Which Tool Can Remove "Gray" Grain in Antique Text Images (Newspaper)?

[GDPR-354025]

I have worked this morning on the image I posted in a related thread posted yesterday. If there were a way to syphon out the grayish grain always present in scanned photocopies, black text, however old, would be sharper in comparison. A user posted a sample of almost miraculous clarity, where he(?) managed to "lift" the text off the graying grain and (seemingly) paste it on a white background.

If anyone can tell me how this is done, or if there are any Affinity tutorials about restoring antique photographs or newspaper articles such as the one I posted, I'd be grateful to know where I can make some headway. Thank you.

[smadell]

Try the FFT denoise filter

 

[GDPR-354025]

Thank you for your response!

EDIT: NOTHING AT ALL appears--just a black empty window.

[John Rostron]

I tried the FFT on part of your original image and I also got a blank window. I then tried different colour modes: RGB, Greyscale etc and eventually got a real FFT map. I then erased the outer items from the FFT map, leaving just the central area intact. This went some way to removing the grain, but there was still some left. When I get back to my deskop computer, I will post my result, including the colour mode that worked!

I had previously cut out one article from the page, aligned it  so the text was horizontal and adjusted the levels and contrast so that it was almost black and white. The text was mostly legible but affected by the grain you mentioned.

John

[GDPR-354025]

@JohnRostron Thank you very much! Once more unto the breach.

[GDPR-354025]

Uh oh! There's no RGB, Grayscale option on the FFTDenoise interface. At least not on mine

[John Rostron]

To select RGB or Greyscale, you need to select Document > Colour Format.

John

[GDPR-354025]

Okay. I also have used Dust and Scratches. Wow, has it cleared up the typeface! Not perfect, but very well. I tried using it twice, but apparently at 100%, it's only good for one pass.

Thank you again.

[GDPR-354025]

Okay, here is what I have come up with (three upload attempts failed). Anyway, I used FFT Denoise in Grayscale, the Freehand Lasso Selection Tool + Levels to equalize the text, and Selective Color to get rid of as much of the scratches as possible. Thank you, John Rostron. I guess we can't expect Affinity Photo to be able to do miracles, but with the forum's help, you can you get improvements!

[John Rostron]

I have just been through the Witches and Vampites article and can report more accurately on what I did.

I first opend the cropped article on Wiches and Vampires. This had also been straightened.

I then applied a Levels Adjustment to set the Black and White points:

Followed by a Curves Adjustment to invert and increase the contrast:

It now looked like:

In order to use the FFT filter, I had to export the file and re-open it. I erased the outer part of the FFT spectrum:

Which gave a final image like this:

Not as clean as @gdenby's effort using Dust and Scratches, but the technique may be useful in other cases.

John

[GDPR-354025]

Wow! You should make Youtube videos, it would be easier for you  I will start on this a.s.a.p. when I can return to the project, which I now have to leave again. 

THANK YOU. I suspect I'll still be using the Freehand Selection Tool and Levels because of the unevenness of the text in my project, but I know what I have now will be improved with your steps.

Again, sincere thanks.

[GDPR-354025]

On 9/19/2018 at 7:48 AM, John Rostron said:

I have just been through the Witches and Vampites article and can report more accurately on what I did.

I first opend the cropped article on Wiches and Vampires. This had also been straightened.

I then applied a Levels Adjustment to set the Black and White points:

Followed by a Curves Adjustment to invert and increase the contrast:

It now looked like:

In order to use the FFT filter, I had to export the file and re-open it. I erased the outer part of the FFT spectrum:

Which gave a final image like this:

John

I replicated your work just now and found the process extremely helpful. Interestingly, I "overdid" the FFT Denoise, following the Affinity tutorial and painting over the "pinpoints" up to the very center, biggest, pinpoint. The image became VERY blurry. So then I Undid it and copied your brush strokes, and the image was incredibly clear. You're right about the Dust and Scratches, which I will use dealing with the future images.

I can't thank you enough. The arcane names given to various editing operations on Affinity can frighten users (at least they frighten me). It is so helpful to have someone explain them in ways that don't require familiarity with industry-specific vocabulary.

If this were Reddit, I'd "gild" you. Sincere gratitude.

[John Rostron]

50 minutes ago, American said:

If this were Reddit, I'd "gild" you. Sincere gratitude.

That's what these forums are for. Glad to be of help.

John