"Paul Bullen" wrote in message
Has anyone told Adobe that the red eye feature is hopeless?
It depends on the red eye. I have found that for fixing red eye where only the pupil is red and the rest of the eye is visible, Elements produces *great* results, much better than other programs I’ve used (Microsoft’s Picture It!, for example). But if the "red eye" is actually a large over-exposed area that obscures the rest of the eye, Elements red-eye tool won’t do what you want (but you can match the results found in other programs with other tools).
It only took me a few moments to learn how to use the red-eye tool, and to understand when it was useful and when I should just use the Magic Wand and fill the over-exposed area with whatever color I want. I don’t agree that it’s "hopeless".
Perhaps you post a message that, constructively, describes what you tried and what about the results you were unhappy with, the people here could help you learn to use the tool. Ranting about how you couldn’t get it to work isn’t much use.
Pete
Actually, Pete, lots of people, including folks like Mikkel Aalund, would agree with Paul. The problem is that the way the red eye tool works is that it just substitutes hue and makes no compensation for the intensity/saturation of the color. So if the red eye is pale, as it usually is, you just get gray cataract-ish eyes instead and have to go back with the burn tool or something to fix that. If you look at a lot of the online tutorials, you can see that they have had to fake their red eye to show the tool working as intended. (Try the one at atomiclearning.com, for instance. No dog gets red eye like their sample, at least no dog except maybe the Hound of the Baskervilles.)
iPhoto has a better red eye tool and so, I’ve heard, does Photoshop Album, which would indicate that Adobe has worked on it since PE was released.
Paul, you can be sure they’ve heard the complaints by now, I bet.
"Barbara Brundage" wrote in message
Actually, Pete, lots of people, including folks like Mikkel Aalund, would agree with Paul. The problem is that the way the red eye tool works is that it just substitutes hue and makes no compensation for the intensity/saturation of the color.
I’d hardly call that "hopeless". However, everyone is welcome to their own opinion. I just don’t see the point in posting the rant here.
Pete
"Hopeless’ was hyperbole on my part. If my memory serves, Adobe Photodeluxe had a more conventional red-eye tool. I am in no position to say that for advanced purposes the current red-eye tool in Photoshop Elements is not effective. My complaint is limited to the fact that despite several attempts to follow the official instructions over a couple of hours, I was not able to improve the look of the eyes. With other programs you simply make a rectangle around the eyes, push a button, and your problem is solved. I suggest adding that capacity for beginners, and keep the more complicated method for those who have the time and need to go beyond a quick fix. In fact, I think such a red eye tool should be added to the quick fix list–with it being made clear to people that a more sophisticated method is available too. Thanks to Pete and Barbara for their feedback, and to any future comments.
Paul (Bullen)
Paul,
My complaint is limited to the fact that despite several attempts to follow the official instructions over a couple of hours, I was not able to improve the look of the eyes.
Yeah, I went through that too. I finally gave up and now just use iPhoto’s red eye tool. Works slicker then snake snot.
You’re right about the red eye tool Paul, IMO. For those who like the "advance purposes" of the red eye tool, great. For the rest of us who want quick red eye correction PSE’s red eye tool just doesn’t cut it.
Oh, and a little rant now and then is a good thing, IMO! 😉
The problem is that the way the red eye tool works is that it just substitutes hue and makes no compensation for the intensity/saturation of the color. So if the red eye is pale, as it usually is, you just get gray cataract-ish eyes instead
Thanks for the explanation Barb. When I first tried the red eye tool when PSE 2 was first released, I just figured it was buggy. Then after watching many red eye related threads over the last year or so I found out that wasn’t the case. It’s good to know the reason behind the tools odd behavior.
Joe
Adobe Photodeluxe had a more conventional red-eye tool.
Paul,
If you have PhotoDeluxe you can copy its red eye tool and plug it into PE. I don’t remember the details right now, but I’ll be glad to check into it, if you are interested.
Juergen
Paul and Joe, I agree – the Red Eye tool may be good for some other specialized purposes (it’s a good color-changer for certain situations), but as a general ‘quick-fix’ tool for the red eye phenomenon, it really falls short. I’m guessing the designers of Elements wanted a tool that was a little more sophisticated than the one in the low-end editors, but they wound up with something that only works in a portion of the red eye spectrum and falls short in many (most?) instances.
There have been a number of fixes showcased on the forum, and it’s not a difficult task to perform. However, I agree with Paul that Adobe should consider a new Quick Fix Red Eye in its future versions.
Chuck
p.s. There’s a red eye tool in Photoshop Album that works better than the
one in Elements; maybe that one should be copied into Elements 3.
In my collection of tips, I have the following re red eye. I have used this with success. I don’t know the source, however.
1. Open image
2. Create new layer at top of stack and change mode to saturation
3. Choose black as foreground color
4. Select a painting tool, zoom in to eyes, and paint only the red part with brush of appropriate size
5. Duplicate the layer and change mode to overlay
6. Adjust opacity of overlay layer to effect intensity of darkening
One may also try softlight, darken, or multiply for mode in #5. If one wants some red to come through, adjust opacity of saturation layer.
Another method:
1. Zoom in on eyes
2. Use lasso tool to select one eye
3. Holds down shift key and select the other eye with lasso. Don’t stray on eyelids
4. Feather selection by 1 pixel
5. Bring up Hue/saturation adjustment layer
5. Where it says "master" select reds" from drop down menu
6. Slide lightness down to -100
Ken
"If you have PhotoDeluxe you can copy its red eye tool and plug it into PE. I don’t remember the details right now, but I’ll be glad to check into it, if you are interested." –Juergen
Juergen,
I would very much appreciate that information, if it is not too much trouble to retrieve it. (I hope I have taken too long for you to notice this response.) Thanks.
And thanks to the other people for their suggestions too. Paul
Paul,
Copy the file ‘redeye.8bf’ from C:\Program Files\Adobe\PhotoDeluxe Home Edition 4.0\Plugins into C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 2\Plug-Ins\Effects.
It will show up under Filter>PhotoDeluxe>Remove Red Eye.
Juergen
What and where is iPhoto?
Andrew.
Andrew, iPhoto is part of the Mac OS systems, OS X and above.
Juergen (and anyone else),
Thanks for the instructions. My Adobe Photodeluxe 2.0 works in Mac OS 9, while my Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 works in Max OS X. Does this mean I should not try copying the red eye plugin from Photodeluxe (Filters folder with Plugins folder) to Photoshop Elements (Effects or Filters folder [?] within the Plugins folder)?
I was wondering whether I shouldn’t get Adobe Photo Album (which also has a red eye tool), but I see they don’t have a Mac version.
–Paul
You can copy it, Paul, but you’ll have to run Elements in os 9 or classic to be able to use it.
Paul,
If you’re running OS X, why don’t you just use iPhoto’s red eye tool? It works fantastic and it’s free!
Joe
Paul,
Sorry, I just assumed you were using Windows… 🙁
Juergen
Juergen,
Your instructions would have led me where I wanted to go, if it were not for the unusual gap between OS X and previous versions. I will use iPhoto for now, and await a Mac version of Adobe Photo Album and/or the addition of a quick fix red eye tool in PE 3. Thanks to all.
Paul
Paul, in the meantime, when you have a chance, you might want to try some of the techniques outlined by folks such as Ken Liffman. Remember that full Photoshop doesn’t have a red eye tool, so the pros must have some way to deal with the occasional instance of an errant flash bouncing off a retina…
🙂
Chuck
Chuck,
Yes, thanks for reminding me. I will try those too. Earlier, I did enlarge the photo so I could see individual pixels. I then used the pencil tool to change individual pixels. It worked OK, but it wasn’t ideal.
–Paul
Try using a brush instead, Paul, and keep resampling often with the eyedropper tool so that you aren’t putting in all one shade. Leaving white for a highlight helps, too.
EDIT I don’t think there is an "ideal" solution to red eye, no matter what resources you’ve got available, in PE or elsewhere.
Hmmm, I had not used the red-eye tool so I tried it now on my niece’s eyes and it only took a couple of seconds.
1. zoom in on the eye until you can see pixels
2. On the options bar, set the color you want for replacement
3. click with the tool thingy on the red/pinkish pixels
Like magic, the redish pixels change to whatever color you specified for replacement and in a tone to match the redishness of the original
Hope this helps, Margaret
Margaret,
I try the way you posted. It gets rid of the redish color alright, but no matter how dark I set the replacement color is, it gives me … sort of grey, not black.
What did I do wrong?
This is what I did:
1. Zoom in to the red pupil
2. Click at the ‘Current’ on the tool bar
3. Move the pencil tip to the red pupil and click to choose the color to be replaced 3a. Click OK
4. Choose ‘tolerance’ to 70% (if tolerance = 1%, it will replace only 1 pixel)
5. click at ‘replacement’ on the tool bar
6. Choose the black color on the palette
6a. Click OK
7. Move the circle over the redish area and click
RESULT: Grey pupil when I badly want it black!!!
HELPPPP!
Help.
minh, please don’t assume that because you’re not getting black the tool isn’t working. Although it does occur to me from reading your name that you might be working on the eyes of Asians, which often appear darker than the eyes of other brown-eyed people. Nevertheless, if you were to get to pure black, you might see that it’s too stark. The pupil of the eye isn’t really black anyway; it just seems to be. I don’t have any trouble with the red eye tool, but you might want to try Barbara’s suggestion and use a plain brush. If you choose black, though, try reducing the opacity so you don’t wind up with unnatural looking spotches. Also zoom in very tight, so you can work on the individual pixels.
Minh, you did nothing wrong; unfortunately, that’s the way the tool works (preserves luminosity while changing hue). You may be able to take the gray to black with the Burn tool or by painting the pupil with black in Darken or Luminosity mode at high zoom.
Chuck
Beth, as always, your advice is easier to follow….find that publisher yet??
🙂
Chuck
I would appreciate help getting red eye to work. I see reading posts by others that people are successful in getting red eye corrected…even if they don’t like the resulting color. My problem is I can’t even get to that point. I follow the steps in the program help and in the user guide but they don’t work and nothing changes in my picture. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? I have a LOT of time into this (including 2 other people helping me) and we can’t figure it out. Booooooo. : (
