Preserved Topic: photo retouching - some decent tips!

maybe this shoudl go in the FAQ too.... but for now, i'll put this here, and you guys can tell me what you think of these tips.

quote:

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If you ever find a scratch on your image, make a generic selection of
that area and apply one of the following filters: For a scratch that
is darker than its surroundings, try Filter>Other>Maximum (this
sometimes also works for stubble on someone's face). For one that is
brighter than its surroundings, try Filter>Other>Minimum.

If you have any specks on your image, first try
Filter>Noise>Despeckle. It's that's not aggressive enough, then fry
Filter>Noise>Median.

If you feel like using the Dust and Scratches Filter, then start with
the Radius and Threshold settings at their lowest settings. The
general idea is to increase the Radius until you find the lowest
setting that will rid your image of the dust or scratches. But since
that makes you're whole image look blurry, you'll want to bring the
Threshold setting way up and then slowly lower it until you find the
highest setting that still gets rid of the dust and scratches in your
image. The only problem is that this filter has the nasty tendency of
thinking that eyelashes and other important content are scratches. So,
right after you apply that filter, go back with the History brush
(it's right below the paintbrush tool) and paint back any important
detail that Dust and Scratches screwed up.

If the Dodge and Burn tools don't quite work the way you'd like them
to, then try this instead: Create a new layer, change the pop-up menu
at the top of the Layers palette from normal to Color Dodge or Color
Burn and then paint with a shade of gray. Color Dodge will brighten
your image, while Color Burn will darken it.

If you ever encounter a color moire pattern when scanning patterned
fabrics, try choosing Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and use a setting high
enough to blend the majority of the moire pattern into the image
(don't worry if the image looks overly blurry). Then, to get that to
just affect the colors, choose Edit>Fade Gaussian Blur and set the
pop-up menu to Color. Since the majority of the detail is held in the
brightness of the image, that should make the moire blend in while
preserving most of the detail. If there are still a few areas where
the moire shows up, then grab the Paintbrush tool and set its blending
mode to color. Then, Option-click (Mac), or Alt-click (Win) on an area
that does not contain the moire pattern and is representative of what
the area with the moire should look like and then paint over the moire
pattern. If the moire is more of a brightness change instead of a
color one, then you'd have to go through a more involved process that
includes copying a channel, adjusting it, and then turning that into a
selection and using it to adjust your image. But that's something I'd
cover in my new CD series, if someone were to send me a good example
image (hint hint... check out www.digitalmastery.com/submit for
details).

Finally, if you ever select an area and blur it to make it look out of
focus, you might want to take steps to insure that that area doesn't
look posterized when you print it. I usually just choose
Filter>Noise>Add Noise, set the Amount to 3, the Distribute to
Gaussian and turn on the Monochromatic checkbox. The most important
setting is the amount, the other two do rather subtle things when you
have the amount set that low, so don't stress if you don't remember
every setting that I use.

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tips from Ben Willmore of digitalmastery.com

All good tips, restima ( and Ben ). I keep forgetting the *Fade Gaussian Blur>> set to color mode* thing.
I`ve been getting Mr Willmores tips via email for a while now. Always good stuff.

bob: r - e - i - t - s - m - a.

FAQ it JAQ! Good stuff =)



[This message has been edited by NoJive (edited 04-03-2003).]

Oh. You mean it`s spelled just like in your sig ? Go figure.

Sorry.

Thanks Adam, I've added this into the :FAQ:

Oh... and DB...
We still love ya...
Have a cookie:


=D

They black pill cookies ?

Thanx for those great tips !
... but I must say that Dust and Scratch filter is crappy ...
...we can use clone, healing, patch tools instead ...
They can actually fix scratches and dust problems without the side-effects that Dust &Scratch filter use to bring on ... (unless you really don't care about detail ...)

Regards,

GruvWiz

I must say that the Dust and Scratches filter is just another tool, and has it`s place.

I must also say that Ben Willmore is one of the most knowledgeable people on the planet when it comes to Photoshop. It would be a good thing to learn from him.

I must say (heh) dust & scratches has a place of honor in my tool box. We do a lot of business portraits agains a gray background. A fingerprint on a negative can scan roughly like those shots of the Milky Way galaxy. Incredibly tedious to spot with the clone tool, but there is film grain you don't want to blur or smear. The trick to the dust and scratches filter is tweaking the threshold and radius settings until the spots are gone but the grain remains. since that takes some time, it's easier to use the clone tool for a spot here or there, but when you've got an area tha looks like the salt shaker spilled - dust and scratches is well worth the small set up time. Lasso the area roughly, play with the settings until the spots are gone but the base texture remains, and move on!

Ben is right about parts of the image with detail. Dust and Scratches can't distinguish between dust and an eyelash. I usually only use it on areas that don't have much important detail. Even so - it can save a lot of time.