Ft Pattern Suppressor

[Chain]

This is a brand new re-made version of the "FFT" plugin for Photoshop from this thread. Now with a proper action to automate the procedure and get better results than manual painting. Due to the major changes we decided this deserved a new thread.

This is a set of FREE plugins and actions for Adobe Photoshop that will let you easily remove repeating patterns from images.


Moved it to a separate site, just in case forum thread goes down (and so I can keep track of number of downloads). But you can keep the discussion in this thread. If you have any problematic images, don't hesitate to post them!
Download the tools here

View video tutorial


before-after.jpg
image_96668.jpgimage_96669.jpg


---


We highly recommend using the actions for processing images to remove the patterns versus using the old way of using the Ft-plugins and painting manually. View/read the tutorial before using!

Files included

• libfftwx64_3-3.dll – FFTW library. Required by the Windows plugins.
• .8bf – Windows plugins for doing Fourier transformations(used by the actions).
• .plugin – Mac plugins for doing Fourier transformations (used by the actions).
• Pattern Suppressor v2.atn – Photoshop Actions for doing pattern suppression.
• Readme.pdf – Detailed readme, and written tutorial.

Requirements and compatibility

• Requires Adobe Photoshop (64-bit).
• Tested on CS5-CC2018 and Windows 10 and CC2017-18 on macOS 10.12-13. But should work on more versions.
• Requires basic knowledge of how to use the Brush Tool, layers, masks and the Actions Panel. Tutorial provided.

Installation (Windows)

• Copy libfftwx64_3-3.dll to your Photoshop installation folder. Usually this is
  C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [version]\
• Copy the .8bf-files to the Photoshop Plug-ins-folder. By default this is
  C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop [version]\Plug-ins\
• Restart Photoshop if it was running.
• Double-click FT Pattern Suppressor v2.atn to install the actions.
  (You could also choose “Load Actions…” in your Actions Panel Menu).

The action set will be shown in your Actions Panel (can be found under Window > Actions).
The Plug-ins will be available under Filter > RONC 2018, but normally you should not need to run them manually.

Installation (Mac)

• Copy the .plugin-files to the Photoshop Plug-ins-folder. By default this is
• /Applications/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Plug-Ins
• Restart Photoshop if it was running.
• Double-click FT Pattern Suppressor v2.atn to install the actions.
  (You could also choose “Load Actions…” in your Actions Panel Menu).

The action set will be shown in your Actions Panel (can be found under Window > Actions).
The Plug-ins will be available under Filter > RONC 2018, but normally you should not need to run them manually.

Copyright

The filters were made by the Fourier transform guru Ron Chambers based on the original source code by Alex Chirikov. Mac plugins (and further optimization of Windows-plugins) was done by Francesco Pierfederici.
The actions were created by me, Jonas M. Rogne - a guy that has used Photoshop too much.
FFT library is from http://www.fftw.org/

Everything is free for personal and commercial use.
Detailed copyright/license information is in the Readme.pdf-file.


---

Changelog

v2.5 - Mac support

• With the expertise of Francesco Pierfederici, we now officially have Mac support! Place in plugins-folder. No dll needed.
• From now on we will also publish the Pattern Suppressor on the Adobe Exchange (with a bit delay due to Adobe's approval process). It is limited to CC, but for older versions like CS6 you can still use the manual install from ft.rognemedia.no.

v2 - Major update.

• Now supports color images!
• New naming scheme for plug-in files.
• Reworked the automatic suppression. It is now a lot more accurate.

v1 - First full release.

• Ron has re-written the plugins/filters, and the previous "white red channel" bug that happened with certain image sizes has been eliminated.
• Filters now work with 8, 16, and 32-bit files. 8-bit is not recommended though as the limited bit depth is insufficient for accurate results.
• Chain has created a new action set automating most of the process.
• The action set automatically suppresses bright spots in the red channel. A layer mask is used as you must then remove the suppression from the central star manually (that part cannot be fully automated).
• The actions perform Nyquist filtering as part of the process to avoid "moiré"-like artifacts and "hot" pixels.

To-do/feature requests/known issues

• Per-channel masking option? Is this needed?

---


I will update this main post with the latest versions when/if we make improvements to the actions/plugins.
Please try it out, and post your feedback below.
Here is a test file for you to download if you want to try it.
*
*
*

[Chain]

Thank you for the good feedback. CMYK support would be a bit tricky to implement (would likely need a dedicated action set), and there would be no real benefit (in testing the end results did not improve). If you have scanned a print image it would be scanned as RGB anyway (and you will - or rather should - be doing all the other image editing in this color mode). Converting that RGB data to CMYK can only degrade the image.

The original CMYK separations from when a color image was printed will not cleanly separate back into CMYK channels anyway (it's just not possible), so the theoretical benefit actually disappears as you end up with mixed patterns in the channels anyway.

[Andreas_Boger]

This is a very nice plug-in. Nevertheless, I'd like to suggest the Author to consider a colour version, witch could handle CMYK pictures as well (not only RGB). In per-channel mode this could proof beneficial for removing printing patterns, as the most printing processes are CMYK based. Even if the scan was processed in RGB mode, a CMYK separation should reveal the original CMYK channels.

[Chain]

The command “Filter” is not currently available

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Uf...ASBLEEHBwAliRp

When running any of the actions, this error message will occur if it cannot find one or more of the filters. This usually means you did not copy the filters to the correct folders, or you forgot to restart Photoshop after you did. Please verify that the plugins (filters) are in the correct folder for your version of Photoshop (and that you are using a 64-bit version of Photoshop that supports the filters).

If the filters are installed correctly, they should show up under Filter > RONC 2018.

[moonshadow0043]

Got it. The libffwx64_3-3.dll was not in the correct folder. I deleted the program and started over again. Now I'm getting this message: "The command filter is not currently available." Please pardon my NEWBIE errors in trying to learn this software. I thank you in advance for taking the time out of your busy schedule to assist me.

[Chain]

Katty: unlock issue was solved long ago. Are you unable to download?

Moonshadow: Could not complete the XXX. command because of a disk error

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dA...GqjtHOTIb_I8Ho

This misleading error message will show up on Windows if libfftwx64_3-3.dll is missing. This usually means you did not copy the file to the correct folder, or you forgot to restart Photoshop after you did. Note that “Ft2DS” in the above screenshot is the name of the filter it was trying to run at the time, and will be different depending on what action/filter you were running.

Please verify that libfftwx64_3-3.dll is in the correct folder for the correct version of Photoshop

[moonshadow0043]

I recently downloaded the FT Pattern Suppressor. I tried the program after downloading performing these tasks per the tutorial video >color 3d>normal suppression>play and on screen appeared this message: could not complete the ft3dh command because of a disc error. What do you recommend as a fix?

[Chain]

Great you got it working!

[Angela Swan]

Chain, yeah I did open Photoshop from the 64-bit folder.
Suddenly, I just thought of, maybe I need to update Adobe manager . I just updated it. Guess what? It worked, RONC 2018 appeared in my filter. Thank you so much for reaching out! And thank both you and Ronc for developing this amazing plugin. I can’t wait to try it out! I am so thankful!!! Angela

[Chain]

Make sure you actually start the 64-bit version of Photoshop and not the 32-bit version. You might be starting the wrong program.

[Angela Swan]

Thanks Chain for your fast response. I did paid special attentions two the two points you mentioned. I selected the Windows-plug-ins and made sure that the files were copied into 64-bit versions of photoshop. Maybe I will delete them all and try again.

[Chain]

For me it worked fine when I tested on CS5 (under Windows 10), so not sure what the issue is on your system (but it's clear that it's not seeing/loading the plugin files).

Make sure you are launching the correct version (if you have installed both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Photoshop, it could be that you accidentally are starting the 32-bit version without noticing). Also check that you copied the Windows-plugins (.8bf) and not the Mac-plugins (.plugin).

[Angela Swan]

typo. I mean Photoshop CS5.1

[Angela Swan]

Hi Chain and Ronc,
I have photoshop CS5.1 running on window 10. I regetsered last night, watched your tutorial video then downloaded Pattern Suppressor V2.5zip today.

• Copied dll-file in: C:\Program Files\Adobe\ Photoshop CS5.1 (64 Bit)\
• Copied the six plugin-files into: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS5.1 (64 Bit)\Plug-ins\Filters\
• Start Photoshop.
• Opened a file with repeated patterns.
• Load actions.

I check the photoshop, Filter/RONC 2018 was not there. When I play the 1st step of the actions, "The command Filter is not currently available" appeared. I clicked continue, the actions run ran thru, but didn't show image of any stars and the two lines. I restarted my computer, checked Program files, all the files were in the right place, but when I open Photoshop, still couldn't see Filter/RONC 2018.
Is it because Pattern suppressor doesn't work on SC5.1 or I did something wrong? What shall I try next? Thanks!
Angela Swan

[Chain]

As Ron said; it is for Photoshop only.

It is not compatible with any other image editor. So you can not use it in Paintshop Pro.