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Post by tangomike on Aug 11, 2018 20:31:31 GMT
I'm moderately experienced with PSE 14 on a Mac, and I've designed about 25 book covers for myself and others. In some of them, the objective has been to place objects on the background image such that they appear to be part of it. In other designs, the objects are placed as symbolic, representative of key story elements, rather than to be taken literally in a visual sense.
My current project for a friend is in the latter category, and it involves placing the image of a couple sitting at a table, right arms interlocked, each holding a glass of wine, on a background of the arched entrance to a small village in Germany.
Some of my "beta" sources complain that they aren't fond of the cardboard cutout appearance of the figures. I've pointed out that they didn't complain when I designed a cover that combined drought, murder, a Texas Ranger, and a promise of water. Needless to say, that symbolic combination couldn't possibly appear as if the background and the objects placed on it would appear as in real life. My guess is that the key driver in this negative reaction is the fact that the object represents people, a couple drinking wine at a table on the road leading to the entrance of a town.
And that has led to curiosity about techniques for blending the image of the couple into the background that might reduce or even avoid the appearance of a pasted-on cardboard cutout.
If anyone has any advice about how that might be accomplished, I'd love to hear them.
Thanks in advance,
Tosh
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Post by Sepiana on Aug 11, 2018 21:53:53 GMT
curiosity about techniques for blending the image of the couple into the background that might reduce or even avoid the appearance of a pasted-on cardboard cutout. Hi Tosh, long time no see. 
I believe the key to the success of your project is to start with a clean and well-defined selection of the couple. However, just making a selection is not enough. You need to fine-tune your selection before you place it on the new background. That’s where the Refine Edge feature comes into play. It will allow you to remove the jagged edges around your selection (Smooth slider); soften the edges (Feather slider); and adjust the size of the selection (Shift Edge slider).
You said you have PSE 14. Starting with PSE 11 Adobe introduced an updated Refine Edge feature (brought over from Photoshop). It has two options that will make your job easier. First, the Output section in the Refine Edge dialog gives you the choice of having your selection on its own layer. The end result is the same as if you use Ctrl-J/Cmmd-J; Elements cuts out your selection and places it on its own layer. Second, it gives you the option of outputting your selection as a New Layer with a Layer Mask.
By taking advantage of the two options above, if deemed necessary, you can further fine-tune the edges of your selection to ensure that the couple will blend seamlessly with the new background (without the look of a "pasted-on cardboard cutout"). After you place the couple selection on the new background, zoom in very close, and check the selection edges. If you notice there is some kind of glowing fringe, you can fix the problem with this very simple and effective technique (which I learnt from Matt Kloskowski).
1. Click on the layer mask to activate it. 2. Activate the Brush tool (Color - Black; Mode - Overlay). 3. Begin painting over the glowing fringe. You will see that the fringe will begin to disappear while your subject (the couple) will stay unaffected, intact. 4. If you make a mistake, change the Brush color to White and paint back the area.
Refine edges of a selection (Help file)
Making Killer Selections in Photoshop Elements 11 (by Matt Kloskowski) Selecting Fine Detail Using Refine Edge with Photoshop Elements 11
Please, post back if you have any further questions. |
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Post by tangomike on Aug 11, 2018 22:01:59 GMT
As with all the other times i've stood on the virtual street corner with a sign that begs for help, Sepiana, you are super-quick to offer it. Can't wait to try your suggestions. Thank you so much.
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Post by Sepiana on Aug 11, 2018 22:47:47 GMT
Tosh, you are most welcome! Pleased to help.
Thanks for the kind words! They brought back memories of the virtual streets in Elements Village where our paths so often crossed.
BTW, I forgot to mention another tip I learnt from Matt K. When you launch Refine Edge, you may want to start with the settings below.
Smooth slider - around 10 Feather slider - about 1 px Shift Edge slider - minus 5%
It has been my experience that, as a starting point, these settings are on the money most of the time.
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Post by Bailey on Aug 12, 2018 9:09:53 GMT
Hi tangomike,
Sometimes when adding elements from one image onto another I find that the edge of the added element sometimes still appears a little harsh and unnatural, even after cleaning it up (removing any fringe etc).
What I normally do in that case is put a 3-4 pixel selection border (Select->Modify->Border) and apply a little Gaussian Blur to soften the edge to make it look natural. It usually works very well but obviously how wide you make the border and how much blur is needed depends on the image resolution and contents.
Also, if you need the blended image to look totally realistic, make sure there are no missing or conflicting shadows. Incorrect shadows is an easy giveaway for me that the image has been edited.
Finally, also for realism, make sure the brightness of the added elements blend with the brightness of the background.
Hope this helps
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Post by Sepiana on Aug 12, 2018 11:44:20 GMT
As with all the other times i've stood on the virtual street corner with a sign that begs for help, Sepiana, you are super-quick to offer it. Tosh,
I kept thinking about virtual streets/Elements Village and remembered something. Were you also a PET member? Did you know that Rick LePage has undertaken a mammoth of a job? He is putting the magazine back issues online (and most extras); creating a PDF index for the articles; and creating a YouTube channel for the videos. If you are interested in taking advantage of these now free goodies, you may want to check the thread below for more information. You will also find all the necessary links to access the magazine back issues, the index, etc.
The PET Project -- Update
Quite a trip down memory lane!
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Post by tangomike on Aug 13, 2018 17:12:36 GMT
Thank you Sepiana and Bailey.
I went back to the original image of the couple and used the techniques in Sepiana's reply along with those in the videos and ran into trouble trying to follow the steps when activating the Refine Radius Brush tool because it kept presenting me with the circle-with-a slash-through-it notice that effectively says, "You can't use this tool, dummy." I've not yet figured out why. Eventually the brush circle appeared and I was able to do some edge refining, although I'm not sure how much better it is than my earlier attempts
In the meantime, I used the my previously extracted image and fiddled with Refine Edge, even knowing that with some (all?) of the fined edge detail missing from the original extraction, I couldn't refine what isn't there. I think that Bailey's use of Gaussian Blur helped.
I wasn't a PET member, Sepiana, but it sounds as if I should have been . . .
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Post by Bailey on Aug 13, 2018 23:56:02 GMT
no problem tangomike - happy to try to help
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Post by Sepiana on Aug 14, 2018 3:42:05 GMT
I went back to the original image of the couple and used the techniques in Sepiana's reply along with those in the videos and ran into trouble trying to follow the steps when activating the Refine Radius Brush tool because it kept presenting me with the circle-with-a slash-through-it notice that effectively says, "You can't use this tool, dummy." I've not yet figured out why.
Tosh,
I have never encountered this problem; I can’t replicate it. Would you be kind enough to try again and, when this happens, capture a screen shot and post back? While I wait to hear from you, I will a pay visit to the Adobe forums to see if someone over there has the answer.
The consensus among the experts seems to be that Refine Edge is the go-to tool to fine-tune your selection edges. It is powerful, offering plenty of options and controls. PSE users were ecstatic when Adobe finally gave them this tool back in PSE 11. Barbara Brundage (in The Missing Manual) describes it as "a more deluxe version of the Refine Edge dialog box", a tool which "makes it easy to get the most complicated fine detail in your selections". Unfortunately, it has a downside. It can be frustratingly slow; it is rather complicated; and the learning curve can be quite steep.
PSE 14 has another tool (introduced back in PSE 13) which will come handy in this situation – the Refine Selection Brush tool. You won’t need to start afresh; this tool will help you fine-tune the edges of your current selection. According to Adobe -- "Nudge the selection boundary to get perfection!".
Edit Selections Use the Refine Selection brush
The Gaussian Blur filter is one of the tools you can use to smooth/soften the edges of your selection so that it will blend in with the new background. Its main advantage is that it is quick, simple, and doesn’t have a steep learning curve. However, it can introduce an undesirable effect if too much Gaussian Blur is applied -- a "halo" effect.
As your work involves designing book covers, you may want to look into using the Blur tool. You just run this tool around the edges of your selection to make it blend in with the new background.
The Blur tool is usually recommended for professionals (those who do detailed work, who have the patience to take small steps and to repeat them until they get perfect results). It is not a tool designed for a more immediate effect. Give it a chance!
How to Use Photoshop Elements Blur Tool
NOTE:
- Use a very soft brush (Hardness = 0%) to make sure the transition between the blurred and the non-blurred areas will be smooth. - Choose a brush size just a bit larger than the edges to be smoothed; this will prevent too much of the surrounding areas from being blurred.
Sorry! I got you confused with someone else. He used to do similar work (involving complicated selections). He created designs to be printed on t-shirts, which he sold online.
Even if you were not a PET member, you may still want to take advantage of Rick LePage’s generosity. It is a free-for-all deal!
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Post by Bailey on Aug 14, 2018 4:50:29 GMT
Thank you Sepiana and Bailey. I went back to the original image of the couple and used the techniques in Sepiana's reply along with those in the videos and ran into trouble trying to follow the steps when activating the Refine Radius Brush tool because it kept presenting me with the circle-with-a slash-through-it notice that effectively says, "You can't use this tool, dummy." I've not yet figured out why. ... Hi tangomike, the only way I can replicate the circle with a slash through it is if I open a 16 bit image. If I convert the image to 8 bit, the tool works fine. But I doubt that is the cause of the issue in your case. Is it? |
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Post by Sepiana on Aug 14, 2018 5:02:56 GMT
I went back to the original image of the couple and used the techniques in Sepiana's reply along with those in the videos and ran into trouble trying to follow the steps when activating the Refine Radius Brush tool because it kept presenting me with the circle-with-a slash-through-it notice that effectively says, "You can't use this tool, dummy." I've not yet figured out why.
Tosh, my visit to the Adobe forums paid off; someone had reported the same problem. Jeff Arola, Adobe Community Professional, had the solution.
Bingo! I checked the Show Original box and guess what happened? My cursor turned into "the circle-with-a slash-through-it". I unchecked that box; the cursor corrected itself.
refine edge brush is a circle with a line through it (See post #2.)
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