Preserved Topic: Grainy Scanned Image (Page 1 of 1)

Hello,
I have scanned in an image, the original is of poor quality. The intent, is to clean up the image, sharpen up the edges, improve the quality, without losing the overall characterstics of the original and without creating jagged edges. The good news is this: the original consists of only a few different colors, this isn't a color photograph, its an image of a "diamond buck" a fake dollar bill, kinda like monopoly money. By virtue of it being the copy of a copy of a scanned image... the quality has suffered tremendously. I'm trying to improve it.
We scanned it in color, thinking that we'd have more options to clean it up. One thing that I am noticing, is that there are a lot of pixels with a very similar color to the pixel next to it, and If I could some how blend these colors together, that might be useful.
I'm kinda stuck... i don't want to redraw every element of the image, i do want to use photoshops filtering capabilities, but know where to start. I've loaded (a rather large tiff image) on to the server as well as a (a fairly good quality and not so big) JPEG version. If you could, please have a look... let me know what I should do.
Thanks!

buck.tif
buck.jpg
Hope those links work!

Karl



[This message has been edited by warjournal (edited 10-18-2001).]

...know not...

First things first.
Go back and read the UBB code 'lesson' to learn how to link pictures.
UBB code

Next, that TIFF image will never show up in a browser. Only Jpeg or gif.

Now, I would do a combination of a few things for this image. This is no 1 step easy process...
1)create a few different copies of that layer in PS. Remember to keep one untouched so you can come back and make more copies if you need.

2) Gaussian blur one of the layers. Not much, but enough to smooth the roughness of the image. You'll lose some detail here, that is fine.

3) Unsharp Mask on another of the layers. Again, not a lot but enough to make the edges really stand out. You will lose some of the...uh...someword that I can't think of...anyway, do it.

4) On another layer, Find Edges.

5) Now, there are going to be parts of each of those layers that you really like, and parts that you don't like at all. Use masks to combine the parts that you like from each one. Even this won't totally do it for you.
You may have to paint some of the stuff by hand. Use the Stamp tool to duplicate colors. Work on many layers to see different results. Use what you like from each layer.

6) Show us what you got when you are finished!

mobrul

..ahhhh, I've done what you've suggested, however... Eeesh, I'm not sure how to blend the layers back together. You said to use masks, but do I cut and paste what I like to a new layer... do I make one layer blend through to another (which is what I think you mean and will try) or..??
Sorry and Thanks...

Karl

Masks.

Look at the bottom of your layers palette. You will see a series of icons. One of them is a darker square with a white circle in the middle. See it? Yes?
Highlight a layer (make it active) then click that icon. You will notice that a new thumbnail image appears in that layer next to the original thumbnail. That is your mask. You may paint on that mask in greyscale. Everywhere that you paint (or leave) white, that layer will be at 100% opacity. Everywhere that you paint black on that mask, that layer will be at 0% opacity (or totally transparent). Everywhere that you paint medium grey on the mask, the image will be 50% opacity. Get the pattern??

Do this to all of the layers.

Now layer by layer, pick the parts of the layers that you really don't like. Paint those areas (on the mask) black. Pick the areas that you really do like. Leave those areas (on the mask) white. Use an appropriate fade from black, through grey, to white, to avoid any harsh transitions.
Repeat on all layers.

I know that I sound as if I am being overly general, but that is the way it is. There is no one magic solution, especially with problems like this. The only thing that I, or anyone else, can do is show you a series of relevant tools and let you experiment. Each project is different and requires eyes and hands on the scene to make the decisions.

Oh yeah. You might also want to use the Image=>Adjust=>Levels to darken the darks and whiten the whites.
(god, that sounds like a laundry commercial...)

mobrul




[This message has been edited by mobrul (edited 10-18-2001).]

... wow, that was a perfect answer, thanks. I will post my results shortly.

QUESTION: how do I set up my layers so that the results of my "masking" is coming through to one layer?
Or would you recommend starting with, let say the FindEdges layer on the top and then "masking" everything through to that layer?
... i am continuing to experiment with these. Thanks.

<buts nose in>

I reckon it would be alot quicker to just remake the whole thing! When you break it down it is just base shapes, some rectangles, some elipses, and a few pieces of 'clip art' thrown in and a photo.

Set up your old scan as a base layer, add a new layer, slap on your grids and guides and get cracking with teh path tool, making sure to save the paths as you create them. Wham bam, done!

Even better if you have illustrator or freehand.. but PS will do it.. just an alternative idea, but would be quicker and better results me deems

</buts nose out>

After atually looking at your project, I would totally agree with VP. In my imagination, I expected this to be some sort of complicated design. What you have is, in actuality, fairly simple. It being simple makes it easier to do it with the pen tool, and much more difficult to do it 'my way'.

If you insist on doing without redrawing it, I generally find it is best to put your various blur and unsharp layers near the bottom, with your find edges layer on top, set to multiply or color burn. This layer helps to define the edges. Set it to a low opacity, multiply or color burn (or even darken) with everything masked out but the edges.

I will repeat, however, that after looking at what you have to do, I would agree with VP. Get to work with the pen tool. Much better results.

mobrul

<edit> Darn you guys, you're too fast! Or I am too slow...</edit>


Hey you got quite a challenge there!


Mobrul's advice is good, but I always try to go the easy way before the hard way, and in this situation I would say go back to the beginning!


When you scanned your images in, how large (dpi) did you scan at as opposed to what you need for final output? Shoot for 1 - 3x, that will give you more to work with, since the image is so grainy, you could "compress" the grain amount by blurring/median/dust and scratches filters, and then reducing in size/dpi, then maybe run an unsharp mask.


Also, your idea of scanning in color could still be a good option, - scan in color than take a look at the channels - if you find one that looks a little better than the combined image, discard the other channels and use that as your image/basis.


Adobe had a good technique for repairing old photos that may apply to your situation, but I don't know if it is still there - it involved multiple history snapshots, and painting from a history snap that was either blurred/dusted/medianed using the history brush set to darken or lighten, depending on the area. Try checking for that, if you want I can go into more detail later.


An easy option would be to re-create the bill stuff in Illustrator, then grab the center images and stick those in the middle, after you have applied some of the "fixing" procedures that would be necessary. This would be a more flexible format, because then the outside artwork could be re-used multiple times at multiple sizes. (the blessings of vector!)

[This message has been edited by lotiss (edited 10-19-2001).]

Gotta agree with VP. Re-build them.

But I just had to take a crack at it for a bit. tazmoney.gif. I used the Magic Wand to select trying various Tolerence settings. Then I would toss the selection into an Alpha. Then run Despeckle a few times. (Should clean Alpha by hand here, but I didn't.) Start a new Layer, load Alpha, and fill. Seems to have worked decent enough for the parts that I did.

Maybe do what's easy and re-build what's not.

its still crooked WJ heheeh ~Vp~

okay guys... i'm off for the evening, you have supplied me with a lot to go on here. Thanks.
I will take this up early in the morning.

thanks again!

Karl

ok....for when ya get time

heres a quick copy pf the .psd file (zipped) that I did quickly. Its not finished but should you give an idea of layer structure, and also of the paths I created. The secret is in structuring and anaylizing the task. Break it down into small pieces and the whole thing becomes easier. With layers and paths you can do almost anything
http://www.alfltd.co.uk/test/buck.zip (24k zipped - 196k unzipped)



For fern: http://www.alfltd.co.uk/test/buck.gif

[This message has been edited by vogonpoet (edited 10-19-2001).]

It's not crooked, VP. Someone just took the cardboard out from underneath the right side of your monitor.

VogonPoet... did you create that from the original, by cleaning up the original? Or did you redraw those elements? It looks good! Now to see if I can accomplish the same.

started with the original on the bottom layer purely for reference. Then created new paths making sure to save the paths for later use. Check the zipped file above and open the paths palette to see the paths.... I wasnt tryiny to make an exact copy, but by soending more time on it one could get close