Can you make this image better?

[slau]

Wow, those are some nice images.
I like how you've composed the background[s] of colors already in the original image to enhance the clarity of the picture, gives her a nice glow. I've learned a lot from this thread.

Here is a little trick I learned recently from another discussion forum (a Chinese forum) to add a nice glow to the face and skin, assuming you are using Photoshop:

1. Duplicate the background layer.
2. Select only the duplicated layer to work on. Filter/Blur/Gaussian Blur. Set Radius to 5 (or try other values).
3. Within the Layers palette in the lefthand dropdown menu, change "normal" (default) to either "overlay" or "softlight". Also change the opacity value (right hand dropdown menu) to between 50% and 75%.
4. Merge the two layers together. That's all and have fun.
Note: Of course the value settings mentioned above are not carved in stone. Experiment to get the best results.

[Lara]

You guys are the greatest. What an awesome idea for my desktop!! Thank you slau.

Nat, thanks so much for the hat cloning lesson and for sharing the image of your daughter. She's so adorable. Looks a lot like you

[Lara]

How do I begin to learn even the basics of Photoshop? I have the program but as mentioned before I've only used it to change image size for product shots. I would like to be able to use PS for photo editing, like the people who have so kindly shown me different techniques in this thread.
Is there a basic book on Photoshop? "Photoshop for Dummies? " I have used the help option, but find it confusing.

[Pose]

Have a Barnes & Noble near by? They have atleast 20 easy-to-follow Photoshop books in their Computing area.
The way I got started was to open a random picture, apply a filter, undo it, apply a different etc. until I found the ones I liked.

[Lara]

Thanks Pose I took a quick look at the books at Barnes & Noble online. I see a few that might be what I'm looking for. I definitely want to get a basic primer. There is a B&N near me, so I'll take a trip there soon.