Images:
GeorgeHodan, Ich, AdobeENHANCE MENU
Find most of
the tools we’re
using here under
this menuRED EYE TOOL
Choose this tool to
remove red eyes,
and access the Open
Closed Eyes tool
from its Tool OptionsTOOL OPTIONS
Alternate modes
and clever addons
for the major tools
can be found here.5
Sharpening
There’s an Auto Sharpen option on the Enhance menu, and
a Sharpen section on the Adjustments palette, but sharpening is
such a complex beast that, even though this is meant to be about
quick fixes, it’s worth going straight to Unsharp Mask, which is
also on the Enhance menu, but nearer the bottom. This gives you
the chance to control the process and stop it going out of control.
6
Unsharp Mask
The Unsharp Mask window has three sliders. The Amount
slider controls the strength of the effect. The Radius slider controls
how far from edges the effect is applied – keeping this down
restricts the sharpening to edges, areas of detected contrast,
leaving areas such as soft skin alone. Threshold has a similar
effect, determining how strongly the app detects these ‘edges’.
7 Adjust Facial Features
Another tool from the Enhance menu. This stretches and
pinches the component parts of a detected face to change their
size. So you can turn a face into a large-eyed, huge-nosed freak,
or use it more subtly to enhance the beauty of a portrait sitter
without them really noticing. It works extremely well as long as it
can detect the face properly.
8
Red eyes
The red eye effect is caused by a flash that’s too close to the
lens axis bouncing back off the retina, but it’s so well known and
easy to mitigate you almost never see it any more. Elements has
an automated red eye tool that works well, and can even be used
on your pets. There’s also a manual version, on the toolbar, which
requires you to draw boxes around each eye.28 |^ |^ November 2019