picture on painted brass plate

[Pat Shirkey]

Hi all. I have not been on here much lately. Been busy!!!!! Yea! I am having a problem with lasering a picture on a painted brass plate. I have the information from Frank Corker about using contrast/brightness and unsharp mask in converting this. But it is just not coming out very clear. Any suggestions. Thank you.

[Mike Null]

Pat

If I were doing that picture I would remove the background and possibly do some vector highlighting to the image. This is not an area where I have a lot of experience so take it for what it's worth.

[Pat Shirkey]

Thank you Mike. My customer wanted to keep the whole look of the boardwalk and water. I will try removing the background and see if that will work for them. Thank you soooo much for the info. I can always count on my friends on the Creek for help

[Dee Gallo]

Pat, you can change the background while still keeping it in there, making the car stand out more. This might help with the definition and contrast. You'd have to isolate the car to mask it, then lighten or darken the whole background using either dodge or burn with a big brush. Do this on a copy, in case you don't like the way it comes out. I hate the way that pole cuts the composition in half... minimizing it would help a lot.

cheers, dee

[Bill Cunningham]

I agree with Dee.. |I would clone the background over that pole to get rid of it, increase the contrast, and put it in a oval vignette..

[Mike Null]

Having read Dee and Bill's suggestions I guess cropping the image would make good sense as well.

[Pat Shirkey]

Thank you sooo much everyone. I explained to my customer the difficulties and they have decided just the car alone would be fine. So thank you again. I can always depend on my friends here to stop me from pulling my hair out....