Drew70 colorized F/f -- Update 20 June

[sophilos]

Joelle Cooper and Kare. Up first, because it's my favorite of them all.

I wish Drew70 were still active. I hope he's lurking.

Today, I tried to use AI to colorize some of those old b&w magazine scans. Waste of time.

Then I searched "colorize photos". Of the embarrassment of riches I received, I share with you these. They are png format, rather than the original jpg/jpeg, an upgrade. More interesting, this site can upscale an image. They want up to 25c/image, but my birthday is coming soon. This year's present to myself.

 

[sophilos]

Found the limit. Ten attached files per post.

 

[sophilos]

Who doesn't like Ashley Renee?

 

[sophilos]

These pics go back to Jan., '95. The scans were posted in Nov., '05. The colorization isn't perfect.

I tweaked these in Picasa -- Auto Contrast and the least touch of Saturation. The difference does not show in the thumbnails. As I write, I dunno. I will in a minute.

It's a rare website, outside of industry, that lasts and grows for over twenty years. Thanks Drew70, thanks Admins, many thanks MTP Jeff.

 

[sophilos]

Nearly four days. Over three hundred views.

 

[sophilos]

The rest of the set.

 

[sophilos]

Twelve in this set, plus two originally in color and the magazine cover. Those interested can find them in the Archive.

 

[sophilos]

Sixth thru tenth. I like the skinny ones.

 

[sophilos]

Last of the series. All colorizations via Hotpot AI, free to download (with attribution) for non-commercial uses.

 

[sophilos]

I got a trophy! I don't know from whom or for what. I get the impression it's like Secret Santa -- you're not supposed to know.

Still, this is a celebration. I'm reviving a thread I started just eight years after Drew70 was last seen on the Forum. I hope he knows how much we all love him for his Archive.

And, to whomever, thanks for recognition.

 

[Blackbelt68]

What a trip down memory lane!

 

[sophilos]

Next five, as promised. The hardest task in the whole job is keeping the filenames same as the originals, with a small "c" to set apart the colorized from the original.

It's a process, most of which has to do with moving files around while keeping them straight. Doable in ten minutes more or less unless I have to go back and correct five mistakes in a post. That's just me.

After the colorizing, I put these through the Picasa 3 open source photo editor. Its Auto Contrast is much more subtle than my mis-calibrated Mark One eyeball. Then each one gets just a touch of added Saturation. Maybe a touch of Red Tint ... hmm.

Fourth and fifth shots: Catherine Beaumont under the hands of Misty Lang.

 

[sophilos]

Sadie West, very young, along with Catherine Beaumont and a blonde to be named after I figure it out.

The next three are just cute. The lee reminds of someone Gotye, nuff sed.

The other bookend lee is credited as Nikki Dial and our favorite f/switch.

 

[sophilos]

This post is for mzzmra, with thanks. These are bold photos, and her work is as bold, so an offering in kindred spirit.

I learn new things every day. Before the makeover of the site, posters were limited to five images. Lesson one, it seems now that the limit is much higher. Thanks, Jeff.

Lesson two: if these old b&w scans are desaturated, then so are the scans of color pages. Image the fourth in today's post is a color original with Picasa 3 Auto Contrast and the least touch of Saturation applied. I just added a big chunk of makeup work to the load, no exceptions going forward. So far, the results have been well worth the opportunity. Thanks, Drew.

 

[Wesker28]

The next three are just cute. The lee reminds of someone Gotye, nuff sed.

Any idea who that Lee was?

 

[sophilos]

Any idea who that Lee was?

Thank you for your interest in this thread.

The industry had only a few "name" models back in the day. Even when there were names in the text or on the cover, they were often aliases. I would call them "noms de plume", but that term has a meaning all its own.

It is convenient to be able to say "Sadie West" to speak of a given model, but I doubt that was the name on her ID.

I will cite names whenever I can find them. Knowing now that I can drop more than five images each post, I will post sets as complete as I can find, and update existing posts to the best of my knowledge. I did see names attached to the set in post #1, and I think it a matter only of time until I find them again. Then, I will update.

This link will take you to a gallery of nearly 1700 images, many of them same as the Archive, but many very different.

https://www.deviantart.com/theretrotickler/gallery/all
​

I look forward to a new thread based on theretrotickler's gallery, cross-referencing the two as I go. There is plenty to do. Enjoy, Wesker, and thanks again for your interest.