How to remove purple party-light reflections

[ellegee68]

Hello all, I recently purchased PSE2021 and am getting up to speed. My focus is on tweaking photos for inclusion in travel photo books in Shutterfly.

Currently, I have a group photo of a dinner table with purple party-light reflections that I have been unable to figure out how to remove. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Thanks for your help,
Elle

[pontiac1940]

Hi Elle
Welcome here. Try this. (Probably not explained well, but I tried it and it removes most of the off color)
 
Enhance >> Adjust color >> Adjust hue/saturation
Then click where it says "Master" and select "Magentas" 

Use the eye dropper (color selector) and pick a bright purple spot. Then desaturate the selection.

We are not allowed to post adjusted photos here, so I can't post the result. It's about 95% effective and there is probably more that can be done as well. 

The other option is to convert it to B&W. 

Clive    

[Sepiana]

Mar 13, 2021 17:02:26 GMT ellegee68 said:

Currently, I have a group photo of a dinner table with purple party-light reflections that I have been unable to figure out how to remove. If you have suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Thanks for your help,
Elle

Hi Elle, welcome to PSE&M! Glad to have you aboard.

Try this . . .

1. Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer.
2. In the Channel box, select Magentas, reduce the Saturation to -100.
3. In the Channel box, select Blues, reduce the Saturation. Start with a reduction of -75.
4. At this point, you may need to boost the Saturation in the other four channels -- Reds, Yellows, Greens, Cyans. 
5. Depending on the results, a Levels adjustment may be needed.

NOTE:  Using an Adjustment layer will give you more editing flexibility. You can go back and re-edit it if needed.

[hmca]

My first inclination would be to convert this to B/W as suggested by Clive. But I did have a play with it, and quite by accident, found that placing a purple/white gradient layer above the background and using the subtract blend mode at 70% I removed the purple significantly. I could then move on to the hue saturation later and desaturate magenta. I did some additional editing and would be happy to share my results with your permission. It may lead to other suggestions by members who are more advanced at this type of editing than I am.

[Tpgettys]

Wow, that worked really well Clive!  I am sure it depends on where you pick the color from, but when I tried it all of the purple was removed.  For some reason I have never learned about using the hue tool, but see that I will greatly benefit from spending a little time reading up on it.

Mar 13, 2021 17:22:04 GMT pontiac1940 said:

We are not allowed to post adjusted photos here, so I can't post the result.

That is not quite accurate; what is required is that the OP give permission up front.  If not, than their permission needs to be asked for before posting an edited version.

[ellegee68]

Hey you guys, these suggestions are amazing! I've just done a quick and dirty using Clives's suggestion and honestly, I could live with the first pass! But tomorrow I will take a more thoughtful approach and see what I can achieve. The hue adjustment is definitely the key. Who knew? Now I do! This community is the BEST! So glad I found y'all!

I'll post my final result.

Best wishes,

Elle

[Tpgettys]

I'm glad you found us too ellegee68 !  As you have found out already, our members are very knowledgeable and responsive!

[pontiac1940]

Mar 13, 2021 20:02:46 GMT Tpgettys said:

Wow, that worked really well Clive!  I am sure it depends on where you pick the color from

Tom
That's great! 
And, yes, it does depend on where the color selector selects. If the results are less than desired, you can undo or repeat a couple of times ... naturally saving the original just in case.  
My good lenses are virtually free of chromatic aberrations (as well they should be); however, with other lenses, I've used the color picker to remove blue, magenta or green CAs. You have to be careful if applying to the entire image since (say) a blue sky will also be desaturated if the CA has a blue tinge. You can also apply this method to just a small part of the image by selecting just the affected area. 
Clive