Cloning Challenge?

[speedneeder]

If I wanted to take out the power lines in this photo, how exactly would I go about it? Suggestions?

[kdoc856]

hey, Brian

You didnt mention what software you use for pp, but the content-aware healing brush in PS and PSE (9&10) would make mince-meat of these lines in about 5 minutes. (I'm assuming you havent already tried that and found it less than ideal)

good luck, Kevin

[Markvetnz]

Simple. Just use the spot healing brush. Reasonable large size soft brush. Run it over the lines and hey presto gone.

You will have to a little cloning around the edges of the tank but that's no big deal.

I recently cloned about 20 people off the Great Wall. Now that was more of a challenge, making sure all the lines in the stonework and the stairs lined up.

[GrahamH]

Spot healing brush, using short strokes



I've left some of it for others.

graham

[speedneeder]

Spot healing brush eh?
I'm not sure what the GIMP equivalent of that would be. I know how to use a healing tool, which I tried, but the results were poor.

[Hero]

What I often do in Gimp is clone a small strip of pixels, and then use the healing-tool to smooth things out, just healing often leaves a shadow of what was there before.

[speedneeder]

Hero, yes, terrible shadows!

[Hero]

Two ways, for smaller patches you can use the clone-tool (the little stamp next to the healing-tool). It works similar to healing; Selected the sample that you want to clone by using ctrl-click and then just paint away. Smoothen it out with the healing-tool.
For large areas use one of the selection-tools and just crtl-c and ctrl-v your way out.
Slight note on the healing-tool. keep an eye on the sampling area/dot. It follows and samples while you're painting with it.

[FrankMi]

Hi Brian, another way with this image is to use the Clone Stamp tool with a very soft brush. Note the direction if the lines formed by the clouds and line up the sample point perpendicular but about the diameter of the brush away from the clone target point. I would use a brush around 5-10 pixels. The just run the brush the length of the wire, keeping the pickup point the same distance from the wire.

The changes in the cloud coloring should follow nicely provided the pickup point remains perpendicular to the target point. If the cloud edge changes direction, just choose a new pickup point that is again perpendicular to the target. I can do this in a copy fairly quickly then merge the result back into the original as appropriate.

If there is a merged location that doesn't look quite right, I brush out the merge in that location and redo. I often prefer this over the healing brush because I have complete control over the look of the resulting image. This is also a very quick way to remove halos.

[speedneeder]

[FrankMi]

Nice Job, Brian! Now I thought for sure there were some wires somewhere. Hmmmm... Must have been mistaken, don't see any evidence that they were ever there....

[Donald]

Sorry Brian. As a fellow GIMP user, I missed this thread completely. But seems like you got there just fine.

[speedneeder]

Thanks Frank.
I have learned a few tricks through this forum from the likes of you, Donald, and others.

FYI, the point of this exercise wasn't to make an awesome photo, as this one isn't that at all. It was more of an exercise in underexposing for color saturation that turned into an exercise in cloning.