Curvemeister Forum

Please try your hand at fixing this old scanned Slide.

Greg

Say,isn't that...?  GregM

After I cropped, removed dust and got a skin tone ,I added some contrast to the lightness channel,not shown.

Greg,
while you should have done the color correct it looks as though something is missing have you taken a look at the shadows and also the overall density of the image maybe you could try using the K. channel or possibly adjusting the exposure in lab see what you think and give it another shot.
Thanks!
Greg

Yeah,I wasn't that happy with it after I posted it.Started off on the wrong foot and wouldn't stop.GregM

Just used Color Mechanic Pro.

What a difficult problem - I had 3 false starts and am still not happy with my curving.

I attempted to correct the colour cast in CM rgb (1st image) and then, out of interest, compared it to PS's Auto Color adjustment - and I didn't beat it.  So I'm obviously getting rusty at curving and should really take a refresher with you (but unfortunately I can not spare the time at the moment).  I suspect I'm getting too fixed in my ways as I usually curve in Lab using CM.

Anyway, back to the plot...
To try and improve the correction, I changed the blend of the CM layer to Colour (as that is what I was trying to correct) and that helped a little.

2nd step was into CM again and now to curve for tones - again in rgb and this time I curved each channel separately to get the best I could, then changed the layer to Luminosity blend (2nd image).

I finally tried to add a bit of depth by first adding contrast (Local Contrast 2 pixels) and then taking it away again with a Misty Blur.  I think this helped and  gained  detail in the jacket and foreground.

I did experiment with Man from Mars and some Lab saturation, but did not like it.  The other interesting thing I tried was Dan's PPW sharpening action, but that really ruined the colour!!

I know, I should have cloned out the dust and oh, I did do a pass of NeatImage and FocusMagic before I started.

You are making us work too hard Greg - by the way can you show us your thoughts on the "Another image for you to try out" image.
Zog

Just used Color Mechanic Pro.

Not too bad.  Art the image overall is too red can you use some other tools to reduce the red.  If you are not comfortable with CM that's OK this is why we are here.  Try it in the Wizard mode and see if you can set a neutral point that helps the image.  a large part of the dock is fairly neutral.  It may totally mess up the image but that's ok too we want to play and experiment.  There is no bad here just opportunities to learn more about image correction.

Greg

Chris,
I will share my thoughts with all of you on the other image.  I really wanted to give that one some time as my personal corrections are falling short of my expectations for the image.  Your corrections have led me down some interesting thought lines...

As for this little image.  You are indeed correct that this is a toughie.  I wanted to put this out there since we do get a lot of requests for image salvage.  Many people are scanning in old family slides and they are typically looking this bad or worse. 

For my correction I did not worry about dust or noise I wanted the color back...I did try some of the things you tried and I found that the best way back was to start in CMYK.  I was able to make much bigger improvements there with the Blues and yellows.  I was also able to hold down the magenta/red cast a bit better. 

I then took the image into LAB for multiple passes using various "regional" pins to make corrections to the dock and the pants.  I have to admit it was not the simplest and I may have over cooked this one. 

For students You should not worry too much about this image rather look into the results and know that when you are done with class you will be able to attempt these kinds of corrections with confidence.

Greg

We can't let you get away with that correction Greg, which I rather like - but pink blobs on the side of his face and jacket plus where has the ribbing gone?  tut tut!

I will say that the image I have on my desktop does not look that bad...but as posted Guilty...Back to the drawing board...

Hmm conversions... conversions... conversions....