How to Use the Red Eye Tool in Photoshop

Where Red-Eye Comes From

Red-eye happens when the flash sits very close to the lens, as it does on a phone or a point-and-shoot: the light enters the pupil, bounces off the back of the eye, and returns to the camera as a red reflection. A DSLR with a pop-up flash or a Speedlight, an off-camera light, or plain natural light moves the light source far enough from the lens that it doesn’t happen. When it does, the Red Eye Tool in Photoshop fixes it in seconds.

Finding the Red Eye Tool

The Red Eye Tool is nested under the Spot Healing Brush. Click and hold that icon to pick it, or hold Shift and press J to cycle through the healing tools until it comes up.

Removing Red-Eye with the Red Eye Tool

Drag a box around the eye with the Red Eye Tool and release. Photoshop finds the red, removes it, and darkens the pupil. If it only catches part of the red, undo and raise Pupil Size in the options bar, then try again. Darken Amount controls how dark the corrected pupil becomes; nudge it up if the eye still looks washed out. Repeat for the second eye and you’re done.

When the Red Eye Tool Is Not Enough

The Red Eye Tool is built for the classic red flash reflection in human eyes. Pets are different: their eyes reflect green, yellow, or white, and the tool will not detect that color. For those, make a selection around the pupil, add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, and pull the saturation down, then use a Curves adjustment to darken the pupil. The same manual approach works if the Red Eye Tool leaves a gray, flat-looking pupil: paint a small, soft white dot back in for the catchlight so the eye keeps its sparkle.

Red Eye Tool Quick Reference

• Shift + J cycles to the Red Eye Tool.
• Drag around the eye to remove the red in one step.
• Pupil Size up if the tool misses part of the red.
• Darken Amount up if the pupil looks too light.
• Avoid it at capture by moving the flash away from the lens.