I have been asked to post a tutorial on brightening the eye in a photograph without touching any other part. It is not very difficult to do.
Step 1 : I have opened this free stock image in Photoshop.
Step 2 : Use the Zoom Tool to zoom into the image.
Step 3 : I have zoomed into the image so that the eyes can be seen properly. If you know how to use the Pen Tool use it to select the eyes.
Step 4 : If you do not know how to use the Pen Tool, Click the Magnetic Lasso.
Step 5 : In the top panel set 2 pixels as Feather. Uncheck Anti-alias
Step 6 : Click and drag to select the eye. If you place a dot wrong, press DELETE. It undos the last dot. Press ESC to undo totally and begin again. The selection may not be exact.
Step 7 : When you come back to the last point the selection changes into a column of marching ants.
Step 8 : Press SHIFT and select the other eye.
Step 9 : Click the Edit in Quick Mode button. This is PS CS4. There is a single button. In earlier versions there arre two buttons side by side.
Step 10 : As soon as click, except for the eyes the rest of the image is covered with a reddish hue.
We will now use both the Brush Tool and the Erazer Tool. Both work in the same way.
Click where the arrow points to bring up the Brush dialogue Brush. Ensure that the Hardness is set to 100%. The Diameter you can varry by pressing [ (left bracket key) to make it smaller and ] (right bracket key) to make it larger. You will need to constantly change the size. This is the esiest way to do it.
Step 11 : Use the Brush Tool to paint in portions that were missed out. Use the Erazer Tool to paint out parts that should not be selected.
Step 12 : Click the Edit in Standard Mode button.
Step 13 : As soon as you click the button, a selection of marching ants select the eyes. The red hue disappears.
Step 14 : Press CTRL+L to bring up the Levels dialogue box. Note the black graph in the middle. The Black slider at the left is to darken the image. The White is to brighten the image. The Gray slider in the middleis to increase or decrease the highlights. Note that the ends of the graph does not reach the Black or White slider.
Step 15 : Drag the Black slider till it is just under where the graph begins. Drag the White slider to the point under where the graph ends.
This ishow the eyes look. It looks more prominent.
Step 16 : Drag the Gray slider in the middle if necessary. Drag it to the right to darken highlights and to the right to lighten. CLick OK.
The eyes have brightened.
Do the same for the lips if necessary. That is all. The point is not to overdo it with the Levels.
Other Photoshop tutorials are here.
