Whitening Teeth - missing a step

[rocyn]

Hi! I've been lurking for a while, playing with PSE 5 and saving up for a membership (I just got a graphics tablet so money is tight right now).

I have a question about whitening teeth. I found a tutorial on the net here: http://video.about.com/graphicssoft/Whiten-Teeth-in-Elements.htm that is supposed to be with Photoshop Elements, but I'm thinking it might be a different version than I have. I found the duplicate and new window in different areas, but did locate them. My issue is, the tutorial says that if I make the teeth too white, I can go to "fade" under edit or in filters, and I don't see that option. Can anyone help me with this?

Thank you!

Cynthia

[ATR]

Cynthia,

That is a Photoshop feature, not Photoshop Elements. There are a sorts of tricks and workarounds for just about everything, but for now......

This is what to do. No cost.
Go to the Home Page of this web site.
Scroll a little way down until you see the ad for Photoshop Elements Killer Tips in middle column.
Click on where it says "Download all the episodes"
Scroll down the page that opens until you get to
May 16, 2007 episode titled, of all things, "Whiten Teeth".

This Photoshop Elements Killer Tips can also be found as a podcast under the free subscription route at iTune, but this is a convenient way to view the podcast also. Take a look at the rest and follow Corey Barker along as he presents a new topic every week. The show is done with Photoshop Elements 5.0.

That should get you started.

ATR

[Daviskw]

Hi Cynthia

ATR is giving you excellent advice however.... You can still perform the procedure you linked to whiten teeth.

First let me explain fade a little… In the full version of Photoshop fade allows you to fade…decrease… or lower opacity of your last action or procedure. In this case you can immediately use fade to reduce the dodge tools whitening…allowing the original to show thru as you move the slider in percent below 100. You can only use it right after using the tool…. you cannot perform another action then use fade for the previous action…. Only the last made. The advantage is you do not need another layer. This option is not included in Elements but it is easy to duplicate.

To use this procedure in Elements duplicate the layer before you begin the whitening. Then after you make the dodge adjustment use the opacity slider on the layer to adjust…just as you would use fade in the full version. It does the same thing …just using more memory because you have two layers instead of one.

This is really not a problem though because after you make changes to the layer with the whitening , and you are happy with the results..... just combine it with the original layer by pressing Ctrl+E (PC) or Command+E(Mac)

Butch

[Bob_Benner]

The way I do it is like this.

Make a selection of the teeth being carefull not to select the gums. Open up a hue and saturation adjustment layer. Choose yellows from the dropdown menue and move the slider to the left until the teeth are nice and white. Now go back under the dropdown menue and choose master. Move the lightness slider to the right untill the teeth are nice and bright, but not to much. This technique works great, hope you try it.

[Wendy]

Hi Cynthia ...

This is one of those tutorials where someone says it is specifically for Photoshop Elements and then goes ahead and uses commands that are Photoshop only ...

Not a nice thing to do !! ... and very irritating when you are trying to follow it. I just emailed Sue Chastain to point it out and will le you know if I receive a reply ...

Wendy

[Teacher617]

I honestly don't remember where I got this technique ... it may have been one of Corey's podcasts, but it is a relatively easy way to lighten an area, without having to make a selection. It works well on teeth and the whites of eyes.

a. Duplicate your background layer.
b. Create a levels adjustment layer, but don't adjust the histogram, just click OK.
c. Change the blend mode of the adjustment layer to Screen. Your whole photo will get brighter.
d. Fill the mask in the adjustment layer with black. This hides what happened in c.
e. Use a small, soft-edged brush to paint on top of the mask with white, over the place you want to whiten - in this case, teeth.
f. If you make a mistake and paint too much, repaint using black.
g. When done painting, lower the opacity to make the teeth look realistic; otherwise they'll look like they're glowing in the dark.

Hope this helps!
Tricia

[Diana]

Hi Tricia,

I always use Bob's method and it works great. After carefully selecting around the teeth, I always go to Select > Feather and feather the selection 1 or 2 pixels, depending on the size & resolution of the photo. Then I apply the Hue/Saturation adjustment as Bob instructed.

Diana

[Teacher617]

One of the great things I've found about PSE is there are many ways to accomplish the same thing. And each way teaches something new! My personal preference is to not have to make a selection, since that's hard for me, so I use the method above. But I'll make note of other techniques as I move through this fabulous program.

Tricia

[rocyn]

Thank you all so much for your help! This community seems so friendly and eager to assist newbies :)

I'm so eager to learn everything. I have almost 5000 pictures on my system so far, and I add between 20 and 150 a week (I'm a bit camera crazy). Can't wait to see what I can do!

Thanks again,

Cynthia :)

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Just a quick note ...

I emailed Sue and have heard back from her ... they will remove the tutorial and appologise for the slip :)

Wendy

[rocyn]

Many thanks! I thought I was maybe losing my marbles when it said it was an Elements tutorial :)

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Glad that we managed to sort it out for you :)

Thanks one of the great things about the tutorials on this site ,.. they do all work in Elements :)

Wendy

[rocyn]

Ah, tis me again. Curious - was the Killer Tips feature that was on the home page discontinued? I wanted to watch them again :(

[Wendy]

Hi ...

There is now a Podcast ... just go to the Home Page and you will see "Three ways to get more techniques" ... just click on Podcast :)

Wendy