How can I remove pen scribbles from a scanned black-and-white photo using free software?
Asked 11/17/2010
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2 answers
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I scanned an old black-and-white print that has colored pen marks/scribbles on it. I don’t have Adobe software, but I can use Paint.NET or free tools like GIMP. What’s a good workflow to reduce or remove the marks and restore the image as cleanly as possible?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
7
I think I would probably try to remove as much as I could using the colour information first. By using a filter to convert it to B&W, you might be able to reduce the impact of the cyan-looking pen from the photo. Of course, it will need quite a bit of tweaking to get the best setting. It is possible to do this in GIMP using the greyscale conversion tool.
After that it would be a case of touching up as best you can using the heal or clone tools.
It can be very fiddly touching up a photo like this, especially when it is a face; any abnormalities really stand out.
You could always post the full version of the image... perhaps some post-processing wizard on here will be able to help you out ;-)
Originally by user2131. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2131
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A good approach is to use the color difference between the pen ink and the original photo first, then do manual cleanup.
In GIMP, try converting the scan to monochrome in a way that minimizes the pen marks rather than using a simple default grayscale conversion. Tools mentioned were:
- Colors > Components > Channel Mixer
- Enable monochrome and adjust the red/green/blue mix to suppress the colored ink
- Or use grayscale conversion settings that reduce the cyan/blue pen’s visibility
Once the ink is weakened, clean up the remaining marks with healing or clone tools. This is usually the most practical method in free editors like GIMP or Paint.NET.
If your editor supports it, another effective method is selecting the pen color range first, then desaturating/lightening that selected area with an adjustment or mask. That can reduce the scribbles without much manual brushing.
Be careful around faces and other detailed areas, since retouching artifacts are easy to notice there. For best results, work on a duplicate layer and make small, gradual corrections.
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