Fleckentfernung – Capture One

The Fleckentfernung tool can be used to quickly remove spots or small blemishes from images. In addition to spot removal, it also has an option to remove sensor dust. Although the operation using a circular cursor to retouch each imperfection is the same between the Staub and Fleck modes, those two adopt different algorithms so the final results will vary. Whereas the Staub option analyzes texture, color, and brightness from the sampled area and merges that with its immediate surroundings, the Fleck mode estimates the light lost and compensates with a localized exposure adjustment. It is recommended, therefore, to limit each to their intended use.

Sensor dust can be commonly seen in similar or identical locations on images from one session. Fleck can settle in the front of the so-called "filter-stack" of an image sensor and may appear in varying degrees of sharpness from image-to-image, depending on the aperture selected during capture. To save time when retouching dust spots from multiple images, use the Global Copy and Apply buttons to apply the corrections. Alternatively, make a local copy of the dust spots using the Adjustments Clipboard and apply the Fleck setting to the rest of the images. Always check image files when automatically removing dust spots. The Fleckentfernung tool works with offline images so you can continue working on a Catalog without the source files available, for example, when you are away from the office and do not have access to an external drive or NAS. You can use multiple overlapping selections (up to 100 selections can be made per image), however, the brush-based Heal tool is recommended when more advanced retouching is required.

NOTE: In Capture One Express, the Fleckentfernung tool is not present.

You can switch between the Fleck and Staub options quickly from image-to-image or even on the same image directly from the Viewer.

With the Fleckentfernung cursor selected, Ctrl/right-click (MacOS/Windows) in the Viewer. The Einstellungen Fleckentfernung dialog window opens beneath the cursor in the Viewer.
Click on the field adjacent to Typ and select the appropriate option from the menu.