Photos expert editor Help

[gngan]

i've got some film photos from 2x years ago. I went a shop that help me digitize it; however it becomes greenish. Does anyone know how to make the photos into its original color?

Is there a way to do multiple photos?

 

[legreve]

i've got some film photos from 2x years ago. I went a shop that help me digitize it; however it becomes greenish. Does anyone know how to make the photos into its original color?

Is there a way to do multiple photos?

Does the physical photo look like this... greenish? If so, then you're in a bad position to recover them. It might be that parts of the color information in the photo are gone for good. This will happen over the years.

If the physical photo is not greenish, then the chance to recover it is better.

The problem with what you have posted here is that it almost feels like there's a color channel missing, and therefor I cannot "invent" the missing info. Normally you would just be able to choose an area to tell Photoshop that this part is neutral or white, and photoshop would do the rest.

From your post I take it you do not have a scanner yourself or know someone with a scanner?

Well... lets hear first how the physical photo appears and take it from there.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Does anyone know how to make the photos into its original color?

Difficult to do without seeing the original for comparison. And you can spend a lot of time retouching and colour-balancing. However, this is an example of what can be done in Photoshop in about five seconds, not that I'd say that this is ideal, but I've put this here for illustrative purposes.

There is enough info in blue and red channels to get halfway there.

Is there a way to do multiple photos?

You can do batch processing in Photoshop. Not sure about lower-priced software like Photoshop Elements or Pixelmator... or even free ones like The Gimp.

Another problem you have is that the images seem marked in some form, whether that's some form of corrosion, mould or emulsion problems or pigment from other materials that it's been stored with, it's difficult to tell.

Are these images from slides, negatives or prints? And if they look OK, but they've been returned with this strong green cast, then go back and ask for them to be redone or a refund, because they're not good enough.

How many images do you have?

 

[gngan]

Let me say thank you very much for the replies. I appreciate it!

I do not have the physical pictures. I only have the films. I believe it must be the mould because it's been 26 years.

That sample is at least A LOT better than the original. I tried that with PS CS2 using auto color and it's a lot better. Is that what you did? I've been searching online on how to do a batch but can't find one. Can someone teach me how to do it in batch?

These photos are me when i was a baby and i would want to keep it as memory. I say it's quite important.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I tried that with PS CS2 using auto color and it's a lot better. Is that what you did?

No, just used an adjustment layer quickly using Curves to get a rough example done for you without worrying about colour casts in highlights and so forth.

I've been searching online on how to do a batch but can't find one. Can someone teach me how to do it in batch?

In Photoshop they're called Actions. You can run custom image processing in batches once you have an action set up that will do the bulk of the work for you.

 

[gngan]

No, just used an adjustment layer quickly using Curves to get a rough example done for you without worrying about colour casts in highlights and so forth.

Do you mind telling me the difference between the layer and auto color?

In Photoshop they're called Actions. You can run custom image processing in batches once you have an action set up that will do the bulk of the work for you.

I clicked the link and trying it now. Thank you.

 

[The Mad Kiwi]

i've got some film photos from 2x years ago. I went a shop that help me digitize it; however it becomes greenish. Does anyone know how to make the photos into its original color?

Is there a way to do multiple photos?

First in aperture use the auto adjust preset, then colour droppers in white balance to select what should be a neutral grey point in any one of the photo's, make other tweeks to the colour channels levels, sharpness etc until it looks as good as it's going to. Then just right click on the photo "lift adjustments" and select all the shots and "stamp adjustments".

Don't have aperture download the trail from apple, too easy.

Looks like they were cross processed when they were developed.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Do you mind telling me the difference between the layer and auto color?

Adjustment layers in Photoshop can be used for a wide variety of image manipulation tasks. Their main advantage is that they're non-destructive of the image beneath. Google around for quick tutorials on 'adjustment layers photoshop'.

The Mad Kiwi (kia ora) is talking about Aperture, another application which might be more useful in this instance, but I've never used it.

 

[gngan]

The Mad Kiwi: I am downloading the Aperture trail and see how it works out. Thanks for the suggestion! Do you mind showing me how you will 'correct' my photo? I want to see if there's a significant difference between Aperture and PS.

BlueVelvet: I think i understand the difference. Adding layer is a better choice because i can revert back to original white autocolor can't revert. Is that correct? But what happen if i add a layer to a photo and save it as jpeg then how do i revert it since it's already saved.

 

[Blue Velvet]

But what happen if i add a layer to a photo and save it as jpeg then how do i revert it since it's already saved.

Take all the master scans, store them separately. Work on copies of those files. Save the edited and retouched copies as Photoshop files (.psds) and export all of those to JPGs or TIFFs or whatever is most useful for your final use, whether that's a web gallery or new prints.

 

[snberk103]

I think Mad Kiwi's advice might be the way to go. See if you can easily match quality of the image Blue Velvet provided. If you can do that with Aperture, then work with the images in Aperture initially.

It is designed to specifically work with multiples of images. It has 90% of the tools you are going to need, and they are fairly easy to learn. Within a few days of learning how to use the tools you should be able to get your photos close to "as good as they're going to get".

There will be room for improvement using the tools that are available in Photoshop, but the learning curve will steeper. You are going to be spending more and more time to get smaller improvements. Probably worth doing, imo, but it's a project that you can tackle over time as you learn new Photoshop techniques.

I don't use Aperture (but I do use another product that works basically the same way). If I were doing this I would make a copy of the image files, and put them into a folder for Aperture to use. I would also make another copy of the images, and put those on a CD as backup. If you are learning some new photo editing applications it is too easy to mistakenly start working on the backup image files instead of the ones you meant to work on. The CD, while not long term archival, at least ensures you have the original files protected.

As I understand it Aperture doesn't actually change the files as it works, it records the changes it makes. So it's always easy to "reset" anything you've done and start again. The changes you make are not committed to a file until you "export" (or whatever the term is that Aperture uses). This is the same as "Save As". Aperture then creates a new (second) file, with all of your changes.

An image that you are working on in Aperture can also be opened up in Photoshop (I understand from reading other posts) where you can use some more sophisticated tools, and then saved back into Aperture. It's supposed to be seamless.

Make sure you "Export" all the images before the Aperture trial is over. Or you may end up needing to buy Aperture. Which you may want to do in any case.

Good Luck.

...this is all imho, of course...