philip_coggan
02-08-2004, 04:51 AM
This method works, and doesn't use the dodge and burn tools, which can damage the pixels. (For Photoshop 7 users - don't know about other software).
1. Image>Image Size - find out how big your image is, both dpi and width/height.
2. File>New, create a new file the same size as the original photo.
3. Back to the original photo. Open the Channels palette. Click the Red channel (make sure that only the Red channel has a blue bar across it - all the others should be blank).
4. Select>Select All.
5. Edit>Copy.
6. Go to the new file. Edit>Paste. Open the Layers palette for the new file. You should have two layers, a background layer in white (it was created automatically when you created the new file), and Layer 1. which should be the red channel from your photo. Rename this as Red.
7. Back to the original photo and select the Green channel. Copy and paste it to the new file, and rename it Green. Then the same for the Blue channel. You should end up with a new file with 4 layers, the background and the three channels from the original image, arranged red-green-blue, with blue on top. Note that this means the darkest channel/layer is on toip, the brightest on bottom.
8. The fun starts. The principle is that you will use the erasor to make holes in the layers you don't like, down to the ones you do. No pixels will be harmed in this process.
- get the erasor tool with a small, soft setting.
- use the opacity slider on the top layer to see which parts of the image lok better in blue and which in green. Erase the parts of the blue layer you don't like. Use Edit>Fade to control the amount of erasing. (Or change the opacity of the tool itself, based on what the opacity slider tells you). Repeat with green to red. (You may find that Blue is not needed at all).
And that's it. Because this is a destructive process, it's a good idea to create copies of all layers before beginning the erasing - just pile them at the bottom of the palette and turn them off until you need them.
Please let me know if you find this useful, and if you have any refinements to offer.
1. Image>Image Size - find out how big your image is, both dpi and width/height.
2. File>New, create a new file the same size as the original photo.
3. Back to the original photo. Open the Channels palette. Click the Red channel (make sure that only the Red channel has a blue bar across it - all the others should be blank).
4. Select>Select All.
5. Edit>Copy.
6. Go to the new file. Edit>Paste. Open the Layers palette for the new file. You should have two layers, a background layer in white (it was created automatically when you created the new file), and Layer 1. which should be the red channel from your photo. Rename this as Red.
7. Back to the original photo and select the Green channel. Copy and paste it to the new file, and rename it Green. Then the same for the Blue channel. You should end up with a new file with 4 layers, the background and the three channels from the original image, arranged red-green-blue, with blue on top. Note that this means the darkest channel/layer is on toip, the brightest on bottom.
8. The fun starts. The principle is that you will use the erasor to make holes in the layers you don't like, down to the ones you do. No pixels will be harmed in this process.
- get the erasor tool with a small, soft setting.
- use the opacity slider on the top layer to see which parts of the image lok better in blue and which in green. Erase the parts of the blue layer you don't like. Use Edit>Fade to control the amount of erasing. (Or change the opacity of the tool itself, based on what the opacity slider tells you). Repeat with green to red. (You may find that Blue is not needed at all).
And that's it. Because this is a destructive process, it's a good idea to create copies of all layers before beginning the erasing - just pile them at the bottom of the palette and turn them off until you need them.
Please let me know if you find this useful, and if you have any refinements to offer.