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Pet Eye (Red Eye) in Lightroom

PhotoJoseph's picture
August 18, 2016 - 9:00pm

Red Eye isn't just for humans… pets can get it, too! As a follow-up to Live Training Session 210, here's an example of what Pet Eye will (and won't) do.

The Red Eye tool has two options; regular Red Eye as well as Pet Eye.

You’ll find Pet Eye under the Red Eye Correction tool

​Applying it is the same as applying to a human eye; you can click and drag on the eye, or just click and let Lightroom figure out the ideal size. It's not always right, but in testing I found it usually was. It's certainly worth trying as it's definitely faster than dragging by hand. 

There's also an Add Catchlight option, which is great… without it, the eyes look very flat. But a little added dot of white makes it much more believable. (Thanks Matthew Gregor for the cat photo!)

Pet Eye about to be applied on one eye — photo by Matthew Gregor

Unfortunately you may notice that the edge of the eye is not well defined. It's a bit soft around the edges, and even though this is a pretty high resolution image, it really isn't a clean application of Red Eye Correction. I tried several photos, and they all had the same result. Bummer.

Here's a before and after… when viewed at a lower resolution, it's just fine. Which I suppose, let's be honest, if you're getting red eye on a photo, this isn't likely to be the kind of photo you've shot for a client and have to deliver at a super high resolution, or on a big print!

The difference is dramatic, and easy to apply, but it's not perfect

Overall this is a pretty good tool. Not perfect, but certainly better than not having it at all.

Level:
Beginner
App:
Adobe Lightroom Classic (pre-CC)
Platform:
macOS Windows
Author:
PhotoJoseph

It’s cool that Lightroom leaves the flashpoint in the cat’s eye.  I’d almost guess that to have been lost.

Matt

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