A lesson in photo head swapping

HOW TO FIX A GROUP PHOTO, WHEN EVERYONE, EXCEPT 1 PERSON, LOOKS GOOD:

This happens to us alot, and maybe it happens to you too.  You take a group photo on a holiday, since you're all dressed somewhat nicely, hair brushed, etc.  You take a few photos, but still, the best picture has one person, (usually a kid,) messing things up by refusing to smile, making a weird/crazy face, or they're blurry, because they can't sit still, their eyes are closed, etc.  Maybe I can help.

You can change a photo like this:

Into a photo like this!

It's a little like amateur photo shopping, without the Photoshop program. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it might just make you feel like you are awesome!


Step 1:  No matter how annoyed your photog gets (Mom!), always take 4, 5, 6 photos in the same pose.  And if you can take a second bunch, with different lighting, in a different pose, a bunch of times, do that too.

*Important note for parents, freeze your smile and don't move the entire time.  Become an expert at speaking through your frozen smile. You don't want to be that parent looking down at your toddler for the ONE photo the little stinker is actually looking happy in.

You don't need to have the Photoshop program to do this. I use Paint, which comes with most Windows systems.  The icon for Paint looks like an artists pallet, with a paintbrush.

Step 2: Once you decide which 2 photos you're going to use, open them both in Paint.  If possible, open the Paint program twice, so you can easily bounce back and forth between them with your cursor, and if possible look at the 2 photographs, right next to each other, that works best if you use 2 monitors, but you can always try with 2 shrunken windows, side by side, too.

Important tools in Paint:

 

Anytime you screw up? UNDO! I use this the most.


Step 3: To select the face, head/smile you WANT in your picture, use the Select tool.  Mine is under the Home tab, it looks like a rectangle of dotted lines.

This might vary on your PC, depending on what preferences have been set up.  I use the rectangle selection as often as possible, free form can work, if you need to cut out an oval shape for a face or a smile shape for a smile, but that's trickier to pull off.  If you have a steady hand, go for it.  You can always undo, undo, undo, until it looks right.

I usually use the rectangle, and take the whole head. (GAH! Relax, and remember it's only a picture).

3 years old & stone cold

Step 4: Once you have the rectangular, or otherwise shaped head you like, copy it. Next, open, or move to the photo with the head that needs replacing, (like stone cold MoMo above).  In Paint, click on the Home tab, top left of your screen, and click paste.  It will paste the new, better head in the top left corner of the image, then you use your mouse/cursor to click on the good head and drag it to the right spot, OVER the bad head.  You can adjust it to make it slightly larger, or smaller, by hovering over the head once it's in place, and using the cursors on the corners.  If you mess up, and it won't let you move it or change it anymore, UNDO!  Re-paste and it will drop it in the top left again and you can try again.  You may decide you need to re-copy the good head, adjust the size of the rectangle, use more or less of the good image, etc. If it doesn't match up, and sometimes, due to background, lighting, it can be harder, or even impossible to do successfully, so the new head blends in well, but every photo is different.

If you DO like the new head image, be sure to re-save the new and improved photo with a new name.

Other tools you should play with, and may need in the Paint program, are the Zoom in, and Zoom out tools. In my Paint program, these can be found on the bottom right of the screen, and also under the View tab.

Also, if your pasted photo section, doesn't quite match up, and you want to try to camouflage your edit, instead of changing what you're copying, you can try using the paint brush tools, and can even create custom colors to better match your photo.  It's REALLY tough to match skin tones, patterns, or unusual colors, but you can always try.

* Warning for perfectionists, you will never likely be fully satisfied.  Give yourself a time limit on how much time you're willing to sacrifice before you get started, otherwise you could spend hours, and still not think it looks right.

Hope this helps.  Feel free to ask if there is something I forgot, or you run into any other issues I didn't cover.  Happy head cutting and photo fixing!

If you alter a photo with a head swap, be careful ordering actual frame-able hard copies of the image, especially larger sized images.  They might make your edit much more obvious.

If you have success, please do me a favor, and post your before and after pics in the comments below my blog, I'd really appreciate it, THANKS!!