On the Couch

[dle]

I've been working on this photo of four folks on a couch. As usual, it looked like an easier restore when I saw it in the gallery. You'd think I'd know by now. :)



Anyway, I've been plugging away at it and have gotten it to this point:



which is getting close, I think.

The reason I'm posting it is not so much for general feedback (though, I'd be happy with whatever you'd like to offer) as it is for any techniques folks might have to deal more easily with the water stains, emulsion cracking and fading that mar the couch itself. Dealing with it stripe by stripe works, but is exceedingly tedious.

While the quickest way forward for this photo is just to go do it, I'm always looking to add to my bag of tricks. Any suggestions on a combination of techniques that might let me tackle this more quickly?

Thanks for the help.

Dave Ehnebuske

[lurch]

Too much contrast. Otherwise, good restore. No tricks to offer, otherwise.

[Bambi]

It looks great to me, David. Open a Levels Adjustment Layer and check the R, G and B sliders. That should help the color. The skin tones might need a little more work after that. Might still be a little too red.

Bambi

[dle]

Yes, I agree, the colors are a bit too saturated and the contrast is too high, so I toned them down. I also did a bit more work on the skin tones and on the stripy couch. Here's the result:



I still think there must be a good technique -- one that requires less hand work -- to deal with situations like the couch. Perhaps something will occur to me.

Dave Ehnebuske

[Hannie]

Hi Dave,

What a beautiful restore, you have done a great job on those stains and fading!
I'm afraid there is no way to tackle this one other than the way you did: stripe by stripe... ;-)

I think Bambi referrs to the color adjustment method as described in the OPR Technique Handbook (link on the left side of this page).  It is a good idea to color/tone/contrast adjust at the start of your restore, before any repair work is done.  This way you will not get any surprise appearances of clone/repair/healing marks afterwards.

Below, the top image is your version, then the original with levels adjustments and the bottom shows your restore with levels adjustments as described in the Handbook (the repairs are starting to appear).



Hannie

[dle]

I poked around with this photo a bit more. Mostly, I did a bit more restoration on the shirt of the fellow on the left, and fiddled with the colors -- finding the white point, black point, a neutral gray somewhere in the mid tones -- using various techniques, including the ones in the handbook.

Here's where I came out on it.



I think I'm gong to call it a wrap.

[Hannie]

Beeeautiful!

:up2:

Hannie

[Mhayes]

Very nice Dave!

Margie

[Candice]

 :wow:  Wonderful!!