Exampe 1 Solution: Black Tassles Revisited

The hints for this example provide a complete description of how to mask the red tassles and change them to a black color. So I'll just show a couple of finer points to help you get around two common pitfalls with masking. Start by zooming the image to 100 percent, so that we can get a good look at any glitches.

The first glitch is pretty substantial. Although I've moved the lightness curve to get as dark a result as possible, the braided cord still has some of its original red color. Not good.

The fix is simple - select the a curve, and make it flat. Voila! We've got a nice solid black.

In some cases - not this one - you may want to flatten out the b channel to get rid of any blue or yellow tint.

On the right are a couple of other small problems. The first image shows that the gold color is reflecting red from the original color. The second shows a red fringe around the black threads in the upper left, as well as red reflections in the polished stone.

These kinds of details really matter. Can you adjust the image, or otherwise fine tune the mask to get rid of these problems?