Where is the Feather command?

Feather is still hidden in the Select menu under the Modify option. More useful is the new keyboard shortcut Shift-F6, which replaces the old shortcut Command-Option-D (PC: Ctrl-Alt-D). Mac users rejoiceÖ you no longer have to give up the keystrokes to hide and show the dock to call up the Feather dialog from your keyboard. (Note: Just don’t forget to select something first!)

November 23rd, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Stretch (or shrink) to fit

When the image won’t fit the page, use Content-Aware Scale to resize the background. And if you’re working with a human subject, click the Protect Skin Tones icon in the Options Bar, it will even leave the subject itself untouched. Press-ing Command-Option-Shift-C (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-C) gets you there.

November 22nd, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (2)

Vibrance Eyes

Bring excitement and pumped up color to your subject’s eyes by adding a Vibrance adjustment layer from the Adjust-ments panel (Window>Adjustments). Move the Saturation slider all the way to the left until it reads ñ100 and every-thing turns grayscale. In the Masks panel (Window>Masks), click the Invert button and the image returns to normal. Grab the Brush tool (B) and paint on the layer mask with white over the irises of the eyes turning them to grayscale. Now drag the Saturation up to 0 then increase the Vibrance until the irises dance.

November 17th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (3)

Depth of field for 3D

Create a depth-of-field effect on your 3D object with the 3D Zoom Camera tool (nested with the 3D Rotate Camera tool [N]). Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the area where you want to set the distance or focal plane of focus. You can also manually set the Blur and Distance parameters in the Options Bar. (The Blur is set to 0 by default, so you’ll need to increase the value to see the effect.)

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
By Zorana Gee

November 15th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (3)

64-Bit—what does that mean to me?

Photoshop CS5 is now capable of running in native 64-bit on both Mac and Windows. This means Photoshop can now address hundreds of gigs of RAM (instead of just 4 GB). The results are speedier operations—the bigger the file, the bigger the difference. The 32-bit version is on the same disc, so if your third-party plug-ins haven’t been updated yet, you can run Photoshop in 32-bit.

Adobe Photoshop CS5
By Bryan O’Neil Hughes

November 12th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (2)

Test renderings with selections

Sometimes you may want to quickly render for only a selected part of your 3D object to save time and check for specific lighting effects. That’s now possible by simply making a selection on the area you want to render, and going to 3D>Progressive Render Selection.

November 11th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Painting photographs

Photoshop CS5 enjoys a new paint engine wired up to the new Mixer Brush tool (nested with the Brush tool [B]). To enjoy the benefits, select the new Painting Workspace (Window>Workspace>Painting) and the Mixer Brush tool. Open a conventional photo and have fun experimenting. With more control of brush and fluid dynamics and the ability to mix pixels and to change load, flow, etc., you’ll soon be converting photos to paintings. Here I’ve preserved the photo of my son Miles, while painting over the fall leaves around him.

Adobe Photoshop CS5
By Bryan O’Neil Hughes

November 10th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Progressive rendering—pause and resume

If you’ve paused your rendering (by pressing the Spacebar) and would like it to resume, select the Resume Progressive Render command from the 3D panel’s flyout menu. When the rendering is complete, you’ll no longer see the blue tiles getting drawn.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
By Zorana Gee

November 9th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Multilayer Opacity and Fill—and so much more

The ability to select multiple layers and adjust the Opacity or Fill was at the top of many Photoshop users lists. From text to image data, those living in layers will enjoy massive amounts of time saved. Speaking of layers, you can now choose your own default layer styles (just click the Make Default button in the Layer Style dialog).

Adobe Photoshop CS5
By Bryan O’Neil Hughes

November 8th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Ground shadows for 3D

Easily turn on ground shadows for 3D objects using 3D>Ground Plane Shadow Catcher. In the 3D (Scene) panel, set the Quality drop-down menu to Ray Trace (Draft or Final) to start the render and actually see the shadow. In the 3D (Lights) panel, turn shadows on or off for individual lights using the Create Shadows checkbox, and then adjust the Softness. In the 3D (Mesh) panel, you can adjust the shadow Opacity. Choose Snap Object to Ground Plane from the 3D panel’s flyout menu if necessary to see the shadow.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
By Zorana Gee

November 5th, 2010 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)