Photo Retouching - - Match Color

Halina · #1 05-10-2006, 02:15 PM

I've been asked to add a scanned picture of an individual to a group photo. However the skin color of the new photo is way different than the group photo. What would be the best way to match the skin tone with the rest of the group. I am on CS2. TIA.

Halina

P.S. I did a search on this topic but they were referencing earlier versions of Photoshop. I wonder if there is an easier way in CS2.

philbach · #2 05-10-2006, 02:35 PM

Your problem is a common one. And excellent help is available. I would suggest you post both of your photos and then see what sort of a response you get. Its important to post photos of a decent size. Suggestions on how to do this are : CLICK HERE

So lets take a look at what you've got.

mistermonday · #3 05-10-2006, 02:45 PM

Halina, welcome to RP! As Phil has suggested, it would be best to post the photos. The technique will vary depending on whether you need to match the color only or whether there are incident lighting & shadow issues which need to be adjusted as well.
Regards, Murray

philbach · #4 05-11-2006, 05:44 AM

Well there are several ways to do that. Here is what I did. I used levels on both pictures to target the whites so that both photos were 255,255,255 at their brightest white. I then selected the lady and copied her and pasted her to the group photo. To balance the color I used the color sampler tool on the right part of the forhead of the girl and the man. (Photo) and used a curves adjustment layer using the data from the samplers to bring the color of the girl to the color of the forehed of the man.

Halina · #5 05-11-2006, 06:38 AM

Thank you, Phil for taking the time to help. You're the best.

Halina

edgework · #6 05-12-2006, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halina

I've been asked to add a scanned picture of an individual to a group photo. However the skin color of the new photo is way different than the group photo. What would be the best way to match the skin tone with the rest of the group. I am on CS2. TIA.

Halina

P.S. I did a search on this topic but they were referencing earlier versions of Photoshop. I wonder if there is an easier way in CS2.

Here's a quick start that will pull the overall image into a range more compatible with the target. The other techniques described here are good, and should be used for fine tuning, but this will make it easier.

(This is a method described on a different forum for attacking severe color casts, modified slightly in this case, since we're actually creating a new color cast in one image that matches that of a different image).

Copy image to a new layer.

Filter > Blur > Average

Color Mode, 50%. (The image will now look dull and lifeless.)

Flatten and convert to lab.

Add curve adjustment layer

In curve dialogue box, make certain the Black/White gradient shows white on left, black on right. If they're reversed, click on it. (This simply makes the values read as percentages.)

Pull the top and bottom anchors of both a and b channels in towards the center 20% - 30%, to taste. The anchors must each be pulled the same distance, to keep the curve passing through the center point. This will enhance the new colorcast and will produce an image much closer to the target than your original.

Convert back to RGB and proceed to fine tune, as has been described.