Due to the problem that image inpainting method based on the exemplar easily leads to sawtooth in the filled frontier and because the stage-wise inpainting strategy does not provide sufficient constraints on the priority of patch-filling

we propose an inpainting method based on arc promoting

exemplar searching and priority computation. Firstly

we carry out the mean filtering operation to calculate the isophotes more precisely. Second

we add the local feature information to further restrict the definition of priority and make the patch-filling order more reasonable. Third

we measure the candidate exemplar patches by adding gradient information

which can decrease the number of candidate patches. Fourth

we search the exemplar patches hierarchically to balance time efficiency and space efficiency. Finally

we fill the target region using an arc promoting method to keep the edge smooth. The inpainting result analysis of our method is contrasted with the analysis based on other methods. Subjectively

the method can maintain visual connectivity. Objectively

the value of the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) were higher than other inpainting methods. Not noly can the method be used to repair the images of natural and cultural relics

but also it has good application in the removal of the object. The repair effect is good

and the applicability is strong.