2022-09-01 Practical Photoshop

LEARN PHOTOSHOP CC & LIGHTROOM THE EASY WAY!

Issue138 September2022

37 CAMERA
RAW
TIPS
GET MORE FROM RAW
WITH EXPERT TIPS
PLUS
NEW ADAPTIVE PRESETS
LONG EXPOSURES
LIGHTROOM TRICKS

Editor
James Paterson

Art Editor
Rosie Webber

Production Editor
Richard Hill

Content Director
Chris George

Senior Art Editor
Warren Brown

Welcome to issue 138 of Practical Photoshop! DOWNLOAD THE
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Like many photographers, I probably spend more issue's files, type
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raw processor is where many of us feel most at home
while editing our photos – but there are lots of tips, into your web
tricks and shortcuts that can make things even more browser on your
enjoyable, as we reveal this issue.
PC or Mac:
James Paterson, Editor • [email protected]
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HIGHLIGHTS: WHAT’S INSIDE…

37 CAMERA RAW MASTER RAW ADAPTIVE PRESETS LONG-EXPOSURE LIGHTROOM

TIPS ANDS TRICKS MASKING EXPLAINED MASTERCLASS SKILLS

Turbo-charge your Get to grips with Find out about the Learn to shoot Tone your videos
raw editing with the masking tools new AI-powered and edit minutes- in Lightroom with
these handy secrets in Camera Raw local presets long exposures simple controls

CAMERA

37 RAW
TIPS
Learn a host of tool tricks,
workflow cheats and clever
edits in Adobe Camera Raw

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01 CLEVER AUTO SETTINGS

The Auto button at the top of the Basic Panel (Cmd/Ctrl+U) can be a great way to
kick-start your image editing: it employs machine learning to intelligently correct your
photo by comparing it to thousands of other similar images. What’s more, you can apply auto
settings to individual tonal sliders in the Basic Panel by holding Shift and double-clicking on
the slider, or auto-correct Temperature or Tint in the same way.

02 LEARN CURVES

The Curve is the most powerful tonal
tool in Camera Raw, yet it can be tricky
to master. To get a better idea of how it
works, grab the Target Tool from above the
curve box, then drag left or right over part
of the image. Points will appear along the
curve line (shadows on the left, highlights
on the right) that show how the line lets
you intuitively affect the brightness of
different parts of the tonal range.

03 CUSTOMIZE
YOUR PANELS

Right-click over any panel name for
three panel mode options. Multiple
Panel Mode lets you open as many panels as
you like. Single Panel Mode auto-collapses
other panels when you open another.
Responsive Panel Mode will auto-close
panels if they don’t fit within the interface.
You can also change the order of panels here,
or turn off visibility with the Edit Panels To
Show option. There’s also an option to turn
on Compact View, which might suit smaller
displays like laptops.

04 PANEL TIPS

There are a couple of useful shortcuts
for viewing different panels in Camera
Raw. Press Cmd/Ctrl plus 1-9 to quickly jump
to each panel in turn (1 for Basic, 2 for Curve,
etc). Cmd/Ctrl-click on any arrow next to
a panel name to collapse all panels.

05 FASHION 06 QUICK SYNC
THE FILMSTRIP
You can sync edits across a set of
The filmstrip displays all the images images with ease in Camera Raw.
currently open in Camera Raw, Simply open the set, press Cmd/Ctrl+A to
enabling you to switch quickly between select them all, and begin making changes.
them. You can tap the / key to view or hide You can also select only the rated images by
it (or shrink it by dragging the partition line). pressing Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+A. It’s easy to copy
Press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+F to toggle the settings from one photo to another using
filmstrip position between the bottom Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy and Cmd/Ctrl+V to paste.
or the side of the Camera Raw interface. Of course, you can also sync using the three-
dot icon next to each image thumbnail.

07 SWITCH BEFORE/AFTER VIEWS

AFTER

The icons at the bottom-right of the image window allow you to choose from different
before/after view options. Alternatively, press Q to cycle between through the split-
screen views, and press P to swap the before/after settings.

08 ZOOM AND SCROLL

Press Z and drag left/right to scrubby-zoom in or out. While zoomed in, you can use
the space bar to scroll around an image or hit Page Up/Down to move up or down
one screen, or Shift+Page Up/Down to move left or right one screen.

09 BIRD’S EYE VIEW

While zoomed in on part of an image, hold H to engage Bird’s Eye View, then click and
hold over the image. This temporarily swoops you out to view the image full-screen,
with a box showing the zoomed-in portion within the whole image. Now you can move the
box elsewhere and release the mouse button to swoop back in to another area.

10 UNDO AND REDO

Like most applications, Camera Raw lets you apply multiple undos to cycle back
through the steps in your workflow. Press Cmd/Ctrl+Z to undo, and Cmd/
Ctrl+Shift+Z to redo. Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z will toggle the previous state on or off.
Of course, every edit you make in Camera Raw is endlessly editable, so you can
always go back to any tool setting and turn it off or change it.

11 APPLY
PREVIOUS
SETTINGS

The three-dot icon in the Camera Raw
toolbar has some useful features. Use
Apply Previous Settings to apply the last
used settings. Reset To Open and Reset To
Default are useful too. If you’re using the
Camera Raw Filter within Photoshop, you can
also apply the last-used filter settings, which
appears at the top of the filter list. This can
be helpful for making the same Camera Raw
edits again.

12 LEARN MASK SHORTCUTS

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The Masking Panel is a great new addition, but now that the local adjustment tools
have been moved from the toolbar it’s slightly more clunky to get at them; so it’s
definitely worth learning the keyboard shortcuts for each. In Camera Raw, press K for
a new Adjustment Brush mask, J for the Radial Gradient, or G for the Linear Gradient.

13 SUBMASKS

You can quickly add to or subtract from WATCH THE VIDEO
existing masks by adding Shift or Alt to
the local tool shortcuts (Adjustment Brush: https://bit.ly/3QV5qKm
K, Radial Gradient: J, Linear Gradient: G). For
example, Shift+K adds to an existing mask
overlay with a brush submask, and Alt+K lets
you subtract with a brush submask. You can
also hold Shift to quickly switch the Add/
Subtract buttons to Intersect.

14 TOGGLE MASK VIEWS

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2

While making local adjustments with masks, press Y to toggle the mask overlay on or
off, so you can see what’s included or not. Press Shift+Y to cycle through a range of
handy mask view modes, from Overlay to Black On White and more (you can also select these
with the three-dot icon next to Show Overlay).

15 AMOUNT SLIDER FOR
LOCAL ADJUSTMENTS

You’ll find an Amount slider for each
mask that you make in the Masks
Panel. This lets you control the overall
strength of the tonal change you make; so
after, perhaps, increasing Saturation, Clarity
and Exposure, you can use the Amount slider
to fine-tune the overall effect these three
tonal changes will make.

16 COMBINE YOUR MASKS

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2

The Masking Panel makes it easy to create intricate local adjustments by combining
different tools. For example, one popular local adjustment is a vignette that darkens
the corners of a frame, made using the Radial Gradient and negative Exposure. But what if it
has an unwanted effect on highlights around the edges? Simply add a Subtract mask, choose
Luminosity, and exclude the highlight range from the adjustment.

17 SELECTIVE
COLOR CHANGES

The Hue control in the masking
settings lets you change the colors
within your local adjustments. While
dragging the control in the Hue box, you
can hold Alt to make smaller increments,
which is useful for fine-tuning your color-
changing choices.

18 INVERT YOUR MASKS

While making a local adjustment with the Radial Gradient, press X to invert the mask
and alter the area outside of the circle instead of inside it. This is ideal for adding
vignettes or softening edges, for example.

19 TARGET COLORS
WITH EASE

The Color Range masking command is
great for targeting colors to include
in a local adjustment (or to exclude or
intersect them from adjustments made with
other local tools). While selecting the colors
to include, hold Shift to sample multiple
colors, or drag to include a range of colors.

20 QUICK HSL TWEAKS

The target tools in the HSL/Color Mixer Panel lets you drag over the image to adjust
either the Hue, Saturation or Luminosity of different color ranges in the image. But it
can be a chore to open the panel and get the tools. Instead, simply hold Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+Shift
and press H to target Hue, S for Saturation or L for Luminosity.

21 REFINE YOUR
COLOR CHOICES

The Refine slider in the Color mask
settings lets you fine-tune the
threshold for your range masking settings.
You can hold Alt while dragging the range
slider for a view that clearly shows what’s
included or what isn’t.

22 JOIN THE DOTS

Whenever you make an edit with a
tool, a small dot will appear next to the
tool you’ve used, so you can keep track of the
edits that have been made to your photo.
Similarly, an eye will appear next to the
panels in which changes have been made.

23 FIX NOISY
SHADOWS

Raw files can hold an astonishing
amount of shadow detail, so detail
in seemingly black areas can often be
recovered with ease. However, this can
sometimes lead to increased noise in the
shadow areas (particularly in high-ISO
images). If you’re using a local adjustment
tool to recover shadows, try adding in
a touch of noise reduction too.

24 FIX WHITE BALANCE

Found next to the Temperature and Tint sliders, the White Balance eyedropper tool
allows you to click on a neutral point in the image to correct color casts. But it can be
tricky to find the perfect neutral point. Instead, drag over part of the image to form a box,
to sample from an average of a wider area.

25 DO THINGS IN
THE RIGHT ORDER

The buttons at the top of the
Geometry panel let you automatically
level out horizons, fix converging verticals
and more. Before using them it’s usually best
to apply lens profile corrections and remove
chromatic aberration (if you do so after, click
the Update button).

26 MAX SATURATION

Finding the right white balance can be tricky, especially as small changes to the
Temperature and Tint sliders can have barely noticeable impact. For greater feedback,
temporarily shift Saturation and Vibrance to +100. This makes it easier to judge the right
level of warmth or coolness for your photo.

27 RAWS AND
GEOMETRY

Raws are superior to JPEGs in color
data and dynamic range. They’re also
better for geometry corrections, as the tool
can call upon raw file metadata like focal
length and lens data to help determine the
correction required.

28 SPOT REMOVE LINES

Hold Shift before you begin painting with the Spot Removal Tool to constrain your
stroke to a horizontal or vertical line. Similarly, click on a point, then Shift-click on
another point to heal in a straight line between the two points. If you change the brush size
before Shift-clicking on the second point, the line will become incrementally larger.

29 MOVE THE
HEAL POINT

When you click or paint with the Spot
Removal Tool, a nearby source point
will automatically be chosen to sample from.
If you want to change the point, you can drag
it, of course; but you can also hold Shift and
use the arrow keys to nudge it (or use just
the arrow keys to nudge the heal point).

30 VISUALIZE SPOTS

Press Y (Camera Raw) or A (Lightroom) to toggle on the Visualize Spots view, and use
the slider to set the threshold for the view. This makes it much easier to find and fix
troublesome camera sensor marks.

31 SYNC SENSOR REMOVAL

To remove dust spots and sensor marks from a whole set of photos, first fix one image
with the Spot Removal Tool, then simply sync your edits with the rest of the set,
making sure to check only the Spot Removal Tool in the sync parameters.

32 SWIFT PANEL RESET

You probably know that you can double-click any slider in Camera Raw to reset it to its
default value. But you may not be aware that you can also hold Alt and click on a panel
name to reset all the options within a particular panel.

33 SHARPENING VS
TEXTURE VS CLARITY

These three tools all affect contrast
along edges (where light pixels meet
dark pixels). It can be helpful to think of each
affecting different size edges. Sharpening
tools affect the smallest edges, while
Texture leaves these alone and alters the
contrast along medium edges. Clarity
targets the contrast along larger edges.

34 THE POWER OF ALT-DRAG

Alt-drag sliders to show clipping warnings for several settings in the Basic Panel –
Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Blacks, Whites and Dehaze. It also changes the
view for some of the sliders in the Detail Panel, making it easier to judge the strength of
sharpening. The Masking slider in particular is much easier to judge while Alt-dragging,
as it’s easy to see which areas are excluded from the sharpening effect.

35 ERASER FIX

While using the Adjustment Brush, you
can use the ] and [ keys to resize the
brush tip, and hold Alt to erase parts of the
mask. But when switching between erasing
and brushing, you might find the Eraser
Brush size changes too, which can be
annoying. To fix this issue permanently,
click the three-dot icon next to Brush and
uncheck Separate Eraser Settings.

36 EDIT VIDEO IN CAMERA RAW

Recent updates to Lightroom CC now allow you to edit video with Lightroom tools. You
can also use Camera Raw with a simple Photoshop workaround. Open the video into
Photoshop, right-click the video layer and choose Convert To Smart Object, then go to FIlter >
Camera Raw Filter to use the Camera Raw tools on your video footage.

37 MAKE USE OF SNAPSHOTS

You can use Snapshots to save your image at different points in your Camera Raw
workflow, making it really easy to jump back and forth between different stages
or effects. Hit Shift+S to view the Snapshots Panel, and press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+S at any
time during editing to make a new snapshot.

EXPLORE ADAPTIVE PRESETS

Get to grips with this new functionality in
Lightroom and Photoshop’s Camera Raw

BEFORE

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AFTER

The latest updates learning. They work in offer a host of effects
to Adobe Lightroom a similar way to normal tailored towards different
and Photoshop include an presets – but, rather than subject matter.
exciting new approach to altering the entire image,
using presets. By building they zero in on either the With these latest
artificial intelligence into subject or the sky in an improvements, Adobe
presets, Adobe has taken image, before applying continues the trend in
things a step further. tailored tonal effects to implementing AI into
Available in Camera that specific area. its applications. Aided
Raw, Lightroom CC and by machine learning,
Lightroom Classic (v11.4), Additionally, a new complex edits are gradually
the new Adaptive Presets control lets us fine-tune getting easier and quicker,
are powered by machine a preset’s strength, and which is great news
new premium preset sets for photographers.

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3 2
1

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ADAPTIVE PRESETS PRESET STRENGTH SLIDER MASKS PANEL

Adaptive Presets work The new Preset strength After adding an Adaptive
by employing AI to isolate slider gives you control over Preset to boost your subject
either the sky or the subject preset effects by allowing
before adding tonal settings you to change the strength or sky, you can delve into
to boost that area. You can of the tonal change. If you the Mask Panel to adjust the
make powerful selective think an effect is too strong, result. Masks will have been
adjustments to parts of generated for your presets
your photo with a couple of lower the slider to tone it automatically; you can add
clicks. Here, the ‘Blue Drama’ down. It works with both or subtract from the initial AI
preset isolates the sky and normal universal presets and mask with the brush. You can
pulls out some of the delicate the new range of Adaptive also tweak the tonal sliders
Presets. Here, it lets us
cloud detail, while the increase the strength of to adjust the effect itself.
‘Warm Pop’ preset identifies the Warm Pop preset. Like Here, the sky adjustment
the red car and boosts the all sliders, it can be reset has also amplified the noise,
so we’ve added a touch
color and contrast. with a double-click.
of noise reduction.

4
5

6

4 5 6

MAKE CUSTOM USE PREMIUM PRESETS VIDEO PRESETS
ADAPTIVE PRESETS
Premium Presets are Another new feature in
You can now sync AI included in the paid version CC is the option to edit video
masks from one photo to of Lightroom and Photoshop. using Lightroom’s tonal tools,
another or several others, The latest updates include as well as trim the start and
so you can sync local edits five premium sets: Portraits:
to your subject across a end of video clips. It’s only
set of photos. You can also Black & White; Portraits: possible in Lightroom CC, but
use AI masks in presets you Edgy; Portraits: Group; if you’re a Classic user there’s
create yourself, so you can Subject: Concerts and Video: a workaround that lets you
effectively make your own Creative. These are created
custom Adaptive Presets to by pro photographers and apply presets and tonal
alter the subject or sky in any editing experts, so they’re changes by using the Quick
way you choose. Here, we’ve great for learning about tools Develop Panel in the Library
created a preset to add a and techniques used by pros, Module. There’s a new set
touch of warmth to the sky. as well as giving you one-click of Premium Presets geared
access to some great effects. towards video clips – you can

apply these to stills, too.

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SWEET SIXTEEN

Find out how you can create stunning long exposures at any

time of the day, with the help of with a 16-stop ND filter

Famous locations us to take minutes-long But how strong is strong?
like the Colosseum exposures, which means 10 stops is a popular
in Rome are both easy and that people moving strength, but sometimes
difficult to photograph. through the frame don’t this just isn’t enough.
Easy because – well, look register in the image. A 16-stop filter, like the
at it: it’s incredible. Difficult What’s more, it can create Formatt-Hitech ND used
because this site attracts lovely motion blur in the here, opens the door to
people by the thousands clouds, which serves both super-long exposure times,
every day, so it’s hard to as an eye-catching visual even in the brightest
find an angle that isn’t and an visual metaphor of sunny conditions. With
swarming with people. for how this grand this monster on our lens,
This is where a strong structure has stood for we can open the shutter
neutral-density filter can millennia while activity for minutes under the
be a huge asset. It allows buzzes all around. midday sun.

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4

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SUPER-LONG EXPOSURES IN THE SUN

Get set up for shutter speeds that run to several minutes

1 STURDY TRIPOD 2 NEUTRAL-DENSITY FILTER 3 PEOPLE AND VEHICLES

The camera needs to be still A 16-stop ND filter like our One of the benefits of
for several minutes, so a Formatt-Hitech Firecrest shooting long exposures in
stretches your exposure busy spots like this is that
tripod is a must. We need to times to minutes. In bright people or vehicles moving
remain in place for a while, sunshine, a 1/500 sec shutter through the scene will not
so set up in a spot that won’t speed becomes two minutes
get in the way of passers 11 seconds (compared to register in the exposure
by or other photographers. just two seconds with a (unless they stay in one
If a tripod isn’t practical (or 10-stop ND): a good length position for a long time). As
permitted) in the location such, this technique is a great
you’re visiting, you could use for blurring clouds and way to remove crowds and
removing passers by. traffic from your shot.
a wall or your bag.

4 SLOW-MOVING CLOUDS 5 PHONE RELEASE 6 VIEWFINDER BLOCKER

When your exposure time Your phone can come in There’s always a danger
runs to several minutes, very handy when you that light will leak in and
the movement of clouds shoot long exposures. First, fog the exposure. Optical
is transformed into streaks you can calculate equivalent viewfinders (on DSLRs) can
of blur. This tends to be most exposure times. There are allow light in, so block it up
effective with fluffy clouds lots of apps that can do this. with the camera’s cover. The
in a blue sky, and less so on Second, if your camera can filter attachment and lens
overcast days with lots more connect to your phone, you fixings can also leak light, so
cloud, when the sky often can use an app to start and use black tape to block the
ends up looking flat and grey. stop the long exposure.
edges, if necessary.

16 STOPS TO SUCCESS

01 TAKE A TEST SHOT
Before you attach
the filter, take a test shot
to work out a normal
exposure of the scene.
Use whatever exposure
settings you’re comfortable
with – a good option is
Aperture Priority with ISO
100, aperture f/8. This is
a good time to experiment
with compositions and
fine-tune your framing.

02 LOCK THE FOCUS
The 16-stop ND filter
is almost opaque, so once it is
in place on the lens, you won’t
be able to focus or compose
through the viewfinder. Get
the focus correct now, then
switch the lens to manual
focus to prevent it from
hunting. Fit the filter, making
sure not to nudge the tripod
out of place, and block the
viewfinder to stop light leaks.

03USING A 16-STOPPER
A 16-stop filter is suited
to shooting long exposures
in daylight conditions with
bright skies. 16 stops is
overkill for most situations,
and we wouldn’t try using it
in low light (unless you’re into
four-hour exposure times).
But if you like the long-
exposure look or minimalist
scenes, it’s a great addition
to your kit bag.

16 STOPS TO SUCCESS

04 WORK OUT
AN EXPOSURE

An exposure calculator, like
the PhotoPills app here,
is very helpful for long
exposures with ND filters.
We input the settings for our
non-filter test shot, set the
number of stops, and let the
app calculate the new shutter
speed for us. Each stop
doubles the time. Here, 1/200
sec becomes 5 mins 28 secs.

05 SET TO BULB
Most cameras max out
at a 30-second shutter speed,
so you need to set yours to
Bulb mode if you want to go
slower. This way, the camera
stays open as long as the
shutter is engaged. To avoid
touching the camera, we
can use a cable or wireless
release, or a phone paired
wirelessly. This lets us tap to
start and stop the exposure.

06WATCH YOUR TIMING
Now we sit back and
wait, using a timer to watch
the exposure length. Keep
in mind that the conditions
may change during the
exposure, so you may need
to judge things and correct
on the fly. Here the sun broke
out from behind the clouds
during a planned five-minute
exposure, so we stopped it
at 2 mins 16 secs.

FIX LONG-EXPOSURE FLAWS

01 CORRECT NOISE
The camera sensor
heats up during a long
exposure, causing increased
noise and hot pixels. You
can use Lightroom’s noise
reduction tools to reduce
this, but a better option is
DxO’s PureRaw, a plugin
that can automatically fix an
astonishing level of noise and
produce a better Raw file.
Try it at www.dxo.com.

02 FIX COLOR CASTS
Strong ND filters will
invariably leave the image
looking slightly cool. In
Lightroom, grab the White
Balance eyedropper and click
on a neutral point (like the
path here) to fix color casts.
Sometimes light can leak in
and give edges a magenta
cast. This can be fixed with
a Radial Filter, set to reduce
magenta tint.

03COMBINE FRAMES
Long exposures
can be tricky to get right
in changeable conditions,
so you may need to rely
on exposure blending to
combine more than one
frame. In Photoshop, copy one
image on top of another, then
Alt-click the layer mask icon
to add a full mask to hide the
top layer. Paint with white to
reveal the areas you want.

BETTER REFLECTIONS

Blur moving water and create cleaner
reflections with long exposures

As well as being useful for blurring clouds and removing tourists, strong ND filters are
fantastic for blurring the motion of water. The churn is transformed into streaks of silky
white blur. Notice too how reflections will come out clearer when the water is smoothed out
with a long exposure. You don’t necessarily need a 16-stop filter for this: motion blur can be
achieved with exposure times of just a few seconds. But with a strong ND, you’re free to use
wider apertures. If you want maximum sharpness, you can set the aperture to the lens’s ‘sweet
spot’, which is usually around 2-3 stops down from the widest aperture – around f/5.6 or f/8.

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Lightroom CC £51.98/$54.99
Lightroom Classic
Lightroom Mobile 1TB 100GB
Cloud storage
With this plan you get the ‘new’ Includes all Adobe apps,
Notes Lightroom CC and 1TB storage – including Illustrator, Premiere

but not Photoshop and After Effects

LIGHTROOM CC

FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH
WINDOWS, macOS

Lightroom CC combines
professional image-
processing tools with
asset organizing. It keeps all its
images online in the Creative
Cloud, with advanced image
search capabilities.

PHOTOSHOP CC LIGHTROOM CLASSIC

FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH WINDOWS, macOS FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH
WINDOWS, macOS
Photoshop is the software of choice for most professional
and non-professional photographers. Beyond the standard Lightroom Classic
photo-editing features, it boasts a vast array of more offers editing and
creative tools and filters. Layers are one of the key differences organizing tools, but
between Photoshop and Lightroom. They enable you to mask you can only store images on
out selected parts to build up increasingly sophisticated images. your computer.

LIGHTROOM MOBILE

FREE (PREMIUM: £4.49/$6.49 PER MONTH)
IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID

ELEMENTS 15 £79.99/$99.99 WINDOWS, macOS Lightroom Mobile is
the lightweight iPad,
Elements is the consumer variant of Photoshop, and iPhone and Android
contains many of its key tools and features within a version of the application,
simplified interface. It’s limited, but it does provide access integrated with Lightroom
to layers for those who have switched to a Lightroom workflow. CC. You can use Lightroom
Mobile on its own for free,
or use the Premium In-App
Purchase to access the Adobe
Creative Cloud. This enables
you to create a collection
of photos on your desktop
copy of Lightroom, and sync
them via the Creative Cloud
to Lightroom Mobile on your
portable devices. You can also
get Lightroom Mobile via any
Photography Plan.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP MIX ADOBE SHAPE

FREE IPAD, ANDROID FREE
IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID
Mix enables you to merge two photos together
to create a composite image. It offers a simplified Adobe Shape enables
compositing process that makes it easy for beginners you to turn photos and
to start combining an object from one image with a background sketches into beautiful
from another. You can then send the composite to Photoshop vector shapes for use in your
for further edits. If you like, you can also use Mix to edit a single designs or artwork. The app
image. It offers a few simple tonal adjustments and more smooths out jagged edges in
complex edits such as Content-Aware Fill. images, resulting in gorgeous
vectors that are endlessly
ADOBE COLOR scalable, just as if you’d drawn
them by hand with the Pen tool.
FREE IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID Make a shape with the mobile
app and the next time you open
If you ever need help Photoshop on your desktop, the
selecting coordinated colors shape will sync to your Library.
for your designs, try using Drag it in to any document to
Adobe Color. It enables you to create add color and make further
color themes from photos taken on adjustments.
your mobile device. This could be
anything from a scene in your local ADOBE BRUSH
park to a famous painting. So if you
come across an inspirational scene, FREE
capture the colors and save them. IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID

Adobe Brush enables
you to make your
own custom brushes
from photos or sketches for
use in Photoshop, Illustrator
or the Sketch app. The most
successful subjects are usually
those that can be easily
isolated, such as a splash
against white, or a leaf against
the sky. You can capture objects
for your brush tips using your
device’s camera, choose from
your camera roll, or use your
Creative Cloud library. Once
captured, you can then fine-
tune the look of the tip and
apply brush settings.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP SKETCH ADOBE COMP CC

FREE IPAD FREE IPAD

As the name suggests, this app enables you to paint If you’re a designer
freehand using a selection of brushes, colors and other who wants to build
tools. However, Sketch is more than just a painting a quick layout for a
app. It also enables you to connect with like-minded creatives, web or print page, then Comp is
so you can follow artists and see their work updating. Once the ideal place to start piecing
you’re done sketching the image on your iPad, you can upload ideas, images and text together.
to the Sketch community, or continue working on the image You can draw common design
in Photoshop CC. You can also bring in brushes made with elements such as text or image
Adobe Brush, and for those who can’t paint, there’s an option boxes with quick gestures. For
to overlay images so you can trace over a photo. Sketch is example, a couple of squiggly
compatible with Adobe’s pen and ruler hardware, Ink and lines with a dot makes a
Slide, but you can get great results with your finger. header, and a cross makes an
image box. It makes it easy to
PHOTOSHOP FIX mock up a layout in seconds.
You can then add words and
FREE IPAD graphics. The app even spits
out a Photoshop, Illustrator or
Fix is a retouching app InDesign document.
for altering portraits and
fixing marks or blemishes BEHANCE
in your photos. Intelligent facial CREATIVE PORTFOLIO
recognition locks onto eyes, lips
noses and chins, making it easy to FREE IPAD, IPHONE
tweak a smile, tuck in a jawline or
enlarge eyes, should you wish. Behance is the online
social space for
creatives to share
and showcase their portfolios,
connect with one another,
and find work. With work
from the best photographers,
digital artists and designers
out there, it’s also a great
place to find inspiration for
a new project. If you’re a
Creative Cloud subscriber you
can set up a Behance page in
minutes. The Behance app
for iOS devices enables you to
manage your page, while the
Creative Portfolio app provides
a polished portfolio.

Manage your photos from capture to output in three stages

The image-editing process begins as 1
soon as you’ve transferred your photos 2
from your memory card to your computer. 3
1 The first stage is to begin sifting
through your pictures to discover which are
the keepers. The image organizer that comes
with Photoshop is ideal for this task. Adobe
Bridge has controls for keywording, rating and
filtering your images, and there are handy tools
for batch renaming files, creating panoramic
stitches, making contact sheets and more.
Launch Adobe Bridge and navigate to a
folder containing new images. Use the cursor
keys to quickly flick through the images and
click below a thumbnail to add a star rating, or
use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+1-5. You
can then filter your photos by the star rating to
group the ones you want to work on.
2 The next step is to open the shots from
Bridge into Adobe Camera Raw. ACR is the best
place to make initial changes to your images
to boost tones and correct any problems with
exposure and so on. It doesn’t enable you
to combine images – you’ll use Photoshop
for that – but it does enable you to make
the kind of edits photographers need.
3 In Photoshop, you can further refine the
image with layers and adjustment layers, which
offer a much more flexible way of working than
ACR. Once you’ve finished, it’s time to share
it with an audience. Go to File>Save, and your
image will be saved as a Photoshop document
(PSD). This keeps all the layers intact, which
means you can go back and retweak the image
at a later date. However, PSD files are large
and can take up lots of hard drive space. If you
want to share your images online or via email or
social media, save them as JPEGs.

Discover how to process your raw files to perfection

The latest version of the raw file rather than in Photoshop, you’ll ensure the
processor included with Photoshop is so best possible image quality, because raw files
powerful that most photos can be processed contain more picture information than bitmap
entirely in the raw processor, with no need for images such as un-layered PSDs and JPEGs.
further editing in Photoshop. And by making Here’s our reference to the features you’ll
your adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw, use the most in the Basic panel.

THE BASIC SATURATION CONTRAST
PANEL IN ACR
Controls the overall color Makes light pixels brighter
TEMPERATURE intensity of the image and dark pixels darker

Use this slider to warm HIGHLIGHTS
or cool an image if the
White Balance tool fails Controls the brightness
to correct a color cast of the lightest pixels

TINT SHADOWS

This slider enables you to Controls the brightness
correct a green or magenta of the darkest pixels
cast, again, if the White
Balance tool fails WHITES

EXPOSURE Sets a point on the tonal
range at which pixels
Controls the overall should be pure white
brightness of the image
CLARITY
BLACKS
Controls the amount
Sets a point on the tonal of midtone contrast
range at which pixels
should be pure black VIBRANCE

Adjusts the intensity of
the less-saturated colors

The six most frequently used Photoshop layers for image
editing, and how to use them to improve almost any photo

Photoshop has many types of layers used may seem a little daunting for beginners,
and adjustment layers available, but but once you’ve got to grips with them, you’ll
there are six that you’ll find you need to use find they play a part in the creative process of
again and again. Learning how they should be almost every image you make.

01 LEVELSThis should be the first layer you add

to an image, because it fundamentally alters
the tonal range of the entire image. Create
a Levels Adjustment Layer, drag the Black
point slider inwards until it touches the left-
hand edge of the histogram, and drag the
White point slider inwards to the right-hand
edge. This remaps the tones of the image to
make more of the available tonal range.

02 CURVESCurvesisoneofthemostpowerful

adjustment layers. An S-shaped curve
brightens the highlights and darkens the
shadows, resulting in extra contrast. Create
a Curves Adjustment Layer and click the
middle of the diagonal line to add a central
control point. Drag down on the lower part
of the line and drag up on the upper part of
the line to improve image contrast.

03 HUE/SATURATION
This adjustment layer is best used
for altering the intensity and brightness
of individual color channels in an image –
greens and blues in landscapes, for instance.
Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer,
click the Master menu and choose the color
channel you’d like to adjust. Small changes
are usually the most effective.