Best way to change skin tones in photoshop

[TG.]

Could anyone please advise me on how to change skin tones in CS3 or Elements 5, i have a photo of my niece taken at her graduation with the gown and square hat, the problem is her face looks almost orange, so i want to change it to some sort of decent facial skin tone, unfortunately i can't post the photo as i have'nt had her permission, so could someone please advise on the best way to go about doing this, many thanks in advance

 

[divine`]

Not having Elements, I don't know if you have the curves tool, but hopefully you do.

If so, open it up and in the bottom right corner are three droppers, a Black one, a grey one and a white one. The grey one can be used to set the white balance pretty much, by clicking it in a grey or white space (not a blown white though, else it tends to get confused).

Just click around in various grey/white places in the image until the colours look a more natural shade. It's very quick, easy and if you decide you don't like it, just hit ctrl-z after you applied it and try again.

One of the most useful tools in Photoshop for photography IMO

 

[Chrispix]

Another thing you may try is the photo filters tool in CS3. It's under Image/adjustments/photo filter. You can apply a blue filter to cool the orange tones.

 

[pxl8]

Are you sure it's not just a white balance issue?

 

[Chrispix]

it is a white balance issue. That's why I suggested the blue filter. In the days of film, the only way to control white balance was by applying a filter when actually shooting. Now we have the benefit of being able to do it post shoot.

 

[Chappers]

Try the white balance ,then if that fails try dropping the red and yellow saturation. If you find that affects other parts you could
A. use the history brush on those parts, or
B do the corrections on a layer, make a layer mask and paint in those affected parts, leaving the face unaffected

 

[TG.]

Sorry if i was'ent clear guys what i meant is i just want to change the colouring on the face and leave the rest unaffected,well possibly the hands but i think i can get away with just toning down the colouring on the face and the rest should look ok, so are you saying use the above methods just for the face or the whole photo ? thanks again.

 

[AncientSnapper]

This sort of question was asked the other day on another forum - and I posted this to show what one can do
If you only use lab curves you can not change a colour to any other, but if you delve into apply image with the lab channels, then it becomes easier to alter colours - for instance here are some variations without any selections or mask (notice only the car has changed colour) - just pure lab

See if this gives you enough info
http://www.broadhurst-family.co.uk/l...ages/magic.htm
'tis at the end
It is easier to curve in lab - either in photoshop, or by using easycurve in elements, but for a wee change a RGB channel curve will probably do
Good luck!

 

[Chappers]

Desaturating the different colours will affect the whole image. However if the other colours are all dark, or are highly saturated the the desaturation may not have a major effect.

If you do use the deSat route, applying the history brush to those areas that have been adversely affected will restore them to their original state. The layer Mask technique is a bit more complicated, but is the one I would use. However if this is new to you then the history brush is probably better. You can always practice with layer masks at a later date.

 

[TG.]

Ok thanks guys, i managed to do this, first i used the magnetic lasso tool around the face and selected inverse to make sure i just got the face area, then i played around with levels and curves as suggested till i go the desired affect, it's not brilliant but it sure is a lot better than what it was, i could probably do better if i spent more time on it, but i also have about 1000 photos to process which i took on holiday thanks again guys for all your help

 

[walls]

another way of slightly desaturating the colour of the face would be to create an empty layer on top of the image layer. Then, using a white brush, set at around 50% opacity, brush over the parts of the face which are affected. Set the top layer to, say, soft and play around with the opacity of the layer until you get what you want. You can also set the layer to Hue/saturation/colour and play around with the sliders...like dodging but much more control and a more delicate affect.