Photo Restoration Blog

Archive for the ‘image restoration’ Category

I just spotted a video on Lynda.com, a very reliable on line resource for learning. It describes using the “patch” tool as a useful tool for repairing scratches, tears and damage.

There is no doubt this tool is a great tool. In this case i feel that using something just because its there, is not always a good idea.

The video suggests you let the “content aware” algorithm do the work for you. Setting the parameters from “very loose” to “very strict.” I tried this with one of my images with damage and each and every parameter tested gave me a poor result, where the patched damage took a darker tone. See the first video below for how Bryan suggest it should work.

I am sure that content aware patch has its place but i could not get it to work on my image and never use it. Sure i use content aware occasionally but even then and more often than not i have to correct it.

One of my customers wanted me to share this image of her late mother with you all.

The restoration was not the most trickiest of restores but was satisfying to complete. Here is the video. The rebuilding of the radiator and sleeve took a while. You can see from the video how much attention was paid to the recreation.

Here is a quick FAQ with some commonly asked questions and answers

Q. How much will it cost?

A. We would need to see your photo first; this can either be posted or scanned and emailed to us. Read the scanning guide for tips or if posting use Special Delivery.

Q. Can you discount for large numbers they are only grade 0?

A. We can restore volumes of photos but restoring a photo from a batch of photos, no matter how many, takes the same time as restoring a single photo. Discounting restorations because there are more of them would simply mean less time taken to restore them, resulting in a less acceptable restoration. It’s also best if we decide what level of restoration is needed as we are the experts. *Discounts can be offered when batch processing images, whereby exactly the same correction can be made to a batch of photos, such as a colour correction where an entire batch of photos were scanned incorrectly.

Q. Can you colour a photo?

A. Sure but the cost will vary depending on the amount of detail and objects in the photo. The base cost is £25 for one or two people in a photo on a simple background. Many people on a complex background would be considerably more. See colouring a complex image

Q. Can you open a person’s eyes in a photo?

A. Many sites claim this is possible but it’s not without a separate image. For the most convincing results the same person’s eyes should be used from another photo, from the same angle, perspective, and lighting.

Q. Can you add people to a photo.

A. Adding people to a photo can be done provided it is possible to match the grain, the camera angle, camera height, perspective and lighting.

It’s not as simple as you may assume. If you have two different perspectives and try to match them, no matter what manipulation is carried out it will always look wrong.

Q Can you take people out of a photo

A. Yes in most cases this can be done. Less satisfactory results occur when there is not enough of the surrounding photo to fill in the gaps. An example would be, a tight crop of six people in a wedding photo. If two from either side are removed what is going to fill all that space if there is no photo left to fill it? A donor image from the same location helps in this situation.

Q. Underexposed photo it is very dark can you fix it?

A. Normally yes. Sometimes the grain and colour may not be in sufficient densities to bring back to normal levels with an acceptable result. Its best get in touch with us.

Q. Over exposed photo can you fix it?

A. Normally yes. If you can see details in the bleached out areas then it may be able to be enhanced. It may not be possible to fully recover the image. Its best get in touch with us.

So what is not possible?

It is not possible to:

Focus a completely out of focus picture.

(If it is an obviously out of focus photo it cannot be refocused)

Fixed a blurred photo.

This would be where the camera moved when taking the photo or the subject moved. Moving the camera when depressing the shutter is more evident from the early days of photography when the film speed and resulting shutter speeds were slower. The moment evident in the photo is sort of a moving blur, normally in a down and up motion. Motion in single plain can sometimes be corrected, but it is so rare. Examples you may have seen on the Internet are normally manufactured instances under ideal conditions, where the motion blur has a chance of being corrected.

Replace a head.

Now we are getting silly, again not without another photo of that person’s head