How can I make a light grey cat look lighter and more accurate in photos for printed flyers?
Asked 1/17/2020
4 views
2 answers
0
I need to make a missing-cat photo print more accurately for flyers. My cat is very light grey and white, but in the original photos he looks much darker, and when I print the flyers he can look almost black and white. I’ve already tried basic edits like brightness, exposure, and shadows, but that hasn’t helped enough. I’m not very experienced with photo editing. Is there a simple way to lighten just the dark fur so it looks more like grey in print, or do I need more advanced editing?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
8
I think the only thing that can be done where are unable to take the photo again is to post process the photo in photoshop (or similar) to make the blacks more grey.
Ive written a quick answer and attached examples below, as i dont have much time, but appreciate if you have a missing cat, time is urgent.
There are multiple ways to approach any problem in photoshop, but the way i would approach this is to select the areas we want to change from black to grey and then play with the contrast, brightness, shaddows etc.
I would suggest that as this is urgent if you know someone who knows photoshop get them to do it, as it could take a while to learn / get comfortable with. If you dont know anyone perhaps someone on here may have some time to help or you could check out fiverr.com or upwork.com where you can hire people for these sort of tasks
I have done this using the camera raw selection tool as per the screenshot below. For more information on this technique please see here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYpWjzqnGmU. There are of course other ways to do this in photoshop, for example to use the lasso tool to select the areas we want to edit, copy them, paste in place on a different layer then adjust just those layers saturation, colour balance, brightness etc to get the blacks to look more grey.
Please also find attached 2 versions of the 'semi complete process' given more time and a higher DPI image a better result could be achieved.
Hope that helps and really hope you find you cat
Originally by user10167. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user10167
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
If the original photo is already too dark, the main fix is selective editing: lighten only the fur that’s appearing black rather than brightening the whole image. In an editor like Photoshop or a similar app, you’d roughly select the dark fur areas, then reduce contrast and raise brightness/shadows until the fur reads as grey instead of black.
Global edits like overall brightness or exposure often don’t work well because they can wash out the white fur and background before the dark fur looks right.
Since you need this quickly and you’re not comfortable with editing, the most practical option is to ask someone who knows Photoshop or another photo editor to help. This is the kind of adjustment that’s straightforward for an experienced editor but can be frustrating to learn under time pressure.
If you do try it yourself, focus on:
- selecting only the dark fur
- increasing brightness/shadows a little
- lowering contrast if needed
- making a test print, since prints often look darker than screens
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI6y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Will a polarizing filter help reduce blown highlights on white fur in direct sun?
Why can’t my camera capture detail in both a dark subject and a bright sky?
How can I correct different color casts in separate parts of the same photo?
How can I turn weekly pregnancy photos with different lighting and backgrounds into a nice slideshow?
How can I make the sky look green-grey while keeping skin tones warm and golden?