Editing help for newbie( ish) editors please

[jann1033]

after looking at the fence thread and Manning's great job i was wondering...

if those of us who are "editing beginners" would post dilemmas, would anyone be willing to give suggestions on what to use to fix them? even if they don't want to actually do it, just say use such and such tool?
here is an example....i want to remove the light pole and just have the 3 trees but don't know how to fill in the surround area. i can use the fill bucket for the sky but what about the fence and such? any kind souls willing to impart some of their expertise?

 

[makinorlando]

You wouldn't have to do the fence would you since the white pot is sitting in front of the lightpost.....maybe just a bit off the top of the pot that looks like it might be part of the post... all of the white pots appear to block out the fence behind them.....

Make sense... I know what I am seeing but don't know how to convey in writing....

 

[jann1033]

when i was trying to fix it i didn't have my glasses on and had it zoomed and thought the grayish thing was part of the light post...till i posted the pic and thought" oh there are a line of them"
if i only had a brain i could probably use photoshop much better

 

[makinorlando]

I feel like that many days!!! I blame it on too many things going on IN the brain rather than the lack of one!!!

BTW it's a nice photo!

 

[Dznefreek]

 

[Anewman]

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

I think though rather than just posting that it can be done, what was asked was for assistance on explaining how it was done. In my case, the removal of the light post was done in Adobe Photoshop using the Stamp Clone tool highlighted in the image below.

Select that tool then choose the brush size you want to use. Alt-Click somewhere within the picture on a spot which has the color or pattern you want to replace the light post with. Then move on top of the light post and click to paint like you would with any other brush. You can continually Alt-Click to select different areas and continue painting.

To change the tree, I used the Magic Wand and clicked the tree top and SHIFT-Click the various values until I had a representation of the tree top. I then did a Copy and Paste to create a new layer. Under Edit I did a Transform and Scale to resize the tree top. Once I had it the size I wanted I duplicated the new smaller layer then did an Edit Transform Flip Horizontally and moved the other side into position. Like I said, quick and dirty. There are probably edges that could have been feathered to make it closer and seamless but I just wanted to give you an idea of what could be done.

Jeff

 

[boBQuincy]

I like to use layers for my editing, because the edit can always be redone and the original is not altered at all.

For the pole I would select a rectangular layer just to the right of the pole, copy the selection to a new layer, then move the layer over the pole. Adding a mask to the layer gives you the power to selectively blank out and blend areas in the layer, again easily redone.

It can get hectic with a lot of layers but I feel this is the real power of PS, to change things without making permanent changes.

And then there are the adjustment layers...

 

[boBQuincy]

Edited with a layer, and a layer mask faded from bottom to top to show how it works.

 

[SplshMtn99]

 

[SplshMtn99]

I like this thread idea.

 

[bazzanoid]

Perhaps we should see the threads started with "Editing help: <subject>", much like the "show me <subject>" threads that we have - just my personal opinion, makes for a tidier forum!

 

[jann1033]

I like to use layers for my editing, because the edit can always be redone and the original is not altered at all.

For the pole I would select a rectangular layer just to the right of the pole, copy the selection to a new layer, then move the layer over the pole. Adding a mask to the layer gives you the power to selectively blank out and blend areas in the layer, again easily redone.

It can get hectic with a lot of layers but I feel this is the real power of PS, to change things without making permanent changes.

And then there are the adjustment layers...

thanks for all the help...
this is where i got lost in my tutorial for photoshop...elements doesn't have a "mask" option , at least none i could find and i couldn't figure out what would compensate for that ie adjustment layer? fill layer? or is there nothing to use the same as a mask?

and at the mickey palm

 

[manning]

I used the selection brush to take out the fence. I selected the fence area all the way across, then sampled the water color and brushed it out. Then used the cloning tool to fill in the bridge and cloned out the arm.