Damien Symonds

If you can't get your files back, I reckon you can legitimately demand a refund of every cent you've ever paid them.

Bummer. Then you really are screwed That's exactly what you need to ask them. If you can't get your PSDs back off a cloud when you need them, what the heck is the point of the cloud? Have you talked to them yet? It shouldn't matter a bit, no. You should be able to access your cloud files from anywhere.

Next question, what size are the files?

https://www.damiensymonds.net/scanning-guidelines-for-old-photo-restoration.html

No, XMP files aren't photos, they're just the data files. https://www.damiensymonds.net/2012/02/what-is-xmp-data-all-about.html If they truly are XMP files, then you're screwed, I'm afraid. But let's check to be sure. First, do you have filename extensions turned on? https://www.damiensymonds.net/2012/02/view-your-filename-extensions-windows.html

Download PSD

Mask it to the whole photo (except the people) using the brush tool first. Once that is perfect, then do the gradients top and bottom. For heaven's sake make sure your gradient tool is set to "Foreground to Transparent" in the options bar, not "Foreground to background".

With respect, that's a VERY silly thing to say. Muting vibrance is why you posted. It's what you asked for. It's EXACTLY what you asked for. You don't think Anna's photo would have been vibrant at first too? If you saw Anna's photo before she added the neutral effect, would you say the same thing?

How about this?

Oh crap, I forgot to show you how I'd cooled the water:

Well, sure! Hold on, I'll send you an email.

As I was already partway through playing with the photo before I saw your response, I pressed on anyway.

Thanks. Before we persist any further with discussing editing, are you aware that the focus is quite poor? This could only ever be a photo for editing practice, not to actually use.

No it's not, it's a PSD. May I have the raw file?

Raw, yes. Levels, definitely not. Make sure you post this in class so we can discuss.

Great. Then PLEASE don't wait any longer to join the Raw Class. This is a really basic edit once you know how.

Oh, sorry. It's either Ctrl Backspace or Alt Backspace (depending on what your foreground colour is at the time).

Yay!

So, you can save a single-page PDF, but when you try to save a multi-page one, you get the error? Am I interpreting you correctly?

Usually Ctrl I (for "Invert").

What about just cooling the water a bit?

Hi Erica, did you shoot it in raw?

If you need a setup that allows you to change to a large number of different colours, we'd do it differently. The Channel Mixer layer would simply have the "Monochrome" box checked, and +100, 0, 0, 0 as the values. Then you'd add a Solid Color layer on "Multiply" blend mode. That's the layer whose colour you could change to anything you want. Start with blue, and fiddle with it later. The trouble with this method is that the masking needs to be much more precise. The mask can still go into the hair a little bit, but nowhere near as easily.

https://www.damiensymonds.net/channel-mixer-class

There's no "cast" as such, in this photo. It's just strange light, is all. Can you post a link to a photo showing me how you wish the colour looked? Make sure it's a photo with correct white balance, if you can ascertain it.