How Did They Do This—"colorized" Photos

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,395
twslisa Pillar of the Community United States 790 Posts	Posted 11/11/2020 09:02 am If there's another topic where this is covered, I didn't use the right search terms to find it. I'm watching a couple coins on ebay where it looks to me like the toning on the coins is "juiced" a little by some kind of special photography. Here's one example. I actually think I have a coin very like this—under the dealer's light, the toning was really clear and bright. Under my own lights at home not so much, unless I angle the coin just right against the light. Then there's this one: I'm not sure what happened here, though I will note that NGC seems to have mixed up the photos in a series of coins—this photo appears with the certification info for another coin whose # ends in 009. And ALL of the photos in the series appear really black, which makes me wonder if the photos by NGC were poorly done. Anyway, does anyone know how that first image was done, to enhance the coloring? Thanks! Report this Post to the Staff

hfjacinto Pillar of the Community United States 7273 Posts	Posted 11/11/2020 09:20 am They probably use cool blue LED lights and turn up saturation in the program they use for processing like photoshop. My Slabbed Dansco 7070 with Gold Page My Slabbed IHC Set My Slabbed 20th Century Type Set Report this Post to the Staff
Coinfrog Bedrock of the Community United States 94367 Posts	Posted 11/11/2020 09:24 am Juicing the saturation for sure. Report this Post to the Staff
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4037 Posts	Posted 11/11/2020 09:51 am It's all about the angle of the lights. High angles bring out the colors. That image doesn't look very "juiced" to me, but it does look like it was taken with the lights at high angle. Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
twslisa Pillar of the Community United States 790 Posts	Posted 11/11/2020 11:24 am Just for clarity, I don't think "juiced" means they put in colors that aren't there. "Enhanced" may be a better term. Whatever color is there, they did something to bring it out and brighten it. At least that's what I think with the first coin. With the second, I don't know what to think. The diff between the NGC photo and the one on ebay is pretty stark, even taking into account that the 2nd photo is black and white. (Why do you think NGC used B&W photos for this and the other coins in the series?) Edited by twslisa 11/11/2020 11:25 am Report this Post to the Staff
rmpsrpms Pillar of the Community United States 4037 Posts	Posted 11/11/2020 5:00 pm Traditionally, "juiced" means "enhanced", so your terminology is fine. Usually juicing is done with saturation or other, more sophisticated tools available in programs like PhotoShop, hence juiced coins are often called "PhotoShopped". The first coin pic might be juiced, but unless you have access to the coin itself, it's tough to tell for sure. It may be that the coin actually has more vivid colors than the photo shows! I've seen many toners like this. I would have to say in that case the coin itself has been "juiced"!! Black and white is good for documention of varieties, etc in order to eliminate any confusion that might be caused by color variations, but since color is such an important thing in today's market, color photos are the norm. It is very odd to see a black and white photo these days. Contact me for photographic equipment or visit my home page at: http://macrocoins.com Report this Post to the Staff
twslisa Pillar of the Community United States 790 Posts	Posted 11/13/2020 11:54 am Thanks! I'd think in that particular coin's case, if they thought the toning was legit enough for a grade, NGC would document it if they're going to bother taking a picture at all. That whole series is all B&W for some reason, and, as I say, they mixed them up so the pix don't go with the coin in the description. Yeah, that first coin is on my watch list because I want to see if it goes for what they're asking (I know toners can go for multiple times the "market" value for the same coin without the toning, but even tho I love toners I hesitate paying the high premiums most dealers are looking for these days, especially when I don't really trust that the photos tell me what the coin will look like in hand). If the toning is legit it's really cool. I especially like the way the lighter colors on the face sort of change her expression. Set it next to another Morgan and you can see that lighter spots around her eyes and mouth make her seem to smile a little. If/when it does sell I'd love to see more photos. Report this Post to the Staff
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How Did They Do This—"Colorized" Photos