Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for repairing an image using an image defect matte that indicates portions of an image that have been repaired in previous iterations or are proposed modifications for a current iteration. A user interface incorporates graphical tools that allow the user to modify or manipulate the defect matte and thereby initiate commands that control the selection, detection or repair of one or more defects in an image. For example, the user interface may include commands that allow a user to further repair or cancel a previous repair of a selected region of an image. Each image defect matte may be stored, for example, as an array of elements that assume integer values corresponding to different degrees or steps of repair, such as “original”, “repaired” or “new defect.” Each matte integer value can be encoded with a different color. Each element of the defect matte corresponds to one or more image pixels.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for repairing an image using an image defect matte that indicates portions of an image that have been repaired in previous iterations or are proposed modifications for a current iteration. A user interface incorporates graphical tools that allow the user to modify or manipulate the defect matte and thereby initiate commands that control the selection, detection or repair of one or more defects in an image. For example, the user interface may include commands that allow a user to further repair or cancel a previous repair of a selected region of an image. Each image defect matte may be stored, for example, as an array of elements that assume integer values corresponding to different degrees or steps of repair, such as “original”, “repaired” or “new defect.” Each matte integer value can be encoded with a different color. Each element of the defect matte corresponds to one or more image pixels.