In a message dated 1/11/2005 2:18:45 AM Eastern Standard Time,
jseigel@panix.com writes:
A plain "fill" in a likely color looks totally fake -- skies do not look
that way. I tried copying the sky from a couple of shots that had
gorgeous skies (I knew you'd ask how come, I don't have a clue, but maybe
because I was aimed away from the sun?), but trying to clean up around the
edges was a night's work. This way I just magic-wand select the empty sky
& -- surprise, a gradient dropped in there looks perfectly real, at least
in that relatively small scale. I know that because a couple of times I
got one by accident... after nearly an hour of suffering. It wasn't what I
would have chosen, but sufficed -- which is irrelevant since I can't get
it again, except occasionally in a circle.
TBC.
Judy
Judy,
On sunday i spent an enjoyable afternoon in Woodstock at a gallery talk by
Dan Burkholter, whose show just opened there ( terrific show, List, go see it
). Coincidentally, he did a demonstration of removing a boring background
sky and adding a better one. Like you, i have always used the magic wand tool,
but Dan's method is to use the "background eraser" tool ( found under the
eraser tool on the tool bar... i've been photoshopping since version 2, and
never used it, duh... ), to get rid of the offending background. It leaves a
much better edge, apparently ( i haven't tried it yet, but it worked
wonderfully in his demo). He then placed the good sky in a new window with matching
size and resolution, then went back to the original image, and used the drag
tool to drag the foreground layer (which now has a transparent background area
where you've erased it), onto the new window, and on top of the good sky.
i dunno about using a gradient fill layer for a background sky... sounds to
me like it would look fake, but hey if you get it to work then happydance. :o)
susan
_dalyvoss.com/paintings_ (http://dalyvoss.com/paintings/)
Susan Daly Voss
lower upstate NY
Received on Tue Jan 11 08:34:53 2005
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