Some way to set areas to ignore, opposite to the way that the areas for additional clean up are set would work.
In the attached example the males nipple is hidden by the dust removal. I tried applying the SuperFocus first as suggested but it was still removed and the faces were very fake.
First pic is superfocus + dust remove
Second pic is original
Hi.
You canāt currently choose areas to ignore however, you replace areas which have accidentally been removed by using the same Brush for adding additional damage repaire.
Dust & Scratch is very clever at what can be achieved however, sometimes it can get confused by trying to determine between what is a feature or a blemish.
In theses instances after you have applied Dust & Scratch the next thing to do is either Click on the Dust & Scratch filter you have already applied in the Layer Stack and your Screen will turn Blue
Now, when you move the Cursor over the image it will transform into a Brush which allows you to paint over and remove further damage which has been missed by the Filter
Inside, the centre of the Brush is the Plus Symbol if you hold down the Alternate/Option Key the Plus Symbol will turn into the Minus Symbol allowing you to paint over and put back areas which have been accidentally removed by the Filter.
Alternatively, you can also do this with the Preserve Text Function Select on the Preserve Text Filter then, pick either Custom from the Drop-down Menu or Click on the Symbol to the right of the same Menu which will take you to the Selection Brush
You wonāt be able to select areas for further Dust Removal but, you will be able to Remove areas which have been mistakenly removed previously.
Hope this helps
Thanks for the response. If that had worked with the Dust feature it would have been perfect but I couldnāt see any way to make the area selection stick. I can highlight an area but as soon as I release the mouse the area clears. I tried with the left right curly arrows in both directions.
However as you mentioned the Preserve Text as well I though Iād give it a try. Much to my amazement it worked! You can use the select area of Preserve Text to remove an unwanted area of dust removal.
Seems like it just needs a bit of bug fixing to get this to where is is needed.
Hi.
Iām glad the Preserve Text worked for you however, Iāve Just tried the Remove Additional Damage Brush and on My Computer itās working as expected however, thereās a little caveat I didnāt mention before that maybe leading to the confusion.
After you have applied the Dust & Scratch Filter and it has Removed something you didnāt want to Remove, as l mentioned previously Click on the Dust & Scratch Filter you have already applied within the Layer Stack and you will be presented with your Image again covered in Blue or another Colour
TIP: you can change the Colour of the Blue Overlay or Opacity by Clicking on the Coloured Square on the right and Clicking on the Number next to it and changing the Opacity from 100% to say 50%.
As before, move the Cursor over the image and it will Transform into a Brush with the Plus Symbol inside it.
Next either, Hold Down the Alternate/Option Key or if youāre using a Mouse Hold Down the Right Mouse Button so, a Minus Symbol spears in the centre of the Brush Click on the area you wish to bring back.
Caveat: This is where it gets Confusing:
When you Paint over the area you wish to bring back with the Brush it would appear you are removing the Blue Overlay however, as soon as you let go of the Alternate/Option Key or Right Mouse Button the Blue Overlay returns and it would appear nothing has changed except for the Undo & Redo Buttons the Curly Arrows become active and I believe you inadvertently Clicked on the Undo Button believing nothing had changed and thatās why I believe it didnāt work for you.
Next time, after painting over the area you wish to bring back donāt worry that nothing has happened or the Blue Overlay returns instead, Click on the Blue Done Button at the bottom then, wait a Second for the Image to Update and your image will be fixed.
Hope this helps
OK I tried it again and I think I see what was stopping it working for me. I was using the option to process the dust removal on my computer which was actually faster than the cloud operation. However, in this mode the remove option does not work.
When I tried using the cloud processing option, lo and behold it worked just like you said it would. I donāt really see what should be different between the two modes. Hopefully Topaz will consider this a bug and fix it.
That might explain why they werenāt quick to fix this last fall when everyone first started complaining. Perhaps they missed that it only worked correctly in the cloud. Iāve been avoiding using the Dust and Scratch removal because I simply had no way to exclude areas from being inappropriately ārepairedā.
Thatās interesting thanks for the following up Iāll give it a go
Youāre absolutely right thanks 
Is there an original of this posted here somewhere? Iām just curious what motivated the use of the Dust Removal filter.
You can see all the blemishes in the sky
Now I have to jump onto this thread too.
(Iām talking about D & S V2)
When I use the D & S Filter on scanned KB 135 material, it also kills the grain - and with it there goes most of the original mood of the picture.
I would very much some kind of Preserve Grain Option.
BR
Uwe
Hi Uwe.
Please would you be kind enough to post a Before and After Images and possibly a screenshot of your settings
Thanks
Hej AND-E,
WILCO.
Iām sending up two ZIPped examples in a minute: originals as scanned from quite dirty KB135 slide by a pro company, and what D&S V2 had done to those pictures.
Please note the complete removal of the original grain in both pics.
Furthermore, please pay attention to the missing vane in #14 and the almost transparent masts of the sailing boats in #41.
Thanks & BR
Uwe
D&S_V2_Examples.zip (44.0 MB)
Settings:
Autopilot is off, the only filter selected is D&S V2.
Iām doing local processing, and there are no further parameters available for D&S
BR Uwe
Your newly restored images
Restored with Film Grain.zip (59.7 MB)
Apologies for the delay, you were absolutely right with your assignment of the Dust & Scratch filter in Topaz Photo so, Iāve been trying out different ideas to see if I canāt resolve this for you.
The good news is I believe I have however, itās not as straightforward as simply adding a Filter and youāre done but, Iāve made it as easy as possible for you.
Work to be carried out:
Step 1. Remove Dust & Scratches:
The Dust & Scratch filter is a good place to get you started in Photo Restoration however, for theses images. I decided against using that Filter and use the Topaz Image Web Cloud Application because one, itās more powerful and better at distinguishing details from noise and two, unlike the Topaz Photo version if this filter doesnāt remove the artifacts first time you can simply run the Filter again.
I imported broth original images in to Topaz Image Web and selected the Photo Restoration Workflow which offers three options Dust & Scratch, Colour and Upscale 1 to 8x
I left the Upscale on 1x, Clicked Off for Colour and opted for Dust & Scratch plus, as with the Topaz Photo version there are no options itās either applied or not.
The Church Image was fine however, as I mentioned earlier if youāre not satisfied with the results you can run Dust & Scratch a second time for a even deeper clean which I had to do with the Boat Scene.
Step 2. Retain or Replace Film Grain:
I then, download both images and reopened them into Topaz Photo including the two originals ((More on that a little later)) with the Boat Scene the Dust & Scratch had completely removed the Grain but, not so, much with the Church Image managing to retain some Grain which was good.
So, why did I import the original two untouched images back into Topaz Photo simply for reference purposes because, Topaz Photo has one of the best Film Grain Filters.
Good Tip: for applying the right amount of Grain:
I selected the Original Boat Scene, and then, ran the Topaz Photo Dust & Scratch filter to remove the grain completely although, I did say the Topaz Photo version wasnāt right for these images and thatās true I did say that
But, as the Filter removes the grain entirely you can then, run the Grain Filter and if you view the image with the Split View so, you see half the original and half the clean image you can then adjust the parameters of the Grain Filter to match the grain from the original image.
Once you are happy with the grain make a mental note of the settings then, apply those settings to the other images hereās the settings I used for both the Boat Scene and the Church image.
The Boat Scene Grain Settings:
The Church Grain Settings:
I hope you are pleased with the results apologies once again for the delay and not being able to help resolve this issue with Topaz Photo however, I do hope my solution is helpful and satisfactory for you.
If I may make a suggestion on what to do next as the scans were taken from Slides I feel Topaz has made them a little to sharp (Modern looking) and perhaps adding a little Gaussian Blur to them say between 0.5 and at the most 1.5 blur in Photoshop or similar App will be significant to make them look more vintage.
If you have any further questions or anything you think I can add please donāt hesitate to ask always happy to help.
Andy
Hej AND-E,
many thanks for your effort, I surely will try the suggested method within a few days time.
One more thought regarding grain preserving:
I had sometimes ago used an audio tool for digitizing tape recordings. There was a fllter for removing background noise. You had to select a noise sample from a quiet part of the record first, then the algorithm automatically did fourier transformations of the selected sample and the whole record. In frquency domain, the noise was subtracted from the record, and back in time domain the noise was gone.
Perhaps for one of the releases coming, Iām thinking of a similar process where you select a noise (=grain) sample from a āquietā (=no details) area of the image, and advise the AI to preseve that specific spectre.
Furthermore, the in some other thread some time ago suggested Local Restore Brush (sorry I forgot where Iād read it) would be worth to be implemented.
BR Uwe
I had thought about going further, with that Idea of adding your own Grain because, what if I were to tell you can extract the actual monochromatic film Grain from your images or as near as possible and apply that to your enhanced versions and the reason I before didnāt mention it before was because, I didnāt want to over complicate my previous reply.
So, if youāre Interested, more on that later but first you need to read the next piece of information I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
What you wish for Topaz Photo has already granted the Topaz Grain Filter isnāt just a generic noise filter that add the same noise across the whole image it actually uses AI to recreate traditional Film Grain and Digital ISO Noise
Silver Rich: Recreates that organic Film Grain look for each image and apply the Grain in varying amounts across the image based on tonal values.
Gaussian: Recreates Digital Noise with a slight RGB colouring and applying noise in varying amounts based on luminosity
Grey: Recreates Digital Noise and apply it based on luminosity values without the RGB colouring for a more pleasing look especially for Compositing.
Incidentally, the reason I used Gaussian for your two images was because, although, they were taken with a film camera the scanner had introduced slight RGB colouring and I was staying respectful with to the originals
Hereās the official information from Topaz
Grain is a new enhancement designed to solve a common problem with AI image processing: overly smooth, artificial-looking textures.
After denoise, sharpen, upscaling, or face recovery, images can sometimes lose natural textures or depth. Grain helps bring that back by adding controlled, realistic texture across the entire image.
This tool is meant to be used as a finishing step, the last enhancement in your processing, to subtly restore organic texture, improve atmosphere, and make results feel more photographic and less āAI-generatedā. Avoid using this before other AI models as the grain will be distorted or processed away.
Grain includes three generation modes, with an example for each:
Gaussian - Adds fine, randomized grain that includes subtle color noise across channels. Best for recreating natural sensor noise and modern digital texture with smooth, even distribution.
Grey - Applies consistent monochromatic grain without introducing color noise. Ideal when you want added texture and depth while keeping color clean and stable.
Silver Rich - Simulates classic analog film grain with organic clumping and higher contrast variation. Designed for cinematic and vintage looks where texture becomes part of the aesthetic.
Each mode gives you different stylistic textures to match your image. You also get full control over grain strength, intensity, and size, allowing you to dial in effects from subtle realism to more stylized film looks.
The effect is applied directly to your export and processes nearly instantly, so it wonāt slow down your workflow.
Very clever donāt you think, moving on:
Adobe Camera RAW and Lightroom Classic have a very good Grain Filter not as intelligent as the Topaz Photo version simply because, itās not using Machine Learning but itās no slouch either when it comes to applying the Grain and donāt forget you can use Topaz Photo as a Plugin with Photoshop and Camera RAW as a filter so, the best of both worlds.
Alternatively, there are quite a few third party image editors Affinity, ON1, DxO and other software for adding grain Dehancer or FilmConvert you can try
Finally applying the Film Grain from your original images using one of the oldest Filters in Photoshop the Dust & Scratches Filter and no AI or complex Layers.
Hereās how:
Step 1. Open one of your original untouched images in Photoshop and press Control J to duplicate the Background Layer and zoom in to 100% to see the true strength of the effect.
Step 2. Go to the Filter Menu then, Scroll down until you see Noise then, pick Dust & Scratches from the list to open the Filter.
Step 3. You will be presented with two Boxes Radius and Threshold think of Radius as the Blur and Threshold as the Texture
The way this works we need to completely Blur the image removing all details with the Radius and bring back the Grain texture with Threshold.
For the Boat Scene I found a Radius of 40 and a Threshold of 12 is a good amount and for the Church a Radius of 60 and the on 12 will do the job
Step 5. Once youāre happy with your settings in the Dust & Scratches Filter Click on OK
Step 6. If there are any blemishes left for example, in the Sky then simply remove theses with the Spot Healing Brush.
Step 7. Next still with the Dust & Scratches Layer selected goto the Filter Menu and Scroll down to Other then select High Pass from the list
Step 8. This one is easy firstly, your view will change to grey donāt panic thatās what we want to happen and secondly, thereās only one Box and change the Number to Two (thatās the Number Two and not a 2,2,Train 
sorry couldnāt resist) and Click on OK.
Step 9. Simply change the Blending mode of this Layer from Normal to Linear Light and the gey will disappear leaving only the texture behind and youāre done
The reason we selected the High Pass was because one, it makes everything 50% Grey and secondly, it subtracts the Texture Frequency from the colour plus, when you select Linear Light anything that is Grey will become Transparent in appearance.
Tip: if you think the texture is too much Simply reduce the Opacity and if you feel the effect is not enough Simply Duplicate the Layer and either decrease the Opacity or change the Blend Mode to Overlay or Soft Light to reduce the effect and adjust the Opacity accordingly.
Apologies for another delay, but, I hope youāre pleased with the options Iāve provided also, if youāre still interested in knowing more I can tell you how to use the Blend If Sliders to Target the Highlight, Midtones and Shadows separately
Hope this helps
Andy
