Photoshop Elements > Retouching >
Red Eye & Pets
Sailor, an Australian Shepherd, by Stephanie Brand
For human red eye, go to Red Eye.
Pet Red Eye
Humans have red eye when the flash is near the camera.
The light from the flash strikes the retina.
Some of the light is absorbed by the rods and cones, and some is reflected back out of the eye.
The reflected light is red because the retina is red from blood.
Pets may have red eye, but often display other colors, such as gold, green, and white.
The non-red colors occur when an animal has a membrane called the tapetum lucidum.
the light from the flash reflects off of the tapetum lucidum membrane, not the retina.
The membrane improves night vision.
In humans, light enters the eye and strikes the retina.
The light that isn't absorbed bounces back out.
In animals with tapetum lucidum membranes, the non-absorbed light strikes the membrane, and bounces back onto the retina for a second time.
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.
Removal of Colors (Not White Eye)
If the animal has white-eye, go to Removal of White Eye.
3) Use the Zoom tool to fill the screen with the colored area in one of the eyes.
4) Make sure the foreground color is black.
Pupils are generally black, unless the animal has cataracts.
If you haven't already, go to Foreground & Background Colors.
If black looks unnatural, go to Removal of White Eye.
5) Select the Color Replacement tool.
This tool is located with the Brush tool, the Impressionistic Brush tool, and the Pencil tool.
Don't confuse the Color Replacement tool with Color Replace (Enhance > Adjust Color > Replace Color).
6) Set the options bar to the values below, which are the default settings.
Contiguous means that only the colored pixels that are touching each other will be changed.
Tolerance expands the tones that the tool affects.
The default setting, 30%, usually works well.
If the color isn't being selected properly, increase or decrease the Tolerance value.
Anti-alias, by default, is on.
Anti-aliasing makes the edges of the replacement color smoother.
7) Adjust the size of the brush so it's smaller than the colored area.
The brush should have little or no feathering.
If you haven't already done so, go to Feathered Brush.
8) Click and drag the brush in the colored area.
Tips
Use a smaller brush when:
• Working near the any catch lights in the eye.
Catch lights from flash are white reflections of the flash on the surface of the eye.
• Working near the iris.
Avoid trying to do the retouching all in one swoop of the brush.
If you do so, and you make a mistake, you have to start over.
Click and drag, and release the brush, repeatedly.
Remember, you've enlarged the photograph greatly.
You don't have to achieve perfection.
9) Repeat for the other eye.
Removal of White Eye
1) Use the Zoom tool to fill the screen with the white area in the eye.
2) Select the white area with the Magic Wand tool.
Contiguous should be selected in options bar/Tool Options.
Go to Select > Feather.
4) If the selection is too small, go to Select > Grow.
This command looks for white pixels outside the selected area that are touching the selected white pixels.
Don't use Select > Similar, as whites elsewhere in your photograph will be selected.
You could use Select > Modify > Expand.
You decide how many pixels to increase the size, whereas the Grow command does this for you.
5) Copy the selected area to a new layer.
Go to Layer > New > Layer Via Copy, or press Ctrl + j.
6) Rename the layer as Left eye.
7) Lock the transparent pixels on the Left eye layer.
Do the following.
a) Make sure the Left eye layer is active (highlighted).
b) Click the checkerboard icon that's to the right of Lock, at the bottom of the Layers panel.
8) Make sure the foreground color is black.
Pupils are generally black, unless the animal has cataracts.
If you haven't already, go to Foreground & Background Colors.
If black looks unnatural, try a dark gray.
10) Make sure Left eye layer is active (highlighted).
12) Repeat the above for the other eye.
Alternative Method
Here's an alternative method using Saturation and Levels.
After you change the name of the new layer (step six above), do the following.
7) Make sure Left eye layer is active (highlighted).
8) Go to Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation, or press Ctrl + u.
9) Move the saturation slider to -100.
10) Go to Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Levels, or press Ctrl + L.
11) Move the shadow and midtone sliders to adjust the tone.
12) Repeat the above for the other eye.
Saving the Photograph
If you haven't already done so, go to Saving Files.