Multi-layer inpainting on Chinese artwork [restoration applications]

Digital inpainting uses spatial or frequency information to restore partially damaged/removed photos and artworks. Most restoration algorithms take a picture as a single layer. We propose a new approach, which subdivides a Chinese painting into several layers. Each layer is inpainted separately. The layer fusion mechanism then finds the optimal inpaint among layers, which are restored layer-by-layer. We apply the algorithm on Chinese and western drawing. The result shows a high PSNR value as well as a high user satisfaction. A demonstration of our work is available at: http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demos/inpaint.