How do I remove shadows off face only - not the rest of the picture?

Kasper,
> Does this work well with both 2.0 & 5.0?

Basic stuff like Dodge, Clone, Brush, opacity, etc. should work in all versions (I would hope!!)

Another way:
1. Create new layer, set its blend mode to Overlay.
2. Set foreground color to white.
3. With Brush tool and soft brush with low opacity (15-50%), incrementally paint or dab over shadow.

For subtler changes, use Soft Light in step 1.

Scott Kelby's book "Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 Collection" has a section on "Removing hot spots" (bright shiny spots on peoples faces) which involves setting the clone stamp tool blend mode to darken. This helps preserve some of the original texture of the area being modified rather than just going over the top of it in normal mode. Since your problem is basically the converse of this, you might have some success with the clone stamp tool set to "lighten".

As Ken mentioned, it is a good idea to create a new layer before starting to use the clone tool so that you can use the opacity slider to reduce the effect should you happen to overdo the treatment.

Another way to lightn a face in shadows in 3 and 5 is to use shadow/highlights - select the face using the lasso tool, I usually feather the selection anywhere from 10 - 40 pix depending on what I'm working with.

CR

Does this work well with both 2.0 & 5.0?

Kasper

Marcy,

Another option is to use the clone tool.
Place a new layer above the background copy layer. Be sure that the box "use all layers" in the clone tool dialog is checked. Then do the Cloning on this layer. You can adjust the opacity of the layer if necessary.

The spot healing brush tool is also useful in relation to relatively small areas that need correction.

Ken

Try this:
Duplicate your background layer.
Choose the dodge tool and choose the shadows option. Set the exposure level to around 20%.
Select a brush with a soft edge.
Now paint with the dodge tool on the new layer over the areas you want to lighten.
Experiment with different brushes, exposures and so on.

Bob Warren