[Matadors and a Princess]

About 13 years ago I scanned this image of my Great-Great-Grandmother & her twin daughters (the blonde one on the right is my great-grandmother). The picture was matted on a thick cardstock, but had broken in half. My great aunt, the younger sister of these two babies, didn't think anything could be done with it.

 TAYLORS6.jpg (187.87K)
Number of downloads: 10

After scanning I had to rotate the two halves a little to get them to match up straight and then I went through by hand (with CorelDraw) using the "clone" tool to recreate, stroke by stroke, the portion that was missing. It took HOURS, I think it took about 50 hours of work to finalize what you see here. (I also cleaned up the sky a little.) Are there any tools now that can do that same job in less time? I now use PhotoShop Elements 7...CorelDraw was a program on my work computer but my boss allowed me to use it for personal items like this in off-hours...50 hours in off-hours at my work? What was I thinking? But it was before I was married, so maybe I really did have that much spare time.

 Helland, Anna Marie w Twins in Pocatello_Fixed.jpg (151.08K)
Number of downloads: 11

[clarkkent93]

I'd love to hear a response on this one. I have some pictures that are in need of work as well. Any ideas?

[JenniferZ]

I cannot view the images (an error message says I do not have permission to view the files???), but I'd love to help!

[elibar]

You've done wonderful work. Well worth the time and effort! I can't tell where the damage was done.

Cloning, as you've done, is usually your best bet. If you want to go faster, you could try increasing the size of your clone tool. Experiment the size and shape.

In this particular case one thing comes to mind, though. PSE has a good photomerge tool. Since there's no critical parts in the damaged area, you might have been able to divide your photo into two parts - two separate photos - using the polygonal lasso tool to crop out the damaged area. Then you may have been able to merge the two parts back together.

[SandiC.]

I just found a great magazine at Borders this afternoon. Its a Photoshop Focus Guide Repair and Restore Photos. I know there are a lot of things PSE doesn't do, but there are still a good array of tools. You might want to check it out. There is a CD with it and on one page it has channels for elements and says free plug in. I haven't done anything more than a quick glance, but for $16.99, seems like a nice little book to have.

[PBarnes]

You did an awesome job! I couldn't even tell it had been repaired!

I can't really add anything to what's been said. Cloning is the best route. Time consuming and tedious, but worth it.

[J9Buckles]

You did a wonderful job, but I must admit, I find the "tear" very charming.