Adding text / picture to an image

Air Brushing / Photo Touch-Up

Air brushing is a technique used to 'touchup' people's faces and hair to make them look better. This can mean removing skin imperfections or adding/ improving make-up. It is often used by advertisers to make their models look as attractive as possible. It is also useful when trying to alter certain features, such as hair colour.
Firstly, you duplicate the layer.
You then use the cloning tool to remove any skin imperfections such as spots.
Then you can use the 'Gaussian Blur' tool under Filter---Blur and put it to around 2.6, but before the image becomes too blurred.
You then use the eraser tool to remove the blur on the duplicated layer on features that may look too blurred such as the eyes, lips and jewellery.
You then change the opacity to 60-70.

Changing Eye Colour
To change a person's eye colour you select the brush tool and make the size match the size of the eyes as closely as possible. Then select the desired eye colour.
Click once over the eyes, then change the colour effects to either 'soft light', 'hue' or 'overlay'- whichever works best.
Afterwards you can use the eraser tool to tidy up any smudges. You can change the opacity to make the colour look as realistic as possible.
This technique can also be used to change hair colour on a new layer.

Black and White Areas on Image

With Photoshop you can also edit an image so that only part of it appears in black and white, while the rest is still in colour. This is useful for advertising campaigns, as it can be used to highlight a certain part of the picture to make the advert more powerful.

To do this you first have to create a ‘Hue/ Saturation’ adjustment layer.

You then bring the saturation down to -100 and make the Hue/Saturation layer invisible.

The Colour Replacement Tool is then selected and the colour is set to black. Then the selected areas can be filled in.





This photo was taken for an article for a school prospectus on falling standards of British schools. We decided to focus on theft. I made all of the image black and white except the hand which is stealing the phone to put the main focus on the theft. I then added text to fit the picture.

Colour Filtering

Colour filtering is when you give a certain colour/ colours to an image. This gives it a special effect and makes it interesting to look at. It is good for advertising because you can give the image the company’s colours.
My task was to add a colour filter and text to this photo and turn it into an advert for a TV programme.

To add a colour filter, first you have to duplicate the background layer.

Then you add a hue and saturation layer and bring the Hue/Saturation and Lightness down to around -70.

Then you create a new layer and change the style to ‘soft light’ ('soft light' is an example of a colouring effect. There are many more to choose from on Photoshop) using the drop down list just above the new layer icon.

Using a normal, solid, big sized brush (around 200px), colour over the background in the style and colour you want.


Finally, you need to add a Gaussian Blur to make the colours fade into the picture more. To do this you go to the drop down list Filter--Blur-- Gaussian Blur. Bring this to around 80-90 pixels.

Cloning

Cloning is when you erase things in a picture you do not want by taking similar looking sections and laying them on top of the area you do not want. It is useful when removing unwanted objects when publishing pictures and you can remove copyright things such as logos which would not be allowed.

Firstly, the 'clone stamp tool' is selected.


Then, holding down the ALT button, the point which will be used in the cloning is selected. The area is then covered up with the mouse button.


It is useful to use the ‘blur’ tool afterwards to help the cloned area blend in more.

BEFORE
I need to remove brand names because they would not be allowed in a professional picture and unwanted people so as to not divert the attention from the main image which needs to focus on students because the photos is for the school prospectus.


AFTER
By using the clone stamp tool on Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 I managed to remove the person standing on the stairs and the brand names ‘Zara’, ‘Just do it’ and ‘Dior’ on three bags.