GIMP :: Clean Some Scans Of Old Books To Reprint

I'm trying to figure out the best way to clean some scans of old books in order to be able to reprint them. The final result I'm aiming at is B/W or grayscale images.

The most problematic is the ink passing through the paper that makes it harder to read.

The most efficient way I had found until now is to use the separate+ plugin, keep only the C and/or K layers and merge them as the brown spot have much less blue than the actual ink. But in this sample, the colors are too close.

In theory, something that I think is possible but how to differentiate dark places with sharp edges (actual writing) from the ones with soft edges (ink passing through) that would be blanked.

Attached File(s) to-be-cleaned.jpg (118.42K)
Number of downloads: 10