Do you have photos where your friends and family have red eyes? Would you like to remove a trash can, tourists or even a date stamp from a photo to make it look more attractive? If your photos have problems that you’d like to fix or to remove then you can do so using Paint.net.
We introduced Paint.net in Issue 1 and showed you how to download and install it. In this issue we’ll show you some Paint.net tools that help you showcase your photos in their best light.
While Paint.net has a dedicated red eye removal tool it doesn’t always give reliable results so we’ll show you a different way to remove redeye. To begin, click the Zoom tool and drag over the eye area so you can see the problem clearly. Select the Lasso Select tool and click at the edge of the problem. Now drag around the eye area to highlight the area to fix. If you don’t get it right the first time, click the Deselect button on the toolbar and start over.
Choose Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and drag the Saturation slider towards zero until the eye looks natural. This slider turns red to grey so the red color simply disappears. When you are done click the Deselect button on the toolbar to remove the selection. Repeat with the second eye.
To fix small problems such as skin blemishes and larger ones such as trash cans, tourists and poles, use the Clone Stamp tool. For skin blemishes, click Clone Stamp in the Tools panel and the adjust the size of the brush to the size of the problem. Find an area of skin which is a good match for the problem area – typically this will be found close to the problem area. Hold the Ctrl (Control) key and click on this area to sample it. Let go the Ctrl key and then click on the blemish to remove it.
Larger problem areas need to be removed gradually. Find something in the photo cover the problem with and sample it. Then click or even paint over the problem area. You may need to sample different areas every few clicks to get a good piece of the photo to paint out the problem area with so you get a realistic result. Take your time and work slowly. If you make a mistake as you go, choose Edit > Undo to undo it. When making a selection in Paint.net you can use any selection tool so pick the best for the task in hand. For the eye you can use either the Lasso Select or the Ellipse Select tool. To add to an area you have already selected, set the Selection Mode on the toolbar to Add (union) and drag over another area to add it to the selection. Use the Subtract selection mode to remove areas from the selection. (view the video for a demonstration)
