I have a simple cropped picture of a cornet (my gravatar, actually). However, it is many tiny scratches that it has accumulated over the years (it's 50+ years old). Anyway, because the photo was taken with a flash, they are showing up as tiny white specks all over. What is the best way to remove them and still maintain the natural lighting gradient and hue?
I've tried blurring, but this only blurs them. They are still there. I've also tried smudging, but this damages the hue. I've thought of using the clone stamp tool, but there aren't many areas without scratches and the lighting effects are different everywhere. What's the best way to go around this problem?
This is the picture with the scratches. Open it in a new tab to see higher detail.