removing scratches from photo

LM
Posted By
linda_morvant
Apr 7, 2004
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1951
Replies
15
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Closed
i’m new at using photoshop elements 2. i am trying to remove scratches from black and white photo. i use windows xp. the scratches are on the original photo. i’ve tried to remove scratches in Filter>Noise>Dust & Scratches. I am able to remove the scratches, only after the image is so distorted you can’t make out the faces anymore. I’ve also tried Enhance>Brightness/contrast>Levels & nothing happens here. the scratch is located from one end of the photo to the next in a horizontal pattern going across 3 different images in the photo. please help? thank you
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remove scratch

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TF
Terri_Foster
Apr 7, 2004
Try this technique I got out of S. Kelby’s book:

1. Duplicate photo
2. Apply the Dust and Scratches filter to the duplicate layer. Apply so that all the scratches are gone…don’t worry about blurriness.
3. Create a new blank layer and place this new layer between the original and duplicate with filter applied.
4. Activate top layer with the filter applied and hit control G (if on a PC…I think maybe command or option G on a Mac). This will group your layers so instead of blurry the top layer now looks scratched again.
5. Set your tool box color chips to black and white…make sure black is foreground chip color. Select a brush (a small brush works best so you will have less blur) and go to the options bar and put the brush in lighten mode. (Note very important that your in lighten mode or it won’t work.)
6. Now activate your blank layer and paint with black in lighten mode over your scratches on this blank layer. This should work significantly better than just using the dust and scratches filter. Hope this helps. Kelby has lots of pretty nifty tricks in his books.

Terri
TF
Terri_Foster
Apr 7, 2004
By the way, if you want detail back you can just paint back with white on same blank layer discussed in previous post. Since you are blurring just where the scratches are it’s less noticeable. You can also play with the opacity if you want less blur in a particular paint stroke. Hope I didn’t just confuse you but added this as an after thought.

Terri
MO
mat_of_the_mint
Apr 7, 2004
I think it is much easier to use the clone tool. There is no bluring or distortion, it’s quick, and only the one layer.
WE
Wendy_E_Williams
Apr 7, 2004
If you are going to use the clone tool it is beter to use it on a new layer … then if you make a mess of it you can just delete the layer and start again.

Wendy
BB
Bert_Bigelow
Apr 7, 2004
If you are going to use the clone tool it is beter to use it on a new layer … then if you make a mess of it you can just delete the layer and start again.

You should always work on a copy of your original image, never on the original itself. Wendy’s suggestion is a good one, but if you are working on a copy and you ‘make a mess’ as she says, you can always just close without saving and open another copy.
Either way works…this just saves fooling with an extra layer. I usually end up with several copies, saving intermediate results when I am happy with them, so that I don’t have to go back to "square one" if I make a bad goof that I can’t undo.
Bert
EDIT: And yes, the Clone Tool is excellent for removing scratches, dust specs or that zit on the side of your daughter’s face! With a little practice, you’ll find you can do miraculous things with this tool!
KL
Kenneth_Liffmann
Apr 7, 2004
Linda,
Here is another technique for removing blemishes that has served me well on several occasions:
1.Duplicate background layer
2.Turn off the visibility of this layer
3.To the bottom layer apply the dust and scratches filter with a setting high enough to obscure any blemishes. Do not worry that the entire image is blurry now.
4. Turn on visibility of top layer, make it active, and use eraser tool with a soft brush wherever you see a blemish. This way one applies the filter just once instead of selecting and applying for each separately.
5. Merge visible or flatten.
Ken
CS
Chuck_Snyder
Apr 7, 2004
Ken, that’s an elegantly simple technique – thanks for sharing it!

Chuck
LM
linda_morvant
Apr 8, 2004
thank you everyone who replied to my plea for help. i must be a klutz. i’ve tried everyone’s example and i still can’t get it right. am no good at the clone tool. but, understand it takes a lot of practice. so i will practice and practice. thank you , again.
WE
Wendy_E_Williams
Apr 8, 2004
Linda,

The more you use the clone tool the easier it becomes. When you use it don’t use it like a brush (with long strokes) just do one click of the mouse at a time …. that way it looks better. So to fill in a scratch do it the one click way and resample imbetween …

You will get the hang of it soon 🙂

Wendy
BB
Bert_Bigelow
Apr 8, 2004
am no good at the clone tool.

Linda,
It’s really pretty easy…just hold down the Alt key (PC) and click on an area adjacent to the spot you want to replace…pick a spot with the same color and texture. And then just click where you want to make the replacement. Right click (PC) to bring up the brush pallette to pick the appropriate size brush. I think the Clone Tool is one of the most intuitive to use, and results once you get the hang of it are truly miraculous. It really doesn’t take much practice at all. And if you make a mistake, just Undo it.
Bert
CS
Chuck_Snyder
Apr 8, 2004
Linda, if the scratch happens to be in an area of the picture where there’s a pretty plain background (like a cloudless sky), there’s another way that’ll get you close.
1. Make a rough selection around the scratch, i.e, make sure the whole scratch is included and a little of the nonscratched area.
2. Use the arrow keys to move the selection up or over just far enough away
from the scratch to be in all non-scratched and plain territory. Feather the selection 2 or 3 pixels.
3. Now do a Layer>New Layer via Copy. This will make a new layer with just the (unscratched) selection area on it.
4. With the new layer active, switch to the Move tool (4-pointed arrow) and, using the arrow keys, move the selection into position over the scratch; you’ll see the scratch disappear before your eyes. Merge down after complete.
5. You can use the Blur tool or Clone tool to ‘clean up’ the edges if they’re visible.

It won’t work for all areas of the picture, but you can do it in sections where it appears it’ll do the job. Can be faster than the clone tool.

Chuck
BB
Bert_Bigelow
Apr 8, 2004
Chuck,
Thanks for sharing that procedure. I’m addicted to the Clone Tool, but I’ll give that a try next time I have a real monster of a scratch.
Bert
DP
Dyuob Poltice
Apr 9, 2004
On Thu, 8 Apr 2004 10:40:11 -0700,
wrote:

Linda,

The more you use the clone tool the easier it becomes. When you use it don’t use it like a brush (with long strokes) just do one click of the mouse at a time …. that way it looks better. So to fill in a scratch do it the one click way and resample imbetween …

You will get the hang of it soon 🙂

Wendy

Exactly. We use PSE in our video scrapbook/restoring business, and the clone tool, along with the smudge tool are indispensable in completing our jobs.
We have a lot of graphic arts programs available, but the PSE seems to do everything quicker, and better, (and yes, I am still learning myself, everyday I find something new that just blows me away) What is major cool, is when we have a customer look at a picture they thought was past any hope at all of fixing, and gasp "how’d you do that?"
We just smile and say "hard work…"
(the histogram is a God send)
Although I’ve been lurking for a while, you all have taught me quite a bit, there is wealth of information here, and very little trolling. Ah well, back to work…
MS
Mark_Sand
Apr 10, 2004
Terri, I have question about your technique (msg #2). I’m not sure what you mean by painting with white to bring back detail. When I tried it, painting with white had the same effect as black: it removed scratches. Did you mean paint with white over the previously painted black, or did you mean paint with white over unscratched areas. I also noted that painting with ANY color also removes scratches.

Mark
TF
Terri_Foster
Apr 10, 2004
Mark, I Boo Booed. I must have been thinking about masks when I mentioned the painting with white to get detail back. Instead it should be to get details back erase with eraser set to a low opacity on blank layer. Yes, it looks about the same to me no matter what color I use but gave that because that’s the way it was written in written in the book. It probably has to do with how pixels are affected by colors in gray ranges or some such theory. I apologize for misleading you with the painting with white thing.

Terri

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