A couple of question.

[truckersau]

Hi,
This is my first restoration for OPR, so I thought I'd just check a couple of things.
Firstly.
After I worked on this photo I checked ALL the size numbers and they have not changed, BUT the original photo size was 1.81MB the new size is 711KB. Is this normal, or have I done something wrong?
Second.
What sort of quality are we after?
is this OK? (fresh eyes) or have I more to do on it?
Before.


All feed back WILL be appreciated.
Thank you.

[Tess (Tassie D)]

:up: Nice job Ray, she's a cutie. I think the short length of hair at the bottom in the middle should come all the way down. Looks like the damage has chopped it off.
On the file size, not sure which program you are using but when you go to file save on mine there is an option button which gives you the quality choice. That should be on the highest quality setting.

[Charlene5]

Hi and welcome to the asylum :)

I think you've done a lovely job on the little girl.  The only suggestion I have would to be to noise up the background a little and maybe add a bit of shadow or gradient or something?  Ugh I'm not expressing myself well.  Let me try again :)  The background is (to my eye) flat, shiny and perfect.  Other than that little pick you've done a grand job!

[truckersau]

Thank you both for those points. Back to the drawing board.

[glennab]

Hi Trucker

The only thing I can think of that might change the size of your file if all else is equal might be the quality to which you've set your jpeg compared to the original.  I'd think any color space change would make the file larger, rather than smaller.

I think you've done a wonderful job on this lovely little girl.  The only thing I'd consider is making her hair smoother on the top where you had to eliminate the damage.  She has straight silky hair, and the area to which you've done the repairs looks rather kinky.  I suspect a few careful tweaks with a small smudge brush would take care of that.

Otherwise, she looks great to me.  Glad you're with us!

Glenna

P.S. As for the quality of a restoration, I'd say the best thing to do is get as close to the quality of the original as you can, and don't try to "over-restore"  Some areas may not be repairable without getting a contrived or painted look.  Damage of that sort is usually cleaned up as faithfully as possible but not taken to the point of looking like a painting – and some damage could be impossible to completely clean up.  The idea is to have the people in the restoration recognizable to their family and friends and for us to not try to create features that aren't discernible.  When we did the Biloxi run, I told the people who brought in irreparable photos that there'd be no point in having OPR "restore" an image if it would end up looking like a total stranger to them.  They were very accepting of that.

[hoodman3]

Great job overall, but I think that if that girl is from the Gulf Coast the coloring in her face may be correct on the original. Your restored photo seems a bit monochromatic and maroonish(?). My opinion only. I agree with Charlene5 that the background could be made softer. Possibly some dodging and burning or maybe just a bit of blur. Your restoration looks great though!
Pete

[rockthumper]

That's a top job Ray.  :up:
Great suggestions from the other posters too. The only thing I would add is to give that bow/clip in her hair some noise or edge shadow to make it not so stark.
RT

[truckersau]

I've rerun it with a couple of the tweeks that where suggested above, except the color corection one.
Hoodman3, I've left the color as it was due to the fact that being unsure of the color of the young girl, and it looked a bit to yellow. Plus some color correcting will be done at the printers.
Any more views on it before it gets up-loaded to Christine.

[Hannie]

Hi Ray,

You have done a great job restorig this photo, Well done!
About the diminishing file size, it could be that while working you save the WIP in JPEG (not max.quality) instead of e.g. PSD.  In that case you lose a little file size every time you save and end up with a smaller file. 

Hannie

[truckersau]

Sorry about the question on the file size before. I have just rechecked everything and it's all back to normal, so I don't know if it was just me or the gremlins fooling around.

[Hannie]

I hate it when those gremlins mess with my file size!

Hannie

[Ratz]

Lovely job Ray :up:

[Ausimax]

 You have done a great job there Ray, welcome to the asylum you don't have to be nuts to do this but it helps. :funny:

Re: the file size, it is not unusual to have a large reduction in file-size as you clean them up, particularly like this one where there is a lot of intensive damage in a background area, it takes a lot of data to record all that damage but when you put in a clean background JPG compression can record it in a lot less data, I know on some I have done the file-size has halved, and I always save as PSD until the final JPG.


Max

[truckersau]

Thanks everybody for your support.
I've just uploaded my first fix.
I enjoyed doing my first one, looking forward to the next.

[glennab]

Ray, this is a mighty fine first restoration.  It seems to me that we ought to keep you, if you don't mind too terribly!

I think your choice to leave the color as is was a wise one.  Our printer does the final adjustments to accomodate their equipment, and we have no idea what those tweaks might be.

Kudos!

Glenna