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Inpaint
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Inpaint

Updated in 14

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Inpaint[image,region]

retouches parts of image that correspond to nonzero elements in region.

Details and Options

  • Image inpainting, also known as retouching, is the process of synthesizing new pixels for regions of an image. It is typically used to recover damage, remove unwanted content or create new content.
  • Inpaint works with arbitrary 2D images, operating separately on each channel.
  • The region to be retouched can be given as an image, a graphics object, or a matrix.
  • The region specification can be any of the following:
  • posregion computed as the component specified by {x,y}
    {pos1,pos2,…}region containing all posi
    Rectangle[…]region indicated by a bounding box
    imagean exact set of pixels given as an image
  • Inpaint always gives an image of the same dimensions and the same type as image.
  • The following options can be specified:
  • MaxIterations100maximum number of iterations
    Method Automaticthe method to use
  • Possible method settings include:
  • "Diffusion"iterative isotropic diffusion method
    "FastMarching"fast marching method
    "NavierStokes"Navier–Stokes method
    "TextureSynthesis"best-fit texture synthesis method using random sampling
    "TotalVariation"iterative total variation method
  • By default, the "TextureSynthesis" method is used.
  • Inpaint operates separately on each color channel, except for the "TextureSynthesis" method.
  • With Method->{"TotalVariation",subopt}, the following suboptions can be specified:
  • "NoiseModel""Gaussian""Gaussian", "Laplacian", or "Poisson"
    "Regularization"Automaticregularization parameter
  • With Method->{"TextureSynthesis",subopt}, the following suboptions can be specified:
  • MaskingAutomaticbinary mask specifying the pixels to use in finding a best-fit texture
    "MaxSamples"300maximum number of samples used to find the best-fit texture
    "NeighborCount"30number of nearby pixels used for texture comparison

Examples

open allclose all

Basic Examples  (1)Summary of the most common use cases

Retouch a crack in a photograph:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-h7gc0
Out[1]=1

Scope  (4)Survey of the scope of standard use cases

Specify the object using an image mask:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-28mnjq
Out[1]=1

Specify the object to inpaint using a list of positions:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-w2uga
Out[1]=1

Specify the objects to inpaint using a bounding box:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-hxj8em
Out[1]=1

Specify the objects to inpaint using a list of bounding boxes:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-cj1b4v
Out[1]=1

Options  (3)Common values & functionality for each option

Method  (3)

Use more samples to achieve a better texture synthesis:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-gv6m9p
Out[1]=1

Select texture samples only from the regions specified by a mask:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-b9g66
Out[1]=1

The "TotalVariation" method usually gives a better reconstruction of sharp edges:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-glosfk
Out[1]=1

Applications  (7)Sample problems that can be solved with this function

Use inpainting to remove a time stamp:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-owj5p
Out[2]=2

Use inpainting to remove salt-and-pepper noise:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-shcowa
Out[1]=1

Restore corrupted parts of an image:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-dl76n6
Out[1]=1

Inpainting can remove large objects from an image:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-kjg7c
Out[1]=1

Inpaint the image borders created by a geometrical transformation:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-ve5st
Out[1]=1

Find background pixels:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-p69f3r
Out[2]=2
In[3]:=3
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-bfnop
Out[3]=3

Texture synthesis:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-c0m2wk
Out[1]=1

Extrapolate a painting:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-c2v56z

Apply texture synthesis on all borders:

In[2]:=2
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-r4bk2l
Out[2]=2

Properties & Relations  (1)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions

Detect objects and find corresponding masks:

In[1]:=1
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-mzo6nf
In[10]:=10
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-o005q8
Out[10]=10

Inpaint the areas identified as specific objects after adding the masks and dilating the regions:

In[14]:=14
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-m497kr
Out[14]=14

Possible Issues  (1)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior

The mask, whether computed or drawn by hand, might not fully cover the objects of interest:

In[4]:=4
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-r0wwfq

Typically, some ghosting may happen with slightly small regions:

In[5]:=5
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-yidjn6
Out[5]=5

Enlarge the region to fully cover the region of interest and avoid ghosting:

In[10]:=10
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https://wolfram.com/xid/0h2mrw8zv6-cemtn2
Out[10]=10
Wolfram Research (2010), Inpaint, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html (updated 2024).
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Wolfram Research (2010), Inpaint, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html (updated 2024).

Text

Wolfram Research (2010), Inpaint, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html (updated 2024).

✖
Wolfram Research (2010), Inpaint, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html (updated 2024).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2010. "Inpaint." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2024. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html.

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Wolfram Language. 2010. "Inpaint." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2024. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2010). Inpaint. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html

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Wolfram Language. (2010). Inpaint. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_inpaint, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Inpaint}", year="2024", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html}", note=[Accessed: 29-April-2025 ]}

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@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_inpaint, author="Wolfram Research", title="{Inpaint}", year="2024", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html}", note=[Accessed: 29-April-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_inpaint, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Inpaint}, year={2024}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html}, note=[Accessed: 29-April-2025 ]}

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@online{reference.wolfram_2025_inpaint, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={Inpaint}, year={2024}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Inpaint.html}, note=[Accessed: 29-April-2025 ]}