Removed #5 Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) I've attached three images. These are the pages of a letter that one of my great aunts sent from California to my g-g-grandmother during the gold rush days (yes, the letter is, in fact, 150 years old - give or take a few) The paper has aged and the ink has faded to the point that they're almost illegible. I've been trying with Gimp to adjust the background / color contrast to bring the handwriting up to something that's more easily readable. A lot of the other letters / diary entries are more readable but this one just isn't making it. Any help, folks. BTW, if you can - would you tell me how you did it, step by bloody step as I have some more that I need to do. If you're interested, look at my web site and you'll see the ones I've been able to get through. The images are uploaded as 24 bit bmps to my server (well, bluehosts server) as: Page 1 Hill1.bmp Page 2 Hill2.bmp Page 3 Hill3.bmp They must have been doing well out there, all the other letters I have have no extra space and she left the 4th page blank! Edited June 5, 2014 by Al Jones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyc4t Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) I am not entirely sure why the website won't let you upload the imagines but feel free to email them to - I haven't played in my photoshop program in ages but willing to take a shot at it when time allows. Edited March 24, 2017 by jonnyc4t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #5 Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) Marc says that there's actually a 2mb limit per file so even as compressed jpeg's these were too big by a third. I'm uploading them as 24 bit bmp's to my server now ... I'll amend my original message as soon as I confirm they're there and you can get to them. Each file is 24mb as it came off my scanner (an old MFC420cn) so it's taking my slow internet a bit to get them up there. Jon, I'm not ignoring you, just figure I'll let all the crew who are graphics artist have a go at this and I can learn from you all! Edited June 5, 2014 by Al Jones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 I'll give it a go for you Al. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #5 Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) Appreciate it, I've edited my first message with link to the files. As you can see, I didn't even trim off the scanners background - want to give you the best I can to work with and I'm not a graphics person by any stretch! Edited June 5, 2014 by Al Jones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Al got it a little clearer, also Inverted the image as some parts show up better Between the two you can just piece together the words Hill 1 Click on pics to make bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 I'll give it a shot tonight, I have an idea that may work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Hill 2 Click on pics to make bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Hill 3 Click on pics to make bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #5 Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) Okay, I've used these steps in gimp before in cases where the ink hasn't faded quite so badly and it's worked reasonably well. Duplicate the layer Select the top layer and use Filter/Blur/Gaussian/Blur with large radius (the text must completely disappear). I used 200pixels. Using the mode selector at the top of the Layers list, put the top layer in "Grain extract" mode. This will both even out the lighting and make the paper a neutral gray Do "Layer/New from visible" to create a layer with the fixed image Select that layer You can use "Colors/Brightness contrast" to add a bit of contrast You can also use "Filters/Enhance/Unsharp mask" to make the writing a bit sharper (I used radius=3, amount=1) I've also found this that gives me a better image Duplicate the layer (producing a new layer above it). Desaturate the new layer. Apply a Gaussian blur to the result, with a large radius (100 or more). Set Mode in the Layers dialog to Divide. Control the amount of correction by adjusting opacity in the Layers dialog, or by using Brightness/Contrast, Levels, or Curves tools on the new layer. When you are happy with the result, you can use Merge Down to combine the control layer and the original layer into a single layer. The second give me this: Which is quite a bit better since it does wash out a lot of the aging on the edges of the paper. The problem with either of these approaches is that since the ink has faded so badly, trying to enhance the ink also enhances the background remaining pretty unreadable. Andy, I'm not ignoring your appreciated efforts but I'm trying to come up with something that I can put up on the web that is readable - I know that anything we come up with is going to cause a degree of eye strain (I've had to take a few breaks already!) I can transcribe from many of these, but they aren't really what I'd like to present. Edited June 5, 2014 by Al Jones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 I get what you mean, Al. Been at it for a bit, and had no success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed #5 Posted June 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 I'll give it a shot tonight, I have an idea that may work.Well??? Some of you graphics gurus should be able to do a better job than I have and it doesn't need to be a lot better to be readable .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueWolf Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Here's mine. Uploaded them at full size so no details got lost. Page 1, page 2, page 3 I don't think the text can get any clearer than this. But at least you can use it to transcribe them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 What about this? (Hill1) Let me know if you like it, so I can work on the other pages. Just played around with saturation, levels, and colour balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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