Tip of the Day | Page 57

Zooming All Your Tiled Images At Once

If you’ve chosen to tile your open windows (in the Window menu, under Arrange, choose Tile Horizontally [or Vertically]), in Photoshop CS2 you get some hidden functionality. If you want all the tiled images to be displayed at the same level of magnification, just hold the Shift key, grab the Zoom tool (Z), zoom in on one of the images, and all the other tiled images will jump to that same magnification. This is great when you’re trying to compare a number of similar images for detail.

November 1st, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

The Trick To Tricky Extractions

Adobe’s own Julieanne Kost (Photoshop guru and instructor supreme) showed this at the Photoshop World Conference & Expo, and it had everybody’s jaw dropping, but little has been said of it since, even though it’s built into Photoshop CS2’s Extract function (found under the Filter menu). It’s called Textured Image and you use it when you’re dealing with a tough extraction—a person with a dark shirt posing on a dark background, for example—and Extract can’t really tell where the shirt ends and the background begins. Turning this on helps detect the edges by examining the texture, and if it detects a texture (like you might find in a shirt), it can often help pull you out of a tight situation.

October 31st, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Having History Track Your Layer Visibility

By default, the History palette tracks the last 20 things you did in Photoshop, but (weird as this may sound), it doesn’t track when you hide or show a layer. For some reason, it just doesn’t record that. Well, that is unless you know this tip: Go to the History palette’s flyout menu and choose History Options. When the History Options dialog appears, turn on the checkbox for Make Layer Visibility Change Undoable. Now, you can undo your showing and hiding of layers from the History palette.

October 30th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Getting Back To The Filter Gallery Defaults

Let’s say you’ve tried all the filters in the Filter Gallery, and changed each setting so much that you can’t remember what the default, out-of-the-box settings were. Well, you’re out of luck (kidding). Here’s a trick for getting back to those default settings for any filter the Filter Gallery supports (like any of the Artistic filters, the Sketch filters, etc.): Open one of these filters (by choosing it from the Filter menu) and when it opens in the Filter Gallery, press-and-hold the Command key (PC: Control key) and you’ll see that the Cancel button changes into the Default button. Click it (while still holding down Command/Control) and the default settings will magically reappear.

October 29th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

What’s Smarter Than Using Guides?

Oh wait. I know this one. It’s…it’s…Smart Guides! (That’s right, for 500 points.) These little below-the-radar additions to CS2 are there to help you align objects on layers, but they don’t show up just on the edges of your object. As you drag your layer, they look for angles and corners within your layer, and the guides then extend out from there. That’s why they’re called “Smart.” To turn them on within your multilayered file, all you have to do is go under the View menu, under Show, and choose Smart Guides. Once they’re enabled, they appear automatically as you drag. They’re handier—and smarter—than you’d think.

October 26th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Creating A Flattened Version Of Your Layered Image

Alright, you’re working on a Photoshop file that has a “bizillion” layers, and you want to create a new layer that’s an exact copy of what your flattened image would look like. First, create a new blank layer by clicking on the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette, then press Command-Option-Shift-E (PC: Control-Alt-Shift-E). You can also go to the Layers palette’s flyout menu and choose Merge Visible while pressing Option/Alt. Either way, the new layer you created will now have a flattened version of your image.

October 25th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Switching From Warp To Free Transform (And Back Again)

If you’re using CS2’s Warp Image feature (which is accessed by bringing up Free Transform, then Control-clicking [PC: Right-clicking] inside the Free Transform bounding box and choosing Warp from the contextual menu), there’s a good chance you’ll need to resize the image once you start warping it. If that happens, there’s a button you can click that will switch back to Free Transform. It’s near the top-right corner of the Options Bar, and clicking the button will toggle you between Warp and Free Transform.

October 24th, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Making A Smart Object Dumb – Well, Kinda

If you’re using CS2’s Smart Objects (by using the Place command under the File menu to add images to your document rather than opening them and dragging-and-dropping them in with the Move tool [V]), you’ll also want to know how to convert your Smart Object layer into a regular ol’ layer. To do that, click on the Smart Object layer, then go under the Layer menu, under Smart Objects, and choose Convert to Layer.

October 23rd, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (0)

Think You Might Change Sizes? Make It A Smart Object!

If you’re building a collage, or some other document that has images on different layers, and you think you might wind up resizing some of the images, rather than just dragging-and-dropping opened photos into your main document, make them Smart Objects. That way, when you resize them (especially helpful if you increase their size), it calls upon the original image to make a clean resize (instead of a blurry, pixelated version). To create a Smart Object, you only have to change one thing—instead of opening the photo, go under the File menu and choose Place instead.

October 22nd, 2007 | Web Editor | Tip of the Day | Comments (1)

Hidden Zoom Feature In Vanishing Point

If you’re using Vanishing Point and need to quickly zoom in on an area, just move your cursor over that area, then press-and-hold the letter X on your keyboard to zoom in on the area where your cursor is. To zoom back out, release the X key.

October 19th, 2007 | 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.
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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Fill and Recovery Sliders in Camera Raw

Chances are you’ve noticed that when you attempt to increase the exposure in an image that is underexposed, you are going to clip your highlights, take areas of light color information and make them completely white. Before Camera Raw 4.1, the only way for you to compensate for this would be to dial back the exposure. Now, with the Recovery slider you can bring back some of the detail that was lost in the highlights without affecting the entire image.