How to make the text readable?

[Ofnuts]

If you have a true macro lens, take a close up shot with a "decent" aperture (f/5.6 or f/8).

If you have a standard zoom lens, take a shot using the long side (but not the longest) also at some rather open aperture (but not the most open).

Make sure that the lens axis is perpendicular to the paper: trick: take a small flat mirror, and draw a cross on it with a sharpie. Put the mirror on the drawing. When the cross is exactly at the center of the mirror image of your lens in the viewfinder, you are exactly above the cross and perpendicular to the mirror (and therefore to you picture, once you have removed the mirror).

To check perpendicularity alone, if you have a usable marking for the center of the viewfinder, you can center it in the center the mirror image of the lens (in my camera, the circle around the center is easy to align with the rim of the lens).

   

Then crop the picture to the important part and post it here without alteration.

[Machadojon]

(06-02-2021, 04:29 PM)Machadojon Wrote:

(06-02-2021, 06:21 AM)PixLab Wrote: There is definitively some text at the bottom right!
Most of the text was washed out (water/humidity?) as the bottom of the image seems to have suffer from water.
Just above the "signature" in the red circling on the png I did, you can clearly see that some one did "frost" it with a finger (or it's water damage), this part might not be recoverable.
The owner should scan it in 2 modes ->in B&W and in color BUT put that corner in the center of the scanner! or take a picture with a tripod of that corner only right in the center of the picture
Also it would help to know in which language it was written, actually I'm reading on the last line "I'm Fine" which is wrong if it was written in Portuguese


or
https://imgur.com/a/3nduOwN

Hi I’m the owner of the picture has more than 150 years old and because the age the info was washed out! The language it is in Portuguese.
I do have a good camera to take the picture any exposure or configuration that could provide a better result?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing
I took a photo with different exposures. For me looks like that the last word it is Pinheiro (make sense because it is the surname of my great grand father the original owner.

---

(06-02-2021, 05:10 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: If you have a true macro lens, take a close up shot with a "decent" aperture (f/5.6 or f/8).

If you have a standard zoom lens, take a shot using the long side (but not the longest) also at some rather open aperture (but not the most open).

Make sure that the lens axis is perpendicular to the paper: trick: take a small flat mirror, and draw a cross on it with a sharpie. Put the mirror on the drawing. When the cross is exactly at the center of the mirror image of your lens in the viewfinder, you are exactly above the cross and perpendicular to the mirror (and therefore to you picture, once you have removed the mirror).

To check perpendicularity alone, if you have a usable marking for the center of the viewfinder, you can center it in the center the mirror image of the lens (in my camera, the circle around the center is easy to align with the rim of the lens).



Then crop the picture to the important part and post it here without alteration.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing

I took a photo with different exposures. For me looks like that the last word it is Pinheiro (make sense because it is the surname of my great grand father the original owner.

[Ofnuts]

(06-02-2021, 07:41 PM)Machadojon Wrote:

(06-02-2021, 04:29 PM)Machadojon Wrote:

(06-02-2021, 06:21 AM)PixLab Wrote: There is definitively some text at the bottom right!
Most of the text was washed out (water/humidity?) as the bottom of the image seems to have suffer from water.
Just above the "signature" in the red circling on the png I did, you can clearly see that some one did "frost" it with a finger (or it's water damage), this part might not be recoverable.
The owner should scan it in 2 modes ->in B&W and in color BUT put that corner in the center of the scanner! or take a picture with a tripod of that corner only right in the center of the picture
Also it would help to know in which language it was written, actually I'm reading on the last line "I'm Fine" which is wrong if it was written in Portuguese


or
https://imgur.com/a/3nduOwN

Hi I’m the owner of the picture has more than 150 years old and because the age the info was washed out! The language it is in Portuguese.
I do have a good camera to take the picture any exposure or configuration that could provide a better result?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing
I took a photo with different exposures. For me looks like that the last word it is Pinheiro (make sense because it is the surname of my great grand father the original owner.

---

(06-02-2021, 05:10 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: If you have a true macro lens, take a close up shot with a "decent" aperture (f/5.6 or f/8).

If you have a standard zoom lens, take a shot using the long side (but not the longest) also at some rather open aperture (but not the most open).

Make sure that the lens axis is perpendicular to the paper: trick: take a small flat mirror, and draw a cross on it with a sharpie. Put the mirror on the drawing. When the cross is exactly at the center of the mirror image of your lens in the viewfinder, you are exactly above the cross and perpendicular to the mirror (and therefore to you picture, once you have removed the mirror).

To check perpendicularity alone, if you have a usable marking for the center of the viewfinder, you can center it in the center the mirror image of the lens (in my camera, the circle around the center is easy to align with the rim of the lens).



Then crop the picture to the important part and post it here without alteration.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing

I took a photo with different exposures. For me looks like that the last word it is Pinheiro (make sense because it is the surname of my great grand father the original owner.

Looking closely (nice shots...) it seems the writing has made slight grooves, so using a razing light, shadows could make the writing stand out a bit more.

[Machadojon]

(06-03-2021, 12:47 AM)Ofnuts Wrote:

(06-02-2021, 07:41 PM)Machadojon Wrote:

(06-02-2021, 04:29 PM)Machadojon Wrote: Hi I’m the owner of the picture has more than 150 years old and because the age the info was washed out! The language it is in Portuguese.
I do have a good camera to take the picture any exposure or configuration that could provide a better result?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing
I took a photo with different exposures. For me looks like that the last word it is Pinheiro (make sense because it is the surname of my great grand father the original owner.

---

(06-02-2021, 05:10 PM)Ofnuts Wrote: If you have a true macro lens, take a close up shot with a "decent" aperture (f/5.6 or f/8).

If you have a standard zoom lens, take a shot using the long side (but not the longest) also at some rather open aperture (but not the most open).

Make sure that the lens axis is perpendicular to the paper: trick: take a small flat mirror, and draw a cross on it with a sharpie. Put the mirror on the drawing. When the cross is exactly at the center of the mirror image of your lens in the viewfinder, you are exactly above the cross and perpendicular to the mirror (and therefore to you picture, once you have removed the mirror).

To check perpendicularity alone, if you have a usable marking for the center of the viewfinder, you can center it in the center the mirror image of the lens (in my camera, the circle around the center is easy to align with the rim of the lens).



Then crop the picture to the important part and post it here without alteration.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing

I took a photo with different exposures. For me looks like that the last word it is Pinheiro (make sense because it is the surname of my great grand father the original owner.

Looking closely (nice shots...) it seems the writing has made slight grooves, so using a razing light, shadows could make the writing stand out a bit more.
infurtunatelly I don't have a razing light. I tried to use some light to improvise, but didn't work. will tried to scan using the middle of the scan and B&W and color any other option or config in the scan??

---

(06-03-2021, 06:35 PM)Machadojon Wrote:

(06-03-2021, 12:47 AM)Ofnuts Wrote:

(06-02-2021, 07:41 PM)Machadojon Wrote: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing
I took a photo with different exposures. For me looks like that the last word it is Pinheiro (make sense because it is the surname of my great grand father the original owner.

---

Looking closely (nice shots...) it seems the writing has made slight grooves, so using a razing light, shadows could make the writing stand out a bit more.
infurtunatelly I don't have a razing light. I tried to use some light to improvise, but didn't work. will tried to scan using the middle of the scan and B&W and color any other option or config in the scan??

I just add a new scan with tiff and 2 different configuration of the scanner using the only the maximum optical dpi
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing

[Machadojon]

Some one can work on the new files that I sent or tell me what I need to do to make more readable the Text?

[PixLab]

On the pictures you shared, there is a huge improvement, nice job!
Try to invert the color, adjust, blend them differently, bump, emboss them... everything that might help

(06-07-2021, 01:31 PM)Machadojon Wrote: Some one can work on the new files that I sent or tell me what I need to do to make more readable the Text?

You need the right Light while taking pictures.
Try different light's colors and angles or/and put filters in front of your lights you will see the result before taking any picture = time saving), if you have a black/dark light (like in nightclub), try it as well, I won't ask you to go infrared or UV, but if you know some one who has an infrared camera borrow it or try a UV light in a darkroom (there are very-very cheap nowadays, you might even have one at home without knowing it) or if you know some one who own a beauty parlor, ask her/him to use its UV tanning light, you might be surprised.
You might also can try some free app on your phone -> app which pretend to do infrared, UV, x-ray, or so, (read the comments that people left before installing) then try the app on your document with you camera's phone

Software can do a lot, even the unthinkable, but in this case, light could make a huge difference and save a lot-a-lot of time tinkering