How to remove unnecessary shadow in Photoshop. How to remove a shadow from a photo in Photoshop

Very often, a photograph that turns out well will have a rich shadow from the bright sun. Everything seems to be fine, but the face of the person standing in the frame is a little spoiled. We need to get rid of the excess shadow, so we will tell you how to remove a shadow in Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop can easily cope with the shadow and successfully lighten it, while only improving the photo (the person’s face will become lighter and more natural). Now we'll look at some good ways to eliminate shadows.

The first way to remove shadows in Photoshop

First, you will need to duplicate the edited photo and work with the copy. In the menu, select the section called “Image”, then the subsection “Adjustment”. A list will appear in which you need to select Shadow/highlight (shadow/highlight), after which a shadow and light correction window will appear on the screen.

As you move the regulator (you need to move a special regulator), observe all changes in the contents of the photo. Move the control until you are completely satisfied with the darkened and lightened areas. If unwanted darkening or lightening occurs, you simply need to use the background eraser to erase certain areas.

How to remove a shadow in Photoshop: the second method

To eliminate unwanted shadow on the face, you can use a dodge tool called Dodge. It is located on the left side of the window in the toolbar. As previously said, duplicate your photo and work on a copy of it. Next, select the tool you need and adjust the dodge (exposure should be set to 25%) and set the tonal range to a medium level. Using the mouse cursor, you can lighten all the necessary fragments on a person’s face.

You can also efficiently cope with the task using layer blending modes. To do this, you need to prepare two completely identical layers (that is, a duplicate image and the original). After that, find the section called “Blending mode”, in it you will find the “Screen” option. Immediately after the work has been done, you will see that the edited photo has become noticeably lighter.

Once you have completed the above tasks, adjust the layer's opacity. To do this, you need to reduce the brightness of this image quite a bit. Take a large eraser that has soft edge properties and erase absolutely everything except the face we are working with. This is done so that the photo retains its original tones, and the face itself will be an order of magnitude lighter, which will add beauty to the photo.

How to remove shadow from face?

If you need to remove a shadow from a face, Photoshop can handle this problem without any problems. To correct light sources, go to the filters menu, where you can find an option called “Render>Lighting effects”.

To achieve better image adjustments, use all of the above methods, while combining them in retouching, as well as in photo processing.

Every photographer knows how important lighting is when shooting. But when it's a sunny day outside, it's quite difficult to get rid of shadows. If they cover part of the face, this can be easily corrected in the finished photo. You will learn how to remove shadows from a face in Photoshop right now. There is not just one method, there are several. Let's look at the simplest of them.

Method 1

But after reducing the intensity of the shadows, the photo may become a little faded - lose brightness, this can also be corrected. To add brightness and contrast to a photo, although there is a special menu item for this, it is best to adjust the levels. These are more subtle tone settings. You can find this option there - in the “Image-Correction” menu. Select the second item “Levels” and adjust with the sliders. Try moving all three sliders in “Input values” one by one and select the optimal parameters:

You can also add some color saturation to your photo. This can be done in the “Hue/Saturation” menu section, all in the same “Correction” subsection.

Method 2

The disadvantage of the first method is that it not only removes shadows from the face, but also changes the tone/lighting of the entire image. If you want to remove shadows so that the rest of the photo remains unchanged, it is better to use the second method.

It happens that the shadow of an object or the photographer’s hand in a photograph is too dark and stands out from the composition. This spoils the perception of the photo and sharply reduces its artistic value and attractiveness. You can remove a shadow in Adobe Photoshop in several interesting ways.


Let's look at an example.

Here the shadow of the monument is too long and too dark. In the first case, you can remove it using the Stamp tool. The Stamp tool creates a copy of the sample image and places it on another desired part of the image.

1. Enlarge the part of the image where the shadow is located using the " tool Scale» from the side toolbar;

2. Select the tool " Stamp»;

3. Set the stamp size, shape and hardness that suits you in the options menu;

4. Press the Alt key and click the stamp cursor in the form of a circle target that appears on the tile as close as possible to the shadow. The stamp will copy that part of the image;

5. Fill the shadow with the stamp by left-clicking on it. For more accurate filling, keep the colors bright. To do this, take the color several times in different places where it changes;

6. As a result, you should get a photo without a shadow as in the picture.

Usage " Stamp"To eliminate shadows is not always convenient. Because it may be that the color transitions near the shadow are too different, or it is difficult to maintain the correct geometric pattern. The shadow may be too large and it will be time consuming and inconvenient to carry out this amount of work. There are two other simpler ways to do this.

Removing a shadow using the " Level brightness».

1. Enlarge the photo;

2. On the side toolbar, find the selection tool " Magic wand»;

3. Select the shadow completely;

4. In the menu " Image" select " Correction-Equalize brightness»;

5. In the pop-up window, check the value " Align only the selected area»;

6. As you can see, the brightness of the color has changed, but it still stands out very much;

7. Adjust the brightness and color tone using the menu functions " Image-Correction» « Brightness/Contrast" And " Hue/Saturation».

The fastest and most convenient way to eliminate shadows, as well as other unwanted objects in a photo, is to use the “ Content-aware fill" This feature, by the way, is an update to Photoshop CS5, i.e. it is not available in previous versions. In order to use this function, also select the shadow using the “Magic Wand” and select the menu item “ Editing-Fill».

In the menu that appears, select " Content-aware»

and the required mode.

Press the key OK. As you can see, the shadow has completely disappeared.

Save the changes using the command " File-Save"or save the photo under a new name with the command " File-Save As».

As you know, hard light creates deep cast shadows in photographs. Sometimes such shadows are justified by the artistic design of the plot, but mostly they spoil the photographs (Fig. 1). How to remove shadows from a photo in Photoshop will be discussed in this article.

Fig.1 You can remove shadows from photographs in Photoshop.

The easiest way to quickly remove black shadows from a photo is in Photoshop. The program has everything you need for this. The method we will discuss allows you to improve photographs with unsightly deep shadows. It is convenient to use if the shadow falling on the surface does not completely cover this surface.

Selecting areas with shadows

Before removing a shadow from a photo in Photoshop, you need to select it. First, in the Layers palette, you need to copy the Background layer and name it “Shadow Selection.” This can be done conveniently using the “ Ctrl» + « J" For a new layer, you need to change the blending mode (Fig. 2).

Fig.2 New layer in Photoshop to create a selection area
shadows removed from photographs.

By selecting a blending mode, you can highlight the boundary between an object and its shadow. The blending mode you choose depends on the contrast of the photo. “Linear Lightener” is well suited for our photography. It creates a clear border with a shadow that needs to be removed from the photo in Photoshop (Fig. 3).

Fig.3 In order to remove a shadow from a photo in Photoshop,
its boundaries need to be identified.

It is more convenient to stroke a shadow that needs to be removed from a photo in Photoshop using the Pen tool. In the group of tools it is the first one from the top (Fig. 4). To quickly call it there is a button “ P».

Fig.4 Select shadows to be removed from a photo
It’s more convenient to use the Pen tool.

When selecting a shadow to be removed from a photograph, you need to more accurately highlight its border with the object. There is no need to select the shadow boundary farthest from the object. You need to step back from it so that all the penumbra fall into the selection area (Fig. 5).

Fig.5 Selected shadow area that needs to be removed from the photo.

Shading the border with the shadow

The selected area around the shadow that needs to be removed from the photo can be shaded in Photoshop to create a smooth transition between the shadow and the object. In the menu section of the “Selection” program there is an item “Refine Edge”, which opens a window of the same name (Fig. 6).

Fig.6 Window for specifying the edge of the shadow removed from a photo in Photoshop.

In order to better see the border of the selection of the shadow removed from the photo in Photoshop, you need to increase the view to 400%. This is convenient to do by clicking on the photo with the left mouse button while holding down the " Ctrl» + « Space" For decreasing " Ctrl" change to " Alt».

In the “Refine Edge” window, select one of the viewing modes. Then, in the “Edge Adjustment” block, change the feathering value so that you can see the blurring of the selection border. For example, for the shadow that we remove from the photo, in Photoshop in the “On White” view mode, this border will look like in Figure 7.


Fig. 7 Selecting a shadow to be removed from a photo in Photoshop – viewing mode “On White” at 400% magnification.

Once the border for highlighting the shadow to be removed from the photo is ready, it must be saved for future use. To do this, on the “layers” palette at the bottom there is a button “Add layer mask” (Fig. 8). After clicking this button, a layer mask thumbnail will appear on the layer.

Removing selected shadows

We will remove shadows from the photo in Photoshop on a new layer. To do this, use the buttons " Ctrl» + « J» Copy the background layer and move it above the “Shadow Selection” layer. Let's call this layer "Shadow Removal". Turn off the layer with the mask by clicking on the eye thumbnail. It will only be needed to display the selection area (Fig. 9).

Fig.9 You need to remove shadows from a photo in Photoshop on a separate layer.

Now you need to press the button Ctrl” and left-click on the “Shadow Selection” layer mask thumbnail. After this, a selected area for the shadow will again appear in the image, which must be removed from the photo in Photoshop.

In the Layers palette, go to the top layer and use the Stamp tool to erase the shadow that needs to be removed from the photo. The cloning sources for the tool should be taken closer to the area of ​​the shadow being removed in Photoshop, simulating a smooth transition at the cloning border.

Our task is to copy the area without a shadow lying next to it instead of the shadow removed from the photo. In other words, you need to imitate a surface without shadows. For example, for a shadow on a wall, you need to copy the part of the wall without a shadow located nearby.

In order to get a uniform surface in place of the shadow removed from the photo, you need to go over it with the Healing Brush. This tool in Photoshop blends adjacent areas and creates a smooth transition between them (Fig. 10).



 

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