Keep grain lose dust and scratches?

[dannysheff]

There seems to be a lot of new AI-type digital image processing software - seen some impressive and quick scratch and dust removal - which I'd like, but it's also smoothing and doing image 'enhancement' that I don't want.
I have many scans (raw files) of old slides and just want to remove scratches and dust, no other 'enhancement' except for slight tweaks of overall brightness, contrast and colour-cast in some images - end result to be used for printing about 30x45cm, keeping the film grain and detail (not an artificial version).
So, is there a better way than going very slowly through all images picking out the scratches and spots?
ps - I'd rather buy any software once than subscribe, and don't need other 'bells and whistles'

 

[DownUnder]

... So, is there a better way than going very slowly through all images picking out the scratches and spots?

In a word - no.

Some scanning software lets you supposedly remove dust and scratches, but usually at a cost of softening the images.

If you have any great numbers ofnegatives and slides to scan, you will soon grow to despise even the thought of post processing. As I have.

Sadly, these are facts of life in the scanning/post processing worlds.

 

[dannysheff]

thanks -downunder - I feared as much, although did wonder whether latest AI was changing this?

 

[Hilmersen]

Luckily the tools have become much better. The repear tool is much easier to work with than cloning.

 

[jc031699]

I’ve tried out both the Topaz Photo AI and the Luminar Neo tools for this. The dust tool picks up some low level stuff but some larger defects require the repair tool. The Topaz repair function left weird halos in the sky, but the Luminar worked better on sky.

Both are purchases (vs subscriptions) and still show up as filters in my PS CS6 x64 install.

 

[p.giannakis]

Some scanners use an infrared light to detect dust and they can remove it automatically. I am not sure if you still have the slides and if you have access to a good scanner.

I am not sure what is out there available in terms of AI. I personally clone them out on GIMP.

 

[Mcary]

In PS 2025 I use a plugin called SRDX, that I purchased from LaserSoft to remove the majority of very small dust spots as I find this does a good job without effecting the grain and overall image. I then use the Spot healing Brush and Remove Tool for removing larger defect such as hair or scratches as using the SRDX plugin for this does negatively affect the grain and overall image.

 

[Coldkennels]

In PS 2025 I use a plugin called SRDX, that I purchased from LaserSoft to remove the majority of very small dust spots as I find this does a good job without effecting the grain and overall image.

What settings are you using for this? I tried it a while back and it just seemed to get confused by the grain no matter what I did.

 

[Godfrey]

I don't use much of AI anything as I can't control it to the level that I feel comfortable with.
LR Classic makes manual scratch and dust removal easy and fast.

G

 

[Mcary]

What settings are you using for this? I tried it a while back and it just seemed to get confused by the grain no matter what I did.

Generally start with the box for Bright Defects checked, Detect intensity set to 12 and tile size set to 5 and then adjust the tile size down to lower setting such as 3 or 4 if things the I don't want removed are being selected will also sometimes adjust the Detect intensity but usually keep it between 10 and 12.

 

[dannysheff]

thanks, all -- any more info welcome

 

[jc031699]

thanks, all -- any more info welcome

I have more to report, after sorting our how to use Luminar Neo and Topaz Photo AI to fix some glaring hair/dust on sensor from a wintertime trip.

Luminar Neo is smashing for fixing the sky. Dust tool gets the small stuff, Erase tool gets the bigger stuff.

Topaz Photo AI “Repair” generative tool for non sky only, since it leaves unpleasant and noticeable light halos in the sky. It can even clean up dust on brick / stone / tile patterns and make convincing replacement for lines and shadows /shading. Super impressive.

For now, both are mandatory for what I am trying to do.

 

[dannysheff]

useful -- getting closer, I think -- worth more input

 

[Coldkennels]

Generally start with the box for Bright Defects checked, Detect intensity set to 12 and tile size set to 5 and then adjust the tile size down to lower setting such as 3 or 4 if things the I don't want removed are being selected will also sometimes adjust the Detect intensity but usually keep it between 10 and 12.

Thanks for this. I've been playing with it a bit more in the last couple of days, and this was a good starting point. I've noticed it's very easily tricked by metal features with specular reflections, but masking off areas helps a lot. I still have to do a lot of manual spotting afterwards, but it does help get a lot of the mess out.

 

[willie_901]

I’ve been working on 35mm negatives and transparencies on a daily basis for a few months. With the moist recent version(s) of Lightroom Classic (LrC), I have not experienced a situation where I could not repair physical damage or development issues.

Of course the process is manual. A newer computer (or an older one with lots of memory) is also needed. The Apple silicon Macs are fast and never become sluggish even after 100 or more corrections. I use a Mac mini M2 Pro with 32 GB of memory.

For removing dust, faint, small scratches and emulsion divots the standard spot tools are quick. I do not notice any loss of perceived image quality. However, these tools do begin to affect image detail for more difficult defects.

For deep and, or long scratches and large areas of emulsion damage (particularly those that transverse regions with details), the new regenerative AI tools work spectacularly well. Each AI repair s 3-10 seconds. Even in detailed areas the success rate is high. One can quickly cycle through 3 different repair versions to select the best one.

As I was learning how to develop film sometimes the one edge of the film would be lighter. The gradient tools save these negatives from cropping (I don’t crop, ever).

The AI tools have saved about half a dozen badly damaged negatives I abandoned on a few years ago. To be complete, I suspect a skilled PS user could probably repair these defects without AI. I am not a skilled PS user.