PHOTO RETOUCHING

Hi Misti, What sort of damage are you trying to fix?

If it's out of focus there isn't really any cure for that but if you're trying to fix tears or discolored parts of the print, it can be done pretty easily.

Hi Boomerang: Welcome to this wonderful site, it's good to see you!

The photo is small, black and white, and old. I would like to enlarge it and maintain at least the original quality which is 'not good' to say the least.

I've been playing around with it, and after enhancing it looks okay on the computer but when I print it out it loses most of it's clarity.

Thanks for any help you can give me on this.

What photo editing program are you using, Misti.

The only one I'm really familiar with is PhotoShop which is a professional type program. What you're wanting to do is pretty easy on PhotoShop.

Click around on your program looking for something that says "image size". From here you will have the option of changing not only the physical dimensions of the photos (from, say, a 3x5 to an 8x10) but also the "DPI" (dots per inch). Most computers will default to 72 DPI - that's so that your monitor will read it clearly without making the image huge on your screen. Change the DPI to at least 300, that should improve the clarity a lot.

Also, check your printer options - are you sure you are printing on the highest quality? Look in the "Setup" funtions or in the "paper" function (different programs list it in different areas) Choose the highest resolution and quality paper for the best results.

Let me know if any of this works. If not, we'll try somthing else.

Boomerang: I have Photo Plus and Photo Studio. I have never experimented before with something like this so I'm going to print out your instructions and try them.

I thank you very much for your help, I will let you know how this works.

Boomerang:

Just to let you know, I was able to resize and change the DPI with the Photo Plus program, you wouldn't believe the difference in the photo, it's amazing.

I haven't even changed the printer options yet, which I'm about to do now.

Thanks so much for your help, you are a gem:)

Yay!

It's always nice when the easiest answer is the right answer.

I'm glad I could help.

Hi, I do a great deal of restoration. Just finished 5 for clients today. I work in Photoshop 7. To remove stains and yellowing, it is easiest to go to a menu that hjas the Desaturate" command in it. This will remove all color information fron the photo and leave you with a grayscale image. To Increase the image size is a little trickier. Most printers are set up to default print at 300dpi so the resolution of the picture will dictate how much you can enlarge it. If you can scan the picture, the software should indicate the input size (physical size of the picture to be scanned) and an out put size and a scanning resolution. In the output size check a box labled "Constrain proportions" and then set the desired size of one dimension (Heigth or width) and the other will be automatically be set for you. Set the resolution for 300. No need to overscan. Scan the picture as a color print. When you see the final print onscreen, the yellowed portions will also show. I'm not familiar with the program you use so, if it has a desaturate command, use it. You may also have a color levels comand and may be able to target thje individual colors and under saturation, move the slider all the way to the left or, just remove the yellow hew. After you get rid if the stains, then you can change the file mode to grayscale. I don't know enough about your program to make a lot of retouching of rips, etc. A lot of spotting gan be fixed using the Blur tool or command. Blur just enough to remove the spots. You can also select an area (round marquee tool) and just blur that area. Two programs that I know will do the work are Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and Paint Shop Pro 7. A trial copy of Adobe products (Photoshop and Photoshop Elements) is available at www.adobe.com. A trial copy of Paint Shop Pro is available at <www.download.com> or <www.tucows.com> I'd get into cloning but that's a big two steps up. You could send me a 72dpi copy and maybe I can suggest other things!
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morganwood -- Hi and welcome! It's been a long, long time and I'm so glad you're here. Every time I look at Jenny's picture on Yahoo I remember how kind you were to edit it for me. Please come visit all around the site (it's great fun and there are so many great folks here).

Up sooo late? I had just printed some retouched photos and saw the thread. I'd forgotten about Jenny's picture. I'll just look around tonight (first day in the house) and maybe jump in more tomorrow!

Good to hear from you!

Please do! I've missed your lawnmowing threads (and lots of other things, too). I'm off to bed now -- glad I waited around to see you.

Well hello there morganwood!