Field guide
Removing burned-in date stamps carefully
A burned-in timestamp is part of the rendered pixels, unlike an EXIF date. Removing it means reconstructing the area that the characters replaced.
01
Work from the earliest file available. Copies sharpen the stamp edges and add compression blocks, making both the mask and the surrounding texture less reliable.
02
Include every outline and glow pixel in the mask. Leaving a coloured fringe is often more visible than the original date at normal viewing size.
03
Use local fill on simple sky, wall or ground. Dates crossing patterned clothing, faces or lettering need manual reconstruction and may not support an honest invisible repair.
04
Preserve the original separately because the displayed date may be evidentiary. A cleaned version should never silently replace the only record of when the camera said it was made.