Moire filter

[sallybode]

I have 7.0 and use CS at work, does anyone have the latest and greatest and could you tell me if PS has introduced their own Moire filter? The various filters that you could use for Moire removal: Median, Depeckle, Dust & Scratches and Gaussian Blur, are not specific to this type of picture noise resulting from having to scan in a previously printed picture.

PS is great but even PaintShopPro and PhotoImpact and PhotoPaint all have a remove Moire filter. And they aren't too bad, the best one I've tried and use a lot of is the PhotoPaint Moire filter.

So it slows my work down, scan the file, import to PhotoPaint, descreen, save and reopen in Photoshop. The object is to get the image as clear as possible and to blur the image as little as possible.

I have done a comparison using what Photoshop offers and this is one where Photoshop's result are not impressive.

Does the newest version of Photoshop have the remove Moire filter?

[Albacore]

Hi sally,
Do not know if you were meaning this: http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/Tips/moire.html
If you were then I suggest that you do not need to up grade or buy a plugin but just take an extra 10 mins to work on your file.

[sallybode]

I don't have an exta ten minutes actually, I have to get it done right the first time, the buck stops at my desk you see, and not only the buck, the whole herd of deer, or however they migrate.

It takes me less than a minute to do the import into PhotoPaint and use the remove Moire filter which is specifically for that purpose. It blurs the photograph less and when resharpening afterwords, it does not bring the pattern back.

I have run my own experiment to see which gave me better quality, because bottom line is that I have to get the job out fast as possible but also at the highest quality possible, so spending ten extra minutes is not what it would actually entail because the texture of the skin is lousy in comparison with Photoshop on this compared to using the PP filter and saving as a .psd at 600 dpi. I have seldom found that going up more thatn twice the resolution made the filter work any better.

After the filter, in PS I can then just adjust levels, curves, contrast and use the healing brush, the clone tool and I am close to done.

Making a lot of selections in order then to blur the skin and not the eyes, nose, etc., takes time. When finished, my work was better having starting in PP with the correct filter designed for the specific purpose of removing a Moire pattern.

However if I am not at work, my Canon scanner does an excellent job of removing Moire to begin with. The scanner's software in my HP scanner at work is nowhere near as good as the PP filter.

I guess I already have the better way of doing it.

Perhaps it has to do with copyrights, but when others all have a decent Moire filter and Photoshop does not, seeing as it is the workhorse of the industry, what gives anyway?

It costs a lot to upgrade and it would be nice if the upgrade would be worth the money.

Mind you, for what PS does well, I still love it. Don't we all have our pet peeves and wish lists?

Thanks for your answer.

[gnurf]

I do a lot of photo retouching at work, and the following technique can perhaps be useful for you.

1) Scan the image at 600 or 1200 dpi (depending on the raster size)

2) Gaussian blur - look at the preview window while you adjust the blur value. When the raster dots are barely smoothed out, click OK.

3) Resize to 50%, and repeat step 2). Also try using unsharp mask after every blur.

4) Repeat step 3) until you have reached the preferred final resolution.

If you frequently scan images with the same raster size, then save the steps as an action. Create different actions for the raster sizes you scan.

[sallybode]

A moire is a specific type of screen that a printing press breaks images into in order to print.

Many others offer a moire removal filter (Corel PhotoPaint, Paint Shop Pro, Ulead PhotoImpact), but Photoshop just doesn't.

And blurring the photo in order to resharpen it, is not a good way to remove a moire. Because it comes back when you try to sharpen it. It is not artifacts from resaving a jpeg. This is different.

A moire filter analyzes what percentage screen was applied in the first place when it was originally printed in either a magazine, a newspaper or desktop printer in order to take out those fine dots efficiently. Even scanner software comes with moire removal. But sometimes you get emailed a picture which has a moire pattern and you have to get rid of it. It is just time lost switching programs in order to get a good result.

This is about the only thing I don't like about Photoshop, besides how much it costs, of course.