Damien Symonds

Ok, let's reset Photoshop's preferences as well.

You said the images look ok in Bridge?

No, cache isn't the problem here. You really need to reset the preferences. If those instructions don't work for you, google "Reset preferences Adobe Bridge" and find some that do.

Ok, try this: http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/2009/10/resetting_bridges_preferences.html

Oh, that's good news! Next question: From Bridge, there are two ways to open raw files into ACR. One is Ctrl O (for "open") and the other is Ctrl R. Can you try both, and see if both result in the problem? And I urge you to run Glary once a month.

Download the PSD file This is the easiest method I know, but it's NOT easy. You'll need to have read these two: http://www.damiensymonds.net/preventing-banding-in-backdrops/ http://www.damiensymonds.net/2012/10/using-photoshops-gradient-layer.html Basically, you set up the gradient layer as accurately as possible, then duplicate it twice. The bottom two have black masks, and are set to Screen and Multiply blend modes. You mask the top layer (using this where you can) and go fairly close to the hair. Then you start very patiently (with a very low opacity brush) you darken and lighten the difficult areas near the hair, using the Multiply and Screen layers respectively. Paint on those layers until the areas match the gradient as closely as possible. Repeat, this is NOT easy. Allow at least an hour, maybe more.

Christina is right, you have a BIG colour space problem here.

Yes, this. Plus a 100% crop as well.

Once you open a file from ACR to PS, does it look bad there too? If so, what about if you open a non-raw file into PS?

Typo?

This replaces the existing wall with a gradient to match. What do you think?

Can you do this for me? http://www.damiensymonds.net/thread1.html Also, can you tell me if it happens when you only open one file at a time?

Yep, that's quite common. User level is fine.

Maybe you need to have no space in the file name? I'm not sure.

http://www.damiensymonds.net/tab-key-video

What? You go to System Prefs > Displays, then move the brightness slider, don't you?

Never try to fix a background like this. Only replace it.

Literally just copy and paste.

Hi Pippa, would it be possible to show me photos of the two locations?

The sensible approach is to choose a background colour which is as close as possible to the colour that's already there. I'm talking about the light brown of the wall. Will that be ok? This is for two reasons: The more different the colour from original, the harder it is to mask (as I'm sure you're aware); The light colour you chose in your mockup makes the subjects look dark by comparison. Kinda quasi-backlit, if you know what I mean. So, even though you've shown her the light colour in your mockup, will she be ok with darker (wall) colour?

Yes. Sorry, I thought you'd be able to tell from the mask in my screenshot. I'm not hiding anything from you, I promise. I only did the exact steps you see above.

You've restarted, I trust?

I got the Levels layers the wrong way around. The first layer (should have been "Levels 1") is on Soft Light blend mode, with the middle slider aggressively to the left at 3.00. The second layer (should have been "Levels 2") is on Normal blend mode, with the sliders thus: Red channel: 14/1.06/248 and 0/255 Green channel: 0/1.04/255 and 5/253 Blue channel: 0/0.97/255 and 14/249 Then I Placed the texture layer (File>Place, remember, never copy and paste). I dabbled with blend modes, and found that "Lighten" worked best. It probably will for you too, but no guarantees. You might need to experiment like I did. Then I masked it on very gently. Because my texture was a bit too sharp, I had to apply blur to it. You might not need to do this. Likewise, its colour was kinda too green, so I clipped a Hue/Saturation layer to it and shifted the Hue slider a bit until it was the colour I wanted. Again, you might not need to do this; or you might need to do it even more than I did. Hope this helps.

What I used is irrelevant. You'll need to choose one from your own collection that you like.

For the texture I used a file from a texture collection I have on my hard drive. Do you have any such files?