Photoshop Precision Dust Removal For Your Film Scans

How to accurately zap those dust particles -
Dust in your digital film scans is a fact of life we all deal with at some point, and in this video I'll show you my preferred method for removing those pesky dust particles and other blemishes to help you attain squeaky clean film scans. We'll dive into the color range tool to help us make accurate selections based on luminosity value, and cover how to use a couple of the selection tools in Photoshop to make complex selections and make quick repairs with high precision. Lastly we'll discuss how to use this technique on more complicated repair jobs.
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
02:50 Preparing the photoshop file
05:05 Using the color range tool
09:37 Creating the first action
13:12 Creating the second action
17:56 Working with a whole area at once
19:08 Multi-selecting objects
24:02 Timelapse image cleanup
25:11 Finishing up
25:36 Philosophical debate
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Nick Carver's dust cleaning tips video:
• Tips for Cleaning Dust...
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[@CraigMcCordPhoto]

This is one of the most useful demonstrations I have seen related to film photograph processing. Dust is the nemesis of analog photography. I have spent many a tedious sessions removing dust in post processing. This will no doubt make my life much easier. Good job...and thanks!

[@adventureuav]

I don't know if you invented this technique or are just presenting it here, but in either case, you are a literal life safer - because you have saved me countless hours of my life. I got back several rolls from Indie that were just COVERED in specks of something that wasn't actually dust. I was actually ready to bin most of the shots before coming across this video. The speed AND, most importantly, the quality of the results of this technique are outstanding. Saved my rolls, saved me hours of life. Now officially calling this "Darnelling" my scans.

[@craigfouche]

Brilliant tutorial, I have always used the spot healing brush and the clone stamp tool. This has opened new doors for me. I open my file as a smart object and fix all my imperfections and make adjustments on new layers. That has really kept my file sizes smaller. Thanks for these tips Chris.

[@paulhimle]

That was a great tutorial!!

[@valdezapg]

good technique and good tutorial!

[@scottchenoweth4937]

Thank you.

[@CARLA19822]

Thank you!

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks for watching!

[@jimrookphotos]

Great instructional video, Chris. I learn best by seeing how and then applying it. You did a great job of demonstrating some techniques totally new to me. I sure wish I had known how to do these multiple sections when I was scanning and printing from several old family albums. Probably would have helped my sight and sanity. ;)

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Jim, glad it was useful! Hopefully the next job is a little easier.

[@carbonejack]

Great video.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Jack!

[@carbonejack]

@@ChrisDarnell I just assumed that photographers with skills like yours never had to deal with dust spots. My allergies attest that dust, alas, is everywhere. Made me feel better about my dust spots.

[@jimhofman3179]

I've spent the last 2 years developing a dust mitigation technique and now I only need to deal with 2-3 dust spots on each frame. Personally, I want ALL dust gone from my images, so: First I wipe down the strip of film between my fingers while wearing cotton gloves. Then I use a camera scanning rig to which I've added a 3D printed "dust-buster" tool. It uses Ilford's orange dust clothes and magnets to wipe the remaining dust off. The final step is to use a rocket blower on each frame before hitting the shutter. I'm using a Fuji XT-3 and tethered capture in Lightroom. After inspecting each frame for dust I use the content-aware brush to zap the remaining small dust spots. I treat dust removal just like exposure. Get it right in-camera so you don't have to fix it in post.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Jim, these are great tips. I agree on getting it right on the way in and I have a ritual of my own while scanning, haha. I hadn't intended this video to cover any of the scanning process prior, and of course I'm working on scans that help me illustrate a technique, but I probably should have mentioned in the video that I'd likely just pull the frame back out of the scanner and clean it better if there was a gob like that in the middle of the image, haha.

[@brianbeattyphotography]

Good tips Chris. Dust spots are one of the more annoying things in photography. Content aware fill works wonders though!

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Brian, agreed. I don't know what kind of dark magic content-aware fill pulls from but it's fantastic, haha

[@tim31415]

That's a really great method. My typical way is to dab over the spot. It doesn't work all that well, but you can use it in any editing software. Photoshop has a lot of capabilities, but they are very proud of it. Gimp is free and I am cheap.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Tim, Adobe certainly is proud of their software. I've never used Gimp, but free is quite a nice price!

[@alanhuntley55]

Great tip, Chris. I was playing around with this technique on my B&W film scans and found that the fuzziness slider also needs to be adjusted based on the tonality of the dust spot vs the surrounding image area. For example, on a light gray spot against a light gray sky area even with the range slider all the way to the right I couldn't get a good selection of only the dust. But adjusting the fuzziness slider tightened it right up. I noticed that you always had fuzziness set to 5% in your examples, but on my B&W scans I found that the various tonalities of the dust spot vs the surrounding area demanded adjustment of the fuzziness slider. Just thought I'd post my findings for interest sake.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Thanks Alan, that's great input! I'll have to give that a shot and experiment more with it. I definitely had to set the fuzziness up a bit in the blue scratch example, makes sense that there would be other situations that benefit as well.

[@chromagraphphotoart]

I have watched this with a sense of bewilderment wondering when the solution was presented, but it never was. The final element of being able to select areas looks more useful for sure. But when there are alternatives such as the AI spot removal tool in LR and Camera RAW, the content aware delete and, for the most damaged images, the AI Photo restoration tool in PS it seems a bit superfluous. I have a video on that latter option which is not for every situation, but it can be a lifesaver in some.

[@ChrisDarnell]

I have no problem with criticism; perhaps I’ve overlooked the AI tools and should give them another try, but I think saying I presented no solution is a little unfair. I’m sorry you feel that way.

[@cta.k.a.barrychan2460]

Please, please, please show your guitar collection! I saw the rack in a previous video and I could tell if I saw some Jacksons & ESPs or not.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Yep, two ESPs, a Schecter, and two Music Man JPs

[@craigfouche]

I gave these steps a try on a new layer as a smart object, but it didn't seem to work. Does this action only work on a rasterized layer?

[@ChrisDarnell]

I should have mentioned that in the video, indeed this does need to be done on a pixel layer. I flatten the image when I'm done cleaning it up anyway since I never want to go back, that keeps the file size down as well.

[@andrewfindlayphoto]

Another Sunday afternoon snooze fest. 😴 Just kidding very useful, especially the object removal. You may have noticed that I only spot after final reductions to Instagram or KZbin. 😁

[@ChrisDarnell]

Haha thanks Andrew, there's been plenty of times I've noticed a big hair or something after posting.. 😆

[@sophietucker1255]

I have a question but I'm sure where to ask it but here goes. I understand that the National Parks have new restrictions on KZbinrs in the parks and that the rules and requirements vary from park to park. Is this going to adversely affect you and your videos. Are you going to move into State Parks or BLM areas.

[@ChrisDarnell]

Hey Sophie, I expect it will affect my channel in one way or another, but I’m still figuring that out. I understand there’s still pending court battles around the issue. Ultimately it’ll really depend on how difficult they make it to follow their rules, but I’ve been wanting to explore new areas anyway so I’ll probably lean into that for a while, or who knows; maybe I’ll pick up macro or cityscapes or something 😝