Basic Fixes (Photoshop Elements) Part 4

RED EYE REMOVAL

This might be one of the easiest tools in the whole bunch. Zoom in on the red eye and drag a selection over the eye. When you let go of the mouse button, the red eye is automatically fixed. The difference between this and the Auto version is that there are a couple of options that you can set for the tool. The options, like those for most tools in the toolbar, are located just above the toolbar. You can enlarge or reduce the pupil size and also determine how much to darken it. I wouldn’t go changing anything until you try the default settings of 50 and 50. They work for the majority of cases.

To quickly fix a red eye problem, select the tool and then drag out a box over the eye (Figure 3.20). The fix happens as soon as you finish drawing the box. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Quickly remove red eyes by dragging a box with the Red Eye Removal tool.

FIGURE 3.20

Quickly remove red eyes by dragging a box with the Red Eye Removal tool.


Whiten teeth

Sometimes you don’t need a lot of explanation for a tool, and this would be one of those times. In these days of cola and coffee, sometimes your subject’s teeth aren’t looking their best. If that’s the case, just grab this tool and paint over their teeth for instant whitening. It automatically selects the teeth while you are painting over them, and when done, instant white! I leave it to you as to whether or not to send them the dentist bill.

Make dull skies blue

We will cover some other methods for creating better-looking skies, but for a quick fix, it’s hard to beat the Make Dull Skies Blue brush (yes, that’s really what it’s called). It uses smart selection technology to allow you to quickly paint over your dull skies. As you do, it starts filling in a more vibrant looking sky (Figure 3.21). The only problem I have with it is that it is often too blue for my tastes. If you also think that is the case, here’s what you do.

By painting the skies with the Make Dull Skies Blue brush, you can turn dull into colorful.

FIGURE 3.21

By painting the skies with the Make Dull Skies Blue brush, you can turn dull into colorful.

After completing your selection and coloring the sky, press Control-D (Command-D) to get rid of the selection. Now switch the Editor into Full mode by clicking the Full tab in the Edit panel (it’s located in the upper-right portion of the screen). Look in the middle of the panel for the Layers section, and you will see a layer with a small black and white thumbnail of your selection (Figure 3.22). Click the Opacity menu and lower the opacity to something more to your liking, say 50% (Figure 3.23). We will do more work in the Layers panel in later topics.

The Make Dull Skies Blue tool creates a layer that can be adjusted to reduce the blue sky effect.

FIGURE 3.22

The Make Dull Skies Blue tool creates a layer that can be adjusted to reduce the blue sky effect.

The skies in the original image (top) are flat and boring, but the Make Dull Skies Blue brush added more saturated color as well as a bit of a gradient to the final image (bottom).

FIGURE 3.23

The skies in the original image (top) are flat and boring, but the Make Dull Skies Blue brush added more saturated color as well as a bit of a gradient to the final image (bottom).

BLACK AND WHITE

The last selective edit tool, called Black and White – High Contrast, allows you to selectively turn portions of your image into black and white. It uses smart selection technology, so it will instantly look for edges while you paint with it. This is not necessarily the tool that you should use to create a totally black and white image, but if you want to isolate a subject and make it stand out, you can do some really great things with it. My preference is to have a main subject in color and then paint the background in black and white (Figure 3.24).

The lanterns were isolated and really stand out thanks to the Black and White brush.

FIGURE 3.24

The lanterns were isolated and really stand out thanks to the Black and White brush.

Guided edits

The Guided edits live in the Edit panel and are there to help you through some of the operations we have just covered (Figure 3.25). I like to think of this panel as having two parts. The three sections in the first part allow you to perform routine image editing and enhancements. There are guides that will show you how to crop, lighten and darken, adjust contrast, and fix color and lighting. The sections in the second part lean toward special effects, like creating a Lomo effect, creating a picture stack (Figure 3.26), replacing faces in a group shot, and general whiz-bang stuff like that. They can be a lot of fun, but we are not going to cover them because they are guided and don’t require a lot of explanation. They are something you will want to play with when you have mastered fixing your photos.

Guided edits will walk you step by step through some basic edits and special effects.

FIGURE 3.25

Guided edits will walk you step by step through some basic edits and special effects.

This image was created using the Picture Stack option in the Guided edits.

FIGURE 3.26

This image was created using the Picture Stack option in the Guided edits.

Assignments

It can be very satisfying to work on an image and transform it from a simple snapshot into something that might be worthy of hanging on your walls. But that’s certainly not the goal with every image we take. Sometimes you just need to give a photo a little tweak before emailing it to a friend or posting it to a social networking site. Or perhaps there is something in the photo that should be cropped out. The reasons for needing a quick fix are numerous, and hopefully this topic has shown you some easy ways to make them happen. Let’s try a few things before moving on to the more specific edits.

Letting Elements Fly on Full Auto

The Auto fixes are like shooting with your camera in Program or Auto mode. You probably won’t admit it, but every now and then it’s good to let the camera, or in this case the program, do all the driving. Remember that there are two versions of Auto Smart Fix. Give it a try in the Organizer, and then switch to the Editor and use the slider version for more control.

Change the View with a Quick Crop

One thing that I like to do when I am out shooting is to leave a little extra room in my images. I call it shooting loose. The reason I do this is that I enjoy cropping my images in postproduction. I have found compositions that I never even dreamed of while shooting, and if I had cropped too tight in the camera, I would never have been able to change things up. Give the Crop tool a little love by doing a simple crop in the Organizer. Then use the Crop tool in the Quick tab of the Edit panel, and try rotating the image to straighten it.

Sharper Than You Think

Sharpening is one of those things that people tend to overdo when they start learning to process.

I think it has something to do with the human eye’s love of contrast and sharp-looking things. Try sharpening with Auto Sharpen in the Organizer. You may not even notice any change. Now take the image to the Editor. Change your view to 100% by clicking the Actual Pixels button above the toolbar. Now apply sharpening with the Sharpen slider in the Quick tab of the Edit panel.

Let’s Paint the Sky Blue

Literally. The first time I tried this tool, I was hooked and started scouring my collection of photos to find more to play with. Actually, playing is a good thing, since the brush takes a little getting used to. So find a pale blue sky and start painting. Just remember these quick tips: The larger the brush the less accurate it becomes, so use the left and right bracket keys to change the brush size. Also, if you paint in an area that doesn’t need it, hold down the Alt key (Option key on a Mac) and paint over the unwanted selection to remove it. And don’t forget to try lowering the layer opacity in the Full tab of the Edit section when you are done.

Next post:

Previous post: