Expert: LizaL - 5/3/2006

Question
I have swapped my wifes head on to a swimsuit model's body. The model is much much more tan than my wife. How can I make my wife's head match the models tan skin.  Thanks so much. (In Photoshop or Fireworks)

Answer
Hi David,

Matching skin tones exactly isn't a real easy thing to do. You don't mention your level of experience in Photoshop, but I'll assume you have a basic working knowledge. (And I would definitely do this in Photoshop, rather than Fireworks!)

I would first color-correct both images -- that is, use Levels and Curves to get the skin tones correct on each image, separately. When I say "correct," I mean make sure neither image has too much highlight, shadow, etc. -- and remove any kind of imperfections from the skin of each image.

I'd also try and color-match both images separately *before* putting the head onto the new body.  And when you get to the point that you're combining the two photos, I'd keep them in separate layers.


For actually matching the color:

1. You can try Match Color -- although this is really  just an overall way to match color. In other words, it's not real exact. But it's a start, and you can do this with both photos open, without having to combine them.

To use this, go to the Image pulldown menu, select the Adjustments subment, and then select Match Color. The top part of the dialog box refers to the picture you currently have open -- and the bottom part of the dialog box asks for a reference picture. Click on the pop-up menu and select the *other* picture. The two pictures will be compared by Photoshop, and you can make adjustments for Luminosity, Fade, etc. -- in the dialog box.

Like this:
http://little-works.com/all_experts/matchcolor.mov


2. Or you could try Replace Color. First open the model's picture, use the Eyedropper tool to measure a portion of her tan skin, and make a note of the CMYK values (or the RGB values, if you'll be using the picture online). Then open your wife's picture and go to the Image pulldown menu, the Adjustments submenu, and click in her face. Make sure you have the Selection radio button ticked.

Then click on the color swatch in the lower right portion of the dialog box. When the color Picker comes up, enter the color values you wrote down earlier. This will change all the pixels that are the same color as the color you just sampled with the Eyedropper tool to the new color. But beware -- because if there are any other pixels of that same color in the picture, those will change too.

Like this:
http://little-works.com/all_experts/replacecolor.mov

You'll notice that there are other areas here for changing the Hue, Saturation and Lightness of your sampled color.

There are other ways to do what you want to do, but take a look at these first. If you need something more advanced and/or exact, let me know.

Hope this helps!

Lisa