How to Eliminate Specular Highlights
If you have ever taken a photo that had excessive highlights, you know how frustrating it can be. If the highlights are very severe, you will find that the usual approaches of playing with levels and adjustment layers just won't work because there is nothing there but white. Fortunately, if the area of highlight is not too large, there is another way to deal with it.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Load the photo that you need to adjust the highlights in onto your computer.
-
2
Start Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or GIMP. Click “File” in the menu and click “Open.” Go to and open the photo you loaded.
-
-
3
Select the “Lasso” tool from the toolbar. Use it to make a selection around the areas with the excessive highlights.
-
4
Select the “Clone Stamp” tool (in GIMP, it is the “Clone” tool). Select a hard brush tip.
-
5
Hold down the “ALT” key (in GIMP, hold down the “CTRL” key) and click on an area near the highlights that contains pixels similar to those that would have been in the selection if the highlight had not been there. Use the tool to paint over the selection.
-
6
Select “Select” from the menu and click “Deselect” (in GIMP, click “None). Change the brush tool to a small, soft one.
-
7
Hold down the “ALT” key (in GIMP, hold down the “CTRL” key) and click on an area near the join between the original image and the part you cloned. Paint along that line to remove it. Save your work.
-
1
