Damien Symonds

Hmm ... something went wrong with your 100% crop. Could you take it again? https://www.damiensymonds.net/2013/09/grabbing-700x700px-100-crop.html

You don't ever need to go into the "Convert to Profile" or "Assign Profile" windows. Ignore them. This one is correct of course: For this one ... ... read: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/11/colour-modes-vs-colour-spaces.html

Hi @Nems, only in PS. Never sharpen in ACR. The class you've just signed up for will explain everything.

Well, since you have to do your raw editing again anyway ...

It's the same class. Levels and Curves both. But trust me, once you learn Levels you'll never waste any time with Curves again.

That is VERY freakin' weird. I've never seen it before. When you press OK and OK to close all the way out of that layer, then double-click it to open it again, are your grey swatches still there? Or has it reverted to rainbow again?

PLEASE don't wait any longer to take the Levels Class, I beg you.

If you just press "OK" to that window for a moment, does it take you back to the smaller window? That's where you'll find the "Angle" setting. Also make sure "Dither" is checked.

Well, the faces could definitely be brighter.

Of course you'd need to mask in between all the legs as well.

No, gosh, just fix it in PS. https://www.damiensymonds.net/preventing-banding-in-backdrops/

Nothing is blown out here. I think you've done well.

Sorry Carol, I've been playing with this for a while, but I can't make it work either

No, the same problem. If you don't like all the yellow, it will be easier to change the couch colour to blue, than the wall. If you really must change the wall colour, go for it. But I don't have any "tricks, it will just involve a heck of a lot of VERY careful masking around the strands of hair.

I beg you to re-think this white background idea. The elderly lady's hair will be hard to extract, and won't look good even when you do - it'll look oddly dull and extra grey against white. I urge you to stick with (and extend) the natural background, then play with blend modes for the pattern. Here are a few simple examples, but you can make the snowflakes any colour you wish.

Needless to say, being on the other side of the world I can't recommend any personally. WHCC seems to have a fair reputation, though. There's a collection of reviews here.

May I see it?

I'm asking because it might be possible to go directly from "current background" to "fun" without the hassle of a white step.

Right. That's what we need to discuss next. What "fun" things you do you want to do with the background?

Gee, don't start removing a background until the raw editing is done.

In that case, there IS a problem with your room light. It needs to be bright enough to compare prints.

Ok, for now let's rule out a lighting problem. Lighting problems are more common when the screen is cooler than the prints. Do you have another computer in the house you can test the calibrator on? (It doesn't need to be an editing computer - any old computer will do.)

In cases like this it's always important to check if the problem is the calibrator itself. So to that end, have you tried calibrating a different computer, to see what the result is?

If orange bulbs were the problem, then your screen would look colder than your prints. But you said your screen looks warmer than the prints, didn't you?

@PaperCrowns?