changing areas of a photo

When I saw that the ability to lighten/darken areas of a photo was in the new x10 I thought it would be something I could use on several old photos I have.

But having gone through the Help file on the Photo region and mask tool, I find that it is all but useless. My photos - and I assume most everyone's - does not have a clear cut line that needs to be lightened/darkened, they fade in. Also, I find it impossible to draw the lines for the regions/mask areas.

Please tell me this is not the way to lighten/darken areas of a photo.

This is something that has been in photoshop for years - if this is the response that xara has come up with if falls very short. - jb

Hi Jeb, I think you've got this all wrong. I'm not a filter user so I'm not 100% sure I'm correct but there's no needs for masks in this fearure.The tool is just added to the Enhance Photos tool bar and you can use the new Shadows Brightness & Highlights Brightness sliders to adjust either/both the dark/light areas of the photo

Egg, I see nothing different on the Enhance tool bar - anything you use there applies to the whole photo, not just to certain parts of it - unless I am missing something. - jb

Hi Jeb,

Do you see these 3 new icons? Not really my expertise but there are differences?

This is my third attempt to reply. I am not enamoured with the functionality of this forum. Probably me but I find that the Magix Knowledge Forum works much better, even if it does not look as slick as this one.

For Jeb, I am surprised that this is only new now in Xara. It exists in Magix Movie Edit Pro and Video Pro X6, as well as on my Canon Ti4 camera, as HDR, or High-Dynamic-Range imaging. As per the Magix Video Pro X6 manual it is defined as:
HDR Gamma: Unlike "Gamma", very dark areas are selectively lightened.

This is wonderful in the video program where I often have underexposed areas or too much backlight, both in videos and photos.

I tried it in Xara and below, if this works as inserting images does not cause them to show up in the message like they do in the Magix Knowledge upon import, are the before and enhanced images. Notice that the bright areas remain the same, no masking necessary. Looks good to me. Good tool, but should have been in X9.

Attachment 103308
Attachment 103309

John

Egg, I opened X-9 rather than X-10 when I replied to you the first time - sorry.

I have used the 2 new tools and they certainly make a difference.

I have attached the before and after of one photo I am working on - it certainly is an improvement. But is there a way to get the marked difference of the right side and left side of the photo the same - to "blend" the areas together? - jb

Hi Jeb,

Glad you found it.

In my opinion you've gone a bit OTT on the lightning/darking bit but that's just a matter of taste.

As for your question re the left/right differences that looks to me more like a partial exposure of the original negative and you'd need to talk to someone with far more expertise than me in photo manipulation, I have non at all.

I agree - am not finished but trying to find a way to blend the areas together so that there is not that obvious line between them.

I don't have the negative - this was bleached out by the sun, a part of the pic was covered and a part was not. I have several like it I am trying to restore.

Tks - jb

Perhaps a more proficient user of Xara or PhotoShop might come to your assistance.

Okay jb, just for fun I tried my best at removing the faded section. Here's the results I ended up with. At 96 dpi it can just scrape through but any larger and the joins would show. Also had to reduce the family homestead a bit ;)

That is great - but how did you do it? I took the photo to 300% and still couldn't come close to that. - jb

Ditto. It is superb! But how?

Editing the photo to get the current end results took about half an hour. Unfortunately explaining how to would take an hour & a half :(

If I get the time later I'll try to do a video.

Thank's for the comments.

jb, can you attach a larger version of this photo?

Superb, Egg

Is that a photo of your family growing up? If so which one is you. I don't believe you are one of the girls so that narrows it down a bit.

Egg, what do you mean by larger version?

When I open the photo and click on enhance one of the lighten/darken is already at 100 so I only have the other to work with. When I change it I still have a notable line between the two parts of the photo unlike the way yours came out.

The photo was taken in the early 1930's - my grandparents, dad and his brother/sisters to left and great uncle and one of his daughters on the right. - jb




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Egg, what do you mean by larger version?

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Could you supply a scanned copy at 600 dpi?

Here's how I recreated the photo jb, using mainly slicing & dicing.

It's a long video but as short as I could make it ;)

Watch in HD

Here's a final comparison:

That looks really good, Egg. Did you use a copy and blended the darker top-left section with the original?

Thanks boy. No, did you see the video above?

I would just put another same picture on top of it, darken it and with transperancy tool only show the darkened photo on top over the bottom one until it is right Arrow slider from left top to end lightened area.

Tried that originally ankhor but I couldn't achieve a decent result ;)

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Thanks boy. No, did you see the video above?

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Tried that originally ankhor but I couldn't achieve a decent result ;)

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I hadn't but now I have. Seems a bit laborious -- I would follow Ankhor's approach and fiddle some more ;) -- but the result looks great.

Egg, that is amazing. I am always impressed with what can be done with Xara if someone knows the program like you do.

BUT - the obvious question is, WHY does one have to go through all that you did here just to touch up and lighten areas of a photo? I have not tried it but someone told me it can be done on an iphone. This is something Xara should have had years ago - and we still don't have it.

Again, tks for you help and time - I have a couple of other photos that have areas that need to be improved but they would not be able to be done as you did this one - they are peoples faces and area around them that have been lightened much as this photo had been done but there is no way to cut/slice and move to other areas of the photo. - jb

Cheers jb. There are definitley photo manipulation software that can do this better but a lot more expensive than Xara. My workaround is specific to this photo.

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I have not tried it but someone told me it can be done on an iphone.

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An iphone is just another computer, such statements tend to say "I can do this on my mobile phone, which I can't do on my desktop".

Xara has always been at concept a vector drawing program not a bitmap painting program. The fact that the two have become blurred (not to mention the web design & desktop pulishing options) then you have no reason for complaint.