Removing white spots (a TON) from a dark photo

[Chilihook]

Is there an easy way?

The photo I am in the process of restoring is about 65 years old and has been affected my mold and moisture. The emulsion is starting to lose it's adherence to the paper by peeling away in thousands (big photo, close to 11x17) of pinpoint spots.

Dealing with them in areas that don't require a lot of detail has been no problem. However, they are also all over the faces of the subjects, the groom's Marine uniform, the bride's hair, etc.

I have the feeling that one of two things will be my option here: There's a simple process to this that I have simply forgotten or that's out there for me to use and make my life a lot easier; or more likely, I'll have to mask and clone-stamp the bejeesus out of it over the course of many hours.

I will try to post a close up of the problem tomorrow.

Thanks in advance!

[0lBaldy]

Looking forward to seeing a sample

[Daviskw]

Hi Chilihook

Have you tried the median filter to remove the spots on a duplicate layer... then take a snapshot... then make the snapshot active...backup on the history pallet just before the median filter then use the history brush in darken mode to take out the white spots.

Old technique and you still must click on each spot but it does a good job.

Butch

[byRo]

Originally Posted by Chilihook

There's a simple process to this that I have simply forgotten ...

Seems like "Dust and Scratches" to me.

Rô

[Chilihook]

Originally Posted by byRo

Seems like "Dust and Scratches" to me.

Rô

I used "dust and scratches" on a fill layer for the background and it really helped with cleaning it up. However, the background had a slight blur on it to begin with so very little detail was lost to a filter that is "detructive" (removes info from)the photo.

I do not want to lose ANY detail on the faces as they have very little to begin with.

[crazyfly1]

I would try despeckle. It's a filter I seldom use but it's made for just such a thing. Use it on it's own layer so you have some control.

[Markzebra]

"I do not want to lose ANY detail on the faces as they have very little to begin with." - you will probably have to clone stamp those areas, if you don't want to lose detail.

[Chilihook]

Here is a closeup of the problem. The areas affected are larger than what you see here, I just got close in so you could see better. The uniform is going to be the tough part...

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...p_portrait.jpg

[Gary Richardson]

Polaroid D&S does as good a job as anything else I've tried.

Had to work on a separate layer, so I could mask out any areas that had "over filtered".

Cloned out a couple of blemishes that were left.

[Chilihook]

Originally Posted by Gary Richardson

Polaroid D&S does as good a job as anything else I've tried.

Had to work on a separate layer, so I could mask out any areas that had "over filtered".

Cloned out a couple of blemishes that were left.

What is a Polaroid D&S? Is it a plug-in or something's thats on CS3?

[Daviskw]

I used the median technique described above... then just for fun I applied a little color in multiply mode... and some PWL.

I then thought a little smudging would help to blend edges and added some texture back to finish.

I sure could have done a better job with the smudge I blurred more than I needed too... but you get the idea

Butch

[Chilihook]

Hi Butch,

That looks pretty good! Especially the uniform, which I was most concerned about. I am unfamiliar with the technique you used even though it was mentioned above. Could you break it down for me a little?

The edges of the two people have yet to be taken care of as this is a WIP, but I see your point and appreciate the effort!

[Daviskw]

Duplicate the background

On the duplicate layer apply the filter of your choice… blur…median…Dust&Scratches…Reduce noise …which ever you use apply until most of the spots are gone.

On the history option window click the “create new snapshot” icon.

This takes a snap shot of the filtered layer and later you can selectively paint back with the history brush.

At the top of the history pallet you will see your new snapshot…click in the box to the left to make this snapshot the source for the history brush.

Now find the history entry for the filter you applied to blur the spots.

Click on the previous entry… this will make the blur go away and you will see the spots again… but remember we made a snapshot so we can now use it to selectively paint the spots away.

Click on the history brush… if you like reduce opacity…up to you…paint out the spots...if you like try a different mode onthe brush... like darken for instance.

This will still leave a white film on the uniform…I used a blank layer set to multiply and a low opacity soft brush … then sampled some of the good uniform color and painted where needed… then a final adjustment of the layer opacity as needed.

Then finished with healing brush and PWL then applied some texture with the texturizer.

Butch

[Daviskw]

Here is another example.. of just the jacket... I took a little more time but the same techniques above.

Butch

[Gary Richardson]

Originally Posted by chilihook

What is a Polaroid D&S? Is it a plug-in or something's thats on CS3?

It's a plug in.

Download for Polaroid Dust and Scratch Filter

Sorry, if you're using Vista I'm not aware of a version for that OS

[0lBaldy]

I am running Vista and it works fine for me.. I just dropped everything I unzipped into the plugins folder then started Photoshop.. worked like a charm.. made a shortcut on my desktop for the executable stand alone Polaroid DSR that is included, but have not figured that program out yet. Using the plugin whilst in Photoshop is much easier for me.

[Gary Richardson]

Good to know it runs on Vista OK.

I'm still using XP so I couldn't test it myself.

Have to admit I rarely use the stand alone (though it does have features that the plug in doesn't) and stick mainly to the plug in.

[klassylady25]

What did the original look like. Not the red background.

[Chilihook]

Originally Posted by klassylady25

What did the original look like. Not the red background.

The original (a snapshot close-up) can be seen here:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...p_portrait.jpg

[Chilihook]

Thanks for all this great info Butch, but I do have a couple of questions:
are you using CS3? I am on CS2 and am unfamiliar with the "create new snapshot" icon and what is PWL?

Thanks again for the help!

Originally Posted by Daviskw

Duplicate the background

On the duplicate layer apply the filter of your choice… blur…median…Dust&Scratches…Reduce noise …which ever you use apply until most of the spots are gone.

On the history option window click the “create new snapshot” icon.

This takes a snap shot of the filtered layer and later you can selectively paint back with the history brush.

At the top of the history pallet you will see your new snapshot…click in the box to the left to make this snapshot the source for the history brush.

Now find the history entry for the filter you applied to blur the spots.

Click on the previous entry… this will make the blur go away and you will see the spots again… but remember we made a snapshot so we can now use it to selectively paint the spots away.

Click on the history brush… if you like reduce opacity…up to you…paint out the spots...if you like try a different mode onthe brush... like darken for instance.

This will still leave a white film on the uniform…I used a blank layer set to multiply and a low opacity soft brush … then sampled some of the good uniform color and painted where needed… then a final adjustment of the layer opacity as needed.

Then finished with healing brush and PWL then applied some texture with the texturizer.

Butch

[Chilihook]

Originally Posted by Gary Richardson

It's a plug in.

Download for Polaroid Dust and Scratch Filter

Sorry, if you're using Vista I'm not aware of a version for that OS

Nope, I'm on XP at home and at work. Thanks for the link, I'll give it a go tomorrow!

[Gary Richardson]

You're welcome, have fun with it.

[argle]

A little late perhaps, but I ran across this image and it reminded me of a technique that I picked up from Eismann's book. It works well on uniformly sized, very small light specks on a a dark background or very small dark specks on a light background - and it takes all of 5 seconds to do. Create a duplicate layer and set the blend mode to darken for light specks, set it to lighten for dark ones. Then, with the select tool, click on the duplicate image and move it 1 pixel up, down, left or right with the arrow keys. The effect is dramatic and instant and drastically reduces what you need to work with, making your next move/filter/technique more effective and leaving only the larger spots to deal with. Also, since you're only moving 1 pixel, I can usually live with any softening of the image - and you can always mask the faces and paint back the original detail. I have found the direction you move the image is important - sometimes moving 1 pixel up works better than 1 pixel down. You can experiment and see which direction works best. Also, Eismann recommends moving in two directions, such as 1 down and 1 right for a better offset. In sharper images, the softening is not nearly as noticeable. Just a thought.

Argle

[Chilihook]

Thanks for this Argle, I'll give it a try.

Yeah, been busy for the past 4 months... no photoshop fun for me. Till now!

[photos]

denoised it with topaz denoise. then painstakingly cloned over everything with reduced opacity to remove persistent speckles

http://i34.tinypic.com/kejjwo.jpg