Tutorial: AKVIS Retoucher

Removing Unwanted Details

The author of this tutorial, Silvano Dotti (Apple Distinguished Educator of the Italian ADE Team) explains how to restore an image using the AKVIS Retoucher plugin in Photoshop Elements.

Silvano Dotti writes:

• Step 1. Open the image to be restored. It's obvious that there is a horizontal wire running across the image as well as some poles at the bottom. Unfortunately, though PhotoShop Elements has the Quick Selection and Selection Brush tools (very useful for restoring old photos), it does not have Quick Mask mode, which would be very useful here.

  I'll use a different method.

  
• Step 2. Choose a pure color to indicate areas that are selected. I chose the color red.
   

  I begin to mark the "defects".

  

  Just the poles remain...

  
  ...all the defects have been marked:
  
• Step 3. Since PS Elements adds a layer each time a mark is made, I combine them into one layer and name it "red".
  

  While in this layer, use the Magic Wand tool,
  to select the unmarked parts of the layer, which are transparent, and combine them into one selection by pressing "Shift".

  

  Then invert the selection

  
  

  so that the areas marked in red are selected instead.

• Step 4. Delete the layer "red" by pulling it into the trash.
  

  Note: Now the selection containing the red marks has become part of the same layer that contains my original photo!

  Launch AKVIS Retoucher from the Filter menu in PS Elements,

  

  and start processing by pressing the button, and like magic, the areas I want to remove from the photo disappear!

  See the video:

   

  Note: If you are satisfied, press the

  
  button to apply the result to the image.

  Then deselect the selection and you are done.

   

  Here's the result: