Saturday, September 13, 2014

Portraits of a Life – Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore

To bring the original family portraits and snapshots into the digital realm there are several steps that I follow. A series of blog posts will explain the workflow that is used for the Portraits of a Life project.

Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
Step 5: Identification
Step 6: Finalize Organization
Step 7: Share 

The fourth step in the process is to edit, enhance and restore the digital images you took in Step 1: Create a Digital Image. Step 4 is the step that typically takes the most time. I often to do editing in batches and work through several images in one setting. The edits go faster in time and with practice. It also depends on how much restoration the photograph requires.

If you are working to process a lot of digital images it is helpful to create a work plan. This is where Step 3: Preliminary Sort is helpful. The purpose of Step 3 is to provide overall perspective on what photographs you have digitized.  Understanding what you have helps you make a work plan to move forward. In my workflow I am working to edit the oldest photographs in my collection first. These include tin type photographs from the 1800’s and the photographs from my great grandmothers' collections. Once I have edited the older images I will begin to edit the photographs of the younger generations.  

Your workflow priority will be a function of what images are in your collection and your archive goals. Making a work plan makes Step 4 less overwhelming. The ultimate goal is to break your archive project down into a series of small steps so that you can reach the ultimate goal of sharing your heirloom photographs.

I edit my images Adobe Photoshop version CS5. Note that some menus and Adobe references may not be the same in newer versions. When I make edits I typically work in the preliminary sort directory. For more details see Step 3: Preliminary Sort.

I have made the decision to edit all of my images to commercial printing standards.  This will ensure if I opt to print these images in the future the images are properly formatted.  There is a difference between viewing a picture on a screen and a commercially printed image. The CMYK commercial printing processes blends four colors Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black together to produce a range of color. If black and white images are not prepared correctly the images may appear tinted when printed.

When I started working on my family history book a few years ago I developed my workflow based on Blurb’s advice  to produce black and white images for the commercial printing process. Blurb is the commercial printing company I have opted to work with for printed family tree books.  The company offers quality professional products that can be ordered in single quantities. 

The workflow also produces images that can also be printed successfully at larger scales. For examples of photos reproduced in this workflow view my family tree book Our Ancestors The Book: Volume I: The Murosky and Bukowski Family History.  The blog post Step 1: Create a Digital Image also shows comparisons between the original images and the reproductions.  

To explain the steps in my workflow to edit, enhance and restore the old photographs I will walk you through an editing example. This is a first communion photograph of my great grandmother Helen Tillie Bukowski, This image previously unknown to most of my family was included in the large collection of photographs I obtained this spring. 

1.       Open the raw image or the digital negative in Adobe Photoshop

If you took raw images in Step 1: Create a Digital Image you will have a raw image and  an additional image file. The raw image will have the file extension .raw.  

Note that the .raw files from some newer digital cameras will not open in older version of Adobe Photoshop.  Adobe has a digital negative converter (DNG Converter) available for download.  The DNG Converter allows .raw files to be converted to digital negatives which are .dng files. The .dng files can then be opened in Adobe Photopshop. I delete the .raw file after the conversation. These files can be large and take up a lot of space on your computer. 

A preliminary edit screen will open with .raw and .dng images. I opt to not make edits in this screen and click “open image”.


Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
The preliminary open screen in Adobe Photoshop

Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
The original image open in Photoshop before editing.

2. Save a copy of the file as a Photoshop file

It is important to save a copy to maintain the original. You may want to reference the original at a later time or go back to the original if you are not happy with the first set of edits. To save a copy select the File menu, select Save As a popup window will open. 
  • Save In file location: Use the pull down menu to change the directory if needed.
  • File name: This field will be populated based on the original image.  When I am working I use the same name with different file type extensions. This keeps all of the images together.
  • Format:  Select Photoshop from the options


    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    The Save As window in Adobe Photoshop
    3. Rotate and Crop the image

    When the original image was re-photographed the camera captured the background in addition to the original image. . 


    If an image is obviously crooked I will rotate the image before cropping. If I am not sure how far off the image is I will select the crop tool from the menu and select the crop zone shown in the white outline below. The crop zone can be viewed without completing the crop. Using the ESC key on your keyboard allows you to undo the selection. If you do crop and wish to go back select the Edit menu, Step Backward to revert to the original image. 
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    A test of the crop zone to explore if image rotation is required.
    To rotate the image select the Image menu, select Image Rotation, Arbitrary… This option brings up a menu which allows the rotation angle and the option for CW or CCW. I will often use a small angle for example 0.1 and rotate a few times to achieve the rotation needed. Every image is different. 
    
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    The Adobe Photoshop rotation screen that opens after selecting the Image menu, select Image Rotation, Arbitrary…
     
    As you can see from the image below more of the original can now be captured based on the slight rotation. To complete the crop. Select the Crop tool again, highlight the crop zone and click enter on your keyboard. The cropped image will now be displayed.

    
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    Crop zone shown on rotated image.
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    The cropped image.
    4. Convert the image Black and White

    The conversion to Black and White is the part of the process that ensures the image will print correctly in a commercial printing process. Select the Image menu, Adjustments, Black and White. This option will open the black and white menu. The preset option has different black and white filters. Select the top filter – “Blue Filter” and then use the down arrow on your keyboard to pre-view your image with the different filter options. Choose the option which adds the most clarity your image but does not wash out the image. I have found the “Green Filter” works well on many old photographs to capture the details. However it depends on the particular image. After selecting the filter option you like click okay to apply the filter.

    Note that if the old photograph is colorized I skip this step.

    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    Convert the image Black and White. Example of a  Blue Filter.
    Note the difference between the blue filter (above) and the green filter (below). In this example the green filter brightens the image and enhances the background while maintaining the details.
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    Convert the image Black and White. Example of a  Green Filter. This is the option I selected.
    5. Check the Shadows/Highlights

    Some old photographs appear very dark and have a lot of shadows. Photoshop has an option to remove the shadows from an image. Select the Image menu, Adjustments, Shadows/Highlights. Photoshop will automatically adjust the shadows in the image. The sliders can be adjusted as well. The preview of the image will be shown. To keep the changes select ok. If you don’t want to keep the adjustment select cancel.

    Some images will clean up nicely with this option and others will appear grainy or over processed. For the particular image I have opted not to use this adjustment.  When editing I may test this step on an image. If I don’t like the edit I won’t choose this option.
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    Check the Shadows/Highlights
    6. Adjust the Curves

    Changing the curves can enhance and sharpen the image. This adjustment can often add clarity. To adjust the curves select the Image menu, Adjustments, Curves… The curves menu is similar to the Black and White menu. Selecting the top option and using the down arrow on your keyboard will allow you to pre-view the different options. Working through the different options will enhance different elements of the photograph – some options brighten, some darken and some sharpen. The solution is unique to the image. In most examples I have found the pre-set curves have worked well to enhance the old photographs. Occasionally I will tweak one of the pre-set curves manually. The curves can also be manually adjusted by selecting the box in the graph and moving it.
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    Adjust the Curves - default image

    The above image is the default image before applying curves. In this example I opted to use lighter (shown below) as this option balanced out the darker background. It also did not wash out her face or loose detail in her dress. Some of the additional shadows have been removed. 
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    Adjust the Curves - Lighter (RGB). The option selected. 
    In cases where the original image is very dark after performing the above steps I will also explore exposure adjustments. To access the exposure tool select he Image menu, AdjustmentsExposure…  The exposure and the offset can be adjusted using the sliders or by changing the number in the white box. Note that the changes in exposure can easily washout out black and white images. I tend to only use this option if the image still appears dark after checking the Shadows/Highlights and Curves. Most images can be enhanced without adjustments to exposure.
    

    7. Final Edits

    Depending on the image some spotting and discoloration may have been repaired by completing the above steps. Some spots or damage may still be present. These imperfections can be removed using different tools. The Spot Healing Brush Tool is one tool I use to remove spots and repair damage from the images. I will typically adjust the size of the spot healing tool based on how large the spot is. I have found working to the size of the spot results in a cleaner final image. Depending on how much you are cleaning up this step can more or less time. There are several other tools in Adobe for making repairs to old images. When done correctly the spots or damage will no longer be noticeable.
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
     Left image before final edits. Right image after final edits.

    8. Apply a Sepia Filter


    The final step is to apply a sepia filter to the image. Applying a sepia filter also gives the image some warmth. A sepia filter also helps to balance out the images when printed. To add the sepia filter select the Image menu, Adjustments, Photo Filter… Select Sepia from the pull down options. The slider can be adjusted to enhance the filter if desired.

    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    The Adobe Photoshop Photo Filter Screen
      
    9. Save a high resolution copy

    After completing my edits I save my work.I also save a high resolution copy of the image in .tiff format. To save a copy select the File menu, select Save As a popup window will open. Under Format select the option for TIFF (*.TIF, *.TIFF). A .tiff file will be a high resolution image that can be used for printing.
     
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    A review the Original Image before Edits.
    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    The final image after Editing, Enhancing & Restoration.



    Our Ancestors - The Murosky & McDonald Ancestral Lines did not receive any compensation for providing a this workflow using Adobe Photoshop. Our Ancestors - The Murosky & McDonald Ancestral Lines did not receive any compensation for recommending Blurb commercial printing services. 

    Thursday, September 11, 2014

    Portraits of a Life – Step 3: Preliminary Sort

    To bring the original family portraits and snapshots into the digital realm there are several steps that I follow. A series of blog posts will explain the workflow that is used for the Portraits of a Life project.

    Step 1: Create a Digital Image
    Step 2: Archive the Original Image
    Step 3: Preliminary Sort
    Step 4: Edit, Enhance & Restore
    Step 5: Identification
    Step 6: Finalize Organization
    Step 7: Share 

    The third step in the process is to transfer the digital images you took in Step 1: Create a Digital Image to your computer. If you are working through a lot photographs the process of organizing the digital images can appear to be very overwhelming. To simply the process I often do a preliminary sort of the images. The preliminary sort allows the organizational process to be started without having to make the final organizational decisions. The preliminary sort also makes the process of working with the digital content less overwhelming.

    The first thing to do is to determine where on your computer you would like to store the digital images. On my computer I have a dedicated directory for photographs. Within that directory I have a sub-directory dedicated to the old family photographs.

    Within my old family photos directly I created a folder with the name “_To Be Sorted”. This folder will house digital images that have been taken see Step 1: Create a Digital Image. When I transfer photographs to the computer I create the folder with the date the photographs were taken. I opt to use the filing structure “Year_Month_Day” this ensures that the data will always sort in chronological order (note a leading 0 is needed for single-digit months and days). The digital images are then copied from the digital camera into the folder. In the example below there are several folders of pending digital images to be processed.  

    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 3: Preliminary Sort

    Depending on how you were working you may have photographed several different groups of old photographs. I try to make the most of my time during Step 1: Create a Digital Image and often do several different groupings of old photographs in one session. When you transfer the images across from your digital camera the images will be located in one large directory. An example of images in one large directory is shown below. The images will appear in the order taken by the camera. 


    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 3: Preliminary Sort

    This is where the preliminary sort is useful. The preliminary sort allows the process of organizing the photographs to be started. I find it is helpful to do this step shortly after taking the images (within a few days). You may also wish to consult the original photographs before returning these to storage. I create a series of sub-folders under the dated folder. The sub-folders are based on the content that was taken during the session. Note these are preliminary folder names with the goal of moving your archive project forward.

    To provide some clarity I will use a recent example based on a grouping of old photographs my husband and I photographed earlier in the summer.  The old photographs included individual formal portraits, formal wedding portraits, several old albums and numerous loose images. The folder names were a function of the content we photographed that day. An example of the working directory with sub-folders is shown below.


    Michelle M. Murosky: Portraits of a Life &emdash; Step 3: Preliminary Sort
    What do the different folder names mean?

    Folders Named After Individuals

    In folders that are named after individuals contain images specific to that person. The images may be formal portraits or snapshots. I opt to use the naming convention – Last Name, First Name birth year. I use the birth year as I have some individuals in my family tree with the same first name and the same last name.

    Ex. Bukowski, Helen 1901

    Folders Named After Events

    If I can determine the photographs are from a specific event I will group these images together. The folder name will be associated with the event name. Some common events are weddings and anniversary parties. Others have included groups of photographs were the people are wearing the same clothes – for example a summer party.  I opt to use the name convention – Last Name, First Name – Event or Last Name, First Name & Last Name, First Name – Event.  If the event is unknown the folder could be named for the party.

    Ex. McDonald, Loraine & Frances – 35th Anniversary
    Ex. Murosky, Edward & Forgrash, Margaret - Wedding

    Groupings of People

    When I am working to digitize images I am often working with a large range of time periods. One batch of photographs may be my great-grandmother. The next may be my father and his siblings or myself and my cousins. I have found it useful to group family images together in the preliminary sort especially if the photographs include multiple people.  I opt to make the naming convention start with the surname of the individual/s who link the group together.

    Ex. McDonald, Loraine - children
    Ex. Murosky, Arthur – children
    Ex. Murosky, Arthur - grandchildren

    Old Albums

    Another example is grouping images together that were included in an old photo album. During the preliminary sort phase I have found it useful to locate all images from an old album into one folder. This keeps the content of the old album together during the preliminary sort phase. You can make decisions at a later time if you would like to keep the album images together or to separate them.

    Unknowns

    The final folder I will make is to house the unknowns. If I have a group of old photographs where I currently do not know who is in the images I will group these together. Locating the unknowns together is useful. At a time in the future someone may be able to assist with helping to identify who is in the photographs. 

    The list of folders above is a sampling of what I have used. The goal is to use the folder names that make the most sense for your archive project. The end goal is to reach a point where the old photographs can be shared with others.