How to Remove Red Eye In PSP

Red eye is something everybody has suffered from. It turns a good picture into a horrible one. Red eye occurs when the flash on a camera reflects on the iris in the eye and creates a red tint in response. This is something that cannot be avoided and occurs in many pictures no matter what subjects try to do to avoid it. However, it can be removed after the fact in many image programs. This tutorial for removal of red eye will require Paint Shop Pro. While Paint Shop Pro 9 was used for it, you can adapt the techniques to versions before and after its release.

Paint Shop Pro utilizes a red eye removal tool. When used properly, it can work magic. However, it does change the pixels in the image, and this can cause other problems and artifacts to deal with. In order to combat that, you can make a copy of the picture, use the tool and save it as a separate image. You could also use multiple layers to edit, but it will make the overall end size of your image larger than normal. Generally, copying the areas that need to be changed above the original and then working on just that small area can keep the file size from getting out of control.

Once you have decided what route to go, you will want to take the Selection Tool from the Toolbar and change it to Ellipse. Change its Mode to Replace. Ignore the rest of the settings. If you use shortcuts, you can press S for the Selection Tool. Click the selection tool around one of the eyes affected. Hold down Shift, you will then see a small plus sign above your pointer, and drag the second selection around the other eye. You should know have to separate selections to work with, one for each eye. Go to Edit, then Copy, and this will copy both selections. Create a new layer by choosing Layers, New Raster Layer, name the layer to your liking and then click okay.

Next, go back to Edit, then highlight the Paste Into Selection option, and this will copy your selection into those areas already selected. Ctrl+Shift+L will also do the same trick. By taking the time to copy and paste this way, you ensure that the eyes' selected will be pasted into the same spot as the original image instead of trying to move around the selections to the right points.

Make sure you have chosen the correct layer to work with, whatever you named it should be the layer you are working with. This is the active layer of work. If it is not the active layer, click on it in the layers menu on the right side of your screen. From there, you will want to go to the Adjust menu, then choose Red Eye Removal. If you utilize the Pan option in the box, you can find the areas you need to adjust much quicker than looking for it yourself. Zoom in so you can see the entire red eye area.

Depending on the image, you will want to chose the right specifications. Once you have done so, you will want to click and drag in the Before Preview section from the pupil outwards until the selection surrounds the entire affected area. If the eye in question has a glint that you want to keep, you can select Center Glint, and this will allow you to choose the size of the glint. Choose a pixel size that is small enough to convey the glint but also large enough to show it naturally. If your picture has black spots where the eyes should be, glint can help eliminate that problem and make the changes look even more realistic.

When you have the eye looking the way you want it, you can repeat the steps on the other one. Afterwards, you can adjust other setting such as Feather and Blur. This will allow you to maintain a more realistic look depending on the sharpness of the overall picture. Tweaking with these settings, and looking at the changes in the preview window, will give you a better idea if they work or not for your picture. The preview window is really your best friend, and it will tell you right away whether or not your red eye reduction techniques are working or not. Pay close attention to the details changing every time you make an adjustment to your picture, if you do not look how it looks, you can go back and change it until you find the right balance.

Always save a separate copy of the image you are working with just in case you do not like the changes you have made. This will also help if you need to re-edit the picture or do some touch-ups. By taking the time to learn how to reduce red eye, you will be able to save countless pictures from the affliction and share beautiful photos with family and friends. Paint Shop Pro offers an easy way to reduce red eye in little time.