Need some help here.

Now, as much as I'd prefer to proofread, it's my understanding that we don't have shortage of those. So, seeing as how I already have a copy of Photoshop, and we need more cleaners, I figured I'd give it a shot. I dug up some tutorials, and got a few basics down. But a few things are still confusing me. I took this one from the test itself.




Now, obviously there is a bit left to do, but I got a few questions as to how. First off, the blacks, most notably the hair on most of them, still have a bit of the white in it, as you can tell. After dicking around with the leveling, I can't figure out how to make it go all the way black, while still maintaining the correct lightness for the rest of the pixels. (Read, the rest looks grey) So, that would lead me to think that I'm not doing it the correct way.

So, first question would be: How do I get rid of the white 'dirt' where I want it to be all black.

Next is related, the black dirt in the white, is there a quick way to get rid of it, or do you have to zoom up and do it by hand?

Either way, I have a new respect for you cleaners, this is quite a bit more difficult than I had thought.
Sorry for the giant paragraphs, but I like to explain myself thoroughly. :dance1:

Okay, I'll offer my meager advice.

My first bit of advice is don't mess around with the levels too much. It's easy to change the levels and screw up the whole clean.

Now for the blacks. When you burn them a lot of it will go away, but as you have found out, not all of it does. However, when you re-size the image to 1200 pxls in height (which you would have to do anyway), some of whats left will disappear, and you can burn over any dirt left to make it go away. If there is a pure white spot that won't go away just use the brush tool with black colour.

As for the white, unless it's a dirty scan, when you level a lot of it should go away. However, for what's left I think you have to go over it by hand with the brush and some white paint. If there's another way I don't know it.

Alright then, what size should I make it? I've tried to guess, but it looks like crap as compared to before.

I'd suggest using denoiser to get rid of those 2 problems, of course u'll still have to do it manually.
Here's a good tutorial:
http://www.redhawkscans.com/editor-scanning-tutorials-f26/blud-s-speed-scanning-guide-t9.htm

White dirt on blacks: burn them
Black dirt on whites: leveling can remove most of them, but again, not all... u have to remove them manually.

I'm having trouble following that dudes logic without any of the accompanying pictures. I try what he says following the wording, and end up with a blurry atrocity. Gotta be doing something wrong.

A lot better I think. Finally caught on to what was trying to be conveyed and it turned out pretty decently.

Working on number 2 now, and it's giving me trouble trying to keep some of the small details that are essentially black dots (freckles then) They just disappear. Only thing I can't get right. Though it'll have to wait until I wake up, almost 5 in the morning, spent six hours trying this.

Please resize images to 1200 px in height.

Alright, time for my noob question of today: How do you go about redrawing the text you've gotten rid of. (From 1) I figure it'd be faster to ask then to waste two hours getting it myself.

Man, this may turn into a personal rant thread. You really need a lot of patience to do this properly. I lack that by nature, so this is really a big test for me. Gotta go play some Warhammer for a change of pace. :bounce: