Author Topic: I wonder if you could help?  (Read 2207 times)

Offline anneymouse

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I wonder if you could help?
« on: Tuesday 27 February 07 22:07 GMT (UK) »
I got very interested in photo restoration a while back when creating a family tree for my Dad, but my 'skills?' lapsed.  I really took my hat off to some of the restorers on here who worked absolute miracles.

I'm rambling.  Basically I am a school teacher, and have a year 11 (wonderful) class who have to edit some bitmap and vector images.  They have done fantastic with the vectors, and I thought perhaps photo restoration would be a great thing for them to get into for their final GNVQ project.

Tomorrow I am going to let them log in here, and have a look at the restorations that have been done so they can appreciate what can be achieved.  Letting them view your work is favour enough from you all, I know that, and am eternally grateful that I can.  I want them to try it out though on their parent's old piccies.  Trouble is, the only software we have at school is Corel.  If anyone has a tutorial in Corel for doing this, they would be off and running with your expertise far more than I can haphazardly teach them.

If you have any restorations you are proud of, or can give hints with Corel, they and I would be delighted.

Thank you all in advance.

If nobody replies, no worries, it is enough for them to view the forum, and thank anyway for making your work public.
Trancho, Tuozzo, Thomas

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Re: I wonder if you could help?
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 27 February 07 22:32 GMT (UK) »
Hi anneymouse...I just googled Corel Tutorials and got lots of hits...so there is plenty of help and advice on the internet!
Hope this helps and good luck!
Carol
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Offline Polldoll

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Re: I wonder if you could help?
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 28 February 07 02:15 GMT (UK) »
Hi Anneymouse  Hey what do your pupils think of your Name eh??  ;)
 Welcome all of you  to Rootschat ...  Although this forum is about researching ones family history primarily , it spills over into lots of other  subjects that are made more interesting because we can  relate to them   via our ancestors . The people who restore photos for other members are just ordinary people like you and me with a variety of skills and knowledge that we pass on to one another. I hope that after your visit to these Boards that you may decide to try and restore some of your faded  family photos that may belong to your grandparents or have been passed down to your parents. I t may also  encourage you to find out more about who your ancestors were ..  If you do decide to do some restoration work using a graphics package like Corel or Photoshop .. I would recommend that you read the sticky item on Scanning by Cazza at the top of this board to ensure that you have the best possible quality scan to start your restore from.  Enjoy your visit  ;) ;D
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Offline UglyDuckling

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Re: I wonder if you could help?
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 28 February 07 18:04 GMT (UK) »
Hi Anneymouse

You didn't say which Corel programme you are using (Corel make a few bitmap editors). I guess though that it will be the Corel Draw Suite you've got, in which case it will be Corel Photopaint that you'll be using.

I use an ancient, 10 year old version of Photopaint myself ( you really don't need the latest or most expensive software for photo restoring!), but I've got version 12 at work so I'll assume you've got a newish version too.

It's a great idea to use photo restoring as an introduction to bitmap editing and I'm sure the kids will have a lot of fun. To save a bit of stress for yourself I'd limit things to a few basic tools.

First one would be the Clone Tool which is ideal for repairing tears or for 'spotting out' damage. It is found in the toolbar alongside the red-eye tool - click on the little triangle on the button to show all the options.
Right Click on the area you want to clone, then Left Click where you want it to be reproduced, and start painting. Alter the size control to reproduce a larger or smaller area.
In the toolbar that appears up near the top of the screen, click the double arrow next to the shape and size options, for the advanced options. The default settings will give you quite hard edged results: set the transparency to 50% and the feather edge to 75% for a better effect.
As you paint with this tool, keep changing the source point or you will begin to see repeated patterns - work into a tear or spot from different angles to avoid this.

On the same toolbar button you'll find the touch-up tool which can be used to 'smear' the pixels around and can be used to soften edges or 'heal' damage - experiment with different brush sizes and strengths. A lot more options are available on the Effect Tool which can be found on the Paint button on the toolbar.

The next thing I would introduce your class to, is the selection tools (which in Corel are called the Mask tools). This is the second button on the toolbar - the dotted line icons. First of all, check that 'Marquee Visible' is ticked under the Mask menu.

Use the Freehand Mask tool (hover the mouse over each button and the name will appear) to draw round a bit of the picture. Go to the Mask menu, Mask Outline, Feather to make the edge softer (usually a setting of 2, inside, works) Then Control C, to copy, and Control V to paste the selection back into the picture. Go to Mask menu, Remove Mask to get rid of the old selection outline.

You can now play with this new object. Clicking repeatedly on it will cycle through the transform options - Resize, Rotate, Skew and Distort. Once you are happy with the change, Right Click and choose Apply. Other options such as Flip are available under the Object menu.

(I'll have to split this post as I've gone over the character limit!)
Murray, Marshall, Baxter, Swan


Offline UglyDuckling

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Re: I wonder if you could help?
« Reply #4 on: Wednesday 28 February 07 18:06 GMT (UK) »
Part Two

A fun exercise might be to take a headshot, use the rectangular selection tool to select half the face. Copy and Paste the selection, Use Object, Flip to flip it horizontally and move it to create a face made up of two mirrored images - You can get some strange results!

Another exercise could be to try and add one of the pupils to an old photo. Use the selection tools to draw round them in one photo, then copy and paste into another one.

Once you are happy with your result you can flatten the image - merging the new objects into the background using the Object, Combine command. You will need to do this before you start doing any colour correction or any changes will only affect the object which is currently selected.

The third button on the toolbar is the crop tool. Draw your box, adjust it to size using the handles then Right Click, Crop to Selection.


A common problem with old photos is that they are often too dull. Rather than use a brightness control, which just brightens everything, you are better using what is usually called Level Equalisation. Confusingly Corel have renamed this, from previous versions, as Contrast Enhancement which you'll find under the Image, Adjust menu. What this tool basically does is makes the darkest parts of the image Black and the lightest parts White. The mountain range display, in the screenshot below, represents the range of levels in the image. Drag the top left arrow, and the top right arrow to where I've placed the red arrows. The Gamma correction below controls how the midtones (everything apart from Black and White) are distributed. Move the slider (a tiny fraction!) to make the midtones brighter or darker. Having said all that, the Auto Equalise command will do it for you automatically!

Under the Image, Adjust menu you'll also find Desaturate to make the image Black and White, and the Colur Hue which is a nice quick way to get a sepia effect - just click on the yellow, red and magenta buttons till you get an effect you like. Alter the step control for finer changes.

I very rarely use dust and scratch filters on my photos (they make things appear too 'smooth' for my taste), but they are available under Image, Correction. Basically set the threshold high and the radius low to remove the dust marks but retain the detail.


Good Luck and if you want any more advice feel free to post here or send me a PM.

Cheers
Gary
Murray, Marshall, Baxter, Swan

Offline anneymouse

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Re: I wonder if you could help?
« Reply #5 on: Thursday 01 March 07 20:27 GMT (UK) »
Thank you so much for your time UglyDuckling, I've printed that off for reference :-)

The class made a start yesterday, and although majority of the lesson was spent in awe at the gallery, I thought that was important to let them see what the end product could be.

There was much hilarity, and they are all doing really well so far. 

Once I opened Corel Paint I realised it was much the same as PSP so was able to give guidance as I've done a few myself.

I just wanted to thank you all again though, the Gallery was excellent!
Trancho, Tuozzo, Thomas

Offline Jasonthomas7

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Re: I wonder if you could help?
« Reply #6 on: Friday 06 March 15 10:47 GMT (UK) »
Hi is this Anneymous I'm Jason Thomas I'm the son of Michael Thomas my grandmother is pura Thomas I'm looking for my dad contact me in (*)

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Offline Jasonthomas7

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Re: I wonder if you could help?
« Reply #7 on: Friday 06 March 15 10:59 GMT (UK) »
Hi anneymouse I'm Jason Thomas I think I'm related to you my father name is Michael Thomas and my grandmother is pura Thomas you can contact me on (*) I'm looking to find my father as this is a missing part in my life   

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