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Quick Fix – Turn Gray Skies Blue in less than a Minute.

I’ve seen various articles, tutorials, and blog posts on how to fix or replace a blown-out sky. So, this topic is nothing new. However, this may be the fastest way there is to do it. And it can be done without any magic wands, layer masks, extraction tools, or even any pictures of a sky. All in less than one minute.

I’m going to be using Photoshop CS2, but there should be ways to accomplish the same thing in Photoshop Elements.

For the main photo, I obviously wanted one with a washed-out sky. But, to show how well this technique works, I also wanted one that has a lot of intricate detail - like the leaves on the trees, which can often be problematic and difficult to work around.

Okay, are you ready? Let’s get started.

Step #1: Open your photo and duplicate the layer. In Photoshop CS2, there are four different ways I know of to duplicate a layer. But instead of going through all of them, just select your background layer and right-click on it. You’ll see the Duplicate Layer option.

Step #2: Next, select your rectangle Marquee Tool in your toolbar (see red oval above) and draw a box around the sky area you want to replace. If you notice the little ‘marching ants’ you’ll see I’ve selected the top half of this photo.

Step #3: Now, go to Image>Adjustment>Selective Color, which will open up a separate little control window (see below image). Go to Colors at the top of that window and select White. Now, just use your Cyan and Magenta sliders to add color until you get a shade of blue you like, and click OK. I have found that typically cyan is going to be about 10% higher than the magenta to get a nice natural looking blue.

Step #4: The only thing left to do is select your Eraser Tool (see red oval on left) and erase any residual blue in areas it shouldn’t be. In this photo, you can see there’s some blue on the right side of the house that needs to be removed. There’s also some on the front windows. Now, if I wanted to have more accurate ‘reflections’ in those windows, I could always leave that blue and just erase it off the window panes.

But either way, you’re done. That’s all there is to it. Gray skies turned blue in less than a minute.

However, to have thing a little more realistic looking, I created my own ‘clouds’ brush that’s now part of my permanent brush set. So, with a couple of extra clicks I can add some clouds and have a pretty nice looking sky – all without any magic wands, layer masks, extraction tools, or even any pictures of a sky.

And it can all be done in less than one minute.

Hopefully, you found this helpful. Maybe my next tutorial will be how to make your own cloud brush and clouds. They can come in very handy.

Posted by Michael Cole on 12/31/2008 02:59 PM

Comments (46)

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46 Comments on Quick Fix – Turn Gray Skies Blue in less than a Minute.

DEC

2008

Hi Michael- I followed along with a picture to work on but I can tell you for sure than PS Elements 6 does not have a selective color tool, so I was unable to complete the task. But I did enjoy the tutorial and look forward to more. I'm sure there will be plenty of lessons I can benefit from that will apply to PS Elements. Thanks a bunch and hope you have a very Happy New Year.

JAN

2009

Hi Gail: Happy New Year! Hmmm...I thought Elements might have have that option. I wonder if you could do it with the 'Replace Color' brush. I don't have Elements, so I can't experiment. Maybe I can download another trial version of that program and play around a bit. On another note, how's the new camera?

: )

Michael - Wow this is a great tutorial. I have not tried it out - I have elements also. The blue sky really makes a huge difference.

Your post has been featured in the photography group. : )

That is an amazing change. It makes me want to upgrade my PhotoShop to a newer version.

JAN

2009

Great tip. I have often thought if I had some time I could make the sky blue with photoshop. Now I know an easy way to do it, Thanks for sharing.

Michael, excellent info! Thanks!

Hi Michael - I don't have a replace color tool with PSE6, when I searched for it I received 2 options. The healing brush and the erase background tool. I have company for the next several days so I'll experiment with it when I have more free time. Glad you received some appreciation :-)

JAN

2009

Michael - I have a replace color command in Elements (enhance > adjust color > replace color) and it functions within a selection as you describe. But my experience has been that it does not work with white, black or shades of gray. My grade school teacher would tell me that white is not a color. (she would be 90-100 years old now, so what does she know) The on line photoshop gurus tell me that white has no intensity. In any case I would welcome a suggestion on an easy work-around for this function in PSE. I have not yet used PSE7, so I do not know if the Photoshop gods have addressed this issue in the latest version. Blue skys certainly have more impact.

If you do come up with an answer, be sure to post to the Photoshop Elements for Real Estate Group where some of the software geeks on a limited budget hang out.

By the way - Cheryl Johnson has done an excellent (as usual) tutorial on getting to a blue sky by replacing the gray one... but it is a more complex process with the magic wand selection tool.

Cheryl's post is found at the following link...

http://activerain.com/blogsview/269995/Photoshop-Elements-Fast-And-Easy-Blue-Skies

JAN

2009

Hi Maureen: My post has been featured? Very cool! But reading other comments here, I'm learning this doesn't work in Elements. Hopefully, there's still some little tips people can pick up.

Hi Myrl: Thank you for the comment. I think Photoshop is a great tool, no matter what version you have.

Hi Randy: Yeah, it's really pretty easy to make a sky blue in Photoshop. And there are a variety of ways to do it too.

Hi Gail: Probably the best way to do it then would be to select the washed out sky with a magic wand and and just delete it. You would then need to create a layer underneath your photo to put your sky on. (see comment below)

Hi Ted: Yeah, the Replace Color may not be the best way to go. But if your art teacher says that white isn't a color, that's just because she's never seen a computer! (lol-lol) Actually, on a computer monitor, or TV, or a projected image, white is a combination of red, green, and blue light at it's full intensity. And black is the absence of any light.

Hi Ted (again): Thank you. I've seen Cheryl's article before, and it is great. And that's a good way to do it. The only thing I might stress is that when doing your Magic Wand selection, spend extra time in testing the tolerance (I usually start it at about 30-35), and feather the edges by about 2 pixels. That should give you nice clean selection.

Thanks for the tip Mike, I will have to remember and try this. Thanks

JAN

2009

Hi Julie: Thank you the comment. Yeah, definitely give it a try. It can make a big difference in your final photo.

How about we all forward our photos to you to fix. Not that I am lazy, just computer challenged...

Hi Evelyn: Hmmm... Funny that you should mention that. I do some glamour and fashion retouching, and have often thought about offering the same service to Realtors.

http://www.colegrp.com/LookingGlass/

What do you think... $2.50 a picture sound fair? ;)

JAN

2009

wow! that really dresses up the shot. it looks very professional

Thanks for the tid bit of info to make images look better when the weather is wrong!

JAN

2009

Hi Teresa: Yeah, sometimes it doesn't take too much. In fact, sometimes just white balance and a little color correction can make all the difference in the world.

Hi Andrew: Thanks for the comment. And you're most welcome.

The house looks so much bettter! Thanks for sharing!

JAN

2009

I was in need of this step by step last week. I had some great shots but the sky was filled with clouds and the blue sky did not not show.

NICE! I love photoshop, and wondered why some agents always had the same sunset scene. Now I think I know how they did it!

JAN

2009

Hi Susan: You're welcome. And thank you for the comment.

Hi Mindy & Jay: Well...I'm willing to bet you may be in need of it again. (lol) It seems like the good shots always have something that needs a little tweaking. Thanks for the comment.

Hi Amy: Yep. If they have the same sunset scene, no doubt they're using the same sky image. But with this technique, the brush I made for creating clouds is totally random, so the sky would be different every time. It keeps it unique.

: )

JAN

2009

I'm definitely going to have to try this - thanks for sharing this tip!

JAN

2009

Hi Michael--Thanks for this simple tutorial--I'm still in the process of learning photoshop, of which I know very little. The picture looks tons better with the blue sky and from your instructions it's very simple to do; I appreciate you sharing this tip!

Have a great day,

Anne Rains

JAN

2009

Thanks Michael, that was easy enough. You say that is possible in Photoshop Elements as well?

Great post! I love Photoshop. It's only limitation is your imagination. Although you can do some extraordinary effects with PS, it's the simple fixes that make life a bit easier. Thanks.

JAN

2009

Mike, myself being a film colorist in my other career. I would do this all day long in a 2 million dollar room. Excellent work, most people would not figure that out. I know some commercial editors who would love to know that trick.

Hi Amanda: You're welcome. And definitely give it a try. It really is very easy.

Hi Anne: Thank you for the comment. I'm still learning Photoshop too. It seems there's always something else I hadn't discovered

Hi Kevin: I thought you could do it in Elements, but others here are saying it doesn't have the same Selective Color tool. So the way to do it would be with the Lasso tool. You could then just delete your selection and put a blue layer underneath it.

Hi Linda: I love Photoshop too. And I think you're right, about the only limitation is your imagination. I've seen people do some pretty amazing stuff. But as you point out, even the simple fixes makes a huge difference.

Hi John: A film colorist? Very cool. As in Telecine? Or, a color house? I've also been doing film and video for a lot of years too. And you can do just about anything you want these days. But speaking of Photoshop, did you see my other site? You might enjoy it, as it has some of my more complex retouching. http://www.colegrp.com/LookingGlass/

Mike a film colorist, Spirit, DaVinci, Cintel, and Scratch. I will check out the other site.

JAN

2009

Hi John: Ahhh...all the big stuff. That's what I thought. : )

Hi Mike, yes but I still have trouble programming a VCR, LOL.

Hi John: That's because you're suppose to be using a DVD player, and they don't need progamming. (lol-lol)

JAN

2009

Hi John. I probably one of the few who doesn't have photoshop. That's a neat trick! I use Picnik for resizing and editing. It's free and has great features but no way to edit just the sky. So whenever we have one of those great bright Carolina Blue sky days, I think oooh.... gotta go take pictures! Great tutorial.

FEB

2009

Hi Vicki: Thanks for the comment. I thought the Carolinas always had blue skies. I haven't tried Picnik, but I'm one who likes a LOT retouching tools. Here's an example of a retouch job I just did for a magazine. It has nothing to do with real estate, but was fun to do.

FEB

2009

thanks for the very cool, and really helpful , tips and tricks, this will help me out a lot, have a great rest of the weekend

Ahhh Michael - you are so good and we need you here on Active|Rain. Realizing it can be time consuming, if you could even do one tutorial a week and show us some of your work...I think a whole bunch of people could benefit. Thanks so much for the call back, you're a great guy :-) BTW, if you check in with our submissions on Speechless Sundays and Wordless Wednesdays, I think you'll find some of us asking for constructive critique...especially me!!! Looking forward to "more Michael"

FEB

2009

Michael, just used your trick on a new listing. Worked out great. thank you for the information.

I also used a vignette to add to the overall shot.

JohnP

FEB

2009

Hi John: Thank you for the comment. And glad to hear it worked well for you. I too sometimes use a slight vignette, just to bring a little more focus to the center of the picture.

I'm in the process of writing a few more posts on some Quick-Fix things that can be done to make a photo a little nicer. When I get those done, if they prove to be of any value, you can thank Gail MacMillian as she's been 'encouraging' me to write some more. ; )

Hi Michael, Please write some more post. I use Photoshop 7 and I am always looking for additional knowledge. I appreciate your time and knowledge on this subject. You have a great day.

Sincerely,

John Palmisano

Keller Williams

Weston, Fl 33326

Michael, P>S. I use to work with a great editor here in Miami named Michael Cole. he is an owner of a company called 2150 in Miami.

Hi John: Thank you. Actually I just posted another article this morning. Quick-Fix-That-ugly-yellow-orange-cast-in-my-pictures I haven't used Photoshop 7 for quite some time, so I don't recall if it has the tools referenced in this tutorial or not. Hopefully it does.

You used to work with someone named Michael Cole? As long as he was a good guy... : )

FEB

2009

Michael - what a timesaver not to have to retake photos on a day with blue skies. Fortunately here in Florida most days have blue skies.

MAR

2009

Hi Sharon: Thank you for the comment. Yeah, we have a lot of blue sky days in CA too. But often they come out looking gray or hazy in photos. : )

MAR

2009

Michael- Great tutorial....I have never really tried so many of the tools in my Photoshop or any of the other programs I have. But your tutorials (this is the 3rd on I just read) look very easy. Does this work with PS6?

Hi Kathy: Thank you for the compliment, and for reading my tutorials. I'm trying to writes tips that are easy for most anyone to do, but that will have a big impact on how their photos look. It's been so long since I've worked in PS6, I don't recall if it has Selective Color or not. But I believe it does. So, it should work the same way.

APR

2009

Hi Michael, if you ever get bored and wanted to teach us another trick...the process of the custom brush and adding clouds would be a good topic...I can't believe how real those look. Great Job!! You're very talented!!

Les Morehead Jr

360 Vision logo

www.360-virtualtours.com

Interactive 360° Virtual Tour provider

Hi Les: Thanks for stopping by, and for the idea. I've been wondering what I could write about next, and creating clouds and sky might be a good topic. A little more complex than others tips I've written about, but it could certainly be useful for people. Again, thanks for the idea (and the compliment).

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Michael Cole

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