noisy signal read

[Hailbricth]

Hi!

I am a new user and I would appreciate any help on reading really noisy signal as shown in the attachment  I am trying to digitalize this signal and make background white. There are also lots of small scratches and I want to remove them   . Is it also possible to remove curvature on the signal? 

Thanks!

[rich2005]

Is that the best size you can get ? Is it part of a larger image ? 

I cannot get anything decent out of that image. Tried all sorts.
Color -> Invert gets black on white, but then what to do ?

Separating just signal and scaling up 400% and a bit of work with the curves tool then scaling back down to original size gets the signal a little better but not much. Then back into the original background.

All those scratches and spots are just too close to what needs retaining for an automatic fix. Erase or paint out.

Bending. One problem is MacOS. There is a nice plugin gmic that has an interactive warp tool. Alas not for MacOS.

   

Hopefully someone will come up with a better solution.

[Hailbricth]

Hi Rich, Thank you very much for your help. I am still working on it but you gave me a perfect starting point. Thanks again!