Dust and scratch filter

Any suggestions on how to best tackle this restoration
The original was about a 2 x 2.5. I would like to print at 4x6 or 5x7.
You can see when scanned at a high resolution you see the cracks in the photo. I started to remove the scratches but have not yet finished.

I did use the dust and scratch filter at a radius of around 5 on the second shot. Any other tips you can share I would appreciate.

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This is going to require lots of masking and working off of one color channel to enhance and isolate the physical cracking. I'm not experienced or confident enough to advise you on this... I work with this book open on my desk:

http://www.amazon.com …nish-Second/dp/0240812085

I'd start with cropping the image?

I'm not done yet but here is what I've tried so far.
I'm using the blur tool. In the lighter areas I have it set to lighten and in the darker areas I have it set to darken. It helps some what hide those very small hair line cracks. The larger scratches need the clone tool or healing brush applied.

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..Looking good so far.

Yep. I'd use a separate D&S for the cracks that are darker then the surroundings and the ones that are lighter. But, I would not apply the filter globally, since that destroys way too much sharpness (IMO)

Few ways to do that:

To get rid of darker lines:
Either:
Duplicate layer, run D&S that get's rid of the majority of scratches (test!), set layer blend mode to lighten and apply a "hide all" mask,
use a white airbrush on the mask to apply.
or
Duplicate layer, run D&S that get's rid of the majority of scratches (test!), set current history state as target for history brush
select previous history state,
use history brush set to "lighten" to apply.

Some of the larger areas will require cloning and / or healing.

Will probably take you a few hours if you want to do it right at a high res image.

Thanks for the help Rene.