Hi All, I'm working on a side of a brick facade of a home and I'm having problems matching colors. Is there a better way to work other than creating each brick? Thank you for any help.
Going crazy ~ Sandi
Sandi can you post the photo you are working on so we can see what the colour problem is?
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j406/smceachron/LoweJ23_4x6-18working2.jpg)
This is the photo. The bricks are under the front windows. Thx, Sandi
Sandi, it would help if we can see the original also!
Thanks,
Hannie
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j406/smceachron/LoweJ23_4x6-18.jpg)
Here is the original photo. ~ Sandi
Sandi, while your photo is nice on the eyes it is not color corrected to the actual photo. It looks like bright sunlight and the bricks are yellow and brown. You have recolored the stork to a different color on his legs and head. He has orange feet and beak and blue eye. The blanket he is holding is blue which probably means he is delivering a boy. On the bird's chest where it was yellow and you now have is gray needs to be removed as it is damage. It does not show up on all the channels which is a clue that is is damage like the rest of the yellow in the center. You extended the bricks and that is not the same on the original, but it does help and will allow. Nice clean up, but don't cause yourself more work when there are shadows that can stay and not be treated as damage.
Margie
Margie, Maybe I bit off more than I can handle. I wasn't sure of the over all yellow cast of the photo and thought it might need to be tamed down. Taking out the blue channel took out the duck's yellow vest, the legs,(I wasn't finished with the stork yet) the yellow damage in the middle of the photo as well as the yellow over-all cast. I'll put the yellow cast back. Maybe I should just put the photo back and try something less damaged? Thx, Sandi
Hi Sandi, it's fine to send a photo back and try another. When you do these photos, first do a color correction by either a Levels Adjustment or a Curves Adjustment. You want to see what the actual photo should be, not retouch to where you like it better. Yes, the yellow in the center is damage and needs to be taken out. I'm not sure why you are taking out the blue channel as that took out the stork's yellow legs and the blue blanket in his beak? The broom by the door has yellow on the brush part. It' s not a case of taking out a cast if that is what the original had because that was its color or the lightening conditions. Changing a cast because of water damage is different. By doing either the Level's Adjustment or the Curves will tone the bricks some. However, the color of the bricks, dead grass, and bright sun makes this photo what it is.
Margie
Margie, I know I can put back photos, but it is difficult to tell just how much needs to be done just from the gallery. I have already had this photo for a week and I feel there maybe someone out there better than me that can restore this photo faster and I hate taking up more time as I'm sure you want these photos back as soon as possible. Thx, Sandi
Sandi, don't feel bad returning a photo, there are still lots of nice photos to pick from.
I have taken lots of photos and returned them to the gallery or have someone else do the difficult parts! :halo:
Hannie
Sandi, please don't feel bad about returning this photo. You did a great job on the brickwork which took some time and skill. My problem was that the family would know it didn't look the same. This is not an easy photo and will take some time. With more experience you will feel more comfortable with this kind of photo.
Believe me when I say you are not the first to say the downloaded version didn't look like what was in the gallery. We have been accused of bait and switch. :halo:
Thanks,
Margie
Hi Sandi,
I have had a change of heart and the desire to not let you off the hook so easily. >:D OK, just kidding. What I would like to do is show you another way to handle a photo like this. I know you have spent a lot of time on this already, but this will give you a chance to approach handling a photo damaged like this from another angle.
I am tied up a bit this morning and afternoon, but I would like to post a tutorial on this photo and see what you think and also let others give their thoughts on how they would approach it.
I think you will find this fun, <please everyone, no eyes rolling in disbelief> and it will give you a chance to see how to use the blue channel to your advantage, but totally different than how you did it. I will show you how to use the blending option and coloring the photo, but using the colors from the photo that has been color corrected.
Sandi, our you game?
Margie
*Footnote: The stork has a bow tie and I think what I viewed as damage is a pouch or bib.
I think the yellow on the stork's chest is a vest.
Kiska, I agree and so is the bow tie. Question: You have done it before where you take the blue channel and then copy all and paste on top as another layer and change the layer to luminosity and then tweak from there. I tried that and it didn't look the way I wanted to go. Basically what I want to do is correct the color first and maybe save that one as a .psd for reference. I will then make a 2nd copy which will be the one I colorize on. On it I will change the photo to a B/W (still in RGB mode) and then add many blending adjustment modes (with layer masks) where I can correct the under layer for gray and each adjustment layer will have a different color to use. Before I do that I will correct the damage in the B/W version before coloring.
I know this is clear as mud, but will show what I mean unless you can think of a better way? One reason I will tweak the sliders in the Blending Options is so that color can be added in some areas and not touched in others.
Margie
mmmm. Sounds like a mighty round about way. Here's a quickie.
(http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/kiskaopr/Picture1-35.png)
Kisks, Your photo: That's what I was trying to do by copying and adding the blue channel, but then I lost all my yellows in the vest, bow tie and the stork legs (which are orange). I had a hard time trying to decide what was sunlight and what was damage. You guys are great! I was feeling down, but not out of the game. I don't quit that easily. I'm like a dog with a bone.
Sandi,
Hang in there I am sure Margie and others will help get this one done.
You mentioned not being able to see damage etc. in the galleries. Here is what I do to help with the problem. I use Safari as my browser. I am not sure if other browsers will work this way. When I am looking for a photo and find one I'll click on it (other than hovering over it with my mouse) and it will fill the browser screen. If I want to look at it closer I will do a Command>Shift>4 (PC user click on the key selection that allows you to copy selected areas of the screen) to make a copy to my desktop. Then I open Photoshop to play with it a little to see if I want it. Yes it is 72 dpi but the image is larger to let you see possible damage. Then when you get the image you find more than expected but you are going from low res to higher res with the original.
Johnboy
Johnboy, I can see the main type of damage, as you know there are lots of other little stuff, like the hidden bricks behind the big yellow damage. I like your idea and I definitely will try it on the next photo for sure. Thank you for the virtural hug. ~ Sandi
Hi Sandi,
It's 1 am here and I am waving the white flag in defeat with my idea of using adjustment layers with the blending option to have zillion of those that will be used to color the B/W from a conversion of the Blue Channel. Part of it worked OK, but some of the colors proved to be a challenge---nice way of saying of I probably would not lived long enough to get it done. In the blue channel you will be able to see more of your bricks and also the shadows on the straw.
Now for Plan B, to be followed by the rest of the alphabet. Post the last one that you sent me by email. Make it a copy with a change of name so you don't loose your layers and post to the forum. The one you sent me is closer to what it should be. The blanket is blue and there is a bow tie that goes to the vest, bib or whatever. Look at my B/W of the blue channel.
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/LoweJ23_brickwork.jpg)
I wouldn't worry about not showing the shadow of the tree in the straw. I called the owner, because I couldn't figure it out as being grass since it was flat and if it was straw, why was there some green showing on the right hand side. Turns out in was in March and it was straw as they were seeding the lawn. The blanket the stork is holding is blue as their baby was a boy. The stork means the most to her as it was something her mom had made. She even rented them out and had one for a girl.
On the photo you sent me, I think you have done a great job. What will help you with the yellow where you want bricks would be to copy (I use the lasso tool) another section---Hit Ctrl J or Cmd J on a Mac----use the short cut key for move V and move it into place. You might have to use the transform tool to rotate or scale. If you have to do a layer mask you can get it where you like it and then hit Ctrl E to merge it with your layer below. Make sure you have a copy of your background.
At the risk of babbling, the one tool that I love the best on something where you have a lot of straight edges is the Polygonal Tool (under the Lasso Tool). It is so easy to use it on straight edges for a crisp line.
The most important thing on this photo is the Stork and once you get your brickwork under the window done and the storks vest and bow done, you are in the homestretch. Post your latest copy.
Never, ever trust me if I say I know a fun way to do something. The only thing that saved you was that I had so much fun doing it. :P
Margie
Margie, I think you were on the right track and with Kiska's example (corrected original layer-> blue channel layer-> color layer) it would work.
I sometimes repair the blue channel layer first by itself before I paste it on top of the original, that works too.
There is no way that this restore could be done fast, too much damage to repair afterwards.
It would be great if the stork could stay in its original surrounding and not change the shape of the house in any way. It really doesn't matter if the home and the bricks don't look like new, just cleaned up and where possible repaired. would be enough while the stork is the most important object in this snapshot.
Hannie
Hannie, you are right! There is no way to do this in a day and by not taking breaks meant a disaster. I don't doubt that Kiska could pull the hat out of the bag on this one. The problem is that it looks like a lot more work doing it the way she did with the blue channel. If you go back and look at it, you will see it has a lot of red, plus it looks like at every turn you would not only have to clean up the damage, but be fighting the color.
What I attempted to do was take the original and color correct with both Levels and Curves Adjustment (looking for neutral gray).
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/Original.jpg)
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/LoweJ23_Curves_WB.jpg)
Next I checked the channels and the blue channel had the best detail. With CS 5 you have a B/W option where in the menu you can pick the best channel to go B/W. This is still a sRGB photo and will allow me to colorize. I chose to do the color by picking a Solid Color Adjustment Layer. Once I had that I inverted the mask so that everything was hidden. I then double clicked to bring up the blending options. On the screen print you will see how on the bottom layer I have used the Alt key to click on the sliders to part them so that I can limit what will be showing. This I picket up from an article in the UK magazine called Photoshop Creative. The reasoning is that you do not want to hand color bright highlight and deep shadows as the colors will come out looking bad. Below shows my settings and by now I should have slowed it down when you see the results. It finally dawned on me that this would never work as the shading in the blue channel in some spots would make it impossible to color. Plus, I would sample color from the corrected original and double click on the first square to have as my color, but when I painted it in it would sometimes not look like the same color at all. The third photo is a screen print and it isn't quite correct with the actual colors.
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/blending_options.jpg)
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/LoweJ23_blue_Chnl.jpg)
The blending too dark in lots of different areas.
Not what I wanted. Photo still has lots of damage by door.
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/hand_coloring.jpg)
I still think hand coloring on this photo is the way to go, but I don't think the blue channel is the only way to it. The bad part is that my repairs were done on the blue channel (not completed) and that where the green channel is needed---it would meaning repairing that channel. The green channel is better for the bricks and also the stork. I also found that instead of doing an Adjustment Layer and changing the blending mode; I could do blank layers, change the mode to color and it worked better. Plus, I could still use masks and could vary the opacity. Instead of using the B/W for the blue channel, I tried tried Channel Mixer where I could vary each of the channels.
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/Channel_Mixer-1.jpg)
(looks like a geico in the center)
Painting on a blank layer with the mode in Color.
(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z10/hayesbucket/coloring_green_channel.jpg)
Katrin Eisman in her third edition of Photoshop Restoration & Retouching pages 271-274 has some good tips on coloring by using the adjustment layers like my first try. In Chapter 8 she goes on to others ways such as splitting channels in Lab. For now my brains are fried and you are left wondering when this torture will end.
Sandi, Hannie is right when she asked that you not change the original. If you had to, ask your distributor first. I was was going to see if I could use any of your restored photo you sent me, but I couldn't. I tried pasting mine on top but I could not get the stork to line up even when transforming to fit. I couldn't tell if you cropped the photo to the dimension or else you re-sized and then cropped?
Margie
P.S. No masonry work today!
I had a rough go just using the clone tool and also selecting undamaged bricks and positioning them over the damage. A bricklayer I am not.
As much as we like to straighten photos, I wouldn't in this case. Margie I think thats where you couldn't get anything to line up.
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5/tassie_devil/OPR/bricks1.jpg)
Tess, good job on the brickwork especially under the window. Most of the time I spent trying to color on the blue channel that I had repaired partially. When I tried putting Sandi's version (you haven't see it yet) it didn't work and I think you are right about her restore being straighten. I noticed it on the angle of the stork. I do think the way I was working was the best bet on the lawn of straw, because cloning with the straw and the shadows wouldn't work as well.
Margie
P.S. You cut off the geico's head. :'(
Hi Margie, I've uploaded the photo that I have been working on since the email. I understand how to add new bricks. I wasn't sure either of the straw or ground, as you also noticed the green on the grass on the right side of the photo. The stork has been fixed and now on to get rid of the gecko. ~ Sandi
Oops. Here's the photo that I have been working on with the stork renewed and other touch-ups as well. Thx, Sandi
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j406/smceachron/LoweJ23_4x6-18working.jpg)
Hi Sandi,
This is much better. On the stork you will notice that the bib and bow tie do not run together. Also notice that the stork's legs go from bright orange at the top to a lighter orange on the rest. I don't want to point out too much as I know this is a wip, but along the foundation notice how on the original the shadows fall and it is not one color all the way back.
Margie
Thank you, I didn't realize the vest and tie didn't go together. I'll separate them. I'll lighten the storks legs from the knees down and I also realized that the foundation was not wood, but instead were bricks so that will be fixed as well. I think I need 2 screens. :) Thank you so much for your help. ~ Sandi
I could be wrong but the foundation looks like cement to me not bricks?
Sandi, most houses have foundations that are cement whether it be a slab or built up. I don't think any house has a foundation of wood--unless you go to places like New Orleans where some are on poles. As to the bib and bow tie, did you not see on the start of this thread with the blue channel shown in B/W how it looked? If not go back and look and you can see how they are separated. The storks legs in the original are probably the one thing that is in good shape and does not need to be painted over or the colors changes.
Margie
You are certainly correct in the bib shape and the stork legs.
I remember my dad building a concrete block retaining wall in our front yard. Yes, there was a cement bottom upon which the blocks were placed and the reason the blocks are cemented that way was for strength. Thank you for your expertise. ~ Sandi
I believe I've finally finished this photo. Any corrections? I sure know how to do bricks! ~ Sandi
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j406/smceachron/LoweJ23_4x6-18workingcopysm.jpg)
Oops, I'm not quite done (the window blinds still need work). Thx, ~Sandi
I think I finally finished it. Here it is.
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j406/smceachron/LoweJ23_4x6-18workingcopysm-1.jpg)
Thx for all your great tips and encouragement. ~ Sandi
Jonas, I have updated the photo and fixed the blinds and the straw. Any more changes? Thx, ~ Sand
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j406/smceachron/LoweJ23_4x6-18workingcopysm-2.jpg)
Hi Sandi,
sorry for my late reply!
I just love it!
The foreground and the blinds look a lot better now and you also managed to increase the depth of the photo ever so slightly, which looks very good and is not too obvious :)!
You put a lot of hard work into this Sandi and it's really paid off. Looks great!
Pat
OK, it's finished! Here is the before and after. Thank you everyone for all your wonderful help and expertise. I couldn't have done it without any of you. Congratulations to you! ~ Sandi
(http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j406/smceachron/Brickhousebeforeandafter.jpg)