My Late Grandfather

[bubbabyte]

np jujitsu1... here is my finished product. I'm glad you like it and weren't upset that i modded it.

[jujitsu1]

Outstanding work.....What did you use to get this to look soo good ?

[bubbabyte]

i used photoshop cs3.. there is nothing better

[pbdweeeebie]

Originally Posted by bubbabyte

i used photoshop cs3.. there is nothing better

Bub, I think you side-stepped the question: how you did it!

Would you mind sharing the key steps you followoed to restore the pic.

Nice work indeed.

[bubbabyte]

There were quite a few steps but pretty basic stuff.

1. Cloning and Healing to get rid of small scratches and dust and stuff from the scan. Once the photo looks clean and all dirt has been removed then...
2. Start making new color layers, one for each color used. Create a new layer, select COLOR for the blending mode and then paint the areas that you want that color. When you first try this it will look horrible, but you'll get used to how to work it and what colors work in what areas. Remember no matter how bad it looks when you color it, it can always be adjusted by lowering transparency on the layer or changing the color.
3. Correcting all colored areas, making sure no color layers overlap other color layers, simple process.
4. Then use the burn/dodge tools to correct over/under exposed areas. ex. Burn the pockets a bit.. the badge on his sleeve, above his eyes etc.. to give it depth.
5. Add some sharpening to specific areas with the sharpening tool. I don't often like to use unsharpen mask or any other form of sharpening on such a small res pic, so instead i'll brush over some areas i'd like to sharpen with the sharpen tool.

That's about it... there is really only one way to do this correctly, so i'm sure you'll find a bunch of tutorials online for coloring b&w photos.. but they should all be very similar.

Glad you enjoyed it.

[starrylaurie]

Both restorations are beautiful - the OP's and bubbabyte's. Great job guys!