taming the blacks in a backlit frame?

I recently decided to try using an LED backlit frame and a backlit film
print as a 24x36 to be hung on the wall. It is an astronomy print, so
mainly stars, but there is an area at the bottom where the ground is
present. Although the stars look brilliant and the contrast is good,
the ground ended up a bit too light. Since the backlit film prints are
custom and expensive, I wonder if there's any way I can physically
darken the ground a bit more? I first tried cutting out the background
in Photoshop and then just printing a black siloette of it (on a clear
transparency), then placing behind the backlit film. This works, but
alignment must be perfect and then there is a brightness difference
where the transparency ends and the backlit film begins. My first
thought is a 24x36" transparency with just the ground at the bottom and
to be placed behind the backlit film, but getting this printed seems
almost as costly as the original backlit print. Any thoughts/ ideas
would be welcome. I have an LED dimmer on the way, so that might help
somewhat since the frame itself is fixed brightness.

Thanks,
Sam

On 7/15/2016 10:18 AM, Sam Seagate wrote:
I recently decided to try using an LED backlit frame and a backlit film
print as a 24x36 to be hung on the wall. It is an astronomy print, so
mainly stars, but there is an area at the bottom where the ground is
present. Although the stars look brilliant and the contrast is good,
the ground ended up a bit too light. Since the backlit film prints are
custom and expensive, I wonder if there's any way I can physically
darken the ground a bit more? I first tried cutting out the background
in Photoshop and then just printing a black siloette of it (on a clear
transparency), then placing behind the backlit film. This works, but
alignment must be perfect and then there is a brightness difference
where the transparency ends and the backlit film begins. My first
thought is a 24x36" transparency with just the ground at the bottom and
to be placed behind the backlit film, but getting this printed seems
almost as costly as the original backlit print. Any thoughts/ ideas
would be welcome. I have an LED dimmer on the way, so that might help
somewhat since the frame itself is fixed brightness.

It sounds like you've covered most of the basic options, but I don't
know if you've tried adjusting the brightness of the ground in the
original image rather than afterwards. It doesn't take long to do this
in Photoshop, just select the ground area (selection tool, set the color
range to make it easy) and reduce the brightness to suit (I'd use color
curves). I would then make a number of small prints to determine which
ones work best with the back-lit frame before committing to the
full-size print.

--
Best regards,

Neil

On 2016-07-15 14:18:46 +0000, Sam Seagate said:

I recently decided to try using an LED backlit frame and a backlit film
print as a 24x36 to be hung on the wall. It is an astronomy print, so
mainly stars, but there is an area at the bottom where the ground is
present. Although the stars look brilliant and the contrast is good,
the ground ended up a bit too light. Since the backlit film prints are
custom and expensive, I wonder if there's any way I can physically
darken the ground a bit more? I first tried cutting out the background
in Photoshop and then just printing a black siloette of it (on a clear
transparency), then placing behind the backlit film. This works, but
alignment must be perfect and then there is a brightness difference
where the transparency ends and the backlit film begins. My first
thought is a 24x36" transparency with just the ground at the bottom and
to be placed behind the backlit film, but getting this printed seems
almost as costly as the original backlit print. Any thoughts/ ideas
would be welcome. I have an LED dimmer on the way, so that might help
somewhat since the frame itself is fixed brightness.

Thanks,
Sam

To repeat what I said in response to your alt.photography post.
(BTW, cross posting would be appropriate in this case, and I have added
a.p. to the NGs for this response).

Which edition of Photoshop do you use?

What I understand is, there is a foreground area at the bottom of the
image which is lighter than the bulk of the night sky portion and the
contrast is not to your liking.

In PS CS6 or CC I believe a simple fix would be to add an adjustment
layer (usually best if converted to a Smart Object). Then use the
"Camera RAW Filter" and use either the "Adjustment Brush" (with a
reasonable feather), the "Radial Grad", or a "Grad" (pulled up from the
bottom), then make appropriate adjustments to darken or deepen the
shadows. Then adjust the opacity of the adjustment layer and/or choose
a blending mode to taste.

--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 07/15/2016 10:55 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2016-07-15 14:18:46 +0000, Sam Seagate said:

I recently decided to try using an LED backlit frame and a backlit
film print as a 24x36 to be hung on the wall. It is an astronomy
print, so mainly stars, but there is an area at the bottom where the
ground is present. Although the stars look brilliant and the contrast
is good, the ground ended up a bit too light. Since the backlit film
prints are custom and expensive, I wonder if there's any way I can
physically darken the ground a bit more? I first tried cutting out
the background in Photoshop and then just printing a black siloette of
it (on a clear transparency), then placing behind the backlit film.
This works, but alignment must be perfect and then there is a
brightness difference where the transparency ends and the backlit film
begins. My first thought is a 24x36" transparency with just the
ground at the bottom and to be placed behind the backlit film, but
getting this printed seems almost as costly as the original backlit
print. Any thoughts/ ideas would be welcome. I have an LED dimmer on
the way, so that might help somewhat since the frame itself is fixed
brightness.

Thanks,
Sam

To repeat what I said in response to your alt.photography post.
(BTW, cross posting would be appropriate in this case, and I have added
a.p. to the NGs for this response).

Which edition of Photoshop do you use?

What I understand is, there is a foreground area at the bottom of the
image which is lighter than the bulk of the night sky portion and the
contrast is not to your liking.

In PS CS6 or CC I believe a simple fix would be to add an adjustment
layer (usually best if converted to a Smart Object). Then use the
"Camera RAW Filter" and use either the "Adjustment Brush" (with a
reasonable feather), the "Radial Grad", or a "Grad" (pulled up from the
bottom), then make appropriate adjustments to darken or deepen the
shadows. Then adjust the opacity of the adjustment layer and/or choose a
blending mode to taste.


I'm trying to do this physically as the print was already made and the
backlit frame already used. I know how to do it in Photoshop, but
approaching it from a physical standpoint, after the fact, is the
challenge.

On 2016-07-15 15:21:24 +0000, Sam Seagate said:

On 07/15/2016 10:55 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2016-07-15 14:18:46 +0000, Sam Seagate said:

I recently decided to try using an LED backlit frame and a backlit
film print as a 24x36 to be hung on the wall. It is an astronomy
print, so mainly stars, but there is an area at the bottom where the
ground is present. Although the stars look brilliant and the contrast
is good, the ground ended up a bit too light. Since the backlit film
prints are custom and expensive, I wonder if there's any way I can
physically darken the ground a bit more? I first tried cutting out
the background in Photoshop and then just printing a black siloette of
it (on a clear transparency), then placing behind the backlit film.
This works, but alignment must be perfect and then there is a
brightness difference where the transparency ends and the backlit film
begins. My first thought is a 24x36" transparency with just the
ground at the bottom and to be placed behind the backlit film, but
getting this printed seems almost as costly as the original backlit
print. Any thoughts/ ideas would be welcome. I have an LED dimmer on
the way, so that might help somewhat since the frame itself is fixed
brightness.

Thanks,
Sam

To repeat what I said in response to your alt.photography post.
(BTW, cross posting would be appropriate in this case, and I have added
a.p. to the NGs for this response).

Which edition of Photoshop do you use?

What I understand is, there is a foreground area at the bottom of the
image which is lighter than the bulk of the night sky portion and the
contrast is not to your liking.

In PS CS6 or CC I believe a simple fix would be to add an adjustment
layer (usually best if converted to a Smart Object). Then use the
"Camera RAW Filter" and use either the "Adjustment Brush" (with a
reasonable feather), the "Radial Grad", or a "Grad" (pulled up from the
bottom), then make appropriate adjustments to darken or deepen the
shadows. Then adjust the opacity of the adjustment layer and/or choose a
blending mode to taste.


I'm trying to do this physically as the print was already made and the
backlit frame already used. I know how to do it in Photoshop, but
approaching it from a physical standpoint, after the fact, is the
challenge.

OK! I thought you had still to produce the print, hence my PS suggestion.

Do you have some sort of glass on this frame, and is it removable?
If so might it be possible to add some sort of grad coating to the
bottom of the glass, or replace it with glass or acrilic which has a
built in grad?

All of this might take a glass/acrylic and/or frame specialist, and
that will probably be less than cost effective.
....but if it gives you the result you are looking for it should be
worth the extra cost.

--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 07/15/2016 12:09 PM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2016-07-15 15:21:24 +0000, Sam Seagate said:

On 07/15/2016 10:55 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2016-07-15 14:18:46 +0000, Sam Seagate said:

I recently decided to try using an LED backlit frame and a backlit
film print as a 24x36 to be hung on the wall. It is an astronomy
print, so mainly stars, but there is an area at the bottom where the
ground is present. Although the stars look brilliant and the contrast
is good, the ground ended up a bit too light. Since the backlit film
prints are custom and expensive, I wonder if there's any way I can
physically darken the ground a bit more? I first tried cutting out
the background in Photoshop and then just printing a black siloette of
it (on a clear transparency), then placing behind the backlit film.
This works, but alignment must be perfect and then there is a
brightness difference where the transparency ends and the backlit film
begins. My first thought is a 24x36" transparency with just the
ground at the bottom and to be placed behind the backlit film, but
getting this printed seems almost as costly as the original backlit
print. Any thoughts/ ideas would be welcome. I have an LED dimmer on
the way, so that might help somewhat since the frame itself is fixed
brightness.

Thanks,
Sam

To repeat what I said in response to your alt.photography post.
(BTW, cross posting would be appropriate in this case, and I have added
a.p. to the NGs for this response).

Which edition of Photoshop do you use?

What I understand is, there is a foreground area at the bottom of the
image which is lighter than the bulk of the night sky portion and the
contrast is not to your liking.

In PS CS6 or CC I believe a simple fix would be to add an adjustment
layer (usually best if converted to a Smart Object). Then use the
"Camera RAW Filter" and use either the "Adjustment Brush" (with a
reasonable feather), the "Radial Grad", or a "Grad" (pulled up from the
bottom), then make appropriate adjustments to darken or deepen the
shadows. Then adjust the opacity of the adjustment layer and/or choose a
blending mode to taste.


I'm trying to do this physically as the print was already made and the
backlit frame already used. I know how to do it in Photoshop, but
approaching it from a physical standpoint, after the fact, is the
challenge.

OK! I thought you had still to produce the print, hence my PS suggestion.

Do you have some sort of glass on this frame, and is it removable?
If so might it be possible to add some sort of grad coating to the
bottom of the glass, or replace it with glass or acrilic which has a
built in grad?

Yes, the frame is opened from the front and it is aluminum.


All of this might take a glass/acrylic and/or frame specialist, and that
will probably be less than cost effective.
...but if it gives you the result you are looking for it should be worth
the extra cost.

Unless I can do it myself,the only other thing I can think of is getting
a reprint of
the image but with just the bottom trees, placing that behind the
existing one and the alignment would be good since it is the same size
as the original, but the cost would be the same. I'm going to try the
dimmer I have coming to see if that works first and, if not, go from
there but I turned here for some suggestions in advance.

On 07/15/2016 11:21 AM, Sam Seagate wrote:
On 07/15/2016 10:55 AM, Savageduck wrote:
On 2016-07-15 14:18:46 +0000, Sam Seagate said:

I recently decided to try using an LED backlit frame and a backlit
film print as a 24x36 to be hung on the wall. It is an astronomy
print, so mainly stars, but there is an area at the bottom where the
ground is present. Although the stars look brilliant and the contrast
is good, the ground ended up a bit too light. Since the backlit film
prints are custom and expensive, I wonder if there's any way I can
physically darken the ground a bit more? I first tried cutting out
the background in Photoshop and then just printing a black siloette of
it (on a clear transparency), then placing behind the backlit film.
This works, but alignment must be perfect and then there is a
brightness difference where the transparency ends and the backlit film
begins. My first thought is a 24x36" transparency with just the
ground at the bottom and to be placed behind the backlit film, but
getting this printed seems almost as costly as the original backlit
print. Any thoughts/ ideas would be welcome. I have an LED dimmer on
the way, so that might help somewhat since the frame itself is fixed
brightness.

Thanks,
Sam

To repeat what I said in response to your alt.photography post.
(BTW, cross posting would be appropriate in this case, and I have added
a.p. to the NGs for this response).

Which edition of Photoshop do you use?

What I understand is, there is a foreground area at the bottom of the
image which is lighter than the bulk of the night sky portion and the
contrast is not to your liking.

In PS CS6 or CC I believe a simple fix would be to add an adjustment
layer (usually best if converted to a Smart Object). Then use the
"Camera RAW Filter" and use either the "Adjustment Brush" (with a
reasonable feather), the "Radial Grad", or a "Grad" (pulled up from the
bottom), then make appropriate adjustments to darken or deepen the
shadows. Then adjust the opacity of the adjustment layer and/or choose a
blending mode to taste.


I'm trying to do this physically as the print was already made and the
backlit frame already used. I know how to do it in Photoshop, but
approaching it from a physical standpoint, after the fact, is the
challenge.


You have received advice on how to fix this before printing.

But you already have the print made, at some expense.

Two ideas come to my mind:
1. Find the oldest photographer around, preferably one who has done
retouching on actual negatives, and see if he still has some charcoal
sticks around. He may be able to treat your print as if it were a
negative, and darken the area, blending it in gradually. If you are
lucky enough to be near one of the few remaining professional photo
labs, they may have a retouching department that could do this at a
rather high fee.
2. Find an artist who works in air-brushing. He may be able to give the
area a "dusting" of a neutral gray (or whatever color it needs to be),
and blending it in.

--
Ken Hart