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Glenna's Latest Challenge

Started by glennab, October 10, 2006, 08:25:43 AM

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cmpentecost

You've made good progress so far on the picture, so I'm sure it will come out looking very nice at the end.

My wild child cat is sitting behind my monitor right now, peeking under it, looking at me saying "aren't I cute".  I put him outside for awhile, but I guess he just wanted to be with me, since I was gone most of the week.  Now he's pawing at things on my bulletin board....grrrrrr.....  I'll be glad when we get into the main house where I'll have my own office and can shut the doors, keeping Winchester out!  Soon...

Good luck.

Christine

glennab

#16
Christine,

I'm sure it'll be great for you to have a non-feline area in which to work.  Unfortunately, I just can't bear to keep my guys out of my office.  Our house is sprawly (if that be a word!) but small, so the 12 of them need space to spread out or there are constant territorial disputes.

Besides, I wouldn't want to miss out on what happened a couple nights ago.  I was working at the computer, and Smoke (she's a lavender grey beauty and our biggest character) walked up in front of the computer, sat down and patted my face very gently -- then jumped down and found herself a place to sleep.  She's never done that before, and it was so dear that I got tears in my eyes!

Hubby and I were discussing this morning the fact that cats have such lethal fangs and claws, yet they can be so gentle.  (It just happens that Smoke was cause for that subject to be broached, because if she's offered food, she takes it so gently and daintily, as she did when sharing his breakfast.)

I know the other side of their personalities, too,  because of all the feral cats I've rescued.  I have a tiny black semi-feral cat named Midge (Smoke's mom, as a matter of fact) who tore my hands to shreds when I tried to get her into a carrier to go to the vet.  And about 6 years ago I nearly lost a finger when it got infected from a bite from a feral cat that had been poisoned.  I grabbed her, because I had to get her to the vet, and she grabbed me -- and neither of us would let go!  Spent several days in the hospital and months in therapy (physical, not mental -- though I probably need that for being such a cat freak!)

Anyway -- data dump -- I think I need to run Norton.  My brain is in accelerated mode  -- going every which way.  Scary!

GG
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pine

(Photoshop CS5 /Mac Pro)

glennab

Okay gurus, here's where I am at this point.  Christine, I can't seem to get the drapes to look decent. I can't get the dark area at the upper left where there's pattern to look like anything but mud.  Any idea what I might be doing wrong?  I worked with curves quite a bit, but with little luck.

It's been a headache day, so I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but at least there's some progress.  Any feedback on the tweaks to their faces?



GG
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pine

(Photoshop CS5 /Mac Pro)

Ausimax

Hi Glenna,

You are progressing nicely with it, drapes with patterns are always a pain, the only thing I can suggest is to pick a complete piece of pattern from a good area and select and copy it then keep pasting it as many times as you need to cover the various areas.

As each paste is on a separate layer you can then jiggle the pieces into place, use an adjustment layer on each piece to get the colour right and even use layer opacity to make it work, I find it better than cloning large areas as you have so much control over the process.

Once you have all the pieces sorted, you can merge them to your working layer and clone in any gaps, folds etc.

The face of the man on your left, looks a bit flat and bland to me, maybe a bit of burn and dodge to give it a bit more contrast.

On the whole I think you are going "gang busters" keep up the good work.

Regards,

Max
Wisdom is having a well considered opinion .... and being smart enough to keep it to yourself!     MJS

"Life" is what happens while you are planning other things!

cmpentecost

Hi Glenna,

I've looked at the before and after of this picture quite a bit, and perhaps it's me, but I really don't think there is all that much damage to the faces.  By using the curves adjustment layers and the layer masks, you can really bring out nice detail, which leaves very little left for repair in the faces, clothing, curtains, etc.  There is obvious damage, but most of it seems to be from fading.  I believe you said the image would be a 5 x 7, so you'll want to be careful not to repair/restore something that won't be visible.  If you put the image to full screen mode, you see lots of damage, but at 5 x 7, most is not visible to the naked eye.  I think the biggest issue of this picture is that it needs color correction and contrast.

IMHO, I think the faces (the 2 on our left) may be a bit too retouched, especially since I didn't see the damage as being that bad after doing curves.  As for the curtains, if you matched up the colors, and then touched up the top/side with cloning, I think you'd be fine.  I think it would be a mistake to go in and try to repair each flower on the curtain....I just can't see the damage at the 5 x 7 size.

From what I've seen on your work, you do a beautiful job, and I'm sure this will turn out looking perfect, like the rest.  If you'd like more info/help on what I am talking about with the curves, let me know.  Considering I spent last week with Vincent Versace, who is the King at doing this stuff, I'll be happy to help when I can.

Cheers!

Christine   :)

glennab

Hey Christine

I sure appreciate your taking so much time to analyze and offer suggestions on this bear.  What's not visible in the original but is very evident  once it's color corrected are all the brown discolorations on the people's skin and clothing.  Some is small and some is quite large, as in the woman's face right under her eyes.  I played (?) more with the original using curves last night, and anything I did that got the color to a vibrancy I liked made the damage seem unacceptable.

I'm at work right now, but when I get home I'll revisit your suggestions and do some more experimenting.

I spent my lunch hour on the forum and checking out Mr. Versace's web site.  What a master he is!  You're so lucky to have been able to get instruction from him.  His gallery blew me away!

I need to get back to the "real" world, but once again thanks for all your input. It'll inspire me this evening when I get back to my 3 friends in the photo.

Your pal!

GG
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pine

(Photoshop CS5 /Mac Pro)

klassylady25

Hey Night Owl!  Is your pic going to remain on the dark side?   Like... brighten, just a tad contrast, and lighten a smidge.... but then it could be computer.  LOL   :D

glennab

Hi Candy

It's hard for me to tell if it's too dark as well.  I've gone from an 8-year-old View Sonic to a brand new Apple LCD Flat Screen.  The difference is impossible to describe!  I actually saw so much that I'd missed on my Army couple with the View Sonic that I'm going to have to start over.  It looks like garbage on the new monitor.  I did color calibration on the new screen, so I'm assuming it's accurate.  I'm looking at it this way: if it is indeed too dark (very possible), admin will adjust it before it's printed.

I spent last night trying to hook up my new scanner – with no luck.  I think it might be a software/hardware incompatibility.  I love troubleshooting all this myself, but it's so time consuming.  I believe I got quite cranky!  The new MacPro is a totally different animal from the Power Macs, so I think I'm dealing with a VERY STEEP learing curve.

Plus we're in the middle of one of our toughest deadlines at work, and by the time I get home I'm burned out!  I have to do a lot of writing as well as designing on this one.  I think my brains are leaking out my ears!

Have a wonderful day -- and thanks for your input!

GG
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pine

(Photoshop CS5 /Mac Pro)

klassylady25

Quote from: glennab on October 19, 2006, 09:08:12 AM
Hi Candy

It's hard for me to tell if it's too dark as well.  I've gone from an 8-year-old View Sonic to a brand new Apple LCD Flat Screen.  The difference is impossible to describe!  I actually saw so much that I'd missed on my Army couple with the View Sonic that I'm going to have to start over.  It looks like garbage on the new monitor.  I did color calibration on the new screen, so I'm assuming it's accurate.  I'm looking at it this way: if it is indeed too dark (very possible), admin will adjust it before it's printed.

I spent last night trying to hook up my new scanner – with no luck.  I think it might be a software/hardware incompatibility.  I love troubleshooting all this myself, but it's so time consuming.  I believe I got quite cranky!  The new MacPro is a totally different animal from the Power Macs, so I think I'm dealing with a VERY STEEP learing curve. <------You might well be learing!! 
Plus we're in the middle of one of our toughest deadlines at work, and by the time I get home I'm burned out!  I have to do a lot of writing as well as designing on this one.  I think my brains are leaking out my ears!GG

Oh!  Now I feel good about my pics!!  I have a 5 year old ViewSonic  LOL   It just makes me sick! 

You'll get it going.  I have confindence in you!! Candy  :up2:

glennab

Candy: That'll teach me to get in a hurry and not run spell-check.  What a riot.  I wish I had time to leer (lear - whatever!).

I LOVE the jack-o-lantern.  Is that your masterpiece?  The more I look at it the more I laugh.  I needed that, because I'm still cranky today!

I love my View Sonic!  It's been a workhorse!  I've just gotten spoiled at work.  I have a 23-inch Apple LCD, and now I have the one at home, because I thought it would be easier on my old eyes when doing the restorations. There's so much more luminosity in the LCDs that it would concern me if I weren't getting relatively comparable-looking prints of the ads I design at work.

Anyway, it'll be back to the restoration tonight.  I may have to call in one of my experts on the new computer vs scanner issue.  Oddly, my scanner stays on when the computer is asleep, but when I wake up the computer, the on-light on the scanner turns red.  I gather from what I read last night that the scanner software and UNIX conflict.  That's WAY beyond my expertise.

Okay, I'm going to SPELL CHECK this and get back to work!

Later, pal!

GG
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pine

(Photoshop CS5 /Mac Pro)

klassylady25

#25
SPELL CHECK?       Awwwwwwww take away all my fun!      ;)

Ok, i'm next with the new computer!!   I'm at my daughter's home and looking at your picture tells me that my calibration is on the dark side!   Oooooo that sounds scary   >:D

glennab

Hi Night Owls

Before I crash & burn, I'm going to post the latest.  Any comments, feedback, quips, whatever, would be much appreciated. GG

What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pine

(Photoshop CS5 /Mac Pro)

Ausimax

Hi Glenna,

Your coming along nicely, the drapes on the(your) right look better with the extension covering the blotchy area.

Curtains can be a real pain, the pattern and the folds are always in the wrong place to clone easily, this one has so much background detail, and you are doing great.
It's funny how these things work, I find I do a bit here and a bit there, and then it is if suddenly you discover you have finished, all the bits have come together.

With the patterned drapes, try what I said before, copy a good piece of pattern and keep pasting, you can then move each piece on its layer to where you want it and erase the bits you don't want, a random pattern is not too bad to clone, you can cheat a bit and get away with it, but a definite pattern like this one is a problem, though you could probably crop a bit off the top, I hate to have to crop though, even if it is a lot more work not to.

Anyway thats enough of my rabbiting on, you are going great, keep up the good work.

regards,

Max
Wisdom is having a well considered opinion .... and being smart enough to keep it to yourself!     MJS

"Life" is what happens while you are planning other things!

glennab

Hello my friend Max

I was going to start the patterned drapes last night, but was getting tired and had a cat sitting in the way of my mouse, so I figured I'd start on that part fresh this evening. I was a REAL CRAB yesterday, so the cats were making me nuts. I don't like getting impatient with them, so I went to bed.

I'm definitely going to use your suggestion to pull bits of the pattern and place them.  I feel as if I might actually get this done.  It'll feel so good to return this to their owners.  I hope they're able to feel the affection that's gone into this work.

I feel as if I'm back in school -- and since I love learning new things, that works for me.  Thanks so much for your encouragement and feedback.

GG
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pine

(Photoshop CS5 /Mac Pro)

VBrestorer

Glenna:
Assuming you're using PhotoShop, one thing you might want to try (if you haven't already) is to copy a "good' piece of drapery that you think you can use to cover a splotchy area, but before pasting/committing the copy over the target area, switch to the Move tool.  The Move tool will give the selection "shaping" handles that you can use to distort/skew the copied piece to fit the shape of the fold in the new area.  Usually a little distortion of the shape won't distort the shape's content to a point of being noticeable.

I find it also helps, when doing this (or any other copying, for that matter), to make the mask itself an irregular shape (i.e., not a rectangle or anything with sharp straight edges).  I usually use the Lasso selection tool.  And if you turn the marquee (marching ants) off before reshaping you'll be better able see what's going on while fitting the new shape.  Note that with the Move tool you can also rotate the shape when your cursor turns into a curved two-headed arrow at the corners, and you can make mirror images of the shape (left/right or top/bottom) by grabbing a center box/handle of one side and dragging it past the center box/handle of the opposite side.  (I sometimes use the mirror image trick when the shading I want in the target area is opposite of the shading in the area I'm copying from.)

After reshaping the copy and placing it where you want it, go back and reselect the original selection tool, turn the marquee back on, and Deselect to lock the copy into its new place.  Oh, and after putting the copied material in the general area of where you want it to end up, use the arrow keys to nudge it around to exactly where you want it.

I would also do one "fold" at a time rather than copying pieces that cover several folds as I think it would be too difficult to get good edge matching when working with several folds at once.

You've done a miraculous job so far.  I hope you'll find at least one tidbit in my reply that will help you.

VBRestorer (Larry)