red eye!

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" <member@adobeforums.com> wrote in message
news:2ccd818a.1@webx.la2eafNXanI...

> 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