Restoring old B & W photos, is Photoshop the best tool to use?

Norris Combs · June 25th, 2009, 12:57 PM

I don't have Vista 64, am using XP Pro with quad core 6600 and 3 GB RAM on my PC. I just bought CS4 Extended for something like $180. Thanks!

Frank Simpson · June 25th, 2009, 02:00 PM

I spend nearly every day at work working in Photoshop. It is my opinion that it is the coolest program in the entire world. Yes, even cooler than my Final Cut Pro Suite!

One thing worth mentioning about Photoshop is that it is like an incredibly powerful assortment of tools. There are many ways of creating the same effect in Photoshop, and an individual's workflow and general efficiency will determine favored ways of doing things.

When I was working in the print industry I was routinely called upon to remove people from photos, add people, even restore missing limbs!

We did a bunch of life-size standees of a fictitious boy band for MTV (2Get+Her), and had to make about 40 in 2 days. While working on them, the art director wanted a different pose of one of the figures... problem was, he was standing behind the others in the original photo. I was able to paint in most of his jacket, fake an arm (conveniently putting his hand in the jacket pocket so as to not have to do a hand!) and then I "borrowed" a set of legs from another photo. The art director was very pleased.

Depending on how deep you get into correction and restoration will take you on various learning curves. When you stack levels, curves, and color balance adjustment layers, and selectively paint them to mask their effects, etc. etc. you'll know you're hopelessly lost to the world of Photoshop.

When making composites, the hardest thing to do is make sure the lighting matches in the images to be joined. That is usually the very first tell-tale of a doctored photo!

These days I do more mundane miracles with my company's product photos. Usually when there in an engineering change, I just doctor the existing photo to reflect the change which is usually (but not always!) cheaper than rephotographing the product.

But I have also been known to "make" products in Photoshop when the prototypes are not ready and I have a catalog to get to press! It makes me laugh to see a "photograph" of a product that did not even exist when I made the image of it!

Yes, Photoshop is the coolest program on the planet!

Frank Simpson · June 25th, 2009, 02:53 PM

Here's a couple of examples of a couple projects.

Last year we thought it would be fun to have the Mona Lisa wearing one of our camera straps.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...lisa-cover.jpg

The biggest challenge here was getting the strap to disappear somewhat convincingly behind her hair. Even though you can't see it here, I textures the camera strap and pouch to match the cracks and surface imperfections of the original painting. Unfortunately it can't be seen except at high magnification

So this year, we thought we'd continue the theme of classic paintings, this time borrowing from the Sistine Chapel.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...log-2009-1.jpg

There was a lot of compositing in this one.
1. The background wall with spotlights shining was created from scratch in Photoshop.
2. The frame was reshaped and proportioned. (see below)
3. The figures were photographed (3 photos), posed according to a mock-up I had done earlier. Then they had to be removed from their backgrounds to be composited together.
In the upper left figure I changed the color of the strap shoulder pad to red to make it "pop" better against the subject's mostly blue clothing.
The vest on one of the girls in the lower right corner was changed to green, again to keep things from being too blue.
4. Obviously the pouch had to be out into God's hand. Then general color toning and correction, shadowing etc. to complete.

Next year I'm thinking of doctoring up Boticelli's The Birth of Venus!

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...9-elements.jpg

Norris Combs · June 28th, 2009, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Simpson

Here's a couple of examples of a couple projects.

Last year we thought it would be fun to have the Mona Lisa wearing one of our camera straps.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...lisa-cover.jpg

The biggest challenge here was getting the strap to disappear somewhat convincingly behind her hair. Even though you can't see it here, I textures the camera strap and pouch to match the cracks and surface imperfections of the original painting. Unfortunately it can't be seen except at high magnification

So this year, we thought we'd continue the theme of classic paintings, this time borrowing from the Sistine Chapel.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...log-2009-1.jpg

There was a lot of compositing in this one.
1. The background wall with spotlights shining was created from scratch in Photoshop.
2. The frame was reshaped and proportioned. (see below)
3. The figures were photographed (3 photos), posed according to a mock-up I had done earlier. Then they had to be removed from their backgrounds to be composited together.
In the upper left figure I changed the color of the strap shoulder pad to red to make it "pop" better against the subject's mostly blue clothing.
The vest on one of the girls in the lower right corner was changed to green, again to keep things from being too blue.
4. Obviously the pouch had to be out into God's hand. Then general color toning and correction, shadowing etc. to complete.

Next year I'm thinking of doctoring up Boticelli's The Birth of Venus!

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...9-elements.jpg

That's cool! I'm always amazed at the many photos I saw in magazines and websites thaat appear to be original, but later found out, many of the objects were photoshopped. Can you (and anybody else) recommend some specs for a laptop that can run Photoshop easily.

Thanks,

Frank Simpson · June 28th, 2009, 06:13 PM

Well, the main thing about Photoshop is that it likes as much RAM as you can throw at it. And of course the faster processor the better, especially with CS4 extended supporting 3D!

But the size and resolution of your images will affect performance as well. If you're only working images for use on the web you won't need as much fire-power as if you're working high-res images for print or for especially wide-format printing.

Another thing is how many layers you may be working in. A lot of my images tend to have many layers and RAM requirements go up accordingly.

Here are the System Requirements from the Adobe website:

Mac OS

* PowerPC® G5 or multicore Intel® processor
* Mac OS X v10.4.11–10.5.4
* 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
* 2GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on flash-based storage devices)
* 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
* Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0
* DVD-ROM drive
* QuickTime 7.2 software required for multimedia features
* Broadband Internet connection required for online services*

Windows

* 1.8GHz or faster processor
* Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista)
* 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
* 1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices)
* 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
* Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0
* DVD-ROM drive
* QuickTime 7.2 software required for multimedia features
* Broadband Internet connection required for online services*

June 25th, 2009, 02:53 PM	#18
Frank Simpson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 217	Photoshop Demo Here's a couple of examples of a couple projects. Last year we thought it would be fun to have the Mona Lisa wearing one of our camera straps. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...lisa-cover.jpg The biggest challenge here was getting the strap to disappear somewhat convincingly behind her hair. Even though you can't see it here, I textures the camera strap and pouch to match the cracks and surface imperfections of the original painting. Unfortunately it can't be seen except at high magnification So this year, we thought we'd continue the theme of classic paintings, this time borrowing from the Sistine Chapel. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...log-2009-1.jpg There was a lot of compositing in this one. 1. The background wall with spotlights shining was created from scratch in Photoshop. 2. The frame was reshaped and proportioned. (see below) 3. The figures were photographed (3 photos), posed according to a mock-up I had done earlier. Then they had to be removed from their backgrounds to be composited together. In the upper left figure I changed the color of the strap shoulder pad to red to make it "pop" better against the subject's mostly blue clothing. The vest on one of the girls in the lower right corner was changed to green, again to keep things from being too blue. 4. Obviously the pouch had to be out into God's hand. Then general color toning and correction, shadowing etc. to complete. Next year I'm thinking of doctoring up Boticelli's The Birth of Venus! http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/members/f...9-elements.jpg

June 25th, 2009, 12:57 PM	#16
Norris Combs Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: OC, CA Posts: 344	I don't have Vista 64, am using XP Pro with quad core 6600 and 3 GB RAM on my PC. I just bought CS4 Extended for something like $180. Thanks!

June 25th, 2009, 02:00 PM	#17
Frank Simpson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 217	I spend nearly every day at work working in Photoshop. It is my opinion that it is the coolest program in the entire world. Yes, even cooler than my Final Cut Pro Suite! One thing worth mentioning about Photoshop is that it is like an incredibly powerful assortment of tools. There are many ways of creating the same effect in Photoshop, and an individual's workflow and general efficiency will determine favored ways of doing things. When I was working in the print industry I was routinely called upon to remove people from photos, add people, even restore missing limbs! We did a bunch of life-size standees of a fictitious boy band for MTV (2Get+Her), and had to make about 40 in 2 days. While working on them, the art director wanted a different pose of one of the figures... problem was, he was standing behind the others in the original photo. I was able to paint in most of his jacket, fake an arm (conveniently putting his hand in the jacket pocket so as to not have to do a hand!) and then I "borrowed" a set of legs from another photo. The art director was very pleased. Depending on how deep you get into correction and restoration will take you on various learning curves. When you stack levels, curves, and color balance adjustment layers, and selectively paint them to mask their effects, etc. etc. you'll know you're hopelessly lost to the world of Photoshop. When making composites, the hardest thing to do is make sure the lighting matches in the images to be joined. That is usually the very first tell-tale of a doctored photo! These days I do more mundane miracles with my company's product photos. Usually when there in an engineering change, I just doctor the existing photo to reflect the change which is usually (but not always!) cheaper than rephotographing the product. But I have also been known to "make" products in Photoshop when the prototypes are not ready and I have a catalog to get to press! It makes me laugh to see a "photograph" of a product that did not even exist when I made the image of it! Yes, Photoshop is the coolest program on the planet!

June 28th, 2009, 06:13 PM	#20
Frank Simpson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bozeman, MT Posts: 217	Well, the main thing about Photoshop is that it likes as much RAM as you can throw at it. And of course the faster processor the better, especially with CS4 extended supporting 3D! But the size and resolution of your images will affect performance as well. If you're only working images for use on the web you won't need as much fire-power as if you're working high-res images for print or for especially wide-format printing. Another thing is how many layers you may be working in. A lot of my images tend to have many layers and RAM requirements go up accordingly. Here are the System Requirements from the Adobe website: Mac OS * PowerPC® G5 or multicore Intel® processor * Mac OS X v10.4.11–10.5.4 * 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) * 2GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on flash-based storage devices) * 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card * Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0 * DVD-ROM drive * QuickTime 7.2 software required for multimedia features * Broadband Internet connection required for online services* Windows * 1.8GHz or faster processor * Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista) * 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) * 1GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices) * 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card * Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0 * DVD-ROM drive * QuickTime 7.2 software required for multimedia features * Broadband Internet connection required for online services*