Section 92. Repair Scratches Manually

92. Repair Scratches Manually

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

90 About Removing Scratches, Specks, and Holes

SEE ALSO

91 Remove Scratches Automatically

94 Repair Holes and Tears

When a photograph contains large scratches or tears, you can remove them quickly using the Scratch Remover tool. You use this tool to trace all or part of a scratch or tearif the tear isn't straight, you might have to apply the tool several times in small sections. As you drag with the tool on the image, you'll see a small rectangle bordered by two "gutters"; the pixels inside the two gutters are used to calculate the color of the pixels that will replace those inside the rectangle, covering up the tear. Proper placement of the rectangle and its two gutters is critical to achieving success. It'll be easier if you zoom in so that you can see the edges of the defect completely, and then drag as narrow a rectangle as possible around the tear so that fewer good pixels are "caught" within its boundaries and replaced .

92. Repair Scratches Manually

The Scratch Remover tool offers a choice of two tool tips: a rectangle with 90-degree corners, and a flattened hexagon. Use the pointy-ended hexagon when removing scratches close to the edge of some other object; doing so enables you to get in close without actually capturing any of that neighboring object's pixels.

TIP

The Scratch Remover tool works by copying colors from surrounding pixels and applying them to the defect area in a random pattern. As a result, this tool works best on areas that are smooth, with no background pattern or texture. If the background of your image is not smooth, use the Clone Brush tool to remove the scratches instead.

1.	Select Scratch Removal Tool Select the Scratch Removal tool on the Tools toolbar. NOTE The Scratch Removal tool works only on single-layer images. If you've just scanned in or imported a digital photo, it should have only one layer, so the tool will work just fine. If the image contains more than one layer, however, you must flatten it first or use the Clone Brush tool.
2.	Choose a Brush Tip On the Tool Options palette, click the brush tip you want to use. When working near the boundary of another object, select the pointy-ended tip; otherwise , choose the tip with square corners.
3.	Set Width Set the Width to a value just greater than the width of the scratch or tear you're trying to remove. The idea is to capture a few good pixels on either side of the tear to create a good sample, but not so many that the sample becomes distorted . If you're not sure what Width to set, select the scratch first with the rect-angle Selection tool and judge its size using the coordinates shown on the status bar.
4.	Drag Over Defect Click just above the beginning of the tear and drag down so that the "gutters" capture pixels on either side of the tear. Don't let the tear itself fall into the gutter (keep it within the rectangle), or the result will make the tear look bigger. TIP If a tear meanders like a fickle snake throughout your image, you do not have to try to capture the entire tear with one motion. Instead, divide a large tear into smaller repair sections, and sew up the tear one section at a time.
5.	View the Result As you can see, the Scratch Remover tool easily removes the scratch, leaving a natural-colored patch. By repeating this process in an image, all the scratches and tears can be easily removed. Sometimes, even when you adjust the Width correctly, because of nearby dust specks or a faded background, the Scratch Remover continues to create a bad-looking repair. In such a case, try a different tool such as the Clone Brush .