Photo Restoration Hints Twenty-seven Content Aware Move Tool

The content aware move tool sits quietly in the tool section....waiting for the right moment to WOW you.  And wow me it did this week!

Ok, I have seen the examples of moving a bird or a kid on the beach.  Can't think of when cropping wouldn't fix most problems with centering a subject...or not centering a subject.  I always have to have a personal reason for needing a tool to put it into my routine...  I love so much about Photoshop....filters, color balance, cloning and healing tools.  I look for new ways to use old tools and I am never disappointed.

I needed the content aware tool this week.  I had a project that I had to add two more people into.  At first I tried the "sneak the guy behind someone with his head popping out trick."  I must admit there are times when this is all you have and you can make it work as long as you get the head the right size by fading the head layer before placing it and sizing it to another relative in the line up.

However, this put the picture off balance.  I stared and stared at the lack of any symmetry or even logic in the freakish scene I created and decided to follow one of my main rules in life which is..."just because you can doesn't mean you should".  So I got Harrington's book off its place of honor on the shelf above my computer, went to page 189 and refreshed my old brain and moved the man on the end of the group shot to make room for the brother.  Wow...I moved him a bit to the right (his left haha) and there was a bit of stretching in between where he was and and where he is.  But that was fixed easily with the cloning tool and then applying the missing brother layer.  Bang.  Followed by hours of adjusting color, blurring, adding filtered sun through the trees, adding a grain layer and everything else I could figure out to make it work.

Be ready for the big reveal.  My husband tells me when to quit because I will keep going forever....this is a good thing if you are a perfectionist.  Goodness knows there are probably a few
photo restorers afflicted with this necessary trait.  I always focus on the added person or persons waaaay too much.  However, the customer reaction is my reward.  They were really really happy with the result so I was too.  I see all the flaws...of course.  But you have to know that when the customer tells you there is no way it could have been done, you have succeeded.

Today I give the Content Aware Tool the spotlight and my continuing thanks to Richard Harrington for making a book that helps those of us with short attention spans to continue to learn new skills.  If you would like to see the before and after, please visit my website and look at the slideshow on the home page....www.photorestoration4u.com.  And, find a reason to use this awesome tool this week.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Renee Theuer

Photo Restoration Hints Twenty Six...What to do about teeny tiny cellphone pictures that are priceless?

OK...We are all going to get this request, if you have not already....someone emails you a picture taken on a cell phone in bad light at a concert of them with a very famous singing group star.

Your lizard brain (amygdala) says, "RUN"  and don't look back*
But she or he is (enter friendship or family relationship here___)  and you cannot say no.  It's a teeny little 5k file and you know you can make it a little better but it probably won't be much improved when you are done.

Nah...you say yes!  Because you love a challenge and you love her.

OK...

Down and dirty tips.

Make a 5x7 new file at 2400 dpi.  Why?  because you are going to cheat using Photo Shops amazing abilities to "interpolate data" .  Or, in other words, Photo Shop is about to fill in the missing dots.  You have sooo many missing dots in your 5k picture.  If you take the picture itself and size it up to 5x7 inches, you will see what I mean.  Big squares.  Nothing to work with.

After you made you new 5x7 piece of blank "paper", PLACE the picture on it.  File/Place for all you Microsoft users.  Then, hold down the 'shift' key and pull it by a corner to fill up the frame until you have a picture forming.  You can always crop more later to size.  Then press enter.  You should see more information or 'pixels' on the screen.  OK...it is not very pretty yet but it is a little bit better.  If not, stop here and go to posters.com and find a picture of the famous person for them and you are done.

But, if you want, here are some things you can do to make it better.  Use a soft airbrush and paint in some details lightly in light multiple layers.  Make another layer and use the invert tool to make a "negative of the picture and adjust it back about 50 percent to fill in some details.  Click on the layer to the right and determine if it helps to fade more or less into one picture.  (see my blog on blending or go and buy Understanding Adobe Photoshop CS6 by Richard Harrington).

The trick it to add layers of information to the picture and fade in an out using the percentage tabs for that layer on the work area.  You can always make the picture smaller...that always helps, but try these techniques and see if you don't get any better results.

It takes a couple of hours before you finally give up, if you do give up.  And like Stuart Smalley said on Saturday Night Live, That's ok, you are ok,  you are still a good person ... blah blah blah.
If you don't give up, you will learn some new stuff in Photoshop.  You will learn about layers and how incredible the whole concept of layering is.

If it bores the snot out of you, go on to something else.  Some of us are crazy enough to think that we can perform miracles.  Wanna try?  Try this picture of my friend with a One Direction star...sorry, I don't know his name.

Please send me your successful results if you are so inclined and I will post them on a future blog.

Again, thanks for continuing to follow my blog.  I appreciate it.

Best Regards

Renee L. Theuer

*a·myg·da·la

əˈmigdələ/

noun

ANATOMY

1. a roughly almond-shaped mass of gray matter inside each cerebral hemisphere, involved with the experiencing of emotions.

Photo Restoration Hints Number 25 Using Mirror Images for Canvas Wrapping

Want a great way to add a mirror image to your canvas so that you have a beautiful wrap all around the edges of your convas?  Of course you do.  I have been using Content-Aware Scaling and Plain old cloning around the edges or a nice colored edge to match using the tools in the print command....

However, I found this cool site again the other day.  I had seen this a couple of years ago and it helped me a lot.  I am going to share it with you now.  Go to this link on YouTube....  Breathing Color's Mirror Imaging Method for Canvas Wraps  There are people who have commented on other ways to do this using content aware fill...but I like this way because it is great for novice users and the examples are terrific.  27,000 plus people agree with me if you see the comments.

There are lots of ways to do the same things in PhotoShop.  Start with one way, get the hang of it and then go to a book or video and find a new way to do it.  It all adds to your bag of tricks and helps you continue to try new things.  Then, go and invent your own technique to get the look YOU want.

Just because someone does something one way doesn't mean you have to do it the same way.  That's the beauty of artistic expression.  Adobe Photoshop is the ink and canvas with which we work our magic as photographers and artists.  Make a little magic of your own today!!!!

Thanks for reading my quick blog today.  Enjoy the video.

Renée L. Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com
www.photorestoration4u.com

renee@rltphotoartist.com

Returning a Phone to Asurion or other Phone Insurance Company--Cell Phone Memories.... Extra Post

(This is a little extra post ... This week's post is directly underneath this one.  Check it out, please....)

Let's call it....Cell Phone Memories...

I recently cracked the glass in my cell phone accidentally.  It flew out of my hands and crashed face first on the ground. I cursed the clumsiness that has plagued me all of my life.  But, I was thrilled that I had Asurion Insurance for my phone.  They were GREAT.  I had no trouble submitting my claim and I guess I am not the only idiot that drops her phone.  I highly recommend them.  I also ordered an Otterbox this time on amazon.com.

I gladly paid the $99.00 deductible fee (because I am a clumsy but grateful idiot and I need my Galaxy S5 to live a happy life) ok...call me shallow...I don't care.

The new phone arrived the next day!  WOW!  Installation was easy with Verizon, which I have happily been with since forever.  Say forever with a Valley Girl accent, please.  :-)

I put the old phone in the envelope provided, took off the little tab with the information to track from the back sticker and was about to send it back Monday.  Last night at 1:00 in the morning, I remembered that I had some really great pictures on my phone that I had not copied to my desktop computer.  I plugged the phone in and searched for the device in "my computer" and there they were.  I downloaded them into a cell phone picture file and thought I was done.  After all, everything is in the sim card, right?  You don't send the sim card back with the broken phone in my insurance plan.

I took out the sim card to see if the actual phone contains the memories of my happy life and sure enough it did.  In fact, the more I drilled down into the phone's files, the more information I was able to see.  There were saved emails, vzpics, downloads, documents...and lo and behold some adobe documents stored that were actually some information I had sent to my bank.  Eeeek.  I erased as many personal files as I could.

I am sure that the phone is completely erased and reprogrammed when the insurance company does their reconditioning thing.  However, I was wondering what would happen if the phone were stolen from my mail box before the postal carrier got to my house.  It could happen.

So, I'm just sayin' ... if you are as paranoid about data protection as I am, this might be a new thing to think about.  I was not able to figure out how to completely reformat the phone (which would have probably been my best option) but, I plan to take it directly to the post office tomorrow and I'll be tracking that broken baby until it gets to its destination for reassignment to someone else.

I thought I would pass this information on in case anyone out there was as ignorant as I was.  I like the days of removable sd cards...Oh Well....

Have a happy day.  I will have more hints on photo restoration next week.

Renee :-)

Photo restoration hints 24 Fun with Blending Modes Shortcut

Using blending modes

Blending modes are used for mixing multiple layers  together.  There are great examples in Richard Harrington's wonderful  book, Understanding Photoshop CS6 on pages 137 through 144.  He has wonderful examples in his fabulous book....(yes I bought it and yes I love it,)

I have another way I use this tool as a filter with my picture as I go.  It may seem hard at first but once you get the hang of it, you might love using this tool as much as I do.  It is fast and dependable and I use it constantly.

So let's say you have a picture that is so far off that you don't even know what to do with it first.  You can see an example on my website of a picture of a farmer that was so faded out that there was very little contrast when I started.

Of course, you can start out with automatic contrast.  This gives you a great place to start.  As I have said in previous blogs, I always take a look at one of the automatic fixes first to get a reference point--saving copies of my various "tangents" including my starting picture. I use one of the automatic tools from the 'Image' box at the top of Photoshop...such as 'automatic color' or 'automatic contrast' or 'automatic tone' on the picture. There is usually no real affect here but it gets you to the 'Fade" tool which appears in the Edit menu under 'Fade' followed by the name of the automatic tool you just used.   Click on Edit/Fade and the drop down menu appears. Don't stop there....click the little drop down menu to the right and all kinds of blending options appear.

Then, I take the drop down menu and scroll through the options.  There are 27 of them.  Practice with a couple...like screen or color burn.  Once you drop down the options, you can choose the tool and then dial it  up and back from 100%.  This tool gives you a seemingly infinite amount of quick adjustments in one place  that are pretty nice...I use it for pictures that have absolutely no contrast with the difference tool.  You should take a moment and try each one to get an idea of how they work.  But I always use this shortcut to get to the fade tool by using one of the three automatic adjustments first. (automatic color, automatic contrast, automatic tone).  I especially like the screen tool.

There is probably another way to do this but I have been doing it this way for so long that I really like it.  Each blending option has it's own wonderful effect. And if you decide you don't like any of the adjustments, you don't have to back out of lots of history...you just dial back, hit the 'Edit' 'Back' and you can try other
filtering tools.

Additionally, you can always add cross hatch or find edges to get different effects.  I can talk about these and the way cool oil painting effects too in an upcoming blog.  The purists can skip that part...but for me and my customers, there is nothing like making a picture look like an oil painting with a couple of applied filters and a brushed on finishing polymer coating that dries to look like brush strokes.

Thanks for reading my blog.  I hope you will continue to stay with me as I show you what I learn and  the things I discover when I go exploring for new ways to work with PhotoShop...the most incredible program ever in my humble opinion.

Thanks,


Renee L Theuer
www.rltphotoartist.com
renee@rltphotoartist.com
photorestoration4u.com

Photo Restoration Hints Number Twenty Three...The Wonderful World of Podcasts about Photo Restoration

I love Podcasts about Photo Shop.  I can open up my podcast program and see uses and methods for Photo Shop that I have never seen before.  My favorite so far sends a weekly podcast to you showing some kind of magic that you just have to learn how to do to really know Photo Shop.  Itunes has this podcast.

I got started on this WONDERFUL PODCAST on my iPad about probably an equally wonderful book called....Understanding Adobe Photoshop by Richard Harrington and RHED Pixel as podcaster.  Harrington "covers both the specific skills and techniques you'll need for professional success" according to the Podcast Description.  The description continues say that this book/podcast  "teaches you the essential digital imaging techniques in Adobe Photoshop that you'll need to succeed both in the classroom and the workforce."

In fact, these wonderful podcasts come faster than I can get to them much less absorb them into my work flow.  It's all good information though and I need to buy his book.  In fact, I am going to Amazon.com now to do just that....it includes a cd and I know I will put this to good use having tried out so many of the quick tips on the podcast.  Also, nice to note that there are others out there that agree with me about the usefulness of this resource.

I was going to recommend more podcasts like the one about one minute tips...but this will do for now. Do have lots of fun but don't let the volume of them make you think you will never be an expert if you don't memorize all of these tricks and tips.  It's just another resource when you come up against something you need to learn on the fly to complete a project you promised someone you could do.  The important things that this podcast can do for you:

1.  It will give you ideas of techniques that you never thought of before or long ago forgot.  You may or may not have a practical reason for absorbing this information at this very moment.

2.  It's hit or miss whether or not you are going to remember this for the next time anyway so you have a reference you can save on your device to come back to when you need it.

3.  After a while, there are so many new things to learn that you can get lost.  I do, anyway...and I end up erasing the podcasts to make room for more old time radio detective stories.  So, I bought the book just now.

I have talked to more new users of Photo Shop who don't try because they are so thoroughly  intimidated by the program. This doesn't have to be the case.  Pick and Choose the items you want to focus on at the time. Learn the things you need to know to do the jobs in front of you right now...go back and relearn the things you learned or read about a while ago.  Get really friendly with the index of your Photo Shop "How To" library of books.

You can always get a book and start from beginning to end to learn lots of stuff or take a class at community college.  However, as an older learner, I really have to have a practical need to learn something at this point in order for it to stick in my brain so I can use it.

I'll read the book and make my recommendations later.

Thanks for reading my blog...it means a lot to me...

Renee Theuer :-)

Photo Restoration Hints Number 22...YouTube is GREAT for showing the world your mad skills!

Hi Again,

There you are again, still reading my blog...and it looks like we have a few new folks that came in today. Thanks for being with me.  I feel like the clown looking through the looking glass on that children's show of yesteryear.  Wow, I am really showing my age.  Those of you who don't know what I am talking about, please forgive me.

I want to say a few things about how easy it is to use YouTube to not only get information about how to use Photo Shop better, but to actually show off your work.  If you go here.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uixwUwWI-Q (cut and past this into your browser by highlighting the whole weird website address... with control,c and then pasting into your browser at the top with a control,v.).  

Take some time to get to know YouTube.  It has really expanded over the years to a become a place that even offers you your own Channel.  I just have one video that I use for my websites and as the signature on my emails and it works great.  Upload 10 or so of your own before and after pictures and use their music to make a slide show that can be put on your website, facebook page or anywhere else your little heart desires. This is one more way to spread yourself around the internet (no SEO comments will follow, I promise, maybe).  

At this writing, my friend Jim Barta has over 190 views with 300 minutes of attention on his show.  People looked at it for a while. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofrXZCshkYw      Just let the individuals that created the music get credit when they ask you on YouTube.  Also, YouTube has a bunch of music you can choose as well.  You don't need to know how to make a slide show or how to convert the slideshow into their format, it is done for you.  How about that?  Most people would still rather watch Fail Videos on Russian Car Crashes or Drag Racing on city streets....At least yours is pointed to everytime you send an email if you make it part of your "signature".  Each html based email program has a setting to allow you to input a "signature" that goes out on each email.  My Peggie and Bob Restoration file has a life of its own.

The URL (website address) looks very strange in YouTube, but you have all seen these weird, long website addresses on your emails about the cute cat that rides the vacuum cleaner in the shark outfit or the skateboarding dog.  All good stuff, for sure.  If you have something you have worked really hard on, YouTube can help you let your friends know what you are up to in photo restoration.  If none of this makes sense to you, play the video and then cut and paste the address in your browser into wherever you want and it will pop up showing your photo restoration magic...very cool.

Now, go look at those Russian Car Crash videos...they all have video cameras inside of their cars and I don't see any defensive driving going on .... a lot of turning left from the far right lane and turning right from the far left lane, though. See you next week.

Forever

Photo Restoration Hints Number 21 Airbrushing...We jump the shark on SEO one last time.

Welcome Back,

Thanks to those of you who think I jumped the shark on my recent SEO quest and have stayed with me for more actual Photo Restoration Hints.  More will follow after I jump the shark one more time...

Good news, my rating went way up (check your own site on freegrader.com).  This little gem of a website shows you how you rate on the internet from 1-100 for all the things that Google's little algorithms look for and then tells you what you need to do to fix it.  I started with a 6 and got it to 68.  I think I have to sell my literal soul at this point to get it higher because I have tried everything to get it higher without result.  It has been an interesting ride learning about claiming your business name on directories out there and how to avoid paying for listings (yp.com has a really nice introductory listing service).  The biggest thing out there seemed to be getting a "landing page" with a free offer or a survey to get you to interact on your site.  The closest think I have to that is a "ready to go" button.  It is really an all consuming task if you are like me.  I jumped into it and now I am exhausted.  At this point, I must set the keyboard down and get back to photo restorations.

It's just as well because the summer is usually a slow time for photo restorations anyway.

Let's talk more about airbrushing photos.  This is just another way for going to the first soft brush in the upper left hand corner (it is round with soft edges that fade out) and picking up a little color using the eyedropper tool.  Think of an actual airbrush...you load paint into it and it sprays out of the "pen" making a nice way to smooth out things using sprays of paint.  In Photo Shop you need to be aware of how this artist's tool works.

Be sure you are using the eye dropper on every part of the item you are airbrushing.  If you notice the color box on the left hand side of the screen, you will see that there are different colors all over the picture based upon shadows and highlights.  It is easier to see when you run the eyedropper brush over different parts of the picture.  You have selected a brush and size, but you still need to look at hardness, opacity and flow.

Hardness is right under the brush when you use the drop down arrow.  This along with the opacity and flow are infinite choices you get to make.  Don't skimp here.  Take the time and look at the difference with these along with size of the brush you selected.  I am always trying out different settings until I get the look I want.
One of your best friends in Photo Shop is the History Panel....(window/history)  Using this will allow you to go back.  But, make sure you are saving your work along the way in different versions.  Sometimes the history panel doesn't go back every single step you took and you are back to the beginning.  Oh, Snap.

Long story short, the airbrush is a beautiful tool and allows you to make the softest makeup adjustments. (Don't be afraid here, my manly men friends.)  Of course, the clone tool and the two healing brush tools are marvelous too.  But, sometimes you just need that little bit of softness that only comes with a light application of "paint" using a soft air brush that Photo Shop provides.  Like I have said before, it is easy to overdo.  Be very aware of what the subject looked like before and after the restoration and make sure that their mother would still recognize them.  This will keep you from having your friends call your restorations "scary".  People should not be shocked when they see their restoration.  They should be happy and not really know why or how you did it.  That is retouching done right.

Thanks for reading my blog.

See you next week ...


Renee :-)

ASCII...Just a little more nerdiness for any of you who are interested in it...

This is an extra post...don't worry, I am not going to go too much nerdier than this on my blog.  Regular Blog for PhotoShop Restoration Hints posts this weekend.  Thanks...

Well, well, well,   I am going to show what an old hack I am here...but I thought some of you might like to know about ASCII...pronounced "asskee" from the American Standard Code for Information Interchange....
It's just a little history that you might enjoy knowing if you don't know already.

ASCII - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has most of the historical information on it on this link.

So, the Wikipedia Link above  goes into a lot of information about why it was needed back in the day.  BUT, the two things I find it helpful for still is with the accent mark on my name on an email or a copyright sign on my website.

©  Hold down the alt key and type in 0169 at the same time and you get this  © copyright character.

é  Hold down the alt key and type 0233 at the same time and you get the accent mark over the e.

There are tons of these...you need to know this less and less as the internet becomes more WYSIWYG....what you see is what you get....pronounced "wizzy wig"

See if there is a cool character that you need for your name or something else and have fun here...

http://ascii.cl/htmlcodes.htm

This blog is brought to you by a nerd who just doesn't want the world to forget the simple beginnings of HTML...(hypertext markup language)...and what the geniuses who have come along have added to it and tweaked it to keep it evolving as the way we talk to each other on the world wide web.  The internet is soooo coool.

Thanks for reading my little extra snippet blog today.  More on Sunday with my regular blog of Restoration Tips.

Renée L. Theuer

www.rltphotoartist.com

www.photorestoration4u.com

renée@rltphotoartist.com

Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation. Are You New in Town?

Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation



Hi,



Just wanted to talk about my new website and especially my page dedicated to all of those of you who are looking for how to connect in the arts community in Riverside.  The Arts Walk is such a great place to start and I have included helpful links for recreation, a great coffee bistro, museums, famous landmarks in Riverside, and how to enter your art into various shows in the city.  There are lots more things to add but I started here just to whet your appetite.



If you are new in Riverside and need city services, call 311.  If you need social services of any kind including the suicide hotline and other types of social services help, call 211 in Riverside and you will be right at Connect Riverside--your source for lots of help in Riverside.  They have helped me too!  I recommend them.  Tell you friends and anyone you think might need their help.  Their website is also on my links.



A special shout out to Martin Tobias, one of Riverside's Favorite Artists!  His website is www.tobiasstudios.com and he has some great stuff.  As always, I am a big fan of Jim Barta and his links are on my City of Arts and Innovation page as well.



Need a haircut in a friendly place?  Go see the people at Shear Antics.  Need shoes or a purse or a belt cut to a new size, go see Carlos at Tom's Shoe Repair in the Brockton Arcade.  Carlos can fix anything!



So that's it for now.  I can't tell you how many people came into my store and asked me about the happenings in Riverside. I always gave them these links to help them feel more connected.  Many of the people were long time residents who had no idea of the resources we have in our little city.



Please take a look at my fresh new redesigned website at www.photorestoration4u

Thanks again for reading my blog...and for those of you who do not live here, thanks for bearing with me while I boast about our wonderful arts community here.



Have a happy week!





Renee :-)

Adobe Photo Shop and other Photo Restoration Programs- Photo Restoration Hints Twenty

Hi,

I wanted to spend a little time talking about Adobe Photo Shop Software today and other software programs that you can get for free on the internet.

There are a LOT of similarities out there between programs.  Many of the free programs that you can get with an Google search work great.  I advise that you try a few of them before investing a LOT of money in the Photo Shop Suite of Programs.  Yes, they have broken it down to make more money.  And they have gone to a monthly subscription fee which seems horrible at first.  (More later on subscriptions to Adobe)

The thing that I always tell people who sit with me for a while to learn the basic navigation of a photo restoration on Photo Shop is to pay attention only to the tabs at the top of the software.  As you compare different software out there, you will start to see the similarities between programs.  Concentrate on that and you will be less frustrated by the different interfaces.  I have never been a "picture" or graphic user interface admirer. I like my instructions written out.  You may be different.  However, as I switch from program to program to help others out of a situation, I have seen several things common to all users of all photo enhancement programs.

1.  Where are my pictures?  OK...this sounds weird, I know but many people do not know where the program stores their pictures.  How to get around this?  Well, the first way to find out is to "file", "save as" and see where they are actually going.  You could use the search function on your computer as well to see the directory and file they are in but if I have already lost you, this will not help.  Or, you could pay really close attention to where the program says it is putting them when you install the program to your computer.

I am an old Microsoft Hack so I use the "this pc" folder to go into my directories.  (Microsoft keeps taking away the ability to know how files and directories work in computers.  (It is my opinion that Apple seems to not want you to worry about much of anything that goes on in the background so you will be happy, happy, happy and tell everyone how easy it is to use your computer.  I know it is a Mac.)

But, all kidding aside, you really need to figure out for your own self how to navigate the folders that contain your pictures.  Even if you have to use a CD or a flash drive.  Just know where they are and how to save your work to the file YOU want them saved to.  This is THE most common frustration I see when I help people--the photo restoration part is a piece of cake after this!

2.  This is too hard...I will never learn how to do this!  Well, actually, it just takes time.  You have to be ready to spend a lot of fun time working on this very satisfying hobby.  Also, you have to begin to see that your pictures could look better if you learned this.  OK...to the purists out there....Great...I am delighted that you want to do this all the "natural" way without any enhancements.  I am seriously impressed with your photographic skills and abilities to be able to do that with management of manual settings on your camera. Very cool.  But most of the people I work with just want to know how to do a few things and start to see improvement right away. They don't want to spend hours learning new tricks and tips when they can barely navigate the software...(including knowing where their pictures went when they downloaded them.)  Sticking to the top navigation bar and learning what the AUTOMATIC fixes are for your picture is a great way to start.  It is ok to use the recommended settings....you don't have to be smarter than the software until you have to be for an adjustment that ONLY makes sense to you for artistic expression.  So, try a few things and realize that there is usually a button on top or an arrow pointing backwards to allow you to go back to where you were. Worst case scenario, "file" usually has the "exit" button.  Close the computer without saving the accidental mess you made of Aunt Wilma's picture.  It's how you learn this.

3. I already have Adobe Photoshop.  Take a look at what you have.  If you got it free with your computer or bought it for around $100.00 at Costco, it is not the Suite.  If you like using it, you don't need the Suite.  If you get really good using it (usually has high version numbers like 10, 11, 12...etc.) then go for it until you find the need for more.  If you spent the rest of your life using it and being comfortable with the results, you would be doing just great!   Don't let your friends make you feel bad if you are not using the full expensive version of Photo Shop's Big Version Suite or subscribing to Adobe.com for the full version in order to keep up the best and latest.  I like the subscription program now, although I did NOT when it first came out.  I think they are eventually converting all of their products to this.  I am such a techno geek that I just can't be happy unless I can discover the "new" thing that makes the older version look like last year's purse styles. I just lost the male readers...sorry.

In the meantime, Go and search google for 'free photo restoration programs' and have a ball.  Remember points one and two and have a ball.  Once you get past steps 1 and 2, you are on your way!!!!

Thanks again for reading my blog...

Photo Restoration Hints Nineteen Basic Understanding of how Website Hosting Works

Hi...glad to have you back...

So I talked about SEO and went into a lot of crazy detail about directories and social media and lots of other things a few posts ago.  All that was very helpful, I hope.  I am still working on getting my site to show up on a natural search ahead of  two businesses that are no longer around.  I have been learning more and more about how smart Google's algorithms are in searching the internet.  Also, found out that if you don't have your page up for a year, Google quits looking for it and so does every other search engine and directory.

Now, I am looking at how to get the page found again without spending any money because the client has NO BUDGET.  That makes it tough. Go to Google Webmaster Tools and they will give you a bit of help and cross your fingers.  My customer was on the internet for many years before this one year lapse (because he could not get into the Yahoo Business technical web hosting customer service line.  I DO NOT recommend Yahoo Business because of their terrible wait times for technical service.  Their techs are GREAT but if you have a life, you will not want to wait the hours it takes to get through.

Some advice follows:

There are 2 things you need to know before you get your own www.coolname.com

1.  Purchase a domain name with a reputable web hosting service.  I recommend GoDaddy.com  You are renting that name for a specified period of time and it is registered to you so that all the servers in the world of the internet know how to find your site and match it up with the proper address when the name is typed into the browser.

2.  Make sure that you also buy 'hosting' for that same period of time that you are renting your domain name.  Hosting is important because that is where the server that "hosts" your specific site (written in HTML code) on their server in a specific public folder for the world to see. You then upload your website which consists of an index and index files to the space that they "rent" you on their server using an FTP (file transfer protocol) program like CuteFTP.   The browser translates the code and puts everything together so that the code turns into a page with writing and pictures.  Yipee...Magic.

Why do you need to know this?   Well, if you decide to move your page and go to someone else to host it, make sure you have both the domain name and the hosting part covered.  You have to transfer your domain name and it's a bit of a hassle depending upon who you work with.  If you go and buy new hosting space with another company and forget to follow through with the transfer of your domain name, you could very easily have two hosting arrangements.  This is a very expensive mistake to make. There are hosting companies out there that will let you do just that...pay them for hosting without having a domain name attached (another big hosting service) and they will tell you it is not their fault because you were supposed to follow through with them or the previous company (I have heard both) to get it transferred to the hosting server company.

It is very confusing to talk to some of the tech people out there because they assume you understand the basic workings of a website.  If you can get this down, you will just have to figure out a few things like how long you want to "rent" the domain name and how long you want to"rent" the space on their server for you to upload your code to.  Easy Peasy.  Be aware that you can purchase "privacy" that keeps your personal address from showing up when someone searches "whois.com"  More fun.

Also, I recommend that you look into their Search Engine Optimization tools and maybe their website software.  Many of them have "website management consoles" that help you upload your page very easily without worrying about all the geek talk I bored you with earlier.  All of this together can be your ticket to getting a site up quickly that has the possibility to be seen by the world.

I recommend GoDaddy.com because the technical people are knowledgeable and helpful.  I hope that this information keeps you from making the mistake I just cleaned up for a customer that got taken big time.

Thanks for reading my blog.  I am honored to have an audience for my ramblings.  Best Regards,
Renee :-)

PS...Does anyone really believe that emails can be lost?

Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation

Riverside The City of Arts and Innovation



I just added a page to my website for some of my favorite people, places and events in Riverside.

Check it out.  You will see a great place to have your hair done, have a cup of coffee, have gorgeous

pictures of your children made, see a live show...and the list goes on.



Thank you for reading my blog today and enjoy my page full of great links for my home town.



Best Wishes,



Renee

Let's Go!

Let's Go!



Here's my new page to help you get your picture to me.  Naturally, the easiest way is if you have a picture on your computer already.  You can just make it an email attachment to your email to me at renee@rltphotoartist.com.



If you have a neighbor that could scan it for you or a techie friend, that can work well too.  They can email the picture to me as an attachment as well.



If you want to take it to Kinko's or Staples, they can scan it for you at 300 or 600 dpi (dots per inch) so I will have enough information to do a really good job for you.



If you want me to meet you at Kinko's or Staples and help you get it scanned and pick up the digital file (cd) from you right there, that is cool too.  I can start as soon as I get home to my studio.



If you just want to mail it in the good old US mail, you can do that.  Send it to P.O. Box 21119, Riverside CA 92516.



It's not hard...call me if you need me to pick it up from you in person or if you need to discuss any other ideas or needs.



Thanks for reading my blog and for visiting my page at www.photorestoration4u.com or rltphotoartist.com.



Have a wonderful internet day!

Photo Restoration Hints Eighteen - What is your work worth ?

I just got a great question from a blog reader who asked me what is the difference between photo restoration work that CVS or Walmart does for $30.00 and what I can do to restore the same picture for $35.00.  Here was my answer to her great question:

"Go and have something restored of yours by Walmart or CVS or Costco.

Examine it for yourself and take note of the printing resolution, color, paper used and quality with your own eyes.

Then do the same restoration yourself and print it using a quality photo printer and quality photo paper on the highest settings.  

Make an honest comparison of the two results with a magnifying glass."

Then I added..."Experience will help you gain confidence in your own abilities.

I compete against myself and I am my toughest critic. "

I stopped there in the interest of brevity.  No one really likes too much advice even if they ask for it.  I couldn't let it go without adding more about printing.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of people restoring photos...all over the world.  It takes a lot of confidence to stand up and say that you are an excellent photo restorer when you spend a little time on the internet.  I believe that you have to understand the importance of giving the customer an excellent restoration print as well.  I believe I have an edge over many restorers because I have spent many years getting the printing part right using the best Epson printers, Epson ink and Epson paper and canvas.  There really is a difference and unless you know that, you will never know how good your restoration will look or how long it will last!  

I have a wonderful Epson 9890 professional printer that can print 8x10 or 44 x 96...

Using the best printer with matching ink and paper is the best way to go.  Epson has printer settings for their paper and quality settings.  Take time to see the results from different papers until you have a good idea of what is out there.  Epson sells sample packs on Atlex.com and that is a great start.  I have used other brands but I personally prefer Epson. You may not...just make sure you use all the matching inks and papers for your printer.  I also know when to use textured papers and luster based on the subject matter or maybe even the complexion or other artifacts in the print.  The more you experiment with paper, the better your results will be. 

I truly believe that this knowledge through experimentation will cost you some ink and paper to get the expertise you need.  Then, I really believe you will have much more confidence that you are giving the customer the best photo restoration you can possibly can.  And if you believe the promises that Epson and others make...you will be giving them a photo that will last 50 plus years until it is restored again by a robot or nano bots...who knows?  Maybe this will turn into the latest thing?

Coming soon....a review of a couple of programs that do most of the work for you on improving your photos.  I think the nanobots are here now that I think about it.  Digital Progress is FANTASTIC!

Thanks for reading my blog.  

Google Ad Sense...Does it make sense? Photo Restoration Hints Seventeen

Ok...I had to know...is Google AdSense the way for me to increase my visibility on the internet?

So,  I decided to go all the way and sign up with Google AdSense. You start with an analyst who helps you to put together an ad that will get attention based upon search terms (ad words) and then you decide on a budget.  The budget has to be enough to compete with others who are bidding with you for that little piece of real estate to the right of the natural search results for the search term that gets entered.  They have all kinds of information available and they help you craft the best ad.  I have to say that they spend time trying to get to know what you do...including going to your website and taking a look.  I agreed to a 10.00 a day budget or 300.00 a month.  They give you a chance to bail out anytime with a pause button that you control.

Well, I agonized for ten days... Including the Memorial Day Holiday weekend  ending it on Tuesday morning.

I had checked it constantly and never saw my ad once when I googled 'photo restoration'.  My meager little $10.00 a day (300 per month billing cycle)  didn't even look like it was enough to register an impression on the photo restoration searches that I did.  Evidently, Costco and everybody else is spending waaaaay more than me...including lots of people from out of town and out of state.

So, does Google Adsense make sense for me as a very small business?

I have to admit that I had really high expectations based upon all the advertising that they do and the big pitch they give you on the phone when you call for information.  I thought it was interesting that less than 50 people saw my ad in about 10 days AND not one person clicked on it.  You don't get charged until they click...and you don't get a chance until they do.  It was a really good learning experience for me...the disappointing and sad kind of experience. But that's information that you need to find out for yourself.  This isn't for me.

Post Card Mailings or door handle hangers are looking pretty good to me about now.

Thanks for reading my blog....

Renee

Seach Engine Optimization Photo Restoration Hints Part Sixteen

SEO--It's a fancy acronym for getting Google and other search engines to "see" your website.  Optimizing used to be about linking up with as many other businesses as possible, do a blog, make sure your website is full of relative content for the web spiders to crawl over and join a few sites like Merchant Circle or Facebook.  So, I decided to go really public on social media after reading a couple of dummies books on optimizing and social media.

But,  I think I may have gone too far this weekend. 

I hooked up with twitter, linkedIn (I quit ignoring it, that is) Facebook Fan Page, Google Plus, and Thumbtack, for heavens sake.  So far, I have followers on Twitter and I don't know what I am supposed to do to keep them with me or how I can get thousands more to follow me anywhere....hahaha. I signed up with more helpful promotional sites but I forget now as I was clicking on anything that blinked late last night.

As you begin to click on the ads to "help", you can download "free" stuff and start getting lots of emails about how spending 49-100-to ? per month will help you optimize like nobody's been optimized before. I have been on the internet a long time and have a good "name" if you search me by name. But my name needs to come up higher in the natural search results under a photo restoration search.  Not to mention the fact that a couple of businesses that do not exist any longer are still showing up in the photo restoration search before my own results do under photo restoration.

But, what I really learned is that if you look to the second or third pages of your search, you will see more search sites that you can individually add your own website to.   And...for about 35.00 a year, Godaddy will put you into a  bunch of sites automatically including Yellow Pages!   I like the way Godaddy does this.   Their website for their web hosting customers is much simpler to use now.  In case you have not been there lately, they have redesigned their landing page from the complete hot mess it used to be with confusing products all screaming for your attention to a real workable format that explains your options and allows you to manage without human help.  It's a good thing, too because their wait times have increased a lot and the rep I spoke to today gave me the impression that I was ignorant when I asked if they offered any free services with my new website order.  I logged in and found some nice extras included.  Imagine that!


Thanks for reading my blog....

Sometimes you have to walk away...Photo Restoration Hints Fifteen

I have a really hard time calling it quits.  But sometimes it has to be done.

Night before last I realized that I had gotten myself into an impossible situation.  There have only been a few times I have dug myself into this particular hole.  But...it sneaks up on you softly and before you realize it, you have done it.

It started out easy enough...the customer gives you a photocopy of a badly damaged photo.  You see the folds across their faces and hear that it is the only picture of her mom and dad on their wedding day.  It needs to be colorized and you are just confident enough to promise that miracle that they need.

So, you get a little deposit...she doesn't have half so you take half of what you normally would and you get started right away.  Fire engine red hair, she says again and again.  Blue eyes on mom...brown on dad...and a few other hints...so you put about 4 hours into it and it looks great...

But it isn't great.  It isn't fire engine red...she meant auburn...but not dark auburn like the black hair in the black and white photo but less red and...now you have entered the no win zone.  Try as you might, it just isn't the right shade....just not close enough.  You make three more tries and finally it hits you...you have waaaay too much time in this one and it is never going to be right.  It hit me when I saw 10 versions of the picture in the working file.   Oooops...you did it again and now you gotta call it quits or you will spend more time losing the confidence of the customer and stuck in the lack of perfection that is a colorized photo restoration.  What to do?

I have a funny thing about Karma.  At this point I make the customer the best 8 x 10 photo that I can and give them their money back.  Oh yes I do.  I am the one that got their hopes up...I took their time and promised something that I was not able to deliver.  In my mind, it is not the customer's fault. It is my fault that I did not set up the right expectations from the beginning.

Here is what I should have said..

Colorizing really old black and white photos is not an exact science yet, although some day it probably will be.   I should have told her that I would do my best to capture the essence of colors,with  pastels that mimic how photo artists did their job with colored inks many years ago. Some photo restorers today take the colors all the way up to look like the photo is modern, like it was taken yesterday. But I prefer to mimic the old colorization techniques along with less color saturation when the picture calls for that to look like it is really old.  I don't want to take away from the picture by having people marvel at the technique rather than admiring the person in the photo fitting in with the time and place.

Be gracious and let some other professional take a crack at it.   There are many photo restorers out there....see previous blogs :-). Then, write a blog about the subject so that others who want to restore photos have an idea of this and can avoid getting themselves into this situation.

Thank you for reading my blog.  See you next week.

-------Follow Up to my previous blog!------

A couple of days after I called it quits, I got a note from the customer (after she cashed my refund check to her)  begging me to give her 2 more free copies of the very first proof....she said she will try to pay me some day.  No, I can't make this stuff up.

Scotch Tape Baby! ... Photo Restoration Hints Fourteen

I LOVE RESTORING TAPED PHOTOS!!!!

For the life of me, I can't tell if the bear rug covered this baby's arm or if he was born with a hoof...just kidding, I met the man once and he had two nice hands.

My sweet customer actually just said copy it and cut it just below the fingers of the right hand to make an 8x10 out of it.  I begged her to let me put the other arm on.  (See previous Hints 2 blog from March 2, 2014 about cutting out the good eye  and reversing it and making it different by lengthening or shortening it before placing the picture.)

Then "rasterize" the picture and  begin erasing the parts of the layer that you don't need. Use the clone tool to get it to look right.  Paint in color using a very thin layer of color (adjustments to flow and size of brush) and there you go.  I am using Photoshop CS6 that I purchase monthly online to make sure I always have the most current copy.

The ones that I get to take out scotch tape are my favorite ones.  But add to it the fact that he also needed a new arm and you've really got a fun, fun project.  Hope that this inspires you to try doing this yourself.  Remember to clone out the tape using light layers and cloning from all areas of the baby.  You don't want history repeating itself in clone patterns all over the baby.  Use the air brush with a thin layer of paint and change the color of the paint by pointing to different areas of the baby for best results. 

Don't forget, you can always use the dodge and burn tool.   The burn tool can be dialed in to make the lines like those that the original artist painted.  Yes...these old color pictures were ALL painted using the skills of photo artists with paints and brushes to make the color.  These were all black and white that mellowed into a lovely sepia brown over time.  Take a close look with a magnifying glass next time you get one and share with the customer.

And, for all you mask users, go for it.  I really don't like masks because I have not mastered them.  Maybe I will in time, but so far, I am happy with cloning, painting and fussing with the pixels by greatly increasing the size of the picture.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Renee :-)

Make me prettier, please.....Photo Restoration Hints Thirteen

Make me prettier, please.

OK...now I said it.  Unless you are requested to remove a tattoo or tiny mole, don't do it.  BUT....there are a lot of things you can do to enhance a picture...male or female.  Since I am a 60 year old female, I will spend more time on "make up" so you will be a successful as a photo restorer.

I like to think of myself as a sort of make up artist as well as photo restorer. I'm not really but as I get older, I think I have learned a few tricks in Photoshop and on my own face with actual makeup.  I never worry too much though, since I can always fix my own pictures...although I don't as often as I should.  ***Smile***

Sometimes it is as easy as darkening the eyelashes with the burn tool right in the basic tools on the left.  Many times, darkening the pupils and irises of "older" eyes will bring youth back a bit.  Whitening the whites of the eyes with the dodge tool can really help.  Keep checking your history tool to make sure that you aren't getting carried away during every step of the photo restoration process or you get what my husband calls the "scary" effect.  It doesn't look like them or anyone else you know but the wrinkles are gone.  This is NOT where we want to go....but I digress.

Remember, just about each tool has a "hard/soft" option which deals with pressure or density.  Take a look at the top of the screen right next to the tool you are using to decide those things.   I like the soft round brush and I start with low hardness and low exposure...don't be afraid to experiment with these adjustments...remember you can always go a step back....

Also, remember that there are "many" colors on a given face whether it is a black and white or color picture.  Try to match the tones with the eyedropper tool depending upon which part of the face or body you are working on.  You don't want to just lighten under the eyes with the lightening tool.  Maybe there is a "tone" or "color" on the other top of the cheekbone that you can pick up to lighten those dark spots under the eyes....maybe you can leave some wrinkles but just cover them a bit or soften them a bit with the air brush.  They are still there, but the makeup covers some of the darkness in between.

As for teeth...you will need to refrain from whitening the teeth to the point that they are the first thing and only thing people see on your beautiful restoration.  Go easy...you can start with the dodge tool always...but I like to take an eye dropper to the teeth and determine the color that they are in the picture.  It is amazing what colors you will see...  You are always safe if you just go towards the white light....on the color selector, that is...and see if a little air brushing works better or the dodge tool.  Remember, the back up or history tool should be checked so that you don't make a scary restoration. 

All in all, go easy airbrushing the overall face.  Use light paint on your airbrush/paint brush, low density and hardness and just brush on the make up as you go.  Age spots, zits, pits and cuts are great removal targets.  Bring the size of the picture up to where it almost pixelates so you can see what you are doing.  The closer and softer you work, the better and more flattering your results will be.  As for beauty overall, it is in the eye of the beholder.  Try not to get in the way...your subject is already loved or you would not be doing a restoration.

Thanks for reading my blog..please subscribe to it if you need an easier way to find me.  Thank you...Renee

YouTube to the Rescue again...Photo Restoration Hints Twelve

Hi,

I hope you had time to take a look at last week's suggested YouTube video about layers...http://youtu.be/eIcYWEQH4z4

I liked it because he gets right to the point of layers.  Text is an excellent way to understand how layers work and I think he does a terrific job.  His second instruction video is important in that it shows putting one picture on top of another and the concept of putting two images together--including how to use a split screen to drag and drop and how to use cut and paste. 

However, Do NOT worry about all the detail about erasing on different layers.  It's too early for that part right now but it is interesting to see it as a concept.  Also, pay attention to the "history" button on the right hand side of the work space.  This is such an important button to get you back to where you were before you got carried away....Again, just watch it for the "concept" of layers only. 

Or, if you are more familiar with the concept, stay with me as we head toward "masks" and cool stuff like that.....

http://youtu.be/Ao2CRjk9uEI

YouTube to the Rescue...Photo Restoration Hints Eleven

Hi,

YouTube to the rescue.  I have a friend who told me recently that it was too hard to use YouTube to learn something new in Photoshop....That is entirely possible if you get onto YouTube without a specific photo restoration learning goal in mind.  Many times I sign on and then continue to the next video until I am researching water on Mars.

YouTube is a fantastic learning device for learning how to restore photos.  Remember, teaching Photoshop and Learning Photoshop is an industry in itself.  I truly believe that one person could never learn all there is to know on Photoshop.  There are tons of seminars and classes to choose from and you could spend a great deal of time becoming an "expert" in that world.

However, you don't have time to become the end all, know all expert in Photoshop because you want to correct errors in pictures and impress your friends and customers.  Come on....we all know you want those "tears" of happiness like I do.

So you go into YouTube with a specific mission...Let's say you want to learn about layers and you have absolutely no clue what a layer is.  Photoshop tries to make it easier by calling and adjustment a layer such as brightening up the contrast or enhancing the color.  However, when it came to understanding layers beyond that point, I was lost.

I am going to point you to a YouTube video that really jump starts the whole idea by explaining layers by using text and background layers.  If you like this one, there is a part two... 
http://youtu.be/eIcYWEQH4z4    I like this one because he shows you how to use the selection tool to move the layers around and how to work with the layers in the layers area of the workspace.  Just watch this one a couple of times just to get the idea...they use Photoshop 5.  Don't worry about the buttons so much as to understand the concept.

Next week we will talk more about layers ... subscribe to my blog and I'll be easier to find.  Thank you for watching....Renee :-)

Photo Restoration Hints Hint Ten..Making slide shows for DVD players.

Wow, you are still with me?

So now you are trying your own restorations and you are getting really good at it compared to when you started.  You are watching YouTube videos and the wonderful Understanding Photoshop Podcast available on iTunes and you're feeling pretty good.

Now what?  How about those DVD slide shows?  Hmmm?

Guess what, a lot of the new DVD players will allow you to put in a picture CD or DVD and it will automatically do a slide show for you.  Pretty cool.

If you want something fancier, you can buy a program called Roxio that allows you to easily pick out pictures and music to make a slide show.

Use DVD-R...for some reason it works better than DVD+R in the war to find the best DVD format that was carried out in the great competition for the winning format that was carried out by folks that make these things.  I don't know why one works better than the other, but it does.  This is tried and true information over a bunch of years doing slideshows for customers.

They don't have to be very long...in fact people will not sit down and watch anything longer than 5-10 minutes.  100 or less slides works great.  3 seconds is about all anyone can stand.  The music needs to fit the length of the show and the transitions should be smooth.  You can do lots of wipes and crazy stuff, but it won't make any difference to the people watching the show.

For those of you who are old enough to remember slide shows with a projector and a long winded person talking about their wonderful vacation while the bulb burned out at least once during the presentation.  Waiting for the bulb to be replaced was just about the time I lost complete interest in any slide show.  It's kind of like an Amway presentation.  Feed me dinner first, though.

Roxio is easy to use and I like the express DVD portion where the slide show automatically starts when you put it into the DVD player and loops and loops and loops....great for putting it into the TV on holidays when the family comes over for dinner.  There are lots of other programs...windows has a wonderful one too.  Don't be intimidated by these programs.  You just need to know that you have to convert the slideshow into DVD format at some point or else you cannot see them in all DVD players.  Just follow along and you will get it.  There are always user guides that you can buy from amazon.com or booksamillion.com.  You will get some seat time while you learn these but you can do it.  Then, people will want to see your pictures because they know that they are not painful.

Next time...YouTube to the rescue.

Black and White...it's not as easy as that... Extra Post

What the Heck?

OK...I'm old.  I grew up with black and white movies and black and white pictures.  It was the best that you could get for the most affordable price.  Color slides and pictures were phasing in and were more expensive and harder for the home developer to do because you had to be more cognizant of temperature many other factors.

However, you need to think of black and white as "colors" in themselves.  Not all black and white pictures are the same tone of black and white.  Sepia is what happens to really old prints...we know that...but there are so many tones to black and white and you can end up with "green" prints right off your printer if you are not careful.

I haven't said it so far, but the more you know about your particular printer and the paper that you are using the better your photo restoration results will be.  Because, the setting on your printer and the type of paper you are using have everything to do with how you will pull off an excellent photo restoration.

OK...you have worked hours and you have it just right...you put back the hand on the baby by reversing the hand from the other side or you have borrowed a hand from a relative using a layer (more about layers coming).  You have done a great job.  You have flattened that layers so that it is merged into one picture.  Now...let's have some fun.

First of all there is an adjustment for black and white right in PhotoShop.  Use that by using the top row of tools:  image/adjustment/black and white. Look at the toggle switches here and do some adjusting.  Look at all the differences you can make.  I use these adjustments when I have a REALLY damaged black and white picture with lots of dirt.  You will be surprised at how many things disappear with the right combination of settings in your using just yellow and blue.  Also, there is a very, very handy automatic setting along with additional settings that I advise you "play with".  It won't take long to find out how you can tint a picture or even add color back and change tint and hue.
Oh...don't get too stuck here.  You will miss the point.

My recent Epson printers (that's all I recommend folks...sorry...I have owned lots of printers and Epsons are the best for me) have an actual black and white setting in the printing set up screen.  That gives great results too.  Black and white is not black and white.  You want to use the best settings on your screen and you want to experiment with different papers with different textures.  You want to practice with your printer and paper selections until you are comfortable with what the results will be.  It is also really great to use real canvas or a canvas or linen textures on paper media.  Red River has some excellent papers along with Epson...we will cover more about paper as we go...Oh, I must add here that textures can be a wrinkled gal's best friend. Remember, you don't need high resolution on everyone...  The older I get the more I appreciate textured paper and all of the softening tools on PhotoShop.  We will get into "make up" as we go further.  Remember, you want to make the customer happy.  This is not an HD movie where we need to see all the zits, pits and wrinkles.  :-)

In the meantime, take a closer look at black and white.  Study old pictures and really look at them side by side.  Start looking at the x-rite color checker passport and learn how to calibrate your monitor to your printer...more later...and get an idea of the wide range of color in a black and white picture.  Those of you that cannot see this difference, please use the settings provided above.  You will always be ok.  Those of you who are blessed with the ability to see what I am talking about, cool.  Those of you who think I am nuts...well, that's ok too.

You can't get excited about something you don't "see".  So start really looking at the pictures that people give you or your old pictures or old post cards or old sepia prints...I could go on but I won't torture you any further today.  Thanks for following my blog.  Please subscribe if you want to find me easier.  Thanks.  Renee

Photo Restoration Scanning Hints Hint Nine

I have owned a LOT of scanners over the years.  They last a certain amount of time and then they quit.

I used to spend lots of money in the beginning making sure I got 2400 dpi capability...in the past 10-15 years technology has gotten cheaper and better.  I spend a lot less now and I am not locked into any particular brands.

However...if I have lots of snapshots to do and don't want to scan and crop each one individually, I still use my older Canon CanoScanner9000F and Canon MP Navigator EX software on automatic.  I won't tell you that their software is easy to use.  It is really confusing because it takes a while to find out where they saved your scans--not just the ones in their lightbox.  Once you figure out where the heck your files are, all is fine.  However, the part that makes it worth the trouble to figure out is the fact that the software that comes with it will scan multiple small snapshots, crop them nicely and number them.  I find that the scanner has a little problem once you exceed 100 shots...but you can still number each one individually without screaming too much.

Oh yes, this is also a negative and color positive film scanner with a little plastic device you fit into the slot (and take off the white plate that holds photos down)  It has a light in the top along with the light at the bottom and does a great job of scanning film as long as you use the right holder and settings.  Automatic works fine.


The other reason I like it is because it comes with an automatic pdf scanning and collating software for copying large amounts of information such as a customer's loose leaf book into one document that automatically saves page information into a document that doesn't take up too much space.

Amazon.com is the go to place for scanners.  Like I said, I have owned at least 10 and none of them have stood out....except for the cool HP one that you could move around and put in a upright holder.  It also lasted for a while and then died as they all do.  One must go on...scanners come and go.

And so must I for now...see you next time.

Traveling with your camera...extra little post...

Traveling in different countries taught me how much alike we all are.  My favorite college professor, Dr. Dina Stallings referred to us as the family of man.  When you have an opportunity to travel you find so many opportunities to take pictures with the local people.  Do some reading about the people and their customs before you go. There are so many books that talk about how to avoid being an ugly American when you travel.

One of the things you need to know about in Peru is to give a "regalo", a "gift" to the people in tourist areas who take the trouble to dress up and bring their animals for posing with you.  For a couple of dollars given after the picture, and a nice big thank you and smile, you have a pretty picture like this.
Some would say that this is a cheesy picture but I got to hold a baby llama and I will never forget that wonderful experience.  There are lots of precious experiences, even on a guided tour.

One more tip...you really have to rely on body language when you encounter people from other countries.  I remember the frowns I got in St. Petersburg Russia when I tried to buy water with British pounds because I had  no local currency left.   I came back with my palms outstretched with all the coins we had in our pockets and an innocent smile that said...I am really thirsty can you please help me out?  Well, they found enough for the water and I will never forget the kindness I got back when they handed me that nice cold bottle of water.  Remember  to bring your smile with you when you travel anywhere!

Photo Restoration Basic Adjustments Photo Restoration Hints Part Eight

Hey, you don't have to be smarter than Photoshop.  You don't have to be smarter than your camera either as long as you aren't shooting into the sun. :-)

I always start out with the simplest adjustments.  Automatic fixes for color, tone and contrast are great starting points.  There are thousands of individual adjustments you can make besides those
simple ones, but you will be surprised by how those initial adjustments become a baseline for your restoration direction.  Remember to save a copy of the original, unenhanced version and make copies of your "working" versions along the way too.  Just in case you find out that you got way too tricky with your mad Photoshop skills and you took so many wrinkles out of your mother's picture that it scared your husband to look at it.  Seriously, it can happen.

Like the French say in dressing up, you should always be able to take one accessory off and still get that gorgeous look you want.  Basic is best like the little black dress.  The same is true for photo restoration.  (Did I lose all the men out there?)

Take a serious look at what you have done.  Make sure your printer is set right for the paper you are using and the subject.  Get to know the limitations of your printer.  Get to know how different paper can affect the image (more about that later) and be prepared to back up a step or two if you have created a "monster".   Calibrating your monitor to your printer is another tack we could take but I am going to steer clear of that now.  You can do research on that and get software and the device that suction cups to your monitor to check your colors.  There are a number of brands on the market.  I DO NOT recommend EYEONE because they only let you use the software you buy from them for 2 years.  Not cool.  I am using their Passport at the moment but am not sure at this writing how long it will work on my computer.

OK...enough of the nastiness and on to scanners, where I have found that some are just a little better than others...but not much.  See you next week.

Do you have your own Website? Photo Restoration Hints Part Seven

OK...most people I talk to don't really understand how a website works.  It's pretty simple, really if you don't get lost in the gobbledeegook....is that the right spelling?

You need a URL(aka Universal Resource Locator)...that's the http://www.coolnamehere.com part.  The cool name here part is most commonly called a domain name.

You go to someone like godaddy.com and check to see if your domain name has already been chosen by some other nice person.  If not, you can "buy" (actually rent it)  the name and have godaddy.com "host your site" on their server/computer.

Once you get that done, you can buy or use a lot of programs that allow you to "post" your content to your individual website space in cyberspace using an ftp (file transfer protocol)  program that is either provided by the hosting website or something like I use, cuteftp.com   I have used cute ftp for years and I like it because it is easy to set up and work with.  You establish a password and get the set up instructions from the hosting provider...they can walk you through it so you don't have to be all geeked up to do this.

I use Microsoft Publisher for my website .... any wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) program is just great.  I can use html (hyper text markup language) for programming my page when I get into a situation that I need to manually fix a page for some reason.  However, I find I need to do that less and less as time goes on.

So, try out Microsoft Publisher and see if you like doing it all by yourself.  Or, use the software that comes free from the hosting provider or go to a place like wix.com and make a page.  They have gorgeous templates...but you have to have a really long website name because you are not using your own domain name.  If you link from your signature on emails, that isn't a problem.  Learning how to use links on your blog, email signature, or on facebook really helps you avoid the problem of a long long long website name that nobody will bother to go to.  Check out my simple but easy to update page here at www.rltphotoartist.com or photorestoration4u.com.

Since the webcrawlers like changing content, make sure you update often and use alt descriptors on pictures.  AVOID putting text content into .jpg files.  The webcrawlers like Google cannot read jpegs.  They can read meta tags, alt descriptions, and text boxes.  Flash gives you a really pretty page, but your friends and customers with iPads can't see all the magic.  Check your page on all types of devices...I have yet to buy a mobi site, but I will probably do so in the future. Next week, I think I will get back to photo restoration...I have been going off into the blue on this stuff....

Drop Box and other Cloud Storage Photo Restoration Hints Part Six

Last week I told the "control freaks" how one of their own saves her files in 3 different ways on the premises.

If you have a safe deposit box, or a safe, be sure to take advantage of placing one of the hard drives there.  Safe deposit boxes seem to have a controlled humidity in Southern California and I have not had any problem with moisture.  However, I tried storing one in a floor safe I had at home and had a disaster with moisture.  I am not sure it was because I shampooed my carpet and the moisture wicked up into the safe or that it just wasn't a good safe to begin with.  In any event,  check your situation out and make sure you are prepared.

I won't scare anyone now about getting a lead bag or Farraday contraption for avoiding  the terrorizing thought of an EMP strike.  I think I don't want to think about that....  Maybe we will be relying on those paper copies we made for our customers if that happens.  :-)....

So now, on to cloud storage.  There are a lot of sites out there for storage...amazon.com and many others that have 5 gigabytes or so of  free storage.  When I do work for business customers, I use DropBox mainly because it is a simple to use and reliable site.  You can have a lot of space for free by asking your business associates to sign up with you and share a folder.  You can both see what is there and can copy to or take from the folder.  Each new person you add to your account adds storage to your limit.

I made the mistake of paying about $100.00 a year to an external site that was great but it was just more than I wanted to spend for other people's stuff  that may never be needed again.  DropBox works great for sharing proofs with web savvy, cloud storage accepting clients.  It's just one more way to get the job done.  I do watermark my work, however, because I want to get my money before I give the picture to the third party.  Another way is to upload the proof to your website as I do...customers get a big thrill out of seeing the before and after on your site.  It is an easy way to show them the result and "show off" your work at the same time.    Do you have website skills?

Saving Your Work...and Theirs...Photo Restoration Hints Part Five

You will find yourself restoring lots of pictures...bulk amounts, enormous amounts....

Your customer may want a copy of the restorations on CD or not.  Either way, the minute you do not back up the pictures, you will have a customer come back to you to get more pictures made.

OK...I admit I have come close to disappointing a customer by forgetting where I put the pictures or using the wrong name in a search.  Eventually, I find it after a bit of panic.  I feel responsible for the preservation of all my customers' photos once I have scanned them.

I have run the gamut from individual DVD's stacked by year under my desk in cd/dvd spindle holders like you get when you buy new ones.  I still do that for the very very long ago restorations...say 5 years or older...

Most of my restorations are on various hard drives...desktop drives from various companies that sell drives.  However, I have had a couple of these drives fail...and it takes MONTHS to upload pictures to cloud sites (and who wants to pay for all that space, anyway?) When these drives fail, I take them out of their enclosure, remove whatever they have screwed into the drive to cover up the SATA connection and then see if it won't work in another hard drive reader.  A hard drive reader is a box that the hard drive fits into (match up the connectors) and MOST of the time, they will work again.

I took a lot of courses on fixing hardware in my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer classes, but I never had the courage to tinker with a motherboard.  So, I use my own type of RAID system to save my music and photos.  (Random Assortment of Independent Discs).  It's just a way to spread out your pictures in multiple places to ensure longevity of your information.  I have 6 from previous computers--each of which quit because of a hard drive failure...Hmmmmm...but they work just great in a an external hard drive docking station.....  Gamers know about these...check on amazon.com and pick on up for under 25.00.  USB connection, no set up required.  I just bought a  StarTech.com USB Sata External Hard Drive Docking Station and it works great.

Watch for sales of USB Desktop External Hard Drive Storage ... and have a couple hooked up to your computer.  The biggest problem you can ever have is loss of data.  If you give a copy of the disk to the customer or a USB flashdrive (becoming my current choice because it is so easy for the customer to use in many laptops) that is the main storage.  But, like I said earlier, I would rather be the hero than the restorer that didn't save someone's precious pictures....'nough said.  Next week...I will talk about cloud storage even though I said it was expensive.  :-)

Cropping...or how to make the Old fit in Newer Frames Photo Restoration Hints Part Four

As a photo restorer, you will quickly learn that most people just want to stick that picture in a frame without a mat and give it to someone.  We can discuss how to scan through glass to do a photo restoration at a later date. I have had only one epic fail in scanning through glass...but it was enough to get me to think twice before promising too much.  NEVER soak off the picture.  I know that much from working in my darkroom for many years. 

I regress...

You will soon notice that many older pictures are not 4x6 or 4x7 or 8x10.  Soon you realize that if you try to force them to be the right size, they will simply not fit.  Go ahead and take the picture you have just scanned and pretend like you are going to print it.  In the settings, you will quickly see how out of synch your picture is with modern sizes and the amount you will need to crop or ADD to the picture.

We spoke about cloning and you probably have checked into that possibility.  That is a great place to start spreading out the picture to fit in a newer frame.  However, sometimes that just doesn't work.  It's at this time that you need to learn how to cut a mat or go see WilsonsFrameup.com.

If you are too lazy to do that, or if the customer doesn't see the need for the extra expense (usually the case) you can always "frame" it into the size of an 8x10 with a nice white (or color) margin around the picture.  You can do all of this in the printing area.  Add a 3 point or less line around the picture with a "color" margin taken from the picture with the eyedropper tool and you end up with an instant 8x10 with a nice "mat" that will fit into your customer's frame.  Apply this to any size picture such as a 5x7.  The margins will not be exactly the same top to bottom compared to side to side...however, you will have a pleasing picture that looks matted from a distance.  As long as you tell them that without a mat, there is a possibility of the photo sticking to the glass down the line...probably after you are still around doing photo restorations.  By then, there will be another program to instantly fix that, I am sure. 

Next time, I have some hints about saving your work.

To Clone or not to Clone....Photo Restoration Hints Part Three

To Clone or not to Clone?

I spend a bit of time looking at the photo restorations of others.  Most of them are great.  However, I have noticed the tendency of many photo restorers to really rely on cloning.

What is cloning?  Literally, it is picking up one piece of the picture and putting it down on another missing or damaged part.  You really need to pay attention to the size and hardness of the brush to make sure you have smooth transitions in the picture.  I like the round pressure brush and I like to make percentage adjustments constantly on how much to apply to the new area.  Many times I use the automatic brush tools to smooth out the edges.

However, I have seen some really strange uses of the clone tool just to fill space.  Don't forget the brush tool or cropping if the picture starts to look a little weird.  By weird, I mean that there is just not a large enough amount of good section to clone over to the damaged area and you start to get a "pattern" of the cloned part.  Using eyedropper and settings for the type of fill can be very helpful in this area.

Many old pictures have decorative backdrops and curtains.  Some have plants and chairs.  Cloning can rebuild all of these things if you use soft layers and patience.  The faster you try to fix something, the more obvious the "repair" can look.  It is common for good photo restorers to go back a few steps and check to see if they are making a convincing restoration.  I personally have started over completely if I get myself into a mess because I have lost sight of what I am repairing and have gotten to "into" the magic of the tools.

Sometimes the third attempt is the charm.  Next week we will take a quick look at cropping.
Thanks for reading my blog....

Look into my eyes...Photo Restoration Hints Part Two

They say that the eyes are "the window to the soul".  Maybe so.  It's the first thing I look for when considering a photo restoration.  At this posting time, I have a picture that shows a graduation picture with one completely missing eye....Luckily, the customer had another picture in her wallet (different size) with both eyes in tact.  Most of the time, you aren't that lucky.

So, what to do?  Take a good look at how much of the eye is left.  This is important because each eye is different and superimposing the other eye on the picture may make the person look unfamiliar to the customer.

Next, you can copy a portion of the good eye on a separate layer, reverse it and place it as best as you can to the other eye.  You may need to move the eye up or down or decrease its size.  Many times, you can match up the pupils but most of the time you are matching the general points of the eye.  It takes practice but eventually you will be able to match up most of the eye to carefully bring up the differences.

If you have no eye on the other side at all, you need to become creative:  take the eye from one side, reverse it, resize it a little, adjust the angle a little and see what you have.  In many cases, you can copy and eye from another relative in a group shot or other family picture and use it to fill the empty eye.  Chalk one up for family resemblance.  You can even ask the customer to tell you which relative looks the most like the one you are "fixing".  That way, there are fewer surprises for the customer.

You will learn to use layers this way...you can watch a lot of YouTube videos on how to do it.  The truth is "selling" your result to your customer by remembering these hints.

Next time, we will discuss cloning...and how to avoid too much dependence upon it.

Do No Harm...Photo Restoration Hints Part One

Understanding photo restoration is where we start.  Since we are scanning old pictures, make sure to wear clean cotton gloves so as not to add any oils or dirt to the picture.  It is important to assure the customer that you are going to take good care of their precious item and either scan it right there in front of them or make sure you have a supply of clear plastic envelopes that can be secured with a string wrap tie.

The thing I try to remember the most is:  do no harm.  OK, I am not a doctor but it is really easy to
overdo a picture restoration to the point that it looks toooooo good for the time period.  Remember to duplicate the color if there is sepia toning...unless the customer specifically asks you to return it to black and white.  Remember to use the black and white setting in PhotoShop.  Reducing the color saturation doesn't give you the benefit of working with the "colors" in the black and white...more on this later...sometimes a little bit of imperfection is perfect.

If you scan at 300 dpi, you will have enough data to work with in most situations. Sometimes the damage is so severe and the image is so out of focus that 150 might be a better dpi.  The secret is to look at the image magnified to just the beginning of being pixelated in PhotoShop to see what you have.  The moment of truth is finding that even if you do scan at high resolution and do your best fixing it, the picture is not going to look better blown up.  So, when you get a feel for that, take the time to talk to the customer in advance to let them see the magnified image, the amount of information (pixels) that you have to work with and suggest that they keep the picture in the same size or maybe (rarely) smaller.  The more experience you have fixing photos, the more confident you will be when you first get the image.  However, a good magnifying glass and a couple minutes of examination could make a big difference.

Next time, we will look at the EYES...which are very different from one another...unless you have one that is missing....