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....