56 replies to this topic

[aerialbridge]

Some I've done.

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[MDR75]

You are a genius! Great work, I'm very impresssed with the quality of the final product.
Mike

[aerialbridge]

You are a genius! Great work, I'm very impresssed with the quality of the final product.
Mike

 

If only!  Thanks, Mike, and  if I can help you with any of your photos, let me know.  Best regards, AB.

[aerialbridge]

USS Bear

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[67Rally]

These are fantastic. I will start adding mine to this. 

[aerialbridge]

These are fantastic. I will start adding mine to this. 

 

Great, look forward to seeing them!

[Mike Serpa]

aerialbridge, you do awesome work! Great work with the torn photos! Do you use Photoshop? I don't have Photoshop. I used Apple Photos and Seashore on this Civil War photo of General William Beall.

 

 

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[aerialbridge]

Mike, thank you.   Beautiful work on the civil war photo!   You're using more sophisticated software than I am.   I've been meaning to buy Photoshop or a similar program as you're using.   But up til now, it's just been hours spent with good, old,  Microsoft Paint, and more recently, in conjunction with Microsoft Photos.  So you're flying in a Learjet, and I'm in a Sopwith Camel, so to speak.    I was bummed when Microsoft announced a few years back they were going to retire Paint, but apparently I wasn't the only one that uses it, since it's still around.  Not the most efficient way to fix damage and imperfections on photos, since you have to cut and paste in each repair, which is a major limitation.  There's no capability for doing an overall surface color match, say to take out hundreds of small spots on an otherwise uniform color or any of the many other features that Photoshop and such have.  If I get good advice on the best photo repair software to get- even if it's an older version of something,  I'll pick it up.  I'd also like to get into the colorization-- a whole other skill.

 

 

Before

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[aerialbridge]

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[67Rally]

Mike, thank you.   Beautiful work on the civil war photo!   You're using more sophisticated software than I am.   I've been meaning to buy Photoshop or a similar program as you're using.   But up til now, it's just been hours spent with good, old,  Microsoft Paint, and more recently, in conjunction with Microsoft Photos.  So you're flying in a Learjet, and I'm in a Sopwith Camel, so to speak.    I was bummed when Microsoft announced a few years back they were going to retire Paint, but apparently I wasn't the only one that uses it, since it's still around.  Not the most efficient way to fix damage and imperfections on photos, since you have to cut and paste in each repair, which is a major limitation.  There's no capability for doing an overall surface color match, say to take out hundreds of small spots on an otherwise uniform color or any of the many other features that Photoshop and such have.  If I get good advice on the best photo repair software to get- even if it's an older version of something,  I'll pick it up.  I'd also like to get into the colorization-- a whole other skill.

 

 

Before

 

I have been remiss in sharing my restoration work. I have been using PhotoShop since version 3.0 in the early 1990s to restore vintage images. I wouldn't use anything else but it is an incredibly expensive application. 

I want to learn colorizing as it is a skill that can take years to master. I have seen some incredible work and a LOT of really poor efforts. The trick, IMO, is to find a balance between realness and preservation of the vintage qualities of the image. 

I have been collecting vintage photography for decades (starting with the antique 19th century family photo books that I inherited with a varied selection of image types). 

Cheers

[aerialbridge]

 

I have been remiss in sharing my restoration work. I have been using PhotoShop since version 3.0 in the early 1990s to restore vintage images. I wouldn't use anything else but it is an incredibly expensive application. 

I want to learn colorizing as it is a skill that can take years to master. I have seen some incredible work and a LOT of really poor efforts. The trick, IMO, is to find a balance between realness and preservation of the vintage qualities of the image. 

I have been collecting vintage photography for decades (starting with the antique 19th century family photo books that I inherited with a varied selection of image types). 

Cheers

 

I'd heard that the older versions of PhotoShop were  better than the newer ones.  When you say it's an expensive application, how so?   Cost to buy an older version, annual licensing fees ?  Hope to see some of your work,  Cheers!

[rooster77]

 

I'd heard that the older versions of PhotoShop were  better than the newer ones.  When you say it's an expensive application, how so?   Cost to buy an older version, annual licensing fees ?  Hope to see some of your work,  Cheers!

 

Greetings,

Photoshop is expensive if you buy the program on disk.

I bought version 6.0 in 2013. It was 700.00.

But you can get it for like 10-15 bucks per month off the cloud.

The newer versions are more functional and have more features than older versions. However.....

The 6.0 version I have from 2013 has everything I need to work in Photoshop.

I am a professional photo retoucher for advertising. Ive been using photoshop since 1995-96.

It has many different tools. I only primarily use the airbrush , clone tool and path tool.

Honestly not much else. A few filters here and there for certain things. Most of photoshops tools and functions go un used.

I do this for a living. You could do the same things with an older version.
 

[rooster77]

before

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[rooster77]

After

I also use various adjustment layers and other tricks.

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Edited by rooster77, 13 February 2019 - 08:44 AM.

[rooster77]

 

I have been remiss in sharing my restoration work. I have been using PhotoShop since version 3.0 in the early 1990s to restore vintage images. I wouldn't use anything else but it is an incredibly expensive application. 

I want to learn colorizing as it is a skill that can take years to master. I have seen some incredible work and a LOT of really poor efforts. The trick, IMO, is to find a balance between realness and preservation of the vintage qualities of the image. 

I have been collecting vintage photography for decades (starting with the antique 19th century family photo books that I inherited with a varied selection of image types). 

Cheers

 I have not done much colorizing B&W files... But from what I have found... the best way is to apply the colors slowly. You have to mask things off with the pen tool and then brush in the color slowly with a low opacity on the brush. You also want to avoid blowing color into the shadows. Black should not have color blown over it. Multiply layer will prob work best but will darken existing black areas so you have to go slow with the color.Most folks might find the masking the most tedious part. And it is. But its like painting a room. You have to mask the trim etc or it looks sloppy.

If you dont mask the individual elements it looks sloppy. There may be some real high end program that sppeds things up??? But in photoshop,

neatness and masking is key. 

Edited by rooster77, 13 February 2019 - 08:50 AM.

[aerialbridge]

rooster77--  thanks for that good information and tips on getting the best results.  I appreciate it, and coming from a professional-- I'm sure others will as well.   Beautiful restoration/preservation of that photo that you posted.   You really brought it back to life!  Please feel free to post other examples of your restorations-- the before and afters are great.    Best regards, AB

[Brian Keith]

Fantastic work! Thanks for posting them, really neat to see them restored.
BKW

[67Rally]

Here is a more recent one of mine. It is a scan of an RPPC of two sailors from the cruiser USS Tacoma (C-18) sometime between 1904 and 1913.

 

The image had exposure issues and a lot of surface wear. It was a minor clean-up. I am of the school of thought of preserving as much of the vintage character as possible.