Tip of the Day | Page 20

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)

Create a “Rule-of-Thirds” Grid

Don’t use the grid view very often? Then turn it into a rule-of-thirds grid. In Photo-shop, press Command – K (PC: Ctrl-K) to open your Preferences. Click on Guides, Grid & Slices from the list on the left and change the settings for the Grid section as follows: Gridline every 100 percent, Subdivisions 3, and click OK. This creates a grid that divides the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. When you turn on the grid by pressing Command – ’ (PC: Ctrl – ’(apostrophe)), a rule-of-thirds grid will be superimposed over the image.

June 23rd, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (2)

Lightening an Underexposed Image, Method 3

This time, let’s use a Curves adjustment layer to lighten our image. Open the image and in the Adjustments panel, click on the Curves icon. Now select the little hand with the double-facing arrow at the top left of the Curves Adjustment panel and click-and-drag inside the image to adjust the curve. Move the cursor over the image and click on the area of the image you want to brighten. While holding down the button, move the mouse up. This will adjust the curve and lighten the image.

June 22nd, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Lightening an Underexposed Image, Method 2

Another way to lighten an image uses the Overlay screen mode. Here’s how: Open the image and click on the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Press D to set the Foreground/Background colors to their default black/white, respectively, and then press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill the new layer with solid white. Change this layer’s blend mode to Overlay and you can then adjust the brightness of the image by changing the layer’s Opacity until it looks right to you.

June 19th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (2)

Lightening an Underexposed Image, Method 1

When I’m shooting concert images, the lighting often changes quickly, and I end up with an image that’s just a little too dark. One of the simplest and most effective tricks to lighten an image is to use the Screen layer blend mode. Open the image, duplicate the Background layer by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J), and then change the blend mode of the new layer to Screen. Then simply adjust the Opacity of the new layer until it suits your needs.

June 18th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (4)

Quickly Straighten Images in Camera Raw

While Camera Raw can do amazing things with the White Balance menu, Exposure sliders, and other adjustments to get the best out of your images, there’s one tool I use all the time: the Straighten tool. Just click on the Straighten tool at the top of the window (or press A, the keyboard shortcut), select a starting point, and then click-and-drag across an element in the image that’s straight. Camera Raw will rotate the image as needed. Press Return (PC: Enter) to see what the image will look like without opening it.

June 17th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Smart Objects as the Default

If you hold down the Shift key while opening an image in Photoshop from Camera Raw, it will open as a smart object. You can also set this as the default action by clicking on the Work?ow Options link under the image (the blue, underlined information that looks like a hyperlink), and checking the Open in Photoshop as a Smart Objects checkbox.

June 16th, 2009 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

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Photoshop Tutorials

3D Light Beams
This effect was discovered by a 'happy accident' and uses the 3D features inside of Photoshop CS4 Extended.
More Texture Effects
Further experiments into what you can do with texture images in Photoshop.
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.

Light From 3D Shapes

Corey shares another way to get a cool 3D light beam effect.
Olympic Graphics, Part 2

Corey finishes up the Olympic-inspired design that he began last week in Part 1.
Olympic Graphics, Part 1

The Olympic-inspired tutorial will be coming in two parts. Stop by next week for the conclusion to this video.
Masking with Channels

This week’s tutorial deals with creating masks for complicated images by using channels.

Premium Video Tutorials From NAPP

Photo Retouch
Scott Kelby shows you how to take an overexposed photo into a great photo using Photoshop. Want Great Photoshop & Photography Skills?

Extended Definition Processing
Scott Kelby shares a technique he's been working on, which gives your final image an HDR look using just one photo.
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Smart Object Masking Trick
Dave Cross shares a trick he discovered that will help you remove white from around your subject when using smart objects.
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Light Painting
Dave Cross takes a popular trend - light painting - and shows you how you can paint text recreating this cool trend.
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Open in Camera Raw from Bridge

You can open RAW images in Camera Raw right from Bridge in Photoshop CS3. This frees up Photoshop to continue working on your files while they’re being processed in Camera Raw. Just select one or more images in Bridge, Control-click (PC: Right-click) on them, and choose Open in Camera Raw. This will open the image(s) in Bridge’s Camera Raw rather than Photoshop. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R).