REMOVING ELEMENTS & HAND COLOURING - Working with layers
• Enhancing a gray day • Day to night • Fill-in flash with layers • Perspective control • Auto Levels • Design a Wine label
Create a wood texture • Back to main Photoshop page. All photographs & tutorials © J on Davison 2003

Part one: removing the pole. Part two: Hand colouring (in progress)

This tutorial offers one way to remove elements within a composition. We will also discover how to hand colour an image.
As in all my tutorials, I have indicated that there are many ways of achieving the same result. For example you could easily
use layer masks here. I find that it is just as easy to use layers in conjunction with the Lasso, raser tools.It is always a
good idea to analyse each image and think how you will tackle it. Sometimes it is just a matter of covering up, rather than
trying to recreate. Always seek the most logical method, the most expedient way of achieving your aims. Picture taken at the
ld gold mining town of Hill End, in New South Wales, Australia, 1977. Dedicated to my weekend Photoshop course supporters
at UWA Extensions. This is one of the lessons that I offer there, and they suggested that I place it on-line.

Final image - without telegraph pole & hand coloured


Note the car window, also all the vertical lines have been
aligned to keep the right perspective.

The Method

1. Download the 'original' above and open
it in Photoshop. It doesn ot matter which
version you use.

2. Use your Marquee tool 'M' and select
a portion of sky and roof, from the top
of the frame to the fence line (right).

3. Go Control- J This gives you a new layer
of your new selection (below). This is the
same as Co - C (copy), then Co - V
(paste).


Layer palette with new layer of sky/roof slice.

4. Hit 'V', slide this new layer across to
cover the telegraph pole (far right).

5. Slide the Opacity' to about 70% so
that you can see what it is covering.

6. With your 'Eraser tool' (E), rub out
the part of the new layer that covers the
car window and roof areas. Rub out to
reveal the car window support frame,
you need to show its thickness (right).
Leave the new fence posts that are now
in the car window. Now change your
opacity back to 100% and you should
look like this (below).



8. Go to your Layers pelette, use the dropdown
menu (arrow) and go 'Merge Down'. This brings
you back to working on one layer.

9. the next step is to clean up the roof over-
hang just above the car roof. So, hit 'M'
and draw a selection like so (below) We
simply make a selection with the Marquee
Tool, of this verandah overhang.



10. Go 'Co - J' (Copy and paste) .It will make
a new layer automatically.

12. When you think it looks clean enough, do
the same as in step (8). Merge this layer down,
to give you one layer again.

The final thing to do is take a look at the sky and
roof lines as this will need cleaning up. this
is a job for the 'Patch Tool' (J)


13. Hit 'J' to select the Patch tool (not the
Healing Brush) and draw a selection like so.
Drag this to the right, to a clear area of sky
and simply let go, the Patch tool does the
rest. Here we want to remove any lines, or
changes in density to the sky that the first
layer may have given. It just helps to clean
the sky up. You may need to do this a few
times to clean it up.

11. Hit 'V' and slide this new layer over to cover
the verandah area. You may find that is all you
need to do. Otherwise clean the edges up with
your Eraser 'E' tool.



14. The final result should look something like this.
Click here for a larger version.

You are half way there! now we will start to colour this
image by hand. Jump to this tutorial page.