Dust, Light Scratch, and Stain Removal - Beginning Photo Retouching and Restoration Using GIMP - page 136

Chapter 6

Dust, Light Scratch, and Stain
Removal

In This Chapter
Digital Cleanup with GIMP •

• Removing Dust and Crud from Images

Digital Cleanup with GIMP
Many of the images you'll work with will require digital cleanup and repair. GIMP is the perfect tool for
removing dust from scanned slides (that is, the embedded dust that won't come off when doing the pre-scan
cleaning we covered in Chapter 2). Using GIMP, you'll be able to remove unsightly small spots and scratches
as well.

Removing Dust and Crud from Images
Older prints and slides often have embedded dust, small particles of dirt, etc. that will have to be digitally
removed after scanning. Transparencies, in particular, are often plagued with dust, dirt, and mold particles.
While some scanners have built in “dust removal” features in their software, these can often soften the image
a great deal in the process. Using the tools GIMP has to offer will allow a more precise, surgical approach to
removing imperfections, thus maintaining the overall sharpness of the image. The tutorials in this chapter
will give you some useful practice for eventually tackling heavy damage, as we'll see in the next chapter.

Tutorial 23: Removing Dust from a Slide
This slide from the 1950s (Figure 6-1 ) has a great deal of dust particles embedded throughout, but this is
most noticeable in the sky area. Dust removal can be a time-consuming task, but in some instances, it can be
sped up. The dust in the sky area can be almost completely obliterated in a couple of minutes.