How do I fix this picture?closed - new request posted

[sandie]

I am a complete 'thicko' when it comes to fixing photos.  I keep trying but instead of getting better, I seem to get worse.
My uncle passed away last month so I thought it would be nice to fix the attached photo for my cousin.  As you can see - if I've actually attached it - it's in a bit of a mess.
What should I do first, do I try and remove the marks first then attempt the colour?  Is it in too much of a mess to fix?
Any advice greatly apreciated.

Regards
Sandie

[Gardener]

Picture doesn't seem to be there

[sandie]

Sorry!  I'll try again.

Sandie

[deadants]

This photo is quite recoverable. The only worry is that dot pattern that is all over the photo may cause a headache. I know this problem can be cured using a filter called FFT but it is a plugin for windows version of Photoshop, I have a Macintosh and so far, I have not been able to find an alternative filter to reduce the pattern effect. Also, you will need to scan it much larger so it can be looked at much more detail. The creases and stains should not be too much trouble, but the photo does seem a little dark and it is hard to define where there shoulders meet.

So if you can, try and rescan it at a higher resolution. You might want to get youself a copy of infranview http://www.irfanview.com/  which will allow you to alter the file size after you scan it so it will be under the 300Kb limit.

[Jane Eden]

Sandie

I only started last week , as I was on leave, playing with photos on Photoshop so I will not give you advice, only encouragement but I was very pleased with my progress. I did have a play with your photo last night and improved it a bit. I will leave the coaching to Deadants and the other experts. I hope you have lots of time and patience, I'm back to work full time this week so I won't have so much time to play.

Deadants: What is a plug in? Is it something physical or something you download?

Jane

[deadants]

This link will explain what a plugin is better than I could.
http://thepluginsite.com/knowhow/tutorials/introduction/introduction.htm

If you look inside your photoshop directory, you will see a directory called plugins, this is where you put your plugins which you download.

Many Plugins are free but the ones that do the real fancy effects cost anything from a few dollars up to hundreds of dollars. I was using a demo plugin today which cost $750 it was aimed at large industry and scientific purposes.

A good plugin to try is neat image http://www.neatimage.com/

[uk2003]

Hi Folks

Just a quick chop & crop

Regards
Ken

[sandie]

Oh dear, I feel a headache coming on!

Deadants, I won't be able to get hold of the original for a couple of days, but when I get it I'll 'try' and rescan.  I have irfanview so that bit I can do as I had to reduce it to post yesterday.   What resolution should I rescan at?

Regards
Sandie

[deadants]

Hi Sandie,
 It's always good to to crank the resolution on your scanner up to 300ppi, this should give a descent viewing size.

 i would say that Kenhar has run the neat image plugin filter on the above photo. You can see how it has almost eradicated dot pattern and noise. Their is still a lot of staining that needs to be cleaned up but it does look like it is on the road to recovery.