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Tip of the Day | Page 29
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%.
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.
Lightening up 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.
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/Back-ground 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.
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.
Use Refine Mask instead of Refine Edge
If your aim in making a selection is to turn it into a layer mask for an adjustment layer, skip the Refine Edge controls in favor of the new Refine Mask controls, found in the Mask panel (Window>Masks) in CS4 – just click on Mask Edge to open the dialog. The controls in Refine Mask are the same asRefine Edge, but they affect a mask and not a selection, allow-ing you to see in real time how the edges of an adjustment layer’s mask are affected and what works best for that particular layer.
Resurrect the Extract Command
The Extract command is no longer offered in Photoshop CS4, but you can still access its functionality in the new version of Photo-shop by transferring a file called ‘Extract-Plus.plugin’ from the Plug-Ins>Filters folder of Photoshop CS3 to the same folder in Photoshop CS4. It works ?ne and hopefully, there’ll be something even better in CS5.
Tame out-of-gamut colors
Next, choose Select>Color Range, and in the Select menu, choose Out of Gamut, and Click OK to load a selection of the out-of-gamut colors. Then, choose Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and move the Saturation value to ~10, and click OK. You should see the gray areas get smaller. Deselect and repeat this procedure using the same ~10 Saturation setting until the gray color indicating out-of-gamut colors is no longer visible.
Identify out-of-gamut colors
If you’re prepping a flattened copy of an image for press reproduction and need to tame out-of-gamut colors prior to converting to CMYK, choose Gamut Warning from the View menu. Flat gray will appear over colors that are out of gamut.
Transfer selections or alpha channels
If you have different images open that share the same pixel dimension, you can load a selection from any of the other images, or save a selection to any of the other open files. Choose Select>Load Selection or Save Selection and in the Document menu at the top of the dialog, choose the file where you want to either access an existing alpha channel, or where you want to save a new channel.
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Photoshop Tutorials
Hollywood Touch-Ups
See how you can add some subtle touches to give that green screen studio shot the Hollywood treatment.
3D Christmas Ornaments
Corey shows how to create reflective holiday ornaments using 3D in Photoshop.
Styles & Text
This week Corey has a tutorial using layer styles and text shapes to create energetic effects.
3D Light Beams
This effect was discovered by a 'happy accident' and uses the 3D features inside of Photoshop CS4 Extended.
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Flare Effects
Corey has a cool trick for creating a flare brush and see how one effect can lead to another.
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Hollywood Touch-Ups
See how you can add some subtle touches to give that green screen studio shot the Hollywood treatment.
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3D Christmas Ornaments
Corey shows how to create reflective holiday ornaments using 3D in Photoshop.
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3D Distortions
This week Corey has a cool new trick for using 3D reflections in a rather creative way!
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.
Want More?
Light Painting
Dave Cross takes a popular trend - light painting - and shows you how you can paint text recreating this cool trend.
You Don't Need to be a Pro to Join NAPP.
Create A Composite Layer
If you have a multilayer composition and you
want to apply an effect to all the layers at once, don’t flatten the layers–use a composite layer instead. Hide the layers you want excluded, and press Shift-Command-Option-E (PC: Shift-Ctrl-Alt-E). A new layer will be created at the top containing a merged copy of all the visible layers.
Another option is to create a new layer at the top of the stack and make it active. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) each layer you want to include to make those layers active, as well. Press Option-Command-E (PC: Alt-Ctrl-E).
by Colin Smith
