Editing technique help

[msg_moi]

Hi everyone

I have done a shooting session inside to practice few things and now I want to practice my skills on the edit side.

I wanted to remove a thermostats but i'm not sure which tools and technique can be used inside

Any tips will be appreciate

Hope you can see the attach photo

P.s. after posting i see the back wall being wash, in reality it is more yellow with a gradient because of the light. Light comes from the left a little from the back.

[LV_Bill]

@msg_moi - Removing undesired items from an image is definitely an art. You are very wise to practice -- especially since you have several choices in Ult8 as to how to accomplish this. The top three methods are: (1.) Develop Mode Repair tool, (2.) Edit Mode Repair tool, or (3.) Edit Mode Layers. (Using Layers for repairs is a less often used option, and is only required for very extensive repairs).

In each case, what you are essentially doing is copying pixels from one area of an image to another. In effect, you are 'painting over' the undesired pixels with 'good' pixels from another area, usually adjacent to the area to be repaired. My #1 choice for removing unwanted items, such as your thermostat, is the Develop Mode Repair tool. Within the Repair tool itself, there are two further options: Heal or Clone. Clone does a straight copy of selected pixels, and is always my first choice. The Heal tool attempts to blend all the copied pixels. I rarely use Heal.

To operate the Clone Tool, you move your mouse over a 'source' area and right-click. That sets the copy starting point. Then, move your mouse over the 'target' area (pixels to be removed) and left-click. Optionally, you can hold down the left-click button and 'paint' your repairs continuously. When you start to practice "cloning out" unwanted pixels, you will immediately see where 'art' comes in. Upon completion, your cloned area should be completely undetectable -- virtually invisible. But, when the target area contains gradient colors, getting your cloned area to blend in perfectly can be a real challenge. One of my toughest Cloning jobs is removing unwanted items from blue skies (e.g. birds, airplanes, or telephone wires). The blue color gradients in skies can really drive you crazy.

When using the Clone tool, you must be very careful about "Feathering" -- that's how the edges of the Cloned area blend with the existing pixels. I prefer a lot of feathering and generally set that control to 40 for large open areas. In tighter areas, I'll reduce the feathering to 30 or 20. A couple of other tips are: Learn to adjust the nib size with your mouse wheel. Holding down the Shift key will let your mouse wheel adjust the feathering. When starting a Repair operation, always double-check that the Repair tool hasn't reverted back to Heal (which seems to be the default).

Good luck, and feel free to post back with any additional questions that you may have.

[msg_moi]

Thank you LV_Bill

I have gradient all around the thermostat i try the heal or the clone option but did not really get what i want. My brush strokes are still visible.


It was suggest another method, using layers. Place a photo of the same area on a layer under the original one and delete what you do not want, the transparency should do the rest. From what i heard it will be easier to blend. I will give a try and see how i can perform using this method.


The hard part on this one, the thermostats as a shadow that blend at the back of the head in the hairs.

......OK, while i write this one, I was bale to play around and find an option for layer named "difference" or "luminosity". But i see no way to select a region based on one of the two options.

Luminosity gave me a nice view where i can clearly see the hairs on top of the thermostats but have no idea how i can select a region based on luminosity

https://plus.google.com/photos/10170...MCaivXXgM67tgE

If i could, it will be easy for me to select a region on the right and removed a background. this would allow me to see the layer under.



ACD developper please let us know you read this forum..:-)

What I would like is either have pixel selection at anytime in any command or outside any command.

OR

If I I use layer and I delete a region (this will be like creating a window to see the layer at the back), the layer under will be visible, then use a blend tool around the "window" i just create to make sure we have a nice blend.

[LV_Bill]

I told you it was an art. It sounds like the thermostat is a good test. Why not keep working on it with the Clone tool until your results improve. And, you can post a full size version of that image online so that your fellow ACDSee users can have a go at cloning out the thermostat. You might be surprised at the results.

[msg_moi]

picture should be available to download

Edit/update
I can't post the whole picture but i was able to removed the thermostat with a minimum clone/heal brush.

Playing with a mix of pixel targeting, brush selection, layer while in the advance color, lightning etc..... I was able to wash most of the thermostats and apply a gentle clone rush.

Not perfect but definitely faster end better result. Once you master the sequence.

Bonus in the process I add a little hallow to blend the shoulder with the background ( that was a lucky shoot now i need to remember what I did :-)

[msg_moi]

[LV_Bill]

@msg_moi - It looks to me like you made that thermostat disappear without a trace. Well done.
And, keep on practicing with difficult examples. They will vastly improve your cloning skills over time.
I should add that most cloning projects are not as difficult as your thermostat. The majority of unwanted items can be removed with a click or two.