removing grey on underexposed text page without burning out text in bright spot area ?

[Merlin3]

Hi,

CS6.

Copy stand setup photo of a double page spread in an old book,  manages to give slightly burnt out text top left (due to curving page) whilst rest sees a light grey rather than white page with good text.

If I go to levels and drag the white marker to the left I get a decent page white, but the slightly burnt out text top left is now suffering bigtime and being burnt out.

How do I protect/enhance that text top left, lessen the grey there a bit, yet brighten the grey elsewhere to become white or off white, where the text can take the lightening process.

Cheers

Merlin

[davescm]

A graduated mask on the adjustment would be my stock answer, although it would be good to see the image to confirm

Dave

[NB, colourmanagement net]

You could probably apply the exposure correction in an adjustment layer and utilise a gradated mask to keep it off the bright corner. 

I hope this helps

neil barstow, colourmanagement.net :: adobe forum volunteer

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[D Fosse]

Put a (clean) glass plate on top to flatten.

Normally this requires cross-polarized light to kill reflections (that's how I do it), but if you're careful to cover reflective surfaces it might work in a dark room too. Make sure the lights are at 45 degrees.

[Merlin3]

Hi,

CS6,

would I be using the graduated mask in RAW converter or after image opened into Photoshop ? I also gather one can open into a smart layer and go back to RAW converter if needed, would that also help ?

I have been advised by a friend to use the adjustment tool in RAW converter hence my question.

I had many to photographic with the clock ticking and in an archival situation so glass on the document and polarizing was not an option, there were alos room ceiling lights that might have caused problems on that rig.

it was tricky enough as the margins and fragility disallowed flattening under glass weight, archival rules would have stopped anything that made for damage. lead weights in a silk sleeve was the order of the day.

Merlin

[davescm]

If you opened the raw file into Photoshop as a smart object then you can indeed double click the smart object to open again in camera raw. Then the graduated adjustment or a local adjustment brush would work.

Dave