Removing a Textured Pattern from a Scanned Photo - 5 Minute Digital Fix
One of the most common problems when dealing with scanned photographs as part of a digital restoration activity is that after scanning, the digital image appears to have a textured pattern to it.
This is often caused by the fact that the photograph in question has been printed on textured photographic paper.
This article will show you how to remove the un-desirable pattern effect without significantly loosing any of the important image detail.
The problematic photo may well be an old black and white, sepia, or even a more modern colour photograph.
(I remember Kodak introducing their “Silk finish” prints many years ago printed on a silky sheen textured paper!).
The example image on our web-site is an old black and white wedding photograph that has been printed on a textured paper.
If you look closely at the white cornice behind the bride and groom you can clearly see that the textured pattern of the photographic paper has been faithfully re-produced during the scanning of the photo.
Before we commence any major restoration work we would like to remove as much of the un-desirable textured pattern as is possible.
Step 1
Open the image up in Adobe Photoshop and the first step is to create a duplicate (copy) layer of the original image by selecting Layer-> Duplicate Layer .. and give the new layer an appropriate name.
Zoom in close enough to get an appreciation of how severe the textured pattern is, but keep some picture detail visible (especially people’s faces) so that you can easily judge how well the texture removal is proceeding without loosing too much important picture detail.
Step 2
With the duplicate layer active apply a Gaussian Blur by selecting Filter->Blur->Gaussian Blur …
A pop-up option box will allow you to set the amount of Gaussian blur to apply to the image.
I generally start with a Radius = 1.5 and work up from there, constantly looking at the image to see the affect as I increase the blur radius.
Anything over a Radius = 5.0 will usually be far too harsh, so in the example on the web-site the required outcome is to “minimise” the texture pattern effect without compromising the important detail in the photo.
For our web-site example image I found I was able to set Radius = 3.5 without any significant loss of detail.
The example image is starting to “soften”, but the textured pattern has clearly diminished.
Step 3
Zooming out to have a look at the complete photo reveals that the un-desirable textured pattern has all but vanished with only minor softening of the important image detail.
Each photo you work on will have to be judged on its own merits when determining the amount of blur to apply.
But all is not lost on retaining that important image detail!!
Step 4
Remember … the Gaussian blur has been applied to the duplicate layer we created at the start of the exercise.
The original image, complete with texture, is sitting under the duplicate layer.
By using Photoshop’s Layer Blending Modes and Layer Opacity we can produce an image made up of a combination of both layers with some of the detail from the lower original layer showing through.
Again, each photo will be judged on its own merits and the setting I finalised on for our example image on the web-site may not be the same as you will find most suitable for your own images.
Try experimenting with the different blending modes and layer opacity settings.
I finally settled on a blending mode of “Luminosity” and Opacity of 85% for the Gaussian Blur layer.
Step 5
To finalise the image I then “flattened” the two layers into a single image layer by selecting Layer->Flatten Image.
Step 6
I then checked the tonal range of our combined layered image using the Levels command by selecting Image->Adjustment->Levels … and fine tuned the black, white and grey points.
Step 7
And last but not least, we can still bring a little bit more “sharpness” out of the image by finally applying a small amount of Unsharp Mask by selecting Filter->Sharpen->Unsharp Mask …
Experimenting with the various settings, I was able to settle upon Amount = 185%; Radius = 2.5 pixels; and Threshold = 50 levels.
And there you have it … the removal of an un-desirable textured pattern without significantly sacrificing important image detail.
If you find the steps being taken are a little hard to understand in this text based article, you can click on the link at the end of this article to see the same method explained on our website with the aid of example graphical images.
? Gary Wilkinson 2005 - All Rights Reserved
You can see this method complete with example images at Removing a textured pattern from a scanned photo
Feel free to re-print this article provided that all hyperlinks and author biography are retained as-is.
Gary Wilkinson is a photographer, photographic restorer and the owner of a photographic retail business. He is also the publisher of the http://www.restoring-photos-made-easy.com website, where other methods of correcting common photographic restoration problems are discussed.
-
The D40X is a lightweight and portable camera that proves that it can be both incredibly simple and tremendous fun to shoot images with a Nikon digital SLR. You only need to turn on the cameras AUTO mode, look through the clear, bright viewfinder and shoot. The D40X responds fast so you can capture moments as they unfold, and its 10.2 megapixel resolution and world-class Nikkor lens deliver consistently sharp, vibrant images. The Help menus are available at the press of a button and work like a built-in instruction manual, with advice and directions for every camera setting. With every feature, button and menu designed to work together for a smooth, seamless performance, the D40X will bring out the best in you and your images.
Amazon Price: ?465.24
Used Price: ?400.00
Customer Review: Great -reply to Beware Review(see below)
great camera i have had if for a couple of mouths and i have had nothing but fantastic results. i have had no problems. i ordered my camera through pix maniaand recieved my manual alsoin french of you ring nikon they will give a adderess to send the french version of the manual and they will send you a free english version with no additional cost
Customer Review: Amazing camera!
very pleased with this camera,its my first D-SLR and after 2weeks of using the auto/pre set modes i moved on to manual.and thats were the real magic of photography happens. great quality! its light,and compact,fits perfectly in hand,the lens are ok but im gonna buy a 50-200 now for general use. highly recommended as the top budget D-SLR
Continue …
The NV10 comes in an 18.5mm thin black
Amazon Price: ?142.95
Customer Review: SPEECHLESS…
I had originally received this for my birthday and ‘unfortunately’ for me the NV10 came 2 days before my birthday, which would mean I would be of an irritation to my brother who bought me this; I would be constantly nagging him to tell me what it is. Eventually my birthday arrived, and with great anticipation and anxiety I opened up the wrapping and found a camera. So I used the camera and found that it was a delight to have, and that it was a neccessity to have as an accessory. I didn’t even read the manual and hence I found myself in awe of the sheer aspects and options available to use, though eventually I got the hang of it. The high resolution and quality of the photos were magnificent and if you were to zoom in to the image you can capture tiny details with your eyes. With most digital cameras you find yourself buying batteries over and over again, but with the NV10 that’s certainly not the case. The battery life is of an outstanding two hours with a lithium battery which is rechargeable. In terms of memory, the internal isn’t great but you can buy four 1gb sd cards for ?18 from Amazon so that doesn’t make a huge difference. Another thing I would like to comment on is the flash. The flash is impressive when you are taking a picture in the dark but make sure that you dont use the flash when you’re in,light because it could sabotage a picture. Furthermore, the video quality of the camera is way above of what I had expected as it nearly produce video camera quality. I must say that the only negative is that the camera requires a lot of time to work out which means that you have to learn all the functions as quick as possible and that could take quite a while. This truly is a professional camera.
Customer Review: Not just great looking, performs well too!!
Just bought this NV10 to replace my existing Sony DSC-P200 Cybershot. The quality of the pictures are superb, especially when trying to take pictures of moving children, which caused my Sony to blur all the time. The Samsung takes it all in its stride and the results are fantastic. Simply switch on and shoot, no messing to take a great picture. The only small criticism is the location of the flash, make sure you don’t put your finger on top of it when taking a picture; other than that, highly recommended camera.
Continue …
Customer Review: A best of both worlds camera
Having used several digital cameras over the last few year now, I have always found after the initial excitement of it all a rather nagging doubt that I still preferred my old canon A1. The simple action of pressing a button and capturing an image instantaneously seemed consigned to the history books- then I bought this Sony! It is every bit as good as its reviews, even Sony’s! It is light (well apart from when the 75-300 lens is loaded), the optics and ergonomics are excellent, and the controls are intuative. Even the manual is easy going, and you have the comfort of knowing not much of your money went into buying the paper it is printed on. Now the acid test how quick does that shutter close! Well having just come back from a trip to the Azores taking pictures of dolphins I can say the only people on the boat with images to take home were the video camera group and the lucky individual with a Sony a100, and my shot of a dolphin in the air was in 10mega pixel quality!
Customer Review: Sony A100 has everything you could need
The Sony A100 is the first in the new line of “a” series (pronounced Alpha) cameras from Sony. The A100 comes in various forms including body only, single lens (18-70mm) and twin lens (18-70mm and 70-300mm) set. The body of the camera is available in all black, or a mixture of Black and Silver. I purchase the twin lens set in all black. In the bright metallic box, you get the Camera body, the twin lenses, a memory stick duo to Compact flash converter to put in the camera, camera strap, Battery, battery charger (charging is off camera), USB to computer lead, USB to tv lead (to show the pictures on the TV), software disk (containing a USB driver, RAW file editor and basic file viewer), a user guide (black and white, fairly cheap paper manual about 90 pages), and several brochures on lenses and other products, and then the product guarantee. The cameras headline features are the 10.2 megapixel sensor, the new anti-shake (now called super shake) system, vibrating image screen to remove dust, and fast image processor. Beyond this, it has all the features you could possibly want from a digital camera. The battery is charged off camera, and you get a UK 3 pin plug. The camera can charge the battery though a power port directly into the camera body, but the cable for this is an optional extra. If you are travelling abroad, different plugs are also optional extras. Charging the battery takes about 2 hours, and gives you power for around 750 shots (assuming flash on 1/3 of shots). Photos are captured onto a memory card, which can either be a CompactFlash or a Memory Stick Due. A dummy CompactFlash comes with the camera that acts as a converter inside the camera for the Memory stick Duo. You cannot use full size Sony Memory sticks in the camera. No memory comes with the camera, so you will need to purchase one to take pictures. I went for a 4Gb card, which will store 982 full size, hi-res photos in JPEG format, or 292 RAW photos. The camera has a very sharp and bright picture display on the back. This is used for the control of the camera settings and viewing previous pictures. However, when taking a picture, the current view cannot be shown on this screen (for say, taking shots over the heads of a crowd). Instead, you need to use the viewfinder. When you put your eye to the view finder, the main display goes off saving battery life. In both the viewfinder and the main picture display, all the information is show including memory status, speed, aperture, histogram of picture, index of pictures, settings of camera (colour settings, exposure etc). The menu and controls are access via two control wheels, a spin controller and a menu direction control. I found the controls and menu options very easy to use. At the top of the camera, the two wheels control different functions. On the left, settings are available for settings ISO levels, colour controls, system overrides, advanced controls etc. The wheel on the right controls the picture modes (landscape, portrait, macro, night, sunrise/sunset, sports), speed/aperture priority etc. The control wheel sits in front of the shutter trigger, and is perfectly placed for changing the settings whilst looking through the view finder. Taking pictures is a joy, and the results are stunning. However, the movement of the mirror inside the camera is fairly loud (there is a clunk when you take the picture). I have a small worry that taking pictures in quite places (churches etc) may cause a few heads to turn in my direction. If anything, the clunk is the only downside of the camera. Lens focusing is very quick, reasonably quiet, and works well on both lens sets. The lenses that come in the pack are both Sony, and to be honest, are not that impressive to look at (no nice guide windows), but they do the job, feel robust and take nice pictures. The camera sits nicely in the hand, and isn’t too heavy. My hands are fairly large, but the buttons seem to be in the right place. The only button I had a problem in finding is the focus preview button which is located at the front of camera below the lens. I scrabbled around to find this, but should not be so much of a problem once I get used to it. The build quality of the camera feels good, at least as good as the Dynax range I have previously. The top of the camera has a strange mottled look which is a bit odd. One thing that I found most impressive is the bracketing and multi-shot options. Pressing the multi-shot button allows 10 or so picture options including single shot, multi shot, bracket, multi-shot bracket, self time (2 seconds), self time (10 seconds), remote etc. Because of the new image processor chip, the multi-shot is very very fast - I kept my finger on the shutter release and it took 3-4 shots a second, and produced 2 bracket shots per shot, which resulted in around 12 shots being stored per second without delay or pause. I tried to see if the memory in the camera would cause the multi-shot to fill up and stop, but it kept on shooting the pics - very nice. As I say, all the options are here including; Setting resolution sizes (smell, medium, large and fine), output format (JPEG, RAW or both), colour levels, balance levels, exposure settings, manual control, auto control, flash options (fill, red eye, back flash, forward flash, sync etc). All in all, very happy with my purchase.
Continue …
Amazon Price: ?178.70 
You will receive one Power Rechargeable Battery. This Rechargeable Battery 100% fits and is properly matching !
If you are looking for a reasonably priced good quality camera then you can’ go wrong with this one. 