match colors

[robin frater]

photoshop CS2 has a very useful tool called "match colors" where one image is compared to another, and the colors matched. Is there a quick way to dso this in Hidden Power ?

[Richard_Lynch]

Do you have an instance or example where this proves useful? Quite honestly, I have not bothered to explore the tool very much as it seems to me to be another mostly automated tool based on image statistics. Unless two images are fairly similar (similar lighting conditions, similar subjects), statistical comparison will be all but worthless. And if they are similar subjects in similar lighting, I would probably use similar method of correction to reach a result -- and a comparative end.

That said, if you show me an example, and let me know something of what you think it is useful for, there is likely a means of doing something simiar in Elements -- but maybe not with a single tool...and it likely won't be fully automated.

[Swampy]

I've used the match color feature of PhotoShope to bring sunset colors into a otherwise blah beach scene. Worked just great.

[Richard_Lynch]

yes, but did it do anything that you couldn't yourself using standard color adjustments? I guess I have yet to see a decided use for the tool.

[Swampy]

Just saved a lot of masking work for my project.

I've seen some tutorials on Color Match that lead me to believe the tool would be very handy in studio work.

[skydog]

I recently took a number of pictures of a large group. To get a good final picture I had to crop the head from one picture onto picture of another (eyes open vs eyes closed). Colors (Canon D20 shot continuous fps) were not the same. "Color match" corrected the situation quickly.

[Swampy]

Even within a single photo, corrections can be made quickly

In the before (left) there is a blown out reflection on the wood background.

Dupe original
Copy a selection of good wood to a new layer.
Make a loose selection of the blown out area on the duplicate, in Quickmask mode put a hefty blur on the selection. Leave Quickmask, but leave the selection active.
Run the Match color and adjust using the original file as the source and the "good wood" layer as the target. Adjust luminance etc.
Add a mask to the dupe layer and paint out any spill over.

I did this in about a minute. Normally I would add grain or noise to the mask and touch up better than I did for this demo.

All my selections were done with either the rectangle marquee or lasso tool. Quick and efficent.