Dust spotting scans

[Michael Graves]

"That's Why God Made the Radio."

I prefer the manual turntable while I do something tedious like spotting. It forces me to get up and stretch while turning the LP over.

[mandoman7]

The spot healing brush is a wonderful tool, used in concert with the stamp thing. If there's major spotting needed. there's a technique where you create a slightly blurred, spot free layer that's under a sharp layer and you can apply the history eraser to selected areas then in a much looser and quicker fashion than with the other 2 tools mentioned.

[SergeiR]

The spot healing brush is a wonderful tool, used in concert with the stamp thing. If there's major spotting needed. there's a technique where you create a slightly blurred, spot free layer that's under a sharp layer and you can apply the history eraser to selected areas then in a much looser and quicker fashion than with the other 2 tools mentioned.

Unfortunately it kills grain structure and gradients.

[SergeiR]

PS: when i am spotting, it depends on subject and needs.

I will check corners first, b/c thats where most of issues are , then move to main subject. Zoom will go from about 27% to 70% to 100% when retouching will be involved (24 inch monitor, 8x10 scan at 2400 dpi, or 4x5 at 3200.. Dont even want to do anything higher, as photoshop wont handle it - i use 16 bit gray DNG for all the scans (except for colour of course), and at about 2G ACR cant recognize it anymore.. 6400dpi of b&w produces 4.2G file btw, if anyone curious).


I keep hoping that infrared cleaning would help, but reality is harsh mistress..

[Peter De Smidt]

Unfortunately it kills grain structure and gradients.

Yeah, I've tried a number of the "quicker" methods than the spot healing brush and clone tool, but I've not found one that does a good job with grain. Mind you, I only print 16x20 and smaller, and so I'm probably just kidding myself by spotting at 100%.

[Kirk Gittings]

Yeah, I've tried a number of the "quicker" methods than the spot healing brush and clone tool, but I've not found one that does a good job with grain.

Ditto

[mandoman7]

Unfortunately it kills grain structure and gradients.

Agreed, all of the broadly applied treatments will compromise your image quality. The method I'm talking about (and don't use that often, really) allows spot specific treatment a little more quickly than the healing brush, that's all. The user selects the where softness is applied and the broadness. Basically, however, this thread is a testament to the importance of clean negs and scans.

[Lenny Eiger]

Kirk,

I doubt that for a reasonable size print, 20x30 or so that you would see the spots at larger than 50%. I usually spot at 66% for all my scan clients - this is a free part of the service. I am guilty of doing the 100% for my best images, or things that will go to 32x40 and larger.

Hope this helps,

Lenny

[Zaitz]

For images I will print I do:
Duplicate the image
Filter - noise - dust and scratches
Open the history window - click the history brush icon next to dust & scratches and then click back on the original layer.
Now just go through using the history brush in either darken or lighten mode depending on if the spots are dark or light.

Here is a terrible example from small sand and dust that got in my holder. As you can see I am quite good at keeping my holders spotless.......

File (after editing):


@ 75% before:


After:


Obviously not a quick method but very accurate and nearly flawless.

[bob carnie]

How does this method work on sharp objects, any softening effect???
the example you show is on soft sky and I will use a somewhat same method for out of focus areas of the image but not areas that are to be tack sharp..

For images I will print I do:
Duplicate the image
Filter - noise - dust and scratches
Open the history window - click the history brush icon next to dust & scratches and then click back on the original layer.
Now just go through using the history brush in either darken or lighten mode depending on if the spots are dark or light.

Here is a terrible example from small sand and dust that got in my holder. As you can see I am quite good at keeping my holders spotless.......

File (after editing):


@ 75% before:


After:


Obviously not a quick method but very accurate and nearly flawless.