Fix Red Eye

The precise approach without the complexity...

Find out how to fix red eye without using the red eye removal tool right here, for those operations where you want a little more control. First thing's first though, if you haven't already tried using the red eye removal tool, check out this tutorial to see whether you could save yourself time and effort with some simple tips.

Reasons to be Manually Fixing Images

So why should this page even be here? Well, reasons for manually fixing red eye in images include difficult images that the red eye tool can't quite handle, fixing animal red eye, or even adding special effects to eyes.

The Overview

So let me give you the big picture. To remove red eye manually, we follow these basic steps:

1. Prepare an image for fixing.
2. Choose the real eye color, or one for use with a special effect.
3. Pick an appropriate brush, and paint over the eye.
4. Refine the painting slightly.
5. Use this painting to alter the eye.
6. Remove any unwanted paint.
7. Make the fix permanent.

I have looked at many methods of manually fixing red eye, and this is the best one I have come across, because it is the one which works in almost all situations. Read on to find out the details.

Getting Started

To begin the process, open the image which you wish to fix. You may also find it useful to click on the View menu, and select 'New Window For [Filename]'. If you do this, you will have two windows showing the same image, and you can zoom in with one to view the fine detail.

After preparing your workspace, create a new (blank) layer in the image. This will be where we make our fixes.

Picking a Good Eye Color

To pick a good eye color, use the eye dropper tool on your magnified image. Pick from just outside the red eye region, to get a color close to that of the iris. It should be mostly gray, with only a slight tint of the eye color.

Once you have picked a color, you can edit it using the color palette if you wish. In my case the color was just a little too gray, so I have changed it to be slightly more blue.

Of course, if you are going for a special effect, you're free to pick psychedelic pink! I'll show you at the end the results of some unusual color choices.

The Painting

Next, we pick a paint brush. Select the brush tool, and under the options pick your brush. We'll be using a small brush, probably only 5-10 pixels in diameter, and with a hard edge.

Paint carefully over the red area of the eye, making sure you cover it all. Make sure you do this on the new layer, not the old one!

Once you have painted over the eye, perform a Gaussian Blur on that layer. Using the menu system this is 'Filters - Blur - Gaussian Blur'. A blur of between 0.5 and 1.0 pixels usually works well.

Altering the Eye

Once we have this covering for the eye, we can start to use it to change the properties of the eye.

Firstly, select the layer on which you have painted, and change its mode to 'Saturation'. This can be done by clicking the layer in the Layer Palette, and changing the mode drop down box, which usually reads 'Normal' to read 'Saturation'.

The red eye should now have disappeared, but the eye should look unrealistic and colorless. Now we duplicate the painted layer. Do this by right clicking the layer in the Layer Palette, and choosing 'Duplicate Layer'. Once the second layer has appeared, using the same method as before, change the mode of the duplicate layer to 'Hue'.

This is the part where you find out if your initial color was too vivid! If the eye now looks far too bright and colorful, then by decreasing the opacity of the 'Hue' layer you can lessen this effect.

The picture below is a summary of this process. It shows the properties section of the layer palette, where the layers can be manipulated. Below that it displays the layer just after the Gaussian Blur, then after the Saturation layer is added, and finally after the Hue layer is added.

Finishing Up

The next step is to remove any 'overpainting'. If you find that the new eye coloring has reached outside the eye, into the surrounding area, then simply use the eraser tool to carefully remove the excess paint. I find a small soft edged brush works best. Take your time here, and don't be afraid to keep using the Undo feature, until you are really happy with it.

After you've finalised your edits, you can make the fix permanent by merging the layers. On the Layer menu, select 'Merge Visible'. This finished the process, so now the other eye can be started on if you were doing them separately. Make sure to use the same eye color for each eye!

A Note For Animals

When fixing the animal equivalent to red eye, be sure to make your color choices carefully. Also make sure you've got a picture without red eye in it to use as a guide for your painting areas, especially if you feel unsure of exactly what needs fixing.

I fixed the picture above, and the eyes are shown below, before and after:

Some Fun!

You can have great fun with eyes! So finally, I'd like so show you some 'Special Effect' versions, that result from slightly whacky decisions early on in the process. All the same techniques have been used, but the painted area has been changed, or the color altered, or some other minor detail modified, to create these fun variations.

To Conclude

I hope you've enjoyed this article, and it's helped you fix your red eye problem. If you did find it helpful, then why not subscribe to my free monthly newsletter to read more like it. If there's anything you'd like to comment on, do feel free to let me know via my Contact Page.

Kind Regards

Robert Redwood Robert Redwood - Bio
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