Comments Needed

[hoodman3]

I've been working on this my first certificate. There are 2 things that bother me. 1 is how to fix the background of the word scholarship and 2 should I make this b&w? Any help is appreciated.
Also any other comments.
Pete

[hoodman3]

One more thought is that if anyone else is working on a certificate for the same family, maybe they should somewhat match. Anyone?

[Hannie]

Hi Pete,

I don't think you can get around meticulously healing and cloning the background of "scholarship".  I first thought the certificate would a buff color but after trying out a few things I begin to think it was a white certificate.  It would probably be better to let someone from the US answer that question, they will know better what the custom color would be for these documents.

Hannie

[hoodman3]

Thanks Hannie. I was hoping for a cool trick or shortcut. Used the patch tool, copy/paste, cloning, pattern maker, healing brush, and my eyes are now permanently crossed.  I'll keep at it.
Thanks again.
Pete

[schen]

I think the restoration looks fine for a 40 years old document.  If the background behind SCHOLARSHIP bothers you, a little patch/heal should be able to remove the darker spots.  I would not worry about the lighter spots.

As for color, I like the parchment look you got there.

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Great job Pete. :up: Is it my eyes or is the bottom of the certificate narrower than the top and the bottom 2 lines of writing sloping up towards the middle?

[hoodman3]

The certificate was "wavy" I think. There are several areas that "move around" a bit. Some I tried to fix and some I left alone with the idea that I could get a happy medium that would be acceptable. Can you suggest a way to correct the "wavy" parts of the patterns?
Thanks,
Pete

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Hi Pete. If you use photoshop you can use the warp tool. Theres a bit about it here, half way down the page. http://www.creativepro.com/story/review/22866-1.html

[hoodman3]

Thanks Tassie. I use PS 7 and I think they call it the Liquifier tool. I'll try it later tonite.
Thanks again,
Pete

[rockthumper]

Hi Pete,
I agree with Schen - I like the parchment look you've achieved.
One way you can clean up behind the letters is this: (I use PSP so you may need to translate this to Photoshop)
Select the darkest part of each letter roughly with a magic wand tool then modify the selection with just enough outer feather to take in the whole letter ( 2 or 3 pixels for the reduced size you posted) then copy them. Leave the selection on, make a new layer and paste into the selection (this ensures the letters stay exactly over the originals).
Now go back to the original layer and select the oval (?) area surrounding the letters and fill it with a suitable colour and your choice of pattern.
Add some monochrome noise and your background should look great. When you are happy with it merge the letters back down.
RT.