Keith Bauer
11-21-2008, 10:15 AM
I discovered a very nice use of Content Aware Scale in CS4. I commonly need to add canvas to birds in flight images. Here's the tip.
You'll need to be on an editable layer - i.e. not the background layer
Go to Image / Canvas Size and add the amount of canvas you want. Then select Edit / Content Aware Scale. Simply drag your image by the handle in the direction of the added canvas. In most cases you'll have the added canvas you want. If the technique distorts your subject, before you drag the canvas, do the following. Do a rough selection of the subject(s) that you want to protect from distortion. Feather the selection by a few pixels. Then save the selection. By default the selection name will be Alpha1. Then try the Edit / Content Aware Scale and note there is an option in the toolbar called "Protect". From that drop down pick "Alpha1" (or whatever you chose to call your saved selection). Then drag the handle to add your canvas.
If the image has the subject very close to the edge you are trying to expand, it doesn't work as well. The beauty of this technique is that it deals very well with difficult backgrounds with things like diagonal lines, shadows etc. that were problematic before when adding canvas.
Give it a try and see how it works for you.
You'll need to be on an editable layer - i.e. not the background layer
Go to Image / Canvas Size and add the amount of canvas you want. Then select Edit / Content Aware Scale. Simply drag your image by the handle in the direction of the added canvas. In most cases you'll have the added canvas you want. If the technique distorts your subject, before you drag the canvas, do the following. Do a rough selection of the subject(s) that you want to protect from distortion. Feather the selection by a few pixels. Then save the selection. By default the selection name will be Alpha1. Then try the Edit / Content Aware Scale and note there is an option in the toolbar called "Protect". From that drop down pick "Alpha1" (or whatever you chose to call your saved selection). Then drag the handle to add your canvas.
If the image has the subject very close to the edge you are trying to expand, it doesn't work as well. The beauty of this technique is that it deals very well with difficult backgrounds with things like diagonal lines, shadows etc. that were problematic before when adding canvas.
Give it a try and see how it works for you.