help on removing color band

[tome]

Hi,

The attached photo has a band around the perimeter that I would like to remove. I am pretty good with PS and have no problems correcting overall color, scratches, etc. I will also have no problems adding on to the right side of the photo where the dad's shoulder and girl's head and shoulder are cropped. I am having a heck of a time removing this band though.

I have read many books and tutorials and tried many different things on this image but can not get rid of it. Most tutorials talk about correcting images based on good information in one channel. The problem with this photo is the band of discoloration is in all channels.

An interesting note is that I have read quite a few photoshop books: Photoshop 6.0 For Photographers by Martin Evening and Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eisman to name a couple (both excellent books by the way) and I have yet to come across a similar color problem discussed.

Can anyone suggest a series of steps I could use?

Thanks!

[Sam]

Hi tome - Welcome!

I'm not as clued-up as some of the other users here, but this would be my suggestion for getting rid of the banding:

1. Make a selection of the banding along the bottom of the photo and copy and paste it to a new layer. You will probably need to copy several sections, as the banding varies in colour.

2. Use Color Balance and Hue/Saturation settings to adjust each layer and experiment with layer opacity and maybe blending modes as well. You may need to do this several times to get a satisfactory result.

3. Use clone tool and/or airbrush to tidy up the simple areas, like the back wall.

Hope this helps.

Sam

[Sam]

Here's a section of the photo I had a go at using the methods described above.

Best of luck!

Sam

[Vikki]

tome,
I think Sam has the right idea (looks good). I think the trick to this type of problem is that you do need to make a selection area, as opposed to a global adjustment to the whole photo.

You can make a pretty accurate selection by viewing the seperate channels to see which one has the most contrast, and make your selection there. Then, you can use the techniques from one of your books to make the corrections.

[DJ Dubovsky]

Can't improve on what Sam and Vikki have said and Sam's results speak for themselves. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
DJ

[tome]

help on removing color band

Wow thanks, Sam! That looks really good. So I guess my mistake has been that I have been selecting the entire band around the entire photo. If I understand what you are saying, I need to select each area where the band is but the colors are different, like the bottom of the boy's tan coat or the mother's dress and correct each of these areas individually, yes?

Thanks again. -Tom

[Sam]

Absolutely, Tom - I always think it's better to use too many layers than too few! I'm no photographic expert, but for whatever reason sometimes the colours of some areas fade/distort differently to other areas (if you know what I mean!) which is what's happened on your photo. So, like Vikki said, you have to treat each area separately.

Another useful tip is to always feather your selections to get a nice soft edge that blends into the original, rather than a straight "cut" edge which is harder to mask. Or else use an eraser set to airbrush to soften those edges. If your new "fixed" layer looks a bit harsh, you can try giving it a gaussian blur and/or reducing its opacity.

As DJ says, let us know how you get on!

Sam