Damien Symonds

It'll be this method.

Oh gosh, this is such a vexed question. Who is making the e-book? You, or somebody else?

You shouldn't be capturing jpegs AT ALL. Move that setting one space to the left. Yes, that's correct for raw now. By the way, you mustn't panic about this. 10 megapixels is still plenty. And yes, your focus is fine.

Whoa. Then the files should be MUCH bigger than that. It seems like your camera must be set to a smaller size setting? Can you check on that right away?

Your camera must be around 10 megapixels, is that correct?

I'm sorry, I don't really understand your question. Well, your situation, at least. May I see a screenshot of your layers panel?

Hi Mary, please post this in the Raw Class. But first, please read the class again, because it seems a lot of it has slipped your mind.

Hi Brian, it'll help me help you if you run your eye over the posting guidelines again, thanks.

Ok, so one of these is in Lightroom ("LR"), is that right? And what about the other one - what program is it in?

What happened with this, Cary?

I know this was a long time ago, but how did it turn out?

How did these turn out?

Oh gosh, I don't know!!!!! I'd be inclined to leave them at the size they are, and just clone down that side area. It won't be easy, though

Sorry, what is "LT"?

Oh, that's excellent. I suggest using the eyedropper tool to sample some nice light brown from the front of her hair, and making a Solid Color layer of that colour. Set its blend mode to "Color", then invert the mask, then paint on gently with a 10% brush. I've uploaded a PSD to show you what I mean.

Yes please, if you don't mind.

Oh yeah, I can help with that, don't worry. Go ahead and do your raw processing as normal, then post again for me and we'll discuss the hair.

No ma'am.

Download the PSD

Ok, I think the first thing to say here is: Don't make the background too bright. The brighter the background, the duller the skin looks in comparison. So, when you're replacing the background, replace it with exactly the same colour that's already there. And that, of course, makes the hair masking easy. Do it like this.

May I see the original? Before the background fix, I mean?

I sure can. http://www.damiensymonds.net/trainingraw-signup.html http://www.damiensymonds.net/traininglevels1-signup.html

Are you talking about its colour?

Yep, Dust & Scratches for sure.

By the way, I urge you to consider renewing your Levels Class membership. If you re-join Deluxe, you'll automatically become a Premium Member, where we discuss whole edits (raw-to-Photoshop) in single threads. It's an amazing learning resource.