Removal of brown patches.

[Dben1969]

Can anyone help? I would like to remove some brown patches from some old photo's I scanned and I am not sure on how to do it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

Dave

[photodrawken]

Simply convert the photo to black & white.

[Dben1969]

Even converting it to Black and white shows that there are some blotches on the picture. I am looking for a way to clean up the photo.

Dave

[Ken Berry]

Play around with the Clone tool. Just a few minutes tidied the photo up to this extent, though certainly a few more minutes should remove the brown almost completely.

[df]

I think Ken has the right approach. If before you start you duplicate the layer then work on the second layer you can erase parts of that layer that you go to far with. Something that helps when you're not familiar with the tools yet.

[photodrawken]

Even converting it to Black and white shows that there are some blotches on the picture. I am looking for a way to clean up the photo.

Once you've converted it to B&W, the task of cleaning it up becomes much easier because you won't have to worry about matching colours. You have a whole array of tools (Clone, Lighten, Darken, Makeover, etc., etc.) that are much easier to use on B&W images....

[Dben1969]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I am going to give it a go and see what happens. Also if I convert it to Black and White, then edit the picture. Is it possible to return the picture to color it was before?

Dave.

[Joelle]

I think the photo loses it's identity if you convert to B&W, it will also show a lot more grain.
If you want it less brown, desaturate it using Shift+H for Hue/Saturation/Lightness. Move the Saturation slider down until you're happy.
If it was my photo, I would keep it the way it is.

My favourite tool to get rid of the brown blobs is the Blemish Fixer, you find that with the Makeover Tools.
Apply with a dab-dab-dab, you can't drag it.
Adjust the size by holding the Alt key and scrolling the mouse as necessary.
Anything that the Blemish Fixer can't adjust, use the clone Tool.
For tricky edges, like the sleeves, make a selection first and then clone, using the Clone Tool on medium opacity, you can always return to it. Or use the Warp Brush on Push, that can be useful too.

Joëlle

[photodrawken]

Also if I convert it to Black and White, then edit the picture. Is it possible to return the picture to color it was before?

Yes, you can add any coloured tone that you want. The Help file has all the info.

The brown colour of the original looks like it's simply the result of the aging process, and was not original to the image. I don't like it, but it's easily re-created. For example, with this image I simply converted to B&W, then used Effects...Photo Effects...Sepia Toning. (You don't get any increased grain by converting to B&W, BTW.)

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