Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

When a flash is mounted close to the lens, light can reflect from retinas of the subject’s
eyes and show up as the “red-eye” effect in a photograph. Correcting for red-eye is one
of the most common editing features, implemented directly in cameras as well as in
most general purpose and “quick-fix” image editors. It is also a subject of scrutiny by
researchers who are trying to find better ways of doing it. At its most advanced, modern
software can locate the position of eyes automatically within the frame, and then
replace the redness with a gray tone, and blend the edges to give an almost perfect fit.
What it cannot do is guess what color the eyes should be (blue, green, black, or brown)
or eliminate exaggerated examples of red-eye, sometimes called “demonic eye.”
Tiny blood vessels in the retina are responsible for the redness of the red-eye effect in
portraits of people. Animals have a different reflective layer behind the retina, called the
“tapetum,” which enhances night vision. In dogs, for example, it can make eyes look
blue, green, yellow, or white, depending on the angle of the head in relation to the flash.
There is even specialist software for this application: Pet Eye Pilot from Russian developer
Two Pilots (www.colorpilot.com).
Red Eye Pilot
Vendor: Two Pilots Software
Purpose: Automatic red-eye removal software, with a choice of three methods
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Red-Eye Removal
Description
Red Eye Pilot allows you to remove the red-eye from portraits with a high degree of
automation. It provides three algorithms to determine the area of the eye that needs to
be corrected, together with a control to change the brightness level of the substituted
color. A Remove Border feature tidies up the edges.