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Sony Forums Challenges | all galleries >> Challenge 121: White / technically flawed (hosted by Katherine Kenison) >> Challenge 121: Demo Folder > edit image
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18-APR-2006 Denise

Original "Sparkling Springtime"
by Denise

bottles did all the post processing on the Exhibition image! and I attempted to do the same with his instructions and did a fairly good job of it. But the most important lesson was I finally am understanding how the layering process works in PP. In the comments section are bottles detailed instructions for changing this background. What worked for this image will not work for all images BUT it gives you a process to begin with.

Link to Exhibition Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/stfchallenge/image/63183261

Sony DSC-H1
1/400s f/6.3 at 72.0mm iso64 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time18-Apr-2006 11:46:26
MakeSony
ModelDSC-H1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length72 mm
Exposure Time1/400 sec
Aperturef/6.3
ISO Equivalent64
Exposure Bias-0.30
White Balance (-1)
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programaperture priority (3)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Denise10-Jul-2006 17:15
Hope this info helps some of you that are as PP Challenged as I am ;-)) I use PSE3 and bottles was aware of that when giving instructions for PP.

Our white flower needed to be lightened up a little to blend into the white background properly, this was done first.

When working with this image start by duplicating the Background layer. This is necessary because you are going to be working with transparency and that is not allowed on the real Background layer. After duplicating the Background layer, turn it off and work with just the duplicate. If you fail to turn off the original Background, it will be seen through any transparency above it.

Okay, our first job is to delete that blue background. The problem with deleting the background is that it usually leaves an obvious sharp edge (and sometimes a little background color) on what you want to keep (in this case, the flower). To prevent that, here's what we can do....First select the blue area with the "Magic Wand" tool, set at a tolerance of 40. Note: It's a good idea to save that selection (Select > Save Selection) and give it a name; you might need it again later. Anyway, after saving the selection, go up to the "Select" menu and choose "Modify > Expand". How much to expand will of course depend on the size of the image; for this small image just try one pixel. Do not feather the selection yet, simply hit the "delete" key to remove the blue background (a sharp, clean cut) and do not deselect yet. Note: If you feather the selection while the blue color is still there, that color will show on the edges of your flower when put on a white background later. Okay, after deleting the blue color, we should now feather the selection... try one or two pixels and hit the delete key again. Deselect now and you should have a smooth, slightly blurred edge with no blue showing. You will now have to erase any unwanted dark areas from the image (extra branches etc.) Now that we have gotten rid of the blue background, the next step is to put something back in it's place.

***Save***

Create a new empty layer and move it "under" the image layer you're working on. Fill the new layer (using the Paint Bucket tool) with the shade of white you think will look good. You probably won't want pure bright white.

***Save***

Now, moving back to your image layer, use the Elliptical Marquee tool and make a nice oval (but almost round for this image) selection over the flower. Don't include the entire flower within the selection, leave a little of the outer edges outside of the selection. You want those outer edges to gradually blend into the white background.

Now (from the Select menu) feather that oval selection about 60 or 70 pixels, then "Inverse" the selection (you don't want to delete the flower) and hit the delete key. Deselect and you should see a nice vignette effect that makes a smooth transition from the flower to the white background area.

If you're happy with the results, you can now Flatten the image and you're done.