A few days ago, I wrote about my difficulties getting a baby picture to look good. That photo started as a way to show my friend that my baby was enjoying her quilt, but it ended with an exploration of some Photoshop functions that are useful when it comes to rescuing a photo that you're not too impressed by.

So, I started by adjusting Levels, and went on to convert to black-and-white.

My last and trickiest step (I say tricky because this is a new world for someone who doesn't work with Photoshop regularly; I think for Photoshop experts this stuff is old hat) was to use something called the Magnetic Lasso tool.

The Magnetic Lasso tool helps you select an object or area within an image by detecting edges. You select it, then bring the pointer to the edge of what you're planning to select, and click once to set a start point. As you drag your mouse around the object, the tool guesses at the edges and selects them. You can adjust it if it gets it wrong, but if you're encircling an object with really clearly defined edges, it tends to do a good job.

So why did I want to use this tool? Well, I wanted to change the settings in part of the picture -- basically, I wanted to tone down the colors in the quilt. So I used the Magnetic Lasso tool to select the baby, then I went up to the Select menu and chose "Inverse." That way, Photoshop switched from selecting the baby to selecting everything else in the image. Then I reduced the Saturation (the intensity of color) of the quilt, until it looked like it had been washed several times and faded a bit. Suddenly, the photo of my daughter "popped" off the background a whole lot more!

Now, the Magnetic Lasso tool can be used to do more than adjust Saturation. Any of the things I've talked about (converting to black-and-white or setting Levels) can be applied to a selected portion of your photo, as can a whole lot of other adjustments and filters. It's also a way to select a portion of a picture that you might want to copy out of one photo and paste into another. Basically, it's a very helpful option for intelligent selection of specific objects or areas. 

And the finished product? Well, it's still not my favorite photo, but I sure like it a lot better with these adjustments. And the whole experience was great practice for me (as well as a reminder to take my photos more carefully in the first place).