Help please

[ridon127]

My 6 yr. old ripped this picture of her sister in half. You know the sibling rivalery thing.. Anyway, what would be the bset way to repair it? It's a cheap photo made at a pharmacy. I only paid $1.00 for it but she ie upset..
Thanks
Donna

[quillabee9]

I would start with some cloning. What happens after that depends on the cloning. Be sure and work on a copy (cntl-j) so you can always start over. Good luck.

[GeoR]

http://http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1LDRBhCMn49h4FFF4gEDyYC5dv9pip_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1LDRBhCMn49h4FFF4gEDyYC5dv9pip)

I used a combination of the clone & healing brush tools to repair the rip. I am sure you could do a better job with patience and the full sized original. GeoR

[Daviskw]

Hi Donna

I believe your tool of choice should be the clone tool. You could use the healing brush as well but it will often smear where edges come together. You may want to combine their use but in my example I only used the clone tool.

Your example picture is quite small so the brush size I used and listed is small. With a full size picture you may want to increase its size.

You always want to work on a separate layer than your background so open a blank layer above the background with "Layer>New>Layer" I named mine "Clone Layer" then OK....See the second example below for a screen shot of the settings and layer pallet I used.

Select the clone tool with the settings listed in the example. As a note I have the mode set to darken. This means the tool in this mode will only affect pixels lighter than the clone sample area. This mode is not absolutely necessary and normal will work as well.

It is very important to pay attention to areas where edges come together as circled in the example. You want to make sure you sample and clone in the direction parallel with the edge. Otherwise you want to copy the edge to the torn area.

In case you don’t know how to use the clone tool here is a small explanation;

With the clone too selected and sized to copy just the area you desire. Hover the tool over an area of good information you want to clone or copy to an area with bad information.
Hold the alt key down (PC) Option on the (Mac) and click once with the mouse.
Now move your cursor to the area to repair and click and drag if desired. The information where you alt clicked will be copied to the area of your cursor. As you move notice there is now a crosshair that moves with you. This crosshair represents the area that is being cloned to the area of you cursor.

When you have "Use all layers" checked in the option menu the cloning you are performing is appearing on your blank layer. This lets you erase any mistakes or lower opacity without disturbing the original picture. If things don’t look right just delete the layer and start with a new one.

Hope this helps
Butch

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k69/Daviskw2004/scan0037.gif

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1QEWrsBmu1eosa2JuQOEMgpiWXdB_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1QEWrsBmu1eosa2JuQOEMgpiWXdB)

[ridon127]

Thanks. You can do a better job than me. I have never used the clone tool. I don't know what all the tools brushes, etc. can do. I am still at the bottom or the start of the learning process.

Donna

[kimi_boo]

Butch, like we weren't in awe of your abilities before. Now you have gone and thrown in a little animation................... NICE!! :D

Donna, the best way to learn is to start. Good Luck.

[GaryK]

Donna

Perfect time to try it out.:D
Just take your time and use the settings Butch provided. Sample often and try to stay fairly close to the rip. The hard parts will be in the transition spots. Pretty much the spots that are blinking in Butches example (not sure if that was on purpose or not:) )
Until you get the feel for it, do some of the areas that are not too detailed, like the very top and the part of the curtain below the flower.

[TexasRose]

Butch,

When is your book coming out? ;) :) I know I'd be first in line to get it!!! Or wait, even better, make a DVD!!!! You are awesome. Thanks for all of the wonderful knowledge you share, and even more so for the clarity of the information.

[ridon127]

Thanks for all the help. I am going to tackle it tonight after I get the little darlins down for bed. Arielle (in the picture) will be so happy. I think she would love to trade her little sister in for a puppy. This is alot of work for a cheap picture but I need to start somewhere. I thought about taking it to Wal-mart since they do restoration now but like I said, I've got to start learning this sometime. I'm not getting any younger.
Donna

[kimi_boo]

Donna, remember to get in real close and do show us when you are done.
Have Fun. :D

[ridon127]

IF it turns out I will post it. LOL. It may take me awhile to get it right.
Donna

[Wendy]

Hi Donna ...

Do post it ... just take is slowly and you will be just fine :)

Wendy

[ridon127]

Wendy,

Thanks for the encouragemment. You are too kind.

Donna