Q's about photo restorative processes?

pHOTorealist.

;

Hey everybody!

Nubie here, with basic question: how to restore this historical picture.

I began by cropping it, which was probably a mistake. Instead, I should have rotated it, then cropped it.

The next step I took was the clone tool, at high-resolution, to replace white, erroneous unscanned or overexposed pixels.

Once I've removed the white spots, and scratches visible at hi-res, I started using the wand, and selecting various parts, like the whitish rim, and bringing down the brightness, into a separate layer-set. This layer-set adjustable in opacity.

I was going to address components like this:
- the blue on the engine side: reduce brightness, increase blue shadows and midrange lights. Magic wand that into a layer set.

- the green grasses; I was going to try to sharpen that a bit, and give it more saturation.

- the discolored edges, I was going to select that with the wand, and try to sharpen that up a bit too.

I could really use all the help I can get on this restorative project.

thanks,

pHOTorealist.

nikos

This one is going to be tough due to the amount of noise and the lack of detail.

I tried fiddling with your attachment but it's too small of a file for any decent corrections.

JBurt

Welcome to Dgrin. I don't want you to leave here as there is a ton of valuable info and great people here. Plus, a lot of the tricks and tips here can also be used on restoration projects.

However, I have found http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/ to be a great resource for restoration and retouching tips.

PBolchover

I ran Nikos's restoration through Noise Ninja, in an attempt to remove some of the noise: