Photos, slides and negatives are naturally afflicted with image defects
Even if photos and slides are handled very carefully, it's virtually impossible to avoid contact with tiny dust particles; small scratches are also not uncommon. Greater defects on treasured images can be especially annoying. These flaws do not often get recognized until scanning, because scanning means also increasing image size in most cases. LaserSoft Imaging offers a solution to remove these defects during the scan process:

SilverFast's software-based dust and scratch removal tool (SRD®)
The algorithms used in SRD® (Smart Removal of Defects) for defect detection can recognize dust and scratches because their image information differs greatly from the surrounding. Detected flaws can be removed by calculations taking the surrounding image information into account. The dust and scratch removal has been completely embedded into the workflow of SilverFast SE and Ai and therefore gets used during the scan process. Previously scanned images (RAW files as well) can be freed of dust and scratches afterwards with SilverFast HDR. Digital camera software SilverFast DC Pro and Pro Studio apply this function to digital camera images. Many options to adjust the SRD® tool with simultaneous optical checking offer a reliable technique for removing any defects without destroying image details.


Example images: Before and after applying the SRD® dust and scratch removal.
(Click the images to enlarge)

Further details on SilverFast SRD®
SRD® offers a set of unique tools for freeing any image of defects such as dust and scratches - reliable and comfortable:

• It's very hard for software-based dust and scratch removal tools to differentiate between actual image flaws and details worth preserving. With SRD® the user employs masks for marking those parts of the image containing defects. Afterwards the correction takes place where unmarked areas without scratches will remain unaffected and, thus, will retain desirable image details.
• The sensitivity of defect detection, the size of flaws to be recognized and the intensity with which defects should be corrected, are adjustable with sliders.
• A preview window shows identified defects marked in red. Every adjustment to any option will update the preview window for checking.
• An additional realtime function is optional to help get optimal alignment.
• The user can add up to 3 additional layers for correcting scratches that are very difficult to remove with special adjustments.
• SRD® includes a brush tool for marking defects manually.

The following movie shows how quickly and easily you can learn to work with SRD®:

SilverFast's iSRD® is a further developement of the SRD® technology. This tool utilizes the infrared channel, with which some scanners are equipped, to detect defects more precisely. Removing dust and scratches without destroying any details is especially efficent when using SRD® & iSRD® and layers & masks in parallel.

Note: The SRD® functionality is limited within SilverFast SE versions (only a single layer possible).