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If you find yourself using the Spot Healing Brush repeatedly to fix a pesky speck that appears in the exact same place in every photo you take, you've got dust on your camera's sensor. You'll want to take your camera to a trustworthy shop and have them clean the sensor, or do it yourself with a bit of bravery and the right tools. But fixing the camera doesn't fix the photos you've already taken. Fortunately, you can make Camera Raw zap those spots automatically. Here's how:
- Open all the problem images in Camera Raw (see Section 2.3.7 in Chapter 2).
- In Camera Raw, press B to grab the Spot Removal Brush, click the offending spot, and then drag to resize your cursor. Clicking makes the brush cursor appear (it's a red-and-white circle) and dragging resizes it. If you click once, you create a super tiny brush, so it's better to drag until the brush is big enough to see. You can also use the Radius slider on the right side of the Camera Raw window to change the brush size. The goal is to make the brush size slightly bigger than the spot itself.
- Set your sample point. When you release the mouse button, Camera Raw displays a green–and-white circle near where you clicked, and the pesky spot should vanish. The green-and-white circle (which is connected to the red-and-white circle by a black-and-white line) marks the sample point Camera Raw is using to the fix the spot. Camera Raw usually does a good job of selecting a sample point, but if you want to move it to another area that better matches the problem spot, hover your cursor inside the green-and-white circle and, when a four-headed arrow appears next to your cursor, drag it somewhere else. If you need to fix several specks, repeat this step for each one until they're all gone. Now you're ready to apply the fix to the other images you have open.
- Select all your open images and then click the Synchronize button to apply the changes you just made to them, too. In the Camera Raw window's top-left corner, click the Select All button and then click the Synchronize button below it. In the resulting dialog box, choose Spot Removal from the Synchronize pop-up menu.
- Click OK to close the Synchronize dialog box, and then click the Done button at the bottom of the Camera Raw window to store your changes. If you have hundreds of images open, you probably don't want to click the Open button. That'll pop 'em all open in Photoshop, which could send both your computer and Photoshop into a deep freeze. (Eek!) Now, aren't you glad pressing Return (Enter on a PC) in Camera Raw automatically triggers the Done command instead of Open?
Learn more about this topic from Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual.
Photoshop is the world's most widely used photo-editing and graphics program. But with all its fantastic new features and options, the CS4 version can bewilder even the most seasoned professional. Packed with tips, tricks, and lots of practical advice, Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual teaches you everything you need to know to edit photos and create beautiful documents in Photoshop -- whether you're a beginner or a power user ready to try some advanced techniques.
