Topic: Add a tip for Photoshop please! (Read 46880 times)

Stef. · « **on:** December 17, 2007, 10:09:26 AM »

I thought I start a new thread for digital darkroom tips. Hope this is a good idea and the listmom does not tell me off?
I am regularly asked for faster ways of doing things or "secret" tips. So forgive me if some of the stuff might be "cold" coffee but perhaps it is helpful?

Now this is a way of converting a colour picture to black and white without the channel mixer and the need to add anything up to 100%: I assume most of it works in Elements the same way or similar?

(1) open up your colour image in Photoshop
(2) create an adjustment layer: (this is at the bottom of the layer's palette- the grey and white circle. Choose "hue saturation"- change nothing just click O.K.
(3) create another adjustment layer- again hue saturation. This time drage the saturation slider all the way back to
-100
(4) Go back to the first hue saturation layer- click on the circle opening it up once again and play with the lightness slider. Now the neat thing is that under "edit" you can choose the separate colour channels and change the lightness of each individually without the stupid percentage of the channel mixer!

Hope this helps the one or other of you?
Happy photoshopping!
Stef.

fother · « **Reply #1 on:** December 17, 2007, 10:25:55 AM »

Cool, gonna try that

gazraa · « **Reply #2 on:** December 17, 2007, 02:26:46 PM »

Great idea Stef.

ok, here's another tip.

If you are zoomed in, working on a small area of the image and don't want to keep zooming in and out to see if it's looking right, just open a new window of the same image.

Go to Window > Arrange > New window for ....

A new instance of your image will open up. You can have one zoomed out and work on the zoomed in version. The other image will update when you make changes.

This depends on whether you have enough screen space to open two images of course

doctorwho · « **Reply #3 on:** December 17, 2007, 04:12:10 PM »

not really a tip, more an alternative sharpening tool.

Add duplicate layer, filter, high pass filter. Select soft light blend. Adjust opacity to between 60 and 80%. Flatten.

No unsightly haloes!

Stef. · « **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2007, 09:26:36 AM »

My tip of the day:

An alternative sharpening method - arguably the best there is:
(1) Image -> Mode -> Lab Colour
(2) Click in the layer palette "channels" and select the "Lightness" channel
(3) click select -> all -> edit -> copy
(4) in channels palette click little arrow on right hand side "new channel" -> just click O.K. then -> edit ->paste -> rename channel "sharp" by double clicking on Alpha
(5) keep that channel selected -> filter -> stylize -> find edges
(6) image -> adjustment -> levels: adjust so that you get a nice strong contrast (left arrow: pull it towards the middle)
(7) stay on that channel -> filter -> blur ->gaussian blur: radius around 1 pixel
(

still on same channel go back into image -> adjustments -> levels: fine tweak the contrast once more
(9) in channel list select the lightness channel
(10) go to select -> load selection -> "sharp" with invert ticked
(11) now: filter -> unsharp mask -> around 300 % radius 1 threshold 4
(12) go back into your channel palette and delete channel "sharp"
(13) click RGB in channel pallet
(14) click select -> deselect
(15) convert back to RGB: image ->mode -> RGB

This is considered as one of the best methods to sharpen an image. Now it seems to be very long but you can make an action out of it! Not sure how this works in Elements but I have been told that most of these things work in Elements as well. So sorry for my biased tips- but I work with Photoshop.

Have fun!
Stef.

Stef. · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2007, 05:30:26 PM »

creating your own borders

(1) Open your image
(2) Create a new layer
(3) Edit -> Fill -> Foreground Colour (set to white)
(4) In the Layers Palette: Set Layer from "Normal" to "Lighten" and start painting with black onto this layer. Where ever you paint the original image comes through.

Keep in mind the following:
(a) taking grey instead of black let's the image only partially shine through
(b) take "artistic" brushes to make a black line/border all around the inside of your image- then take the magic wand tool to selct all the remaining white within the black line and fill it with black- voila you have an artistic border
(c) keep in mind to play around with the tool presets to change the brushes to for instance chalk.
Have fun
Stef.

Rob aka [minolta mad] · « **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2007, 05:45:37 PM »

How to add snow to your images using elements

Open up image>Layer>new layer (rename snow) click ok
Switch foreground background colour to black foreground
press alt del keys (layer turns black)
Filter>texture>grain>grain type>enlarged>intensity 100-contrast 0 > ok
Enhance>adjust colour>remove colour
Filter>blur>gaussion blur> set to 1.9 > ok
Enhance>adjust lightness>bright/contrast> contrast 95 < brightness -1 >ok
Windows>layers>snow layer>blend mode> change from normal to screen
Image>transform>free transform w=300 h=300>click crop
Select eraser tool>opacity 50% brush size 800 remove some snow, by clicking the snow will darken in places giving a more natural appearence.

Thats it, The more you play around with the eraser the better it can look. You can also add another sow layer with bigger or smaller flakes over the top of this one by selecting a bigger or smaller width and height size in free transform.

This is a very quick attemp, will post a better one later

Rob

Stef. · « **Reply #7 on:** December 22, 2007, 02:08:10 PM »

O.K. my tip of the day: history brush

Now this is a tool that unfortunately is highly undervalued by most photoshoppers and therefore I thought I make you aware of some of it's possibilities:

Now the cool thing about the history brush is that you can make any changes to an image than take a "snapshot"- go one step back in the history palette- in other words "undo" what you have just done and then use the history brush by clicking next to the snapshot and apply "partially" what you have just undone.

Example: you decided that part of you image needs more contrast but not all of it.
(1) apply levels/ curves to the whole image paying particularly attention to the part of the image that you would like to have more contrast and ignoring the rest of the image.
(2) take a snapshot of the adjusted image
(3) go one step back in your history palette- in other words undo your level/ curve adjustment
(4) choose the history brush > tick next to your snapshot > start painting over the part of theimage that you really want to adjust

TIP: don't forget you can change the opacity of your brush and therefore the strength of the adjustment.

This is a fantastic way to partially adjust contrast and also to change the amount of contrast in one go. Alternatively you would have to choose different parts of the image and make different adjustment layers.

Also the history brush lets you not only change the contrast just imagine what else you can do with that! You can for instance tint the whole image in any colour and then undo it and apply it partially!

Just give it a try it is really worth it!
Happy photoshopping!
Stef.

Stef. · « **Reply #8 on:** January 02, 2008, 04:09:22 PM »

Fast way for removing sensor dust in Camera Raw

(1) Use the spot removal tool in Camera Raw (= retouch tool) on a single image
(2) Use the synchronize button (displayed at the top left when multiple files are selected)
(3) tick the spot removal button on the top right hand side once the synchronize window opens and the sensor dust on all the selcted images should be removed

Stef.

Stef. · « **Reply #9 on:** January 02, 2008, 04:17:35 PM »

Keeping the Raw files until the very last minute

Now this is a very handy one- one that I did not know until lately...

We all prbably agree that it is the raw file is the "best" quality available with most of the information contained within the image? Any kind of conversion be it Tiff or Jpeg is less quality than the original raw file and yes I do know about losless conversion...so here is a simple trick to keep the original raw file even in CS!

Once you have done you conversion in RAW converter instead of just clicking "open" hold down the shift key while clicking. This places you raw file as a smart object layer into a new document in PS. Now you can continue editing using a standard non-destructive workflow such as adjustment layers etc. At any time you can re-open you raw file in ACR by double clicking the layer.

Neat one isn't it?
Happy photoshopping
Stef.

Stef. · « **Reply #10 on:** January 02, 2008, 04:23:00 PM »

Edge Sharpening in ACR or Lightroom

Most people I meet don't know for what the "masking" slider is in the sharpening dialogue of ACR or Lightroom.
If you view your image at 100% you will recognise that by slowly moving the control to the right the sharpening effect is only applied to the edge detail.
This is very handy if you have a noisy image to start of with or if you don't want to sharpen things such as skin.

Stef.

gazraa · « **Reply #11 on:** January 02, 2008, 04:53:20 PM »

you should write a book

great tips Stef, I'll have to think of some more to add.

Have you got any good colour correction tips, say for panos where you have to join images together than might not have quite the same colours, as in differing exposures?

I'm going to sticky this thread as it's likely to be (in fact it is already) a very useful one

Rob aka [minolta mad] · « **Reply #12 on:** January 02, 2008, 05:13:55 PM »

Quote from: Stef. on January 02, 2008, 04:17:35 PM

Keeping the Raw files until the very last minute

Stef,
That tip is awsome !!!

And yes, you could write a book

Rob

Stef. · « **Reply #13 on:** January 02, 2008, 06:34:30 PM »

Quote

Have you got any good colour correction tips

tomorrow...

Great that you like it.
Was not sure whether people are really interested- as obviously it is very much Photoshop CS3. In future I might include some workarounds for Elements- but as I don't work tha much with Elements I would have to try them all first...
Stef.

Fud · « **Reply #14 on:** January 02, 2008, 07:11:14 PM »

Quote from: gazraa on January 02, 2008, 04:53:20 PM

you should write a book

great tips Stef, I'll have to think of some more to add.

Have you got any good colour correction tips, say for panos where you have to join images together than might not have quite the same colours, as in differing exposures?

I'm going to sticky this thread as it's likely to be (in fact it is already) a very useful one

Gazraa if you are using CS3 it is really good at matching differing exposure levels when stitching - much better than CS2.

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Author Topic: Add a tip for Photoshop please! (Read 46880 times)

Stef.

Add a tip for Photoshop please!

fother

Re: Add a tip for Photoshop please!

gazraa

Re: Add a tip for Photoshop please!

doctorwho

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Stef.

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Stef.

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Rob aka [minolta mad]

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Stef.

Re: Add a tip for Photoshop please!

Stef.

Re: Add a tip for Photoshop please!

Stef.

Re: Add a tip for Photoshop please!

Stef.

Re: Add a tip for Photoshop please!

gazraa

Re: Add a tip for Photoshop please!

Rob aka [minolta mad]

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Stef.

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Fud

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