406 Chapter 11 Retouching Techniques Figure 11.44 Original image with dust and scratches all over. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.45 Light-colored scratches at the cement base of the lion statue are retouched by using the Clone Stamp set to Darken. Automatic Sharpening The automatic sharpening function in some scanners makes retouching more diffi cult (Figures 11.46 and 11.47). If possible, turn off any sharpening settings in your scan- ning software. Figure 11.46 Unsharpened image. Figure 11.47 Image sharpened during a scan. Cloning Between Documents With the Clone Stamp, you’re not limited to cloning from the active document. You can open a second image and clone from that image as well (Figure 11.48). Make the second image (the cloning source) active, and then 407 IV: Creative Techniques Option/Alt-click it. Return to the fi rst image to clone from the point you clicked in the second image. Figure 11.48 The photo on the right was judged to be the better choice, but the girl on the right was missing. With the Clone Stamp, we can clone the girl from the photo on the left. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Clone Source A handy add-on for the Clone Stamp tool is the Clone Source panel, which sits in the panel dock (Figure 11.49). The Clone Source panel offers a number of useful options: . The fi ve buttons at the top of the panel let you store as many as fi ve different source points, which makes it easy to switch from one source point to another during complex clone operations (such as removing a tree from in front of a building). This saves you the hassle of having to reset your clone source point repeatedly. . Using the Source fi elds, you can adjust any source point numerically, making it easy to adjust a point that’s off by just a pixel or two. . The Rotate fi eld to the immediate right of the Y fi eld lets you rotate cloned pixels automatically. If you enter 45, for example, the resulting cloned strokes will be rotated 45 degrees. When you’re cloning between two documents, both documents must use the same color mode (RGB or CMYK). Figure 11.49 The Clone Source panel provides powerful cloning features. 408 Chapter 11 Retouching Techniques . Above the Rotate fi eld are width (W) and height (H) fi elds, which let you scale the source while cloning. If you unlock the lock box between those two fi elds, each axis will be scaled independently, allowing you to create a geometric distortion in the result. . The Show Overlay check box provides a handy visual reference while cloning. When this box is turned on, a semi-opaque copy of the source will be superimposed over the image (how opaque it is depends on the Opac- ity value), giving you a preview of what your strokes will look like given the current offset (Figure 11.50). If you don’t like the results, adjust the offset until the overlay shows the cloned results in the desired position. . The Blending Mode pop-up menu and Invert check box provide options for improving the visibility of the overlaid source image. . The Auto Hide option causes the overlay to disap- pear automatically when you start painting. When you release the mouse button, the overlay reappears. Vanishing Point All the retouching tools we’ve talked about until now have had one major shortcoming—they treat the world as fl at! But many images contain objects that appear to change proportion as they recede from the camera. The solution is to use Photoshop’s Vanishing Point fi lter (Filter > Vanish- ing Point), which creates different perspective planes in an image, thus allowing you to paint, retouch, scale, and distort in perspective. The street in Figure 11.51 has a consistent width but looks smaller in the distance due to the effects of perspective. If you were to use a standard paintbrush tool in Photoshop and paint an outline of the street, you’d end up with the shape shown in Figure 11.52. But with the Vanishing Point fi lter, you can establish the street’s perspective and then paint on the image, getting quite a different result (Figure 11.53). Selections made in Vanishing Point will also con- form to the perspective planes that make up the image (Figures 11.54 and 11.55). The Opacity field controls the opac- ity of the overlaid image—not the opacity of your cloned strokes. Figure 11.50 With Show Overlay turned on in the Clone Source panel, you can see exactly where the cloned image will appear. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) While using Vanishing Point, you can press the X key at any time to zoom in on the image temporarily, which can help you to be more precise when defining a perspective plane or performing retouching. 409 IV: Creative Techniques Figure 11.51 Original image. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.54 Standard Photoshop selection. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.55 Selection made with the Vanishing Point filter. Figure 11.52 Standard perspective. Figure 11.53 Vanishing Point perspective. Defining Planes Before you can get all this magic to work properly, you have to educate Vanishing Point about the image by defi ning perspective planes. When you fi rst open the fi lter (Filter > Vanishing Point), you’ll be presented with a large dia- log and a small tool panel. Choose the Create Plane tool (which looks like a tiny grid) and click the four corners of a 410 Chapter 11 Retouching Techniques fl at surface in the image so Vanishing Point is aware of how the perspective affects that surface. If Vanishing Point is having trouble with the plane you’re attempting to defi ne, the lines will change color. If the grid turns red, Vanishing Point can’t fi gure out how that shape could possibly be a fl at surface as it relates to the perspective you’re defi ning (Figure 11.56). If it turns yellow (Figure 11.57), you have a grid that could be used, but the results will be less than ideal. When the grid becomes blue (Figure 11.58), Vanish- ing Point is saying “all systems go,” and you’re ready to start painting or retouching the image. If you defi ne a plane by clicking the four corners of a small object, you may need to extend the side handles so the grid covers the entire sur- face (or at least the area you plan to modify). If you plan to work with more than one surface in the image, you’ll have to defi ne each plane so Vanishing Point knows how those surfaces relate to each other (Figure 11.59). Figure 11.56 A red outline is a sign of problems. Figure 11.58 A blue grid indicates that everything is okay. Figure 11.57 A yellow grid is usable, but not ideal. Figure 11.59 Define planes for each surface you intend to modify. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) 411 IV: Creative Techniques Duplicating Areas Once the planes are defi ned, you can use the other tools from Vanishing Point’s tool panel. If you use the Marquee tool to make selections, you can hold down Option/Alt and drag within the selected area to move a duplicate of the selected area. As you move the selected area, Vanishing Point scales the image based on the perspective plane on which you drag (Figures 11.60 and 11.61). But since this chapter is all about retouching, let’s check out what can be done with the main retouching tool in Vanishing Point— the Clone Stamp tool. Figure 11.60 Sometimes moving areas produces unrealistic results. Figure 11.61 Moving areas with the Vanishing Point filter looks more realistic. Cloning in Perspective Before Vanishing Point came along, Photoshop’s Clone Stamp tool couldn’t recognize distortions caused by perspective. Consequently, it created unacceptable results when used on an image that contained noticeable perspec- tive distortions. The main problem is that the Clone Stamp tool is not capable of scaling the cloned area to make it match the perspective of the surface you’re attempting to retouch. 412 Chapter 11 Retouching Techniques In Figure 11.62, the area being covered by the sign is primarily a row of larger bricks. In Figure 11.63, the row of large bricks ends up being patched with bricks that are much too small to look appropriate. The Clone Stamp tool in Vanishing Point can do a much better job. To start, use the Create Plane tool to click the two corners that make up the left edge of a brick; then click the two corners that make up the right edge of another brick in the same row, so Photoshop learns how the bricks are distorted by perspective (Figure 11.64). Then drag the size handles of the resulting grid to defi ne the overall area that needs to be retouched (Figure 11.65). Once the plane has been defi ned, you can use the Clone Stamp tool to retouch areas, and its results will be scaled to conform to the per- spective of the image (Figure 11.66). Figure 11.63 Cloned areas are not scaled to the proper size and therefore don’t match the surrounding image. Figure 11.64 The initial plane lines up with a row of bricks. Figure 11.65 Expanding the plane to cover the area that needs to be edited. Figure 11.66 The results are scaled to be the appropriate size. Figure 11.62 This wall is distorted due to perspective. (©2007 iStockphoto.com/belterz.) 413 IV: Creative Techniques Figure 11.67 The Vanishing Point dialog with the Clone Stamp options visible. (©2007 iStockphoto.com/urbancow.) The Vanishing Point Clone Stamp tool incorporates many of the options that are available in Photoshop’s Healing Brush, along with a few that are unique to Vanishing Point (Figure 11.67). For retouching, the settings on the Heal pop-up menu have particular importance: . Off. The Hardness setting of the brush is the only thing that causes retouching to blend into the surrounding image (Figure 11.68). Use this setting when the area being retouched is not similar to its surroundings. . Luminance. Causes the Clone Stamp to copy both color and texture from the area that’s being cloned; the brightness of the retouched area is based on the sur- rounding image (Figure 11.69). Use this setting when the surface being retouched is unevenly lit, since the Clone Stamp will match the brightness of the surround- ing area. . On. Causes the Clone Stamp to work like the Healing Brush, copying only texture from the cloned area and picking up the brightness and color from the area that surrounds the retouching (Figure 11.70). Use this set- ting when you want the area being retouched to have the same texture and color as the surrounding image. Figure 11.68 Heal set to Off. Figure 11.69 Heal set to Luminance. Figure 11.70 Heal set to On. 414 Chapter 11 Retouching Techniques Dodge and Burn Tools The words dodge and burn are taken from a traditional pho- tographic darkroom. In a darkroom, an enlarger projects an image onto a sheet of photographic paper. While the image is being projected, you could put something in the way of the light source, which would obstruct the light in such a way that it would hit certain areas less than others— a technique known as dodging. Or you could add light by cupping your hands together, creating just a small hole between them, and allowing the light to concentrate on a certain area more than others—a technique known as burning. Using a combination of these two methods, you can brighten or darken an image. Photoshop reproduces these techniques with two tools: Dodge (its icon looks like a lollipop, for dodging the light) and Burn (its icon looks like a hand with fi ngers cupped, for burning). Dodge Tool Because it can lighten the image, the Dodge tool is handy when working on photos of people with dark shadows under their eyes. An important setting for the Dodge tool is the Range menu in the options bar (Figure 11.71). The pop-up menu has three choices: Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights. This menu tells Photoshop which shades of gray to concentrate on when you paint across the image: . Shadows. Changes the dark parts of the image. As you paint across the image, the brush brightens the areas it touches. As you get into the midtones, it applies less paint, and it doesn’t change the light parts of the image much (if at all). . Midtones. Affects the middle shades of gray—areas that are about 25% to 75% gray. It shouldn’t change the shadows or highlights very much. They may change a little, but only so they can blend into the midtones. . Highlights. Affects the lightest parts of the image, slowly blending into the midtones. Figure 11.71 Dodge tool options bar. The Spacing setting of your brush affects how much the image is changed when using the Dodge and Burn tools. Higher Spacing settings affect the image less. 415 IV: Creative Techniques With the wrong Range setting for the Dodge tool, you might cause yourself some grief. Let’s say you’re trying to fi x dark areas around the model’s eyes in Figure 11.72, but the Dodge tool doesn’t seem to be doing the job. After dozens of tries, you fi nally realize that the Range pop-up menu is set to Highlights instead of Midtones (look at the eyes in Figures 11.73 and 11.74). The Exposure setting on the options bar controls how much brighter the image will become. You can use the number keys on your keyboard to change this setting. Color Images The Dodge tool works exceptionally well on grayscale images. All you have to do is choose the Range—Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights—and paint across an area. Unfor- tunately, the Dodge tool isn’t as slick with color images. It tends to wash out some of the colors, and in some cases even change them (Figures 11.75 and 11.76). One good solution is to duplicate the layer you’re working on and set the blending mode of the duplicate to Lumi- nosity before using the Dodge tool. That approach should maintain the original colors and limit your changes to the brightness of the image. Figure 11.75 Original image. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.76 Area lightened by using the Dodge tool. Figure 11.72 Original image. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.73 Dodge tool set to Highlights is not working around the eye area. Figure 11.74 Dodge tool set to Midtones. [...]... in Color Burn mode Figure 11.84 Creating a new layer in Overlay mode As you dodge and burn, especially when working on skin tones, turning on the Protect Tones check box in the options bar (new in Photoshop CS4) can help prevent haloing and washed-out colors Figure 11.85 Original image (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.86 Dodge and Burn used on a layer set to Overlay mode Hold down Option/Alt to switch temporarily... background (Figure 11.88), or adding a bit more color to their lips The Sponge tool is a subtle, yet very effective tool that often is overlooked, but is exceedingly powerful for photo touchup work In Photoshop CS4, the Sponge tool’s options bar includes a Vibrance check box that you can use to prevent oversaturation of colors that are already saturated, while boosting less-saturated colors Figure 11.88... Dodge tool Burn Tool The Burn tool is designed for darkening areas of an image Like the Dodge tool, it has Range and Exposure options, and works great with grayscale images If you’re dealing with a shiny spot on someone’s forehead or nose that reflects the light, you can try to fix the problem with the Burn tool (compare Figures 11.79 and 11.80) Figure 11.80 The model’s cheeks, chin, and forehead are darkened... that wrinkle Remember that the Blur tool won’t make the wrinkle disappear—just reduce its impact Consider creating a brand-new, empty layer and sampling layers with the Blur tool With this technique, Photoshop can copy the information from the underlying layers, blur it, and then paste it onto the layer you just created, leaving the underlying layers untouched You can easily delete areas or redo them... based on the contents of a grayscale image (Figures 11.91 to 11.93), which you can create by using the Paintbrush tool You can specify which shade of gray represents an area that you want to keep in focus Photoshop then makes all the other areas of the image progressively out of focus, based on how different the surrounding shades of gray are compared to the one you specified as the in-focus shade Figure... Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur after you paint (Figure 11.95) When you’re done painting, choose Edit > Fill, set the Use popup menu to White, set the Mode pop-up menu to Behind, and click OK (Figure 11.96) Photoshop fills the empty areas of the active layer with white Figure 11.94 Paint with black on a new layer to define the areas that should remain in focus (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.95 The Gaussian Blur... setting until the highlights in the image become bright again 422 IV: Creative Techniques (Figure 11.101) The Threshold setting determines which shades will be brightened Moving the slider left causes Photoshop to brighten more shades, whereas moving it right brightens only the brightest shades in the image Figure 11.99 Original image Figure 11.100 The highlights look dull after blurring the image Figure... the Lens Correction dialog simply rotates the image, which can be useful if the horizon line isn’t level Click the tool and then drag across an area in the image that should be horizontal or vertical Photoshop calculates the proper rotation setting needed to straighten the area The Vertical Perspective and Horizontal Perspective sliders make converging horizontal or vertical lines parallel (Figures... image you’ll move with each 431 Chapter 11 Retouching Techniques paint stroke (Figures 11.129 to 11.131) If you have a pressure-sensitive graphics tablet, turn on the Stylus Pressure check box to make Photoshop pay attention to how much pressure you’re using with the pen With this option turned on, the Brush Pressure setting is determined by how hard you press down on the graphics tablet Figure 11.129 . working on skin tones, turning on the Protect Tones check box in the options bar (new in Photoshop CS4) can help prevent haloing and washed-out colors. Hold down Option/Alt to switch temporarily. Background and fore- ground have been desaturated using the Sponge tool. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) In Photoshop CS4, the Sponge tool’s options bar includes a Vibrance check box that you can use to prevent. retouching. 409 IV: Creative Techniques Figure 11.51 Original image. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.54 Standard Photoshop selection. (©2008 Dan Ablan.) Figure 11.55 Selection made with the Vanishing Point filter. Figure