Stain removal - Ideas?

[ctcoulter]

This is my first time on the Forum. I've learned so much over the past year following everyone's posts and the amount of support you offer is astounding.
Now I'm looking for some advice. I've spent a bit of time on this image, fortunately there was good information in the blue channel (something I learned here) but I was looking for ideas to address the red staining on the boy's collar? Trying to keep the pattern in the plaid shirt, short of painting it in, has me stumped. Any thoughts?
Also anything else in the image I'm missing?
Thanks,
     Charlie

[dle]

Hi Charlie,

Great progress on this one! Looks like you've definitely got the knack.

The problem around the collar is more than just a color shift, I think. Looking closely, I see there's damage, too, that shifting the color won't fix. To fix this, I'd be tempted start a new layer and clone from a good sample of the plaid, matching the pattern by carefully selecting the starting point and using the clone source control to rotate the brush match the angle of the source to the target and adjusting the size of the brush as you go to only get the collar.

By doing the clone strokes so that they follow the wrinkles and then slightly shifting the source point between strokes you can make the clone match the wrinkle boundaries pretty well.

To give the fix a little depth, add a linear light layer filled with 50% gray at about 50% opacity above the fix. The paint a few soft-edged strokes with a low opacity brush in black to add shadow just below the collar edge and in white on the body of the collar to add a little light.

Hope this helps.

[Bambi]

Great advice, David.

There are as many ways to fix something with Photoshop as there are people who use it. I am better with Puppet Warp or Transform. I would select an area as much like the damaged area as possible, copy and paste it into a new layer. Roughly adjust the placement over the damage, reduce the layer opacity so you can see the new layer and see through it to match the pattern. Then use the various modes of Transform to match the plaid. Or with Puppet Warp, I would start with Show Mesh and mark the points I need to control the warp, then Hide Mesh to gently move the plaid into place. Then continue with David's second step/

The damaged areas on this shirt that you have repaired are darker than the undamaged areas.

And ... no one posing for a photograph should wear plaid. I'm just saying.

Bambi

[ctcoulter]

Dave and Bambi,

I was aware that there was more than just a color shift there. I had though of cloning but I wanted to see if there was another method that wasn't so tedious. I didn't think of rotating the stamp as I go though. I haven't used Puppet Warp but it sounds interesting. I'll give it a try. I also like the idea of a 50% gray layer to add a little shadow and depth to the edge. Let me see what I can do and I'll post my progress. Thanks for the support.
Charlie

[battleaxe]

Using photoshop, I sometimes make a copy, select the area I am correcting, go to mode-adjustments- replace color ,  select the bad colour and adjust it.  This is an destructive technique which is why I make a copy.

[Hannie]

Hi Charly,

Congratulations on your first OPR restore, you have done a beautiful job!
To add to the great advice already given:  you could add a new layer in color mode and with frequent sampling of the good areas of the plaid paint back in the right colors.  On pixel level a few more little repairs can be done to take away the sharp edges of left over stains.

Hannie

[ctcoulter]

Thanks to everyone for the great ideas. This was my first attempt to stray from my comfort zone and take on more of a challenge. It took me a while but I've learned a lot, particularly to avoid plaid.
Here's where I'm at. I rebuilt the shirt using two patches from good material and lined them up using transform to get them close and puppet warp to fine tune. I used another patch along with the warp tools to create the collar. Dave's idea supplied the shadow to give it depth. Some cloning and paint and here I am.
So what am I missing? I appreciate the input.
  Charlie

[Tori803]

This looks really good. The only thing I noticed is a bit of staining in the face, plus the color in the face looks a bit too green.

Nice job on the plaid!

[dle]

I agree, the plaid came out just great. Nice work.

[ctcoulter]

I made a few adjustments. Adjusted the skin tone with a color balance layer. The blotchy complexion was a result of the previous blue channel/luminosity adjustment so I tried a curves layer to minimize it. Think I'll submit it. Any last comments? Thanks to all.
Charlie

[Bambi]

Excellent job on that plaid. Looks fabulous.

Bambi