Humans get red eye - pets get glowing eyes - either blue or yellow and
sometimes green.
It makes them look like some kind of evil demon and
I've got the shots to prove it.
This can wreck an otherwise great shot of your favorite companion and
it generally happens when you use a flash.
It really is quite easy to eliminate with Photoshop Elements as you
will
soon find out.
Maisie
My buddy, Terry, graciously sent this picture of his little Maisie with
the blue eyes. Blue eyes on a human is fine but blue eyes are
not so appealing with little Maisie ...
She is a cute little thing, isn't she? Let's deal with that unwanted eyes ...
The Selection
Zoom in on one of the eyes, grab the Selection Brush Tool
(or use any selection tool you like) and select the first of the two
glowing eyes.
Move to the other eye and do the same thing with the
Selection Brush Tool.
If your version has Refine Edge in the Options bar then
click on it and expand the selection by at least one pixel.
The other two settings can be modified to taste but they
really don't need to be much over the minimum.
Click OK when you're done.
The interesting thing about eyes is that they all have spectral
highlights - that little white spot where highlights are captured.
Dogs and cats are no different from humans in this regard - we all have
spectral highlights.
What you need to do is identify the spectral highlights and then
deselect them from the selection you just made.
If you're using the Selection Brush Tool then go up to the Options Bar
on the left end - you will find these options
Make sure the icon on the right is selected - the one with the minus
sign - and then paint over the spectral highlights in each eye to
remove them from the initial selection. If you pet has hair
crossing over the eyes then paint them out as well.
Press the Ctrl/Cmd-J key to
place the glowing eyes on a new layer.
Now the real work begins ...
The Layers
It's not really that difficult either ...
This
is the final layers palette - those two little black dots are the two
little glowing eyes selections.
The Layers Palette was changed in the Palette Options to show the Layer
Bounds (click on the little arrow below the X in the top right of the
panel and choose Palette Options).
Layer 2 also has a little lock icon on it's right side and it is needed
to make the technique work.
To lock the layer first select it and then click the little Lock icon
at the bottom of the palette.
OK - so that sets up the Layers palette.
The Brush
Now for the Brush.
Select a standard round brush,
Click the little airbrush tool at the top of the Options
Bar,
Set your Wacom pen to change Opacity with Pressure,
Set the Foreground Color to Black by pressing the X key,
Change the Blend Mode of the brush to Darken, and finally,
Activate the selection layer.
Now all you have to do is paint over the two selections - the glowing
eyes will be replaced with black and the spectral highlights will
remain as they should.
That should do it quite nicely unless there was some of the original
demon color that didn't get selected. If that's the case then
activate the Background layer and use the Clone Tool to get rid of it
quickly and efficiently.
The Result
That nasty blue color is gone and the spectral highlights in each eye
are still visible and Maisie is even cuter than before!
Here's another example - little Heaven, the Miniature Bull Terrier leaning against a post as she sits in a planter box.
Heaven with Glowing Eyes
Heaven without Glowing Eyes
Eliminating that annoying glow certainly makes a difference, doesn't it?
This is a nice easy technique to make a picture of your favorite friend
look like is should look.
This
is the final layers palette - those two little black dots are the two
little glowing eyes selections.
