Hey Koi!! I'll be glad to help!! Do you want them reposted here
or do you want then as attachments in an email?

It don't matter to me! Thanks!

You've got mail!!

I love your pics., especially the one where your doggies are on the bridge and the one where
they're all in the tub, and the one where they're chilling together in their coats! Hahaha--I guess
I really like them ALL! :o)

Hope you like the results!! :o)

BTW--I'm betting the Papillon is the 'alpha' dog in your pack!! Am I right?

Yes she is, but in a funny way she unlike most toy dogs knows she is tiny and don't want anyone to step on her!

she is the only girl.

Thanks so much they look really great!

You're welcome--anytime! :o)

Janice, I haven't had my new Photoshop long, still learning. (A lot to learn with this program.) Please tell me, or show me, what you did to improve the photos.

Koidom, that photo of all three in the tub just makes me smile. Great 'family' photo.

Thanks for any pointers;~)

Marnie

Hi Marnie--I just realized that 'koidom' reposted the pics. in their fixed state! That should show you what was done, if you can recall the pics. before.

I basically, went into the eye area and darkened them, with the 'burn tool', trying to stay within the dark portion of the eyes. I then re-glinted them (my term) by replacing the original glints with a whiter dot using a small pencil point tool! In some cases, I actually had to totally reconstruct some of the eyes, since they either didn't show at all or were badly obstructed by the glare.

I also used the burn tool on a setting that matched the flourescent strips on their coats to tone down the reflection (from the camera flash, I suspect) and then used it all over the coats to diminish the over-flash.

I did some cropping in two of the pics. to be more pleasing (to my eye, I guess) and also intensified the contrasts and randomly lightened and darkened with the 'burn tool' and the opposite tool to it for lightening where I thought it needed to be done. I tried to emphasize the head colorings more to maintain their beauty and played up their coloring in some instances to bring out the patterns.

I used that same useful 'burn tool' to sort of reconstruct the ear of the dog on the left in the threesome--not in the bathtub or on the bridge but in a driveway setting (perhaps?).

I also added some more highlight to their noses by painting a whiter area and smudged just a tad, with the smudge tool!

In the above mentioned photo (the threesome) I smudged out what appeared to be a label on the clay pot to the left in the pic.! I thought it would be distracting from the main subjects to leave it there--it sort of 'glowed' when I looked at the pic. with it there! :o) Call it 'Photoshop-License'! LOL

I think that is most of what I did!

You will LOVE working with Photoshop and if you can learn by being instructed taking a course would be wonderful. I learn better from the 'doing' of it, experimenting as I go to find out what works! I think I'm known as a 'hands-on' learner! :o)

Please, feel free to email me privately, if you like-anytime, if you need more info or if I can help you familiarize with your new program more! There are those, probably lurking and posting here that really are the experts so hopefully they may step up and offer you and I some more professional tips and instruction. I know there is so much I don't know to do but I'm excited for you, getting your own Photoshop and learning and having fun with it! You go girl!!!

Oh, another thing I remembered as I went back to look at the pics. again--I used the 'sharpen' tool, (the one that looks like a large triangle) to move along the edges of certain parts of the pics, especially the eyes once they were tweaked. I find that a very useful tool, as well. I used it to play up the texture of the coats and the fur especially in the bathtub!

Also, you can even control the amount of change these tools will make, up in the tool bar. There is a slide that tells you, when you move it left and right how much change it will make. As in the case of the air brush tool, you can choose what it will do, by the drop-down arrow to the right of the brush size menu. I use 'overlay' some, now that I realize what it can do and you can vary the amount of overlay spray it makes with that slide I talked about! It is very useful in making something look like a water-color effect!

I had a time, recently, adding the head of a person into a group shot we had, where the guys' original head was badly blurred. We needed it for a brochure at church. I had to take a separate photo of him, in what I thought was similar conditions and then cut and pasted it in the original group shot. It was not much like the original lighting conditions, I soon found out, and it was a lot of work to make it look right. Finally, I was able to make it 'right' if you didn't know it wasn't in the original shot--otherwise, to me, I could still see the difference in clarity etc. Very challenging but I do LOVE a challenge! Everyone seemed happy with the results, but me. The perfectionist part in me I guess!!

Again, have fun!

Well you did a great job I love it!, I did not know you had to make new ears for them and such, very funny to think some one photo shopped a ear on my dog. :)

Koidom, I couldn't stand it--the ears still bothered me as not quite right but I worked on it and some other areas to make it stand out, hopefully better as 'right'!
Here's what I've wound up with:

{{gwi:897343}}

I saved this one to, nothing but the best ear for my boy!

These are great looking dogs and they seem like they are great companions. Nice job on the pictures Hey-J!

Janice, thanks for your mini-lesson in photoshopping;~)

I love that smudge tool (and the dodge tool too)! Use it to darken areas on clouds. Also used it a lot to create a midnight scene from a photo taken mid-day. Very interesting what you did with the eyes. I have several cat photos that look like spotlights are shining out of the eyes. Those huge cat eyes can reflect light to a spooky degree. I've tried various things to fix it but my hands just aren't steady enough for such fine detail. Also, anything I do looks dull and flat on glassy eyes.

Can't find classes in my small town. Working my way thru a manual and just bought another one to start on.

Next time I need a tip on editing, I'll drop you an email and see if you have a trick or two for me to try.

Example glowing eye syndrome:

{{gwi:897344}}

Hey Marnie--love your cat pic!

I took the liberty of tweaking it some more for you and thought I'd explain what I wound up doing.

I used the Burn Tool, as you do, and found that the left eye just wouldn't cooporate, turning brown instead of more black--so, I incorporated a little trick I use when I only have one good eye in the pic. or maybe from another. I lassoed the pupil of the good eye (on the right) copied and pasted then moved it to the left eye pupil. There I used the smudge tool to work it into the same paremter!

I then darkened both eyes and some of the surrounding area with the burn tool set on a large brush point setting.

Both eyes, if looking in the direction of the light source or flash, should reflect in exactly the same spot, so that's why it can work to copy and paste the same pupil and reflection or glint into the other eye!

I also had some fun with your background and added what I hope is the kitty's name! :o)

If you email me--use the garden web name in the subject line so I know it's from you and not spam. But, I guess it will come through gardenweb first off anyway, so nevermind! :o)

Again, beautiful kitty!! Don't let it out on Halloween! Gulp! Bad thngs CAN happen, so I hear! We used to have a solid black long-hair--before having indoor-only ones, and I'd make sure he was in days before and after the *celebration*!

Ooops! Forgot the tweaked version of your pic!!!

Here it is!

{{gwi:897345}}

Janice, that is amazing! I would never have thought of copy/paste from the better eye. (I'm still chuckling, after reading your instructions the first time 'eye transplant' popped into my mind and I laughed out loud.) Actually, the eye color looks very realistic now. The amount of reflection has come down from spooky to acceptably bright. I wish I could stand over your shoulder and watch you do that. I'm so impressed.

I guess I had smudge tool mixed up with burn tool--sorry. What exactly is the smudge tool?

I may email you with a couple questions tomorrow. Thank you again for the tip on fixing glowing eyes.

BTW, Voodoo never goes outside anymore, he's way up in years and way overweight. We have coyotes in the area so he stays in (altho he still cries to go out sometimes).

Glad you like it, Marnie! What fun!! Had to laugh about the eye transplant, too, once you pointed it out! LOL

Here's a graphic of the smudge tool, I know you can appreciate!! :O)

{{gwi:897346}}