(pupil) size does matter!

[rocker83]

Im quite terrible at retouching eyes...to make them pop..but add insult to injury I have lately been "painting" in the pupils of my models to make them larger...How does one do this so it doesn't look like a blatent fake lie? I was told you can use complete 1 tone of black..(by just sampling some of the pupil) but it still looks fake. Could any wonderful members shed some light on how to make pupils larger and believable? Thanks in advance.

[PixelMagic]

Perhaps you can post an example of what you're trying to do.

[Anke]

What about selecting the pupil with the circular selection tool and then copy onto a new layer and enlarge them by 110% or so?

[tim]

I've never heard of anyone making pupils bigger in PS before... is it really necessary? How about reducing ambient light when you're taking the photos?

[rocker83]

well..nothing is pp is really necessary... but...Ive read a couple photoshop books and some photographers do enlarge the pupil...
the boring research studies behind it show, people hands down pick photos where the model's eyes have larger pupils...apparently it emotes warmth, trustworthiness and overall more attraction..
Ive done it to some pictures with some success and I do agree it looks alot better...again just personal taste..
I will try the circular enlarge tool tonight thanks :)

[PhotoVagrant]

I regularly enlarge the pupils of female portraits as a matter of course. The effect is subtle but well worth it. I use an action from 1-click (http://www.1clickactions.com/volume3.htm) - basically you roughly use the brush tool and then move the opacity slider to make the pupil bigger and darker.

DB

[René Damkot]

You could also try the liquify tool...

[cytime]

A couple of eye retouching tutorials:
http://freeonlineclasses.net/photoshop-tutorials/photo-retouching/how-to-retouch-eyes-professionally/showall.html

http://www.layersmagazine.com/retouching-eyes-in-photoshop.html

Enlarging the pupil just makes the eyes look better just must be done correctly as in many things just a little goes a long way....

[poloman]

You could also try the liquify tool...

This is easy to use to enlarge the entire eye as well...

[Nursedad]

You could also try the liquify tool...

Concur with the liquify idea. Perhaps the easiest / most realistic solution to your goal state.

[rocker83]

thank you so much folks for all your help and input!! :)

[Peano]

It depends on the specific image. If you can post a 100% crop of an example (the rest of the face doesn't matter), it would help. I've enlarged hundreds of pupils, but I don't go by recipes. The method has to fit the image.

[Damo77]

Hey Peano! Welcome to the Canon side!

[Peano]

Hey Peano! Welcome to the Canon side!

Hey, Damo! You meet the nicest people on the Canon side (but don't quote me on that you-know-where :D).

[Damo77]

LOL! It's funny to see you with "Junior Member" beside your name ;)

[tim]

LOL! It's funny to see you with "Junior Member" beside your name ;)

Can you explain? Is he a big fish in a different pond?

[Damo77]

Yes, he's very highly regarded over in the cafe - sought-after, in fact:

http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=169861

[tim]

Nice to have an expert here :)