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Cindy Rhoades
08-11-2011, 3:14 PM
I have a customer who wants me to engrave his grandsons picture on marble to display and the only picture he has he has carried in his wallet for four years. Getting a new one is not an option because he was killed in an accident two weeks after it was taken. Any help would be appreciated.

Mike Null
08-11-2011, 3:16 PM
Is it possible to contact the photographer and purchase a digital image or a larger print?

Cindy Rhoades
08-11-2011, 3:18 PM
I don't know because the customer lives here in Indiana and his grandson was from Louisiana.

Cindy Rhoades
08-11-2011, 3:21 PM
Mike

I just looked at the pic I have and you can not read the name of the studio that did it. I will ask but I don't know if that would be an option since it was 4 years ago, I don't think they keep copies that long.

JAMIE PETTY
08-11-2011, 3:26 PM
I think if this picure was cleaned up in photoshop if you can find a good cleanup photographer they make it look like new.

John Noell
08-11-2011, 3:54 PM
I would ask Frank Corker (a prominent member here) for help. He is an artist and his work on laserable photos is incredible. If anyone can do it, it's Frank.

Glen Monaghan
08-11-2011, 3:59 PM
Sure, there's hope. It all depends on your skill with your paint/graphics program. Remember, you're going to engrave the image, so the background, color and much of the gradations don't really matter. The "noise" or speckles throughout the picture appear to be the biggest problem and they can be largely cleaned with various speckle and noise filters, as well as combinations of low pass filtering/smoothing followed by edge enhancement/sharpening to restore the major edges and outlines. Additional cleanup may require some clone-tool work and/or heal brushing. (You'll want to remove the studio name & date anyway before engraving and, under the circumstances, I won't go into the legalities of using a copyright photo without the studio's permission;^) Best to do all this using image layers so that everything is reversible in case you find you need to back up at any point or change previous modifications. When you get things the way you think they should be, you can save a "collapsed" clean copy and process it through your normal engraving work flow. If a test burn indicates problem areas, you can either adjust them on the clean copy or go back and modify the layered version appropriately.

As an example, I recently created a "companion" cremation box on which I engraved a picture of the couple. All I got to work with was a crappy photocopy of a photograph that I know (having personally seen it years ago) is actually very nicely done. On the first test burn, I found that the woman's jacket wasn't sufficiently lighter than the man's, her left hand and arm looked splotchy, and her left knuckles and right wrist appeared chopped off. A bit of spray brushing and lightening fixed the jacket and left arm, while a bit of painting and cloning took care of the missing knuckles and wrist. I probably spent eight hours total on that image and don't really like it myself, but the client was tearfully thrilled with it so good enough.

-Glen
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Cindy Rhoades
08-11-2011, 4:07 PM
glen -

Yes I know about the trademark/copy right legalities but when an 80 year old man asks you if you can do something with tears in his eyes my heart sank and I will do my best. As for my editing skills in Corels photo/paint that is questionable I am learning but there is so much and I do my best. I will print out your reply and go from there trying to work on it. I only have until Saturday evening to get it done because I am set up at a fair and he will be coming back to pick it up. I will do the best I can.

Craig Matheny
08-11-2011, 4:54 PM
Take the photo to a camera store they should be able to make a negative from it I have done that here before and then get a new print made to the size you want. Or take a photo of it or scan it in and make it your size just use a tripod for stability

Scott Shepherd
08-11-2011, 6:54 PM
If you can scan that, it will clean up fairly easily. I messed with it for about 5 minutes and was able to clean his face up a great deal. The photos too small to do any good though. If you could scan it and bump up the scanning resolution to 300dpi or so, it would be large enough to edit easily.

Dee Gallo
08-11-2011, 7:40 PM
I enlarged this tiny (2x3, 72 dpi) picture to about 8x10 (you didn't say how big you needed it) using Smilla Enlarger, removed the background and ran the Gold Method in PhotoShop. Don't know if it will work, you'd have to test it. I don't have any marble to test it on. One is inverted and one is not. What the heck, I thought I'd give it a try. You'd probably want to crop it.

cheers, dee

Ruben Salcedo
08-11-2011, 7:45 PM
Never mind....

Frank Corker
08-11-2011, 7:57 PM
It's very unfortunate when you lose someone and there is only one photograph of the subject, so I am offering my drawing of the lad. The full size file you will find in the attached zip. I generally sign drawings but if the parents don't want it on there you have my permission to remove it.

Mike Mackenzie
08-11-2011, 8:21 PM
Frank,

Very nice job!!

Chris W Larsen
08-11-2011, 9:02 PM
Here is a modification for you to consider.

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Anthony Scira
08-11-2011, 10:31 PM
WOW FRANK ! You are a true artist !!!!!

Cindy Rhoades
08-11-2011, 11:30 PM
THANK YOU ALL so very much you are awesome. Frank you artistic ability is fantastic. I know I can use what I have here and I very much appreciate all of the help. You guys are great. Thank you Dee and Chris.

Dee Gallo
08-11-2011, 11:43 PM
Cindy, post your final production - we'd love to see what you ended up doing for him! He will love whatever you do, it will mean the world to him.

Craig Matheny
08-11-2011, 11:47 PM
Frank very nice job and on top of that the kindness to do this for someone you have never meet My hat is off to you...

Art Anderson
08-12-2011, 2:45 AM
Frank,
Incredible work, and a heart of gold. Its always a pleasure to see your work. Thank you, sir!

Art Anderson
Michigan

Mike Null
08-12-2011, 6:03 AM
Frank, Dee and Chris

Splendid work by all. Where but SMC can you get that kind of help.

Keith Outten
08-12-2011, 6:52 AM
Frank, Dee and Chris

Splendid work by all. Where but SMC can you get that kind of help.

I have to agree with Mike, you will never find a group of people who are more friendly or more generous than this one.
Acts of kindness are an everyday occurrence here, thanks to all of you.....
.

Ken Fitzgerald
08-12-2011, 9:36 AM
Frank, Dee and Chris..............Kudos! Bravo Zulu!

Glen Monaghan
08-12-2011, 11:39 AM
Yes I know about the trademark/copy right legalities but when an 80 year old man asks you if you can do something with tears in his eyes my heart sank and I will do my best.

I understand exactly and that's why I included the "wink" after "permission"... My situation that I described was similar: because of cropping, you can't see the studio mark in my photocopy but it was there and I made the same choice that you did...

Different topic, but I was told how it seemed like such a shame to lock the engraved box away in the niche after the funeral and someone else mentioned having seen a two-part cremation box that had a relatively plain lower box to hold the cremains and the engraved upper box was a memento/remembrance box holding such things as a diary, letters for grandchildren when they grew up and married, a favorite object like a pocket watch, etc. After the funeral, the lower box was removed and interred while the remembrance box was presented to the next of kin. Certainly more work but I thought it was a great idea.

-Glen

Chuck Stone
08-12-2011, 6:04 PM
fantastic, Frank. I just got a lump in my throat

Sterling Wong
08-12-2011, 7:55 PM
You can use the clone stamp tool in photoshop if you have the patience, but I think that is the general technique in restoring photos. you're going to have to zoom in close to the image and work with the clone stamp tool mainly and when you zoom out it will look very clean.

Maybe there are some filter effects that can do something to the picture too

If I remember right when using the clones stamp tool, you pick/sample areas near the white / damaged spots of the photos and then paint over them. You have to keep sampling around and brushing in the white spots. (like the eyedropper tool)

Mark Conde
08-12-2011, 9:47 PM
Reading this thread makes me very happy and proud. It is fantastic to see such a wonderful, caring, and sincere group of people. Big THUMBS UP to all who helped someone else have a brighter day.

Martin Boekers
08-13-2011, 12:17 AM
Just for reference... if the company was say "Olan Mills" they readily give you rights....as long as you crop out their
signature. Many companies will do the same as the don't make money on reprints just the photo shoot and first
round of prints. What they don't want is their signature on a print they can't control the quality of. It don't cost anything to ask.
This may have been an older image (though i doubt it being web resolution). Check the Meta Data as if it was a commercial
studio their info should be there.

Mike Null
08-15-2011, 7:00 AM
Chris

Care to tell us how you achieved such a good result?

Chris W Larsen
08-15-2011, 11:51 AM
I actually used a new software program from CyberLink named PhotoDirector. I will be honest, I know absolutely nothing about preparing a photo for lasering. I have never done it but wanted to see if I could just make the photo look better. Being honest again, I actually work for CyberLink and wanted to see how our product would work in this situation. PhotoDirector was designed for Digital SLR Camera users who want to make a good photo look great. I guess it is most similar to Adobe LightRoom or Apple Aperture. I am a "sales guy" and not a software engineer so I really don't know how to use it that well yet.

To improve the photo I converted to gray scale, adjusted the contrast and then did a denoise correction. I liked the way the picture edge looked so didn't crop it. I smoothed out the background a little with a "heal" tool. I think I adjusted the highlights a little to get the detail back in his teeth. I also used the clone tool to remove the "photographer emboss text" from his jacket. I am really still learning how to use PhotoDirector, but this was a pretty quick fix and I was pleased with the results enough to share.

I personally am very close to getting a laser for my workshop. I have a lot to learn but have gained so much using this forum already. The collaboration of knowledge is amazing. One of the reasons I am excited to use PhotoDirector with a Laser is also collaboration. CyberLink has a website called DirectorZone that allow users to share their "Settings" for a specific photo adjustments with others. I expect as I get more experience and run tests for photo settings and laser engraving, then I can share them.

Mike Null
08-15-2011, 12:19 PM
Chris

Welcome to SMC and thanks for the tip about Cyberlink and PhotoDirector. It certainly appears to work well.

Dale Lovell
08-15-2011, 5:23 PM
Here's my shot at it.

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Cindy Rhoades
08-15-2011, 10:49 PM
Frank, Dee and Chris

I want to thank you all so very much. The help you gave me was priceless to me and my customer. I made up three marble hearts to see which one he liked best and let him pick so I knew he got what he wanted. Well he bought all three he was going to keep two and give one to the boys mother. Frank I hope you don't mind but I made an 8x10 print of your portrait also and put it in a frame and gave it to him. When he saw all of the items he just cried because he could not believe that people he didn't even know would do so much for him. Needless to say we both ended up crying and I had a very very satisfied customer who would like to me to extend his appreciation for your work because I told him I could not take full credit and told him about my friends on the creek and I am so proud to be associated with you. That one sale made the whole show worth it, I wouldn't have cared if i had sold anything else after that because I felt so good after that. I can not tell you how thankful I am for your help any time I have needed it. I will post pics later this week when I get caught up on orders.

Dee Gallo
08-15-2011, 11:37 PM
Cindy, that's a great ending to the story! Can't wait to see the final pix.

You got some major karma chips, dee

Mike Null
08-16-2011, 5:51 AM
Cindy

That's wonderful although not unexpected news. What the generous members of the engraver's forum did here drew some heartfelt praise over on the moderator's forum and made us all feel a bit better that this forum so quickly and sincerely responded to your call for help.

Thanks for keeping us in the loop.

Frank Corker
08-16-2011, 6:44 AM
Cindy that's a fantastic result. I'm proud of the members here at SMC for their efforts and I'm happy I was also able assist. I'm very happy you printed it for them as well, that is why I included the full image.

Ron Hartl
08-16-2011, 9:21 AM
Wow, great work everyone. Got a tear in my eye from this thread.

Cherie Irwin
08-27-2011, 9:00 PM
Unbelievable story. The generousity shown warms my heart, as there are few places that you can go where anyone would be so willing to give of their time and talent to help people they have never even encountered outside of a virtual world. So glad I have I have found the creek. The people here are out of this world when it omes to sharing and showing genuine kindness.

Ric Taylor
09-21-2011, 3:45 PM
Glen,

Having lost my wife, and having plans to make our companion urn (I'm a woodturner too, and the wood is already picked out), let me just say that the job you did on that photo is just beautiful.

Ric

Cindy Rhoades
09-29-2011, 10:17 AM
I have not forgotten to post pics I have been quite busy with a few shows plus taking care of my father who is going through chemo I will try to get them posted this week after I find where I set my camera again.