Can someone help me restore this photo?

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WakeboardrB

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 17, 2001
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I was rummaging around a bunch of old papers a little bit ago and I found a picture that I had printed out about 8 years ago of my dads 1965 Chevelle SS. It just so happens that I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a really cool birthday gift for his 50th birtday coming up next week. Amazingly it's the only surviving photo we have of this car and the original .jpg was lost on an old hard drive that took a dump on us several years ago.

I can't believe I found it as it has immense sentimental value for both of us, but as you can see it is in pretty bad shape. The photo was printed out long ago on an old Canon (I think) printer with plain paper and amazingly it looks like it's held up decently.

I've been trying to get it to look better on photoshop, but I can't turn up anything worthy of framing in about an 8x10" size. I hope this isn't against the rules as I don't post in the photography section much at all and never read them (hell, i didn't even see them a minute ago), but could any of you help me restore this thing?

I'll give you whatever you want..... Money... Women............... Men?!?

Thanks :)


Edit: Oh yeah... forgot to attach the pic. :p

 
Don't mean to burst your bubble, but you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Or as my old Southern friend Russell used to say "You cain't polish a turd."

The image you posted is of rather poor quality, and there's no amount of massaging in Photoshop that will make it worth of an 8x10 frameable print.

The best thing I can think is to go for some filter effect to make it so different as to be interesting, while it could cover up the flaws in the original.

Also, if you could scan it at a much higer rez/size, you'd have more to work with.
 
Yeah, right after starting the thread I pretty much gave up on the idea of a decent 8x10.

Blah, if only I had the original. I scanned the negative a while back and the quality turned out suprisingly well... I doubt I'll be able to find it though, that was probably lost about 6-7 hard drives ago. :(


Thanks a bunch guys. I was messing around with it and I couldn't get much of anything suitable. I do like that 2nd one you posted jayjaya. It gives it an old school kinda feel... I guess I'd have to clone out the basketball goal to pass it off as an older photo though...


I wonder if a professional restoration service could do anything with it. More importantly, which one of my friends knows someone that could do something like that... :D

Thanks again. Man, i'm gonna drive myself nuts trying to fix this thing or find the original.
 
Thanks, I though it looked decent as well. Its a bit soft for my liking, but the colors are spot on.
 
I took a crack at it as well. Since it is too far gone to restore, I aged it instead:

 
I just tried to remove some of the noise. Made it a bit soft, but looks a little better.



That was with the free version of NeatImage.

Tim
 
You said the car had great sentimental value to you and your dad. Are you sure you didn't maybe back it up to a cd somewhere or upload it somewhere. Maybe you emailed it to a friend or IM'd it to someone. Maybe your dad has a copy on his pc. Maybe you could find the negative stashed away somewhere.

The image you posted is beyond repair imo. Your time would be better spent trying to find the original negative so you could scan it in at high res. Even if you could make the picture you posted look good, it's resolution is way to low to print an 8x10 that would look decent.
 
Take the photo you have to an artist. There, the artist can put the picture in a light box and draw it perfectly. The artist can do it in acrylic, oil, and watercolor, and can make it as big as you want. Like 3'x4'. That would be a great gift for your dad.
 
Rooster said:
Take the photo you have to an artist. There, the artist can put the picture in a light box and draw it perfectly. The artist can do it in acrylic, oil, and watercolor, and can make it as big as you want. Like 3'x4'. That would be a great gift for your dad.
Click to expand...
That's a really good idea.
 
How about this one?



P.Shop 7 ......
Despeckle (x7), Selective color (neutrals, red), Saturation, Sharpen edges (x3), Contrast, Brightness etc ......

Tried to bring out the dark side of the car so it matched the rest of the image.
And brought out the red a little. That original had some horrid contrast.
 
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