help with correcting color runs

"Doug Smith" wrote in message

I have a bunch of slides from Nepal which were the victim of bad film processing. I have a Nikon slide scanner for digitizing these slides and now I need some help with techniques I can use to correct the color problems.

I’ve posted an example of one of my slides which clearly shows the problem:
http://www.dryfly.ca/public/TN1-35.jpg

I have played with the clone and smudge tools. Are there other tools I should try using? Are there any specific tips or suggestions in using the clone or smudge tools?

Doug,

Clone OK Smudge no!

http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1nwGbuW9kKZ4YPeYNG 2gk9A7hsAsQA1

What version of PS are you using? These defects on a relatively uniform background are what the Patch tool was made for (CS2)
If you haven’t got CS2 the Clone tool is OK as would be the Healing Brush. They look like they are caused by "cockling" of the transparency within the mount. Is it not possible to scan them flat?

HTH
MH

Wow Mike, that’s incredible!

Did you use the patch tool for that?
I’ve tried using the stamp tool, but found it to be difficult for filling in such large areas. And when I increase the size of the stamp, I start to transfer tones and colors that don’t match the target.

I have PS 7 at home. I think we have CS at work, but I haven’t checked yet. I don’t usually work with PS at work. Money is kind of tight, so upgrading may not happen (I guess I should check the costs). Maybe I’ll also see if elements has this patch tool.

cheers,
Doug

I downloaded and installed Elements 5, and it comes with a spot healing tool. This tool came up when I used the Adobe help searching for "patch".

The spot healing tool works okay, but I haven’t gotten great results yet. With the way I’ve been using the tool, the color and tone seems to get corrected by the texture of the sky is completely flattened. dunno if my explanation makes sense… any tips on how to use this tool for my issue? I’ve tried using large tool sizes and clicking on spots. As well, I’ve used smaller tool sizes and dragged the tool across the areas to be fixed. FWIW, I’m working on a much higher resolution of the photo I posted (4200×2870).

thanks

Okay, dumb me. PS 7 has the patch tool. I’m not sure why I didn’t look there before, I’ve used the heal tool a fair bit.

Okay, so when using the patch tool… when I select the blue sky that is next to the black border and drag the source to the destination, the result is a lot of bleeding from the black border into the sky. The same goes with the clouds. How do I avoid this? Any other tips?

thanks

"Doug Smith" wrote in message

Okay, dumb me. PS 7 has the patch tool. I’m not sure why I didn’t look there before, I’ve used the heal tool a fair bit.

Okay, so when using the patch tool… when I select the blue sky that is next to the black border and drag the source to the destination, the result
is a lot of bleeding from the black border into the sky. The same goes with the clouds. How do I avoid this? Any other tips?

thanks

Doug,
You need to be careful working close to areas of different colours especially around the edge of the image where the borders lurk. (Comes with practice)
One way to avoid this would be to crop the border out as I did on your original. (You can always put it in again with Ctrl A, then Edit>Stroke and pick your colour and pixel width)
You could also try including the border in your selection and dragging along the line of the border to remove any imperfections against the border, then you can drop below and repatch.
If none of the above is practical, you can zoom in close and create a "fire break" with the clone tool.
Again, with clouds, you zoom in close and use the clone tool to give you an edge you can patch from. What you must not do is create patterns, so continually sample from different parts of the sky/clouds and try varying the softness and opacity of the clone tool, this will allow the underlying textures to show through.
There is no one technique for correcting this sort of problem, as always it tends to require a combination of tools and a little practice.

Have fun 😉

Mike H

Thanks Mike.
So maybe it’s also a good idea to try and patch smaller areas separately, varying where the source areas?

"Mike Hyndman" <tell me yours and I’ll send > wrote in news:ek1493$545$1$:

"Doug Smith" wrote in message

Okay, dumb me. PS 7 has the patch tool. I’m not sure why I didn’t look there before, I’ve used the heal tool a fair bit.

Okay, so when using the patch tool… when I select the blue sky that is next to the black border and drag the source to the destination, the result
is a lot of bleeding from the black border into the sky. The same goes with the clouds. How do I avoid this? Any other tips?
thanks

Doug,
You need to be careful working close to areas of different colours especially around the edge of the image where the borders lurk. (Comes with practice)
One way to avoid this would be to crop the border out as I did on your original. (You can always put it in again with Ctrl A, then Edit>Stroke and pick your colour and pixel width)
You could also try including the border in your selection and dragging along the line of the border to remove any imperfections against the border, then you can drop below and repatch.
If none of the above is practical, you can zoom in close and create a "fire break" with the clone tool.
Again, with clouds, you zoom in close and use the clone tool to give you an edge you can patch from. What you must not do is create patterns, so continually sample from different parts of the sky/clouds and try varying the softness and opacity of the clone tool, this will allow the underlying textures to show through.
There is no one technique for correcting this sort of problem, as always it tends to require a combination of tools and a little practice.

Have fun 😉

Mike H

"Doug Smith" wrote in message

Thanks Mike.
So maybe it’s also a good idea to try and patch smaller areas separately, varying where the source areas?

Doug,

There will be no one size fits all technique, it will depend on the uniformity of the area to be corrected. If there is a lot of detail in the problem area, then small sampling with the clone or patch tool should be less noticable than if using a larger sample area. (This is not set in concrete though, you would need to try it out for yourself) In the example I corrected it was very easy just to select large areas because of the uniformity of the sky texture and colour. I drew a selection that included the line of colour change and swapped this area for a good blue part. This had the effect of softening the transition between the good and problem areas, it is then just a matter of selecting and replacing until you have made your corrections.
In the example you posted, it wouldn’t have been too difficult to have removed the sky completey and replace it with another one, it’s all about making the right selections. (Like a lot of things in life;)) Or, you could have a "good" sky as your backround layer, then drag the image to be repaired on top of this layer, which will hide the sky layer, then apply a layer mask. It is then just a matter of painting with black or white onto the mask to hide/reveal the parts you need from the underlying layer. The beauty of this method is that it is non destructive, you are not losing or changing pixels in you original images, you are selectively altering the transparency of the mask.

Regards

Mike H

"Mike Hyndman" <tell me yours and I’ll send > wrote in news:ek1493$545$1$:

"Doug Smith" wrote in message

Okay, dumb me. PS 7 has the patch tool. I’m not sure why I didn’t look there before, I’ve used the heal tool a fair bit.

Okay, so when using the patch tool… when I select the blue sky that is next to the black border and drag the source to the destination, the result
is a lot of bleeding from the black border into the sky. The same goes with the clouds. How do I avoid this? Any other tips?
thanks

Doug,
You need to be careful working close to areas of different colours especially around the edge of the image where the borders lurk. (Comes with practice)
One way to avoid this would be to crop the border out as I did on your original. (You can always put it in again with Ctrl A, then Edit>Stroke and pick your colour and pixel width)
You could also try including the border in your selection and dragging along the line of the border to remove any imperfections against the border, then you can drop below and repatch.
If none of the above is practical, you can zoom in close and create a "fire break" with the clone tool.
Again, with clouds, you zoom in close and use the clone tool to give you an edge you can patch from. What you must not do is create patterns, so continually sample from different parts of the sky/clouds and try varying the softness and opacity of the clone tool, this will allow the underlying textures to show through.
There is no one technique for correcting this sort of problem, as always it tends to require a combination of tools and a little practice.

Have fun 😉

Mike H

Thanks again Mike.

"Doug Smith" wrote in message

Thanks again Mike.

Most welcome Doug,

Regards

Mike H