motomaniac, on Dec 30 2004, 06:42 PM, said:
I have an old document, like 100 yrs.+, that I've scanned to take out some crease marks, fold, etc. Some of the writing is very thin in places. Is there an easy way to give a little lift to the script. If I try to go in and manually redo some of the writing, it just doesn't match, and it looks fake.
I can email a clip of the page if someone wants to tinker with it.
Hi,
If your using photoshop7 (and i take it you are familiar with it's layout!), open the scanned document, if it is in .bmp format then go image/mode/grayscale, this will allow you to duplicate and work on the original without ruining it. Next right click on the document in the layers palette (bottom right) and choose "duplicate layer", name it whatever you like, now highlight the new layer in the layers palette, then right click on the eraser tool in the tools palette (left) and choose the magic eraser, set tolerance to around 10 and opacity @100%, leave the other boxes unchecked (top), then click on the WHITE area of the document, this will make all the white disappear, now your left with just the text. Now right click the "text only document" in your layers palette and choose blending options, next check the "stroke" box and click on it to open the settings for "stroke", change the color to black (as it will most definitely be gray!) and change the stroke to center (default will be "outside), now just play with the size and opacity to get the desired effect and then click "ok" to save the changes.
You can also play with the blending options at the top of the layers palette as-well, to try and achieve a more subtle look.
Once you have finished and are happy, just save the new document to whatever format you like.
Hope this helps,
Chief.
P.S. there are 100's of ways to reach your desired effect and the above guide was the easiest to explain.