coolj001 opened this issue on Jun 09, 2006 · 21 posts
coolj001 posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 3:40 PM
Hello...My friend gave me a couple pictures of his Uncle and Dad that he wants me to scan, fix up, and print for framing to hang on his wall. Both have passed away and I want to make the best prints. Of course I would want to make the best prints possible regardless... Anyways, in this picture of his Uncle we were thinking of replacing the background with something else like a nice scenery or perhaps something madeup in Photoshop like some difference clouds?, and maybe converting it to black and white. I thought I'd post the picture here and ask for suggestions because I could use some...please :-) . And if you feel like it please manipulate this photo.-
Have a good day..-Jeff
p.s. I am aware that 300 dpi is optimal print resolution in most cases...but what about scanning? I scanned these photos in at 300 dpi. This makes for about an 18 MB tif file for the initial scan...I am thinking this should be more than sufficiant for an 8-10 print. Or should I scan at a higher dpi...
Simon_P posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 3:49 PM
I cant see the picture.
For scanning an 18MB file (approx 6MP) should be suficiant for an 8x10 print, in my experience though, I think it is better to scan larger thab you need and downsize as required.
They wouldn’t have made the cane if you weren’t meant to break the rules
coolj001 posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 3:52 PM
I can't see the picture either! I can't get it to upload...I clicked "attach file" and selected the picture when I posted...hmmm lol sorry...could someone please help?
coolj001 posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 3:54 PM
cool..thanks Simon I will probably rescan larger...
cynlee posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 4:58 PM
hi most cool jeff!! :0)) all i know is the image attached still has to be under 200kb.. & then it could be those darn pesky gremlins acting up again :P peace
DJB posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 5:51 PM
"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the
absence but in the mastery of his passions."
DJB posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 5:52 PM
Jeff I think perhaps your file size might be over the 200k limit.
Keep trying.Let me know if it still does not work.
"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the
absence but in the mastery of his passions."
UKmac posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 11:28 PM
Hi, When I scan old family photos I scan at a minimum of 600 dpi, sometimes 1200 dpi. Yes the PC nearly dies at this but much better for touching up and then down size for print as Simon stated.
Steve
DJB posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 11:34 PM
I agree Steve. Scanning at the max you can sure makes all the lines and deficiencies seem les.
I also put in a few of the photos on the sanner bed, so I can get more out of one scan.
"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the
absence but in the mastery of his passions."
coolj001 posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 11:37 PM
coolj001 posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 11:39 PM
Hey Doug...very nice looking photo
UKmac posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 11:57 PM
Oh My.... That is not going to be easy but do-able. Looks like a full straight on flash. Changing the background might be a good idea but not easy on this picture around the back of the head. Also the jumper will require 'toning' down a bit and the flash bounce back on the face.
Good luck, sorry but I have not time a the moment to play with it, but I'm sure others will with their potato-shop skills.
Steve
UKmac posted Fri, 09 June 2006 at 11:59 PM
Mmm, second thought, try re-scan at the highest setting your scanner will go, and crop the shot tight around the face and start from there.
Steve
coolj001 posted Sat, 10 June 2006 at 12:17 AM
Thanks for the suggestion. I like your idea about re-scanning/cropping tighter around the face. It probably would look better cropped around the face. It does look like he got hit with a pretty bright flash. I will probably try to lighten up some of the bright areas with the burn tool.
You are right about it not being easy around the back of his head because it pretty much blends into the background. I already tried selecting with the magnetic lasso and had some problems with that part.
oldworld posted Sat, 10 June 2006 at 12:54 AM
coolj001 posted Sat, 10 June 2006 at 2:05 AM
i like what you did here. Looks much better. I esp. like the way you cropped this.
cynlee posted Sat, 10 June 2006 at 2:48 AM
ok.. gave it whirl.. would go with a tighter crop too..
less shirt to deal with... plus the Epsom photo print logo is showing through..
& added a bit to the top as it's too tight there
added a blobbed whirl background with a gaussian blur..
do work large.. feather your selection & smooth the edges
then flattened & converted to a bluish tint b/w
& agree with the highest quality scan possible as you have some banding here
..maybe the hairline will show better too.. i think i gave him a bit more.. lol..
& remember to match the part of the glasses that shows through with your backgd
Simon_P posted Sat, 10 June 2006 at 4:27 AM
I was gonna have a go at this, but I believe Cyn has totally nailed this already, and I don’t know what a bobbed whirl is either!
If I was doing this sort of shot in a studio I would choose a background similar to what Cyn has done here anyway. I might be inclined to leave it in colour and do one of each, I still believe that there is no real substitute for B&W film in some respects.
As Steve said this isn’t an easy photo to fix, and I agree that scanning a min of 600dpi , 1200 even better, best still scan the negative if you can. The real issue here is that prints don’t scan well compared to negative or slide. (IMO of course)
Either way it is always better and easier to work on large files
They wouldn’t have made the cane if you weren’t meant to break the rules
tofi posted Sat, 10 June 2006 at 12:24 PM
A smile is a curve that has set many things straight
Valerie-Ducom posted Sat, 10 June 2006 at 10:59 PM
interesting thread here.... and excellent shots too
coolj001 posted Tue, 13 June 2006 at 3:51 PM
Thank you everybody for taking the time to share your suggestions. My appologies for taking so long to respond..I like what you all did here. I will have to borrow a few of your ideas here.