Using the Magic Wand tool in CS6

Mystery57

Mystery57

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Andrew
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Im still learning the intricasies of Photoshop CS6.

One problem I keep having and cant work out how to correct is with the Magic Wand tool.

If I have a landscape photo, and want to darken the sky a little, I have selected the sky area, then using the levels command adjusted the tonal colour of it.

However when I then look at the "join" with the landscape which was not selected, I have a jagged artefacts line instead of a smooth line as in the original photo.

What am I doing wrong - is there an easier learning curve to solve this sort of problem of underexposed sky

thanks
Andrew
 
Hi..when you say underexposed..do you mean overexposed? Ie the sky is too white?

The gradient tool set black to transparent would provide a smoother transition, on a mask.

Its more work but 'blending' a sky in can provide better results..but its more work..

If possible when you take the pictures (easier with landscapes as they tend not to move) if you 'bracket' your photo's Eg take one -2 0 and +2 exposures its much easier to swop the skies.
 
After you have selected the area (I'd use the quick selection tool rather than the magic wand in most cases) go to select/refine edge then ajust the feather, this softens the edge of the join.
 
Mystery57 said:
Gosh - just tried the brush tool very basically and wow !!

Any tips on the best way to use it would be appreciated

thanks
Andrew
Click to expand...

It trial and error really, I always use a soft brush, You can adjust the brush softness by holding down the Shift key and tapping the Curved Bracket keys { } Left makes it harder, Right makes it softer, to see what it does you can use a exposure slider to adjust it as well afterwards in case you go overboard HTHs
 
It can be slow going but using LR grad filters, and brushing in contrast, sat, recovery etc its amazing what you can recover sometimes..this was shot yest evening, (these were bracketed shots)

Before
-1-2-2.jpg


After
-1-8.jpg
 
Last edited:
After you have made your selection go to select / modify / expand 2 pixels
Then select / modify / feather 1 pixel . that should do it .
 
As well as feathering, you can apply an ND grad to your selection rather than only using levels, this will minimise the boundary problem further (and fade any filter or adjustment you do apply)
The lightroom grad tool is rather nice and can be applied as a positive adjustment to foregrounds too.
 
raymond bradshaw said:
After you have made your selection go to select / modify / expand 2 pixels
Then select / modify / feather 1 pixel . that should do it .
Click to expand...

Depending on the size of the file and what you are doing - some files I feather by 200 pixels or more so experiment and see what works best - you can always remove gradients if they are over an area you do not want them with a soft eraser tool
 
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