Red Eye Tool
The Red Eye Tool is a very simple tool. It removes the red color in eyes, which is caused by the flash being too close to the lens. Unfortunately, phones and cameras cause this, by having their built in flash.
When you take photos in low light with a phone or camera, depending on the device settings, the flash may go off. The red color is caused by the light reflecting off the blood vessels behind the eyes. It doesn't look good, but it’s easy to fix with this tool.
A better solution is to avoid it in the first place, if you are able, by taking photos in natural light. However sometimes that's not possible, such as at night or indoors.
Professional photographers often use a flash that is either far enough away from the lens, that it will avoid this reflection. Or they will point their flash to bounce off a reflective surface, which often gives a nicer quality of light, as well as avoiding the red eye.
Some cameras and phones try to minimize this by firing a quick burst of flash before taking the photo, with the aim that this flash will contract the pupil, thus minimizing the red eye effect.
Red Eye Tool Options
Detailed descriptions of each tool option
Tool Presets
You can create and save a Tool Preset for any tool, which will remember settings that you choose for that tool, so you can quickly and easily select different presets and settings for a particular tool. The degree of usefulness of presets varies, depending on the tool.
You can reset any tool back to its default settings by right clicking on the Tool Presets button and select Reset Tool. Take care not to Reset All Tools, unless that is intended.
Pupil Size
Move the slider to adjust the size of the effect in the pupil.
I've experimented with setting the slider at both extremes, 1 and 100 and there's not much difference.
Try if on the default setting of 50. That's usually all you need.
Darken Amount
Move the slider to adjust the darken amount.
I've experimented with setting the slider at both extremes, 1 and 100 and there's not much difference.
Try if on the default setting of 50. That's usually all you need.
How to use the Red Eye Tool
Here's typical photo, showing red eye.
Step 1
Select the Red Eye Tool from the toolbar. Like most tools, it shares the button with other tools and the one that is visible will be the last tool used.
Step 2
Click once in the red part of the pupil. That's all you need to do.
You can experiment with changing the options, but I've found that the default options for Pupil Size and Darken Amount, both on 50, works just fine.
Step 3
The red eye is removed.
Step 4
Click again in the other eye and your work is done.
Summary of the Red Eye Tool
The Red Eye Tool is a very simple but effective tool at removing red eye, caused by flash.
