Layering - knocking out window in top layer

[ClayTeamRE Profile]

I'm a Realtor who enjoys taking his own pictures of homes. Interior shots can be difficult enough, but when I want to layer a under exposed shot to highlight what's outside a window, under an normal exposed interior shot, it's very time consuming and not 100% accurate along the hard edges.

Has anyone discovered a way to knock out a layer by simply selecting/clicking on four points (to designate the area you'd like to erase)? Sure would be faster and neater. Help!!!

FYI...Smart Photo Editor is a wonderful program!

[eadams Profile]

Hi ClayTeamRE,

I don't know a way to define an area by setting 4 points in SPE. There is a lasso tool, but it seems to follow only the movement of the mouse, and I haven't figured out a way to just have it draw lines between 4 points.

I would simply use the select area tool to select the window and add a darkening effect to that area only. In most cases it shouldn't matter if the selection is pixel perfect. You will know that the selection is not perfect, but I doubt that others would notice.

I am interested to see if there are other solutions.

Eve

[admin]

Hi ClayTeamRE,

I think you're looking for a way to combine two images, not darken one part, right? In that case, I presume you have discovered the composite tool, but are finding difficult to get the edges right. Have you tried the Find Hard Edge brush, which is designed for hard edges like window frames. It defaults to Find Soft Edge brush which is better for diffuse objects.

Tony