Neutralizing and changing the colors on an image.

[ReneeMontoya]

Hello again. If I may, I'd like to ask for your assistance please.

I've been having trouble with this render I've created, in that I'm trying to change the colors on this character's hand from the orange tint that some of his fingers have due to firearm discharge, to a more neutralized color that matches another part of his hand, particularly his lower pinky finger. The reason why is I've changed the original color of the gun he's holding to something darker, and I want his hands to reflect the change in color as well.

I've tried everything from painting over the fingers, clone stamping, adjusting the curves, the shadows, the tones, the highlights, and even adjusting the hue and saturation, yet I'm still not getting the results I desire.

If anyone could help me with this, I would in fact, be most grateful for it.

Attached are pictures illustrating what I mean, with circles around the problem areas, and a PSD of what I've tried to accomplish so far.





http://www.mediafire.com/?welpwbp4ofauxpl

And again, to clarify, I want to change the colors of the subjects fingers that have an orange glow to them to a more neutral tone and to have them have the same color as the subject's pinky finger, which is also circled in blue. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[IamSam]

Hey RM, use one of the many isolation techniques to separate the fingers. I used the Quick selection tool. Copy them to their own layer. I then used a curves adjustment layer for color correction. I zoomed in on the fingers and selected a soft round brush set to about 50% opacity. I sampled the dark line between the little finger and ring finger. I then painted over the other lighter lines to darken the them.

 

[Tom Mann]

In Photoshop, there usually are many ways to do the same thing. This is no exception.

Probably the first way that comes to mind is to simply select the fingers you want to change, and then put a hue/saturation adjustment layer over your image, but mask it so that the adjustment is restricted to the fingers of interest. Because it is likely that others will suggest and illustrate this method, I am not going to discuss it further.

Instead, I am going to point you to a classic plugin, "Color Mechanic" , that is absolutely superb for making corrections like this. Basically, from within the plugin, you click on the color you want to change and the color you want to achieve. If there are any other colors that you don't want to change, you click on them as well. Finally, you draw an arrow from the dot representing the color you want to change to the color you want to achieve, and the plugin does the rest for you.

Attached is a screen shot showing the relevant part of the user interface for this plugin. As you can see, the arrow goes from an orange to a red color, simultaneously changing both the hue and the saturation.

Also attached below is a composite. On the top row, it shows your original and the "more red" version done as described above. If you don't like the exact change shown here, just move the endpoint of the arrow.

However, in addition, you should also look at the bottom row. It shows a "less red" version (also executed using the same method) and a skin tone reference photograph (including a MacBeth color reference chart). You will notice that the skin tones in the "less red" version of your image are the closest to the reference image, not the original, nor the "more red" version that you requested.

If you truly want realistic skin tones, you are actually moving away from this goal by asking for "more red" in the upper fingers. This is anything but "neutral". OTOH, because the background of this frame is a solid, intense red, you probably do want more red in the skin tones. Just don't describe it as more "neutral".

One final thought: Given that you are concerned about color changes this small, I hope you are making all your edits and color decisions on a fully color managed system, including a hardware calibrated monitor of decent quality (ie, not a laptop). FYI, I am using such a system.

HTH,

Tom

 

[ReneeMontoya]

Thanks to everyone who replied, especially I Am Sam. I can't afford to spend $69 on a plug-in at the moment due to budget constraints, so I'll have to try the other methods suggested here.

I'll get back to you with the results in a few days, as I have a few errands I need to run over the weekend, in addition to other plans.

 

[Tom Mann]

Sam, I like the increased definition you provide by emphasizing the dark lines. However, I just did an analysis of the skin color (ie, hue and saturation) of the fingers (from the tips down to the mid-joint on each finger) and see no significant difference in color between yours and the original in this area.

I analyzed the color by selecting this area of the fingers in both versions, pasting them to a new layer, and using the "average" tool to obtain the average color. The differences in average hue and average saturation between the two versions were virtually undetectable. There may have been a bit of a luminosity change.

I hope I didn't make any stupid errors, but from what I can tell, it doesn't look like you responded to the OP's request to change the color. What's up?

Best regards,

Tom

 

[bgoodman4]

Very interesting plug-in Tom, I suspect it may be good for the work I am doing, I will take a close look see. Thank you.