Dust and
Scratches
QUICKLYCLEANSMOOTHSURFACES
INADOBEPHOTOSHOPWITHTHIS
NIFTYANDSIMPLEEDITINGTRICK...T
HEREARESEVERALways to remove
dust, scratches and blemishes from
images whether it be a dusty product,
an old scratched black & white photo, or a
marred surface. Some approaches work
better than others – for example, the Patch
Tool is ideal for fixing specific spots without
sacrificing texture, whereas using frequency
separation suits editing skin blemishes best.
When it comes to tidying up plain, untextured
or low-texture surfaces quickly, however, the
Dust & Scratches filter is a very handy trick to
keep up your sleeve...Adobe Photoshop CC
44 Digital SLR Photography Ma y 2019
ORIGINAL EDITED1
CREATEA S M A RT OBJECT Open your image
in Photoshopandstartbycreatinga
duplicateof yourimagelayerbygoingto
Layer>DuplicateLayer. Convertthisnewlayer
toa SmartObjectbygoingtoFilter>Convert
forSmartFilters. This will allow you to adjust
thefiltersettingsonthisat anystageduring
theprocess.Next,addtheDust& Scratches
filter(Filter>Noise>Dust& Scratches).3
MASKTHELAYERThe Dust & Scratches filter
will be applied, but you’ll notice that the
imagenowlacksdetail– weneedtoadd
a layermasktohidetheeffectfromallbut
theplain,dustysurfaces.GotoLayer>Layer
Mask>HideAllandthenselecttheBrushTool,
settheSoftRoundbrushat100% opacity.
With White set as your colour, begin brushing
over areas of dust to tidy up.5
USETHEPATCH TOOLIt'stimetotackleany
remainingdust.Right-clickonyour
duplicatelayerandgotoRasterizeLayer.
Then,selectthePatchToolanduseit to
circle, drag and remove any remaining dust.
The Patch Tool also works well for dust on
textured surfaces – make sure that you drag
the patch to an area of similar texture for a
seamless finish.2
ADJUSTDUST& SCRATCHESEnsurePreview
is checked and zoom in on an area where
there’sdusttoremove.Movebothsliders
tothelefttoremovetheeffect,before
increasingtheRadiusslideruntilthemajority
of thedustdisappears.Then,slowlyincrease
theThresholdslideruntiltheduststarts to
reappear– that’swhenyou’vegonetoo far,
sodialit backslightlyandpressOK.4
ADDNOISE Be careful near edges, details or
areas of texture – paint back over using
Black if you make a mistake. You may notice
that the filter has smoothed and removed any
noisefromaffectedareas,whichcanlooka
littlefake.If so,youcanaddnoisebackin by
goingtoFilter>Noise>AddNoiseandthen
increasingtheAmount until it matches the
rest of the image.ANDREW
NEE
L/U
NSP
LASH