image-processing 5

There are some standard enhancements that I apply to my photos consistently: auto-levels, increase saturation, increase sharpness, etc. I’d also read that Flickr sharpens uploads (at least, the resized ones) so that they look better. So last week, I took 100 of my photos and created 4 versions of each image: The base image itself (example) A sharpened version (example). I used a sharpening factor of 200% A saturated version (example). I used a saturation factor of 125% An auto-levelled version (example) I created a test asking people to compare these. The differences between these are not always noticeable when placed side-by-side, so the test flashed two images at the same place. ...

It began in our second year at IIT Madras (1993). Shiuli Ganguly was an M.Sc. mathematics student, and Anand Thomas Lee was my classmate. And Lee (along with a lot of other people) had a rather high opinion of the lady in question. (He still maintains it. I got a mail in December 1996 saying that he’d tracked her down). However, the same opinion was not held of my computer abilities (understandably so). He bet that there was no conceivable way I could get a photo of Lee and his sweetheart together - by means fair or otherwise. Actually, I lost the bet due to the time constraint, but I did have my revenge. ...

Software that builds on hunches. … is a filter for images that allows a naive user to improve digital photos without understanding complex tools like Adobe Photoshop, by choosing from mutations of the picture to make it better. “My grandmother doesn’t know anything about improving pictures,” says Bonabeau, “but she knows which pictures of her grandchildren she likes.” Wired News tried out the photo selector. After loading the photograph you want to improve, the application shows you nine mutant versions. In the case of a dark photo, it’s easy enough to pick a lighter version and move it to the seed area so that it becomes the foundation of the next crop of mutation pictures. You can keep selecting and mutating indefinitely. When you find the version you like, you save it. In a photo of a dark house and a moon, seven iterations were enough to lighten the photograph adequately. ...

How to convert a black & white photo into colour using Photoshop. The result looks remarkably good.

Scantips. Ways to improve your scanning.