- Then, using a soft brush (see the white circle in Figure 5.14) of reasonable
size, gently paint over the affected area. If the color looks wrong, go back
and fi ne-tune it until it looks right. With a bit of patience and practice, you will
get the hang of it.
What you are doing is coloring the image with the average local
color using the paint brush. In the process, you are removing (color-
ing) the moiré color pattern. Unfortunately, the actual pattern itself
remains, but it is usually not noticeable if the color is removed. The
effect is nondestructive for other parts of the image. If you work on a
layer, you can always erase through any areas where you have over-
done it. This method can also be used to deal with a variety of other
color anomalies.
Of course, there are software tools that can help. Adobe Camera
Raw includes a color noise slider that reduces color artifacts, including
moiré, but it affects the entire image. Other raw converters have similar
tools, and these are fi ne for minor cases, but when the chips are down,
I prefer my method. FIGURE 5.14 The Photoshop Paint Brush
in color mode removing moiré.
MOIRÉ AND COLOR NOISE 95