Image Mender
 Reviewed October, 2008

WHAT'S IT DO?

This application retouches and repairs photos, artwork and other types of digital images. It removes scratches, stains, dust, facial imperfections, and unwanted objects while preserving the clarity of the original. Photo restoration is completely automatic with a single mouse click, without the need to customize layers, masks, cloning settings by hand.


DOES IT DO WHAT IT PROMISES?

Reviewer 1: Yes. Image Mender allows for the retouching and repairing of small imperfections and blemishes as well as removing unwanted objects in digital images and photographs. The Web site claims that the process is simple, automatic, and takes only a single mouse click. This is accurate and not an exaggeration or overstatement. It is simply a matter of opening the program, selecting the image to be retouched or repaired, marking/highlighting what it is to be repaired, and clicking on a button to start the automatic process.

Reviewer 2: Yes and no. On its Web site, Phibit Software claims that Image Mender removes scratches, stains, dust, facial imperfections, and even unwanted objects while preserving the clarity of the original. I found this to be true for small photos and graphics, but not for the large-size photos that today's digital cameras routinely produce.

Reviewer 3: Image Mender claims to seamlessly remove unwanted defects, blemishes, and unwanted objects from your digital images. In my experience it did so, but it was incredibly slow.

Reviewer 4: Yes, within understandable limits.

Reviewer 5: Yes. I have had this program installed on my computer for several months, and have turned to it from time-to-time, to do some fairly simple photo editing. For example, an excellent view of a new deck that we are building was marred by an empty paper coffee cup right in the middle. Or, an image that I had downloaded from the Internet had some unwanted text on it. Image Mender has been able to remove the "offending" material, and has very effectively restored the photos and images. In the resulting "corrected" images, the original background that had been covered has reappeared, as if the object had not been there at all.


WAS IT EASY TO INSTALL?

Reviewer 1: Yes. It is a surprisingly tiny 1.65MB download that installed, registered, and activated quickly, smoothly, and effortlessly using a standard-type installation wizard, and taking only a scant 2MB of space on my hard drive. There is virtually no set up or learning curves with a very simplistic GUI that is goof-proof and intuitive. There is a standard EULA (End User License Agreement) limiting the use of the program to a single computer (and allows for making one copy for backup). The program also uninstalls easily and cleanly, leaving no junk files remaining on your computer and no of empty keys in the Registry. This is the mark of a program with rarely seen well -written and installation/uninstaller code.

Reviewer 2: Yes. I simply installed it and entered the registration information. The process took less than a minute. The End User License Agreement (EULA) stated that the software may be installed and used on only one computer.

Reviewer 3: Installation was fast and simple. The license agreement limits use to one computer and a local network server.

Reviewer 4: Yes, the 1.65 MB exe file installed without any problems.

Reviewer 5: Yes. It is a standard Windows installation procedure that allowed me to place the program in a location of my choice; however, it placed its shortcuts on my desktop and in the Start Menu without asking. Although that is not particularly serious in this case, as they could easily be deleted or moved, the user should always have complete control over the installation process. As is often the case, at the end of the installation, there is the option to start up the program immediately. In that dialog box, though, there is a choice to "View Demo." This gives a short video demonstration how to use the program, so it makes it easy for the user to get started right away. The registration is easily done with copy and paste, and is located under the Help Menu.


GOOD POINTS?

Reviewer 1: Spectacular! Brilliant! Amazing! Astonishing! These are all adjectives that came immediately to mind when I sat out to write down my nearly five months’ experiences with this program. This is an almost ridiculously simple but brilliant program that does just one thing: it will amazingly remove blemishes and imperfections from digital images, even small objects, and do so spectacularly quickly and easily. Is it perfect? No. But for a young program in an early version it comes much closer to perfect that many programs that have been around much longer. In fact, on simple retouching and blemish removal I would much rather use Image Mender than have to fire up the humongous Adobe Photoshop, and the fact that it costs roughly $700.00 LESS than Photoshop doesn’t hurt either. Over the course of five months and hundreds of photographs and images, I removed scratches, lines, logos, text such as watermarks and dates, the unwanted power lines marring an otherwise scenic vista, glare spots from light sources, and much more. I removed unwanted faces or people who walked into my shot; unwanted objects; even a tattoo from a friend’s arm. In each case, the “repair” was invisible or nearly so. And it will restore old black and white photos that are scratched and chipped to like new. On small scratches or blemishes it is blazingly fast—taking as little as five seconds to make the repair. Larger images and larger repairs will take multiple repairs and do take expectedly much longer. This is really not a program for making whole photograph repairs, but for small images and objects it is superb, with all of my repairs—even some complicated repairs on complex images--being very clear with none of the blur that I have experienced using the Photoshop software. Notwithstanding the listed system requirements of 512MB of RAM, it does use a lot of resources and I would suggest having at least 1G of RAM for the program to work most efficiently and to avoid a noticeable computer slow down; however, all image editors require a large amount of resources and Image Mender was not unusual in this regard. There is an undo function and all repairs are saved so that if one does not like the repair, it can be undone totally or in any of the individual repair steps if several are made on the same image. There is also a zoom in/out tool to help make small repairs more easily. In addition, the program supports almost every format including JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PNG, MNG, RAS, RAW, JP2, JPC, and PCX. Free support is available and my support question was answered within an impressive five hours on a weekend. It’s only too bad that GEICO already beat Image Mender to the slogan “So Easy Even A Caveman Can Do It”, a perfect catch phrase for this program. Not only do I recommend this program but at $19.95 put this on your Christmas list for gifts. Your friends will love you!

Reviewer 2: One of Image Mender's key strengths is that it is very easy to use. I just watched the very short demo on the Web site and then proceeded to use the program. Although my first attempts to use Image Mender were unsuccessful, once I stopped trying to work on large or medium-size photos and switched to small photos and other small graphics, the results were often stunning. Just as in the demo, I was able to remove unwanted text and images, often on the first try. Once I clicked the Mend button, the alteration usually took just a few seconds. In the past, I had occasionally used Photoshop to make similar alterations. I found Image Mender to be faster and much easier to use.

Reviewer 3: Image Mender has a simple interface and can be used with a small learning curve. Simply use the marker to cover the unwanted or blemished area and select “mend” and the restoration/removal process occurs without additional user input. Four different marker sizes are available to choose from. In my earlier efforts I attempted to carefully select only the unwanted area. I found that this left undesirable artifacts in their place. I later selected the unwanted area plus a border zone and the results were greatly improved. In many cases, the unwanted artifact was completely removed and the healed area blended very nicely with the surrounding areas. It worked best on images where the artifact was completely surrounded by a uniform color and texture. Based on the results, it seems to work by taking the color and pattern of the pixels surrounding the area selected and blending them into the void you have created by using your marker. Therefore, it worked less well for blemishes on the edge of the image, or where the image was surrounded by sharply contrasting colors. It worked reasonably fast for JPG images which were 300x240 pixels in size; about the size you might use to post an image on the Web.

Reviewer 4: This is graphic retouching software that performs a single function very well. Unlike many graphic software programs that have a high learning curve and a complete vocabulary to learn before the user can actually put the program to use, Image Mender will have a user retouching her/his graphic files immediately after installing it. Open the program, open the graphic file to be retouched, highlight the area to be retouched with the mouse, and press the mend icon. I tested Image Mender with hundreds of image files (mostly jpeg photo files) to determine how well it would retouch these photos on numerous objects and backgrounds.

On small retouches like facial blemishes, removing small logos from clothing, cracks in scan image of a cracked photo, to name a few items, the retouching was extremely quick and accurate. Larger items sometimes would take two or more mends and would take noticeably longer for the program to mend. It did very well on solid backgrounds such as sky and solid colored walls yielding results that the retouch could only be detected by extreme blowup and scrutiny. There was some noticeable distortion upon mending large objects on a changing background. I do not take this as a problem with the program as much as a limit in the capabilities of this type of technology. In order for the program to make the background appear as it should after removing the object, it has to have a reference of what the background looked like prior to removing the object. Thus, with the background changing behind the object removed there is no reference in the image for the program to use. I state this so the user understands that there are limits to what Image Mender can mend. Here are a few of the successful retouches that Image Mender performed that resulted in very acceptable printed format:

• Removed telephone poles and wires
• Removed cracks from scanned images of old photos
• Removed dates from photo files that had the date as part of the image
• Remove wall outlets and paintings from wall backgrounds
• Removed cigarettes from mouth of person in photo files
• Removed name tags on persons in photos
• Removed shadows of objects not in photo
• Removed cars from parking lot and boats from water
• Removed small glare marks

Here a few things that Image Mender tried to remove, but resulted in noticeable distortion:

• Removing hat from person in photo
• Removing large objects on a changing background
• Removing glasses from a person in a photo
• Removing a beard or mustache from a person in a photo
• Removing a person in an automobile
• Removing large amounts of glare

Understanding the limitations of Image Mender does not mean the program does not do what it claims. Image Mender does an excellent job of retouching image files that result in an image much better than the original.

A nice feature of Image Mender is the creation of the mended image to save as a separate image file, allowing the user to keep the old image file as it was.

Reviewer 5: I have found this program to be surprisingly effective. In the past, I have tried to "erase" something in photos, without leaving a great big blotch where the object used to be. Usually it took a great deal of time and painstaking effort with the picture blown up to a giant size so that I could try doctoring it up pixel by pixel. Image Mender generally works very well -- the object is removed, without leaving traces of it behind. It is also very clever in guessing what is underneath or behind the object that has been removed.

For example, I was trying to remove a white bag from the edge of the lawn. The resulting Mended Image simply replaced the bag with grass, just as though I had lifted it up and moved it away before taking the photo. A more difficult task was to remove some writing that was spread across a photo of a rapidly-moving stream. Some parts of the photo were swift water, and other parts were foamy rapids. Again, the writing was successfully removed, and the photo did not appear to have been doctored at all. Sometimes, though, to achieve a good effect offending object must be removed section-by-section, as the backgrounds are too difficult to match all in one shot. Each time an image is processed, the resulting image is tiled one on top of the other inside the Image Mender Screen. If results are not as desired, simply close that image and try different approaches until desired results are achieved. Generally, I have found that I need only one step to clean up the photo, although on occasion, two or three will be needed. The tiling of successive attempts makes this easy to do.

The Phibit Website is one of the most direct and to-the-point sites that I have ever seen. Phibit's two software programs are listed and briefly described on the home page. The "More Info" button links to more detailed information and another link navigates to a set of screenshots showing how to use the program and what kind of results can reasonably be expected. There are only two other pages: one to order the programs and one for support, available by email.

In the same line, the Help File follows the KISS principle: Keep It Short and Simple, but it does contain all that is needed, including direct links to the Web site and to Support. It also includes the EULA (End Users Licence Agreement):,a practice that I would like to see implemented by all software development people.


WEAK POINTS?

Reviewer 1: As I said above, as much as I recommend this program it is not yet perfect. There are no major flaws or glitches, and only a couple of relatively minor bugs and some things that need to be improved. First is the almost non-existent Help File. There really is no need for a help file as such because of the ease of use and simplicity of this program; however, there are some helpful hints that would be of great value to any user. Graphics set for 32-bit color; it will not work using the 16 bit-color setting. One should not need to contact support to discover this. Also, it would be helpful for the user to know that much more precise repairs can be made with the repair tool if mouse sensitivity is lowered. One should also be made aware that there is apparently a limit on how many mends can be made at a time for each open image. I found that if I tried to make too many repairs at once the program would stall. I would have to save the image with few repairs and then reopen it as a new project to continue making repairs. The number of repairs allowed seemed to vary based on number or complexity. This should be addressed--possibly in a help file as should such things as explaining “progressive image,” use of compression to use on various formats, and so on. As is, it is rather a trial and error process. The only other suggestions I would make is that there needs to be a better way to close or remove all of the generated repairs (“mends” as they are called by the program) without having to go backwards through each one and closing it one at a time. This was a bit tedious and time consuming. Even when I opened a new file, the original file remained open underneath until I actually shut down the program. There needs to be a “close all windows” button. I would also really like to see context menu (right-click) support to enhance the usability of this program. While I hope that the developer will address the above items, none of then are deal-killers. This is still a wonderful program that for under $20 and for making small repairs, will give the $700 Adobe Photoshop a real run for the money.

Reviewer 2: My first attempts to use Image Mender were frustrating and unsuccessful. I think the problem is that I tried to use photos taken with my digital camera, and those photos were quite large; a typical size was 2592 X 1944. On my first attempt to remove an unwanted object from one of those photos, Image Mender took several minutes, and when it finally finished, all I had was a totally blank picture. I tried several more times (each time using a different duplicate of the same photo) without success. On my last attempt, after two minutes, the progress bar indicated that the process was only about 10% completed. It took Image Mender a full thirty minutes--at 90% CPU--and after all that, the photo's unwanted object had merely been replaced by an ugly blob. My attempts with several other large photos were also unsuccessful. Several times Image Mender would simply stop working when I was highlighting the portion of the photo that I wanted to eliminate. Once, when this happened, I closed down Image Mender and found to my dismay that my Quick Launch toolbar and system tray had (temporarily) disappeared. Nowhere does Image Mender warn against using large photos, but I never succeeded in getting the program to work with large or even some medium-size photos.

Eventually, I switched to small photos, and then I frequently had the kind of success I had seen in the demo. Even with small photos, however, the program occasionally failed to produce the kind of results I had hoped for. For example, in one small photo (350 X 253) someone's fist accidentally got into the picture. I wanted to remove the fist. I tried repeatedly (sometimes using a different duplicate copy for each attempt and sometimes trying to work on an earlier attempt), but I never succeeded as I'd hoped. Here's what the fist looked like in the original photo (I've cropped the photo in order not to show people's faces):

And here's my best attempt to get rid of the fist (multiple earlier attempts were much worse):

It's possible that I could have done a better job, had I been given more guidance. Unfortunately, the Image Mender program provides inadequate help. The perfunctory Help file on the interface does little more than repeat the few options available on the interface. It offers no further explanation or advice. Other than the brief demo, no help is available on the Web site, either. The only way to get help is to send a message to the company's support address. The one time I did send a question to that address, I received no response.

Reviewer 3: While the restoration process was simple to use and the results were often good, the process was too slow to be practical for images one would want to print. It seems that the time to process increases exponentially with the number of areas being healed and with the size of the original image. Healing an image (JPG 3072x2304) with just a few small areas was completed within 10 minutes. Healing a similar image with a single larger area to be removed (a balloon over someone’s head) took about an hour. This same restoration took less than a minute when the image was converted to 300x240 pixels. The restoration process for a 1.4 MB JPG photo (3072x2304) with 6 small areas selected took over 4 hours to complete. A similar restoration with 16 small areas ran for 2 hours and was only 15% complete. Image Mender was very resource-intensive while performing a restoration; other programs slowed noticeably or temporarily froze while it was processing an image. While it is good that Image Mender does not automatically overwrite one’s original images, it does not save them automatically either. If the computer crashes or if the restored images are not saved before closing the program, the work will be lost. Finally, the help section of the program is weak. There are only basic descriptions of the menu items and no guidance for how to use this program to its fullest or how to avoid pitfalls.

Reviewer 4: The most noticeable weak point of Image Mender is the CPU power it requires to perform its retouching. I performed this testing on a high-end system that has a dual high speed core and 4GB of RAM. I do not know if the program or Windows limits the amount of CPU usage, but each mending task took 50 % CPU usage. The length of time the mending process took depended upon the size of the area being mended and if other programs were running at the same time. I state this CPU usage as consideration for a user in using this program. and I wonder how well the program will perform on lower-end PCs. Most mends took from a few seconds to about 90 seconds, and in repeat testing could take several minutes if other programs were running. During one mend job, my automatic spyware scan started and resulted in both programs bogging down and taking 3 minutes for the mend to finish. Although not a weak point, I would suggest to the makers of Image Mender to add thumbnail previewing in the open file section. Many users have numerous image files in a folder and a preview function would be a great plus for this program.

Reviewer 5: To highlight the part of the photo to be eliminated, the user has a choice of four sizes of round pen. In many cases, these are appropriate; however, I would have appreciated one or two small pens that would give me a straight-edge. Sometimes, when I was going around the edge of an object that I wished to remove, I would have found it easier with a square pen rather than a round one.

I was unable to get the program to repair everything I tried. For example, I found that it was almost impossible to eliminate the photo-flash on a window. This is partly because the glass distorts the light and the colors seen through the glass, so it is very hard indeed to remove the flash mark without leaving evidence behind that something had been erased on that part of the image.

It might help to include some images to show how to use the program, although links to the screenshots on the Web site would probably be sufficient. Or, include a link that would reactivate the Demo which was available the first time that the program ran.


OTHER COMMENTS?

Reviewer 1: This is a very young program with the first version only eight months old. Based on the change log which shows that this is now the fourth update or version in those eight months, it is obvious that the developer is actively working on improving this program. I will look forward to continuing with this program.

Reviewer 2: None.

Reviewer 3: This is a simple tool with a simple interface. Either an area to be mended will look good or not; there are no controls to tweak the process to achieve the results desired. There is no “undo” function to go back to the original once an image is mended. I found by accident, however, that the original image and any intermediary mended images are kept open and I could step back to the previous image state by closing the image, (not the program) by clicking on the ‘X’ at the top right corner of the image. This is a powerful program with a minimal learning curve and often nice results. If the algorithm could be improved to decrease the processing time, it could be a very useful and desirable program. In its present form it is impractical to use.

Reviewer 4: I do a lot of graphic editing by numerous graphic programs and I think that Image Mender is a very good program. It is for all levels of image files users from the novice saving and printing photos from their digital camera to the advanced image editor. This is a “must have” in one’s collection of graphic software.

Reviewer 5: Image Mender has identified a specific problem in photo processing, and addresses this niche very effectively. I have no difficulty in recommending it at the price for which it is offered.


WILL YOU CONTINUE USING IT?

Reviewer 1: Yes. The program is not only useful and practical but great fun to use as well.

Reviewer 2: Yes. Though it won't help me with large photos, Image Mender is now the tool I'll turn to first when I want to edit or repair small photos or other small graphics.

Reviewer 3: No.

Reviewer 4: Yes, I consider Image Mender a much-needed and functional part of my graphic editing arsenal.

Reviewer 5: Yes, Image Mender has joined my set of essential photo management tools.

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home, XP Media Center

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