Photoshop Elements >
Gradients >
3 - Darken a Sky with Trees
If the sky has trees or other objects, use a selection tool, such as the Magic Wand tool, to select the sky.
Be sure to check off as you go along.
Preparation
1) Preserve your original file.
If you haven't already done so, go to Preserve Your Original File.
2) Create a Background copy layer.
If you haven't already done so, go to Create a Background Copy Layer.
Sky Selection
3) Select the Magic Wand tool.
In options bar/Tool Options, make sure:
• Opacity is at 100%.
• Anti-alias, Contiguous, and Sample All Layers, are deselected.
4) Set the Tolerance value in options bar/Tool Options.
Use a smaller number to select less of the sky, and a larger number to selected more.
Here, a tolerance of 50 was used.
If the selection is poor:
a) Press Esc to delete the selection.
b) Change the Tolerance value.
c) Click the sky.
6) Check to make sure nothing is selected, other than the sky.
Do the following.
a) in options bar/Tool Options for the selection tool, click Refine Edge.
b) Click the orange Mobius-strip icon to turn on the orange mask overlay.
c) Check the feathering.
d) Click the blue Mobius-strip icon to turn off the orange mask overlay.
You can edit the selection by using the Selection Brush tool as a "mop."
If you haven't already done so, go to Selection Brush Mop.
7) Set feathering after you make the selection by going to Select > Feather.
A radius of 2 was used here.
8) Select a color for the sky.
Click the foreground color to open the Color Picker window.
Select a color in the Color Picker window.
The following RGB values were entered into the RGB boxes in the Color Picker window.
R: 70
G: 132
B: 245
10) Select the Foreground to Transparent gradient from the Gradient Picker palette, as described in the first section.
11) in options bar/Tool Options, make sure:
• The gradient type is Linear.
• Mode is Normal.
• Opacity is 100%.
• Reverse is not selected.
• Dither and Transparency are selected.
12) Create a blank layer.
13) Rename the blank layer as Sky.
The sky color will appear on the Sky layer.
14) Click, hold, and drag a line from the top of the photograph to the horizon.
Here, the gradient was drawn at an angle, so the sky would be brighter on the right side of the photograph.
15) Be sure to save the selection if you may need to return to do more work.
If you haven't already done so, go to Save the Selection.
16) Press Esc to deselect the selection.
17) Reduce the opacity of the Background copy layer.
30% was used here.
Here are the two versions side-by-side.
 |
 |
| Original | Blue Sky Added with a Gradient |
Saving the Photograph
If you haven't already done so, go to Saving Files.
You can edit a preset gradient to better fit your needs.
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