PWP5 -- Reducing Specular Highlights of Scanned Prints

[den]

Scanning prints, especially those with matted print paper, can produce annoying specular highlights.

PWP5's new features make it easy to minimize the specular highlights.

(1) open or click on the starting image.
(2) open Mask Tool - Texture, lower-left Apply in Add mode preference settings, leaving the mask 'active' on the starting image.
(3) click on the starting image and open the Sharpen -- Bilateral Sharpen transform. Adjust for preference settings. Click OK.

SpecularScan1-1.jpg (40.62 KiB) Viewed 3425 times

SpecularScan2-1.jpg (47.92 KiB) Viewed 3426 times

While the above describes/illustrates reducing specular highlights from a scanned print, a broader application may be for land/sea-scapes with specular sun reflections where the 85->100% highlight tone range is first isolated with the Mask Tool - Brightness Curve, then the Texture, lower-left Apply-ed in Overlay mode... followed with the softening blur/sharpening settings of Bilateral Sharpen.

[MikeG]

When I read the above, and looked at the before and after images, I wondered if the technique could be of when dealing with scans of half tone images.
I tried, but got nowhere, so I suppose that this technique is, as 'advertised', only for 'specular highlights'.

I didn't spend long on this as I had the original and the de-screening option on the scanner produced a very satisfactory result.

A search through the archives didn't find any relevant techniques (for dealing with scans of half tone images) within PWP, but did throw up the recommendation to use Neat Image.

Mike.