チュートリアル: AKVIS Retoucher

Badly damaged photo

In the following example we will retouch a badly damaged photo. The photo is not only covered with numerous scratches and small defects, but its edges are jagged and torn. At first glance it seems that this photo in a state of disrepair is almost impossible to restore.

• Step 1. Open the photo in Adobe Photoshop photo editor. Here we have a photo of a geologist. The sad state of the photo suggests that it accompanied the author in all his traveling. The background is hardly visible but we can presume that the photo was taken in the forest.
  

  We will try to improve the photo using our photo restoration plugin.

 

• Step 2. First of all we should select the damaged areas of the image. We will entrust the difficult job of their restoration to Retoucher. The easiest way to select such areas is to use Quick Mask. Press (Edit in Quick Mask Mode) in the Toolbox to activate the mode (or hotkey Q).

  We will paint over the areas using a pencil
  (Pencil Tool in the Toolbox or hotkey B).

  

 

• Step 3. we switch back to Standard Mode, pressing the button (Edit in Standard Mode) in the Toolbox (hotkey Q),
  
  and invert the selection (Select/Inverse in the menu or Ctrl+Shift+I).

 

• Step 4. It is time to start Retoucher: Filter => AKVIS => Retoucher in the menu. To start the restoration process press the button
  

  When the plugin is through with its job, press to apply the result to the image. The missing sections of the background have been restored using the texture

 

• Step 5. To remove selection you should press Deselect in the Select item of the menu (or Ctrl+D).

 

• Step 6. If needed, you can continue correction of damaged areas of the image using AKVIS Retoucher plugin.

 

• Step 7. Now we will have a look at the Photoshop retouching tools. We will use the following tools that are usually used for photo retouching:
  - Blur Tool (R);

  - Healing Brush Tool (J);

  - Smudge (R).

  

 

• Step 8. After application of AKVIS Retoucher the photo looks considerably better. The background is restored and scratches are removed.

  However, we should bear in mind that it is a black and white photo and the stains we see on it are the traces of time. To bring the photo back to its original look we will convert it to grayscale by selecting Image => Mode => Grayscale in the menu.

  

 

• Step 9. Even now the photo is not good enough.

  We have got rid of small defects and it's time to get down to minor details (for example, damaged areas on the geologist's face).

  We will use our favorite method and select the imperfections in the Quick Mask mode.

  

 

• Step 10. Let's start AKVIS Retoucher plugin once again and repeat the process of automatic photo restoration.

  As a result we have a better photo, but excellence has no finish line. We can do a bit more using color correction tools.

 

• Step 11. We have to convert the image to RGB mode to use color correction tools: Image => Mode => RGB.

 

• Step 12. You can correct colors using the following commands:
  Image => Adjustments => Levels (Ctrl+L).
  Image => Adjustments => Curves (Ctrl+M).

 

• Step 13. Then we will smooth the photo surface using the Blur filter.
  Filter => Blur => Gaussian Blur.
  

 

• Step 14. In good old days photos were printed in Sepia tones, so, if we want our photo to be truthful, we should restore the original color range.

  To restore the original color range we will use the Actions palette. Select - Sepia Toning (layer) from the Actions palette .

  
  Press (Play selection) in the lower part of the palette to start the process.

  Here is the result:

  

 

• Step 15. We should merge the layers using the command Layer => Merge Visible or Shift+Ctrl+E.

 

• Step 16. If you wish you can crop the image.

  Select Crop Tool (C).

  Use the frame to define the area that should remain and press Enter. The image areas outside the frame will be deleted.