Joseph Kling, and the... Register NOW Photo Retouching with Photoshop Joseph Kling's complete Photoshop Photo Retouching Seminar ... full 10 Hours of Certified Training in downloadable PDF format! NOTE: This tutorial relies on an older version of Photoshop. The Seminar mentioned above is fully updated with current training! Photo Retouching The following is a fairly straight forward restoration of an old black and white portrait. Some issues which complicate the project are that the print was Sepiatoned, giving it an overall color cast and it was then hand tinted with light oils. Not only were the base paper and emulsion damaged but there was obviously damage done to the oil tinting as well. Some fading had also occurred. (Please note you can click on the thumbnails to see a larger image of the technique.) Following are the steps I took in the process of restoring this print. Certainly this is not the only method but it worked very well and didn't take all that long to accomplish. One concept should remain in the front of your mind: SAVE OFTEN and EXPERIMENT! Try various hardness and sizes with your brushes. Try dragging versus option-clicking with the cloning tool. Most of all relax, enjoy the project and have fun! We will assume for now that you have identified how your file will be output and have had the original scanned to the appropriate size. Step 1. ISOLATE THE SUBJECT. Use the lasso tool and make a loose selection around the subject. Switch over to QuickMask mode where the color indicates the masked area at 100%. Select a paint brush at about 25% hardness and draw in the rest of the mask around your subject. Don't get too far into your subject. We'll let the edge around the subject feather in. If there are bad spots in some places around those edges we can spot-fix them later. Switch out of QuickMask mode and SAVE SELECTION to save your feathered mask. Step 2. Paste to a new layer With subject selected, copy and paste to a new layer. Step 3. Attention to the Background Make the background layer active and load the subject mask (option-click on mask in channels pallet). SELECT INVERSE to select the background. Go to FILTER > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR and blur the background enough so that most of the defects just disappear. Use a large, soft-edge brush and the cloning tool to smooth out and repair any remaining flaws. When you're satisfied with the background DESELECT YOUR BACKGROUND SELECTION. Step 4. The fun part Here's where it starts to get interesting... Go to your new layer in which you pasted the copied subject. Load the subject mask (option-click the mask in the channels pallet). Using the clone tool and an appropriate-size, medium-soft brush set to about 30%-60% opacity, begin to blend/repair the smooth areas. Try to blend the tones without destroying all of the detail. EXPERIMENT! For the areas with texture or a pattern, use a harder brush at less opacity and clone from areas which are not damaged. Avoid dragging the clone tool through areas with texture or pattern. They will tend to smear. OPTION-CLICK SAMPLE/ CLONE, OPTION-CLICK SAMPLE/ CLONE. Make sure that the brush is not so hard or the opacity so high that you create noticeable circles of pattern. PLAY WITH IT. HAVE FUN! When you get an area to look the way you want, SAVE and continue. Step 5. Finishing up With your subject still selected apply an appropriate amount of UNSHARP MASKING. The correct amount will depend on the image resolution and subject matter. Sharpen only the subject layer. We'll let that background layer stay nice and soft. Step 6. MERGE LAYERS and SAVE when you're satisfied with the image. EXTRA CREDIT TIPS: Adding snap to essential areas (Before you complete Step 6...) Make a loose lasso selection around the eyes and feather out 8-12 pixels. Add about 50% of the amount of UNSHARP MASKING you just applied to the entire subject again to the eyes. This will give them a little extra snap! I also hit the highlight areas such as the pipe stem and the catchlights in the eyes with a little white with varying opacity just to give them some emphasis. This is but a sampling of what you'll learn in The Photoshop Photo Retouching Seminar in the Design University. Joseph Kling The Design University at www.Design-U.org See some great graphics by Joseph, and the Virtual Studio Return to Photoshop... or ... Design & Publishing Center Lobby Register NOW and SAVE 25% . . . ! Photo Retouching with Photoshop Joseph Kling's complete Photoshop Photo Retouching Seminar ... full 10 Hours of Certified Training in downloadable PDF format! You are reading: http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/Photo/ Copyright 1996, for Joseph Kling, and The Virtual Studio , by The Design & Publishing Center, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.