Need help again....*S*

[SleeveTugger]

I'm doing something wrong, can someone direct me to fix it??

I've tried making a selection to replace a busy background and make it look like a portrait. I'm not sure how to get rid of the halo around it now......help?

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1CKgkWpRiukjmQNUEd2UlmRc8LqU1_thumb.jpg (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/%5BURL=http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1CKgkWpRiukjmQNUEd2UlmRc8LqU1%5D% 5BIMG%5Dhttp://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1CKgkWpRiukjmQNUEd2UlmRc8LqU1_thumb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[Daviskw]

Hi Mary

Not sure how your layers are set up...but this usually happens when you apply the blur and it bleeds into transparent adjacent pixels.

Before you apply the blur …lock transparency on the layer.

Butch

[SleeveTugger]

Well, I responded to this hours ago, and promptly got booted off the net here......hahaha. I see it didn't post.

So, I'm still stuck. I can post my Layers Palette if you think it will help, but as it is I have a Background Layer, Next is a layer with FILL applied to the background........I used filter>Clouds.
Then top Layer is my selection with the background transparent.

I'm not sure how to lock the transparency, like you mentioned.....and I don't think I applied a blur specifically, unless Feathering counts as blur....:o

Any more suggestions??:rolleyes:

[Wendy]

Hi Mary ...

It looks like you made your selection of the ladt with a feather set on the selection tool :( ... if so then you could try removing the halo effect with an eraser but to be honest I really think that it would be easier just to do it again ...

Wendy :)

[SleeveTugger]

Thanks Wendy........that's what I need to do.;)

[SleeveTugger]

I redid my photo and I'm much happier with the result.
Thanks for the help everyone.

My Mom has never liked having her picture taken, so I think my siblings will appreciate having this one. I only wish I had had the original, not just a .jpg to work with.:o

[/URL][URL="http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1laxnjJLX3RiZkmVlWuDG1VxDjY0"]http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1laxnjJLX3RiZkmVlWuDG1VxDjY0_thumb.jpg (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/%5BURL=http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1laxnjJLX3RiZkmVlWuDG1VxDjY0%5D%5 BIMG%5Dhttp://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1laxnjJLX3RiZkmVlWuDG1VxDjY0_thumb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[Daviskw]

That came out good Mary...very professional

Butch

[SleeveTugger]

:D:D I wouldn't go quite so far as professional, but I am pleased with the result. I see a couple little things that could use improvement, but I'm not going to touch it anymore for now anyway........kept the .psd file though:rolleyes:

Thanks:D

[kimi_boo]

Mary... so glad you worked it out. :D

It looks great.

[SleeveTugger]

Thanks.
I thought I was on the right track the first time around, but after the third try, it definitely came out better.;)

[Wendy]

Hi Mary ...

You really haver made a great job of the image ... well done :)

I am sure that everyone will love it !!

Wendy

[SleeveTugger]

Thanks Wendy.

I think I mentioned to you a while ago about the death of my Brother in Law. My sister contacted me this afternoon and asked if I had a decent picture of her husband. She had a hard drive crash......:(

I thought I'd give this a try. I'm open to all suggestions for improvement.

Before and After
[/URL][URL="http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1ngOlR0wnmP00aE9FHc6iT4rqEYI"]http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1ngOlR0wnmP00aE9FHc6iT4rqEYI_thumb.jpg (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/%5BURL=http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1ngOlR0wnmP00aE9FHc6iT4rqEYI%5D%5 BIMG%5Dhttp://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1ngOlR0wnmP00aE9FHc6iT4rqEYI_thumb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/13ozB7VMmvDnwJ6rvBN9lfj5Cld7U0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=13ozB7VMmvDnwJ6rvBN9lfj5Cld7U0)

[NMarti]

Mary
You did a nice job of selecting. I wonder though if a softer color for the background might work a little better. This tends to blend right into his hair color. Perhaps a blue or brown/beige combo. Nice job though.

[SleeveTugger]

Nancy:

Appreciate your input......this any better??
I'm horrible with this stuff....:(

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1B2UgKDFpoiaw8DkHpnOwloFI0em5_thumb.jpg (http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/%5BURL=http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1B2UgKDFpoiaw8DkHpnOwloFI0em5%5D% 5BIMG%5Dhttp://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1B2UgKDFpoiaw8DkHpnOwloFI0em5_thumb.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D)

[Wendy]

Hi Mary ...

Oh that is looking better ... although for that background I think that I would choose two shades of the same colour ... one light and one dark.

Just experiment until you get something that you like :)

Wendy

[Rusty]

Mary,
I agree w/Wendy - use two shades of blue rather than blue and brown.

You did a great job on your Mom's picture.

I'm inspired now to try to do something with the very few that I have of my deceased Mother. I guess you and I are in the same boat - she didn't take many pictures either.

Rusty

[Daviskw]

Hi Mary

I'm not worth a darn with color myself... But maybe you would want to brighten the foreground and darken the background. Then darken the edges a little

I like to open an adjustment layer above the background... and below the foreground... lower saturation a little ... change to colorize... then move the hue slider slowly around... when a color looks close I play with saturation and brightness until I like it.

Butch

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1DmOcZZzfjPo0PLgjz7dChCi3c6r0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1DmOcZZzfjPo0PLgjz7dChCi3c6r0)

[NMarti]

Mary
Yeah you're on the right track. I wasn't to clear but I meant either shades of blue or shades of brown/beige combo. I like Butch's colors too. Like Wendy said they always work best when you use two shades of the same color. Scott Kelby's book has a great tut on doing this and Wendy has a great one in the subscriber area.