Suggestions please

[schen]

Now, what did I get myself into?  Now I have seen a picture that looks much better in thumbnail than hi-res.

I extracted the green channel which seemed to contain much more details and tones and adjusted the level.  I restored the upper half of the face of the woman at the lower right corner.  The rate it was going, this will take a few hundred hours to complete.  Did I do anything wrong?  Any suggestions to move things faster?

[glennab]

Chen, are you into pain???? The only thing I can suggest is to try using your original to duplicate the layer and play with layer effects to see if you can pull any more detail.  You might have lost some in the channel work. Where the image is too light, try duplicating and multiplying the layer.  Where it's too dark, try lighten, screen or pin light. (I've been known to spend close to an hour just playing with the layer effects with multiple layer duplications and effects trying to pull out just that little bit more)  I'd wager you're going to have some areas that have no image at all, but you might be able to get  a little more.  Then I think it's going to be pushing a few pixels at a time to garner what you can.  And yes, I'd say you'll have put quite a few hours into this one before you're finished.  Brave soul!

Good luck!

Glenna

[Ausimax]

schen, I think you have taken on mission impossible, there are just too many faces in there and by the time you get it to a size where you can work on it you probably won't be able to make out the detail, I took the original and played with contrast & brightness - pushed brightness to +12 and contrast to +40, to my mind it seemed to make the detail a little clearer, especially the damage.

Good luck with it, hope it comes out for you.

Max

[schen]

I did a gray scale conversion and in the histogram 1-99 percentile spans from 39 to 87, a paltry 18% of the full range of luminosity.

I took Glenna's advise, abandoned the channel separation, did a gray scale conversion then a level adjustment layer. Two multiply layers one with white mask and the other with black mask.  I painted the black mask with white brush to increase the contrast and the white mask with black brush to decrease the contrast.  That seemed to bring out more contrast for the few closer faces at the lower right.  I might be able to simply these two layers with an overlay layer but these two separate layers are keeping my vision straight for now.

Christina, expect this to come back in at least a few weeks.

[paula]

I see what you meant when you said you were working on the "impossible".  That is a tough one but it looks to me like you've got it under control. You're getting there.  Good work. :up:
Paula

[schen]

Help!  I am confused.

I took a few days off this one and am returning to it.  After a while, I was not sure whether I was painting or restoring.  And my favorite impressionism painting style is showing.   :-\

Am I going at the right direction?

[glennab]

Hi Chen

I don't see anything in the restoration that looks "painterly."  And wow!  Do you have your work cut out!  What a bear.  This'll be a pixel-by-pixel torment in some areas.  And it also appears that some of the image is just plain GONE.  There's nothing you can do with that.  I'd say just keep on truckin' and do the best you can -- from what I've seen so far that's darn good!

Glenna

[klassylady25]

You've sure come a mile or two since I last viewed.   :wow:  Good work!

[sanbie]

Thats the trouble I have with resoring the worse photo's..they end out like painted faces...how do you stop that?

Sanbie

[schen]

Sanbie, I painted on the masks of adjustment layers.  That seemed to retain the original texture and appeared less "painted'.  The downside is that the original was very grainy.

After staring at it for such a long time, I started seeing something different.  The picture before had only brightness and contrast adjusted.
I used to think the arm belongs to the younger lady on the left but I now think the older lady was clutching her purse.  There seemed to be a lighter patch across her right shoulder/upper arm.  What was it?

Did she have her eyes closed?

The area enclosed by yellow line seemed to have weaving pattern.  Where are the hands of the younger lady?

I got four eyes and apparently were not enough  :(  I need your help.

[Ausimax]

Hi schen, I am fairly sure it is the arm of the young lady, the older lady is sitting almost sideways in her chair and for it to be her right arm she would need a forearm 3 feet long and the elbow angle is too acute, in the gray image the arm is clearly coming out of the black sleeve.

Max

[sanbie]

I think you were right with first guess and that arm is the ladies in black...I think the lady in the striped shirt has one arm hanging down under that lady's arm and that the arm nearest the front is under the lady's arm and her hand is over her own arm that is hanging down...

OMG I just read that back..I hope you understand what I mean!

Sanbie

[Ratz]

The arm definitely belongs to the lady in the black dress.
You picked yourself a good one there Chen ::) it looks like a real pea-souper!
Good luck with all those scratches!

Vicki :up:

[klassylady25]

By klassylady25 at 2007-07-20

[schen]

Thank you for your effort and your keen eyes.

Is it possible that lady #2 had her arms crossed in front of her under the right arm of lady #1?

What is that light color thing in front of lady #2?  I thought it was the chair back but the fold in the middle looks weird for a chair back.