[Teresa]

but i touched up a photo....it isn't a very good photo to touch up to begin with but i am meeting with the clients parents to order prints and i didnt want her looking so orange so i tried some techniques from some online tuts and this is what i came up with

before and after

[Ginnypenny]

I think the color is still slightly off, but it is better.  The contrast looks better.

[Ginnypenny]

I should add that you are on the right track and doing a good job.    Sorry my last post sounded grumpy and I didn't intend it that way.

[Teresa]

i have noticed in some tuts that when i do a white balance in PS...it makes her skin look almost gray toned and then in some it makes her look like she spent too long in a tanning bed and this is the most "even" out skin tone i could do. i am sure i could spend more time on it to make it look more "natural" but it is hard to do when 1) your computer keeps freezing up
2) you have a 1 year old who keeps jumping in your lap touching keys (after being told many times no and having a hand slapped many a times) and needs your attention
3) well.....i guess there is no 3...lol

[Teresa]

i also whitened her eyes (although they didnt look THAT bright on my screen when i saved it...hmmm
and i changed her lip color which i DETEST....lol...
and took away the bags under eyes

[Marian Murdoch]

Teresa, this took me 3 minutes in GIMP, but you can use Photoshop, too. All I did was adjust the levels.

It looks like she's got some redeye going on, too. You might want to get rid of that before showing the client.

[Teresa]

i have done 3 photoshop tuts i have found online and it said one way to adjust the white balance is clicking on the whites of her eyes and then it automatically does the white balance fix for you
the other was to go into the curves and fix it and it kept coming out too bright or just off color
the other one was to go in to the levels and type in certain numbers but no matter how many times i adjusted those, her color was still off.


i like your fix but to me she still looks a bit tan/yellow and yes she is tan in real life but not that tan.

[Marian Murdoch]

Have you calibrated your monitor?

[Teresa]

no how do i do that?

[Ginnypenny]

another thing to try would be the tool where you use the eyedropper to select a part on the skin and it automatically fixes the skin tone.  I can't remember where it is.  It is somewhere in the color menu, maybe it is right below the hue/saturation??? 

[Travis Minnig]

You need software and a calibration tool.  You can get them from either Spyder (ColorVision) or Huey.  There are several, but these are the only two I know anything about.  Links are on the bottom to their websites.  Honestly, you may want to just have your lab color correct for you until you can tell better what the skin tones should look like.  You are using a custom lab, right?

Travis

http://www.colorvision.com
http://www.pantone.com/pages/products/product.aspx?pid=79&ca=2&s=0

[Travis Minnig]

Here, try this, too:

Create a new layer
Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Ctrl+U)
Select Reds from the drop-down menu
Move your mouse off the Hue/Sat dialog and it will become an eye-dropper tool
Click on her left cheeck (see image below)
Move the saturation slider down to -15

That should be a lot closer and won't change everything in the image either.

Travis

[Ryan]

I have the Huey, and if memory serves it was about 60 bucks when I got it.  It does a pretty good job.  The only complaints are that it only works with one monitor and every two weeks it starts popping up a daily message for me to recalibrate.  Ok, so that last complaint is probably really a good thing, but I don't like being nagged 

Best thing it does is read the ambient room light and adjust your monitor accordingly.  It's pretty slick when you can see the monitor adjust from the sun going behind a cloud. 

[Ginnypenny]

I don't calibrate.  I figure if my clients can't tell the color off why does it matter? 
Ok, so I am mostly kidding!  Although I do wonder.  Most people think their 100 dollar home printers make "great prints" so.... whatever.

I just took a bunch of different examples of prints and had my lab print them and compared them with what I was seeing on my monitor.  My lab tends to print on the green side.  The downside to this is that if their equipment changes or if my monitor shifts a little (that happens) then they are no longer calibrated.  If you don't want to take time to worry about all this and don't want to get it wrong then have your lab do the color correcting for you.  You will pay more, but prints that look great are worth it.  Keep up good communication with your lab (that's why a local lab is a good choice).  You may prefer your images warmer or cooler than what they do, just let them know.  A good lab will keep notes about your account and what you prefer.

[Teresa]

i will try that travis. not all my photos are that color skin tone. it is just her in that blue dress that makes her look more tan