Repair Tool

DxO PhotoLab Windows topics
1

Hi Folks,

I haven’t visited the forum lately but I was wondering if much has been said about the Repair Tool. I’ve tried it a few times and I really like the way it works…especially after I finally figured out the proper procedure to use the feature.

Does anyone have any input about the Repair tool? I’m using Version 2.2.3 build 23

2

The repair tool works well, but its maximum size is limited and PhotoLab lacks a clone stamp

Mark.

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It may not have a clone stamp but what the tool did was pretty impressive by incorporating the surrounding color and texture in the repaired section. I had an image that ended up with an unsightly aluminum can amongst some leave at the waters edge of a lakescape and I was hard pressed to see exactly where the cam was after I used the tool. The only way I could find where the can was to do a split screen compare and slide the split over the vicinity of where I thought the can was.

So I am duly impressed.

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4

Ah that was the problem when I was trying to clean up the skin around someone’s eyes. I kept getting bits of eyelashes as the heal tool wouldn’t let me clone and no matter how I approached the area, insisted on putting neighbouring eyelashes across the skin. A single clone of skin into that section would have then let me smooth the clone in with the repair/heal tool. On the other ten patches I healed/cleaned, the repair tool worked great. It would be great to have a clone tool to go with the excellent repair tool. They could share a single shortcut with an extra press switching between them. Heal is much more difficult than clone so hopefully this one is coming down the pipe soon. One of those huge small improvements.

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5

I like the implementation of the clone tool in ON1. Something similar in PhotoLab would be terrific.

Mark

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I find it very hit or too often miss. Some times works very well, no trace of what you were getting rid of, others its better just to undo and keep it as less of a mess than the repair. I used the repair tool in PS Elements before and it was better (yes I realize one is a RAW editor the other bit maped). If PL could work as well…

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7

HI Larry, I’m new to Photolab and struggling with the repair tool. I want to do much the same as you did - remove an unsightly object and fill the space with the colour of the back ground. Much of the documentation and videos lack the exact key strokes required. Can you please give me the keystrokes for doing it with a split screen? I’m using the Windows version of PL V2.
Thanks,
Jeff

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Welcome, Jeff.

It’s quite straightforward with PhotoLab - Simply select the “band-aid” icon from the toolbar …

  • you’ll get a tool that you can move around … and you can change its size with the mouse (middle) scroll-wheel
  • position it over the object and “click” … if the object is large’ish then you can drag the tool over it
  • the result you get will depend on the complexity of the background and other closely-related objects
  • if the result is not quite what you expect - then Reset and try again.

More info is available in these tutorials …

Regards, John M

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Using it is a mixed bag. Some times it works very well, others I find it better to put up with the original problem. As John M says you may need to try a number of time, others accept defeat and hope DXO will improve it at some time.

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If you have serious cloning and healing to do, it’s better to plan to take your image out to Affinity Photo, Photoshop or GIMP for final retouching. The PhotoLab heal can help with small fixes but it’s not fast or reliable enough for large scale image repair.

  1. Often PhotoLab heal leaves traces.
  2. Users have no control over where PhotoLab takes its additional info apart from changing brush size.

Changing brush size can help if you are getting some neighbouring visual info you don’t want. We often make the mistake in thinking that if a feature is there it’s at the level of Photoshop which is fundamentally a bitmap editor. PhotoLab is fundamentally a RAW converter. Trying to cram everything into all-in-one means software is usually weaker at some of the components.

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Thanks John, I appreciate your help. I’m trying to clean up some interior shots. I did that but I found the dark colour of the item I was attempting to erase got smudged all over the white back ground. I think the trick is doing small areas at a time, so I’ll plod on with it! I thought i might be able to copy & paste sections or use the equivalent of an eye dropper to sample the colour and fill a selected area.

There are some vertical shadows down ceiling, cupboard, wall and lounge - all different colours that I’m also trying to brighten. Apart from cropping that section out, is the best way to remove the shadows via local adjustment? Which tools would you suggest? On an earlier attempt all my colours got washed out.

Thanks again,
Jeff

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Thanks Alec, Appreciated.

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Thanks John,
That’s what I’m finding too.