Calling all CS4 experts

[marki]

Once upon a time my computer used to do what I told it and now seems to have a mind of its own. Before when I wanted to copy and exact part from one pic and lay it on another (e.g. fix orions core by placing a shorter exposure over the blown out core) I used to do the following.

1. Magic wand -> select area --> feather--> save selection.
2. I would then open the second image and load the selection which would select the exact same area of the shorter exposure, then hey presto, copy and past into the new image.

Now I seem to have an extra drop down box (channel) in the save selection menu that was not there before. I can still do part 1 but it will not let me transfer the selection to the second image. Any ideas/solutions most welcome.

Mark

[Octane (Humayun)]

When you copy your channel, make sure it is activated (eye icon) first. Then, copy, paste, and deactivate.

H

[marki]

Thanks H . I never had to do it like that before but it works.

Mark

[floyd_2 (Dean)]

I have done the same thing by putting the longest exposure as the bottom layer, then the next shorter exposure as the second layer and so on and then using layer masks. Just add each image as a layer in the longest exposure image without any mods.

If you were working in 2 layers only you could do this:

• Turn off the second (short exposure) layer which is on top of the long exposure layer
• Select the long exposure layer
• Use the lasso tool to select the blown out area
• Feather it by maybe 40 pixels or more if it's just the core (it really depends on the scale of the image). Use your judgement.
• Turn on the short exposure layer on the top
• Select the short exposure layer
• Click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layer Pallette

That should feather just the area that you want into the long exposure image nicely.

I hope that reads properly Mark, I only just woke up

[marki]

Thanks Dean, makes sense. I am just annoyed as I used to able to select an area on one pic (i.e blown core of orion), save the selection then open a shorter exposure and load the selection to the exact same position on that image. Easy from there just copy and paste into the first image and you don't need to align or stuff about as the mask covered the exact area you wanted. Can not do this anymore . I think when I reloaded CS4 it automatically checked for updates and applied them. Bit peeved really as it used to be really easy.

Mark