Restoration of Old Images Using the Healing Brush and Patch Tool

Project worth 25 points

 In this lesson you will learn how to bring back old, damaged photos to a "like new" condition. 
The first tool that we'll take a look at in this tutorial is the Healing
Brush tool.  It behaves just like the Clone Stamp tool but it is much better at preserving the underlying pattern in your image.  The other tool, the Patch tool, is a combination of the Lasso and Healing Brush tools.  It
allows you to select an area, then clone that area with the same control
offered by the Healing Brush tool.  Both of these tools make the process of retouching an image simpler and more straightforward.  They do not  reduce the amount of work you have to do, but they do give you a lot more control over the process of retouching.  Both of these tools are excellent for patching areas of an image that have been damaged by creases, wear, or tearing.

If you know how to use the Clone Stamp tool, you also know how to use the
Healing Brush tool.  The Healing Brush works in very much the same way, but
with a few of its own quirks.  First, pick a spot on an image that you want
to clone from, just like with the Clone Stamp tool.  ALT-click  to select
the area, then paint the area you want to change.  When Photoshop clones the
area, it uses a complex algorithm to mix the image of the area you are
painting over with the tone and texture of the selected source area you are
painting with.  This results in an almost perfect blending, unlike the Clone Stamp tool, which simply pastes the selected source area onto the target area.

When you hold down the mouse button while painting, the selected source area will move relative to the Healing Brush.  The Clone Stamp tool does not support this feature.  If you need this flexibility, you can make the Healing Brush tool behave like the Clone Stamp tool.  Click the Mode menu in the Healing Brush options bar, and select Replace.  Using this selection allows you to also use soft-edge brushes.  The Healing Brush tool and the Patch tool are not good at dealing with edges in an image.  In the example above, you would run into problems as you tried to heal the area where the edge is.  The problem is that these tools rely on the pixels around the selected source area for the retouching data, so when you paint you are effectively changing the area around and in the brush stroke, creating a smear effect. You can try to change the shape of the brush stroke or you could reduce the size of the brush, but this has its limits since the tools need to be able to select 9 pixels to work effectively.

The best way to get around this problem is to make a soft-edged selection around the area that you want to repair.  The Healing Brush and the Patch tool will behave like any other tool, affecting just the area in the selection, as shown below.  When selecting your source area try to make a selection that straddles the selected work area, which makes for a cleaner edge.  When you are done repairing inside the selection, simple invert the selection and work on the other side of the edge.

Be sure to save your work in the folder marked "Old Photograph" in the finished work folder that is inside the Computer Art 2005 folder.