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Final Touch Up
Keep fine tuning your image with the erase tool. You can also use the 'Dodge'
tool to lighten some of the remaining hair strands. This removes some of
the left over yellow tinge from the original image's background.
Lighting Changes
To help integrate the picture of the woman with the background I decided to
play with the way the woman is lit. The original picture of the woman was
obviously taken inside (using artificial light) while the restaurant picture
is an outdoor setting (illuminated by the sun). I used the 'Light Effects'
filter under - Filter - Render - Lighting Effects... I tried various settings,
finally choosing 'Parallel Directional' for style and 'Directional' light
type. This will brighten the 'woman' layer only. Be careful not to over light
the layer or it may get washed out.
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Use 'Lighting Effects' to brighten the woman layer.
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The final touch is adding a 'Gaussian' blur to
the background image. I used a setting of 1.2 to soften it a
little, bringing the 'woman' layer into the foreground. I then
played a little with the - contrast/brightness - of the 'woman'
layer.
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The final image
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Final Thoughts
You know the old saying, 'Garbage in, garbage out.' Use images with high contrast
between the background and the object you want to mask (unlike the image
I used for this tutorial). The images I used for this tutorial were 72 dpi
quality. A better solution would have been to start with a higher resolution
image (i.e. 150 dpi) and after completing the project convert it to a web
ready image. You could also use tools like the 'dodge' and 'burn' to strengthen
or weaken shadows, like those under the woman's chin. Try using other photographs
as guides for projects like this one. Observe how light and shadow affect
objects and people. Good luck. And to my good friends from Zeta Reticula
- klaatu barada nikto.
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