Basic Photoshop Skills You Should Master

The digital camera has taken the world by storm and thousands of people have gigabytes of images stored on their computers. Just like using normal photographic film, not all of the images are perfect but the disposable nature of digital photography means that it no longer matters if the shot is blurry or taken incorrectly.

With tools such as Adobe Photoshop, through can be edited, enhancements made and stray items taken away. The things you can do to your photos are endless really. If you have some photos, I bet they are not all perfect and there are improvements you can make to them to make them better. Lets discuss a few ideas and tips that could help you.

Correct light levels.

If your image is too dark or too light, you will need to adjust the image so that it looks natural. In the old days of film cameras, this was called under and over exposure. In Photoshop, simply select the Edit menu, choose Brightness/Contrast and then drag the sliders until you get the right effect. This is also a great place to make moody black and white images too, increasing shadows and blowing out light areas.

Make your photos pop with color.

A little like the exposure problems we have already talked about, some photos just look dull and uninteresting. Perhaps it was a grey day and your child’s red top did not look as bright as it should or perhaps the green grass in your photo looks boring. The color and tone of the image can be adjusted using the Image menu. Click it and then choose Adjustments and then Match Colour. You can then drag around the intensity and luminance sliders to get the best image.

Get rid of the background.

This is probably the most asked after tutorial on the Internet about Photoshop. People want to remove people or objects quickly and easily from the photo or remove what is in the background. There are many ways to do this but the best way is to use the Pen Tool, which you can select from the tools panel on the left hand side of the screen. Draw around the edge of the part you wish to remove and try to get the edge as best you can.

It is a very tricky process, but the better you can get with your line, the better your image will be. You can also zoom right in to the image to get finer control over the Pen Tool. The Pen Tool uses points on a line to define the shape. The closer the points are together, the better quality the line will be. If you want to use the Pen Tool to go around the edges of a curve, click one point at the beginning, one at the end and then hold CTRL and click on the line that runs between the 2 points. You can then move it to curve precisely around the area.

Once you are happy that the item has been selected using the Pen Tool and the ends are joined up, right click inside the image and choose Make Selection and click OK. You can then cut, copy or move the selection to a new layer. There are many other ways of doing this and the Pen Tool method is possibly the most accurate, but also the most time-consuming. Google some more options if you can get on with this one.

Learn how to email your images.

Now that images are on your computer, you might want to upload them to a website like Facebook, Flickr or send them through email to friends and family. The problem is that the images can be very large and cause email programs to freeze and Facebook to reject it. If you do get the images to go through, the person viewing them at the other end will have to download them, which can also be slow if the images are large.

Luckily, Photoshop has built-in tools to optimise your images for such uses. Open the image you want to send, choose Save For Web from the File menu and you can then adjust the size and quality as you like. There are sliders and preset that will allow you to choose predefined settings, so it is easy for the novice to use too.

Photoshop For Beginners - Professional Photoshop Workflow Secrets

Step #1 – Rotate and straighten the image

It takes time and patience, and a tripod, to create a perfectly level image in the camera and since the majority of people hand-hold their cameras the majority of photographs have tilted horizons or buildings. Therefore the first step of my professional  photoshop  workflow is to straighten the image.

Step #2 – Cropping for composition and efficiency

Once the image has been straightened the next step is to cropthe image to the shape you want. This has two positive aspects: it allows you to cut off anything around the main subject that doesn’t add to the impact of the photo, and it reduces the file size which makes  Photoshop  work faster.

Step #3 – Removing marks and ‘dust bunnies’

Now we can get rid of any irritating dust marks (known as dust bunnies), especially obvious in blue skies, and remove any unwanted detail in the image such as litter on the floor. We do this using a combination of the Healing brush and the Clone Stamp tools.

Step #4 – Saving the initial image

At this point we have a clean image and it is a very good idea to save the image now using Save As… and give the clean image a meaningful name. This will maintain the original photo intact and give you your clean image with a useful filename.

Step #5 – Basic and intermediate level tone control/adjustment

Now you have a clean image it is time to check the overall tonal values to determine if the image needs tonal adjustments. This is where we correct any exposure problems and also any lighting contrast issues.

Step #6 – Basic and intermediate level colour control/adjustment

At this point we can see if the image has any unwanted dominant colour and remove it using the colour correction tools. Since most camera users will be using the auto white balance, it is likely that the photo will have a colour cast that needs to be removed. At this point, save the image again!

Step #7 – Advanced tone and colour control/adjustment

In step #6 we removed a dominant colour cast and now we need to use the more advanced  Photoshop  colour tools to fine-tune the colour balance of the image. For example, this is where we would make sure the skin colour of a portrait was just right.

Step #7 – Selective adjustment methods using layer masks

Now we get more creative and start to analyse the image to determine which areas within the photo will benefit from further adjustments to the tones and colours. To make local corrections we use selections and layer masks. A very useful technique is to use density masks for ultimate control. At this point our image correction is complete and we can save the image ready for further use.

Step #8 – Sharpening for different purposes

Now we have our completed image we need to apply sharpening either for making a print or for sending the image to a webpage. Sharpening an image often causes concern and a whole ‘secret science’ seems to have built up around the topic. To keep things simple follow these rules: A) for the web, resize the image first and sharpen after. If it looks good on your monitor it should be fine (watch out for haloes which indicate too much sharpening). B) For making a print you can apply more sharpening than your monitor indicates because the printer uses much higher resolution. Make the image look a bit ‘crunchy’ on screen and it should be fine in the print.

Step #9 – Saving the work for different purposes

This is something many people don’t think about. Always have a master copy of your original untouched image (in case you ever want to start afresh) and a master copy of your fully corrected image with a unique name. Now from the fully corrected version do any resizing and sharpening for a specific purpose, such as for a web gallery, and then save the image to a new file. This is very important; have separate files for each type of use you want the image to have e.g. web gallery, Inkjet print, email, thumbnail, blog, etc.

There you have it! The secrets of a professional workflow which you can use to speed up your image editing and save time in the process. This will also make you much more efficient! Until next time.

Photoshop Killer Keystroke Commands

In this article I will teach you about the importance of keyboard shortcuts for  Photoshop . There are only a few keyboard shortcuts that you need to diligently memorize but this effort will pay off huge dividends in streamlining your workflow and enhancing the sheer enjoyment of working with  Photoshop !

One question that I hear repeated over and over is why is there not a multiple undo option for  Photoshop  like other standard computer programs. Well, there is such a feature in  Photoshop . It’s just that  Photoshop’s  intellectual model is based upon the history palette. In most software programs, you can continuously press Ctrl-Z (Command-Z for Macintosh users) to undo the offending error. Sometimes you’re left in the lurch because you can’t undo the undo! With  Photoshop , this command is called “step backward” on the edit menu. The keystroke command is Alt-Ctrl-Z. If you feel that you’ve gone too far you can “step forward” which is Shift-Crtl-Z. This is the same principle as the History Palette but it’s great to know that when you’re immersed in your project and you don’t necessarily want to fumble through your menus or palettes to take immediate action!

Here are a few other standard menu shortcuts, which are common to a lot of applications but ones you really should know:

Ctl-N = New file Ctl-O = Open file Ctl-S = Save file Ctl-C, X, V = Copy, Cut, Paste

Here is another killer shortcut, when you are working with the brush tool, how do you usually increase your brush size? Do you usually go up to the brush menu bar and scrub the slider left and right? This step always annoyed me because it completely breaks my concentration not to mention my creativity. Next time you have to use the brush tool, experiment with the [ key (that’s the left bracket next to the P key) to decrease the brush tool and the ] key (the right bracket next to the [ key). You can even adjust the softness or hardness of the brush this way. To increase the softness, it’s Shift-Ctrl-[. To increase the hardness, it’s Shift-Ctrl-].

Here are some other shortcuts that will rocket propel your workflow:

Ctl-Space = Zoom in Ctl-Alt-Space = Zoom out v = move tool t = Text tool

I hope this tutorial has been helpful. Please drop me an email, if you have question or comments.

Thanks again for subscribing to  Photoshop-How-To .com!

What is Adobe Photoshop?

There are many programs out there for digital artists to use but none are as multipurpose as Adobe Photoshop. Originally just a picture editing program it has evolved to be one of the most useful and indispensable tools in the industry. Add to the fact that it is easy to use and people become intimate with it very quickly. Even if you can only use it at a basic level it can still offer tremendous results in any project.

But what use is a program to make and edit pictures in our modern world? The answer to this is very long and perhaps too big to fit here. However there are a few examples that can illustrate just how important it has become. Have you seen a movie that had 3d models and expansive special effects recently? Chances are that if you’re been to a movie house in the past ten years then yes. Would it surprise you to know that without pictures those special effects would be meaningless?

While a 3d modeler can make impressive designs and characters for movies and games they will look like nothing more than grey avatars. This is where the need for competent and creative digital artists comes in. These models and sculptures require textures in order to look as intended and good ones in order to be believable. Almost every texture used is a picture of something in the environment or an artistic pattern to be cut and applied to the model.

While the medium may have changed the concept is the same and traditional artists that can work with digital tools are in high demand. This covers the movie and game aspect of it but what else can the program do? For starters you can edit images, resize them, graft them onto one another, or make original works of art. There are several peripherals for the program that are in essence a pen and pad for you to draw with.

If you are skilled enough you can also recolor and restore faded pictures or bring color to old black and white photos. Both of these methods can be time consuming but they are nonetheless rewarding. Many people have started up businesses based on these two facets of the program alone and have been tremendously successful. Professional purposes aside the program also offers various alterations to personal art works.

While many artists work with the program there are a great many still that prefer to do most of their work with old fashioned paper. Those that make their own work and wish to either touch it up or color it simple use a scanner and import their works of art into the computer. This takes less than a minute and they have a digital copy of their artwork to work with.

Adobe releases a new version of Photoshop every year or so and includes new features as well as program enhancements and bug fixes. This is one of the company’s flagship programs and there is rarely a dissatisfied customer.

Adobe Photoshop is one of the best photo creation and editing programs in existence at the moment. There have been few programs that can compare to its capabilities and it has given people many ways to start up businesses and express their personal art. This program can take you places that you may never have dreamed of, so if you have artistic talent don’t be afraid to use it.

How to Edit Smoke Photographs in Photoshop

 Photoshop  Tutorial: Processing Smoke Photographs

In this tutorial, I will show you how to process your smoke photographs using  Photoshop . This is a follow up to the tutorial on “How to Photograph Smoke – Step-by-Step Tutorial.”

If you want to know how to photograph smoke, please read the above article and then come back to this tutorial when you’re done.

The main aim of this tutorial is to point out the key elements needed to bring out the smoke and make it more visually stimulating. I will be showing you my own methods that I learned through trial and error as well as tips from others.  Photoshop  has a myriad of tools that some professionals either don’t use or even know existed, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

For simplicity, I have written this tutorial with the novice  Photoshop  user in mind and hope it is quite easy to follow. To avoid confusion, I will not be using any  Photoshop  shortcuts, unless there is no other way to perform an action. If you know the shortcuts to the tasks I describe throughout the tutorial, then by all means use them.

I use Adobe  Photoshop  CS4, which has some new tools and features compared to older versions. However, there shouldn’t be any confusion with control options as I will be using the most common tools which exist in all versions of  Photoshop .

If you don’t understand some parts or have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or leave a comment below and I will be happy to clarify.

Getting Started

I will be using the image below as the demonstration for this tutorial. It is the original RAW photo with no processing involved at this stage. As you can see, it has a few blemishes and does not stand out so much. We are about to change that in a few simple steps.

**[Demo Image goes here]**

STEP 1

Adjust RAW settings

NOTE: If you did not shoot in Raw format, then ignore this part and start from Step 2.

Open the RAW file in Camera Raw (opening the file in  Photoshop  will automatically launch Camera Raw) and adjust the settings you require.

Usually when I process my smoke photos, I tend to adjust only the basic settings such as the Temperature, Blacks, Contrast, Brightness and Clarity, but only if it is necessary. I find it easier to do everything in  Photoshop  with greater flexibility as you can isolate parts of the image.

I adjusted the following settings only:

• Temperature: from 6000 to 5500


• Exposure: +0.50


• Blacks: +10 (5 to 15)


• Contrast: +15 (25 to 40)


• Clarity: +15

The results of these adjustments can be seen below. The circled areas are blemishes that I was not happy with.

**[ Photoshop  Screenshot-RAW Adjustment Before After]**

STEP 2

Open image and create backup copy

Once you have opened your image in  Photoshop , it is best practice to create a backup copy of the image. This is so that you have the option of starting over if you make any mistakes or just don’t like the results.

Here’s how you create a duplicate layer:

1. Open the image in  Photoshop 


2. From the Menu Bar select the following: Layer > Duplicate Layer


3. Name the duplicate layer if you prefer. I tend to leave it as the default title “Background Copy”


4. Once you have created the duplicate layer you need to hide the original image. You do this by first selecting the image by clicking on it. If you did not rename the image when you opened it, then it should still be labelled as “Background” **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Select Original Image]**


5. Now go to the Menu Bar and select: Layer > Hide Layers

Your layer should now be missing the ‘eye’ located to the left of the image. **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Hidden Layer]**

This has made the original image invisible while you work with the duplicate copy above it. Now select the duplicate layer and you are ready to start editing.

STEP 3

Highlight Blemishes

Now you have your duplicate layer selected you need to check for any blemishes. Remember, the black background of the smoke photo must be 100% black – RGB 0, 0, 0.

If you adjusted the blacks in Camera RAW then it may seem that it’s already pure black but, depending on the browser you are using, you may not be able to see it on your screen. However, if there are any flaws, they are likely to appear on other browsers.

To check for blemishes, spots, glare etc, do the following:

1. From the Menu Bar create a Levels Layer: Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels For easy reference later, leave the name of the new layer as “Levels 1.” Also, make sure that the levels layer is located above the image layer you are editing, in this case the ‘Background Copy.’ If it isn’t, then just click and drag the levels layer above it. **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Levels Layer]**


2. Move over to the white levels slider and drag it all the way across to the left. This will highlight all the light colours of your image.

**[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Levels Adjustment]**

**[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Blemishes After RAW Adjustment]**

As you can see, the image on the left looks workable without any major blemishes. However, after highlighting the light colours you can see how much of the image needs cleaning up.

STEP 4

Remove Blemishes

Removing the unwanted blemishes is a very quick and simple task.

1. On the layer palette select the ‘Background Copy’ **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Duplicate background selection]**


2. On the Tools Panel, Select the default Foreground and Background Colours by clicking the small Black and White icon. Make sure the Black is on top (Foreground) **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Select Default Color]**


3. Then select the “Brush Tool” **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Select Brush tool]**


4. Go up to the Options Bar and set both the Opacity and Flow to 100% **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Opacity-Flow]**


5. Now brush over the blemishes making sure you don’t go over the edges of the main smoke image. You can make it easier to brush around the smoke by zooming into the image and selecting a smaller brush. **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Blemishes Removed + Zoomed]**


6. To zoom into the image go to the Menu Bar and select: View > Zoom In (shortcuts are displayed on the right) **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Select Zoom In]**


7. Once you have finished perfecting the background, you need to delete the levels layer. If you need to adjust the levels then obviously keep it, but remember to bring the white slider back to its original position on the right. **[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Levels Reset]**

There are many other ways to be more precise with this task, but this demo image has a simple shape and not much intricate work is needed, so I won’t confuse you by suggesting more on this tutorial. If you would like to know other methods then don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact me directly. Leaving a comment will be ideal as others can benefit from the responses.

STEP 5

Adding Colour

There are a number of ways to add colour to your image, but if you have many smoke images to process and little time on your hands, there is a very quick but effective method you can use. All you need to do is adjust the “Hue”

1. Go to the Menu Bar and select: Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation

2. Move over to the Adjustment Palette and play around with the Hue adjustment slider until you find the colour you like.

**[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Hue Adjustment]**

**[ Photoshop  Screenshot-Hue adjusted sample]**

And voila! You have a beautiful smoke photo with added colour. I told you it was quick and simple…:-)

If you want to get more creative, you can use the Brush tool and manually add the colour and gradient. This will require more skill and patience though. You can also create a gradient layer with two different colours and use Blending Modes like Overlay or Soft Light etc…

The other methods require an entire tutorial of their own. I am working on creating Video Tutorials for each specific method.

Learning Photoshop For the New Photoshop User

There are many photo editing programs on the market but Adobe Photoshop is among the best. Learning Photoshop can be a bit daunting for the new user, but the skills are definitely worth it. A skilled Photoshop user can find employment in many industries and make a lot of money. The uses for this program go beyond simple photo creation, and branch off into many facets of the industry.

At first learning Photoshop consists of basic editing, and selection skills. For some it may seem tedious but these are essential building blocks for what you will learn later. It takes about a full year to become proficient enough in the program to be hired by someone. It has many functions, and isn’t something you can jump right into to earn money.

When they reach this point the Photoshop user can do a great deal of things. They can create magazine covers, pieces of art, mixed pages from different pictures, articles with artistic flare to them, and photo restoration. Photo restoration is a very big consumer need at the moment. Many people that have old photos scan them into their systems for safe keeping.

Unfortunately these scans will also pick up any wrinkles, or marks on the photographs. However Photoshop can remove these wrinkles from the scans. You can also colorize black and white pictures, and patch damaged photos. These are just a few of the functions a Photoshop user has available to them. It can also do complex cutting, editing, selecting, and general rearranging of all forms. If there is something you want to modify the program can modify it.

The amount of functions and capabilities that you can perform in Photoshop are too numerous to list in their entirety. Needless to say, learning Photoshop can be a very rewarding experience. It can also be a very fun experience if you like working with this sort of thing. Knowing how to make custom images, and alter photos can lead to high paying careers in the film and game industry.

As more people use special effects in their movies and video games become more vividly detailed, there is a constant need for good texture artists. A texture artist is a person skilled in image editing and creation, like a Photoshop user. These artists are the ones that make the models in special effects and games look like real objects and not grey blocks.

It does require some hard work but learning Photoshop and its advanced capabilities can really pay off. An experienced Photoshop user can make great works of art. They can even bring more detail and some interesting visual effects to pictures. When combined with other forms of media generating programs the results can be outstanding. Of course it can be frantic sometimes trying to keep all the operations straight.

So in closing whether you’re learning Photoshop for the first time, or are an experienced Photoshop user, it’s never to late to learn more. The program can edit all sorts of images and pictures, and even restore damaged photos. Becoming a texture artist with this program can lead to a high paying career. Or you can just learn to use it for the fun of it.

Photoshop Files

File Types and Limitations

So what file types should you ask for and what file types are the best to work with? Well, in Photo shop, the best type of file to work with is a Photo shop PSD file. If your clients have Photo shop and submit their artwork in that format, that’s your best bet. However, in most cases, that’s usually not what happens.

There are many file types, some of which are proprietary for specific programs but others that are universal like EPS, BMP, TIFF, JPEG, and GIF.

PSD

Photoshop files you create that are raster-based and contain layers and channels are automatically saved as this type of file. The image’s resolution and spot color channels are also saved, as is image bit depth. If you want to save the file in any other format, you’ll have to flatten it first. PSD save information about the file, including its layers and channels, so that those items can be continually edited.

EPS

EPS are Encapsulated PostScript files and contain both raster- and vector-based images. EPS can be edited in Adobe Illustrator as well as Photoshop, and some EPS files from third-party clip art companies can be edited in other programs, such as CorelDRAW and Arts & Letters, among others. EPS can be created in any color space and any image bit depth. EPS is a good file format to receive from a client and for saving. Printing an EPS file requires a Post Script printer. EPS does not support alpha channels.

BMP

BMP are bitmap files, which are pixel-based files. Bitmap only support RGB color spaces and 1, 4, 8, or 24 bits per channel. This is quite low channel support, making bitmap images unsuitable and rarely chosen for Photo shop file work. Bitmap images are best used for PC buttons and icons or for creating images in low-end art programs.

TIFF

TIFF are Tagged Image File Format files that are widely used in graphic design. TIFF are raster based and support almost all color spaces. TIFF can be compressed using a loss less compress scheme, making them better for saving than JPEG files. TIFF are generally used to transfer files from one application like Photoshop to another graphic application. Practically all desktop publishing programs support this format. If a file created in Photoshop is saved as a TIFF and opened again in Photo shop, layers are preserved; if the file is transferred to another application, the layers are lost.

JPEG

This is the type of file I get most often from clients because it’s small in size and e-mails easily. JPEGs are best suited for saving photographs or images with lots of colors. Most people are familiar with JPEG, and they understand that it is a universal file format. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is sometimes also written as JPG. JPEG files are lossy, meaning that because they are compressed, they lose detail. When a file is converted from a JPEG to another format, those compressed or lost pixels must be reconstructed. This usually results in jagged edges in the design. Designs printed on T-shirts and other materials lose detail in every step of the process, so it’s best to stay away from JPEG files when possible. The JPEG file format supports RGB, CMYK, and gray scale color models.

GIF

GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format and is generally used for files that are considered line art or have only a few colors. GIF images are good for images containing less than 256 colors, so they’re not good for photographs. GIF file format supports gray scale and RGB color spaces. This format can be used for indexed color spaces as well, although it isn’t a common Photo shop working file format.

PDF

PDF stands for Portable Document Format and is used mainly for documents. PDF file format preserves fonts, page layout, and other document information and can be imported into Photo shop for editing. PDF files are platform independent, meaning almost any computer OS can be used when opening them. PDF files are not used in Photoshop for creating artwork.

EPS DCS2

EPS DCS2 files are variations of EPS files. DCS stands for desktop color separated file. This file type allows you to save color separations as CMYK files. The DCS2 format also allows you to export images containing spot channels, which regular EPS doesn’t support. To print DCS2 files, you must have a PostScript printer.