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Affinity Photo is a helpful tool for any graphic designer, whether you are a professional or amateur. One of the most common requests for design touchups is whitening teeth while using Affinity Photo.
Whitening teeth on Affinity Photo is not only possible but can also be very easy. Keep reading to learn more about this simple process that can make your life that much easier when editing teeth in photos.
Whitening Teeth on Affinity Photo
Yellow teeth can ruin an otherwise perfect photo, and as a graphic designer your clients will probably want their teeth to be looking sharp in any product that will be presented to the public.
Fortunately, you can whiten teeth on Affinity Photo by following just 4 easy steps.
1. Use the Selection Brush Tool
The first thing you must do is acquaint yourself with the selection brush tool, if you haven’t done so already. The selection brush tool is easy to use and allows you to select which areas of the photo you will be focusing your attention on.
You must use the selection brush tool by following these steps:
- Select the selection brush from the tools panel
- “Paint” by dragging over the area of the image you would like to select
- Your targeted area will now be selected
Be very careful when selecting the teeth area. If you are not precise in this step, you may end up whitening other areas of the face that you have accidentally highlighted.
2. Add a White Balance Adjustments Layer
The second step will require you to make use of the tools panel once more. Affinity Photo allows you to add layers that can do a variety of things, such as adjusting or honing certain colors.
Now that you have the teeth selected as a layer using the brush tool, you can then manipulate it in the layers panel of Affinity Photo.
Follow these steps:
- Select the layer you wish to manipulate, which would be the teeth
- Click on the Adjustment Layer button at the bottom of the layers panel
- Choose the white balance option
Now that you have done this, you should be able to adjust the white balance of your given layer accordingly.
3. Change the White Balance of the Layer
The white balance can be manipulated either by using a “neutral white” in the rest of a photo as the white balance for your given area, or you can manually alter the white balance.
If your photo does not have a perfect white you can use to alter the teeth, do not worry. Altering the white balance manually is a very good option as well. If you are looking for shiny white teeth that are not yellow, you are best off to move the white balance lever toward the blue end of the scale.
Those with an artistic background will know that a blue undertone can bring out the bright side of whites, and this is especially true for photo design.
4. Save Your Changes
This last step may seem obvious, but it is equally important. Once you have discovered a white balance that works perfectly for you, you must save your changes both in the layer and the document.
Other Options for Teeth Whitening
If you find that you are not getting perfect results even with these easy steps, there are other options you can pursue. This can include the following:
- Painting the teeth area with a dodge brush
- Painting the teeth area using a color replacement brush
- Use an HSL brush to reduce the saturation in a given area
- Add a mask to the targeted area and then paint the teeth using a soft white tone
Though each of these options may require some fine tuning, they are all good tricks to have up your sleeve as a graphic designer who is looking for fast and easy results, especially on a design software as common as Affinity Photo.
Conclusion
Photos are a great way to capture memories, and this value is enhanced when people look the way they want to. White, bright teeth are often a prerequisite for perfect photos, and if you are a graphic designer it is natural to wonder how you can accomplish this effect on Affinity Photo.
There are several options to whiten teeth on Affinity Photo, but the most common is by manipulating the white balance in a certain area.
