extract and alllying new..

hey guys,
I have been experimenting with extracting heads from one picture and trying to apply it to another body in another picture.
After moving it to the new picture I have challenges with makeing it look like it is supposed to be there. please help.
As for facial color I use hue/saturation, and levels....sort of works but it just doesnt match in skin color.
Also how do I erase the original pictures head, replace the background, and then place the new head on that body, match skin color and make it look seemless around the neck/chin area.
It still looks like I've pasted a head on a different body. Surely you pros have a better way.

Sincere thanks

I.E.

I don't think there's any need to erase anything. Just have the background on one layer and the head on another. Make sure the head layer is over the body layer. As for backgrounds, I don't really understand what you mean. But after you're done with the body and head, extract that and put it on top of another (new background) layer. Post the pictures you're working on right now and I'll/we'll see what I/we can do (have a bit of fun, too).

tom

thanks for the reply,
When I try to enlarge the new head and place it over the other head their always seems to be extra hair sticking out behind the new head..from the other persons head...so I try to erase it. Otherwise I have to make the new head to big to cover it all and it looks like #$%^.

Maybe I am making the head bigger the wrong way.
I select the new head>control T> drag the corners out and adjust, but the new head almost always gets distorted?
Is there a better way?
I just want a new head on a different body in that new picture, I dont want to extract the new figure and put it in a different background. I want to use the original background. Hope that makes sense. Also how do you make a seemless join around the neck area

Thanks
I.E.

If you hold down shift while you drag the corners out, it will enlarge proportionately (won't look distorted). In order to get rid of the stray hair of the first head, use the healing brush tool (looks like a band-aid). Select "replace" in the drop-down menu (instead of "normal"). Alt-click (you should see a target) once on the background and then paint over the hairs. What the healing brush tool does is copies part of the image from one place and lets you draw it somewhere else. Fool around with it a little bit. If the neck is two different sizes, use the healing brush tool in the same way. It's probably a good idea to flatten the image (into one layer) before you healing-brush the neck. It might also be a good idea to use the blur tool (after flattening) where the two necks come together to get rid of any visible line.

Happy head-cropping.

tom

Hey Tom,
Thanks for the advice. I haven't tried it yet but will tonight. I looked for the "replace" in the drop down menu and couldn't find one. I pulled down every pull down across the top and only found image>adjustments>replace color.
Pulled down the drop down in my layers pallette and tried to find a "replace" but also couldn't find it.
I have PS7. Im confused. Do you have PS7 as well. If so, why doesn't mine have this "replace" your talking about???
Or am I looking in the wrong place?

Kind Regards,
I.E.

"Replace" is in a drop-down menu after you click on the healing brush. Not like "file" or "edit" - below that. The default should say "Normal" but this isn't what you want. Click the arrow to the left and the menu will drop down. You'll see replace, as well as about 6 other options. Then you have to remember to alt-click on the background before you start drawing. You'll get the hang of it. I have PS7 as well so you should find it if you look hard enough. E-mail me at [email]trhaynes@hotmail.com[/email] if forget to reply and you still have questions.

tom

use clipping/show/hide layers/paths, don't erase, much harder to go back