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Although I constantly preach to anyone who will listen that you’ve got to learn to ignore the names of tools and software features and pay close attention to their function instead, I’m as susceptible to the occasional oversight as the next person. That’s what happened with the Scratch Remover. Oh, I knew it was there, and I used it once in a while when was restoring a damaged photo that had folds or creases, but other than that, it pretty much stayed on its toolbar, content to nap undisturbed for days or weeks at a time. Then one day I began to restore the image above.
Found
in a box of photos after my Mom’s death, it is more than 100 years old, and
measures less
than 2” x3” It is the only period image of the woman (my Grandmother's best
friend, for whom I was named)
known to exist.
It doesn't matter here, but you can't always flatten the image, so here's a workaround if you need to use this tool in a layered image:
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Making Quick
& Easy
First, because
there are two functions with similar names in PSP, let’s clarify exactly which tool I’m talking about,
and where you’ll find it. Its icon looks like a trowel, the kind used to fill in
cracks in mortar or to apply spackling compound before you paint. Below,
there is a portion of a photo that has sustained the kind of damage
the scratch tool was created to fix. Your tool options choices are identical in version 7 and 8- they're just arranged differently . Because this site was created for version 8 education, my screenshot's come from that version, but this tool hasn't changed.
You only have 2 options: the size and shape of the area to be repaired. When you choose the tool and drag it along the scratch or crease, the length is determined as you drag, but you need to set the width. To figure out how wide to set your remover, you probably ought to see how it works. This is one of those cases where less is more.
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In this tutorial we're going to use the Scratch Remover and other retouch tools to improve the look of photos. For more information, contact me at --NOTE-- Before you e-mail me to ask if you can link to or reprint any or all of this the answer is "Yes, BUT..." you cannot use any materials at my site for any commercial purposes without permission. Let me clarify that. If money changes hands, whether for a book, for training, for access to a private network, for a CD-ROM or for any other reason, you may not use my materials without specific permission. If
you wish access for any free, personal, educational, or charitable
purpose, you may do so. JP Kabala, If you like, you can use either of these graphics for the link.
My lawyers and I won't have to do anything to you for violating my trust in re this-- there's a higher power for that. :-) And trust me, what goes around really does come around |
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Other than width, there is only one more decision to make: you can choose one of two types of selection boxes: one with pointed ends, and one with blunt, squared off ends. The pointed end setting allows you to get into small spaces and tight corners more easily than the blunt-ended version. Otherwise, they work in exactly the same way. What happens when you click, drag, and release the mouse button? This is unscientific, but it is what my eyes tell me happens. PSP takes a reading of the color inside the selection area and the area inside the brackets, does some fancy math, and moves some "good" pixels in toward the center to cover up the blemish. That's what I saw while I was restoring Jean Baldwin's picture...the movement of those pixels to "heal" the damage. And it suddenly "clicked"! There were lots of other places I could use that technology. Digital Dermatologist My first test project was a photo of a friend's beautiful daughter. (I don't know how we all survive the teen years, when without warning, usually when it's most important we look our best, our skin decides to go crazy.) But look at the first two frames of the image below. The ONLY tool I used to produce the results in frame 2 was the scratch remover! |
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While the differences in the look of the photos are dramatic, the actual changes are really quite subtle. The last thing you want is that unnatural "mask of death" look. Keep as much of the photo intact as possible. I would probably finish this off with a touch of "digital makeup"-- but VERY little. Maybe a touch of blush and lipgloss, but no more. The kid is 16, not a circus clown. You want people who know the subject to be able to recognize her. |
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With a few quick swipes of the Scratch Remover, I took her hair out of her eye, banished the blemishes, took a slight crease out of her one eyelid and even took the shine off the tip of her nose. A little more work with a low-density, low opacity smudge brush and a little color correction to remove some shadows and redness around her eyes, and the pretty girl really shines through! Now, a normal person might have just called it a day at that point, but we’re not talking about a normal person, we’re talking about me. I had learned one slick trick….but there must be more. If Scratch Remover worked on the skin problems of youth, what would it do for someone with a little more maturity in their face? Digital Face
Lift |
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To do this I used exactly the same steps outlined above, Scratch remover, followed by smudge brush to even out the skin tones, followed by a little color correction, especially beneath the eyes. Again, no heavy makeup job, but I did put little 2 pixel white highlights in her eyes and whitened the teeth just a bit to give the face a bit more "life." Also note that a "facelift" doesn't end at the face- make sure you include the neck , and if they are visible in the photo, the hands as well. Let’s look at one more example on a human face before I move on to a couple of cute “tricks” you can do with this tool.The next example is a photo of my mother’s Aunt Bridey. She was 100 years old the day this photo was taken. You may feel differently, but I figure if you reach your 100th birthday, you shouldn’t have to apologize to anyone for having wrinkles. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, it would be criminal to mess with them. They are visible evidence of her longevity and experience, and beautiful in their own way. I didn't give Bridey a facelift, and would resist anyone who suggested one. But no matter what your age, you don’t have to live with a photographer’s mistakes. After I improved the contrast and got rid of the green cast, I used short strokes with the scratch remover to get rid of the shadows on her cheeks from the bifocal lenses of her glasses. The reason I like the Scratch Remover for this is that it works in a very small area, and doesn’t obliterate too much of the texture of the surrounding skin.
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Part
2-- JP Goes Completely Crazy With |
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Copyright(c) 2003 JP Kabala, Kabala Portfolio Design. All rights reserved. |
The
Scratch Remover is a very simple tool, that only has one notable
quirk. It can ONLY be used on a background layer. So if yours was
grayed out, that's probably why. Right click on the layer in the
layers palette and choose Merge All (Flatten) from the context-sensitive
menu that pops up. 
This
is a closeup of "Scratch Remover Man" in action. I clicked
on the image and dragged downward following the crease in the photo.
You'll notice that the tool creates a rectangular selection
with two sets of borderlines on the long edge. The "tricks"-
if there are any- to using this tool are
