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BASICS Construction Concrete Construction Katrin Hanses
New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, an imprint of Pearson Education, Inc. To report errors, please send a note to errata@peachpit.com
Notice of Rights
This publication is protected by copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise. For information regarding permissions, request forms and the appropriate contacts within the Pearson Education Global Rights & Permissions department, please visit www.pearsoned.com/permissions/.
Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.
Trademarks
Unless otherwise indicated herein, any third party trademarks that may appear in this work are the property of their respective owners and any references to third party trademarks, logos or other trade dress are for demonstrative or descriptive purposes only. Such references are not intended to imply any sponsorship, endorsement, authorization, or promotion of Pearson Education, Inc. products by the owners of such marks, or any relationship between the owner and Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates, authors, licensees or distributors.
Executive Editor: Laura Norman
Editors: Cari Jansen and Victor Gavenda
Production Editor: David Van Ness
Copyeditor: Scout Festa
Proofer: Scout Festa
Compositor: Kim Scott, Bumpy Design
Indexer: James Minkin
Cover Design: Aren Straiger and Chuti Prasertsith
Interior Design: Kim Scott, Bumpy Design
Cover Photographs courtesy of (from top): Hildenbrand Family Collection, George Simian, Wayne Palmer, William Short, Katrin Eismann, Mody Family Archives, Teri Campbell, and Palmer Family Archives
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-70101-5
ISBN-10: 0-321-70101-1
To all of our parents and grandparents who passed on to us family memories that we cherish and that we will pass on to future generations.
—Katrin
To my family, whose numerous photos I have raided for examples.
To my dear wife, Pam, whose support has been immeasurable. And last but not least, to my daughter, Amanda, who was an infant when the previous edition of the book was written and who is now a young woman.
—Wayne
To my wife, Amy, who spurs me on with her support and encouragement. To those who helped me at the beginning of my professional career, Charles James and Joe Berndt. And to all those who continue to inspire me, thanks for the support that sparks our desire to keep learning and creating.
—Dennis
Acknowledgments
Writing a book initially seems like a secluded undertaking, but the very task of researching and seeking expert insights into any topic changes the process from solitary to collaborative. Over the years, we have learned from countless Photoshop experts, engineers, artists, students, and especially my readers, whose questions and comments always challenge me to be clearer and remain relevant. Thank you to Ken Allen, Tom Ashe, the late Mark Beckelman, Carrie Beene, Russell Brown, Shan Canfield, Jane Conner-ziser, Douglas Dubler, Seán Duggan, Bruce Fraser, Allen Furbeck, Greg Gorman, Mark Hamburg, Gregory Heisler, Art Johnson, Scott Kelby, Julieanne Kost, Schecter Lee, Dan Margulis, Andrew Matusik, Pedro Meyer, Bert Monroy, Myke Ninness, Marc Pawliger, Phil Pool, Andrew Rodney, Jeff Schewe, Kristina Sherk, Eddie Tapp, Chris Tarantino, Leigh-Anne Tompkins, Lee Varis, John Warner, Lloyd Weller, Ben Willmore, and Lorie Zirbes for putting up with last-minute emails, phone calls, and questions from us.
Thank you to the numerous contributors who make this fourth edition so valuable. Readers, photo enthusiasts, and imaging professionals from all around the world are featured in these pages and listed in the Appendix. You were all wonderful to work with, generous with your images and techniques, and understanding of my production deadlines. Merci, vielen dank, gracias, and thank you!
Calling this book a fourth edition is not accurate—this really is a brand-new book. We reviewed every single technique, substituted many images with better examples, and increased the number of advanced techniques throughout the entire book. Our primary goal was to write a book that readers of previous editions would find valuable enough to purchase and feel they got their money’s worth.
—Katrin
In addition to all the worthy folks mentioned by Katrin, I’d like to thank the editors who kept this project on course through a voyage that lasted several years: Cari Jansen, who cracked the bottle of champagne over the bow of the ship and launched it on its way, and Victor Gavenda, who came onboard
when the vessel was caught in the Doldrums and steered it safely into port.
—Wayne
The phrase “It takes a Village” reminds me how all of us in this industry could not possibly grow and thrive without the sharing and guidance of others. I’d like to thank those who helped me along the path as I learned about image making and retouching: William James Warren, who first introduced me to compositing by hand in the darkroom; Charles James, who first taught me retouching on a computer; Daniel Ecoff, who put up with countless questions as I was learning; Dan Margulis, whose writings on color correction I have read for nearly 30 years; and my friends and peers who continue to share and inspire continued growth in this work: Pratik Naik, Sef McCullough, Eric Tolladay and Lisa Carney.
—Dennis
About the Authors
Katrin Eismann specializes in interpretive travel, still life, and portrait photography. She is an internationally respected artist, a teacher, and the coauthor of Photoshop Restoration & Retouching, Photoshop Masking & Compositing, The Creative Digital Darkroom, and Real World Digital Photography—all of which have been translated into numerous languages. She received her BFA degree in photographic illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology and her MFA degree in design at the School of Visual Arts and in 2005 was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. Her images have been featured in numerous books, magazines, and group and solo exhibitions. Katrin is the founder and chair of the Masters in Digital Photography department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and she has never met a pixel she didn’t want to change.
Katrin hopes someday to take photographs that require no color correction, retouching, cropping, dodging and burning, or enhancement of any kind, but in the meantime she’ll keep learning (and teaching) Photoshop.
Wayne Palmer has had a passion for photography all his life. He has a degree in education from Bloomsburg State College, but his interest in photography kept him in the darkroom as much as the classroom. After graduation, he worked for Guardian Photo, Inc., for 13 years in the marketing of photofinishing services on a national level.
Wayne started his own business, Palmer Multimedia Imaging, in 1994, offering custom photographic, videographic, and digital photo restoration services. He has worked with Photoshop since version 3, and previously used Aldus PhotoStyler. A self-described AV nerd, Wayne enjoys sharing his knowledge of photography, digital imaging, and computers. He teaches Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, and digital photography in the continuing education department of the Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Dennis Dunbar is the Photoshop magic behind countless movie posters and commercial images. Dennis teaches workshops around the world, sharing professional strategies and professional insights into retouching and compositing that are accessible to both beginners and advanced users.
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Downloading the Images
PART I: WORKSPACE & WORKFLOW
1 EQUIPMENT, INPUT, AND RAW PROCESSING
Workspace and Equipment Essentials
Environment and Lighting
Furniture
Computer Equipment
Input Workflow
Prioritize Your Time and Effort
Scanning Resolution vs. Print Resolution
Eradicating Mold, Mildew, and Fungus
Removing Fungus and Mold
Handling Wet or Damaged Photos
Input Options
Raw Processing
Processing Scanner Files
Processing Digital Camera Files
Backup Strategy
Closing Thoughts
2 PHOTOSHOP AND PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS ESSENTIALS
Preferences and Color Settings
Preferences
Color Settings
Workspaces and Navigation
Customizing Menu Commands
Customizing Your Toolbar/Tools panel
Efficient Image Navigation
Tools, Quick Keys, and Brushes
Quick Keys
Brushes
Brush and Tool Context Controls
Layers, Masks, and Blending Modes
Layer Naming and Navigation
Working with Layer Groups
Flattening and Discarding Layers
Working with Photoshop Elements
Photoshop Elements Background
Photoshop Elements Walkthrough
Comparing Photoshop Elements and Photoshop
Closing Thoughts
PART II: TONE, EXPOSURE & COLOR
3 EXPOSURE CORRECTION
Evaluating Image Tone and Previsualizing the Final Image
Assessing Tone with the Measuring Tools
Tracking Tonal Changes with Color Samplers
The Histogram Panel
The Importance of Adjustment Layers
Mastering Tonality with Levels
Working with the Black and White Point Sliders
Working with the Midtone Slider
Working with Levels Eyedroppers
Curves and Contrast
Improving Contrast with Curves
Working with Blending Modes
Apply Local Corrections
Transitioning a Tonal Correction
Basing Tonal Corrections on Selections
Nondestructive Dodge and Burn
Other Techniques
Double Processing
Shadows/Highlights to the Rescue
Camera Raw Filter
Closing Thoughts
4 WORKING WITH COLOR
Color Essentials
Color Spaces
Identifying and Correcting a Color Cast
Consider the Light Source
Finding Neutral
Memory Colors
Info Panel
Channels and Practice
Global Color Correction
The Auto Corrections
Automatic Color Corrections with Levels or Curves
Improving Automatic Color Correction
Targeting Automatic Color Correction
Use Adjustment Layers to Alleviate Color Problems
Correcting Color Temperature with the Photo Filter
Levels, Curves, and the Gray Eyedropper
Adjusting Channels in Levels
Adjusting Channels in Curves
Divide and Conquer
Color Balance
Hue/Saturation
Camera Raw Filter
Selective Color Correction
Correcting Multiple Color Issues
Matching, Changing, and Replacing Colors
Matching Colors Across Images
Replacing Colors
Changing Color in Lab Color Mode
Transferring Color Corrections
Colorizing Images
Closing Thoughts
PART III: RESTORE, REPAIR & REBUILD
5 DUST, MOLD, AND TEXTURE REMOVAL
Taking in the Big Picture
Working Nondestructively
Duplicate Layers
Working on an Empty Layer
Working with Adobe Camera Raw
Dust on Digital Camera Files
Dust Removal with ACR
Fixing Multiple Images in ACR
Less Work, More Results
The Crop Tool as Restoration Tool
Restoration with Content-Aware Scale
Work Smart Not Hard
Despeckle Filter
Median Filter
Dust & Scratches Filter
Channel Extraction
Selecting the Cleanest Channel
Extracting the Cleanest Channel
Returning the Ambience
Removing Spots, Fungus, and Mold
Using the Clone Stamp Tool
The Clone Source Panel
Using the Healing Tools
Managing Glare, Texture, Moiré, and Color Artifacts
Reducing Problems Before Restoration
Reducing Digital Camera Noise
Returning Image Texture
Closing Thoughts
6 DAMAGE CONTROL AND REPAIR
Damage Assessment
Problem Solving
Eliminating Cracks, Rips, and Tears
Filling In Missing Parts
Cloning, Healing, and Recycling
Patch Tool
Content-Aware Move Tool
Perspective Healing with Vanishing Point Filter
Content-Aware Fill
Putting It All Together
Document Repair
Faded Text on a Document
Damaged Documents
Reversing Lens Anomalies
Correcting Lens Distortion
Removing Curvature
Upright Command
Closing Thoughts
7 REBUILDING AND RE-CREATING IMAGES
Changing Backgrounds
Combining Images
Re-Creating Backgrounds
Film Grain and Digital Noise
Reconstruction from Other Images
Removing and Adding People
Filling the Void
Adding People to Images
Reducing Reflections and Light Leaks
Reducing Reflections
Correcting Lens Flare
Finishing Touches: Vignetting
Closing Thoughts
PART IV: PROFESSIONAL RETOUCHING
8 PORTRAIT RETOUCHING
Stages of Retouching
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Developing a Portrait-Retouching Strategy
Working in Layers
Dennis’s Retouch Workflow
Layers Workflow in Action
Removing Distractions
The Beauty of Blank Plates
Flattering Contours
Flattering the Couple
The Importance of Skin
The Teenage Years
Mature Skin
Color Correcting Skintone
Enhancing Facial Features
The Digital Surgeon
Adding Creative Interpretation
Step One: Adding a Glow
Step Two: Adding a Split-Tone Color Treatment
Retouching Portraits in Lightroom
Third-Party Plug-ins and Applications
Digital Anarchy Beauty Box
Imagenomic Portraiture
On1 Perfect Portrait
Anthropics Technology Portrait Pro
Closing Thoughts
9 BEAUTY RETOUCHING
Types of Beauty Retouching
Devising a Working Strategy
Working with the Client
Markups
Deadlines, Approvals, and Revisions
Image Rights
The Beauty-Retouching Workflow
The Big Picture
The Details
The Workflow
Matching Tone, Color, and Contrast
Perfect Skin
Frequency Separation
Creating the Frequency Separation Layers
Working with the Frequency Separation Layers
Working on Skin with Frequency Separation
Smoothing Wrinkles with Frequency Separation
Enhancing the Lighting
Adding Light to the Hair
Adding Contrast to Shadows
Closing Thoughts
10 PRODUCT, FOOD, AND ARCHITECTURAL RETOUCHING
Product Retouching
Placing the Bottle on a New Background
Replacing the Label
Replacing the Bottle Cap
Adding New Labels
Adjusting the Lighting
Food Retouching
Architectural Retouching
Real Estate Shots: Losing the For Sale Sign
Interior Shots: Combining Exposures
Closing Thoughts
APPENDIX
INDEX
Foreword
I first became acquainted with Katrin Eismann at a Thunderlizard Photoshop conference in Chicago back in 1997, where she gave a presentation on restoring and retouching grayscale images using Photoshop 4.0. As I was developing a new business concentrating on that type of work, she had my attention.
Two years later, Katrin was presenting a more involved lecture on restoring images at another Thunderlizard conference, in Orlando. She was also scheduled to present a similar program later in the week at the Photo Expo trade show in New York City. I was attending both events and emailed her asking if she would be giving the same lecture at both events. She got back to me saying there would be some overlap, but I could be her guest for the second event—an offer I was happy to accept! Afterward, I introduced myself and that was the start of a long-term friendship. Katrin told me she was writing a book specifically about photo restoration and if I had any good examples, she might include them. Well, I did…and she did, and that was the first edition of Photoshop Restoration & Retouching.
We kept in touch and two years later the publishers wanted to update the book. Katrin asked me to come onboard as her technical editor. To say the least, I was honored! That invitation opened the door to more technical editing roles, not only for her books, but for those by a number of other authors.
In 2005, the publishers felt there was a need for another update and this time Katrin asked me to come onboard as her co-author, which was a very humbling experience. This role also got me on the beta-testing team for Photoshop, and that led to my joining the prerelease programs of several other applications.
But it was a very important year for me for another reason. My wife and I adopted a little girl from China. Traveling to China required a visa, and there is a Chinese consulate in New York City. Katrin had invited me to attend an Adobe event in NYC to announce the upcoming release of Photoshop CS2. I welcomed the idea, as not only could I attend the event, but I could also take
passports to the Chinese consulate for the visa, which I understood would be processed the same day. Much to my chagrin, the person behind the counter took the passports and said come back Friday. It was Monday. I didn’t live near NYC, so this would have involved a more than eight-hour round trip just to pick them up. I told Katrin of my predicament and she generously offered to pick them up and ship them to me. Our friendship was cemented.
Fast-forward to the present and many changes have taken place. Katrin has had me help her on several other projects over the years. Photography and videography have become so commonplace that the quality of imagery from a phone can rival what used to require a standalone camera. Photoshop has gone through numerous revisions, and the sister program Lightroom was launched. Even the book industry is not what it once was as more and more people rely on the Internet for information and the number of books being published has shrunk. And on a personal note, my daughter, who was just learning to walk while I was working on the last edition, is now headed to high school.
What hasn’t changed in that time is the type of restoration work being done. Printed photos are still torn, water damaged, stuck to glass, and faded. And people want to look their best in photos, regardless of accuracy. What has changed is that Photoshop has new tools that can make the work go faster.
Work on this edition of the book began over three years ago, and at one point it looked like it was going to be tabled. Busy schedules put us behind, and Katrin finally said she did not have the time to finish it. To avoid the efforts already exerted being lost, she turned the project over to me to complete.
The editors of Popular Photography magazine credited the previous edition as the best book for learning Photoshop (and it was ultimately translated into seven languages). I was a long-time subscriber of the now discontinued publication, so I took great pride in that endorsement and trust that this version will maintain that reputation.
Katrin, thank you for your friendship and for trusting me to care for your baby.
—Wayne R. Palmer
Introduction
Has this happened to you? You’re looking through a cluttered drawer and as you reach into the back you find an old photo. It’s small and tattered, but as soon as you pull it out the memories come flooding back. You pause for a moment to remember who is in the photo and where it was taken. Most of us do not have a photographic memory—but we do have actual photographs that have frozen the time of our family and community history. These images are our memory treasures, and they deserve to be cared for and shared with family and friends as prints, in email attachments, and on social media.
Currently, the most popular camera is your smartphone, and the convenience of a phone camera to take and share pictures has changed the actual experience of photography for all of us. Of course there is no film in your phone, but that does not mean that film is dead. While the essence, the meaning of the film image is not dead, the actual medium is dying a slow death as it fades, degrades, and is eaten by pests. Save the photos. Get them out of the damp basement or dry, hot attic. Take them out of those corrosive cardboard boxes and put them into archival storage sleeves and boxes. Do your best to store them somewhere cool and dry (relative humidity of 20 to 50 percent). If you really want to be all digital, scan or digitally photograph the film and original prints to create digital masters.
The Importance of Images
Our photographs contain our memories and our legacy, and they connect us to our family and friends. Even if they are cracked, yellowed, or damaged, we don’t throw them away. No matter how tattered or faded a photograph is, it still helps us remember and learn about the past. The combination of image, emotion, and memory is fascinating. With the addition of one component to this mixture—Photoshop—you can make faded colors rich again, remove damage, and clean up mold, making images as clear and crisp as the day they were taken. With the skilled use of Adobe Photoshop as presented in this book, you can fight the ravages of time and, more importantly, share the
memories with your family and friends.
As you can see by paging through this book, not all the pictures and examples featured here are historical. Many of the examples are images captured with the latest digital cameras or that came from leading photo studios. It would be ideal to capture perfect images that would not require any color correction or image transformations to, for example, straighten a building, but photographic reality often works against our best intentions. In fact, when Katrin takes pictures she often “sees” the Photoshop interface in her viewfinder—meaning Photoshop is a great tool to have (so to speak) in your camera bag. Working with contemporary images is addressed in Chapters 8 (“Portrait Retouching”), 9 (“Beauty Retouching”), and 10 (“Product, Food, and Architectural Retouching”).
The Importance of Learning
Time, practice, and patience—you can’t be good at a sport, cook a gourmet meal, or restore an image without them. There will be frustration, anger, and muttering, generally along the lines of “Why do I even bother… this looks terrible… I might as well just stop right now.” Please turn off that noisy, nogood critic (whom we all have in our heads). Shut the voice down and keep practicing. Just as you learned to master a hobby, sport, or language, you’ll learn to master and enjoy Photoshop restoration and retouching.
There is no magic pill, instant quality button, or make-it-better keystroke. It takes time, dedication, curiosity, and a hint of stubbornness to get past the missteps and misclicks. Every image you work on today teaches you strategy and skills for the image you’ll open tomorrow.
Is this Book Right for You?
This book is right for you if you love images or work with photographs as a dedicated amateur or full-time professional. You may be a historian, a photographer, a librarian, a teacher, a multimedia artist, a designer, an artist, or the grandparent who wants to share the best photos with the rest of the family. This book addresses salvaging historical images and righting the contemporary images that have gone wrong: the missed exposures, the poor color balance, the busy and distracting background, or the inevitable wrinkle,
pimple, or extra pounds that just drive you crazy every time you look at that photo.
This book is not for you if you don’t have the time, curiosity, and patience to read through the examples, try them out, and then—just as I push my students —take the techniques further by applying them to your own images.
You have three ways to learn the techniques presented in this book:
By reading the examples and looking at the images.
By downloading the provided images from the Peachpit website (see the section ”Downloading the Images”) and, with the book in hand, recreating our steps.
By taking the techniques shown here and applying them to your own images. As you work, you’ll need to adjust some of the tool or filter settings to achieve optimal results. It is exactly at that moment, when you are working with your own images, that you’re really learning how to restore and retouch images.
This is not an introductory book. To get the most out of it, you should be comfortable with the fundamentals of Photoshop, know where the tools are and what they do, and be familiar with common tasks, such as how to activate a layer or save a selection.
The Structure of the Book
This book is divided into three primary areas:
Improving tone, contrast, exposure, and color
Removing dust and mold, and repairing damage
Professional portrait, beauty, and product retouching
In fact, the book is structured in the same way you should work with your images, starting with a brief overview of Photoshop essentials, file organization, and the tools a retoucher needs. It then works through tonal and color correction (the first things to focus on when retouching an image), followed by chapters on dust and damage removal; portrait, product and
architectural retouching; and the techniques professional retouchers use in the fashion and glamour business.
Each chapter starts with a brief overview of what will be covered in the chapter and starts with a straightforward example that leads to more advanced examples. You may be tempted to jump to the more advanced sections right away, but we don’t recommend it. Our teaching and chapter structure serve the purpose of building up the tools and techniques, and the introductory examples serve as the foundation for the advanced examples. Similarly, the chapters on tonal and color correction serve as the foundation for the portrait and beauty retouching chapters. Do we expect you to read the book from cover to cover? Of course not! Page through the chapters so you can see how the book and the retouching workflow are structured, find examples that are similar to the images you are working on, and then work your way through the book.
Note
Please visit this book’s Access Bonus Content page at peachpit.com, where you can download many of the images featured in the book (for instructions on how to access the page, see the section “Downloading the Images”). These images are for your personal use only and should not be distributed by any other means or used to promote any business of any kind.
Numerous professional retouchers, teachers, and photographers have generously shared images and examples, many of which are posted on the Access Bonus Content page. We did feature some images for which we were not able to procure permission to post the files, so those have not been posted on the page. Call us old-fashioned, but we respect international and US copyright laws; the copyright of all images remains with the originator, as noted throughout the book. Please do not email the publisher or us to request images that are not posted. We cannot send them to you. You don’t want us to go to jail, do you?
In cases where we didn’t have permission to post specific images on the Access Bonus Content page, you can use similar images from your own photo albums or collections to follow along. Although you won’t have the exact image we are using in the book, the problems being corrected are universal, so we are sure you’ll be able to learn the techniques by working
with similar images. After all, we’re sure you will be branching out to your own problem files sooner rather than later.
Last but certainly not least, let me introduce my two co-authors, Wayne Palmer and Dennis Dunbar. Wayne is the owner of Palmer Multimedia Imaging and has been doing digital photo restoration for over 20 years and is a photographer in his own right. Dennis Dunbar is the Photoshop magician behind countless movie posters and commercial architectural, product, and glamour images.
We wish you a lot of fun as you bring back image memories and take your contemporary photographs to a higher level.
Best regards,
—Katrin Eismann,
Wayne Palmer, and Dennis Dunbar
Downloading the Images
Your purchase of this product in any format includes access to the downloadable images mentioned throughout the book. To access the images:
1. Go to www.peachpit.com/register.
2. Sign in or create a new account.
3. Enter this number in the ISBN field: 9780321701015
4. Click Submit.
You will be taken to your My Registered Products page, where you will find that this book has been added. Click the Access Bonus Content link to go to the page containing the image download links.
Part I
1 Equipment, Input, and RAW Processing
2 Photoshop and Elements Essentials
Chapter 1 Equipment, Input, and Raw Processing
Before you set off on a well-deserved vacation, we imagine that you plan and prepare. We imagine that you read up on your destination, make sure you have all the required paperwork, pack for the expected weather, and of course make sure that someone will water your plants while you’re away so you can fully enjoy your vacation.
Similarly, preparing your work environment, planning workflows, and considering a backup strategy will allow you to enjoy working on restoration and retouching projects and concentrate on the job at hand.
In this opening chapter, we’ll cover the following indispensable foundations:
Workspace and equipment essentials
Input workflow
Raw processing
Backup strategy
Restoration and retouching takes more than being a fast mouse-clicker. Good retouchers understand that the images they are working with are very important to the client, a family member, or the person in the picture. Before you start a retouching project, take a moment to consider that the pixels represent real people and real events—they’re more than a collection of dark and light specks of digital information. It’s your job to bring back memories from faded, cracked, and damaged originals. This is a weighty responsibility, and keeping that in mind throughout the restoration and retouching process helps you see the image with empathy and care.
Workspace and Equipment Essentials
Your work environment and the tools you work with have a great influence
on how enjoyable and efficient your restoration and retouching work will be. Theoretically you could do high-end client work at the local copy shop, but that guy glancing over your shoulder and asking for the model’s phone number isn’t going to help your concentration one bit.
Your retouching studio or work area is a place you’ll be spending a lot of time, so it makes sense to invest the time and money to make it as comfortable and productive as possible. You do not need to remodel your home or build an addition; we’re just suggesting you consider a few improvements that can make your workplace a nicer and more efficient place to be.
Environment and Lighting
The retouching environment should be a quiet area away from distractions and foot traffic. A room without windows would be good choice, but we realize that working in a bunker may not be the most appealing idea. Be aware that windows allow the light levels in your work environment to change throughout the day, which will affect your perception of the image. Paint the walls a neutral gray and set up the lighting so that there aren’t any reflections showing in the monitor. In FIGURE 1.1, you see a retouching work area that is built into a corner. The L-shaped configuration enables the retoucher to get a lot of work done without having to get up. As you can see in FIGURE 1.2, a daylight-balanced GTI Graphic Technology lightbox (www.gtilite.com) provides a well-illuminated area to study originals and prints. To make the retouching area more focused, keep your bookkeeping, paperwork, and social media distractions on a separate computer.
It always amazes us that people will spend thousands of dollars on computer equipment and then put it all on a cheap folding table they found in the basement. Even worse are some of the rickety chairs people sit in to work on the computer. After a few hours they wonder why their necks or lower backs are so sore. Katrin prefers a chair with armrest support—and as Wayne points out, if you use a chair with arms, the arms must be able to slide under the
FIGURE 1.1 Professional retouching area, courtesy of CyanJack in NYC.
FIGURE 1.2 Viewing prints in controlled light is essential when evaluating prints.
desk. If the chair’s arms keep you away from the desk, you have to reach for the keyboard and mouse. After a few hours of this, you will develop muscle aches. Working on standing desks is gaining in popularity, as the health implications of hours of sitting are not positive. Look for a standing desk that allows you to quickly adjust the height, such as the Varidesk Pro Plus 48.
A good table without harsh edges, preferably one that angles down to the point where your arms rest on the table, and a chair with lower back and arm support are essential retouching equipment. Just think of it: Over the course of a few years, you’ll probably replace your computer a few times. How often do you need to replace a good working table and professional chair? Not very often, so making the investment in good furniture that fits you will pay off in health and well being for years to come.
Speaking of health, you should know that uninterrupted intensive computer use can be bad for your eyes, back, wrists, and more. You can avoid many aches and pains if you watch your posture, vary your computing activities, take frequent breaks, and hydrate. An important tip for retouchers is to use these frequent breaks to focus your eyes on something in the distance. For more information about steps you can take to make your work area and work habits as healthy as possible, please visit www.healthycomputing.com.
As Allen Furbeck told me, “Restoring this image for my friend and colleague Tom Ashe took me about 30 hours. Most of my time was used to carefully adjust dozens of curves, and it required that my eyes remain fresh. I needed to take breaks to avoid straining my eyes” (FIGURES 1.3 and 1.4). Please see Chapter 4 to see how Allen restored this image. You need to take breaks and return to your work with a fresh eye.
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T h e P r o j e c t G u t e n b e r g e B o o k o f L a
L é g e n d e d e s s i è c l e s t o m e I
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Title: La Légende des siècles tome I
Author: Victor Hugo
Illustrator: François Flameng
Release date: February 6, 2024 [eBook #72885]
Language: French
Original publication: Paris: Hetzel-Quantin, 1880
Credits: Claudine Corbasson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
Au lecteur
Table du tome premier
ŒUVRES COMPLÈTES
DE VICTOR HUGO
P O É S I E
VII
TOUS DROITS RÉSERVÉS
ÉDITION DÉFINITIVE D’APRÈS LES MANUSCRITS ORIGINAUX
ŒUVRES COMPLÈTES
DE
VICTOR HUGO
ILLUSTRÉES DE GRAVURES A L’EAU-FORTE
D’APRÈS LES DESSINS DE
FRANÇOIS FLAMENG
P O É S I E
LA LÉGENDE DES SIÈCLES
PARIS
ÉDITION HETZEL-QUANTIN
LIBRAIRIE A. HOUSSIAUX
A L A F R A N C E
Livre, qu’un vent t’emporte En France, où je suis né!
L’arbre déraciné Donne sa feuille morte.
V H
P R É FA C E
DE LA PREMIÈRE SÉRIE
Hauteville-House. Septembre 1857.
Les personnes qui voudront bien jeter un coup d’œil sur ce livre ne s’en feraient pas une idée précise, si elles y voyaient autre chose qu’un commencement.
Ce livre est-il donc un fragment? Non. Il existe à part. Il a, comme on le verra, son exposition, son milieu et sa fin.
Mais, en même temps, il est, pour ainsi dire, la première page d’un autre livre.
Un commencement peut-il être un tout? Sans doute. Un péristyle est un édifice.
L’arbre, commencement de la forêt, est un tout. Il appartient à la vie isolée, par la racine, et à la vie en commun, par la séve. A lui seul, il ne prouve que l’arbre, mais il annonce la forêt.
Ce livre, s’il n’y avait pas quelque affectation dans des comparaisons de cette nature, aurait, lui aussi, ce double caractère. Il existe solitairement et forme un tout; il existe solidairement et fait partie d’un ensemble.
Cet ensemble, que sera-t-il?
Exprimer l’humanité dans une espèce d’œuvre cyclique; la peindre successivement et simultanément sous tous ses aspects, histoire, fable, philosophie, religion, science, lesquels se résument
en un seul et immense mouvement d’ascension vers la lumière; faire apparaître, dans une sorte de miroir sombre et clair—que l’interruption naturelle des travaux terrestres brisera probablement avant qu’il ait la dimension rêvée par l’auteur—cette grande figure une et multiple, lugubre et rayonnante, fatale et sacrée, l’Homme; voilà de quelle pensée, de quelle ambition, si l’on veut, est sortie la Légende des siècles.
Le volume qu’on va lire n’en contient que la première partie, la première série, comme dit le titre.
Les poëmes qui composent ce volume ne sont donc autre chose que des empreintes successives du profil humain, de date en date, depuis Ève, mère des hommes, jusqu’à la Révolution, mère des peuples; empreintes prises, tantôt sur la barbarie, tantôt sur la civilisation, presque toujours sur le vif de l’histoire; empreintes moulées sur le masque des siècles.
Quand d’autres volumes se seront joints à celui-ci, de façon à rendre l’œuvre un peu moins incomplète, cette série d’empreintes, vaguement disposées dans un certain ordre chronologique, pourra former une sorte de galerie de la médaille humaine.
Pour le poëte comme pour l’historien, pour l’archéologue comme pour le philosophe, chaque siècle est un changement de physionomie de l’humanité. On trouvera dans ce volume, qui, nous le répétons, sera continué et complété, le reflet de quelques-uns de ces changements de physionomie.
On y trouvera quelque chose du passé, quelque chose du présent, et comme un vague mirage de l’avenir. Du reste, ces poëmes, divers par le sujet, mais inspirés par la même pensée, n’ont entre eux d’autre nœud qu’un fil, ce fil qui s’atténue quelquefois au point de devenir invisible, mais qui ne casse jamais, le grand fil mystérieux du labyrinthe humain, le Progrès.
Comme dans une mosaïque, chaque pierre a sa couleur et sa forme propre; l’ensemble donne une figure. La figure de ce livre, on l’a dit plus haut, c’est l’Homme.
Ce volume d’ailleurs, qu’on veuille bien ne pas l’oublier, est à l’ouvrage dont il fait partie, et qui sera mis au jour plus tard, ce que serait à une symphonie l’ouverture. Il n’en peut donner l’idée exacte et complète, mais il contient une lueur de l’œuvre entière.
Le poëme que l’auteur a dans l’esprit n’est ici qu’entr’ouvert.
Quant à ce volume pris en lui-même, l’auteur n’a qu’un mot à en dire. Le genre humain, considéré comme un grand individu collectif accomplissant d’époque en époque une série d’actes sur la terre, a deux aspects, l’aspect historique et l’aspect légendaire. Le second n’est pas moins vrai que le premier; le premier n’est pas moins conjectural que le second.
Qu’on ne conclue pas de cette dernière ligne—disons-le en passant—qu’il puisse entrer dans la pensée de l’auteur d’amoindrir la haute valeur de l’enseignement historique. Pas une gloire, parmi les splendeurs du génie humain, ne dépasse celle du grand historien philosophe. L’auteur, seulement, sans diminuer la portée de l’histoire, veut constater la portée de la légende. Hérodote fait l’histoire, Homère fait la légende.
C’est l’aspect légendaire qui prévaut dans ce volume et qui en colore les poëmes. Ces poëmes se passent l’un à l’autre le flambeau de la tradition humaine. Quasi cursores. C’est ce flambeau, dont la flamme est le vrai, qui fait l’unité de ce livre. Tous ces poëmes, ceux du moins qui résument le passé, sont de la réalité historique condensée ou de la réalité historique devinée. La fiction parfois, la falsification jamais; aucun grossissement de lignes; fidélité absolue à la couleur des temps et à l’esprit des civilisations diverses. Pour citer des exemples, la Décadence romaine n’a pas un détail qui ne soit rigoureusement exact; la barbarie mahométane ressort de Cantemir, à travers l’enthousiasme de l’historiographe turc, telle qu’elle est exposée dans les premières pages de Zim-Zizimi et de Sultan Mourad.
Du reste, les personnes auxquelles l’étude du passé est familière reconnaîtront, l’auteur n’en doute pas, l’accent réel et sincère de tout ce livre. Un de ces poëmes (Première rencontre du Christ avec le
tombeau) est tiré, l’auteur pourrait dire traduit, de l’évangile. Deux autres (le Mariage de Roland, Aymerillot) sont des feuillets détachés de la colossale épopée du moyen âge (Charlemagne, emperor à la barbe florie). Ces deux poëmes jaillissent directement des livres de gestes de la chevalerie. C’est de l’histoire écoutée aux portes de la légende.
Quant au mode de formation de plusieurs des autres poëmes dans la pensée de l’auteur, on pourra s’en faire une idée en lisant les quelques lignes placées en note avant la pièce intitulée les Raisons du Momotombo; lignes d’où cette pièce est sortie. L’auteur en convient, un rudiment imperceptible, perdu dans la chronique ou dans la tradition, à peine visible à l’œil nu, lui a souvent suffi. Il n’est pas défendu au poëte et au philosophe d’essayer sur les faits sociaux ce que le naturaliste essaye sur les faits zoologiques, la reconstruction du monstre d’après l’empreinte de l’ongle ou l’alvéole de la dent.
Ici lacune, là étude complaisante et approfondie d’un détail, tel est l’inconvénient de toute publication fractionnée. Ces défauts de proportion peuvent n’être qu’apparents. Le lecteur trouvera certainement juste d’attendre, pour les apprécier définitivement, que la Légende des siècles ait paru en entier Les usurpations, par exemple, jouent un tel rôle dans la construction des royautés au moyen âge et mêlent tant de crimes à la complication des investitures, que l’auteur a cru devoir les présenter sous leurs trois principaux aspects dans les trois drames, le Petit Roi de Galice, Éviradnus, la Confiance du marquis Fabrice. Ce qui peut sembler aujourd’hui un développement excessif s’ajustera plus tard à l’ensemble.
Les tableaux riants sont rares dans ce livre; cela tient à ce qu’ils ne sont pas fréquents dans l’histoire.
Comme on le verra, l’auteur, en racontant le genre humain, ne l’isole pas de son entourage terrestre. Il mêle quelquefois à l’homme, il heurte à l’âme humaine, afin de lui faire rendre son véritable son, ces êtres différents de l’homme que nous nommons bêtes, choses,
nature morte, et qui remplissent on ne sait quelles fonctions fatales dans l’équilibre vertigineux de la création.
Tel est ce livre. L’auteur l’offre au public sans rien se dissimuler de sa profonde insuffisance. C’est une tentative vers l’idéal. Rien de plus.
Ce dernier mot a besoin peut-être d’être expliqué.
Plus tard, nous le croyons, lorsque plusieurs autres parties de ce livre auront été publiées, on apercevra le lien qui, dans la conception de l’auteur, rattache la Légende des siècles à deux autres poëmes, presque terminés à cette heure, et qui en sont, l’un le dénoûment, l’autre le commencement: la Fin de Satan, Dieu.
L’auteur, du reste, pour compléter ce qu’il a dit plus haut, ne voit aucune difficulté à faire entrevoir, dès à présent, qu’il a esquissé dans la solitude une sorte de poëme d’une certaine étendue où se réverbère le problème unique, l’Être, sous sa triple face: l’Humanité, le Mal, l’Infini; le progressif, le relatif, l’absolu; en ce qu’on pourrait appeler trois chants, la Légende des siècles, la Fin de Satan, Dieu.
Il publie aujourd’hui un premier carton de cette esquisse. Les autres suivront.
Nul ne peut répondre d’achever ce qu’il a commencé, pas une minute de continuation certaine n’est assurée à l’œuvre ébauchée; la solution de continuité, hélas! c’est tout l’homme; mais il est permis, même au plus faible, d’avoir une bonne intention et de la dire.
Or, l’intention de ce livre est bonne.
L’épanouissement du genre humain de siècle en siècle, l’homme montant des ténèbres à l’idéal, la transfiguration paradisiaque de l’enfer terrestre, l’éclosion lente et suprême de la liberté, droit pour cette vie, responsabilité pour l’autre; une espèce d’hymne religieux à mille strophes, ayant dans ses entrailles une foi profonde et sur son sommet une haute prière; le drame de la création éclairé par le
visage du créateur, voilà ce que sera, terminé, ce poëme dans son ensemble; si Dieu, maître des existences humaines, y consent.
L A V I S I O N
D’OU EST SORTI CE LIVRE
J’eus un rêve, le mur des siècles m’apparut.
C’était de la chair vive avec du granit brut, Une immobilité faite d’inquiétude, Un édifice ayant un bruit de multitude, Des trous noirs étoilés par de farouches yeux, Des évolutions de groupes monstrueux, De vastes bas-reliefs, des fresques colossales; Parfois le mur s’ouvrait et laissait voir des salles,
Des antres où siégeaient des heureux, des puissants, Des vainqueurs abrutis de crime, ivres d’encens, Des intérieurs d’or, de jaspe et de porphyre;
Et ce mur frissonnait comme un arbre au zéphyre; Tous les siècles, le front ceint de tours ou d’épis, Étaient là, mornes sphinx sur l’énigme accroupis; Chaque assise avait l’air vaguement animée; Cela montait dans l’ombre; on eût dit une armée
Pétrifiée avec le chef qui la conduit
Au moment qu’elle osait escalader la Nuit; Ce bloc flottait ainsi qu’un nuage qui roule;
C’était une muraille et c’était une foule; Le marbre avait le sceptre et le glaive au poignet, La poussière pleurait et l’argile saignait,
La poussière pleurait et l argile saignait, Les pierres qui tombaient avaient la forme humaine.
Tout l’homme, avec le souffle inconnu qui le mène, Ève ondoyante, Adam flottant, un et divers,
Palpitaient sur ce mur, et l’être, et l’univers,
Et le destin, fil noir que la tombe dévide.
Parfois l’éclair faisait sur la paroi livide
Luire des millions de faces tout à coup.
Je voyais là ce Rien que nous appelons Tout;
Les rois, les dieux, la gloire et la loi, les passages
Des générations à vau-l’eau dans les âges;
Et devant mon regard se prolongeaient sans fin
Les fléaux, les douleurs, l’ignorance, la faim,
La superstition, la science, l’histoire,
Comme à perte de vue une façade noire.
Et ce mur, composé de tout ce qui croula,
Se dressait, escarpé, triste, informe. Où cela?
Je ne sais. Dans un lieu quelconque des ténèbres.
*
Il n’est pas de brouillards, comme il n’est point d’algèbres, Qui résistent, au fond des nombres ou des cieux,
A la fixité calme et profonde des yeux;
Je regardais ce mur d’abord confus et vague,
Où la forme semblait flotter comme une vague, Où tout semblait vapeur, vertige, illusion; Et, sous mon œil pensif, l’étrange vision
Devenait moins brumeuse et plus claire, à mesure
Que ma prunelle était moins troublée et plus sûre.
*
Chaos d’êtres, montant du gouffre au firmament!
Tous les monstres, chacun dans son compartiment;
Le siècle ingrat, le siècle affreux, le siècle immonde;
