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Newb needing help with lines...


T

Tanksta

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This is a crop of my problem area. There is a fine crack in photo and these lines appear
when I scan it. I have tried several methods and am unable to remove them without losing
the facial features and details. What should I do? This line goes all the way across the photo, but this is
the only place where it has to be removed perfectly. Thanks...Tank



WhiteLines (2).jpg
 
A lot of clone tool...if you have cs5 or cs6 content aware could save some big time
 
I find the patch tool be be quite useful for tasks like this. It combines the specificity of the clone (aka, "stamp") tool with the automated blending features of the content aware fill tool, without running into the lack of control when using content-aware fill.

The big hint is -- don't attempt to patch the line all at once -- do it in sections.

T
 
As Spruce said, the tricky part is bringing some detail back into the face without making the grain / noise worse.

Since Spruce did such a nice job on getting rid of the crease, I thought I'd see what I could do with the rest of the face. I applied (in sequence):

Neat Image - to start to reduce the overall noise level

Polaroid Dust and Scratches - one pass to get rid of the worst of the smaller bright spots, another pass to get rid of the worst of the dark spots.

Patch & Spot Healing tools - for the remaining spots

Focus Magic - r = 20 (max), "grainy" setting to bring back some detail - masked out the large crease.

Dark gray-blue brush on color mode to give the irises some blue.

Burn tool to give his pupils some definition.

and here's what I got...


T


PS - Spruce, I'm curious to see how you approached this.
 

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  • WhiteLines(2)-01_acr-ps01a-neat_image-focus_magic-polaroid_dust-01_650px_hi.jpg
    WhiteLines(2)-01_acr-ps01a-neat_image-focus_magic-polaroid_dust-01_650px_hi.jpg
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Tom Mann said:
I find the patch tool be be quite useful for tasks like this. It combines the specificity of the clone (aka, "stamp") tool with the automated blending features of the content aware fill tool, without running into the lack of control when using content-aware fill.

The big hint is -- don't attempt to patch the line all at once -- do it in sections.

T
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info Tom. The patch tool is awesome. I had to play with it in different modes and am pleased with my results. Here is what I came up with. I also used a bit of the mix tool and clone tool. Thank everyone...I am learning!

WhiteLines (2).jpg
 
Thank you! I really appreciate the input and direction. I am more of a "mess with something until I figure it out person"...but Photoshop has so much stuff that I would never figure everything out.

Tom, I see you use the Polaroid DSR program. I had actually found it a while back and have been playing with it also.
Are there any "optimum" settings for using it? I have played with the different levels and controls and haven't been able to deteremine if I am overdoing it or not.
 
Tank, unfortunately, I don't have any specific advice to give on settings for that tool. I basically adjust it till it does a good job. About the only thing I would say, however, is don't expect too much from any of the NR tools. Often, the best thing is to work on spots in categories such as bright spots, dark spots, tiny bright spots, tiny dark spots, etc. Each will have different optimal settings.

Also, I almost always fix each set of spots on a separate layer with an initial all-black layer mask. I then can quickly put a white spot on the layer mask wherever I need to remove a spot. This ensures that there is no overall degradation of the image from the an aggressively applied NR program.

T
 
Last edited:
Yes, Neat Image is a *really* good NR package. It even does a reasonable job of reducing repetitive patterns such as half-tone dots, paper textures, etc.

I have quite a few NR packages installed and able to be used at a moment's notice on my system. In decreasing order of my use of them, they are:
The NR algorithm built into ACR and LR (which have gotten much better in recent versions of PS)
Neat Image
Topaz de-Noise
PS's Dust and Scratches
the Polaroid D&S program (for larger flaws)
Topaz Clean (not really a NR package, but occasionally it will do things none of the others will do).
The half-tone and NR software built in to my scanner software.


Also installed on my system is NR software from Power Retouche Pro, Medhi, and couple of others (that I can't remember at the moment), but they don't see much use.

I had several other NR packages installed (eg, Noiseware from Imaginomics, Noise Ninja, Softwhile's DeNoise), but they didn't make it through hardware and PS upgrades, and, to be honest, I don't really miss them as the ones on the above list do almost everything I need.

In the interest of full disclosure, it's been several years since I've had Noiseware and Noise Ninja on my system, so I really should go back and compare them to the other programs. I know a lot of other photographers swear by them.

Tom M
 
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