Touchup
One of the more difficult adjustments to digital photos is removing spots such as minor blemishes on a person's face or areas where dust on the lens or camera sensor is magnified into a full-blown splotch. To fix those problems, Photoshop Express uses a clever interface for sampling an area near the blemish and covering it.
- Click the Touchup tool in the sidebar.
- Locate an area you want to fix (it helps to zoom in) and position the mouse pointer over it.
Drag to specify the touchup area, indicated by a green circle (Figure 4.26). The pixels within that area will be covered.
Figure 4.26 Define a touchup area.
Release the mouse button when you've defined the area. Don't worry about getting the size just right; you can change it later.
Photoshop Express samples a nearby area (indicated by a red circle that appears) to cover the blemish (Figure 4.27).
Figure 4.27 Sample area.
- Click the green Save button (the checkmark) to apply the setting.
Edit the touchup
Remember, since these edits are non-destructive, you're not making permanent changes to the photo's pixels. You can fine tune the touchup you made.
The retouch controls disappear after you've made an edit, so position your mouse pointer over the area to make them visible again.
- To change the size of the retouch area, you have two choices: Move the Retouch Size slider, located above the image; or, position the mouse pointer over the edge of the green circle and then click and drag (Figure 4.28, next page).
Figure 4.28 Drag to resize touchup area.
- Click and drag in the middle of the retouch area to reposition it anywhere on the image.
- To change the source of the sample area, click and drag it to a new position (Figure 4.29). This capability lets you specify an area that more closely matches the tone and texture of the area you're retouching.
Figure 4.29 Drag to reposition the sample area.