While we're waiting on more pictures from OPR, can someone help me....

[Ausimax]

Thanks for the link to the Tut, marylou, I worked through it and managed to get it working, I may have mis-understood your original explanation, I used Dust & scratches on the background layer and tried to paint them out on the dupe layer, where as in the tut he worked only on one layer, when I tried that it worked.

Sorry not to reply sooner, but it was 41 deg Centigrade here yesterday, and my computer was running so hot you could not put your hand on it, so rather than fry it, I shut down for the day.

Thanks again for this method, definitely a valuable tool to have in the box.

Max

[marylou]

I'm glad you were able to get it working.   It's a very helpful and time saving way of eliminating spots. Looking forward to seeing it when you finish.

[Ausimax]

Thanks, marylou.

Christine, I have been playing around with your pix, working on what I had last posted, using marylou's method and smudging,  how successful it may work on the full res image is another story. Could you post a crop of part of the dress at 100% resolution?  Then at least any ideas we may come up with we could be sure they may work.

Max

[cmpentecost]

Hi Max,

Thanks for giving this picture a shot!  I've attached a section of the dress at hi res, assuming it comes in thru photobucket as hi res.  I'm looking forward to see what you've done!

Christine

[zapphnath]

I'm partial to using the Patch Tool, myself.
Here's what I was able to do with your image, in just a few minutes, with the Patch Tool, set to Source.
Zoom in close, (but not too close), so you can easliy select a single "blotch" then grab it and move to a "clean" area as close to the original area as you can get.  For areas like the folds in the dress, you can see the "line" within the selection and can line the new patch up with the original fold.  In the example, my selection is "B", where I chose to Patch from is "A" and "C" shows the wrong way to do it.
If you notice a pattern forming, (you can see a row of dots along the area you're working in), you can Patch out smaller areas to get rid of it and/or randomise where you choose to Patch from - i.e., Patch one "blotch" by dragging the selection below it then the next "blotch" by dragging above or to the left or right.  Try to line up any hard edges the same way you would do for the fold.
The most important aspect of doing it this way is patience.  This is no "quick fix" but, once you get rolling, you'll be surprised at how much area you can cover in a relatively short period of time.
Of course, this is only one of many ways to do this and may not be the best way for all areas of your photo.
Good luck with your restoration.

[cmpentecost]

Zapphnath,

I'm very impressed!  Everyone has been great at giving me some fantastic suggestions on working with this picture. I had not tried the patch tool as you described, but what you've done turned out great.  I can't wait until I can spend some significant time at this photo and try out the many suggestions I've been given.  I know my parents will be thrilled to get this picture back, in restored form.

Thanks so much!!   

Christine

[Ausimax]

Hi Christine,

Thanks for posting the full size crop, sorry not to have got back sooner, but yesterday was the fortnightly "Huntin, Shootin & Fishin" day, then when you get home you have to clean and dress it and put it away. I hate shopping day!

On the dress crop I used Marylou's method and it worked fairly well, it leaves some pattern that would pass for a lacy material, If you don't want that effect you could blend it out with the blur tool, be careful as you work along the Crease/fold lines that you don't remove them completely. What I did on another method I was trying was to open a new layer, sample the colour of one of the creases, and paint the folds/creases in on the new layer at 100% opacity, then if you do loose them on the working image, you can smudge/blur and adjust the opacity of the creases layer to suit to replace them,

If you use this method on the suit you will have to blend it by smudging or painting on a separate layer to get rid of the pattern, doubt he had a lacy suit, be careful around defining lines, edges, lapels and creases it can remove them completely, that said it is a very quick and easy method, just remember it is using a very heavy blur, and if you touch details you want to remain sharp it will destroy them. It is possibly the only method that will clean up the cake, there is just no clear detail available to use with any other method I know at least.




The first image is the one I originally posted that had been worked with the HBT and Clone tool, the second image is the first one finished off using Marylou's method, you can see the difference of patternation left by each method, I found Marylou's method used on the walls blurred the texture too much.



Just remember these are quick and dirty attempts, just to show what may be possible, done with care and a little more skill I think you can achieve a good result, hope it is of some help to you Christine, even if as only an example of how NOT to do it.

Max