14 Replies Latest reply: Jun 18, 2010 7:34 AM by LAB_Disciple RSS

    Colors really off

    rlinsurf1 Community Member

      I have an old family photo from the 1940's, and the color is quite off.

       

      Dorie.jpg

       

      It was once in a frame, and the colors are closer to true around the edges than at the center of the frame. I've tried all the adjustments I know, but can't correct it. Anyone know how to correct this?

       

      Thanks

        • 1. Re: Colors really off
          John Danek Community Member

          I'd try LAB curves per Dan Margulis and his method(s).  It's a bit complex to get into here, you may want to get a copy of his "Professional Photoshop" book of photo restoration and color correction techniques.  Check Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

          • 2. Re: Colors really off
            rlinsurf1 Community Member

            I'm not sure I can get through a whole book, and I also don't know how to do LAB. Could you give me a clue?

             

            Thanks.

            • 3. Re: Colors really off
              christrom Community Member

              I would click on the brush icon, which will give you the option of the 'colour replacement tool'. Then use the eyedropper on the correct colours and paint them into the discoloured areas until you end up with a good result. - tonally, the 'good' and 'bad' areas are very similar, it is just the colour that is off, so I think you should get a pretty good result. You will have to take multiple samples, to keep the colour variation looking natural.

               

              You are welcome to email the image to me and I'll have a go?

              • 4. Re: Colors really off
                JRBricker Community Member

                Yes, i too would recommend Dan Margulis' methods.

                • 5. Re: Colors really off
                  Lundberg02 Community Member

                  Fooled around with it in Elements using some simple tools, because she looks like a girl I used to know.  Would have liked to get the bricks a little redder.  Original was probably unsaturated a bit.

                   

                   

                  Doriefix2.jpg

                  • 6. Re: Colors really off
                    p taz Community Member

                    Quick correction with Lab method... there is something fundamentally wrong with the sky and the tree leaves, don't know what is going on there but the rest had just enough colour to recover somewhat... another 10 mins tweaking might give something you could use, but I think the basic information is still in the pic.

                     

                    Dorie2.jpg

                    • 7. Re: Colors really off
                      christrom Community Member

                      Ptaz, that is one hell of a good correction! Could you describe briefly the technique you used?

                      • 8. Re: Colors really off
                        p taz Community Member

                        Glad you like it, I didn't save the correction but here is a similar set...

                        Convert image to Lab and pull in the endpoints until they almost touch the extremes of the data, then move the bottom sliders until they are just outside that.  The first step will spread the minimal data points across the graph, so to speak and the second step will scale it.  Then tweak the middle arrows in each channel to balance the tones.

                         

                        The amount the 'output levels' slider is offset outside the top slider is key, too far and the image will block in and too far will undo the effect of the first step.  If your graph has a long flat toe like the 'b' slider here, try clipping it a little to maximise the effectiveness of the adj.

                         

                        You can use the same technique in cmyk also where it is easier but the best results happen in Lab.

                        Be conservative with the highlight end if you use this in cmyk and watch your TIL (look it up).

                        If you do this technique then fine-tune in cmyk with TIL adjustment you should be very happy with a little practice.

                        On your image I could never get the sky looking nice with basic adj' I think there is damage there or staining.

                        Picture 1.jpgPicture 2.jpgPicture 3.jpg

                        • 9. Re: Colors really off
                          rlinsurf1 Community Member

                          That's amazing, thank you.

                           

                          Can you tell me how you matched the outer portion to the inner? I can't seem to get them to match.

                          • 10. Re: Colors really off
                            p taz Community Member

                            easy, cut it off   It was under the frame and does not contribute anyhow...

                            • 11. Re: Colors really off
                              rlinsurf1 Community Member

                              lol!

                               

                              Well, thanks again for the great tutorial. Totally amazing

                              • 12. Re: Colors really off
                                LAB_Disciple Community Member

                                You will probably never really get the colors as the original as I'm sure various colors have changed differently over time.

                                 

                                However, you can try for possibly the area near the subject.

                                 

                                Open the image and convert to LAB.

                                 

                                Using the Color Sampler tool select one or two spots very close to the subject that you know should be white. I think there's a lot of white in the dress. If so, pick some points close to the face as that's most important.

                                 

                                In LAB think of black, white, grey as all being the same color. Neutral. Just different amounts of luminosicty (the L channel).

                                 

                                Therefore for black, white and grey, the "a" and "b" channels should be 0 (zero) or close to it. You should see the current values in the Info Panel.

                                 

                                Open Curves and go into the 'a' and then 'b' channels.

                                 

                                Take the very center point and move it directly up or down (Dan has you change settings here but we won't do that as this is a one-time thing) in each of the two channels until the Info Panel shows that the values have gone to almost "0" (zero). That means what should be white is now actually white.

                                 

                                You could have also selected a known black or grey area and done the same but these are really harder to identify as very dark blue probably looks the same as black. And grey may not really be exactly grey. But white is usually easier to identify.

                                 

                                This is basically how LAB works. It's a total separation of luminosity and color so that when you alter luminosity you don't alter color and visa versa.

                                 

                                I hope this helps.

                                • 13. Re: Colors really off
                                  christrom Community Member

                                  That does help thank you, and I have begun using lab more often. The spilt between colour and luminescence is very useful. :-)

                                  • 14. Re: Colors really off
                                    LAB_Disciple Community Member

                                    Good.

                                     

                                    M