The technique I posted earlier is handy for making the sky darker, but what if you want is a cheerful, bright blue sky?
The quickest route to a bright, blue sky, is simply replacing it.
This technique takes a little prep work. You'll need to shoot some photos of bright, blue skies. (Note to self: Next time I'm in Tucson, I need to take some more sky photos.) Or find some sky images on a royalty-free/creative commons web site.
OK. Once you have your sky photo, open it side by side with your property photo. Both images should be the same size. Resize one (or both) if necessary (Image -> Resize -> Image Size)
Making a quick visual check, I think I'll want the clouds in the sky photo to be a little closer to the top of the image. I can stretch them up there with the skew tool. Click on the cloud photo. Click Select -> All.
Click Image -> Transform -> Skew
Click on the left skew handle and drag upwards. Then click on the right skew handle and drag upwards. Remember this is an optional step. I'm just doing it because I think it is what this particular image will need.
Click on the property photo to make it active. Then click the Magic Wand tool.
The Magic Wand is another super easy selection tool. Click on the dull, faded sky in the property photo.
Because the faded sky is a uniform color in this photo, the Magic Wand correctly selected all of it. If you have an image where the Magic Wand does not select all the area you want selected, holding down the SHIFT key and clicking again will add material to your selection. Holding down the ALT key and clicking will subtract material from the selection. Changing the number in the tolerance box will also increase or decrease the selection area. When the selection is finished, you will see the "marching ants" selection border.
Great. Now the sky is selected. But what we really need is to select everything except the sky. No problem. Click Select -> Inverse.
This is the fun part. Click on the Move tool.
Click on the house in the property photo, and just drag it into the sky photo.
The sky seems a little too intense for me. With the merged image active, glance to the right, at the Layer Palette. Click on the layer labeled Background. Be sure Background is highlighted, not Layer 1.
Click Enhance -> Adjust Lighting -> Levels (you could also make this adjustment with Brightness/Contrast or Shadows/Highlights - you can experiment and see which you prefer).
Using Levels, move the center slider towards the left.
Done. To use the image on the web, you'll need to flatten the layers. Click Layer -> Flatten Image. Then Click File -> Save for Web.
More on Photoshop Elements Selection Tools:
Being Selective: Photoshop Elements Selection Tools
Photoshop Elements Selection Tools: The Marquee Can Do More Than You Think
How Cool!!!! I am so excited to try this!!! Now I just need to get some sky photos taken!!!
I do love the power of photoshop. When you get into a Michigan winter, its impossible to take a good picture and with a few changes like you suggest, its a breeze.
Thanks Cheryl!
Cheryl...absolute magic. What a great job you've done showing us step by step. Thank you. Oh well, another keeper.
Kathleen
Wow, that really brightens up the whole picture! Thanks for the directions :)
I like it !
Another winner, Cheryl - Thanks for all you do
I appreciate your tips and tutorials, Cheryl!
Mike in Tucson
"Showing a blue sky in Seattle might be tantamount to false advertising. " I so thought the same thing!! lol!!! And now I am going to be waiting for days and days it seems like to get some shot!!!
Cheryl, very good tutorial...this will help a lot of folks and as usual it's well explained and not overly complex.
It's also worth mentioning a handy tip; shoot a few sunny skies and keep them around for just such an occasion. If you have a few different choices (time of day, lighting, cloud density etc) you can better match these to a given photo. :)
Cheers, -B
That just looks wonderful. Thank you so much for this post!
Very nicely explained and your photo and screen shot sequence makes it easy for even those who are beginners.
Thanks for the tutorial! I was unaware you could "move" selections from one window to another. I'll be practicing!
Interesting Cheryl which version of photoshop do you use? is this feature available in photoshop 4.0? thanks
Stephen, the tutorial was made in Photoshop 7 (altho I recently switched over to CS3) ..... but it involves pretty basic stuff ... essentially "select something and drag it" so I would think you should be able to do it in 4.0 (the earliest version I have installed on any of the machines is 5.5)
Finally! I did it! Thank you thank you thank Cheryl!
Heather
Just saw this on Ryans Post....I am going to try it tomorrow, for now it is bookmarked. Thanks.
You're welcome, everyone....
It was good the first time - better now. I'll feature it again in PSE group, since I have the button.
Also .......how do I save this for future reference??
Hi Cheryl,
Thank you so much for this. I have been trying to figure it out. You just answered my question.
Catherine
Cheryl ... YOU ROCK! Thanks
Hello Cheryl
I take photographs for Estate Agents, what we call Realtors, in England, United Kingdom using a camera on a 90ft extendable mast mounted on a truck. I just wanted to thank you very much for this tutorial! Excellent, absolutely top drawer. Please do more!!!
Kind regards
Chris Simmonds
Cheryl I wish I would have seen this a couple of days ago. Thank you so much for posting it. I've been trying to decide whether to upgrade my outdated Photoshop or whether Elements would work. Looks like I've got my answer now.
Thank you. Sometimes you just run into that house you can not get blue skies in the background.
The only issue with using auto select is the tree. You need to zoom in to 300% to get all the tree. A small thumbnail you wont be able to tell but larger web and print items you will. I find going spending a little extra time makes it look a lot better. Now according to someone else in this blog it is un-ethical to do this?
I get so frustrated with photoshop because I have not had enough time to sit and learn. When I do need to do something it takes forever, because I don't know what I'm doing. Your tips are so helpful. I am bookmarking and hoping to learn a little at a time.
Cheryl
Thank you for sharing this. Bookmarked!
Mike
Just what I was looking for!!! THANK YOU!