Photoshop Beginner Tutorial: How To Completely Rid Your Photos of Red Eye

The problem with a lot of basic digital cameras are that you need to use the flash to get a good picture. And the problem with using the flash is red eye. Red eye is caused by light reacting against the inner eye. Pictures of animals usually suffer from this red eye problem too. But Photoshop can fix this problem in a few easy steps and leave you with a print-worthy image. So let's start editing those photos! The great thing about Photoshop is that you can use both digital and scanned photos. After you have uploaded your image you want to work on, open it up in Photoshop as its own canvas.

Step 1. Save your original image and make a copy of it by going to Image > Duplicate. Rename (anything you wish) the copy if so you can easily go back to it if needed, then close this original image.

Step 2. Next open a duplicate/similar window of the same exact original image. Do this by going to Window > Documents > New Window. Then zoom in on the eye. Set the other window to 100%. Arrange the free floating windows so you can view them both at the same time. This will enable you to work zoomed in, but still see what the finished picture will look like in print size. As it is the same exact picture in both windows, the 100% magnification will be changed automatically.

Step 3. Now create a new layer by going to Layer> New Layer.

Step 4. Use the Eyedropper Tool to pick a color from the iris (colored part) of the eye. Click it and take the sample from as near to the red area as you can without selecting any of the reddish tint whatsoever. This may take a few times to get it right, so don't fret.

Step 5. Next, in the new layer, go over the red area with this same color. Always avoid the white part of the eye on pictures of people. Do small amounts at one time, that way you can easily undo anything that does not look quite correct. Do not go over the pupil or the eye.

Step 6. Now go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur and give the layer a blur of 2 pixels to barely soften it. Use less or more pixels, it all depends on your specific image.