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Tip of the Day | Page 36
Change the default Eye-dropper sample setting
The sample size of the Eyedropper tool (I), found in the Options Bar, controls the size of the area that’s evaluated when it provides color and tonal feedback, but it can also affect how certain selection tools work,e.g., the Magic Wand or the Color Range command. The default Sample Size value is Point Sample, which samples a single pixel; however, this isn’t ideal for photographs, where using 3 by 3 Average or 5 by 5 Average will give you better results.
Where are my palettes?
They are still there only their name has changed. Palettes no longer exist in Photoshop CS4. Officially, they are now called panels.
Skin smoothing Camera Raw style!
Flawless skin can be key to successful portraits of ladies. Make their skin creamy soft by tapping the K key in Adobe Camera Raw 5 to call up the Adjustment Brush. Set the Clarity slider to ≈40 for starters. Brush over the skin you want to smooth. Want it smoother? Drag the slider farther to the left. This is a great way to get proofs out quickly without losing gallons of time with the Healing Brush tool in Photoshop.
Pre-clipped adjustment layers
Want to clip your next adjustment layer before you even make it? Open the Adjust-ments panel, click the triple-black-over-white-circle icon to clip the next adjust-ment layer you choose from the panel. Now the adjustment only affects the layer immediately below it before the adjust-ment is made. Bliss!
One button layer clipping
Clipping an adjustment layer to affect only the layer below it required remembering to hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, while hovering the cursor between the layers, until a black-over-white-circle icon appears, and then click. Now all we have to do is highlight the adjustment layer in the Layers panel and then click the third icon from the left at the bottom of the Adjustments panel (Window>Adjustments). Hooray! No more arcane keystroke/mouse moves!!!
Layer mask love!
The new Masks panel consolidates working with layer masks by putting most of the functions commonly used in one place. Show this panel by selecting Masks from the Window menu. Want to change the layer mask from its normal white reveal all to black hide all? Click the Invert button. Bonus tip: You can do the same thing from the key-board by pressing Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I).
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 rejoice! 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!)
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.
I had panels. Where are they now?
Okay, I’m pressing the F key to cycle through the screen modes. I’m in Full Screen Mode and poof, my panels disappear. Where are my panels? Tapping the F key twice changes from Standard Screen Mode to Full Screen Mode (View>Screen Mode). In Photoshop CS4, the panels disappear in Full Screen Mode, focusing on the photograph. Press the Tab key to reveal the panels.
More Vibrance Eyes
Choose the Sponge tool (nested under the Dodge tool [O]) from the Toolbox. In the Options Bar (shown below), choose Saturate from the Mode menu, set the Flow to at least 50%, and then click the Vibrance checkbox. Brush over the irises and ta-dah! Brilliant irises. Bonus tip: This works for lips too!
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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.
Join NAPP & Get a Free DVD.
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.
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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
