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Known Participant
November 10, 2023
Open for Voting

In Photoshop fix old photos that have an overall textured paper surface that creates a pattern

  • November 10, 2023
  • 16 replies
  • 1014 views

I'm working with old photos many of which are printed on fiber paper or paper that has dots or ridges or photos that were printed on "canvas." They are overall patterns that cover the entire photograph. It's not a moire effect - these textures are an integral part of the paper. It's the "finish" style. For example, back in the old days you could specify that your photos be printed out with a glossy or matte finish. This is an extreme version of that. I'm trying to edit these photos in Photoshop and it's a nightmare. The only solutions that I've found are complicated and I haven't had much luck in creating a successful result. Here are the ones that I've found: 1. FFT (fast fourier transform) I'm not nerdy enough to figure it out. It's like old HP calculators that used "reverse Polish notation." 2. scan the photo once and then rotate it 180 degrees and scan it again, then merge the two like photographic plates. I won't live long enough to do that with all the photos I'm editing. 3. It was rumored that in the next update that SilverFast (Laser Soft Imaging) might have a solution in the next update and theoretically also be Apple Silicon (M1 etc) compliant. Currently, I have to start the app using Rosetta 2 so the app will run in an Intel mode. As far as I can tell, the app hasn't been updated for the feature I need. OTOH, it's so kludgy with an antique GUI that it might be what's baffling me. Help me Adobe! You're my only hope!

16 replies

Lysa5FFDAuthor
Known Participant
November 18, 2023

@davescm and @Stephen Marsh I need to give y'all credit, too - I've downloaded the Fixel FF2 and I'm fiddling around with it. I'll post when I have a solid example. Thanks again, everyone!

Lysa5FFDAuthor
Known Participant
November 17, 2023

@Jeff Arola thanks for the tip! I'll give that a shot. I appreciate all the assistance and thoughtful suggestions given in this thread. I'll report back on my results.

davescm
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 15, 2023

Thanks for confirming Jeff

 

Dave

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 15, 2023

Yes both the Fixel FFT Wizard 2 and rogenmedia plugins work under Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3) processors if one runs photoshop 2024 under Rosetta.

 

davescm
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 15, 2023

You could try running Photoshop v24.x under Rosetta and see if the FFT plug in will work that way. Unfortunately, I cannot test here as I only have PCs.

 

Dave

Lysa5FFDAuthor
Known Participant
November 15, 2023

@davescm  cool!! I should get you to fix 'em for me lol. Unfortunately, it won't work on my Mac: "For Windows and Intel-based Macs (not M1 or newer, unless through emulation)." I have a Mac Mini with a M1 chip. 

Kevin Stohlmeyer
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 14, 2023

@Lysa5FFD yes I started as a Smart Object with Skin Smoothing:

 

Then added the Photo Restoration (beta)

Obv both of these can be tweaked for a better result, but this is what I did for a similar project with the same Kodak print texture.

Lysa5FFDAuthor
Known Participant
November 14, 2023

@Kevin Stohlmeyer - that's v interesting!! Did you tweak the default settings?

davescm
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 14, 2023

If you are stuck with not being able to re-photograph the images then an FFT filter will be the next best chance of removing the pattern

This was : https://ft.rognemedia.no/

I had trouble trying to run it in v25 so used v24 where I had previously installed it and it ran without issue. That is not to say it won't run in v25 just that I need to test further.

 

Dave

Kevin Stohlmeyer
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 14, 2023

Hi @Lysa5FFD would Neural Filters/Photo Restoration work?