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Oxfordshire Family History Society

Fixing Photos


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Past Meetings Monthly Computer Open Day

OFHS Computer Group Meeting   -   Fixing Photos

This page is intended to accompany the talk "Fixing Photos" given by Alan Simpson on April 9th 2018. It mentions the software used and gives some examples of the techniques we discussed.

Paint Shop Pro
Version 7.04
The program Alan is most familiar with. It was originally created by JASC and at one time this older version was supplied free on magazine cover disks and with packs of blank CDs. The current version, PaintShopPro2018, is supplied by Corel and a 30 day free trial may be downloaded from their web site at:
https://www.paintshoppro.com/en/free-trials/
However the user interface has been completely redesigned and Alan has no experience with this version.
The GIMP
Version 2.8
A completely free Open Source program which can do everything you could possibly need but takes a little time to learn your way around. (It would be Alan's program of choice if he were not already so familiar with PSP.) It can be downloaded from the GIMP web site at:
https://www.gimp.org/
(Other graphic programs are available)
Alan stressed that the purpose of the meeting was not to offer a photo fixing service, but to demonstrate the various techniques used and to encourage the audience members to have a go for themselves. In broad terms the steps involved are:
Capture (digitise) the image
Correct the geometry
Crop to the required area
Adjust Brightness, Contrast & Colour
Sharpen if possible
Fix defects (tears, creases, splodges)
Enhance (optional!)
Print (even more optional!)
Several members had brought old photographs for us to "have a go" with. These were photographed at the start of the meeting and the rest of the time was spent using some of these to demonstrate the various techniques that might be employed to improve them. A few of these have been used for the before and after images below, to give a flavour of the evening. (In some cases these have been further improved beyond what was possible in the limited time available during the actual meeting.) Our thanks to these members for supplying the photos and for their permission to include them here.
N.B. Many of these images may be viewed in more detail, by clicking them. After viewing an image in this way, your browser's back button will return you to this page

before
Original
after
Best Result
before
Original
after
Best Result
before
Original
after
Best Result
before
Original
after
First Stage
before
Best Result
after
Enhanced by Colour
before
Original
after
Best Result
before
Original
after
Best Result



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