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| Mystery tintype, before and after enhancing |
This adventure combined the sharpening power of the new MyHeritage.com photo enhancement tool with the cleanup and lightening capabilities of Restore software from Vivid-Pix.
Scanning and Cleaning Up The Tintype
It all started with a dark tintype, which I inherited without any frame or identification. I despaired of getting anything from it, and had never even tried to scan it.
Yesterday, I scanned it at high resolution (with my trusty CanoScan 8400F flatbed). Top right is the result. At this point, I could see the shadow of a seated woman and a standing man in a bowler hat. Of course I had to continue!
My next step was to lighten the scan slightly with my Picasa image management software (alas, no longer offered by or supported by Google). More of the people could be seen. I was feeling encouraged to continue with an even more powerful tool.
Vivid-Pix and My Heritage to the Rescue
The image was still so badly degraded that the faces were not visible. So I put the digital image through Restore by Vivid-Pix.
Restore gave me 9 possible images from which to choose when it fixed the image. I chose the one in which the people were most delineated. After a bit of tinkering with the software's tools, I could definitely see where a frame used to be over the tintype, and more of the faces. That's the bottom image above.
Finally, I imported the fixed image into MyHeritage's photo enhancement tool. The result was much clearer faces and clothing. The tintype had been rescued!
Look at the man's face--long and lean, with ears sticking out a bit. The woman's face has distinctive eyes and eyebrows. I had a suspicion now.
I uploaded to MyHeritage two photos of my paternal grandparents, Henrietta Mahler (below left, just before their marriage) and Isaac Burk (below right, 25 years after their marriage).
After sharpening their facial features, and comparing with the super-enhanced scanned tintype, I found myself unexpectedly staring into the younger faces of my grandparents, probably around the time of their marriage, pre-1910. That's my best guess on identification.
Wow. Very unexpected to be able to finally tease out recognizable faces from this degraded tintype, well more than a century old. For me, it's also a great demonstration of how combining new tech tools can help my genealogy efforts.
This week's prompt from #52Ancestors is "unexpected." We're already at week 25, nearly halfway through the year of Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy prompts.
What an amazing before/after, and how exciting to be able to identify the couple as your grandparents!
ReplyDeleteIt's like finding buried treasure! Wonderful discovery for you.
ReplyDeleteKudos on your success! I’ve been debating on whether to add Vivid-pix:restore time my arsenal. I already use Picassa (I love it too!) l, photoshop elements and the new my heritage tool. Do you feel the vivid pix software offers enough extra to make it worth the additional purchase?
ReplyDeleteHi Deb, You can try to fix your worst photos during the Vivid-Pix free trial, then see whether it's worthwhile. I find it helpful, but a lot depends on the condition of your photos! Lots of features too, so I think you should check it out on trial.
DeleteWell-done! I love how you stuck with this and used all the tools you could find to clarify the image. What a great find!
ReplyDeleteExcellent Marian! How lucky you even have photos of your ancestors. Having the skills necessary to make this kind of magic even better!
ReplyDeleteThank you, everyone, for your kind comments! Combining different techniques was the key to identifying who was on this tintype. Wishing you all luck and patience as you tackle your mystery photos!
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