Brighten Part of an Image

[Ken Veal]

PSProX.Is there a way of brightening part of an image only(ie a face) .............Ken

[Ron P.]

Use one of the selection tools to select just the face. Then do any adjustments such as brighten, contrast. Once you're finished remove the selection (Selection>Select none, or [CTL] + D)

[pdxrjt]

I usually use either the lighten/darken tool (for strong effects) or the dodge-burn brushes for milder effects. Both seem to work well...... look up brushes in the help files for more info.

[Ken Veal]

Can you advise me, click by click, on which selection tool to use,where I find it and how to use it please.

[pdxrjt]

Make sure the "Tools" toolbar is open. The icon of the various tools in this particular group changes depending on which tool is selected. On my system it is the 11th icon down....but may not be for you. You know you are in the right place when you click on the little down arrow next to the icon and you'll see things like "lighten/darken", dodge, burn, smudge, push, soften etc. etc. To lighten, select either the lighten/darken or dodge tool. Make the setting you want in the tool palate bar and start changing you picture. To find out what each tool....and or each setting does in each individual tool....look in the help file or X has this, the learning center..... if no learning center, there will be info in the help file. The (to me) most important setting for dodging and burning are opacity (how much dodging or burning occurs with one pass of the tool) and size.... you can also set various other parameters for how the lightening/darkening will be applied. This is one of the most useful feature in PSP (at least it is something I use a lot.) Enjoy

[Ken Veal]

Thanks for that, it was the 11th one down.Clicked on the drop down arrow,selected the lighten/darken brush-curor changes to brush with circle around the tip.
When I drag the brush it leaves a lighter trial.What I am now trying to do is to select a face to brighten it.What do I have to do now. Cant find this in the learning centre .

[pdxrjt]

To lighten a face...I would probably choose the dodge tool...but your choice. The key to lightening a selected area.... is first check your opacity setting. You probably just want to lighten it a bit, so try with it set at 10 or 15 and see if that does it (remember to make a back up first!!) You can also make multiple passes with your brush. You don't really select an area, just move your brush to the area you want to lighten (make sure you set the size so the brush isn't too big or small) then left click as you move your brush around. The area will lighten.... you can mess with hardness and limit to see how they effect the lightening process. You can re-lighten an area by taking your finger off the left button which "resets" the tool and lets you start to lighten again. So you don't really "select" an area you lighten.... essentially you "paint" the area you are going to lighten. Hope this helps. Again, I am not sure about X, but in your help file look up (I think) "Setting brush options" or "brush options"....well tell you what all the choices are up there!!