Editing Fireplaces Using Photoshop in your Real Estate Images



There are several instances where the concept and perception of warmth triumphs over coldness. First is when people from cold climates fly to other countries with warmer weather during winter seasons. Second lies in the psychology of color where warmer tones attract people to feel drawn to it rather than shuddery ones that simply turn attention away. In these cases, it looks to be that anything cold and numbly does not merit the same acceptance. Of course, this concept extends to objects we see and visualize. Such is the case for real estate images. Anything that is seen to feel welcoming in photos tend to reel more people in. Take into consideration the difference between a sunny day and a gloomy day in a property image. The reason why sky replacement exists as a module in most real estate photo editing software is precisely because buyers want to see an ideal day rather than a dark one.



Exteriors would have this to work with, but what counterpart do interiors have? There are two techniques but there will be one focus today and that is the activation or editing of fireplaces to add a burning flame. Now people may wonder why we need to edit this in rather than just lighting the fireplace up. In reality, there might be limitations such as procurement of firewood, lack of manpower to help spruce the home prior to the shoot, or simply it is cheaper to do. At the end of the day, real estate images need to convince the buyer that this is what he home will offer. More than just the aesthetics, it will be feeling and attachment to it.

How to Liven Up the Fireplace

Photoshop has always been the real estate photo editing software of choice. It is timeless with the complete set of tools and techniques it offers. Even with all the new real estate photo editing software popping up, this household name continues to perform and produce photos to fit the photographer’s requirements. In executing the addition of fire in fireplaces, Photoshop can make your real estate images seem like it was shot with a fire burning. This is one of the simplest ways to make the edit which your real estate photo editing software can execute.

  1. Open the image of the interior you want to edit in Photoshop.

Snapping several photos and angles of the room, you would want to showcase the one that presents the fireplace as the main selling point of the space. Real estate images come with rules on how they can be maximized to take advantage of specific items and fixtures. Perhaps creating a perception of depth to emphasize the fireplace or following the rule of thirds could be applied in this case.

  1. Open the file location of the photo of a burning fireplace, drag the image onto the workstation.

Grab a photo of a fire burning on firewood from your files of stock images. If you do not have such a collection, heading on over to the internet and searching for high resolution photos that allow yo to utilize their images can make your life easy. Remember, do not infringe copyrighted photos. Only take from those that have given their consent.

Once you’ve saved them on your computer, open the file location of this image, click on it, hold it, and drag it onto the Photoshop workstation. By doing so, you are creating an additional layer and it should be evident in the layers panel.

  1. Resize the image and select the distort option from the Edit menu and selecting transform.

Once the image of the burning fire is on the workstation and is superimposed on the interior photo, simply resize the image by clicking on any of the four corners. Do not worry if it is not perfect yet at this stage. Simply resize it down to the best estimated scale. Now comes the fun part. We need to make the image seem like it is in the same skew or angle as the fireplace. Keep in mind that not all real estate images captured during the photo shoot will exhibit a perfectly proportioned perspective.

To fix this, head over to the top menu bar and select edit. Within this option you will find transform and from the transform options, select distort. This will allow you to distort the image of the flame so you can now fit it to the fireplace by dragging the corners around.

  1. Alternatively, you can hold down CTRL to fix the orientation.

If you are looking for a keyboard shortcut, then in this case simply hold the CTRL or control button while you click on a corner of the image of the flame. You can now stretch the image to fit and match the corners of the fireplace.

  1. Adjust the opacity and blending.

Images that look vibrant are good, but in this particular scenario where you are trying to match a foreign image onto the raw interior real estate image, then it is necessary to execute this step. Photoshop and most realty editor software will have the option for you to play around with the looks of an image. Match the opacity and feel of the fire to go along with the overall image so that it looks seamless and not simply chucked into the overall workstation.

  1. Retouch the image to make it look seamless and real.

Lastly, do not forget to embed the image. This implies that the connection between the interior photo and the fireplace must not have a distinct delineation. Perhaps you can soften the image of the fireplace around the edges to give a discontinuity effect. This creates the notion of reality in this real estate image.

Conclusion

Editing fire into real estate images increases the chances of it being sold. In some scenarios, people pay more to buy the property with a fireplace. Placing the right focus and emphasis that a property has this further increases the value of it as proven through various observations and data. With such simple steps similar to this, who would want to forgo this technique and all of its benefits?

 

Relevant Quick Links:

poster