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Improve a Drab Sky in PSE 15 – Method 1

In this exercise, instead of replacing the sky in the original image with one from another image,

we will work with the existing sky. There are many ways to do this. We will also, improve other

elements of the image along the way using multiple Adjustment Layers.

1. With the image opened in the Full Editor, from the Menu Bar, click on Layer > Duplicate

Layer. Keep the default name and click Ok.

2. With the Background Copy layer active, adjust the exposure/contrast of the image using

whatever method you prefer. Whatever method you use, concentrate your attention

mostly on the non-sky portions of the image. I used the Levels command on an

Adjustment Layer, using Auto Levels.

3. Select the Quick Selection Tool from the Tool Box as shown in the figure below.

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4. Set the Quick Selection Tool options as shown in the above figure:

a. Brush Size – As Required; see below.

b. Hardness = 53% or so

c. Spacing = 25%

d. Roundness = 100%

e. Sample All Layers = Checked

f. Auto Enhance = Checked

5. To set the brush size, you can adjust the slider to the desired size.

a. The [ ] (square bracket) keys can be also be used.

b. The [ increases the brush size, and the ] decreases it. A small brush often works

best.

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6. Making sure that the Background Copy layer is selected (highlighted) in the Layers

Pallet, position your mouse somewhere in the middle of the sky, click and drag a bit and

watch as the sky is selected.

7. If all the sky is not selected, hold down the Shift Key and click somewhere in the sky that

has not been selected. Holding down the Shift-key and dragging, adds to a selection and

dragging with Alt-key pressed subtracts from a selection.

8. Depending upon the complexity of the selection, you may also have to use a tool like the

Lasso Tool with the Alt Key held down to remove non-sky areas from the selection.

9. Once the sky has been adequately selected, from the Menu Bar click on the Refine Edge

button in the Tool Option bar. This can be seen in the above figure.

10. In the dialog box below, adjust the Smooth, Feather, and Contract/Expand sliders as

required to fine tune the selection. It’s a good idea to zoom in at least to 100% using the

Zoom tool with the dialog, and to also switch back and forth between the selection mode

and mask mode, as you adjust the sliders.

11. Select Output to be New Layer with Layer Mask as shown.the same technique we learned

previously.

12. Click Ok..

13. Your Layers Pallet should now look like the figure below.

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14. Since the Mask mode was being viewed (red outlining everything but the sky), we have

lost the marching ants. To get them back, Ctrl-Click on the Layer Mask.

15. Since the sky is often overexposed, we will darken the sky by changing the Blending

Mode of Layer 1 to Multiply. Click on the down arrow just to the right of the word

Normal at the top of the Layers Pallet and then click on “Multiply”. See the figure above.

16. If the sky is still not dark enough, Click on Layer > Duplicate Layer on the Menu Bar.

Keep the default name. This will make the sky another step darker.

17. If, is it is in the example here, you can reduce the Opacity of the layer to something less

than 100%.

18. The figure below shows what your layer stack should look like at this point, and the

Opacity set at some number less than 100%.

19. Next, we are going to make some optional color adjustments to only the foreground of

the image. Click on the “Background Copy” in the Layers Pallet to activate it.

20. On the Menu Bar, click on Select > Inverse so that now everything except the sky is

selected. Notice the marching ants are around the foreground of the image, not the sky.

21. From the Menu Bar, click on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation. Adjust

the sliders as desired. Notice that only the foreground and not the sky is affected. Click

Ok to exit the dialog. See the figure below.

Commented [DS1]:

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22. Flatten the image by clicking on Layer > Flatten Image on the Menu Bar, assuming you

are going to save the edited version as a JPEG file.