Colorization of old B&W Photo

[ALB68]

This photo of an unknown lady was d/l from US Govt piblic domain photos. Colorization was all in PS CS6 using curves adjustments and layer masks. How did I do?

 

[IamSam]

How did I do?

That depends.............what were you shooting for?

 

[Tom Mann]

To make IamSam's comment specific, if you were trying to come up with a stylized image, say, that might be used on a poster, the lobster-red skin and hair colors might be perfect. OTOH, if you were trying to achieve realistic skin tones, you've got a way to go.

Tom M

 

[ALB68]

I converted this photo to CMYK in order to get an additional channel. It is published here as such and that may be causing a weird color that I can't see on my screen. I should have converted back to RGB. The skin looks good on my computer, but thanks for the info. ( I like red heads )

 

[ALB68]

Tom, made some changes . Is this one better or worse. I'm just learning colorization, so help is appreciated.

To make IamSam's comment specific, if you were trying to come up with a stylized image, say, that might be used on a poster, the lobster-red skin and hair colors might be perfect. OTOH, if you were trying to achieve realistic skin tones, you've got a way to go.

Tom M

 

[chitkaran]

Lady seems to have too much foundation on her face... Seems too flat... lighter the tone maybe... Waiting for other's comments too

 

[Tom Mann]

FYI, in this and the following posts are 4 different versions of your image, as would be seen using different software to display your image.

1. First is a screen grab from my display. This reflects all the transformations your image underwent after you uploaded it: the forum software, viewing the page with a a color managed browser (the latest version of Firefox), and a calibrated (Color Munki Pro) display.

 

[Tom Mann]

#2. What one sees if they download your CMYK image and view it with an ancient image viewing program (VuPrint) that recognizes CMY, but not K.

 

[Tom Mann]

#3. What one sees if they download your CMYK image and view it using color managed software (Photoshop CS6) that correctly understands CMYK SWOP encoded data.

 

[Tom Mann]

Finally, #4. Same as #3, except I tweaked it in PS to get what I feel are more realistic colors.

The take-home message to all reading this thread is that if you want everyone on the web to have the best chance of seeing what you see, you absolutely MUST convert to sRGB before posting on the web.

 

[ALB68]

10-4 My bad. Thanks. However I think her skin in your rendition looks as if she were a corpse.

 

[Tom Mann]

ALB, I just noticed the version of the image that you posted (in sRGB) at 11:14 AM EST. I agree with Chitakaran - it's now much too flat and the skin still has a magenta cast.

IMHO, the original version that you posted, in spite of the color space issues, was better and gives one more to work with.

In case you are interested, I obtained the last version that I posted by running a properly converted version of your starting image through a CMYK adjustment layer, a levels adjustment layer, and a vibrance/saturation adjustment layer.

HTH,

Tom

 

[Tom Mann]

I think her skin in your rendition looks as if she were a corpse.

Eek! I hope not, but I will say that I was trying to achieve the powdered / alabaster look popular in that period.

Spurred by your comment, I looked into it a bit more. I went back to my tweaked version in PS and measured 11x11 average CMYK values at several points around her face. Here are some typical values that I see:

(21, 38, 48, 1) - in front of and below ear
(11, 19, 22, 1) - on cheek just below eye
(29, 49, 60, 6) - soft shadow on side of neck

The usual recommendation for good Caucasian skin tones is that the yellow should be 5%-10% higher than the magenta value, and cyan should be around one half of the average of m&y. Black should show in shadow areas only.

For my tweaked version, one half of the average of M and Y is usually very close to the C value that I actually measured. For the three places I measured, here are the calculated "appropriate" values followed by the actual value I measured:

21.5, 21
10.25, 11
27.25, 29

Obviously, even among Caucasians, and in different lighting situations, there will be substantial differences from "the book" recipe for good skin tones, but I think the calculations show I'm not too far off.

Another way to sorta check the colors is to look at paintings of powdered / alabaster skinned women from that period, e.g.,
http://shopvirtu.net/images/Products/DSCN0275.JPG
http://shopvirtu.net/images/Products/DSCN2201.JPG
http://shopvirtu.net/images/Products/DSCN6907.JPG

That being said, I probably wouldn't give any of my own (modern) images such pale skin. ;-)

Cheers,

Tom M


PS - BTW, I presume you are using a calibrated, decent monitor, not, for example, an uncalibrated / older laptop?

 

[ALB68]

Tom,
Dell 5050 laptop with uncalibrated monitor. Need to get Monki etc. I'm not doing any professional color work right now, so I haven't made the investment yet. I know it is needed though. Most of the stuff I do for money just involves greyscale images and vector lines for cutting. I aspire to do some PS work though and the colorization fits into that. Thanks for the assist.

 

[Tom Mann]

Sounds good, ALB. Good to chat with you. Stay in touch.

Best regards,

Tom

 

[Vetoed]

her hair is glowing lol

 

[ALB68]

Dont cha just luv it????

her hair is glowing lol