Adobe® Photoshop® CS5 Restoration and Retouching for Digital Photographers Only

Chapter 11. HANDS-ON RESTORATION PROJECT: THE COMPLETE WORKFLOW

Every restoration project is like a jigsaw puzzle. Some are simple, and others seem impossible. Each is different in its own way. If I wanted to teach you how to assemble jigsaw puzzles, I wouldn't show you how to put together a puzzle and say, "Do this every time." Instead, I'd teach you about puzzle-solving strategies so that you'd be prepared for a variety of jigsaw puzzles. That's what I want to do here as we move through this project together.

My goal is to take you through my thought process as I solve this restoration puzzle so that you walk away from the project with an overall concept rather than just a bunch of cool techniques. As you work through this project, you'll encounter many of the concepts you learned about in earlier chapters. Be sure to revisit those chapters if you need to review some of those concepts.

Understanding Workflow

Before digital — when everyone was shooting film — most photographers didn't give much serious thought to the flow of their process. That's because most of their complicated post-production was being done by sophisticated photo labs with well-trained production employees. A photographer just took the picture and told the lab how to process and print it.

Now, everything has changed. Photoshop's powerful image-editing tools are available to anyone who wants to use them. However, people ...