Christmas Is Coming - Another Santa Picture

[klassylady25]

I'm still learning... this self-teaching has it's drawbacks.  You don't know that you don't know and it's oft time very frustrating. Which is where I am right now.  You may notice that I rarely tell someone what to do, because I've been teaching myself for 5 years and still feel like I'm standing still.  Could be the summer heat though. Who knows. 

You may get the opportunity to work on this one Kurt and if you do just let me know.  Question:  Once you get it out of Lab, then what? 

[schen]

WOW!  Kurt, you are the man.  I always thought A channel is an arbitrary mathematical creation and never looked into it.

Given that the color is so faded, would it be better to restore a gray scale picture from the A channel then color it?

[glennab]

Kurt, the magic man -- How did you pull that out of the A channel?  I usually try LAB, but I couldn't get anything from this one. (I'm still stuck about halfway through the book on LAB color space.  It baffles me!)  We need some tips & tricks!  What you did was amazing.

Glenna

[phischer]

Kurt, the magic man -- How did you pull that out of the A channel?  I usually try LAB, but I couldn't get anything from this one. (I'm still stuck about halfway through the book on LAB color space.  It baffles me!)  We need some tips & tricks!  What you did was amazing.

Glenna

Nicely done Kurt.

Glenna I believe that if you want to get anything usable from the A or B channels you first have to invert them. Then you can do a levels or curves adjustment on the channel and sometimes you will see some good info.
In a case like this you can either restore the b&w version  pullled from the channels and then colorize or you can copy the channel and then paste it in a new layer on top of your original. Set the layer blend mode to "luminosity" and you should see a lot of the detail come through.

[kstruve]

Yep, Phischer is right.  Invert then adjust the levels to use the A or B channels.  In general, the higher the resolution, the better this trick works.  And you'll usually get more information out of A than B.  As far as using it in a color photo, I would actually paste the A channel as a layer into your photo, then move your original (colored) layer above it and change it to "Color" blending mode.  Then repair the damage on the "A" layer, and repair the color on the original layer.  That's the over-simplified version, anyway.  In practice I usually have dozens of layers and never edit directly on any original layer.

Kurt

[Hannie]

Wow, that LAB color thing works amazingly well, just tried it on the Santa pic myself.  Thanks Kurt!  (Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work on my present project.)
Candy, your restoration looks great!  Don't be discouraged, I would like to read tips coming from you any time!   :hug:

Hannie

[klassylady25]

Thank you Hannie.  This is the first photo that I have returned and someone has else has accepted the challenge.  I tried most of yesterday morning to come up with the results that Kurt and Phischer spoke of, but it is a matter of needing not only the written word of how, but the visual.  After seeing Kurt's results, I found no need to work hours on the photo only to have it returned and redistributed.  Good luck to the one that took it on. 

I do have another that I am working on and there will be more to come in the gallery so until then I'll: just keep working, just keep working....

:hug:  Candice

[Ratz]

Hi Candy, sometimes you just have to send them back. I have just sent one back unfinished also. It's a bit of a disappointment when you just don't have the skills to finish one. I am also mostly self-taught and could probably work it out eventually, but it would take months.I console myself by looking back on all the photos I have done that came out really well.
Good luck on your next one, it'll be great. :up:

[kstruve]

Candice,

I think that most of us on this forum are probably visual learners.  I know that I am, and it's always difficult to learn from the written word about something that is so visual in nature.  It's also hard to communicate to others in writing.  I'll put together a tutorial about using LAB channels (and other color mode channels, for that matter) and post it.  That is, unless someone has already done it somewhere on this forum ... ?  Give me a day or so.  In the mean time, I'll see if I can help out on this Santa and Baby photo.

Kurt

[klassylady25]

Darlin' you were the one to work on it.   I could make out most of the detail but not in the clarity that your post brought out and we both know that would limit the quality of the results.  This is not about me or you, but rather it is about giving back to the owner something that was almost lost and very precious.  Some things I see right off and sometimes I even see things that no one else can in a picture and they've been on the mark.  So I was glad to relinquish this photo to someone that could see the "picture" as it is. 

I truly feel that each person here brings, to OPR, their own unique gift and specialty. 

Hugz Kurt,
Candice

[Ratz]

Kurt, you are a gem! :loveit:

[OPRAng]

Nothing says that the photo has to stay in color. It is just fine to restore the photo in B & W. I know that sometimes you can get a more accurate representation of the details when you keep it in black and white. Or if you like, this is also a "hand-in 2 versions" sort of a thing (one in color and one B&W). Basically, work on the memory of the day, however it works out into the picture works for us.

Thanks for all your work. And way to go team OPR! Working together!

See you later,
Angela

[kstruve]

Thanks Candy and Vicki!  I'll do the best I can on this one.  Angela, good to know I can hand in two versions.  I'm a little worried about the color problems with this one.  I can always redo all the color, but I try to save that option as a last resort.

Kurt

[kstruve]

Also, as a side note on something you said, Candy, about being self-taught.  I think to a very large extent, we're all self-taught.  There aren't any schools or classes I've ever heard of that teach photo restoration.  It's just like anything else, the more you work with something, the more techniques and tricks you pick up.  For my own part, at work I use Photoshop about 80% of the time, and I've used the program since version 2.0.  So much of the program is second nature to me now that I very often forget how to effectively communicate to someone how to do something.  A big part of that is, like I mentioned earlier, that most creative types like us are visual learners, so that's how it needs to be communicated.  Anyhoo, I'm babbling.  Bye for now!

Kurt

[klassylady25]

Working with a program as long as you have it like working out of a book called Saxon Math.  It builds concept on concept and that makes a great deal of difference for the student.  With each new tool that much more is added to your expertise.  That does explain a great deal.   :hug: for babbling!!  LOL