Tutorials2D GraphicsGIMPGIMP: Green Eye Fix For Pets ( Also Works For RedEye )

GIMP: Green Eye Fix For Pets ( Also Works For RedEye )

Written by Marc Roberge | 25 April 2011

RedEye is a recurring problem that occurs when taking photos in poor lighting conditions that require the use of a flash. Generally, the problem is more pronounced with Point and Shoot cameras due to the close proximity of the flash to the lens. Humans and animals with blue eyes tend to display the redeye photographic effect but it is not uncommon, especially when taking photos of animals, to end up with a Green Eye or Amber Eye effect.

While GIMP and other photo editing software offer automatic RedEye removal tools or plugins, these rarely work well…if at all. The following is a technique to manually repair RedEye, Green Eye or Amber Eye in your precious photos.

Here is a photo of Stella, a friend’s cute little Basset Hound puppy. As you can see, this shot was taken under low light conditions and has resulted in Green Eye.

The first thing we need to do is to zoom in on the affected areas.

From the Toolbox, select the Paintbrush tool. Make sure that your foreground color is set to black and that you select a fuzzy edged brush that is properly scaled to allow you to brush over the pupil without touching the surrounding areas. Finally, from the Mode dropdown, select “Color”. This will allow us to desaturate (remove the color) without affecting the natural tones and highlights.

Brush over the green, red or amber pupil being careful to avoid the surrounding areas. You’ll note that all color is removed but that natural tones, highlights and shadows are retained.

Next, from the Toolbox, select the Dodge/Burn tool. Set the tool to Burn mode and select Midtones. This will prevent losing highlights while darkening the pupil.