I need help: I took a photo of a certificate my great-great grandfather received from his teacher in 1816. The ink is faded and I am hoping someone with more knowlege than I about...

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Oct 10, 2012 19:34:55 #

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

I took a photo of a certificate my great-great grandfather received from his teacher in 1816. The ink is faded and I am hoping someone with more knowlege than I about editing programs could make the ink darker and more ledgible without changing the rest of the photo. I know there a lot of fellow hogs that are really into editing and perhaps someone can help me out One thing that did strike me as odd is that the instructor referred to him as Mr. Clark and being born in December of 1800 I suspect he wasn't yet 16 when he was presented the certificate. I can't imagine a teacher today referring to a student as Mr. except perhaps in a disciplinary way.

Oct 10, 2012 20:02:16 #

Ztwizzler Loc: Florida

Wow, that's pretty cool!

Oct 10, 2012 20:41:44 #

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

Ztwizzler wrote:

Wow, that's pretty cool!

Thanks, I am rather proud that my grandmother gave it to me many years ago.

Oct 10, 2012 21:26:54 #

Ztwizzler Loc: Florida

A cherished treasure! Wish I could help you out but I don't have much experience in pp but I'm sure someone on the uhh can. Thanks so much for Sharing.

Oct 10, 2012 21:36:18 #

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

Ztwizzler wrote:

A cherished treasure! Wish I could help you out but I don't have much experience in pp but I'm sure someone on the uhh can. Thanks so much for Sharing.

My grandmother was quite a woman. She lived to be 99yrs 3 mos. and I believe kept everything history wise to do with the family. I have tintypes of Great granddad and his brother in uniform from the Civil War, Buffalo horns my granddad got from the Indians when they lived in Dakota, Territory 1881-92, wooden shoes he got from Dutch settlers there, and pictures of just about all of the family from the time photography was invented and became common place.

Oct 10, 2012 22:04:34 #

WhiteEagle Loc: Waycross, GA

dragonfist wrote:

I took a photo of a certificate my great-great gra... (show quote)

Dragonfist, I gave it a try, it is almost unreadable.

Oct 10, 2012 22:53:18 #

MtnMan Loc: ID

dragonfist wrote:

I took a photo of a certificate my great-great gra... (show quote)

It may have been "Master". I hate to say it but I can recall when some oldsters referred to young men by that title.

Here's my first attempt. It improved the writing a little but made a mess of the greenery. I think it will be necessary to do some slections and work on the parts separately.

Oct 10, 2012 22:54:15 #

MtnMan Loc: ID

WhiteEagle wrote:

Dragonfist, I gave it a try, it is almost unreadable.

That is really quite good! How'd you do it?

Oct 10, 2012 23:11:58 #

MtnMan Loc: ID

Here's another try. I opened in ACR, did some contrast and quality, and then went to Photoshop and added a multiply layer.

I also used the clone tool to clean up some of the stains.

Is this heading in the right direction?

PS: Once you have a suitable method you should take it out of the frame and use studio lighting to get a real high quality starting image. You might want to have a local photographer do that for you. For example that would get rid of the frame shadow at the top.

Oct 11, 2012 05:18:57 #

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

WhiteEagle wrote:

quote=dragonfist I took a photo of a certificate ... (show quote)

Thank you for your efforts. I realize it is asking a lot because the ink was so faded to begin with.

Oct 11, 2012 05:31:19 #

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

MtnMan wrote:

Here's another try. I opened in ACR, did some cont... (show quote)

Thanks so much for your efforts. It certainly is a lot better than it was. I wanted a photo for my cousin as I am helping him with the family history. I had never given a thought to that being an abbreviation for Master. I do remember getting birthday cards and mail with that as a title when I was a kid. It being 196 years old and not exactly stored under museum conditions I am surprised it is still readable at all. I would hate to take it out of the frame now as we had it framed with an archival paper matte and the frame sealed. What is in the photo is just the center of a much larger frame. Again thank you so much for your efforts. They are much appreciated.

Oct 11, 2012 06:14:33 #

saxkiwi Loc: New Zealand

[quote=dragonfist]I took a photo of a certificate my great-great grandfather received from his teacher in 1816. The ink is faded and I am hoping someone with more knowlege than I about editing programs could make the ink darker and more ledgible without changing the rest of the photo. I know there a lot of fellow hogs that are really into editing and perhaps someone can help me out One thing that did strike me as odd is that the instructor referred to him as Mr. Clark and being born in December of 1800 I suspect he wasn't yet 16 when he was presented the certificate. I can't imagine a teacher today referring to a student as Mr. except perhaps in a disciplinary way.[/quote

I had a quick go at it