restoring an old B&W photo

[vpkumar]

I have taken advise of many of the experts here trying to restore my old photos. I am in the process of restoring on of my old photos. I am unable to restore the neck part of my wife and also my neck.

If I use paintbrush somehow I lose all the texture of the skin. Can some you advise me how to restore the skin part around the neck.

I am posting the original and the one partially respaired by me.I know there is much more work to be done. But I need to first know how to restore the sking on my neck and also my wife's neck,.It should not look painted.

Kindly give me your valuable advice.

 

[Dan C]

Hi vpkumar,

Looking at the image, I would say this will require quite a manual and detailed restoration, the noise and damage is inconsistent and the image lacks details because of the excess damage in a lot of areas (for example the neck).

The only thing I can really suggest is localised blurring, sharpening and cloning with a noise layer on top to give the image a consistent look and to avoid that "painted" look you are trying to avoid.

Maybe some users with experience in this type of project will have some other ideas to help you.

Lee

[NotMyFault]

Please find my version below.

 I brightened up the eyes and teeth, as these areas will attract the eye of the observer.

I think the neck area is not so important. I just adjusted the brightness in face an neck area a little bit to achieve a bit more contrast.

Everything is on separate layers and can be adjusted to taste.

To brighten the skin, I use curve shapes, and set mode to overlay. This allows great control. Blend range limits effect to darker colors.

You can play with all these settings and fine-tune everything.

 

I'm no fan of classical pixel based dodge & burn- they work only in "destructive" mode, and I strictly prefer non-destructive work.

BW Portrait.afphoto

[vpkumar]

Dear @NotMyFault,

Thank you for your effort and time spent. I have got the idea now and will be working more on all the layers to make them clearer. I tried an AI but it made the face a bit frightful, SO I think I have to stick to the traditional methods.

 

Regards,

 

[carl123]

@vpkumar There is a free photo restoration forum where people can post images they would like restored and the forum community members will attempt to give advice or just attempt to restore it for you. You may want to post your image there to see what their "experts" can do

If you do and they can do a good job of restoring it, please post that image back here so we can see what they have achieved.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/free-photo-restoration/

[RichardMH]

What can sometimes help is to blur then sharpen the image. The Liquify Persona can help straighten things. 

[vpkumar]

On 11/27/2023 at 10:47 AM, carl123 said:

@vpkumar There is a free photo restoration forum where people can post images they would like restored and the forum community members will attempt to give advice or just attempt to restore it for you. You may want to post your image there to see what their "experts" can do

If you do and they can do a good job of restoring it, please post that image back here so we can see what they have achieved.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/free-photo-restoration/

I had registered and posted the image. But I understand that you cannot post photographs of living people there.