DIY Network

Digital Darkroom: Removing Red-Eye After the Fact From "The Whole Picture" episode DTWP-109

	BEFORE
	AFTER
	Media Watch the video showing the photo-editing tips.

NOTE: Images on this page may be enlarged for enhanced viewing simply by clicking on them.

In this lesson on digital photography, Erin Manning, host of DIY's The Whole Picture explains what causes red-eye and provides suggestions for several ways of avoiding it. But what about those pictures you've already taken in which your subjects' eyes look like little red traffic-reflectors? Even for those, all is not lost. In the "digital darkroom" portion of the lesson, Erin shows how eliminating red-eye can be just as simple as the click of a mouse.

Materials used in this episode:

Digital camera with pre-flash mode
Camera owner's manual
External slave flash, adjustable for bounce-flash
Computer with image-editing software

Note: Different image-editing software packages will have different features and menus, but most are functionally similar. These are the steps we used cropping an image using a program made by Adobe®.

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Software Solutions for Removing Red-Eye

To remove red-eye on pictures you've taken, follow these simple steps.

Figure A

• After you have loaded your pictures onto your computer and had a look at them, here are the steps to use if to repair red-eye on the ones that need it.

• Select the photo you want to work with (figure A).
  

• Use the SAVE AS menu item to save your image under a new name. In that way, you are archiving the intact original, and you'll be making your changes on an exact copy.

• Use the ZOOM tool to enlarge the image so you can get a closer look at the subject's face and eyes (figure B).

• Select the RED-EYE REMOVAL tool. In the program we used, this provides a specialized menu that allows you to designate size and adjust the darkening (figure C).

  Figure B

  Figure C

  
  

• Once you have selected your settings, hold down the mouse and place the cursor in the area of the eye that is red (figure D).

• When the area is selected, simply let go and the red-eye will disappear (figure E). It's that simple.

  Figure D

  Figure E

  
  

  	Figure F
  	Figure G
  	Figure H

• Repeat this step for the other eye (figure F)

• SAVE your image with the new changes.

• If you wish to print out the image, select PRINT. The print menu will provide you with formatting and other options (figure G). Since this photo was shot horizontally, we selected the LANDSCAPE option to print the image in the correct orientation.

• Click OK to print the image (figure H).