Matching Skin Color

[Nan]

I'm trying to put together a group of photos for my sister of her grandbaby. Sort of a collage.
Is there a way to get the skin in the second photo looking closer to the color in the first photo? I have several snapshots and they are all so different because of different lighting.
I'm using Paint Shop Pro.
Thanks,
Nan

[Daviskw]

Hi Nan

I do believe that just a curves adjustment for luminance and contrast is all that is needed.

Butch

[geru]

I use PSP X & XI, your little bug photo has a yellow cast. I tried curves and levels but didn't get the results I expected it could have been the photo's themselves.

* Make the photo Active
* Image -> Split Channel -> Split to HSL
* Copy the L Channel and then delete all 3 channels
* Make photo active and split to RGB
Image ->Split Channel-> Split to RGB
*Select the Blue Channel do CTRL+A (you should now have the marching ants)
* Right click on the photo and select PASTE INTO SELECTION then CTRL+D (To get rid of the marching ants) THEN
* Image -> Combine Image -> Combine RGB


Do both photos and run a color balance.

That's what I did to get the results attached.

[philbach]

I thought this was fairly difficult to match. The backgrounds are so different and add to the "feel" of the color, Probably there is also reflected color on the faces. I started by using color sampler tools on the left cheek below the highlight and switching to cmyk. Then Curves and finally just eyeballing it with selective color. So the result is subjective. Its helpful to have a calibrated monitor and I hope mine is. I just switched from a CRT to a LCD and hope things are about right.

[Nan]

I worked for a couple of hours on this today. It's probably as close as I'm going to get. I did use curves, which helped a lot. Also played with the color balance a little. I agree that there seems to be some reflective color from the yellow in the shirt.
You all got really nice results on this.
Phil, on my monitor yours matches almost perfectly.
Thanks for the help...again.
Nan

[Nan]

Just a quick question. Do the photos I submitted look too light? Some that I've sent to friends by email show up much lighter on their monitors than on mine.
I've tried in the past to calibrate but have ended up with terrible results so I'm leaving it alone for now.
Nan

[philbach]

No your correction looks fine to me and the image does not look too bright. Good Job. I suppose if you felt like devoting a few more hours you could select the faces and place them on a common background or on a Christmas tree ornament or something.

[Nan]

Thanks Phil. I do plan to remove the backgrounds and replace with something else. I'm making something like a collage with three photos of this little girl and adding the words to the song "Daddy's Little Girl" like a poem, for my sister to give her son for Christmas.
Thanks for letting me know how they look on your monitor. That's a relief.
Nan

[cspringer]

opened Levels and moved the right slider.