Tip of the Day | Page 42

Faster Flattening

In the past, if you wanted to flatten an image, there was only one way to do it—go to the Layers palette’s flyout menu and choose Flatten Image. But in CS2, it’s finally right at your fingertips. Just Control-click (PC: Right-click) on any image layer’s name in the Layers palette and choose Flatten Image from the contextual menu that appears. It’s not perfect, but it’s faster than digging through the flyout menu. Note: The options that in the contextual menu depend upon the type of layer on which you Command/Control-click.

February 13th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Moving Layer Effects From One Layer To Another

In previous versions of Photoshop, when you wanted to move an applied effect (like a drop shadow or bevel and emboss) from one layer and have it appear on another layer, you’d copy the effect from your original layer, then paste it onto your preferred layer, then go back to the original layer and drag the effect into the Trash. Four steps are just too much. How about only one—just drag the little round “f” icon from the active layer to the layer you want it on, and it relocates to that layer. If you want to duplicate the effect (rather than move it), just Option-drag (PC: Alt-drag) the icon.

February 11th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Changing Opacity While You’re Transforming

Until CS2, this was impossible, but now when you have Free Transform active on a layer and you need to change the opacity of the layer you’re transforming, you can do it by just going to the Layers palette and lowering the Opacity setting. But it’s not just Opacity—you can change the blend mode as well. If you do photo restoration, or wind up having to take a head shot from one photo and composite it on another (the groom’s eyes were closed, etc.), you know what a time saver this will be.

February 8th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Finally, A Shortcut For Creating A Flattened Layer

I’m not talking about flattening your image. I’m talking about a new layer that contains a flattened version of your whole layered document, without flattening your layers. That’s right—one layer that looks like your flattened document. You could do this in previous versions, but it took a little doin’. Now, it’s just one simple keyboard shortcut, and it even creates the layer for you—it’s Command-Option-Shift-E (PC: Control-Alt-Shift-E).

February 7th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Cropping Multiple Images At Once

If you’ve opened multiple images in Camera Raw, you can apply cropping to one of those images and then have that exact same cropping applied to as many other open images as you’d like, in just two clicks. First crop your selected image in the preview window using the Crop tool (C). Now select the other photos you want to crop by Command-clicking (PC: Control-click) on them in the list of open photos on the left side of the Camera Raw dialog. Then click on the Synchronize button. When the dialog appears, from the Synchronize pop-up menu at the top, choose Crop and click OK. All your selected photos will be cropped the same way you cropped the first photo.

February 6th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Removing Your Edits To A Raw Image In Bridge

If you’ve edited a RAW photo in Camera Raw, you’ll see a little round two-slider icon below the RAW photo’s thumbnail in Bridge. If you want to remove those edits, and return the image to the original unedited version (like it just came out of your camera), Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the thumbnail and choose Clear Camera Raw Settings.

February 5th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Like The Edits You Made To One Photo? Apply Them To Others

If you’ve got a number of photos open in Camera Raw, and you make some edits to one of those photos, and you think to yourself, “Hey, that doesn’t look bad,” you can quickly apply those same edits to other images. Here’s how: Once you’ve made your edits to an image, Command-click (PC: Control-click) on the photos along the left side of the dialog to which you want to apply the same edits. Then click on the Synchronize button in the top-left side of Camera Raw. This brings up a dialog with a checkbox list of all the edits you can do in Camera Raw. If you want all the changes you applied to the first image to be applied to your selected images, choose Everything from the Synchronize pop-up menu at the top of the dialog. If you only want a few edits applied, uncheck the checkboxes beside the edits you don’t want applied.

February 4th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

How To Tell Camera Raw Which Photo To Use For Edits

When you open multiple RAW images in Camera Raw, if you press Command-A (PC: Control-A) to select them all, any change you make to the top image in the list will be made to all the other selected images. But what if you’d prefer to edit the fourth or fifth image down, and have all the rest adjusted the same way (rather than having to adjust the first photo in the list)? It’s easy—once all the photos are selected, Option-click (PC: Alt-click) on the photo along the left side that you want to base all your edits on. That photo will now appear in the preview window, and changes you make to it will also be applied to all other selected RAW photos.

January 31st, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Having Bridge Always Process Your Raw Images

Double-clicking on a RAW image in Bridge opens that image in Photoshop’s Camera Raw, but if you’d prefer to always have RAW images processed by Bridge’s Camera Raw instead, just press Command-K (PC: Control-K) to open Bridge’s Preferences, and in the list on the left side of the dialog, click on Advanced. When the Advanced options appear, turn on the checkbox named Double-Click Edits Camera Raw Settings in Bridge.

January 30th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Sorting Images In Camera Raw

When most of us think about sorting or rating images, we think about Bridge, but believe it or not, you can pretty much do the same thing right within Camera Raw. For example, let’s say you open 60 images in Camera Raw. You can toggle through the different images by clicking on the left/right arrows in the bottom-right side of the preview window. To delete any image you don’t like, click on the Trash icon in the Toolbox (it only appears when you have multiple images open). To add a star rating to a file, just click on it in the list of images on the left side of the dialog and drag out your rating below the image’s thumbnail.

January 29th, 2008 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

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Photoshop Tutorials

2012 Text Effect

Recreate the text effect from the title to the new blockbuster movie.
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.

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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Viewing and Basking in your Image

When I’m done working with an image, I like to sit and admire it (hey, I spent six hours working on it, I should). To do that, I hit the Tab key, then hit the F key three times. This hides all of the panels and toolbars and lets you see the image by itself surrounded by black. To get back to regular mode, press the F key and the Tab key one more time.