Damien Symonds

https://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/06/faq-help-my-raw-files-wont-open.html

Ok, great! So everything's fine now?

That eye seems ok. May I see the other eye?

I found I had to change the levels layer's blend mode to Luminosity - did you try that too?

The starburst things have got to go. Cheesy is for pizza, not photos.

When you were browsing, did you see this one? Not the same scene by any means, but might give you ideas.

Great. In that case, you don't need to do anything. Just provide the photo at the exact size your camera captured it. No cropping, no resizing. Have you finished editing the photo?

If the lamp really was the light source, two things would happen. His legs would be very dark, because they'd be in the shadow of the book His shirt and face would be very golden, from the lamplight, you know?

Sorry, I don't understand this question. Isn't black what you want? That's what the eyedropper does, it changes the colour of the point at which you click, forcing it to be black.

When you say "file" ... do you mean a photo? Or have they asked you to actually design a banner?

I figure so, yes.

Yes, I know!!!!! It's a finger. And with your swap, it's not connected to anything any more, so it has to go.

You'll need to remove the bit of unconnected finger above the thumb, yes?

I'm so sorry, I've got no clever ideas. I'd just add a Solid Color layer of skin-ish colour, set to "Color" blend mode, and paint it over the dummy to disguise it slightly.

Ok, the rest should be fairly straightforward masking on the black Solid Color layer, yes? Inevitably you're going to lose some strands when blackening. And inevitably some tips of hair will change colour a little. Is this ok?

May I also see the whole photo for reference? I need to know what other edges will be affected by the adjustment.

Oh yeah!!

Forget it, sorry. The red channel is completely cactus. This will have to be a black-and-white edit. Have you read the Channel Mixer Class yet?

If you don't use spin blur, you'll need to use regular blur. It's simply not realistic to be sharp, you know?

How did you check this?

Oh Quintin, I'm SO sorry to hear about this. The only consolation I can offer is that LOTS of people have made the same mistake as you, so you're not alone. https://www.damiensymonds.net/white-balance-sheet

So, for example, if I was going to fill this frame with my son's basketball team photos, my progress would look like this:

Once you've done that, you're ready to go. Just lower the opacity of the scan layer to about half. Then return to the Background layer, and start File>Placing the photos you want. Use the scan layer as your guide of where to position them. Remember, you DON'T NEED TO MASK THEM, except very loosely to make sure they're not overlapping each other, is all.