Have you ever wondered why the grass is always so lush and green in real estate listings? Don’t they experience the dry summer days where no one seems to show the grass some TLC and turn brown? Well, the answer to those are they actually do turn brown. This is inevitable for cases where the property is vacant for a long time that real estate companies do not have all the time and resources to send someone to take care of the grass on a regular basis. There is, however, the fact that real estate companies make the necessary improvements once the property is ready for selling. It’s just too cumbersome to maintain it if there is no certainty in it being sold. From an advertising perspective, photographers and real estate agents cannot wait until the last minute to post the listing. This is where real estate photo editing steps in.
Turning brown grass into green and healthy-looking blades of leaves can be done with Photoshop . This real estate photo editing technique can help make the advertising materials available ahead of the actual improvements done on the lawn. This is why real estate photo editing is vital to all real estate companies as it helps the image communicate the ideal state and perhaps buy the company some time to get it physically fixed.
This real estate photo editing technique has alternative ways to perform. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat. These two techniques make sure that as you do the changes to the grass, the house, the fences, or other structures will not be impacted. The beauty about techniques such as these in real estate photo editing is that they can target even the most specific areas of the photo and make isolated changes.
1. Add a layer mask using the square icon with the circle in the middle under the layers panel - The layer mask will be used to protect the areas of the image where no change is required for this technique. Real estate photo editing must ensure the entire photo looks genuine and neat, without any signs of unkempt editing.
2. Click on the layer mask to turn it black - The black background means that the layer mask is active and can be enhanced. This can be found in the layers panel and to confirm that you do have a layer mask, it has to appear as a black square that is idented to the right.
3. Use a brush on the object of the photo that needs to be unchanged - Choosing a color (preferably white) and brushing on the areas that should be surfaced will preserve those parts. When changes are made later on, Photoshop will recognize the specified area of the layer mask that will take on the color changes.
4. The adjustment panel in photo shop will have the hue and saturation toggle - Real estate photo editing techniques are all about adjustments. Photos always require changes in brightness or colors because cameras cannot imitate what our eyes see. With this, hue will be your best friend in changing the color of the grass. It should be the first one on the adjustment panel with a slider.
5. Be careful to select from the drop-down menu with the word ‘Master’, the color that best represents the hue of the grass you want to change - The many options in this drop-down menu will dictate what color will be focused on or changed. Depending on how the grass looks (brown or yellow), it will be important to select the closest one to get a good hue adjustment. Then, slide the toggle (left or right) until the desired hue is achieved.
6. Adjust the saturation and lightness according to the desired outcome of depth and darkness or brightness, but the Hue will be the main difference maker - The last step is to make sure that the changes can blend properly with the entire image. Real estate photo editing should create a flawless image that serves the purpose of marketing the property in all its glory.
1. Create a layer and set the mode to Soft Light - The Soft Light mode will enable a semi-transparent or opaque layer that allows color changes to happen on the image. It is important to also follow the steps to make sure that only a select portion of the image is impacted and the areas that do not require change are kept the same.
2. Select a color and begin opaquely painting with a brush on the Soft Light Layer - This step requires you to choose a shade of green that will realistically represent the ideal state of the lawn. This real estate photo editing technique for making grass green requires a bit of work with painting on the grass yourself.
3. Adjust the opacity as needed through the Layers Panel on the selected layer to adjust the brightness
- The opacity of the soft light mode may not be exactly to your desired level. Adjust the opacity further to make sure that it comes out realistic and apt for the surrounding to fit in with the changes.
4. Retouch and erase on areas that should not have been painted on - Not all of the things you find on the grass should be the color green. There could also be paint in excess of the area you defined that may have spilled over to fences, paved roads, or even the property itself. Have a good look and clean up these areas with the eraser tool to make it look crisp.
Real estate photo editing does provide the avenue to make the necessary color corrections and changes that might surprise you in more ways than one. Such real estate photo editing techniques such as these will definitely be useful especially for properties that do not get enough attention to lawn care and making such edits for listings can give your real estate client some time to get it fixed before any open house or viewings.
