Patching Up with the Patch Tool

Here is an easy to use technique that involves the Patch Tool in a repair/removal chore:

1. With Clouds RGB_Repaired still open, zoom in on one of the scan lines that crosses from the sky into the clouds. This type of repair can be tricky when a blemish, in this case a scan line, crosses several different image features that are separated by high contrast edges.

2. Select the Patch tool (one of the tools included with the Healing Brush tool set).

3. With the Patch tool active draw an elongated irregular shaped area just above and a little bit longer than the scan line you want to remove. This will define the area from which pixels values will be sampled to replace the scan lines.

4. Note that in the Patch tool Options palette, you have the choice of Source or Destination. Here, click on Destination. This will use the pixels from this area to the Desination when you drag the selection in the next step.

5. Now, with the Patch tool still active, click on and drag the selected area over the scan line, so the selection covers the scan line. This will result in the scan line being replaced/patched by the pixel values of the selected area.

Note: To understand how the Patch tool responds when configured as Source instead of Destination, repeat this step with the Source button checked. You will see the scan line moves into the selected area.

Remember: With any repair chore, if you are unsure of the results you are creating, and want to have the option of easily returning to the original image, simply select the area you intend to repair and place it on its own layer prior to commencing your repair work.