Thank you Pat and Hannie. I always count on your sharp eyes. Brian, I thought about you often while I was working. Here's how I did it.
Spotting: Just like the old days of restoring on negatives. Using the Healing brushes, Clone Stamp, Brush in Normal and Darken modes and the Blur brush set to 11% to smooth out rough edges as you go. After a very large area is "clean," use the Patch tool to do slightly larger areas. Keep corrections small. Start with the easy stuff, background and her face. After hours of work, it's nice to see big areas done.
The Hair: The above spotting on a large area of least damage. You need as much "clean" hair as you can get so you can use it for cloning and piecing. Especially the wispy hairs around the edges.
Copy and paste the "clean" hair, using Transform to shape them gently. (Don't enlarge or warp the pieces too much or you lose the character and texture of the hair.) As the copied layers are placed, use the Patch tool and light Blur brush to blend each in. When using the Patch Tool, search the undamaged hair for areas that blend will and match highlights and shadows. Smooth as you go. Go back and forth in magnification (400%-50%) to check your work. Check your work often against the original. Copy wispy hairs and place them around edges to soften. You can also use them to blend in patches anywhere.
At this point, it still won't look right. Make a new Normal layer to paint the hair. I used a (CS5) round fan brush, adjusting the Width, Angle and number of Bristles to fit. (Try several strokes and delete until you get it right.) Start with a sample of the darkest hair color. Follow the waves of the hair. Select a medium color. Make the brush smaller and change the angle slightly. Brush in the medium color to match hair color. Turn off the working layer and use the Original for reference. Adjust the painted layer Opacity until it just adds texture and continuity, but you can't see the strokes. A 1-2 pixel Gaussian Blur will help it blend. Make a new layer for the hair highlights. Paint (using the Original as your guide), adjust Opacity and Blur.
Black velveteen doesn't show much highlight. I selected the top, filled with black. New Layer in Soft Light, paint white with a brush set at about 22% in the areas where the light would fall—the front center of her sleeve and in a soft V on her chest. Adjust opacity. Add a little noise, which will show only in the highlights.
Thank you, all. I know I can always count on my Forum friends.
Bambi
