Clone Tool or inpanting Tool ?

[augustya]

Hi Guys,

So I am working on an image where the subject is sitting near a window and there is a lot of sunlight reflection coming on the hair, which is looking very different from her entire hair. What is the best way to even this out ? and take away the sunlight reflection from the hair ? Use Clone Tool ? Or inpainting tool ? 

What would be the best solution ?

 

[carl123]

21 minutes ago, augustya said:

What would be the best solution ?

We need the image

[augustya]

3 minutes ago, carl123 said:

We need the image

I am talking about this reflection in the image.

[augustya]

Waiting for someone to help me !! Can someone please help me ?? So I have this image where the subject has a lot of sunlight reflection coming on her hair and when I use the clone tool, Select the sample area and then use it on the target area it creates thick strands of hair which is very distinct and can be identified very easily so I reduced the opacity but still it is traceable. Any other way ? by which I can reduce the light reflection on the hair ? Please help guys !!

 

[iconoclast]

Hi augustya!

I think this will not be easy, because the hair of the girl is verry complex, structured to different orientations, so that you would have to select the source for the clone tool verry careful. An additional problem is that there also seem to be smooth reflections on the face, so that it will probably not look natural if the reflections on the hair are retouched.

Also the contrast is bad. The girl is somehow outshined. Depending on what image you want to insert this released image object to, you should possibly do the contrast correction first.

Generally, if you want to create collages, you should always observe that the lighting situation of the image object fits to the background you want to insert it to. Especially the lighting direction isn't easy to adapt.

[augustya]

1 hour ago, iconoclast said:

Hi augustya!

I think this will not be easy, because the hair of the girl is verry complex, structured to different orientations, so that you would have to select the source for the clone tool verry careful. An additional problem is that there also seem to be smooth reflections on the face, so that it will probably not look natural if the reflections on the hair are retouched.

Also the contrast is bad. The girl is somehow outshined. Depending on what image you want to insert this released image object to, you should possibly do the contrast correction first.

Generally, if you want to create collages, you should always observe that the lighting situation of the image object fits to the background you want to insert it to. Especially the lighting direction isn't easy to adapt.

Hi iconoclast !

Thanks for your reply.

Yes you are correct the positioning of the hair is very complexed and zig zag. When I tried to Clone from a different area of the hair and put it there it created thick strands and started looking very artificial. Reducing the opacity did help, but not much.

About the contrast that is a good point that you make, but the thing is the current contrast of the girl is so bad that I do not know what to do about it ? If I increase the contrast the skin starts looking very dark and gloomy. 

I have used a fill Layer to create the background. Do you think I should try selecting some other colour instead of the current light yellow ? That would make the overall image look much brighter ? Which other colour do you suggest ? I should try ?

[iconoclast]

Concerning the contrast, you could try it with the "Levels" filter by adjusting Black Level and White Level in every channel. But to be honest, I'm not sure that you will get a satisfying result, because the quality of the photo isn't really good. What zoom factor did you use for your screenshot?

As background colour, I would prefer a slightly light blue one, I think.

The problem with the hair is not only that there are so many different directions the hairstrands are orientated. It is also that the brightness varies so much. It is like a semitransparent white gradient lying on top of the image. That makes it verry difficult to choose a source point fitting to the target. Maybe you can compensate it with a dark gradient on a layer above, and with a darkening blend mode on that gradient layer (f.e. Colour Burn, Linear Burn...). Otherwise you can only try to compensate it with the Burn Tool by hand. Finally you should think about if it is even worth all the work, because of the expectable result. I can't really judge it only on the basis of this screenshot.

[augustya]

2 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

Concerning the contrast, you could try it with the "Levels" filter by adjusting Black Level and White Level in every channel. But to be honest, I'm not sure that you will get a satisfying result, because the quality of the photo isn't really good. What zoom factor did you use for your screenshot?

As background colour, I would prefer a slightly light blue one, I think.

The problem with the hair is not only that there are so many different directions the hairstrands are orientated. It is also that the brightness varies so much. It is like a semitransparent white gradient lying on top of the image. That makes it verry difficult to choose a source point fitting to the target. Maybe you can compensate it with a dark gradient on a layer above, and with a darkening blend mode on that gradient layer (f.e. Colour Burn, Linear Burn...). Otherwise you can only try to compensate it with the Burn Tool by hand. Finally you should think about if it is even worth all the work, because of the expectable result. I can't really judge it only on the basis of this screenshot.

Can you also help me if I want to increase the brightness of the face, just the face and not anything else  how can I do it ? There is some method of painting with a brush on the area you wish to brighten right ? But I do not know exactly how to do it? Can you help me with the steps for that ?

[iconoclast]

For brightening by hand, you can use the Dodge Brush Tool. Otherwise you could draw a selection around the face and lighten it with f.e. the Levels, the Curves or the Brightness and Contrast Filter.

[augustya]

47 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

For brightening by hand, you can use the Dodge Brush Tool. Otherwise you could draw a selection around the face and lighten it with f.e. the Levels, the Curves or the Brightness and Contrast Filter.

So do the selection on the pixel layer and then use Levels or Curves tool ? I already have the pixel layer, fill Layer, mask Layer and the background Layer in my project. So you are saying I should do the Selection on my pixel layer ? Sorry for sounding a bit Novice here but I don’t know how to do this ?

[iconoclast]

5 minutes ago, augustya said:

So do the selection on the pixel layer and then use Levels or Curves tool ? I already have the pixel layer, fill Layer, mask Layer and the background Layer in my project. So you are saying I should do the Selection on my pixel layer ? Sorry for sounding a bit Novice here but I don’t know how to do this ?

If you have your pixel layer highlightened, select the face (f.e. with the Selection Brush Tool). Then add f.e. a Curves Layer and do your adjustments. You will see that they will only be applied to the selected area. And this will stay the same if you deselect after it. It should also work this way with a second Levels layer. But generally selections are layer-independent. You only need to highlighten the layer to create a selection if you want to use a pixel-affine tool for it.

To not lose the track of the whole thing, give even the Adjustment Layers names to be able to identify them easily.

[augustya]

1 hour ago, iconoclast said:

If you have your pixel layer highlightened, select the face (f.e. with the Selection Brush Tool). Then add f.e. a Curves Layer and do your adjustments. You will see that they will only be applied to the selected area. And this will stay the same if you deselect after it. It should also work this way with a second Levels layer. But generally selections are layer-independent. You only need to highlighten the layer to create a selection if you want to use a pixel-affine tool for it.

To not lose the track of the whole thing, give even the Adjustment Layers names to be able to identify them easily.

And let's say if I were to use a dodge tool and then brighten the desired areas, would that be a better option or to make a selection and use curves layer will be a better option ?

[iconoclast]

1 minute ago, augustya said:

And let's say if I were to use a dodge tool and then brighten the desired areas, would that be a better option or to make a selection and use curves layer will be a better option ?

Can't say that in general. It depends on the image. In your special case, I think I would prefer the Dodge Brush Tool, because it would be easier to get homogenous edges with it. But you should be aware of that this would be a destructive operation. It will really change the pixels and can't be removed only by deleting a layer, as if you would use an Adjustment Layer.

[augustya]

29 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

Can't say that in general. It depends on the image. In your special case, I think I would prefer the Dodge Brush Tool, because it would be easier to get homogenous edges with it. But you should be aware of that this would be a destructive operation. It will really change the pixels and can't be removed only by deleting a layer, as if you would use an Adjustment Layer.

This guy Olivio says Dodge and Burn is a very stupid way of brightening or highlighting things he is suggesting an alternate way to do it.

What do you think about it ?

https://youtu.be/_qBVSqTqpmA

[Alfred]

25 minutes ago, augustya said:

What do you think about it ?

What do you think about it? Does his alternative method work for you when applied to your photo?

[iconoclast]

Olivio has made some verry nice and helpful video tutorials. Really like it. But such things are always a matter of taste. And you have to get a little into it to use it the right way. As I said, I can't say it in general. It depends on the certain image and how much there is to do. To use the Dodge and the Burn Tool ist like painting. So you need to be careful. If you don't, you will not get clean results. For bigger and more complex areas it might be better to select them and use a filter.

What Olivio does in his video isn't much different from what the Dodge and Burn Tools do. It is not a cleaner way, because you have to paint the effect anyway. But it has of course some advantages: It is non-destructive and you can do adjustments later with the transparency slider of the Layers Panel and/or by changing the Blend Mode. So you can even do that, if you like, and it will almost be the same. But unlike Olivio, I would prefer to do Dodge and Burn on different layers, because it would give me more flexibility in manipulating the effects seperately. You could even choose the blend modes Colour Burn, Linear Burn... or Colour Dodge... for it.

[augustya]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

What do you think about it? Does his alternative method work for you when applied to your photo?

Haven't tried it as the Video is on Desktop Application and I mostly use the iPad Version.

[iconoclast]

1 hour ago, augustya said:

Haven't tried it as the Video is on Desktop Application and I mostly use the iPad Version.

But it should also work on iPad. The main disadvantage of Olivio's method might be that you have one or two additional layers, so that you have to always make sure that you are on the right layer when you dodge or burn. That needs a little bit of discipline.

[augustya]

17 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

But it should also work on iPad. The main disadvantage of Olivio's method might be that you have one or two additional layers, so that you have to always make sure that you are on the right layer when you dodge or burn. That needs a little bit of discipline.

And that itself is the most trickiest part in Affinity Photo lol ! Which layer to work on ?? The other day I was trying to use the Clone Tool on the project I was working on and it was not making any changes and then when I selected the Pixel Layer then it started making changes. So a Novice or a beginner or a new starter would definitely get confused to know which layer to work on with so many stack of layers piled up in Affinity Photo !!

[iconoclast]

24 minutes ago, augustya said:

And that itself is the most trickiest part in Affinity Photo lol ! Which layer to work on ?? The other day I was trying to use the Clone Tool on the project I was working on and it was not making any changes and then when I selected the Pixel Layer then it started making changes. So a Novice or a beginner or a new starter would definitely get confused to know which layer to work on with so many stack of layers piled up in Affinity Photo !!

But with the Clone Tool you have the opportunity to choose "Current Layer & Below" or "Layers Beneath" from the menu "Alligned Layers" in the context bar of the Clone Tool (and also the Healing Brush Tool and the Inpainting Brush Tool). That allows you to work on the top layer without changing to the layers below to pick source pixels. So you can even retouch non-destructive.

Managing the layers is indeed a problem, wspecially for beginners. But you can make your life easier by naming layers, mark them with colours and using groups.

[augustya]

3 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

But with the Clone Tool you have the opportunity to choose "Current Layer & Below" or "Layers Beneath" from the menu "Alligned Layers" in the context bar of the Clone Tool (and also the Healing Brush Tool and the Inpainting Brush Tool). That allows you to work on the top layer without changing to the layers below to pick source pixels. So you can even retouch non-destructive.

 

So if someone works directly on Pixel Layer it is Destructive ? Meaning you cannot go back from there ?

[iconoclast]

Just now, augustya said:

 

So if someone works directly on Pixel Layer it is Destructive ? Meaning you cannot go back from there ?

Yes, you can only redo it (Ctrl+Z or in the History Panel. For non-destructive retouching, you should do that on a separate layer.

[augustya]

2 hours ago, iconoclast said:

Yes, you can only redo it (Ctrl+Z or in the History Panel. For non-destructive retouching, you should do that on a separate layer.

So should I just add an empty layer ? and then while using the clone Tool select which layer ? Which Layer has to be highlighted ?

[iconoclast]

Yes, add an empty pixel layer and stay on that layer. If "Current Layer & Below" is chosen, you can then pick up the visible pixels without changing the layer and without destroying the original image, so non-destructive. Just test it and you will see.

[augustya]

12 hours ago, iconoclast said:

Yes, add an empty pixel layer and stay on that layer. If "Current Layer & Below" is chosen, you can then pick up the visible pixels without changing the layer and without destroying the original image, so non-destructive. Just test it and you will see.

If I have to brighten the face with the Dodge Brush Tool? what should I select in the Dodge Brush Tool Midtones or Highlights ?