How Im Doing

[Pvt.Weed]

Be hard on me. It looks a little different in print.Click Here

[Flora]

Great! .... Simply great ......

...and I'm being hard .. otherwise I'd just say ...brilliant....perfect!!!!

How different does it look in print?

[Rexx]

Horribly horribly, you're an insult to the forum! I used to be a corporal, so I outrank you!

Eh... how hard did you want it?

This is quite nice, at least to my eye I cannot see traces of the jar (or whatever it is) at all. The slight sharpening looks very good to me. I would perhaps have gone further and changed the background, since you're obviously good at it, judging from the jar removal. Also, there is some perspective "trick" in the original photo, making the background and the girl look as if they're at different angles Since I know it was there, I can see traces of the removal of the running nose, close to the lip. Try to extend the "moustache" shadow from the outside in.

You have a problem with the original picture. If you select only the Red channel, you will see that the highlights are "blown" on the cheek under the eyes: 255 = no more info!

For blown single channels, I think it will just be a matter of minutes before Flora chimes in here (she's in my time zone) and teaches you how to repair that, using info from other channels!

On my monitor (which is supposed to be more or less calibrated), the skin colour is slightly on the pinkish side. I would expect this child to have a browner complexion, like her neck? Checking the Red channel on the retouched version shows that what was originally 247 is now 255. In other words, your colour adjustment has now blown Red over large parts of the face. That's a no-no But on the other hand, on the latest issue of Chasseur d'Images there's a nude on the front cover with blown highlights in several areas of her back. Go figure? But then again, I'm not the editor of the C d'I

At ease!

[Rexx]

I swear, Flora wasn't there when I started typing!

Come on Flora, what about repairing the Red channel?

[brandonx49]

New To channels..

Rexx - when you talk about blown channels how do u get these numbers? What is an acceptable range? I realized you can view each RGB channel via the channel tab. I then used the eye dropper tool on the RED channel ,as it does look 'blown' ( too bright ) , the color slider gives me a number. Is this what you are doing too?

Thanks,
Brad

[Pvt.Weed]

Thank you for the tap on the back. I need it. I see you peepz as the Retouch Gods.. In print the photo is less reddess but on the web its....oh well I guess thats a new project to learn. Thanks again.

[Rexx]

Rexx - when you talk about blown channels how do u get these numbers? I realized you can view each RGB channel via the channel tab. I then used the eye dropper tool on the RED channel ,as it does look 'blown' ( too bright ) , the color slider gives me a number. Is this what you are doing too?

You don't need to use the Color Picker actually. You can use just about any tool. I used Marquee! And yes, that's what I did. I just moved the cross-hair pointer over the image and watched the Info Palette. In the upper left corner it shows the R, G and B values that are under the pointer. If you "turn off" the G and B channels in the Channels palette, it is even easier to watch.

What is an acceptable range?

In (deep breath...) The Photoshop Book For Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby, he suggests setting 20 as the black point and 240 as the white point, meaning values outside this range should be avoided in his opinion. Others suggest other ranges, for instance 8-245. I cannot say one is better than the other, but the point is that if you're at 0 or 255, there is no more detail to be found! Or in other words, there is no more room for adjustment. You cannot get darker than 0 or brighter than 255.

[Rexx]

Thank you for the tap on the back. I need it. I see you peepz as the Retouch Gods.. In print the photo is less reddess but on the web its....oh well I guess thats a new project to learn. Thanks again.

You've misunderstood. Flora is a Goddess. I just sing in the choir

Since Flora hasn't yet explained how you can "repair" a bad channel (where is she? I mean, she hasn't by any means got a Life, has she? ), I suggest you sniff around in techniques, tutorials and/or tips. I know there is at least one example of how you can use a "good" channel to replace a "bad", probably several. And I think Flora has written one. Or it may have been Vikki. Or Leah. The problem with so many Goddesses is I tend to mix them up! (And if you still haven't figured it out, I don't know this technique myself! ... ... ...)

My point, which I see now I didn't make at all in my first post, is that this is a lovely picture, and I see both it and you have the potential of making it a perfect portrait. That's why I'm nitpicking. Please come up with some thoughts on the background, anybody. I feel the diagonal line as disturbing. The concrete isn't particularly pretty either.

I have discovered that my main interest in retouching isn't primarily in restoration, but in subtle retouching of good photos in order to make them excellent. That's why yours caught my attention! Besides, retouching is easier than restoration!

[Flora]

Hi Everybody,

.... Gosh .... my ego is the size of a Zeppelin!!!!!! and just so to downsize it, I have something to confess .... I can't take good pictures ... and .... I couldn't sew to save my life .... there in the open now!!!!

Channels....

The most common procedure to replace a bad channel is the following:

• Duplicate your image

• Change the duplicate to LAB

• Select (Ctrl+A) and Copy (Ctrl+C) the LAB Lightness Channel.

• Paste it (Ctrl+V) on the offending RGB Channel.

This procedure is used when a whole Channel is either very damaged or practically non existent. It will shift the colours which will have to be adjusted later with other tools (Levels, Curves, Selective Colors, Replace Color etc..)

Other Techniques to repair a damaged Channel are:

• Levels

• Curves

• Channel Mixer

• Apply Image

As for blown out lights or too dark shadows, just remember that 255 is pure white therefore lacking any detail .... 0 is pure black therefore lacking any detail ..... To read the exact measurements, just open your 'Info' Palette and with any Tool selected, just pass your cursor over the image ... You'll see RGB and the other values change as you move your cursor .... Just stop over the lightest and/or darkest spot in your picture to read the exact values.

When using the Levels to adjust a picture, keep the Alt key pressed while you move Lights and/or Shadows sliders (It doesn't work with the Mid-Tones one) ... The first white spot to appear in the level box, is the lightest area of your picture...and the first black spot ist the darkest area ... that means ... you've gone a bit too far....

If Black/White spots are already present on your original, then you are seeing blown out whites and/or solid Black areas. To correct this, as Vegard suggested already, you can change your Black/White values by double clicking on the Set Black/White Point Pickers (at the bottom right of Curves and Levels Dialog Boxes) ... and change the values in the 'Color Picker' Dialog Box (It's enough to change this in only one of the two Tools ... the other will be automatically changed as well!)

Katrin Eismann suggests (and I religiously follow!!! ) to change the B value in the HSB boxes of the 'Color Picker' Dialog Box...meaning change to:

from B = 100 to B = 95 for the Whites
from B = 0 to B = 5 for the Blacks.
....but you can experiment with that until you find the values which give you the result you like.

After having done that, with the Set White Point selected, click on the 'pure white' spot in your picture .... and see it change .... Now that you have some colour details on that spot you can work on it!!!!

Click Yes on the 'Save the new Target Colors as Default' ...and Photoshop will remember them!

HTH

[Rexx]

I found a tutorial that uses the technique of constructing channels from other channels, this one by Goddess Leah:

Colour to Black & White

You may be able to explore similar ideas here in the restoration of the blown Red channel.

[Vikki]

I'll comment on what you've done so far.
You've done a really good job of cleaning up the areas you wanted changed. One thing I would add would be a slight shadow on the neck of the shirt where the tag was.
The sharpening is good, but maybe needs to be feathered a bit more where the subject meets the background. This, and too much contrast difference with the background, will give it a cut & paste look.

[Rexx]

Bad news

The sharpening is good, but maybe needs to be feathered a bit more where the subject meets the background. This, and too much contrast difference with the background, will give it a cut & paste look.

My daughter came in, threw one glance at the screen and said, It looks like copy-paste. My children have much better eyes than I have, so why am I doing this?

But I think what she saw, was exactly what Vikki is saying. (And I didn't see )

I'm still puzzled by this picture. The child looks as if the camera was level with her head; she's looking straight ahead, horizontally. But the grass and the concrete looks to me as if it is shot from above, somehow. I'd like to see some quiet, neutral background. A very simple solution would be to extend the grass? But I'm no good with such things.

[Pvt.Weed]

My children have much better eyes than I have, so why am I doing this?

LOL. It does look strange but the camera (Canon S50) was above her head. Thank you peepz for the input. Will work harder to please the Retouch Gods.. Cant wait to join ranks.

[Rexx]

Found it! Yesssss!

Katrin Eismann (of course!) Photoshop Restoration & Retouching 2nd Edition, pp 82-83

This is a completely identical example, blown Red channel, and she shows how to "repair" the Red channel using the Channel mixer.

[Rexx]

Instead of talking about it, I did it!

I opened Eismann on p82 and followed the instructions. Using the Green channel alone didn't give me exactly the effect I liked, so I created a mix of 50% Red 50% Green and a Constant of -10% which I hoped would cure the blown channel.

This gives us a little girl with beautiful Brown eyes instead of Black. Surprise! Also my critique of her upper lip just evaporated and I even think that the shadow behind the collar tag has miraculously returned.

Incredible.

Oh yes, I added another Curve layer, slightly adjusting Red.

Hey, this was fun!