second problem might be helped by better scanning but I don't think scanning alone will solve it, thus an "automated" solution would be nice here too.

The attached scans don't show it well, but I have many prints where it appears that the silver has migrated to the surface of the print. When holding the print, sections can be seen where dark areas have a very shiny appearance to them. This shininess of course ends up appearing on the scanned images. Does anyone have thoughts on dealing with this issue?

I would like a discussion of the "best" way to go but bear in mind that I also have a funds issue so lower cost will also be a consideration to me in making a final decision.

Any and all comments from you more experienced folks will definitely be appreciated.

TIA

Paul Hurm
phurm@one.net

What/whereare attachments?

What you need, is an old version of Adobe Photoshop (look for an old Adobe Photoshop 6 version at ebay) and a good book about photo restoration. I would recommend the well known book from Katrin Eismann "Photoshop Restauration & Retouching".

Regards,
Remi

GimpShop is a PhotoShop clone and has the same features. It's free and supports Linux, Mac and Windows/PC.
http://gimpshop.blogspot.com/2005/10...-gimpshop.html

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by parahandy

What/whereare attachments?

---

DUH!!!!

At work where I posted from between calls.

I will try to remember to put them up later this morning after I refresh my memory about how to attach images.

Double Duh!!

Paul

-----------------
PS - Plus, thanks to the others for the replies. I have a copy of PhotoShop 6 I can borrow for testing so will do so and will also take a look at the other suggestions as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by parahandy

What/whereare attachments?

---

Here are the attachments (I hope)

Hi Paul

Spots removed with smudge tool in gimp - can do similar in photoshop, but I prefer gimp for this.
However this is not automatic - not sure you could automate this sort of procedure very far and get good results.
Good news is - it took me only a minute or two to do - you can spend a long time on things like this - this is a 'quick-fix'

http://www.gimp.org/

and [assuming you are Ms windows] http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/ for download and install info

EDIT:
for comparision I have added one done with the photshop blur tool [right] I find this a bit more fiddly, but you can get results that stand up better on close inspection. [gimp has a blur tool too]

A little playing around with XXPro, AAA Multi Filter (auto levels), and PSP7 smudge tool. (I'm not really happy with the mouth; it would take more time. What I did here took less than five minutes, total.)

Like it Bob

heres mine run through OptikVerve Labs plugin and XXpro levels

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by remi

What you need, is an old version of Adobe Photoshop (look for an old Adobe Photoshop 6 version at ebay) and a good book about photo restoration. I would recommend the well known book from Katrin Eismann "Photoshop Restauration & Retouching".

Regards,
Remi

---

First, I looked at the book site and found links that I know are going to help even though I have not had time to properly read them yet.

Second, I know I will have a learning curve but I am definately impressed with what you folks have done with these girl's faces! Particularly the one on the left with the lip problem. I had wondered but now am pretty convinced that her tongue is showing.

I really appreciate the comments from all of you!. I know I have lots of effort ahead of me but I am definately getting some helpful thought.

Thanks all!

yes I was sure it was tongue - possibly about to stick it out, or thinking about it
kids same everywhere :D
The difference in the eyes of these two is quite striking - one cheeky and the other quite the opposite.

Hello Paul,

I had recently downloaded a new program (for me) from MAGIX. It is their Photo Clinic 6 program.

As a learning exercise I opened the photo of the two girls and selected the Remove Scratches and Stains under the Tasks menu > Detailed Image Editing.

Using the default settings, being a total newbie with the application. I was able to achieve very good results in just a few minutes.

Good results you got there Bill - like the contrast
MPC6 is certainly easier to learn than PS6 or gimp for that matter :D

Thanks Steve, it was very easy to get good results.

I've attempted the same type of photo repair using PS7 & CS, and PSP7 & 8 and always end up destroying too much detail.

Photoshop 6, dust and scratches filter.

I have PS6 Mike - and I dislike the dust and scratches filter because it applies the effect in one go to the whole image/area.
Like Bill, I've never got this to work reliably.
On some images it can be very tiresome, so I have tended to do it on the fly locally spot by spot, and on the whole found it quicker with more control.
MPC6 gives you this local control too.

Seems like you had no problems with this image though :) and I have never had to do dozens of the things in one go :D

Quote:

---

I have PS6 Mike - and I dislike the dust and scratches filter because it applies the effect in one go to the whole image/area.

---

Yes, the whole image is effected unless you have made a selection to isolate some part of it. It took about 30 seconds to do this one, preview on, I adjust the radius and threshold until the garbage disappears, click OK. :cool: There are times when I prefer to manually edit the image as well, this wasn't one of those times.

Mike you make things look so easy. Does Photoshop 7 have the same setup as version 6? Version 7 if the oldest I have.

Hi Phurm,

Firstly, let me say that the results you obtain are going to be commensurate with the amount of time you put into the restoration of each photo. There is no magic wand that works flawlessly repairing damage to a pile of different photos.

As far as software is concerned, PhotoShop is the industry best performer. There are a number of lesser priced editors that can be used to render excellent results once you master their tools and interfaces. To name just a few: Paint Shop Pro, Gimp (open source - free), PS Elements, PhotoImpact. One aspect of all of these is the ability to use third party filters (i.e. Photoshop plugins). A number of these have been noted by others. Some of these can be gotten for free, others cost.

The other situation you face per your example, is the texture of the prints you have. Like you figured, there are scanning techniques you can use to eliminate or substantially reduce the texture. There are also some plugins that do well with this task. There are also methods to reduce the silvering you are seeing.

The bottom line is, you will have to make an investment in money as well as time to properly restore your photos. Pro digital restoration artists spend many years learning their craft.

Good luck with your project. If your example is representation, there are some wonderful photos worthy of restoration.

I did a quick moderate restore to your photo with PhotoImpact.

Wow, Lonk, superb! PROOF is correct. Proof that you did an excellent job!

way to go lonnie - and that's a 'quick moderate restore' ?
think I'll just go quietly back to my doodling.... :D

Wow Lonnie, you know your stuff with PhotoImpact.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LonK

I did a quick moderate restore to your photo with PhotoImpact.

---

I own Xara software which is how I found out about the TalkGraphics web site.

Boy, am I glad I knew about this site!! I felt confident that the folks here would have helpful suggestions and I definately was right. I have found helpful links along with the direct info from the posts. Now I just have to get / take the time to digest it all.

I was also impressed with the "Proof" of your good work and have downloaded a trial copy of PhotoImpact to look at as well as downloading some of the other suggestions. I have found a copy of PhotoShop6 to use as well. Now I just have to get familiar with the various cababilities of each and determine which will work best for the various situations my photos present.

For PhotoImpact, could you give me a rough idea of the steps you took to produce your image? That might be a good point for me to start from.

Thanks again to all for the ongoing thoughts and ideas!!

Thanks for the props fellas.

Quick moderate restore = less than 1/2 hour and I didn't deal with the texture problem.

I find PhotoImpact quite capable Bill, though I'd prefer PhotoShop if I could afford it ;(

Hi Phurm,

Xara is good 'vector' stuff, but it is not suited to pixel-based photo restoration. If you plan to do this seriously, concentrate on learning PhotoShop. The Internet oozes PS tutorials.

Here's my basic workflow in PI8. First I corrected the tone balance (contrast and luminosity) with curves adjustments. Desaturated to B&W. Then I used the remove noise tool to blot out the dust spots. Clone patched other damaged areas. Next was Neat Image to remove base noise. Duotoned slightly for sepia tint. Lastly I sized it down for posting and sharpened with USM.

The texture can be dealt with during scanning. Basically, you scan twice -- scan, rotate 180, scan again. Blending (overlay) these two will cancel much of the texture shadowing caused by the scanner light source. (There are many other methods.)

Good luck...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LonK

The texture can be dealt with during scanning. Basically, you scan twice -- scan, rotate 180, scan again. Blending (overlay) these two will cancel much of the texture shadowing caused by the scanner light source. (There are many other methods.)

---

Would you mind pointing me to some links discussing this issue? I know that my scanning techniques could be better.

For the above method, any hints on how to accurately align the 2 back into one so they overlay properly? I wonder about rotation problems etc.

I mentioned having Xara but meant to say that this is how I became aware of the TalkGraphics site. I am by no means experienced in any graphics software so I definately appreciate any hints on techniques to use at the start rather than stumbling to find them on my own.

I do now have a copy of PhotoShop 6 so I think I will stick with it for now unless a strong reason arises not to.

That certainly is a first-class job Lonk well done.

***** Norman

Lonnie,
You are the master of photo restoration.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Lonnie's work you should check out his Pixelicious website. If anyone is seriously interested in having old photos restored they should contact Lonnie. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Lonnie, I hope you don't mind this unsolicted plug, but I'm a big fan of your work.

Zee

Here's a link to Lonnie's Pixelicious website.

http://nickelcandy.com/pixelicious/

...and here's another sample of his work from his Pixelicious website.

Gee, thanks Zee! I'm flattered...

I have made an experiment on the photo with Photoshop CS2 as Lonnie mentioned.
The attached files are some of the results.