Content Aware

[Lofty1967]

Hi Guys,
This is my first post here so hopefully I have done everything correctly, the picture I have attached I am trying to remove the white pole in the middle of the band, would really appreciate how to go about this as this picture is going to be used so I need to do a good job and only have a few months of Photoshop experience. Any links or advice greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Lofty

[Der_W]

Basically what you need to do is reconstruct the whole area that's hidden by the pole.
Do you have other images as a reference?

I did this just using the clone stamp and some copy & paste (obviously not perfect, needs refinement especially on his hand).

[Jerryb]

hi,
ijust got a hold of cs5 and i have alot to learn about it including content aware..

this tutorial should work for you
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/p...content-aware/

[Alan_P]

There are several amazinig tutorials on content aware. I think the examples are chosen because they know that that particular image works. Other examplrs are much less successful.

Content aware works well with natural images. Taking green grass like texture from another part of the scene to fill in a hole cause by removing a beer can works beautifully. With a natural scene you can even use content aware to fill in additional scenery just outside of the image. When man made objects are the subject of the picture content aware usually has problems. Remove a bicycle in a city scene there is nothing for content aware to put in its place. The algorithm is not that smart. It will replace the bicycle with pieces of other man made objects and it will not look right. In scenes with man made objects it works best with thin objects like telephone polls.

Content aware uses a random algorithm so it pays to redo it if the first try does not work. Some times a second or third try works.

Alan

[Lofty1967]

Thanks Alan, I think I am going to have to rebuild part of the picture with the pole in, do you have any advice on this?

Much appreciated.

Stephen

[Alan_P]

Use he clone stamp tool. You are probably going to wind up sampling and cloning more than 100 points in order to fill in the pole.

Alan

[Lofty1967]

Thanks again Alan. I need to learn so going to have a good crack at it.

Stephen

[Chain]

I recommend you use the Clone Stamp Tool first to "block in" the pole (doesn't have to be perfect), then use Healing Brush to clean it up and make it blend nicely with the rest of the image.

The hand/guitar will require extra work, as well as the top of the chair and part of the microphone stand. I would do this last. I believe you mostly will be zoomed in to something like 200% going over it with the clone stamp tool (but lots of other things can be used to help out in different ways).

[Lofty1967]

Hi Guys,

Tried to have a go at this yesterday with the clone stamp tool, the dark green at the top was quite easy but doing the light color next too this was very difficult and could not get a match on color, I am also overlapping onto the lighter areas with my dark green, do I need to make selections with one of the lasso tools and then paint in the selected area?

Thanks
Stephen

[Chain]

Did you try using the healing brush (with a hard brush) after using the clone tool (with a softer brush)? It will help you blend everything together.

[Repairman]

You'll soon learn to sail through jobs like this. Nearly all the elements required to fill the 'gap' exist already and you just need to identify them, then cut n paste (& rotate). Make a clean bit of wall by cloning out the music stand and then copy it above the chair. The awning struts can be scavenged from the good side or just extend the right side struts. The hand and shirt can be constructed with bits from the two foreground players. Flip the chair and do a soft airbrush blend restore. Hard to see exactly what's going on with the textures because of the lo rez but you'll nail it.
R.

[Lofty1967]

Thanks. Going to have a crack again this weekend.

[Daviskw]

The clone tool is the way to go here as others have stated... Content aware will not do the job. I used the pen tool to limit the clone areas with selections.

Butch

[Lofty1967]

Hi Guys,
Can anyone advise me about the crosshair that is located near the brush when in the Clone Stamp tool, it seems to bring in the area of where it is located and bringing in unnecessary details that I don't want, it seems to position itself at different distances from the brush as well.
Help much appreciated.
Lofty

[Alan_P]

Use "view clone source" to activate the clone source panel. The box marked "show overlay" turns the overlay on and off and the box marked "clip" limits the overlay to the brush area.

[Chain]

Personally I find the "show overlay" mostly useless, and usually a bit laggy/slow.

The crosshair "near" the brush is probably your clone source.
The clone stamp tool works by you holding down the alt-key and klicking where you want to clone (copy) from. When you now paint with the clone tool it will copy from where you clicked (that area will be shown using a crosshair).
The healing brush tool works the same way, except it will try to blend what you are cloning into the surroundings.

Use a soft brush for cloning (to avoid visible edges), a hard brush for healing (to avoid "color bleeding").

[Lofty1967]

Thanks for your help, hoping to have this picture finished in the next few days for you to give an opinion.
Thanks once again.

[Lofty1967]

Hi,
Is there a way to stop your image moving around when you zoom in on it?
Many thanks
Stephen

[Chain]

Windows: Edit > Preferences > General
OS X: Photoshop > Preferences > General

Uncheck "Zoom Resizes Window". That will stop the entire window from changing size by itself all the time. You could also prevent it by going to one of the fullscreen modes (Cycle with 'F').

You might also want to toggle "Enable Flick Panning" or other options you see that you liker/do not like...

[Lofty1967]

Hi,
This is where I am at with my first retouch photograph, I am now running into the difficult areas and would like opinions on what I have done so far and how to finish off this, i.e., rebuilding the arm and guitar etc etc.
Many thanks
Stephen

[Chain]

You're doing a good job so far. You have got the hang of it, so I say keep going using the same techniques.
The hand/huitar is the tricky bit, but if you do your cloning/healing on a new layer there's no risk involved so I recommend you jump in with both feet and try

[Lofty1967]

Thanks for all your advice chain, much appreciated. Do you think I should try and create the shape of the arm with a selection of some form?

Stephen

[Chain]

I don't think that will be needed, just use smaller brushes as you refine it with the clone/heal tools. That's what I would try first at least.

[Lofty1967]

Hi,

Well here it is, my first retouched picture. What do you think?

1) Is the arm okay, does the skin looks patchy?
2) The mic stand in front of the chair has a weird hallow around it.

Be good to get peoples thoughts and advice.

Many thanks again.

Stephen

[Daviskw]

Looks very good to me...I would make a few changes... It seems to me the center player's picture right shoulder may need to be widened a bit... I think you cloned a little too much.

I would crop the front speakers or amps off the bottom then add a little contrast.

Butch

[Lofty1967]

Hi Guys,
These are my before and after of my first retouch. Opinions greatly appreciated. I still don't seem to have the understanding of the Clone Stamp Tool, how do I get it to Clone the first cloned point without it changing?
Many thanks
Stephen

[Chain]

Originally Posted by Lofty1967

how do I get it to Clone the first cloned point without it changing?

I'm not sure what you're asking?

If you hold down the alt/option-key you can sample a point. This is what will be 'copied' when you use the tool. If you uncheck "Aligned" on the options bar it will start over form this point with each stroke.

There is a Clone Source panel that you can use to "store" up to 5 clone sources, but I've never needed this myself. Click on them to switch (but I find it faster and more useful to simply sample a new point).

[Lofty1967]

Thanks Chain, I probably didn't explain it well, if for example, if I just wanted to clone the first point that I chose, lets say a red dot and I only wanted to clone the red dot with every brush stroke and not other dots that the cross hair moves over how can I do this?
Many thanks
Lofty

[Chain]

Uncheck "aligned" on the top (options) bar. Then it will start over with each stroke.

[PDBX]

Hi Retouch Pro Community

My name is Eric aka...PDBX and I just wanted to say hi. I'm super excited about being apart of this community. I hope to learn, grow but most importantly contribute as much as I can to the retouch industry. I'm a newbie so I am looking for any advice, help or guidance I can find on this forum. Like many I want to be a professional retoucher/restorer so strong critiques and criticism is always welcome. I'm currently pursuing freelance work in restoring but I hope to be apart of the hi-end fashion side of retouching as well. I have a long way to go but this forum is a great place to start. Thanks again for taking the time to read my post.

Eric