Tip of the Day | Page 10

Transform Selection

That selection not exactly how you want it? Don’t want to go all the way back into the path and modify it? No problem. Just go to the Select menu and choose Transform Selection and you can manipulate the selection just as you would with the Free Transform tool.

July 7th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (2)

Speedy Clipping Mask

Sometimes a masked layer is just an Option-click (PC: Alt-click) away. Simply click-and-drag the layer to be used as a mask directly above the layer to be masked. Press-and-hold Option (PC: Alt) and hover your cursor over the horizontal line separating the layers. The cursor (hand) becomes a Clipping Mask icon; just click on it to convert the layer above into a mask.

July 6th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Invert to Alpha

When working with vector – created art and the source art is unavailable, modifying the art to create a logo can be a pain, to say the least—particularly when it’s flattened and the background needs to be knocked out. A careful combination of Invert (Command – I [PC: Ctrl - I]), Color Balance (Command – B [PC: Ctrl - B]), and layer Blending Options (Control-click [PC: Right-click] the layer name) can yield simple background knockouts of one- or two-color logos without making a mess.

July 3rd, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Glow/Bloom Effect

In the same composition, use Select>Color Range…to select the high-lights of the base image. Be generous with the Fuzziness, as detail won’t be an issue. Copy the selection to a new layer (Command – J [PC: Ctrl - J]) and set its blend mode to Screen, which works kind of inversely from Multiply—blacks become invisible and whites are added. The result is a simple bloom or glow effect.

July 2nd, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Get Into Dodge

Anyone who’s used Photoshop CS3 (or prior) versions and tried to composite a human subject into an existing light setup knows that they eventually hit a wall with Levels, Curves, Color Balance and—even in desperate situations—Brightness/Contrast adjustments to match the environment. Careful use of the Dodge tool ( O ) in the right tone range can allow you to simulate key – and fill-light spill on your superimposed objects. [ The Dodge and Burn tools are more darkroom-like in Photoshop CS4—Ed. ]

July 1st, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Only Shades of Gray

A simple tip to creating believable retro imagery is never to use 100% black or white tones in the artwork. The retro look often relies on distressed or faded artifacts, and a foundation of grays in a subtle tonal spectrum can enhance the vintage believability. Unlike using Desaturate (Image>Adjustments>Desaturate), Image>Adjustments>Black & White gives you control over specific color values, tinting, hue and saturation as well as some presets with which to experiment.

June 30th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Light Depth with Layer Blending

Studio lighting can be quickly and easily dramatized by blending multiple layers. Duplicate a layer with a subject by pressing Command – J (PC: Ctrl-J). Desaturate the new layer, then adjust the Levels dialog (Command – L [PC: Ctrl-L]) to create a strong contrast. Now, apply a Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) to the new layer and set its blend mode to Overlay, which amplifies the saturation of the base colors, while retaining the tonal contrast of the new layer. This effect can provide a strikingly more provocative sense of depth with very little effort.

June 29th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (3)

Quick Shapes

Use the Lasso tool ( L ) or Polygonal Lasso tool to rough-in a shape. After making your selection, open the Paths panel (Window>Paths), press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click the Make Work Path From Selection icon at the bottom of the panel. Choose a suitable Tolerance from the ensuing dialog and click OK to create the path. Grab the Direct Selection tool (nested under the Path Selection [ A ] tool in the Toolbox) and edit the path as necessary to achieve the proper geometry and smoothness. Control-click (PC: Right-click) the path and select Define Custom Shape, name it, and click OK.

June 26th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (3)

Stamp Visible

This is one of those tips that you’ll either use all the time or never. Press Command – Option – Shift – E (PC: Ctrl – Alt – Shift – E) to Stamp Visible layers, which creates a new layer on top of all the visible layers below. This is really useful when you want to apply a filter to the compiled image but want to keep all of your existing layers intact. The only downside is that it can increase the file size dramatically.

June 25th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (3)

Change the Hardness of a Brush on the Fly

You probably know that when the Brush tool ( B ) is selected, you can decrease or increase the brush size by pressing the Left Bracket ( [ ) or Right Bracket ( ] ) key, respectively. But at times it’s useful to change the brush’s Hardness setting as well. To do this, just press Shift-[ (the Left Brace { ) to reduce the hardness by 25% or press Shift - ] (the Right Brace } ) to increase it by 25%.

June 24th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

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Photoshop Tutorials

- Reverse Restoration
  Corey shows you how to make a new photo look damaged by blending in some unusual textures.
- Rain Drops
  In this tutorial, Corey not only creates the raindrops, but also the splashes that are formed with the raindrops hit the hands.
- G.I. Joe
  Corey's tutorial this week was inspired by a real American hero!

More Fun with 3D

Continue exploring the possibilities with Photoshop’s new 3D tools.
Reverse Restoration

Corey shows you how to make a new photo look damaged by blending in some unusual textures.
3D Background Effects

Use Photoshop’s new 3D tools to create some dazzling background effects.
Striking Match, Part 2

In the second part of this tutorial, Corey finishes creating this illustration of a striking match.

Layers TV: Episode 110
New episodes are coming soon. In this old episode, RC goes start to finish through a Flash CS4 project using the new 3D tools and importing an audio file. Corey talks about the distortion features inside of Adobe Illustrator. You can download each episode by subscribing to the podcast on iTunes. var so = new SWFObject('http://media.kelbymediagroup.com/players/player.swf','mpl','500','300','7'); so.addParam('allowfullscreen','true'); // so.addVariable('type','rtmp'); so.addVariable('file','http://media.kelbymediagroup.com/switch/video/layers-tv-episode-110.mp4'); so.addVariable('plugins','hd-1'); so.addVariable('hd.file','http://media.kelbymediagroup.com/switch/video/layers-tv-episode-110-hd.mp4'); so.addVariable('hd.state','false'); so.addVariable('image','http://www.layersmagazine.com/images/layerstv-logo.jpg'); so.addVariable('height','300'); so.addVariable('width','500'); so.addVariable('autostart','false'); so.addVariable("backcolor","0x000000"); so.addVariable("frontcolor","0xF1F1F1"); so.addVariable("lightcolor","0xF88E21"); so.addVariable("quality","100"); so.write('player'); [...]
NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 for Mac
The new professional-level Quadro FX 4800 with 1.5 GB of memory brings a much-needed performance upgrade to the Mac Pro lineup.
Prezi
Prezi is a Flash-based visualization, storytelling, and presentation tool that allows you to create nonlinear presentations.
Terry White’s New App | Printing from Lightroom 2
Happy Thursday everyone! Just wanted to pop on in and share what’s new in the intranets: Terry White’s New Iphone App Terry white over at his techblog is usually covering all sorts of technology and letting us know what his favorite apps are for the iphone. He’s taken that love and mixed it with [...]

Adding Keywords to Multiple files

In Bridge, you can add keywords to images to make searching for pictures a little less cumbersome. You don’t, however, want the process to become tedious as well. By either Command-clicking (PC: Ctrl-clicking) or Shift-clicking on images, you can select multiple files inside Bridge. Once you have the files selected, you can go to the Keywords panel and turn on any keyword you like. This will apply the keyword to all of the files that you have selected. It takes away a little bit of the pain of categorization, but just a little.