carol.gimp.org

Welcome to the future when you can get a very good image from a camera with the flash built in. Even if they come equipped with a button that promises to reduce red eye, this button defies the laws of physics and you will still have the problem, especially with some people. The very best way to fix red eye in your photographs is to have those intense people look at the photographers shoulder instead of the camera lens. The cause of red eye is the flash reflecting from the back of the eye and into the lens. So, until this lovely child is able to understand "look at my shoulder" it is good to know that red eye can be fixed, somewhat. I learned the following method from tigert while I was lurking on the irc late late one night.

Zoom In

On the lower portion of TheGIMP's Image Window is a radio menu that will increase or decrease the view of the image. 400% zoom is the recommended amount to use when doing any detail work with graphics. It makes the small area appear bigger and you can fix things one pixel at a time if necessary.

Use the Channels Dialog found from the Dialogs menu Dialogs -->Channels to limit your work on only the Red Channel. This dialog can be confusing; especially to new users of TheGIMP or even old users who (like me) rarely use channels to work on images. You need to be sure that you remove the highlight from the the blue and the green channels by clicking to the left of the thumbnail. Ignore the eyeball icon; it's purpose is to remove the color from the view not access from changing the color. This method works only on the red channel.

Dodge and Burn Tool Options

Double click the Dodge and Burn Tool from the Toolbox. The first click engages the tool, the second click will open or focus the Dodge and Burn Tool Options.

The default Dodge and Burn Tool Options are set on "Dodge" and "Midtones" and "Exposure: 50%". To work on these red eye problems in photographs, you will need to toggle the options to "Burn" and "Highlights" and it setting the Exposure to 100% will accomplish this task much more quickly (less clicking on the image with the brush). You will also need a brush that is small compared to the image. The brush outline should help when selecting the brush.

Gently touch the red parts of the eye with this tool, using the image with the zoomed view until all of the red is gone.

Results

tigert warned that this method can leave the white spots in the eyes slightly green. I have found this to be true, however so far it hasn't been enough green to worry about. Given a photo where the green will make a difference, you can use the same tool combination on the green channel, just move the opacity slider to a smaller percentage. <Image> Edit -> Undo until you get it right.