Module 8 Problems with Old Photographs Scanning Old Photographs

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1 Module 8 Problems with Old Photographs Several common problems can occur in old photographs that will determine the best strategy for their reconstruction. Here is a list of problems you are likely to encounter: All or part of the photo is faded. This problem results from the deterioration of the emulsionon an image, caused by exposure to ultraviolet light, air, or fluctuating temperatures. (It could also result from an image that was overexposed to begin with.) Sometimes the photograph might be perfect on one side and fade gradually to the other. The photo has a color cast. A color photograph might have washed- out colors or a yellow or red cast over its entire surface. This can be the result of the emulsion s chemical reaction of air or paper. The image is wrinkled, torn, scratched, or covered with spots. Wrinkles and scratches are often a result of mistreatment of the photograph. Spots will develop from exposure to dust. Images stored in a damp environment can collect mold that appears as large or small splotches. The surface is textured. Many old photographs wereprinted on textured paper. The removal of this surface can present problems during the retouching process. Part of the photograph is missing. A vital portion of the image such as a hand or a face might have a severe scratch on it or might be missing entirely. A corner might be missing or an area of the photograph might have peeled or faded away. Bad photography. The image might have superfluous elements such as phone lines or portions that are out of focus. The image might have been shot at the wrong moment, the composition might be unbalanced, or the image might be underexposed or overexposed. Photo restoration can be extremely labor- intensive. Some images are simply beyond repair. Experience will show you which images are worth restoring and which ones, would be a waste of a lot of time and effort. Scanning Old Photographs Before scanning an old photograph,you ll want to examine the image closely. Observe the darkest and lightest areas of theimage and see whether there is detail within these areas that needs to be preserved. If so,you might want to adjust the contrast by using the scanner software s brightness and contrast features. Don t expect to correct the entire image. Adjust the image just enough to capture the details. You can later make more refined adjustments in Photoshop. Observe the digital image carefully. If you haven t captured the detail you want, rescan it at different settings. You can also make multiple scans of the same photo at different settings and composite the best parts of each image into a master image. This technique, though labor intensive, will enable you to combine the enhanced detail of the highlight, midtone, and shadow areas into one optimal image.

2 Scanning at higher resolutions helps preserve detail. Scan the image at 300 pixels per inch or higher on a flatbed scanner. If the image is especially small, increase the scale and the resolution. Avoid exceeding the scanner s optical resolution if possible. For example, if the scanner s optical resolution is 600 dpi, you can scan it at 300 dpi and 200% size. There is no advantage to scanning a black- and- white photograph in RGB mode; that will only produce an image with a larger file size. In most cases it will require desaturation to eliminate discoloration. If there are stains on the image, scanning it in RGB will exaggerate them. For best results, scan the photo as a 16- bit grayscale to maximize the tonal range. After repairing it, convert it to an 8- bit grayscale before printing. If you later decide to add color or a sepia tint to the image, you can convert it to RGB mode (Image Mode RGB Color), and adjust it by using the Image Adjustments Hue/Saturation command. Removing Dust and Scratches The Dust & Scratches filter (choose Filter Noise Dust & Scratches) was created for the purpose of removing artifacts that are unavoidable when scanning old photos. With its Radius and Threshold sliders to help define edges, the Dust & Scratches filter is a powerful tool for eliminating a good deal of the unwanted debris from an image. If you re scanning a batch of old pictures from your grandmother s scrapbook, or that old team shot from your high school yearbook, Dust & Scratches works wonders. It can also help a great deal in getting rid of moiré patterns that can appear when scanning printed halftones. When using the Dust & Scratches filter, make a selection of small areas of similar texture in which to work. Each area of the image might require different settings. Applying it to the entire image all at once can result in a loss of detail. The Dust & Scratches filter has two controls, Radius and Threshold. Use the minimum Radius and Threshold you need to achieve the best results. Radius blurs, and Threshold restores. When you move the Radius slider to the right, you effectively blur the areas of most contrast. Move the Radius slider until the specks or scratch lines entirely disappear, but do not over blur the image. Then move the Threshold slider just enough to restore the surrounding texture but not enough to restore the specks. Be cautious when using the Dust & Scratches filter. If you go too far with it, you could end up losing detail along with the unwanted specks. Sometimes the Rubber Stamp tool will be necessary to finish the job. Content Aware Fill 1. Open the document Content Aware.psd. 2. Choose the Magic Wand tool. Click inside one of the white areas. 3. Choose Select > Modify > Expand > 4 Pixels.

3 4. Choose Select > Modify > Feather 5. Choose Edit > Fill > Content Aware. 6. Choose Image > Adjustments > Levels. Move the white and black sliders to match the contrast with the surrounding areas. Duplicating and Manipulating Larger Areas Sometimes the area you need to fix on the image is too big or too inconsistent to clone. Or you might find that it needs more precision than the Clone Stamp tool can offer. Content Aware fill may be inappropriate or just plain not work and there are similar area on the image that can be duplicated and manipulated, try this technique. Duplicating the tennis racquet 1. Select the face of the tennis racket to the right of her head. 2. Add a 2 pixel feather to the selection. 3. Choose Layer > New > Layer Via Copy. Name the new Layer Racquet. 4. Choose Edit >Transform> Flip Vertical. 5. Rotate the Racquet and position it in place. 6. Choose Edit >Transform> Distort. Drag the corner points so that the strings of the racquet align. 7. Drop the opacity of the racquet layer to 50%

4 8. Choose Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All. 9. With the Layer Mask thumbnail in the Layers panel selected. paint black on the girls fingers to reveal them. Adding Texture to the Black Shadows 1. Choose the magic wand tool. Select a portion of the black shadow to her right. 2. Choose the lasso tool and set the feather radius to 3px and choose the Add To Selection Boolean icon. Drag inside the black shadow and then a little outside the selection to encircle it with a combination non feathered selection along the contour of her dress and a soft edged selection that includes some of the texture of the wall. 3. Choose the New Selection Boolean icon and drag the selection (Marquee only) to an area to the left of the girl. 4. Choose Layer > New > Layer Via Copy. Name the new Layer wall texture. 5. Choose the Move Tool and drag the content to where it was first selected and position it accurately. 6. Reduce the opacity of the layer to 50% so that the shadow picks up some of the black areas and looks more natural. Adding Missing Elements Often in old photographs, large areas have been scratched beyond recognition or are missing completely. Based on the severity of the problem, you ll have to decide the best approach to restoration. In many cases, Photoshop s tools and commands can be combined to remedy these problems, but some parts of photographs might be too damaged to restore. If, for example, the face of a person is missing from an image, I recommend that you avoid trying to paint it back in, because this will prove to be a virtually impossible task to accomplish with any credibility. A better approach might be to composite the face from another photograph or, if that s not possible, fill the area with neutral gray.

5 Applying the Healing Brush In many ways, the Healing Brush tool performs like the Clone Stamp. The process of sampling is similar, but the application of the sampled areas to the image differs. When the sampled area is painted onto the target area, it takes on the characteristics of the surrounding pixels, thus creating a seamless blend. To try out the Healing Brush, follow these steps: 1. Open the heal_me_patch_me.psd 2. Zoom in on the scratch above the baby s head. 3. Choose the Healing Brush and a 19- pixel brush from the Brush menu. Press the Option/Alt key and click in the area about a half- inch above the scratch to sample It. 4. Release the Option/Alt key. Move the cursor onto the scratch. Drag the mouse to the left. As you drag, the scratch is replaced by the sample. When you release the mouse, the sample blends seamlessly into the surrounding pixels. Using the Patch Tool The Patch tool is similar to the Healing Brush, except that it gives you the ability to patch a selected area. This works well on large areas in need of repair. You can either makethe initial selection with the Patch tool activated, or you can use any of the other selection tools to make the selection first and then switch to the Patch tool. First sample the area to be copied. The healed Image As you drag the selection marquee over an area of the image, you see a live preview of the sample in the destination selection area. The Patch tool can be used in any of the following ways, depending on the specifications in the Options bar: Source Drag the selection marquee over the area from which you want to sample. It samples the area and automatically copy it over to the area to be patched. Destination Select the area from which you want to sample. Drag the selection marquee over the area you wish to patch. Transparent Check this box to better blend the sampled area with the underlying area. Use Pattern Choose a pattern from the list and click the Use Pattern button to blend the pattern with the initial selection. To see how the Patch tool works, follow these steps: 1. Open the file heal_me_patch_me.psd. 2. Choose the Patch tool. Check Source in the Options bar.

6 3. Drag a marquee around the scratch on the man s face. 4. Place your cursor within the marquee. Drag the marquee slightly to the left and up, as You ll see two marquees; the source and the destination. The image of the source area appears in the destination marquee. Move the marquee until you are satisfied with the destination image. Release the mouse, and it automatically creates patch from the area you choose. Duplicating and Manipulating Larger Areas Sometimes the area you need to fix on the image is too big or too inconsistent to clone. Or you might find that it needs more precision than the Clone Stamp tool can offer. If there is a similar area on the image that can be duplicatedfollow these steps: 1. Open duplicate.psd. 2. Choose the Lasso tool. In the Options bar, set the feather radius to 1. With the Lasso tool, encircle the missing right eye. The selection should be a little bit larger than the scratch. 3. Place the cursor inside the selection. Press the mouse button and drag the selection marquee without its contents to the good eye. 4. Choose Layer New Layer Via Copy to copy the contents of the selection to a new layer. 5. Choose Edit Transform Flip Horizontal to flip the eye. 6. Choose the Move tool. In the Options bar, check Show Bounding Box. Drag the eye and place it on the missing area. To rotate it into position, place the cursor outside the bounding box near any corner until you see the Rotate icon. Then click and drag. 7. When the eye is in position. Choose Edit > Transform > Warp. Warp the image slightly so that it is not quite symmetrical with the left eye. 8. Merge the Background with the new layer. Choose Merge Visible from the Layer Options pull- down menu. 9. Clean up any unrepaired areas with the Clone Stamp tool or the Healing Brush tool. 10. Choose the Dodge tool. Dodge the areas under the eye to better match the surrounding tones.

7 11. Using the Clone Stamp, healing brush, or spot healing brush, eliminate the scratch on the woman s head. 12. You can eliminate additional debris with the Dust & Scratches filter. 13. Select the woman s neck 14. With the background layer selected go to the pull down menu and choose Make Smart Object. 15. Choose Filter > Blur Surface Blur. Adjust the controls so that the neck is blurred enough to lose the texture of the broken emulsion but not blurred enough to loose its tonality. Then click OK. 16. Click on the Smart Object mask in the layers panel. With a soft brush set to 15 percent opacity, paint with white on the face until the broken emulsion texture disappears on the image. 17. Save the document.