Need some help on restoring this image, It is the only image I have of him, a close relative.

[vpkumar]

I have tried to restore as much as I can. But It is very difficult for me as you can see what I could do. I would appreciate if some one could guide with steps to do in affinity photo v2.0.3.

The 1st is original and 2nd my feeble attempt.

 

[NotMyFault]

please find my version attached.

the source image is really poor. It is more re-inventing the image, or using painterly tools.

There are some AI-based image restoration services (mostly paid) available who might provide faster & better looking results.

Was the image B&W or color?

 

photo restauration.afphoto

[vpkumar]

47 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

please find my version attached.

the source image is really poor. It is more re-inventing the image, or using painterly tools.

There are some AI-based image restoration services (mostly paid) available who might provide faster & better looking results.

Was the image B&W or color?

 

photo restauration.afphoto 2.42 MB · 1 download

The original image was black and white. I am attaching a full image which I have. I only posted the face because I thought it was tougher to restore it.  I have trying to restore it for long time and had even asked earlier in a forum. But I want a really good way of restoring it, so that I can print out a big sized photo. I have tried Denise etc. but it doesn't repair the damages. and I didn't want the face to change. Also I don't mind the sepia tone, I think that gives it a more authentic look. I don't mind spending a lot of time on the restoration, if I know the exact procedure.

[carl123]

vanceai.com does a good job to start this. You can touch up the rest later

 

[NotMyFault]

The process is not totally determined, but in essence it will be several iterations using certain "modules":

• Restoring colors (or re-inventing colors)
• restoring body / cloth
• restoring face
  • Restoring glasses
  • restoring noise
  • restoring mouth

To restore damaged structures (patterns, textures) use inpainting, patch tool in non-destructive way. This allows to delete over-corrections.

Th image looks B/W, degraded to sepia. I would convert to full B/W, and re-color later to either sepia or faked colors (hue 30 for skin, black for hair and glasses, hue 300-330 for lips etc.

The AI tool is a good bases, but I would pre-process the source image to adjust the skin color in the nose area, and the lips - I think they are closed, no teeth visible, AI got it wrong, similar I would inpatient some defects to avoid getting false structures like at the ear and in the face.

I restored hundreds of scanned images, it really helps if you know (from memory or other sources) the actual colors and other details, like the nose shape, to restore them as natural as possible. AI simply generates "average" structures, learned from training data, and may produce totally false details for your specific image. E.g. the glass in the right side is smaller than the left side, very unrealistic. Never the less, you can combine this. The 2x upscaling of AI helps, too.

[NotMyFault]

Thank you for the full image, it makes it much easier to restore.

 

The the basic process gets much simpler:

1. frequency separation
2. adjust color defects above low frequency, below high frequency using multiple vector patches, blend modes etc
3. correct nose area by blur filter applied to HF layer
4. add lots of inpainting to eliminate jpeg compression artifacts
5. add curves in sampled colors to restore glasses / frame

 

 

photo restauration 2.afphoto

Edited January 5, 2023 by NotMyFault

[vpkumar]

I am really grateful for all the helpful comments. Yes, about AI that is what I was afraid of. It may change the original features , which I don't want. Unfortunately, I dont know the original colours of the photo. I do have another photo which can give the idea of the nose shape etc. The Vanceal image  looks good but it is not authentic, Yes I also agree about the spectacle size.

With all the inputs I will try my hand again.

Thank you all again for the help.

[Sam LaGargouille]

hello, this is my try.

I've straighted the picture

Here is what i've tried to do : for the backround, i remove it and replace it, it was easier.

then use different tools : inpainting, clone brush, restore brush

Use some adjustment too, you will e in the afbrushes files.

 

image à restaurer 2.afphoto

[vpkumar]

Thanks. You have done a very good job. Have you used the pen tool to select the background. The dress is actually of one color. Faded white or off white. The image can now be easily sharpened. I thought the frequency seperation methos is good for cleaning up the image.

[Sam LaGargouille]

8 hours ago, vpkumar said:

Thanks. You have done a very good job. Have you used the pen tool to select the background. The dress is actually of one color. Faded white or off white. The image can now be easily sharpened. I thought the frequency seperation methos is good for cleaning up the image.

thank's . yes I've used the pen tool select,   then put a mask.