Practical Photoshop (Issue 100) July 2019

LEARN PHOTOSHOP CC & LIGHTROOM TODAY! 100th
ISSUE
Issue100 July2019

100

PHOTOSHOP
TIPS Discover our best-ever

collection of secret tricks,
hot tips and masterful
editing techniques

+ PEN TOOL EXPLAINED | LIGHTROOM SKILLS | SHARPENING TOOLS

LEARN PHOTOSHOP CC & LIGHTROOM TODAY! 100th LEARN PHOTOSHOP CC & LIGHTROOM TODAY! 100th WATCH THE VIDEO
ISSUE ISSUE
Issue100 July2019 Issue100 July2019 http://tiny.cc/h9bbjy

100 100 DOWNLOAD THE
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PHOTOSHOP PHOTOSHOP
TIPS Discover our best-ever TIPS Discover our best-ever To download this
issue's files, type
collection of secret tricks, collection of secret tricks, the following link
hot tips and masterful hot tips and masterful
editing techniques editing techniques into your web
browser on your
+ PEN TOOL EXPLAINED | LIGHTROOM SKILLS | SHARPENING TOOLS + PEN TOOL EXPLAINED | LIGHTROOM SKILLS | SHARPENING TOOLS
PC or Mac:

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Welcome to issue 100 of Practical Photoshop! FIND US HERE…
If you enjoy the issue, why not subscribe and get
a whole year for just $19.99? http://bit.ly/practweet
http://bit.ly/pracface
This is the 100th issue of Practical Photoshop,
and I’ve been involved since issue 1. It’s been an Also available on:
incredible journey, and I’d like to thank you all for http://tiny.cc/4dw9ky
making it possible. To celebrate our century in style,
we’ve compiled our best-ever list of Photoshop tips. http://tiny.cc/rew9ky
Enjoy this very special issue!
http://tiny.cc/8ew9ky
James Paterson, Editor t [email protected]

www.digitalcameraworld.com

HIGHLIGHTS: WHAT’S INSIDE…

100 AMAZING POWER OF SMARTER LIGHTROOM ESSENTIALS

PHOTOSHOP TIPS THE PEN SHARPENING SKILLS Q Your quick-start
guide and reference
Q Our finest Q Learn how to Q Get to grips Q Learn how to to image editing
ever selection of use this useful tool with the Smart get the cross- in Photoshop
tricks and skills just like the pros Sharpen command processed look

100

PHOTOSHOP
TIPS Discover our best-ever

collection of secret tricks,
hot tips and masterful
editing techniques

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FILES HERE http://bit.ly/pho_100 ON YOUR PC OR MAC

WATCH THE VIDEO

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1 SPEEDY SKIN SOFTENING WITH TEXTURE

The new Texture the Adjustment Brush and retains the texture of the
adjustment in Camera dial in a negative value, skin, while smoothing out
Raw or Lightroom works then paint over skin for a any imperfections and
wonders over skin. Grab nice softening effect that rough patches.

2 LIFT SKIN TONES QUICKLY

Often skin tones will Adjustment Tool in WATCH THE VIDEO
benefit from a gentle Camera Raw. Simply grab
lift to the luminance of the the tool, right-click and http://bit.ly/2rpgzpm
red, yellow or orange color choose Luminance, then
range. A simple way to do drag upwards slightly over
this is with the Targeted the subject’s skin to lift it.

3 CREATE A WATCH THE VIDEO
CONTACT SHEET
http://bit.ly/2mxuvqk
A contact sheet can
be a quick and easy
way to display a set of
photos on a single print or
image file. Open Bridge and
Cmd/Ctrl-click to select your
photos, then go to Tools >
Photoshop > Contact Sheet
II. Use Thumbnail to control
how many images go on
each sheet.

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2xn53jq

4 ENHANCE MACRO WATCH THE VIDEO
TEXTURES WITH EASE
http://bit.ly/2wv6bgl

The Texture 5 MAKE IMPOSSIBLE-TO-SAVE-OVER TEMPLATES
command in Camera
Raw and Lightroom is Sometimes you might want to make templates
perfectly suited to boosting to use over and over, such as this simple three-
the sharp details in macro image page template. The problem is, you might
photos. This is down to the accidentally save over the template after editing
way it targets a narrow band it, rendering it useless. However, if after saving the
of mid-frequency detail template as a PSD you add T to the end of the file name
without affecting high or (so it reads PSDT), Photoshop will always open a new
low frequencies. This means ‘untitled’ file rather than the original file, meaning
doesn’t affect the soft areas there’s no chance of accidentally saving over it.
of the image or amplify
noise: only the in-focus crisp
details are enhanced.

6 ADD PUNCH WITH B&W AND A BLEND MODE

A Black and White
Adjustment Layer can
be useful for adding punch
to your color photos. Simply
set the Blending Mode to
Soft Light and Opacity to
around 20-50%. For portrait
images, try tweaking the red
and yellow sliders to fine-
tune the look of the skin.

7 EXTRUDE ANY WATCH THE VIDEO

OBJECT TO 3D http://bit.ly/2rruaav

You can turn any WATCH THE VIDEO
simple flat shape
or path into a 3D object http://bit.ly/2y77add
by going to 3D > New 3D
Extrusion From. Once
done, you can use the 3D
panel to add materials to

the object, rotate
the view, add
lighting and

WATCH THE VIDEO much more.

http://bit.ly/2fkr7fo

8 HAVE FUN WITH SYMMETRY PAINTING

This fun feature is great for drawing patterns and
interesting shapes. Grab the Brush Tool , then click
the butterfly icon in the tool options at the top to choose
from different symmetrical painting options. Then simply
start painting—try adjusting the brush tip settings in the
Brush panel for interesting scatter effects.

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9 SAVE TIME WITH SELECT SUBJECT

This time-saving tool analyzes your image and attempts to select the subject for you.
Rarely does it do a perfect job, but that’s not the point. Complex selections are usually
a several-step process, and this gets you started quickly. You can then go on to improve the
results with the powerful Select And Mask command.

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2wtizdv

10 HAVE LIGHTROOM SELECT YOUR BEST PHOTOS

Lightroom for Web has an intriguing Best Photos button that uses AI to analyze a set
of photos and pick the best one for you. A slider to the top right of the interface makes
the command more or less choosy in picking the favorites. As a machine-learning tool, it’s
surprisingly (or scarily) on the ball with its choices.

10 MUST-KNOW SHORTCUTS

11 16

When using any brush-based tool, press Cmd/Ctrl+F brings up the useful
the ] and [ keys to resize the brush tip. Photoshop Finder—begin typing for quick
access to any tool or command you want.
Shift+] or [ changes hardness.
17
12
D resets your foreground and background
Press Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate your current colors to black and white, and X flips the
layer or—if you have an active selection—to
two around.
copy the selected area to a new layer.
18
13
Press Alt+Backspace to fill a layer
To make a merged copy of all your visible with your foreground color, and Cmd/
layers, highlight the top layer in the stack, Ctrl+Backspace for the background color.

then press Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E. 19

14 Hold Cmd/Ctrl+Space and drag right or left
to zoom in or out over the image. Cmd/
The 0-9 number keys quickly set a brush Ctrl+0 fits the entire image on-screen.
opacity—1 for 10%, 2 for 20% and 0 for
100%. Press two keys quickly for a specific 20

value, like 5-6 for 56%. To make a layer group, Cmd/Ctrl-click to
highlight several layers in the Layers panel
15
(or Shift-click between top and bottom),
When no opacity-based tool is selected, then press Cmd/Ctrl+G.
the 0-9 number keys change the opacity

of the current layer.

10 HELPFUL MODIFIERS

21

While you’re using the Brush
Tool, hold Ctrl+Alt and drag
up, down, left, right to alter

the size and hardness of
the brush quickly.

22

Holding Alt while dragging
any layer, selection, text,
shape or layer style allows
you to make a quick copy

of it.

23

Alt-click any Layer Mask
thumbnail to toggle on
or off a handy black-and-

white mask view.

10 HELPFUL MODIFIERS

24

Shift-click a Layer Mask
thumbnail to disable it, and
Shift-click again to enable.

25

Alt-click the eye icon on any
layer to hide all other layers,

and Alt-click it again to
reveal the rest.

26 27 28

Cmd/Ctrl-click any layer, Alt-click the Layer Mask Add Shift into any tool
mask, channel, shape or thumbnail for a black mask letter shortcut—like J for
text to load its shape as that hides everything, rather the healing tools—to cycle
than a ‘reveal all’ white one. between the set of tools.
a selection.

29 30

When you use the Dodge When split toning in Camera Raw or Lightroom, hold
and Burn tools, hold Alt to Alt while dragging either the Hues or the Balance slider
temporarily switch them.
to temporarily view Saturation at 100%.

10 BLENDING MODE TIPS

31 HAND-COLOR
OLD PHOTOS

To hand-color old
monochrome photos,
simply make a new layer and
set it to the Color Blending
Mode, then grab the Brush
Tool, choose a color and
start painting over the
image. Voilà!

32 GET THE DOUBLE 33 MAKE A STARRY SKY
EXPOSURE LOOK
To add stars to a night-time sky, make a rough selection
of the night sky with the Lasso Tool, and copy and paste it
into another image. Change the Blending Mode to Lighten.
If necessary, darken the layer with Levels and add a mask
to control what is visible.

For a simple double
exposure effect
reminiscent of the classic
film effect, drag one image
onto another with the
Move Tool, then set the
Blending Mode to Screen.

34 USE B&W FOR COLOUR CHANGES

To control the brightness of different colors, add
a Black & White Adjustment Layer, then set the
Blending Mode to Luminosity. Now simply drag the B&W
sliders to change the color image.

35 ROUGH UP YOUR
PHOTOS WITH
TEXTURES

To blend textures 36 MAKE A DODGE AND BURN LAYER
with your photos,
try using the Overlay or Alt-click the New Layer icon in the Layers panel; then, in the
Soft Light Blending Modes. New Layer dialog, set the mode to Overlay and check Fill
If neither of these work, With. Now you can dodge and burn on this layer to affect
try Multiply or Screen. all the layers underneath.
Experiment with layer
opacity to affect the
strength of the texture.

37 POWERFUL SHARPENING WITH HIGH PASS

Duplicate your layer
with Cmd/Ctrl+J, then
set the Blending Mode to
Overlay. Go to Filter > Other
> High Pass and adjust
Radius to make a clever
sharpening effect.

38 BLENDING MODE 39 LAYER FILL OR OPACITY?
OPPOSITES
Layer Opacity and Layer Fill settings can have
Several Blending different results when used in combination with
Modes have an certain Blending Modes like Color Burn. Using Fill often
opposite counterpart. gives better results.
Lighten/Darken are
opposites, as are Screen/ 40 CYCLE THROUGH BLENDING MODES
Multiply, Darker Color/
Lighter Color and Linear Often it’s not immediately obvious which Blending
Burn/Linear Dodge. Mode will work best for you. Press Shift and the plus
or minus keys to cycle up or down through the entire list,
enabling you to compare results quickly.

10 TOP TOOL SKILLS

41 DISABLE RICH
TOOL TIPS

These are animations
that explain how
certain tools work. They can
be useful for beginners, but
quickly become annoying if
you already know how the
tool works. You can simply
go to Preferences > Tools
to enable/disable Rich Tool
Tips, though.

42 USE SPRING-LOADED
TOOL SHORTCUTS 43 TRY CONTENT-AWARE CROPPING

Most tools in When you use the Crop Tool, you can check Content-Aware
Photoshop are ‘spring- in the tool options, then crop outside of the original image
loaded’, which means if bounds. Photoshop will attempt to fill in the missing areas
you press and hold the based on the surrounding details.
relevant keyboard shortcut
for a tool you’ll temporarily
switch to it, then when you
release you’ll go back to
your previous tool.

44 COMMIT QUICKLY

Previously you’d
need to press Return
or double-click to apply
a Transform or commit
type, but thanks to recent
updates, you can now
apply these things simply
by clicking away from the
active area.

45 USE THE CLONE TOOL
ON LIGHTEN

If you need to quickly
smooth out rough
patches in skin or tone down
eye bags, try using the
Clone Tool set to the Lighten
Blending Mode. It’s best to
use a low opacity around
10-20% for good results.

46 DODGE YOUR
BACKGROUNDS TO
FULL WHITE

When you’ve shot
an object against a
white background, you’ll
often want to blow it out to
full white. If any light areas
still hold detail, grab the
Dodge Tool, set it to Range:
Highlights and uncheck
Protect Tones, then paint
over the backdrop.

47 PEN TOOL
ESSENTIALS

Here are a few
essential Pen Tool
shortcuts: drag to add
curved lines and Alt-click
points to remove the outer
handle, allowing you to make
sharp corners. Cmd/Ctrl-drag
to move anchor points or
control handles.

48 USE HEALING
TOOLS NON-
DESTRUCTIVELY

Several tools—
like the Healing
Tools, Clone Tool and
Sharpen tool—have
a handy Sample All
Layers option in the
toolbar, meaning you
can make your edits on
a separate empty layer
while sampling those
below. Now it’s easy to
change your mind later.

49 MAKE YOUR OWN BRUSHES

The Brush Tool has hundreds of tips to choose from, and you can also make your own.
Simply make a black-on-white shape and select around it with the Marquee Tool, then
go to Edit > Define Brush Tip. The new tip will be selected next time you use the Brush Tool.

50 HIDE UNWANTED
PHOTOSHOP TOOLS

The Edit Toolbar
option at the bottom
of the Tools panel (the
three-dot icon) lets you tidy
away the tools that you
never use in its ‘Extra Tools’
section. Simply drag your
little-used tools to here,
then access them through
this dialog if you need them.

10 CAMERA RAW TIPS

51 SHARPENING STANDARDS

There are no default and content. But as a rule of Radius of 0.8-1.2. With less
or standard settings thumb, with detailed images detailed images like close-up
for sharpening with the like landscapes you typically portraits or macro, a higher
Camera Raw Detail panel—it want a fairly high Amount Radius and lower Amount is
depends on image resolution of 100-150 and a low a good starting point.

52 USE THE PLUS/MINUS ICONS

When you make a local adjustment with the
Graduated Filter, the Adjustment Brush or the
Radial Filter, it’s usually best to begin by clicking the plus
or minus icon next to one of the sliders to on the right:
this simultaneously loads a starting-point adjustment and
resets all the other sliders to their defaults. You can then
go on to fine-tune the sliders to suit your adjustment.

53 TARGET AND ADJUST COLORS QUICKLY

Right-click with the up menu, then drag over for example, we’re able to
Targeted Adjustment Tool the image to change the target Luminance and drag
to choose Hue, Saturation targeted colors based on the down on the blue sky to
or Luminance from a pop- selected parameters. Here darken it.

54 IMPROVE
FINE DETAILS

Choose Enhance
Details from the
filmstrip dropdown menu,
and Photoshop will apply
advanced demosaicing,
which corrects artifacts
and addresses color
discrepancies in your photos.
This can sometimes result
in finer detail and less noise,
but often there will be no
discernible difference.

55 OPEN RAW IMAGES AS SMART OBJECTS

Hold Shift, and the Open Open Object. Use this to Camera Raw at any time by
Image button in the bottom- open the image Photoshop double-clicking the Smart
right of the Camera Raw as a Smart Object. Now you Object thumbnail in the
interface will change to can bring the image back to Layers panel.

56 DOUBLE-DOSE

TONING WITH A GRAD

Sometimes you can
take a tonal slider
right up to 100%, but still
feel that the image needs
more of that effect. If you
want to take a tonal slider
beyond its limits—perhaps
to add 200% Clarity—add
a Graduated Filter, start at
the edge then drag away
from the image so that
the adjustment covers the
entire frame, then adjust
the tool sliders to suit.

57 COPY AND PASTE RAW EDITS IN BRIDGE

You can copy settings made Simply go to the edited file images you’d like to copy
in Camera Raw from one in Bridge, right-click it and the effect to, right-click
image to another—or a set— choose Develop Settings > them and choose Develop
without opening the images. Copy Settings. Highlight the Settings > Paste Settings.

58 ALTER YOUR
VIEW WITH ALT

In the Camera Raw/
Lightroom Basic
panel, holding Alt changes
the view of various sliders.
With the Exposure,
Highlights, Shadows,
Whites or Blacks sliders it
gives you a grayscale view
that displays clipping.

59 ONLY SHARPEN THE PARTS THAT NEED IT

The Masking slider in the Detail Panel can be hugely useful for restricting sharpening just to
the detailed areas that need it—excluding soft or out-of-focus areas where sharpening is not
only unnecessary, but might also amplify image noise. After applying sharpening to your image
with the Amount and Radius sliders, hold down Alt and drag the Masking slider for a view that
shows black areas appear as you drag across. These black areas will be excluded from the
effects of the sharpening.

60 FINE-TUNE YOUR
B&W CONVERSIONS

The Black and White
panel in Camera
Raw or Lightroom is the
best tool for monochrome
conversions. Drag the eight
color ranges to fine-tune
the conversion by altering
the brightness of these
colors. You can fine-tune the
effect further by tweaking
the Temperature and Tint
control in the Basic panel.

30 QUICK CAMERA RAW TIPS

61 63 65

Double-click any slider in You can drag a box with the Double-click a Profile in
Camera Raw to reset it to White Balance tool to sample the Profile Browser to
simultaneously choose the
a default value. from the medium point of profile and collapse the panel.
a wider set of pixels.
62 66
64
Click on a neutral point like Alt-click the New Preset
a gray road or a white wall In the Tone Curve, double- icon in the Preset panel
with the White Balance tool click the words Point Curve to create new Profiles.

to fix color casts. to reset the curve line.

5 TONAL TIPS

91 THE AMAZING S-CURVE

The best way to give an image extra punch is with a simple S-curve. Either use a Curves
Adjustment Layer in Photoshop, or the Tone Curve in Camera Raw or Lightroom. Drag
one control point upwards near the top-right of the line, and a second downwards near the
bottom-left. The more pronounced the S is, the greater the contrast and color saturation.
An optional third point in the middle of the line lets you anchor the midtones.

92 FADE YOUR
FILTER EFFECTS

After applying a
filter effect, you can
‘fade’ it by pressing Cmd/
Ctrl+Shift+F. You can also
experiment with different
Blending Modes in this
dialog. A faded Gaussian
Blur set to Screen can result
in a lovely soft-glow effect
on monochrome images.

93 SOLARIZE
WITH CURVES

If you drag the
bottom-left point all
the way up to the top-left
and the top-right point
down to bottom-right, you
invert all the tones for a
negative effect. You can
also create an authentic
solarized effect by plotting
a V shape, or an inverted V
as shown.

94 REMOVE A WHITE
BACKGROUND

If you need to quickly 95 USE THE AUTO BUTTONS
remove a pure white
backdrop to comp one image
into another, simply copy it
over and double-click the
layer to enter the Blending
Options, then drag the This
Layer white slider inwards. If
necessary, hold Alt and drag
half the slider to split it up
for a gentler transition.

The three Auto options in Photoshop’s Image menu
can be very useful for quick fixes. Each affects your
image in a slightly different way. Auto Contrast takes the
darkest pixels to pure black and the lightest to pure white.
Auto Tone does a similar thing, but to each individual color
channel rather than the composite RGB. Auto Color is similar
to Auto Tone but attempts to make the midtones neutral,
correcting color casts. It’s worth noting too for Lightroom CC
users that the Auto button here is more advanced than ever,
utilising AI to determine the right corrections.

5 CROPPING TIPS

96 USE COMPOSITIONAL CROP OVERLAYS

For handy cropping overlays, grab the Crop Tool and click the Overlay icon in the tool
options at the top. Choose Always Show Overlay, then press O to cycle through the
overlay options, each of which adheres to a different compositional rule. Shift+O changes
the orientation of some of the guides.

97 SET WIDTH, HEIGHT AND RESOLUTION

You can use the Crop Tool to change the resolution of your image or prepare it for
printing at a certain size. Simply choose W x H x Resolution in the top-left dropdown,
then use the boxes to choose a width, height and resolution for your crop; 300 pixels/inch
is standard for printing.

98 CROP NON-DESTRUCTIVELY

If you shoot in raw, the image is in Camera supports non-destructive
it’s usually best to do Raw or Lightroom, as the cropping if Delete Cropped
your cropping at the start crop is completely non- Pixels is unchecked in the
of your workflow when destructive. Photoshop tool options at the top.

99 DON’T DO THE MATH

Like all measurement boxes have built-in maths, so head, you can simply type in

settings in Photoshop, rather than working out 15 ‘15/4in’. You can even mix up

the Crop measurement divided by 4 inches in your your measurement units.

100 FIND CROP RATIOS QUICKLY

While cropping, you can right-click to choose from different common crop ratios like 1:1.
There’s also a handy Front Image option that simply crops to the exact same ratio and
resolution as your original full image.

BEFORE

WATCH THE VIDEO

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AFTER

POWER OF THE PEN

James Paterson uses the Pen Tool in Photoshop CC
to teach you how to create simple composites

It might be one of we’ll use the Pen Tool to isn’t really meant for intricate
the trickier tools on trace around the car, then selections with lots of fuzzy
offer in Photoshop, but the use a Layer Mask to hide the detail. Instead it excels at
Pen Tool rewards those who original background and drop isolating hard-edged, curvy
persevere with a control in an entirely new one. objects, like the car here.
like no other. It works by It’s worth noting too that
letting you plot a series of There are different the tool is equally adept at
anchor points. Each anchor selection tools for different creating shapes as it is at
point spouts control handles tasks in Photoshop. If you selecting them, which is
that let you determine the want to make a rough why it’s beloved by graphic
curvature of the line. At first selection, you might use the designers and art editors.
it might seem complicated Lasso Tool; if you want to
and unwieldy, but with some select a portion of an image, When you use the Pen
practice the controls become like a sky, it’s usually best to Tool, there are a few vital
second nature. In this tutorial use the Quick Selection Tool. keyboard shortcuts that
By contrast, the Pen Tool speed things up, as we’ll see...

DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FILES HERE http://bit.ly/pho_100 ON YOUR PC OR MAC

STEP BY STEP MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

Make a composite image using the Pen Tool and simple layer skills

01 START A PATH
Open the provided
start image car_before.jpeg
and grab the Pen Tool. In the
options in the top toolbar, set
the mode to Path then click
the cog and check ‘Rubber
Band’ (this attaches a line to
your cursor). Click once on
the top of the car, then click
and drag to make an initial
curved line.

02 HUG THE EDGES
Hold down Cmd/Ctrl
and drag the anchor point
or its two control handles to
change either the position
or the curvature of the line.
Fine-tune the positioning so
that the anchor point hugs
the outline of the car. Click
and drag again to make more
anchors and trace along the
edges of the car.

03 SHARP CORNERING
If you need the path
to make a sharp turn, hold
down Alt and click the anchor
point. This removes the
outer handle, allowing you
to create a corner. Continue
tracing around the edges
of the car until the path is
complete, then click on the
first point you made in step
1 to close off the path and
complete your selection.

04 MAKE A MASK 05 DRAG AND DROP
When you have Open another shot
your path, Cmd/Ctrl+drag to use as a backdrop (we
to fine-tune any anchors used a free image from
that need adjusting until pixabay.com). Grab the
you get all the edges of Move Tool, then drag
the car. Next, right-click the car into the other
the path and choose image to copy it as a
Make Selection. Set new layer. If you need to
Feather Radius to 0.5 and reposition the car, press
click OK. Go to the Layers Cmd/Ctrl+T to bring up
panel and click the Add the Transform box. Make
Mask icon to convert the a new layer and drag it
selection to a mask. below the car layer.

06 PAINT A SHADOW
With the brush
set to black and with a
30% opacity, paint a
shadow underneath the
car, to help establish it
in the photo. Highlight
the top layer, click Create
Adjustment Layer and
pick Color Balance. Set
the Blending Mode to
Soft Light, click the Clip
To Layer icon, and add
yellow and red to the car.

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://bit.ly/2wrrr0b

BEFORE

AFTER

SHARPEN THE SMART WAY

Discover how to use one of the most advanced
sharpening tools Photoshop has to offer...

Most sharpening most out of this advanced be applied in the early stages
commands offer just a sharpening tool. of your workflow in order to
few simple controls—usually correct the inherent softness
a strength or amount setting Smart Sharpen is one of in raw photos.
and a radius. By contrast, the two best sharpening
Photoshop’s Smart Sharpen commands in Photoshop: By contrast, Smart
command gives you a host the other is Unsharp Mask. Sharpen is a tool that’s best
of different options. It’s Of the two, Smart Sharpen suited to ‘output sharpening’,
for anyone who wants to offers a greater range of which should occur towards
apply controlled, methodical features. As well as these two the end of your workflow.
sharpening to their photos. sharpening filters, there’s also Apply Smart Sharpen after
In this tutorial we’ll explore the excellent Detail panel in your image has been worked
the key settings and controls Camera Raw – but the Detail on and resized for a specific
you need to know to get the panel should be thought of as output, whether that’s for a
a ‘capture sharpening’ tool, to print or to view on-screen.

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1 3
6
2
4

5

1 2 3

SMART SHARPEN AMOUNT SLIDER RADIUS SLIDER

Access Smart Sharpen under In essence, sharpening This determines the distance
Filter > Sharpen. Before is localized contrast, applied from edges in which
doing so, either duplicate along the edges within an
image. Amount changes in sharpening occurs. If it’s
your current layer, or right- contrast: it determines how set to 2px, the sharpening
click it and choose Convert much brighter the pixels on will spread two pixels away
to Smart Object, to keep the light side of the edge will from edges in the image.
the effects editable. Tick go, as well as the darkness of This is why it’s important
More Accurate under the the pixels along the dark side. to first resize your image
cog dropdown at the top.
to a chosen output.

4 5 6

REDUCE NOISE REMOVE BLUR SHADOWS
AND HIGHLIGHTS
This lets you apply noise This allows you to change
reduction to an image the way the photo is These let you reduce the
sharpening effect at either
while you are fine-tuning sharpened. Gaussian Blur end of the tonal range. Use
your sharpening. It’s useful applies sharpening along Fade Amount to reduce the
for reducing grainy image strength of the sharpening.
noise, especially with any edge details. Lens Blur Tonal Width lets you zero in
photographs taken using detects sharp edges and on part of the tonal range.
details in an image and can
a high ISO setting.
result in fewer haloes.

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ȵȒǣȇɎ Ȓǔ ȵȸǣȇɎ ƏȇƳ ɀɖƫǴƺƬɎ ɎȒ ƬǝƏȇǕƺِ IɖǼǼ ƳƺɎƏǣǼɀ Ȓǔ Ɏǝƺ (ǣȸƺƬɎ (ƺƫǣɎ ǕɖƏȸƏȇɎƺƺ Əȸƺ ƏɮƏǣǼƏƫǼƺ ɖȵȒȇ ȸƺȷɖƺɀɎِ Èk ƬƏǼǼɀ ɯǣǼǼ ƬȒɀɎ Ɏǝƺ ɀƏȅƺ Əɀ ȒɎǝƺȸ ɀɎƏȇƳƏȸƳ ˡɴƺƳ Ǽǣȇƺ ȇɖȅƫƺȸɀ ٢ɀɎƏȸɎǣȇǕ ‫ ׏׎‬Ȓȸ
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LEARN LIGHTROOM TODAY!

WATCH THE VIDEO

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This month, give your
photos a cross-processed look
with Lightroom tonal tools

If you’d like to watch the
complete course now, get the
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NOW!THE APPLE APP STORE BIT.LY/TYLRAPP

Your quick-start guide and reference
to image editing in Photoshop

If you’re relatively new to editing in typical image-editing workflow in Photoshop;
Photoshop, or you just don’t know an overview of raw file editing; a guide to the
where to begin, then this section is the best six most useful layers; and a glossary of the
place to get started. Over the next 10 pages, most useful shortcuts. This guide condenses
you’ll find an overview of the different versions most of the tools and techniques you’ll use
of Photoshop available; a breakdown of the every time you import a new roll of pictures.

CREATIVE CLOUD PLANS

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Price per month Traditional desktop users Cloud and desktop
Photoshop CC £9.98/$9.99 £19.97/$19.99
Lightroom CC
Lightroom Classic 20GB 1TB
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Cloud storage If you want Photoshop, The same as the Photography
you need the regular Plan, but with 1TB storage.
Notes Existing users are offered
Photography Plan – you a discount for the first year
also get Lightroom Classic

Best for Lightroom CC Plan Lightroom Mobile Premium
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Photoshop CC £9.98/$9.99 £4.49/$6.49
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Lightroom CC and 1TB storage – only. The Lightroom Mobile
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Lightroom CC combines
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FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH WINDOWS, macOS FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH
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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 out you can only store images on
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 Slide, lines with a dot makes a
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 $NE $USM . You
can then filter your images by the star rating to
group the ones you want to work on.
2 The next step is to open the images
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 a wider 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 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 use
your adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw 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 to Controls the brightness
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.

04 HEALING LAYER "'5&3 #&'03&
Most photos contain unwanted
marks or blemishes. The Spot Healing Brush
tool is effective at removing these. The best
way to apply the healing is on a new blank
layer, so that you can easily tone down or
remove selected healing work later without
having to start from scratch because you
healed directly on the background layer. To
do this, create a new blank layer, choose the
Spot Healing Brush tool from the Tools panel
and tick Sample All Layers on the Options
Bar, then continue as normal.

05 DODGE AND BURN
One of the best ways to enhance a
photo is by lightening or darkening selected
areas of the image. This can be done with
the Dodge and Burn tools, but rather than
use them directly on the image, a separate
grey layer gives you greater control. To
create a Dodge and Burn layer, hold down
Alt and click the Create a new layer icon in
the Layers panel. Give the layer a name,
then choose Mode: Overlay. Check Fill with
Overlay-neutral color and click OK. Now use
the Dodge and Burn tools (with Range set to
Midtones) to work on the new layer.

06 SELECTIVE SHARPENING
Once all other adjustments have
been made, you need to sharpen the image
for output. The traditional way is to create a
merged layer at the top of the stack, apply
Unsharp Mask, then paint on the mask to
remove the sharpening from those parts
of the image you want to remain soft.
However, the Sharpen tool enables more
control over the process by enabling you to
build up the effect by brushing repeatedly
with a low opacity brush. Create a new blank
layer, select the Sharpen tool, tick Sample All
Layers and set a Strength of 50% or lower.

14 keyboard shortcuts that will massively improve your
speed and efficiency while working in Photoshop

D X

Reset the foreground and background colors Switch the foreground and background
to black and white color swatches

ALT+[SCROLL WHEEL] [ OR ]

Zoom in or out of the image Resize the brush tip

CMD/CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E SHIFT+[ OR ]

Create a merged copy of all the layers in the Cycle backwards or forwards through the
layer stack layer blend modes

SPACE BAR CMD/CTRL+Z

Temporarily switch the current tool to the Hand Undo the last change made to the document.
tool, for moving around the image while zoomed in Works multiple times

ALT+[EYE ICON] CMD/CTRL+[LAYER MASK]

Switch off the visibility of all other layers in the Load the currently active layer mask as
layer stack, for before-and-after comparisons a new selection

CMD/CTRL+I CMD/CTRL+T

Invert the color of a layer mask to black Activate the Free Transform tool

SHIFT+[LAYER MASK] CMD/CTRL+J

Disable the effects of a layer mask Duplicate the current layer

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Editorial Disclaimer
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