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I requested a copy of my military service from my state's National Guard Headquarters.
This is what they sent me:
I called the State HQ to see if I could get a copy that was more readable. The Sergeant told me that the copy I received was from microfilm, the machine they had sucked and that was the best he could do.
Can I scan this at a high dpi and use some photo editing techniques to make it readable?
ray023
Posted 2012-08-03T11:59:16.553
Reputation: 1 387
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It has a lot of colored noise, so the color picker trick suggested by slhck will probably not work.
I have tried it in photoshop, with the following steps:
(excuse me if any of this has another term in GIMP, I have only ever used photoshop. These are basic modifications; nearly any photoshop-like program will have them.)
This is what I got after two minutes:
With a higher resolution image it will of course look a lot better, and I would gladly do it for you.
Simon Verbeke
Posted 2012-08-03T11:59:16.553
Reputation: 3 553
I orignially asked for GIMP because I do not have photoshop. However, I think this question is best served when asked w/o mentioning a specific photo tool. Thus, I am marking this one as the answer. I was able to use combination of your answer and DragonLord to make a slightly readable format. However, if you don't mind, please take a stab at this image. You should have full access to this folder.
– ray023 – 2012-08-03T14:03:36.447The image is a really bad photocopy and there wasn't much to be salvaged from it. But I made three versions with various methods. You should be able to download them here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vik9arv5bd9b4gk/HcVHLmscyf
– Simon Verbeke – 2012-08-03T14:42:16.270yeah, that's what I was afraid of. It looks better so thanks for giving it the old college try. I'm going to submit what I have while I wait on a better copy. If you don't mind, please remove the dropbox folder. I can't imagine anyone wanting to try and read that, but the less info of me on the net, the better. thanks. – ray023 – 2012-08-03T15:30:29.723
1@ray023 They're gone ;) – Simon Verbeke – 2012-08-03T15:32:28.460
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As Simon Verbeke noted, desaturate the image (Colors → Desaturate) first to eliminate the color noise. GIMP has a tool for this purpose:
Then use the Curves tool (Colors → Curves) to adjust and fine-tune the image:
Learn more about the Curves tool here.
bwDraco
Posted 2012-08-03T11:59:16.553
Reputation: 41 701
1
Regarding the "scan at higher DPI" bit, no, it is impossible to add missing information, that would violate the laws of physics (assuming you meant to scan the image and not to request a second, higher quality scan). The perceived quality can be somewhat improved as demonstrated by Simon, but there just isn't enough information in the image for that to produce a readable result. Your best bet would be to have them send you a proper image.
kotekzot
Posted 2012-08-03T11:59:16.553
Reputation: 849
1I believe he actually meant to have the physical document scanned at a higher resolution. But yes, he would definitely need a bigger one. Maybe that one will even be readable without modifications. – Simon Verbeke – 2012-08-03T13:25:47.163
@SimonVerbeke thanks, added some clarification. – kotekzot – 2012-08-03T15:58:28.940
If you could use paint.net, using the magic wand with a CAREFULLY selected similarity level may do the trick. Its going to be a royal pain in the rear though – Journeyman Geek – 2012-08-03T12:02:11.283
I don't have GIMP, but if you can adjust the levels using a color picker, all you have to do is set the white level to some area that's supposed to be white, and set the black level to a piece of text. – slhck – 2012-08-03T12:06:49.777
Does it have to be done via GIMP? – Dave – 2012-08-03T12:19:23.680
Does this image have any important info on it like an SSN? (If so, edit out that stuff and repost the image) – cutrightjm – 2012-08-28T01:37:35.700