Sometimes a simple background works for an image and sometimes you need to spice it up. Placing a gobo (go between)—such as a plant, blinds or a cucoloris (a device for casting shadows or silhouettes to produce patterned illumination)—will cast a shadow on a boring background. It’s best to include the shadow during the photoshoot, but here’s how you can just as easily add a shadow to a boring background in Photoshop. Prepare the image First, prepare the image. Enhance eyes, lips, smooth out the skin, remove blemishes and ensure the overall … [Read more...] about Spice up a Boring Background with a Shadow
Photoshop
5 Ways to Make Your Photoshop Life Easier
As much as Photoshop is an amazingly powerful tool, as photographers our goal should be to spend as little time in Photoshop as possible. My motto is “Edit Faster/Shoot More” (and hopefully sell more). With that in mind, here are 5 tips that can help you spend less time in Photoshop. Tool Presets Just about every tool has settings you have to choose (in the Options Bar) before using that tool. These settings determine the way in which the tool operates, so it’s necessary to change them quite often. However, the chances are that you … [Read more...] about 5 Ways to Make Your Photoshop Life Easier
Simple Triptych in Photoshop
A triptych is three images that share a common theme displayed as a single piece. In this video I'll be making the simplest form of this by displaying three images in equally sized and arranged rectangles. In this video I'll cover; Opening multiple images from Bridge Changing the units of measurement with the Ruler The New Guide Layout in Photoshop CC Copying images and the keyboard shortcuts The Paste Into command Resizing Adding a stroke Adding a drop shadow Copying layer styles Creating a triptych with … [Read more...] about Simple Triptych in Photoshop
You know you use Photoshop a lot when…
...you make a spill your coffee and immediately think "undo" ...you look at a beautiful sky and imagine cloning out the telephone wire ...you look in the mirror and wish Liquify worked in real life ...you try to imagine everything you look at as if they were on separate layers Your turn… … [Read more...] about You know you use Photoshop a lot when…
Rethinking how to learn
Over the last few months I’ve had a series on conversations that have made me think that perhaps one of my next tutorials should be on how to watch a tutorial – or perhaps how to take best advantage of a tutorial. For example, in a past seminar I showed a technique to make a movie poster. Realistically, not many people in the audience will ever have the need to make a movie poster. But I bet they'll need to extract someone from a background, experiment with filter effects, blend someone into a new background, tweak the lighting to match, … [Read more...] about Rethinking how to learn
Photoshop is not cheating
Most experienced photographers will tell you to “get it right in the camera”. By that they mean know your camera well enough, and understand the concepts of aperture, shutter speed, ISO and your lens to be able to get the best capture possible in your camera. The other side to that concept is the implication that you should not rely on Photoshop to get a great image, that you should get it right only with your camera. In fact some “get it right in the camera” folks go as far to suggest that using Photoshop is like cheating. As a photographer … [Read more...] about Photoshop is not cheating
Is White the New Green Screen for Portrait Photographers?
Green screen backgrounds are used on movie sets to remove the background and add special computer-generated imagery (CGI) effects. The idea is simple. Shoot on a single color backdrop (blue or green is often used) and make that color transparent—replacing it with other video clips, graphics or a still image. This is great for video, but it can be nightmare for photographers. The main reason: some color will “spill” onto the subject, especially around the edges. This can create a thin line around the person, or make areas like their hairline … [Read more...] about Is White the New Green Screen for Portrait Photographers?
When 50% is Good Enough
Back in my college days, there was at least one class that I would have happy to get 50% on an exam. But let's not go there... This post is about Photoshop and how some people don't use an automated feature in Photoshop when it doesn't do the entire job for them. For example, I've had people tell me they don't use Actions because they can't record the entire process that they're trying to automate. My response is, can you record at least half of the operation? Here's a simple example: you need to take 5 versions of the same photo, get … [Read more...] about When 50% is Good Enough
Editing with Photoshop Face-Aware Liquify on a Microsoft Surface
I just got my hands on a brand new Microsoft Surface. Great to be able to run the full version of Photoshop and Lightroom right on a tablet. Let me show you how to use the pen and on-screen controls to adjust an image in real-time. The new tools in Photoshop really come in handy for quick fixes and refinements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHd6CQoZH4 … [Read more...] about Editing with Photoshop Face-Aware Liquify on a Microsoft Surface
Creating a Panoramic Photo
To create a great panoramic photo is really a two part process. First you need to capture the images correctly… after all garbage in means garbage out (GIGO). Then the images need to be assembled and processed to give you the best looking image. Let’s explore these processes. Shooting Strategies Before we jump into post-production, let's briefly talk about production. It's important that you shoot your panoramic photos correctly if you want to get good merges inside of Lightroom. You need to give Lightroom enough information to begin the … [Read more...] about Creating a Panoramic Photo
The Photoshop Tools you should NOT use
Needless to say, there are almost always multiple ways to do something in Photoshop, and more than one tool to use to get to the same end. On the surface, it might seem like "any" tool is okay to use if it gets the job done, but some are definitely "better choices" than others. And by better I mean either simpler to use, and/or there are alternative methods that are more editable and flexible. So here are the tools that I suggest you put on the back burner and use less than the suggested alternatives. Magic Wand In the early days of … [Read more...] about The Photoshop Tools you should NOT use
Easier Masking with Photoshop’s New Select & Mask Taskspace
Photoshop has a new update (CC2015.5) and it includes a remarkable new selection tool interface called the Select and Mask Taskspace. Selections and masks allow you to isolate your subject from the rest of a photo and are a fun way to create composites or make adjustments to only that portion of the picture. But, creating selections around things like hair and fur can be difficult. The new tools help make it a lot easier. I plan to use this tool for removing a person from the background, which I frequently need to do for the Steve Jobs … [Read more...] about Easier Masking with Photoshop’s New Select & Mask Taskspace
The Argument For Using Software To Help You Complete Your Images
Warning - rant ahead! I have seen a recent surge in people claiming you don’t need plug-ins or filters or presets or “HDR” software if you just take time to learn how to do it yourself in Photoshop or Lightroom. You can learn to create HDR by blending or you can learn how to soften skin by using a combo of the healing and paint brush or you can learn how to mask out hair, etc. etc. etc. While this all may be true, it misses the larger point. It takes more time to do all this without add-ons. And time is precious. The add-on tools save … [Read more...] about The Argument For Using Software To Help You Complete Your Images
Hand-Painting Enhancements in Photoshop
The creative thinking required for photography often intersects with the creativity required for painting. When experimenting with your own style, it's often helpful to let yourself explore a bit. One thing I sometimes like to do is enhance my creative images with simple hand-painting in Photoshop. It's fun, and teaches me skills I can tuck away in my mental arsenal. It’s as simple as using Photoshop’s Brush tool, and doesn’t even require you to use a digital tablet (although it certainly helps). The technique we'll explore today is great … [Read more...] about Hand-Painting Enhancements in Photoshop
How to use Photoshop’s new Content-Aware Crop Tool
Adobe added a content-aware fill option to the crop tool making it a one step process to crop and fill in blank canvas space around an image. It doesn’t sound too exciting at first until you use it. The content-aware function has been upgraded and is 'up to 3X faster with even better results! Here’s how to use the new Content-Aware Crop Tool. Straighten, Crop and Watch it Fill Select the crop tool and in the Options bar at the top of the screen, check the Content-Aware checkbox to turn on the Crop tool's Content-Aware option. Using the … [Read more...] about How to use Photoshop’s new Content-Aware Crop Tool
Fantasy Portrait: Alien Queen part 2
Part 1 of the Alien Queen tutorial showed how to mirror the thin part of her face and add two more closed eyes with fabulous lashes. No queen is complete without a crown and a golden background. Welcome to part 2. Extra alien-ness While the result from part 1 is alien, I decided to get rid of her ears and shoulders. I used a layer mask to hide them. Here's my starting point. ` Eliminating her shoulders lengthens her neck adds to the otherworldly look. More room to work... The current version doesn't have enough room around Arra for a … [Read more...] about Fantasy Portrait: Alien Queen part 2
Instant Replay: Lightroom Mobile with Adobe’s Sharad Mangalick
We're so excited about this one: we've got Sharad Mangalick, Adobe's Lightroom Product Manager, joining us again to help us dive into Lightroom Mobile. If you're like us, you're using the Creative Cloud photographer bundle, and it includes Lr Mobile free of charge, and it's helping many photographers produce better results faster. We can't wait to get down to business with Lightroom Mobile. Hosted by: Rob Sylvan and Levi Sim Produced by: Rich Harrington and Photofocus.com https://youtu.be/Y6e61t69GmU?t=4m23s … [Read more...] about Instant Replay: Lightroom Mobile with Adobe’s Sharad Mangalick
The New Perfect Skin: Supermodel Results in Photoshop
In the article, One click Supermodel Results in Lightroom, we covered what images are great for a Supermodel look. Then, using the Lightroom version of Perfect Skin, we applied a superfast One-Click preset to produce a killer look. But sometimes an image may need a little editing first. Removing flyaway hairs or a blown-out highlight on the nose is what Photoshop was created for. Here’s how we are going to take a skin-damaged image and give it a Supermodel look. Getting our Photoshop workspace in order Let’s start by opening an image inside … [Read more...] about The New Perfect Skin: Supermodel Results in Photoshop
How To Create a Realistic Backdrop In Photoshop
Recently I completed a set of studio headshots against a plain, black background. Afterwards in the editing stage, I decided I wanted my subjects to definitely pop more. After kicking myself for not utilizing more lights or a more engaging backdrop, I decided to create my own traditional-style backdrop in Photoshop that would help my clients stand out, and also give the photos more visual interest overall. I was surprised at how easy it was. In fact, Photoshop provides a very powerful tool that makes this possible, and surprisingly … [Read more...] about How To Create a Realistic Backdrop In Photoshop
Adobe Creative Cloud Update Offers Great Features for Photographers!
Photoshop’s update is going to make a lot of photographers and retouchers happy with the boost in performance plus three improved tools--Selecting and Masking, Content-Aware Crop and Face-Aware Liquify. Performance Adobe has been focusing on increasing the speed of Photoshop. Faster startup time, removing unnecessary dialog boxes, warnings and clicks, as well as how fast a tool returns results. They have promised this in past versions, but in this version it has lead to a noticeable boost in performance. Selection and Masking Space gets its’ … [Read more...] about Adobe Creative Cloud Update Offers Great Features for Photographers!
The Power of Keyboard Shortcuts
It seems that Photoshop Beginners are often told not to worry about learning keyboard shortcuts until “later” – that using shortcuts is more “advanced”. To some degree that’s true, but at the same time there is a real advantage to starting to gradually add in keyboard commands to save you time. So why bother using keyboard shortcuts? Why not just use the menus and the toolbox? Let’s look at a simple example. Imagine you have added a Layer Mask and want to paint on it, then move it. You move over to the toolbox to click on the Brush tool, … [Read more...] about The Power of Keyboard Shortcuts
Fantasy Portrait: The Alien Queen part 1
Science fiction movies are all that right now... Star Wars, Star Trek, the Marvel universe and DC comics all have at least one exotic character. I thought it might be fun to create one here on the Photofocus blog. Best thing is, you can use any portrait you've made where the subject is facing the camera. Open the image in Photoshop and play along. Thin & thick of of a face Unless your subject is a super model, one side of the face will be thicker and one will be thinner. Asymmetry is what being human is all about. As a rule of thumb, … [Read more...] about Fantasy Portrait: The Alien Queen part 1
Experiment in Photoshop for Nine Seconds
I’m a huge believer in the power of experimenting in Photoshop to help discover what’s possible. One of the comments I hear a lot is “I’m too busy to experiment”. Believe me, I understand about deadlines and getting your work done, so here’s my idea: experiment for nine seconds. Generally, I think we're creatures of habit: we do things a certain way in Photoshop because that's the way we were shown at some point, or perhaps figured out for ourselves. So here's where the nine second idea comes in. If you always use the Gaussian Blur Filter, … [Read more...] about Experiment in Photoshop for Nine Seconds
Adobe Market and Photoshop Assets
Creative Cloud has a plethora of added extras and there maybe one or two you miss, or forget from time to time. Adobe Market is one of those I forget, then when I need it turn my head to the skies and thank whoever dreamed it up. Where You’ll Find It I’m using a Mac here so I’ll find the CC logo at the top of the screen, if you’re on a PC then it’ll be down the bottom right. You may have visited this before to update your applications or look for fonts. What You’ll Find In Adobe Market Looking at the Market can sometimes be a little … [Read more...] about Adobe Market and Photoshop Assets
Instant Replay: The Future of Photoshop and Must Know Techniques
Bryan O'Neil Hughes and Howard Pinsky join Melissa Niu and Rich Harrington to discuss the state and future of Photoshop. Bryan, the Senior Product Manager for Photoshop at Adobe, helps us understand how the Photoshop team works, and Rich and Howard demonstrate must know techniques, all hosted by Melissa Niu. Photoshop techniques discussed include: Content Aware Fill tools, Video, Camera RAW as a Smart Filter, and Adaptive Wide Angle Lens correction. https://youtu.be/jjUYF4xLb_g … [Read more...] about Instant Replay: The Future of Photoshop and Must Know Techniques
Photoshop: The Make Better key
Many years ago I taught a student who had decided to come up with her own names for Photoshop tools – somehow that helped her remember what the tools did. One of her more interesting ideas was calling the Option key (PC: Alt key) the “make better” key. When asked why she simply said, “every time I hold down Option it makes things better”. Although the name might be odd, she was dead on with her evaluation of the importance of the Option key (PC: Alt key) [For the sake of the remainder of this article, let’s just called it Option/Alt.] Just … [Read more...] about Photoshop: The Make Better key
6 Reasons Not to Work Non-Destructively
I'm a big (huge) advocate of working non-destructively in Photoshop. To me it just makes sense to build Photoshop documents that take advantage of all the non-destructive methods that are available. But in case you're still not sure, here are my top reasons why you shouldn't work in a non-destructive manner. 1. You never change your mind If you always get things right the first time, and having a limited number of undos isn't a problem - then you should be fine. Just remember than once you close the document, the History panel won't help … [Read more...] about 6 Reasons Not to Work Non-Destructively
Instant Replay: Getting Started with Perfectly Clear (with Rich Harrington)
Join us for a free webinar to learn more about the Perfectly Clear Plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom. This amazing tool offers one-click corrections to perfection to bring out the best in your photos. This webinar will walk you through all of the essentials from working with presets, to customizing adjustments, to batch-processing your own photos. If you're looking to save time, then don't miss this session. You'll learn why 30 million prints a day are processed with Perfectly Clear and how you can take your photos to perfection in no … [Read more...] about Instant Replay: Getting Started with Perfectly Clear (with Rich Harrington)
Creating Patterns with Adobe Capture
Adobe Capture had an update recently and one of the great additions was the ability to capture and create repeating patterns that are synchronised to the Creative Cloud Libraries, and thus available in an instant in our CC Apps. Capturing a Pattern To capture a pattern, open the Adobe Capture app and tap Pattern. I’ve already created a Library just for Patterns but they can be added to any Adobe Library you choose, great for collaborative work! Tap the plus at the bottom of the screen to invoke the camera (you may need to provide access … [Read more...] about Creating Patterns with Adobe Capture
Smart Flow not Workflow
(PUBLISHER'S NOTE: We welcome Dave Cross as a new contributor to the Photofocus team.) In this video I show an example of what I mean by Smart Flow: how using non-destructive methods can save you time. In this example I show how to create a printing template that allows you to quickly print a series of photos, including adding a stroke border and sharpening the photo for output. This works in part because of the use of Camera Raw Smart Objects and Smart Filters. https://youtu.be/Vq7fSindFNk … [Read more...] about Smart Flow not Workflow
