Unwanted Date Stamps On Photos

While learning to use a new camera on vacation I inadvertently left the date stamp function turned on and since I would like to print, frame, and hang some of my photos I don't want the darn date stamp showing. While I can crop it out in too many cases I'd lose a desirable part of the picture.

Is there any software that does a good job of eliminating these date stamps? Obviously, I'd like something that won't be too noticeable -- e.g. I don't want to paint them over with a black stripe! Ideally, the software would be able to look at the surrounding pixels and, in at least some cases, be able to automatically paint over the date with something that will blend into the background. Doesn't have to be perfect, but look good enough to pass casual inspection at least.

Has anyone found a satisfactory solution for unwanted date stamps on photos?

 

You should try Inpaint.

https://www.theinpaint.com/

 

I looked at the Inpaint page and it does appear to be what I'm looking for. Have you used it yourself with good results?

 

It occurs to me that if you left the date turned on you must also be able to turn it off in the camera settings.

 

@ Booboo58 Thanks for your suggestion. I haven't had time yet to read a few reviews of Inpaint yet, but if the reviews look good I will purchase it as it's well worth $20 to me to fix up my over 700 plus vacation photos.

@ Ewen Yes, and it has been turned off for a long time now. But having it turned off now does nothing for the pictures already taken when I inadvertently left it turned on. The date stamp is now part of those older images and not something that is just being superimposed on the images. I.e. turning it on includes the date as part of the actual image. Turning it off means not including the date as part of the image. It's a nice feature when you want it but can really muck up, for example, a nice landscape photo when you forget you've left the date stamp turned on. (The way my camera displays that info is not very clear and is too easy to misread, for me at least.)

 

Inpaint is available as "try-before-you-buy".
Also look at BatchInpaint from the same publisher and for the same price.

https://www.theinpaint.com/download.html

 

Thanks Eldon. I noticed the batch processing version, but wondered just how different the two are. Will read the descriptions carefully and download a demo version to get some idea. Still not time enough this weekend to get started, but will report back once I get some "hands on" experience to report.

 

Took me awhile to get around to Inpaint as I've been looking at image processing stuff from another company and for a different purpose. I finally tried out Inpaint (I got the regular version as opposed to the batch processing oriented version. The batch version trades away a few features from the regular version that I thought were worth having. And the software is so quick when painting out a date that it's not much hassle to use Inpaint on individual pictures that I want to work on further with other software. If sometime later I want to work on a large batch of pictures needing the date painted out then I'll spend another $20 for the batch version.)

The software is very easy to use and does a very good job eliminating unwanted stuff from photos, not just date stamps. I have a photo from the web of two large snakes that had died in a death embrace -- one from constriction, the other from a bite very close to the head. It was a striking photo, but ruined by the presence in it of trash at several spots in the photo. I painted out the trash, let Inpaint do its magic and within 20 seconds or so had quite a clean image of the snakes with no trash and no readily apparent signs of it having been removed (at least to my amateur eyes and without using additional magnification).

Much thanks to BooBoo58 for the suggestion I take a look at Inpaint and to Eldon for pointing out the free trial as well as the batch version.