Jake,Ryan different photo/background

[Christina Keddie]

(I'm so sorry, Cindy, I've got to run to an event, but hopefully someone else will be around to help you through this!  In the meantime, though, I strongly recommend that you download the PSD Damien created for you and take a really close look at his levels layer and the mask he used there.)

[Cindy Young]

Yes, the Levels layer is crazy bright.  I still don't know whether I should click on a dark part of the backdrop or the dark part of the wall behind it.  

Thanks for helping.  I have downloaded Damien's PSD and am trying to study it.  Have fun at your event.  Thanks for your patient helpfulness!

[Damien Symonds]

3 hours ago, Cindy Young said:

1.  Levels layer; 2. Click on levels icon; 3. Double click on white eyedropper; 4. Choose a light part of the background; 5. Choose a dark color from the backdrop**should this be the dark color of the wall behind the backdrop?**; 6. Click on Levels mask; 7. Choose gradient TOOL from the TOOL Bar on left; 8. Draw line on photo with Gradient Tool, but almost NOTHING happens.  Where am I going wrong?

1-5 are correct.  After step 5, the photo should be very very bright.

6 is correct.

7 is NOT.  There is no involvement for the gradient tool for this photo.  Brush tool only.

[Cindy Young]

D, nothing happens when I try #7 with the brush tool.  Does this Levels layer need to be under my other levels work?

[Damien Symonds]

That's because you're painting white on white, ya wally!

[Cindy Young]

When I paint with the black brush, it turns the top of the photo darker.

[Damien Symonds]

For heaven's sake, look at my PSD file.  Do you see where I've painted black on the top of the layer?  Of course not.

[Cindy Young]

[Cindy Young]

I see your PSD--been trying to understand the THREE steps since about 8:00 this morning, 15+hrs ago.  Why did you give me the gradient tutorial if there is no gradient involved?  

[Damien Symonds]

The gradient layer is for the wall!!!!  After you've balanced the colour around the hair.

As I told you, the gradient layer will go instead of the Color Fill layer that I used.

[Cindy Young]

26 minutes ago, Damien Symonds said:

1-5 are correct.  After step 5, the photo should be very very bright.

6 is correct.

7 is NOT.  There is no involvement for the gradient tool for this photo.  Brush tool only.

^^ I am so confused. ^^  So, I select the Gradient Layer by clicking on the black and white circle at the bottom of my right side of the screen?  Then adjust angle, scale, check Dither, and uncheck Align with layer?

[Damien Symonds]

Don't worry about that layer yet!  Just get the Levels layer sorted out, so that the wall touching the tip of his hair is the same colour as the wall touching the rest of the hair.  That's all that matters.

[Damien Symonds]

In my PSD file, turn off the Color Fill layer and leave it off for now.

Turn the Levels layer on and off.  Do you see what it is doing?

[Cindy Young]

Yes, the background is getting lighter when I turn the levels layer off.

[Damien Symonds]

No, when you turn it ON.

[Cindy Young]

Sorry, when I turn the levels layer off, the background is dark.  When I turn it on, the background is lighter.  How do I get mine to do that?  When I clicked on a dark part of the background, should I have clicked on THE WALL instead of a darker part of the backdrop?

[Damien Symonds]

Darn it, you've done it exactly right!!! Just mask it!

[Cindy Young]

I have masked the bright levels layer off of the subjects.  I cannot get the brownish background to show up.  In the screen shot, the black splotch is where I masked the background -- no brown backdrop color.

[Damien Symonds]

What are you doing????????

Can't you see my mask follows the line of the corner of the ceiling?

[Cindy Young]

Oh, just mask the levels lay off of the dark ceiling and wall where it meets his hair?  Sorry, hard to understand from a tiny crop of the whole photo.  Let me reverse this.

[Cindy Young]

Ok, masked the bright levels layer off of the ceiling.  Now the gradient?

[Damien Symonds]

Now compare your layer mask to my layer mask, and see if you can notice the itty bitty teensy tiny difference.

By "itty bitty teensy tiny" I mean HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cindy Young]

Yes, yours is light and mine is dark.

[Damien Symonds]

No, not the image.  The mask.  Look at the mask.

[Cindy Young]

I need to mask just the opposite!  OK.