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Sunday, June 29, 2014

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.  












Sunday, June 22, 2014

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

Sunday, June 15, 2014

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....








Sunday, June 8, 2014

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.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

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 :-)