Fixing green eye glow in a cat photo means replacing the glowing flash reflection with a natural-looking iris and pupil, based on what the cat's eyes really look like. In this example, an orange tabby sits on a wooden stair step on the first night in his new home, after his owner adopted him that day. The phone flash turned both eyes into glowing green discs, so the photo the family wanted to keep of his first night looks spooky.
What changed in this photo, and what stayed the same?
- Replaced: the green glow in both eyes with amber irises, dark pupils and a small catchlight.
- Matched: the eye color to a daylight close-up of an orange tabby that the owner sent as a reference.
- Kept: his fur color and stripes, whiskers, sitting pose, tail, the wooden stairs and banister, and the dark hallway behind.
Why do cats' eyes glow green in flash photos?
Cats have a reflective layer behind the retina, called the tapetum lucidum, that helps them see in low light. A flash close to the lens bounces straight off it, and the color of the glow (green, yellow or blue) depends on the animal. Unlike human red eye, the glow often covers the whole eye, so the iris has to be rebuilt rather than just darkened.
Why does a reference photo matter?
Without one, the editor has to guess the eye color, and a guessed color may not be your cat's. A daytime photo where the eyes are clearly visible shows the real iris color and pupil shape. The pupils are drawn to look natural for the flash and the room light, and checked against both eyes so they match.
What should you send?
- The flash photo in its original size.
- One or two daylight photos where the cat's eyes are visible.
- For more than one pet, say which animal is which.
For people with red flash eyes, see remove red eye from photos. More under pet photo editing.
Photos
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cat.jpg
1 credit ($8)
- good-eyes.jpg Reference
1 photo to edit · 1 reference
Instructions
The flash made his eyes glow green on his first night home. Can you fix them like the second pic?
Private: recreated on our own images, not customer photos
The before/after shown here is recreated on images created or licensed for this site — never a real customer's photo. Your upload is seen only by the editor working on it, and the edit comes with free revisions within 14 days of delivery if anything needs adjusting.
