How to clean up photo?

Asked By 140 points N/A Posted on -
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I have old pictures which I scanned and found out, that there is a lot of dirt and dust particles on it.

How can I erase these dirt and make them undetectable?

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Answered By 5 points N/A #91407

How to clean up photo?

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Hi Abu Sabaya,

There are various ways to retouch images taken from old photos. Let’s tackle several ways to do so. In the end, you will have to decide which method works best for you.

  1. Select any image file that you want cleaned up.
  2. Use the “Clone Stamp Tool” by holding “ALT” while selecting an area without “dirt” that is close enough to the “dirty”spot     you want to clean up.
  3. Click on target without dirt, let go of “ALT”, then click over the “dirty spot”. This should replace the dirty spot and clean it with the unblemished spot you “ALT” clicked.
  4. Use the zoom-in tool to further edit other problem areas until you are satisfied with the result.
  5. After you have removed them, you need to duplicate the layer you worked on by going to “Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur”.
  6. Blur the “Layer” with a typical value of 0.5-0.6 (Feel free to play around with the setting).
  7. You can lower the opacity of the layer by right clicking on the “Layer” and selecting blending options on the “Layer Style” dialog box.
  8. Create an adjustment layer by choosing “Selective Color” and proceed to mix the color settings to match the tone you desire.
  9. Done.
  • Using the open source equivalent GNU Image Manipulation Program, more commonly known as "The Gimp" http://www.gimp.org to the Linux community you can use the same “Clone Tool”. Here’s how to do it.
  1. Click on the “Clone” Tool icon that looks like a stamp pad.
  2. Hold “CTRL” while selecting a blemish free area by clicking once.
  3. Release “CTRL”.
  4. Now use the copied blemish free area to click over dirty spots that need cleaning.
  5. You can customize “Clone” options in many ways like brush size, opacity, mode and scale to better suit your taste.
  6. That’s it!
  • Download Photoscape, a free photo editor with a very simple interface for retouching images. To clean up photos using this app do the following:
  1. Run Photoscape and click on the “Editor” tab
  2. Load an image from the navigator to the left.
  3. Select the “Tools” tab
  4. Click on “Clone Stamp”
  5. Double click the area you want cloned and click it over the area you want cleaned.
  6. Done!
  • Google has its own image editor called Picasa. Picasa is unique in such a way that it organizes your photos into an album and sorts them by date, viewable via timeline. Just edit photos via “Basic Features” where you can crop, straighten, fix redeye, change contrast and color, and retouch. There is no need for immersion with this app because the learning curve is so elementary.
  • Windows, not to be left out has its own share of image editors that you can test out as well. One is the old reliable “Paint” which does not need any introduction anymore as it has some of the basic functions needed to edit images in various formats. The new Paint on Windows 7 sports a new interface and better usability. The other one is Windows Live Photo Gallery which is part of Windows Live Essentials 2011 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/18614/windows-essentials. The application not only organizes your photos into albums but also adds the capacity to edit them. Just run the app, double click on any photo you have, choose retouch and commence with editing. Just as simple as that.
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Answered By 0 points N/A #91409

How to clean up photo?

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You can delete easily by using the spot healing tool.

This tool is specifically useful in cleaning images from dirt and dust. Simply select the Spot healing tool and click it to the dirt  or dust.

To make it look good even better, try to resize the brush size to a little bit bigger than the dirt.

Usually if the brush size is bigger, it tends to make the result noticeable as they includes large area from its surrounding area.

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Answered By 0 points N/A #91410

How to clean up photo?

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Use the Clone Stamp Tool while selecting an area that is close enough to the dirty spot you want to clean up.

Click on target , let go of  ALT, then click over the spot.

This should replace the spot and clean it with the area you  ALT clicked.

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Answered By 140 points N/A #91411

How to clean up photo?

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Okay. I have tried it already.

Sometimes it looks clear that you added a new  change.

How can I fix this?

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Answered By 0 points N/A #91412

How to clean up photo?

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You can change the opacity of the clone tool.

Lessen the opacity to your liking and also try to select the source of your clone tool similar to what you intend the result will be.

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Answered By 0 points N/A #91413

How to clean up photo?

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Cloning to another layer can help, this in order to make the new dots to be editable.

Like changing its blending option, opacity as well as levels.

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Answered By 140 points N/A #91414

How to clean up photo?

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Thanks a lot you guys.

These really help!

I am very excited to try these new tips you gave me!

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Answered By 0 points N/A #91415

How to clean up photo?

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Good day to you Abu Sabaya,

I have been using Adobe Photoshop for 5 years and I encounter a lot of job by cleaning up of old/new photos. So here's what I do,  if the photo is too much old, I use the brush tool, but be careful some brushes has different boldness and lightness when using it. You better first take a good look at the photo, if it's too light adjust the brightness to low, if the photo is too dark you adjust it high, in this case you will clearly see what you need to repair or not to be repaired.

After that you start using the brush tool, using the correct color of the original image that you've been repairing, to get the exact color of the image use the "eye dropper tool", this tool can replicate any kind of color that you wanted to use by not setting the RGB/CYMK color setting.

After you've done doing that, it's time to go back to the brush tool, when you see the spot you wanted to be remove use the brush with the correct color to the correct position nice and easy click on the mouse to paint it from a new layer, remember the original image shouldn't be touched, you have to do the editing from another layer or to the duplicate of the original image .

Or you can also hold down the mouse button and stroke slowly up or down, after you done this repainting or the damage spot, to be more look natural try adjusting the "opacity" of the layer where you paint the brush, this will give you more natural looking look of the paint color.

You can also use the "dodge and burn tool" to darken or lighten the paint color you've made, it can also make a shadow effect for the angles or shaded part of the image if you want to take it to next step to be more realistic.

Lastly the "clone stamp tool", this tool has the power to clone any part of the image where you point, just hold "Ctrl" and hover the mouse where the part of the image you want to copy, then press the button to part you wanted it to be copied and there you go,    just make sure the to lower the density and the size of the clone stamp by clicking the right mouse button to the layer of your image.

Just make sure you're having fun trying my technique to have good results.

Cheers and Good Luck.                          

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Answered By points N/A #91416

How to clean up photo?

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There are various ways of retouching images.

Among those, I will tell you about one of them, which is Adobe Photoshop.

Follow this process:

1. Open the image file you wish to correct in Photoshop Elements by clicking the "File" menu and choosing "Open." Find the image file in the navigator window, click it, and then press "Open."

2. Copy the "Background" layer by dragging the layer in the layer pane to the "Create a new layer" button. This will duplicate the image so that there are two layers with the same image. The top layer will be automatically named "Background copy."

3. Click on the bottom “Background layer.”

4. Access the "Filter" menu and choose "Noise" and then "Dust and Scratches." Move the Radius slider to the right until the dust spots disappear. Do not be anxious about the effects on the rest of the image at this stage. Click "OK."

5. Click on the top layer to make it the active layer.

6. Choose the "Eraser" tool and set the "Hardness" to "0" percent. Drag your cursor over the areas of your image that has dust particles. This will erase the top, dusty layer and let the bottom, corrected layer show through.

7. Merge the layers by clicking on the "Merge" option from the "Layers" menu.

That's all.

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