Photoshop Sky Replacement Feature in Real Estate Photography
One of the, if not the most, often used photo editing technique is Photoshop’s sky replacement feature in real estate photography. It allows photographers to work with overcast skies on days where the images are sorely needed and helps them meet critical deadlines. With this, Adobe has developed and improved the real estate image sky replacement tool in Photoshop by leaps and bounds. Though don’t get it wrong, there are still some photographers and editors who prefer the traditional way of sky replacement as sometimes, the new methods can require a little bit of correcting to rectify some misalignments in the photo.
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The Photoshop sky replacement feature in real estate photography is a convenient tool. It is built to ensure there is something for photographers and editors who need to work on images that need some life brought into it. Thing is, not everyone is as familiar of these features and thus requires a little bit of getting used to. So, even if there is a hint of convenience, there needs to be an effort to navigate the technique for the first time. In advanced cases, even if the right steps are taken, the volume of work in using the real estate image sky replacement tool in Photoshop can be a lot to swallow. You may need to seek the best working model to get more hands-on deck to work on this.
How Do I Change the Sky on Real Estate Pictures?
Given the frequency of features of sky replacement in property photos, it would be best to know all the ways to do it. It doesn’t mean you have to do it both ways at all times, but the principle of most things start with learning the hard way. See, we can liken the real estate image sky replacement tool in Photoshop is learning how to drive stick. You might elect to go straight to an automatic car and still get from point A to point B, but the concept won’t be learned on why and how things work. Doing the initial diligence can help you in situations where advanced technology won’t be available so try and give it a go so you can see both sides.
Doing it the Good Old-Fashioned Way
Prior to any artificial intelligence infusion or smart algorithm in Photoshop’s sky replacement feature in real estate photography, editors would take the standard procedure to get to where they want to. This includes layer masking, tracing the foreground from the background, separating them into different canvasses, and throwing in a bright sunny sky at the back. Then a few retouches happen to make sure the background and foreground blend naturally. This means that in the past, real estate image sky replacement tools in Photoshop used a combination of tools and can still in recent days.
It all starts with the creating of a duplicate layer through the layers panel. This ensures that each element has its boundaries when you are applying changes as not to affect other parts of the photo.
Second is the use of selection tools. Now, there are many to choose from depending on the degree of complexity. Sometimes all you need is to use the right one for the right situation. Choose from the lasso tools, quick selection tool, or the pen tool. Then, inverting the selection and deleting the background enables you to put something else on it.
The retouching portion now requires you to make sure the borders do not seem foreign to each other. You may need to use such tools similar to the brush tool or clone stamp tool to enrich the colors and vibrancy of the areas affected by the cuts.
Leveraging on the Convenience
Now, with Photoshop’s sky replacement feature in real estate photography being just a one-click wonder, replacing the sky with a pre-set available within the application. All it takes now is to clean up afterwards with retouching and you will be able to execute all of the aforementioned steps in a few clicks.
Where is the Sky Replacement Feature in Photoshop?
With the plethora of options and tools within the software, one could get lost on the first time. Only through familiarity can all of these be eventually seared into habit or knowledge. To be able to navigate this new feature to execute the real estate image sky replacement tool in Photoshop, follow these easy steps:
- Start off with the new sky and the photo on different layers. This will help you clean off the border where the roof or leaves of trees will be affected by the cut
- Go to Edit>Sky Tab then the selection of skies will be available to you.
- Choose one that fits your photo or the mood you want to present, and this will more or less be a trial-and-error process
- Adjust the opacity so you can make the entire photo look cohesive
Now, there is no silver bullet for the retouching portion, but the artificial intelligence built into the software should be able to minimize the need as the software helps detect the objects from one another especially with the multi-masking feature. This comes along with the addition of Photoshop’s sky replacement feature in real estate photography and this neat addition now eliminates the need to split the layers using the selection tools and do the layers one by one.
Why Sky Replacement is Indispensable
Potential buyers often like to see a property that they could envision themselves living in. The decision does not only come due to the beauty of the property but also through the peripheries and this includes the sky. The mood changes as the sky can give off a vibrant hue, and therefore a bright sunny day wins the heart all the time. If you are portraying a property in a cold and gloomy set, then you might just as well kiss the sale goodbye.
Final Thoughts
So, the next time you need to do this technique, remember you have two options. If you are pressed for time the AI-assisted method or model can make life easier. Otherwise, learning the entire thing could be worthwhile especially if you want to master the software and learn how to adjust things on a finer scale.
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