A friend has sent me a family portrait picture which she has asked that I please "get rid" of one person who is in the group.

How would I go about accomplishing this task using Paint Shop Pro 8? I am relatively new at using PSP and am struggling terribly with it. I'm guessing that I might "get rid" of this person by using the eraser tool, a mask, or something of that nature, but really have no clue as to the best and easiest option. I want to replace where that person was with the basic background of the overall photo.

Also the person to be removed has one of their hands on the shoulder of another person who will remain in the photo. How can I wipe out the hand but still leave the shoulder intact?

Considering my extreme lack of PSP experience, I sort of think I'm biting off more than I can chew, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Any suggestions or links to tutorials, etc. will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mrs. B

About the only suggestion I have (not being a graphics guru) is to use the Clone Brush feature in PSP. If the background permits, just clone it over the person until he/she is history. Remember, if you make a sudden goof, just hit the Undo (CCW arrow) and it'll go back to the previous point. Each time you click the left mouse button to make a change, it sets another 'go-back' point, and it remembers a lot of them. Nothing will be changed on the original image until you Save it. It's best to Save as.... and give it another name, that way the original goes untouched.

Clone brush is the tool that you use to put a person's head on the dog, etc. It's also the tool of choice for touching up old scratched photos. I once spent almost 4 hours fixing up one of my grandfather in uniform taken in France in WW1. Came out great!

You can go to the tool pallette and adjust the hardness and size of the clone brush to personal preference.

Hmmm! Definitely sounds like a viable option Jim - I say that cautiously because of course it will depend on my "talent" at maneuvering the Clone Tool and getting the variable settings exactly right. I do remember reading something about this tool a long, long time ago . . . they were talking about getting rid of a trash can that was unsightly in an outdoor photo. I guess if it can get rid of trash cans, it can get rid of people.

Many thanks - I'm going to go try it right now.

Regards, Mrs. B

P.S. I'm glad your grandfather's picture turned out so well for you! I've heard that if you know how to use PSP, you can really do some amazing things with it.

P.S.S. I went to your website the other day and from there checked Pooh Bear's link. She's a really cool dog and I enjoyed seeing her pictures and reading the story/captions that you had provided with each shot.

(There is nothing so wonderful as a dog . . . they are so forgiving and always love you unconditionally. I just lost one a few months ago that I'd had for 13 years. Talk about something tearing your guts out . . . I was a basket case. I have a new furry 4-legged baby now and we are getting to know each other and bonding more every day!)

Jim ~ ~ ~
Just want to say "thanks again"! Your suggestion worked perfectly - sweet success is mine! I have the "revised" photograph printed and am going to give it to my friend tomorrow as a surprise belated birthday present. I know she will love it.

Congrats Mrs.Bond. I can do that stuff to an extent, but you must have one heck of a lot of patience to take a whole person out. Good for you! Do we get to see your handywork?

QUOTE (Dashwood95 @ Aug 27 2005, 07:16 PM)

Do we get to see your handywork?

I was thinking about that, but didn't know if anyone would really be interested or not.

Here's a before and after of grandpa's....

Image_1

Image_2

Not top quality by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't think it's that bad for a first-time effort. My friend won't be too critical as long as the guy is gone!

Oh man. The two of you have some serious patience to do work that nice. Good job!

Jim, I think you did great with your grandpa's picture! You got all the bad scratches cleaned up, and sharpened up the printing at the bottom extremely well. Good job!

Excellent work for your first time!! (Mine above was a first, too.) The little girl's left hand was a tough spot, since there wasn't anything to 'clone' there, but if one doesn't know how the original looked, you can hardly notice it.

Now you have a new 'toy' to play with.

Hi Mrs. Bond, you did a great job. I did something similar, it's not easy, and it's hard on the eyes, but it sure is wonderful when you can do it.

Thanks Lorraine! Indeed it is very hard on the eyes - and I had the zoom up to 400% trying to see every little pixel and not make any mistakes! Hard on the brain too - total concentration required - Wow! Left elbow glued to the desk - chin in hand - right hand and arm just clickin' the heck out of that mouse.

QUOTE (Mrs. Bond @ Aug 28 2005, 12:56 AM)

Wow! Left elbow glued to the desk - chin in hand - right hand and arm just clickin' the heck out of that mouse.

Yep!, that's the way I did it.

Not bad work at all. I wrote the majority of a tutorial on this wort of work for photoshop. I only list it here as it includes shots of my first effort at this sort of operation.

http://www.suggestafix.com/restore.php

I've done many ohter projects but cannot release them as they are pictures that were for others.

Hi Nightshade ~ You did good with cleaning up the old photo and colorizing it.

I haven't tried that yet, but I'm sure the day will come when I'll get brave and attempt such a task. As Jim Holly said, I now have a "new toy" to play with, so there are hundreds of avenues still to be explored. I get all excited and revved up to conquer new feats, but then hit snags and say to heck with it. I need to get an "attitude adjustment" and persevere more!

Thanks for posting the tutorial on using this feature in Photoshop. I have PS sitting in my computer cabinet and one of these days, will load the program. However, with the trouble I'm having with PSP, I figure I'd better wait awhile before I tackle Photoshop too! One headache at a time is enough. I have tucked your link into My Favorites though and will definitely take a look at it later down the road.

I think the hardest part of these program Mrs Bond, is knowing where everything is

I started out with PI, and I have PSP, but when I went to PSP, to try to do something, I couldn't find what I was looking for. Their pretty good programs, but like you said..."One headache at a time is enough. " That is so true. You get use to one program, then try to do something in the other, is like starting all over again, everything you're looking for is in different places.

Mrs. Bond,

Don't laugh, go on I dare you! I have something that might help you......ME, the one who

doesn't know the first thing about graphics...

"Ever wanted to pretend that you weren't where you were when a digital photo was taken? Using PhotoShop choose the Magic Wand tool (it lives in the fifth cubby from the top of the tool palette on the left side of the screen). Experiment with the wand’s tolerance and feather values in the Tool Options Palette. Now click somewhere in the middle of the background. Hold done the Shift key and click in the parts of the background that aren't selected. When the selection is complete, press Delete on your keyboard. The entire background will vanish, leaving you floating in space. "

Hi Pat

Thanks for the info. If I had PhotoShop installed on my machine, I would give that a try. I've printed your instructions and will save them for later when I do get the program loaded. Thanks again!