how to improve this scanned image? mny thx.

[autocart]

Hello PSP-community,

So far I am/was an amateur using Gimp and bought PSP X8 in a bundle with a Wacom tablet. Upon first use after installation I got a fantastic offer to upgrade to PSP Ultimate 2018, which I took "advantage" of because the offer was really "cheap", naively thinking that PSP would be extraordinarily better than Gimp. Stupid me, it seems I never learn from my past mistakes, because so far I am rather frustrated with PSP. Still, I have not yet given up on PSP and would appreciate some help.
(BTW, this: http://bw-forums.com/home/ seems like a very nice idea. Unfortunately registration is CLOSED until January 4th.)

Now I got this scanned image which I'd like to improve. Would be a huge plus for PSP and my motivation to keep involving me with it, if PSP could do it and if I knew how. (I would also not know how to do it in Gimp, just mentioning that for any "extra" smart people out there - I hope nobody here feels addressed but you never know.)

So, if I may ask: The attached image is part of a scan from a catalog. Unfortunately not an extremely good one.
1) It has, first of all, visible wave patterns running vertically across the image (in varying widths).
2) Then it has some noise(?), it is pixeletad, respectively it does not look quite 100% clear.
3) Last but not least to a small extent, some content from the other side of the scanned page is visible (faintly on the white backgound).

To which degree is it possible to improve these issues and how?

Many thx in advance for any help. Regards, S.

[CHoffman]

PSP is a great tool, but it's not capable of actual miracles. The pattern on the image is either the dot pattern from printing, or a moire pattern from same. Now, something you should be aware of is that an image with some noise or a pattern can actually look sharper than it actually is. What I'm getting at is that the actual image buried in there is probably even worse than you realize. OK, that said, try a few things. First, resize the image up to something like 2200 pixels wide. Use "bicubic" with sharpening right in the middle. Next, go to add/remove noise and select moire pattern removal. Try a setting around 7. Only you can decide on the best spot between leaving too much pattern, and looking too fuzzy. Too much pattern and the next step will be difficult. Next, use the clone tool to copy some surrounding area into those strongly patterned areas at the left and by the hole (I have no idea what this thing is). You might also smooth it up with the median filter set to about 15. When done, resize the image back down to whatever you like. There may be other things you can do that make it look better, the usual fiddling with brightness and maybe hue, or maybe somebody else has some tricks up their sleeve, but that should be a place to start.

[autocart]

alright, CHoffman, many thx for your feedback. You gave me some interesting sounding thoughts. might have been just what I needed in order to keep my motivation up, regardless of the eventual outcome of that photo. thx again, regards, S.

[CHoffman]

One other thing I noticed is on noise filtering. For most good quality photos I sharpen using unsharp mask (USM). Too much of that gives the dreaded light halos around dark objects. For something like this, high pass sharpening seems to work better. I don't think I used it at all because it made the grunge a bit worse, but just another thought on the available tools.

Best,
CH

[autocart]

cool, thank you very much.
Corel PSP Ultimate & Co. as a software package may not receive many awards for consistency in UI design and may leave a user with a few other wishes as well but it seems so far that they have a rather nice community and that is worth a lot as well.

[flagpole]

Have you thought of doing a Google image search for the item in the picture?

[autocart]

doiiinggg ....
haha, I am so stupid. That would have been a good idea, at least in this case since it's a catalog item. Thx for the hint. However, the tips above should prove useful either way. Thx though. Should keep this thought in mind for another occasion.
regards, S.