How To Remove Red Eye

When your subject's pupils reflect the flash of your camera, it can cause a red glow known as "red eye." This effect is especially prevalent when the ambient light source is low. You can avoid the occurrence of red eye by moving your light source away from your subject, but, if it's too late, you can also use the red eye removal tool in your post-processing software.

Red-eye in photos is a common problem. When light from the camera's flash reflects off the retina of a photo subject, a red-eye effect is captured in the photo. Corel PaintShop Pro has two methods of removing red eye from a color photo.

The fastest method of removal is to use the Red Eye tool. A more powerful method is to use the advanced Red Eye Removal command, which lets you change the eye color.

To remove red-eye quickly:

1. Install PaintShop Pro

To install PaintShop Pro photo editing software on your PC, download and run the installation file above. Continue following on-screen instructions to complete the setup process.

2. Select Red Eye tool

On the Tools toolbar, choose the Red Eye tool.

3. Adjust the Size

On the Tool Options palette, adjust the Size of Red-Eye control so that the pointer is about twice the size of the red area needing correction.

4. Position and Apply

Position the pointer directly over the eye, and click. You can zoom in on the photo, if necessary, for better control of the Red Eye tool. You can size the pointer interactively by holding down Alt while dragging the Red Eye tool over the eye area.

To use advanced options for red-eye removal:

1. Install PaintShop Pro

To install PaintShop Pro photo editing software on your PC, download and run the installation file above. Continue following on-screen instructions to complete the setup process.

2. Invoke Red Eye Removal

Choose Adjust > Red Eye Removal.

3. Adjust position

In the After preview area, drag to center the red eyes of the subject. If necessary, use the Zoom control to see the eyes in more detail.

4. Pick color

Choose a color variation option from the Hue and Color drop-lists. Note: The Hue drop-list is available only for the Auto Human Eye method.

5. Select correction method

From the Method drop-list, choose one of the following correction methods:

  • Auto Human Eye — automatically selects the correction area and chooses settings appropriate for a human eye
  • Auto Animal Eye — automatically selects the correction area and chooses settings appropriate for an animal eye. This method lets you rotate the selection.
  • Freehand Pupil Outline — lets you use the Freehand Selection tool to select the correction area for human or animal eyes
  • Point-to-Point Pupil Outline — lets you use the Point-to-Point Selection tool to select the correction area for human or animal eyes

When more careful correction is needed, such as for a partially obscured pupil, it is best to use the Freehand Pupil Outline method or the Point-to-Point Pupil Outline method.

6. Apply a method

In the Before preview area, perform one of the following tasks:

  • For the Auto Human Eye or Auto Animal Eye method, click inside the red area of the eye to select the eye automatically, or drag from the center of the eye to the outside edge of the red area.
  • For the Freehand Pupil Outline method, drag around the edge of the red area of the pupil until you reach the beginning point of the selection.
  • For the Point-to-Point Pupil Outline method, click around the edge of the red area of the pupil, and double-click when you reach the beginning point. You can reverse a click by right-clicking.

After you select the eye, a circle appears around the selected area, and a control box for making adjustments encloses the circle. The After preview area displays the corrected eye.

Note: If you choose the Freehand Pupil Outline method or the Point-to-Point Pupil Outline method, confine the selection area to the pupil of the eye (the small dark circle at the eye’s center). These methods are designed to correct the pupil area, where red-eye occurs, without changing the surrounding iris.

7. Make final corrections

Set the following controls to fine-tune the red-eye correction:

  • Pupil lightness — specifies the amount of lightness in the pupil so that the corrected eye matches the natural eye color
  • Iris size — specifies the size of the iris. Increasing the iris size decreases the pupil size.
  • Glint lightness — specifies the lightness of the glint. Lower values darken the glint; higher values lighten it.
  • Glint size — specifies the size of the glint
  • Feather — adjusts the edges of the corrected eye so that they appear to blend into the surrounding image areas or appear more defined. Lower values make the edges more defined; higher values blend the edges into the surrounding image areas.
  • Blur — blends the eye with surrounding pixels when the photo has a grainy appearance. You can increase the setting one unit at a time until the eye blends naturally with the rest of the image.

Click OK.

Download a free trial now and start removing red eye today

PaintShop Pro's image editing tools allow you to quickly and easily remove red eye from your images to make your photo look awesome.

PaintShop Pro does more than just remove red eye

Check out some of the other photo editing features in Paintshop Pro, like enhance photos, crop an image, rotate a photo, and more! Create high quality photos in a fun and easy to use photo editor and make your photos stand out more than ever.

Enhance A Photo Enhance A Photo
Straighten A Photo Straighten A Photo
Remove Red Eye Remove Red Eye
Add Photo Effects Add Photo Effects

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