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I have a bunch of pictures I'm retouching/restoring. I have one, though, that has a bunch of red discoloring dots in quite a few places. As opposed to taking the spot healing tool for about an hour is there another more efficient way to go about this ? I was trying Color Range and the Magic Wand, but I'm not getting the results i want. Any suggestions? I've attached the original along with my results thus far to better help with you helping me.

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Dani AI

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As shows, the image has many small red discoloration dots. Earlier replies offer manual fixes, which work but are slow. Two faster, non‑destructive approaches that preserve detail are outlined below: a color‑focused frequency separation workflow and a channel‑based mask plus median/dust cleanup. Both let you remove color speckles while keeping surface texture.

  1. Frequency separation (color-only cleanup)

    • Duplicate the background twice; name the lower copy "Low" and the upper copy "High".
    • On "Low" apply Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur until the small speckles smooth out but edges remain.
    • Select "High" and use Image > Apply Image with Layer = Low. For 8‑bit images use Blending = Subtract, Scale = 2, Offset = 128. For 16‑bit use Add, Scale = 2, Offset = 0. Set "High" blend mode to Linear Light.
    • Paint on the "Low" (color) layer with a sampled nearby color using a soft brush set to Color blending mode to neutralize red dots. Use a layer mask and a soft brush to confine corrections.

  2. Channel mask + targeted noise removal

    • Inspect R/G/B channels and duplicate the channel that shows the dots with most contrast.
    • Push Levels/Threshold on that channel to isolate the dots, then Ctrl+click the channel to load a selection.
    • With the selection active, run Filter > Noise > Median or Filter > Noise > Dust & Scratches on a duplicate pixel layer (not the original) to remove specks only inside the mask.
    • Feather the mask and refine with a subtle Hue/Saturation adjustment if color shifts remain.

Tips: work at 100% when checking results, keep original layers intact, and record an Action if multiple images need the same routine. Avoid over‑blurring the color layer so texture from the "High" layer can still restore detail.

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Member Avatar for Member #334542

i) Locate the area with colors that you want
ii) Select marquee tool and select the portion (basically a small portion)
iii) Do not add any layers
iv) Press Ctrl+Alt and move the pointer it will get your area with your mouse pointer and place it on the dots.
v) without removing the mouse cilck, again repeat (iv) until you filled out all.

hope I understand! otherwise attach the screenshot.

Member Avatar for PixelExchange

Your best bet is to use the clone stamp tool. Simply select the clone stamp tool, hold down the "alt" key (on the keyboard), select a location on your image that you would like to copy (left click, that is), and then "paint" that copied location over your red dots.

To "paint" your copied location over the red dots, all you have to do (once you have pressed alt and clicked) is left click and presume to paint, as you would paint with the paint brush.

(Note: Please Make sure that your clone brush is set to a small size before you press alt+left click, like 3-10. Otherwise, you will wind up overpainting too much of your image).

Edited by PixelExchange because: n/a
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