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MarianoHonradoJr
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Making a snapshot as the clone source

Jun 20, 2012 1:15 AM

I'm struggling in Photoshop with a large number of scanned B/W photos from the '50s and '60s with wide areas of dust and scratches. Dreading the prospect of tedious cloning or healing, I googled for "Dustbusting 101 in Photoshop". One of the most promising, workable solutions is the following advice:

"To get rid of the dust and scratches here is what you have to do. Make a copy of the background layer, select this layer, go to FILTER > NOISE > DUST & SCRATCHES. Set the Threshold to 0 and increase the radius setting until most of the scratches and dust disappear. Add some noise to this layer so that it closely matches your original image. Use this layer to "paint" in the dust and scratches, to do this make sure this background copy is still selected, go to EDIT > TAKE SNAPSHOT. Then select the original background and turn off the background copy layer. Click on the cloning tool and in the options box choose FROM SNAPSHOT. If the dust or scratches are light use the DARKEN MODE for the cloning tool (this will only fill in the light areas and will not affect the other areas of the image). If the dust or scratches are dark use the LIGHTEN MODE for the cloning tool and go over these areas. For this technique you should use a small brush size, although it is tempting to rush through it using a large brush."

 

I am stymied when I get to the part which says: "... Click on the cloning tool and in the options box choose FROM SNAPSHOT. ..." Can somebody help how to make the snapshot as the clone source? Am I (or the above) missing something? I work in PS CS5.

 

Many thanx for your time.

Mariano L. Honrado, Jr.

492 Views   8 Replies   Latest reply: MarianoHonradoJr, Jun 20, 2012 4:05 PM
 
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  • Mylenium
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    1. Mylenium,
    Jun 20, 2012 1:33 AM   in reply to MarianoHonradoJr
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    That's a somewhat odd description of the history brush functionality, if I'm not mistaken...

     

    Mylenium

     
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  • PECourtejoie
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    Jan 11, 2006
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    2. PECourtejoie,
    Jun 20, 2012 2:13 AM   in reply to MarianoHonradoJr
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    Hello, it might be instructions from long time ago. (I just looked, and there is no from snapshot option in CS3)

    Indeed, the history brush might be a good alternative. (just below the paintbrush, and make sure that you put the source for the history brush next to your sharpened snapshot)

    Another option: in the clone source panel, you can also clone from another animation frame, using animation frames as an alternate history.

     
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  • MarianoHonradoJr
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    3. MarianoHonradoJr,
    Jun 20, 2012 2:32 AM   in reply to Mylenium
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    I believe you're right about the 'old' part. I revisited my source and it mentioned Photoshop 5.   But would the history brush works on a layer that had NOT previously been edited? I do thank you for your thoughts.

     

    Message was edited by: MarianoHonradoJr

     
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  • PECourtejoie
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    4. PECourtejoie,
    Jun 20, 2012 3:06 AM   in reply to MarianoHonradoJr
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    If you have two layers, sharpen one of them, use it as the Clone Stamp Tool source (ALT+click it), switch to the untouched layer (you can hide the top sharpened layer if you want), and simply clone in the changes.

     
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  • R_Kelly
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    5. R_Kelly,
    Jun 20, 2012 3:50 AM   in reply to MarianoHonradoJr
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    I have a pdf from years ago, i guess around the time of photoshop 4 where i think it was Russell Brown that did those exact steps as you described.

    So i think photoshop 4 was the last version because the history palette came out in photoshop 5.

     

    Anyway one way besides the history brush might be to make a pattern of the layer (Edit>Define Pattern) and then use the Pattern Stamp Tool to replicate your instructions.

    The pattern stamp tool would be the step of cloning from a snapshot.

     
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  • MarianoHonradoJr
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    6. MarianoHonradoJr,
    Jun 20, 2012 5:33 AM   in reply to R_Kelly
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    Inspired by your replies, gentlemen, I have decided to write my own workflow to remove dust and scratches from wide areas, e.g., cloudy/bright sky, walls, open fields, and the like in a scanned photo without having to click on every single tiny speck. I wouldn't apply it on faces or patterned portions of an image.

     

    1) Open the file and apply the Dust & Scratches filter. Start with a radius of 3 and threshold at 0. Increase radius until most specks and scratches are minimized; increase threshold to recover from excessive blurring. You may have to go back and forth with the two parameters to optimize setting.

     

    2) On the history panel take a snapshot and designate the snapshot as the history brush source by clicking on the check box beside the snapshot.

     

    3) UNDO the dust & scratches filter, EDIT > UNDO dust & scratches filter. This is important to return the layer to its original state of sharpness and, of course, shows up the original dust specks and scratches.

     

    4) Select the history brush and set its blending mode to lighten (or darken if the specks/scratches are light). Use a smallish brush size with a soft edge. PAINT away the specks and scratches and save under a different filename!

     

    I'm a novice at this so please be kind, however, I would welcome a critique before I record this as an action. Many thanx for your thoughts!

     
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  • PECourtejoie
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    Jan 11, 2006
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    7. PECourtejoie,
    Jun 20, 2012 7:31 AM   in reply to MarianoHonradoJr
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    It's a solution.

    Some would duplicate the layer, run D&S, change its blending mode to lighten, add a mask all layer mask (ALT+click the layer mask icon), and then paint in the D&S with a white brush. (so that blending mode can be adjusted after the facts, opacity, etc.

    But usually, one does not want to go remove such adjustment, so "baking in"  the changes in the image could be a usable workflow.

     
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  • MarianoHonradoJr
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    8. MarianoHonradoJr,
    Jun 20, 2012 4:05 PM   in reply to PECourtejoie
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    PECourtejoie, R. Kelly, Mylenium: From Manila, Philippines, thank you very much or, maraming salamat po.

     
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