Using Windows XP > Digital Photography

Retouch photos to whiten teeth

Published: December 20, 2005
By Kleber Stephenson

In close-up portrait photos, many people wish that their teeth and eyes were whiter than the picture portrays them. Making these adjustments to any photo is easier than you think using a photo-editing program like Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006. Here, we'll focus on whitening the teeth, but the same technique can be used for the whites of the eyes.

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Letting the touch-up begin

Using Digital Image Suite 2006, we'll whiten the teeth to enhance the final photo.

1.

Zoom in on the teeth by dragging the Zoom slider to the right until the teeth are large enough to select easily. Next, select the Freehand tool on the toolbar, and carefully draw a selection area around the teeth. Be careful not to select the gums or lips.

Screen shot showing selected teeth zoomed in

2.

Click the Selection button on the toolbar. The Freehand Tool dialog box appears (it might already be displayed). Click Feather, apply a 1-pixel feather to your selection, and click OK. Feathering will soften the whitening effect and prevent hard edges from showing.

Screen shot with the Feather option selected and the resulting Feather Selection dialog box

3.

In the Common Tasks list, click the Touchup menu arrow, and then click Exposure and Lighting.

Screen shot with the Exposure and Lighting option highlighted on the Touchup menu

4.

On the curve and histogram bar, drag the white point slider (the white arrow) to the left until you've whitened the teeth to your satisfaction. Be sure not to overdo it—you want the teeth to look natural. Click Done when you are finished.

Screen shot showing the adjusted white point slider on the histogram

5.

To finish your touch-up, double-click anywhere in the photo to clear all selections, and then zoom back out to 100 percent.

6.

On the File menu, click Save to save the changes to your photo.

Photograph before retouching and whitening teeth Photograph after retouching and whitening teeth

You can repeat this technique to select and whiten the eyes also. Simple, subtle photo retouching can easily make the difference between an average photo and a spectacular photo.

To further enhance your photo, learn how to remove blemishes.

Kleber Stephenson

Kleber Stephenson is Director of Seminars/Director of Windows Technologies for KW Media Group, Inc. He is the author of Windows XP Killer Tips (Pearson Education), Microsoft Office 2003 Killer Tips (New Riders Press), and Learn Windows XP for 5 Bucks (Peachpit Press), and is the co-author of The iTunes for Windows Book (Peachpit Press).