Wednesday, January 28, 2009

When you need to learn in photoshop

By David Peters

With the spot healing tool, you simply click on or drag across the flaw you want to remove and it disappears. The retouched area is blended into the surroundings seamlessly - most of the time anyway. It takes a little practice getting a feel for how brush size and healing work together, but most of the time it does an impressive job.

CROPPING. Select the "Crop" tool icon from your Tools bar, then drag it downward diagonally from the upper left corner to the bottom right corner. Release the mouse and then use it to manipulate the image size with the crop "handles." Hit "Enter" or "Return." RESIZING. Go to "Image" in your top menu, then choose "Image Size." Enter the dimensions you need and hit OK. (You can radically change the outer shape of the image by unclicking "Constrain Proportions" at the bottom of the page and entering different dimensions, then clicking OK.)

Strike a balance The Gradient Editor automatically places a midpoint between each colour stop to create a smooth linear blend between colors. You can tweak the effect of this blend by moving the midpoint to offset the mix between the colors. Using this technique you can create tight, dramatic blends between colors instead of gradual ones. The opacity stops run along the top of the preview bar. A black opacity stop indicates 100% solid, a white opacity stop indicates that that part of the gradient is 100% transparent and grey stops indicate values in between.

Image Adjustments: No doubt you'll need to tweak things such as levels and colour values on occasion. These shortcuts will take you to the heart of the Image - Adjustments menu - Adjust Levels.......[Ctrl]+[L] - Auto Levels.........[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[L] - Auto Contrast.......[Alt]+[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[L] - Auto Color..........[Shift]+[ Ctrl]+[B] - Curves ..............[Ctrl]+[M] - Color Balance.......[Ctrl]+[B] - Hue/Saturation......[Ctrl]+[U] - Desaturate..........[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[U] - Invert..............[Ctrl]+[I] File Management: Browse, open, close and save your files for a variety of formats, all at the touch of a key or three - New File.............[Ctrl]+[N] - Open File............[Ctrl]+[O] - Open File Browser....[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[O] - Save.................[Ctrl]+[S] - Close................[Ctrl]+[W] - Save As..............[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[S] - Save for Web.........[Alt]+[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[S] - Undo last action.....[Ctrl]+[Z] - Step Forward.........[Shift]+[Control]+[Z] - Step Backward........[Alt]+[Ctrl]+[Z] - Page Setup...........[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[P] - Print................[Alt]+[Ctrl]+[P] - Print with Preview...[Ctrl]+[P] - Print One Copy.......[Alt]+[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[P] - Jump to ImageReady...[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[M]

To experiment with advanced Photoshop layering, you'll need something to work on. So first bring up a photo inside Photoshop, then create another layer with something on it. On the bottom of your Layer Style box, you will find the "Blend If" settings. Choose either gray, red, green or blue inside the drop-down Blend If menu, then use your slider bars to control the opacity of the layer you highlighted or the layer underneath. Dragging the "white" slider left will diminish the whites or highlights, and the layer underneath will show through. You will quickly see how blending each color affects the image. You can use this versatile feature, for example, to replace a washed-out sky with a nice blue sky, blending the transparency to a gnat's eyebrow.

Hoping to get a jump on Google and other competitors, Adobe Systems plans to release a hosted version of its popular Photoshop image-editing application within six months, the company's chief executive said Tuesday. The online service is part of a larger move to introduce ad-supported online services to complement its existing products and broaden the company reach into the consumer market, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen told CNET News.com. Chizen said Adobe laid the foundation for a hosted Photoshop product with Adobe Remix, a Web-based video-editing tool it offers through the PhotoBucket media-sharing site.

Your "Color Balance" and "Channel Mixer" are also valuable tools for transforming colors in an image. Find them both by clicking Image, then Adjustments. Inside your Photoshop Tool Box are all the icons you need to polish up an image to perfection. (If you don't see your Tool Box, click "Window" and select "Tools.") Almost every tool provides other hidden options, which become visible upon right-clicking. If you hover over the tool icons a message appears describing their function. Midway down on the right-hand column is the Dodge-Burn-Sponge tool. Try opening the "Sponge" function (you will probably have to right-click to find it). Under your top menu, you'll see the sponge icon appear, with various options. Click on the pull-down Mode menu and choose "Saturate. - 16069

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