Great place to host your Photoshop Images

If you have Photoshop Images which you want hosting here's a really cool place to host them for FREE - www.funphotoshop.com

3 Great reasons why you should have a look.

- Create an unlimited amount albums.
- Add an unlimited number of photos to each album.
- They make it extremley easy for you to share you photos on myspace, blogs and your friends and family.

Repairing Color Photos in Photoshop 7

In Photoshop, all things are possible. Not only can the person weilding this amazing program well create spectacular pictures, tasks like repairing color photos in Photoshop are easy and accessible.

Just knowing the basics can do wonders. Start with your "Auto Color" command. (Click "Image," "Adjustments," then "Auto Color" from the top menu.) Photoshop has configured the Auto Color tool to transform photos to preset values, affecting the overall tone and levels of the photograph.

After that you will probably want to enhance your photo further. Photoshop gives you a cornucopia of options for endlessly fiddling with your pictures.

Try your "Levels" button (click "Image," "Adjustments," then "Levels"). A dialog box pops up labeled Levels. In it you can use the top slider bar to control the brightness of shadows, midtones and highlights. The bottom slider bar affects your overall output levels.

You should get your levels the way you want them before you move on to directly transform colors. You can also correct your brightness levels using "Curves," in the same menu. Experiment with it and you’ll see how it works.

Inside bothe the Levels and the Curves dialog boxes, click "Options" and you will find another important dialog box called "Auto Color Correction Options." This box allows you to not only correct the photo’s tone and set specific clipping percentages, but you can also set your color values for shadows, midtones and highlights.

Experiment inside your Auto Color Correction Options dialog box to enhance monochromatic contrast, enhance per channel contrast, find dark and light colors and snap neutral midtones.

Often an image comes out with an overall color cast, which is usually not desirable. To remove a color cast, use your Image > Adjustments > Auto Color functions.

Inside the same Imagae menu, you’ll find the Hue/Saturation and Desaturate functions. Use these to enhance colors or fine-tune the saturation of an image by reducing color (desaturating).

To replace color, go into your Image, Adjustments menu again and click "Replace Color." A dialog box pops up that allows you to create a temporay mask, isolating specific areas for enhancements.

Inside Replace Color are options for changing the hue, saturation and lightness of your selection. These are all different attributes, of course. "Hue" refers to the color, "saturation" refers to the color’s purity, and "lightness" means the precise quantity of black or white in an image.

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."

You will now be able to "paint" chosen areas of your image in order to saturate them to your liking. Control this tool using the Flow and Brush options.

As you can see, enhancing and repairing color photos in Photoshop 7 is really easy, once you get the hang of it.

Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop With My 2 Hour Easy To Use Photoshop Video Tutorial.

Tenpin Bowling Photoshop Image

Ok this is one of my favorite hobbies (Tenpin Bowling). Here's an excellent photoshop image sent in by Joe, it just shows you how simple and easy it is to produce a photoshop picture of this quality with little effort.

Transformation in Photoshop

Here is a simple video from Zagreb who has done this photoshop video in his spare time. Please note he's no professional.

Essential Techniques for Working with Photoshop CS2

Photoshop CS2 is the industry standard for state of the art image design.

In this article, you’ll find the essentials to get you started, but it’s good to be aware that they are only the tip of the iceberg of this powerful juggernaut called Photoshop.

CROP IT
Longstanding art and photo composition rules employ the “Rule of Thirds” for cropping a picture or filling the frame with the subject, depending on which is more appropriate.

Filling the frame with the subject is self-explanatory and easy to do. Using the “Crop” tool icon, found in your Tool bar, click and drag down diagonally, then release and adjust the crop tool’s “handles” to choose the exact image you want, then right-click and click “Crop,” or double click inside the image.

To use the “Rule of Thirds,” visualize a grid over the image with 9 perfect squares, three by three.

Crop the image so that the primary focus rests at one of the intersections on the grid, outside of dead center.

RESOLVE IT.
It’s important that the resolution of your image is correct for its designated use. If it will be published on the Web, the image should be at 72 pixels per inch (ppi). But if the photo will be printed, you’ll need a resolution of at least 300 ppi.

To enter the desired resolution, choose “Image,” then “Image Size.” You can then type the correct number in the resolution box.

MAKE IT PRETTY.
A great favorite feature in Photoshop is its “Variations” options. Click on “Image” and then click “Adjustments.” Choose “Variations, at the bottom of the list and select the one you like best.

REPAIR IT.
Photoshop’s retouching tool options are virtually infinite. The novice should first master all the tools in the Tool bar. Lurking behind each icon are a number of hidden options to choose from, so experiment with those, too.

The “Healing Brush” and the “Clone Stamp Tool” in your Tools bar are good places to start when you’re ready to repair and retouch.

Work in a large magnification, choosing the area you want to copy as a template by holding down your ALT key. With a little practice, you can make any portrait look perfect.

STRAIGHTEN IT.
The easiest way to straighten a picture is with the Crop tool. When you make a Crop shield with it, then hover over a corner, two arros appear.

By clicking and holding the mouse, you can easily rotate the image to be straight. You can use this method to rotate the entire photo as well, but you will have to double-crop it, since you’ll lose information the first time.

SHARPEN IT.
Under “Filter,” then “Sharpen,” you will find a handy device called “Sharpen Edges.” This is the fastest tool for correctly sharpening up an image in Photoshop.

Have fun mastering the basics. Once you do, that’s when the real fun begins!

Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop With My 2 Hour Easy To Use Photoshop Video Tutorial.

Photoshop Image of the Week

Here you have a very cool image sent in from Tony, showing you how you can merge two images together. Giving you a stunning photoshop picture like this.

Two more sources of free photos

Two more sources of free images for you to practice with here...

http://www.openphoto.net
http://www.freephotosbank.com/

Getting the Upper Hand with Photoshop Layer Sets

Anyone who plans on spending any length of time wandering the halls of Photoshop should consider learning how Photoshop layer sets work.

Layers are crucial to the entire mechanism of Photoshop design and enhancement.

The Photoshop “Layers” palette maintains a precise history of all your keystrokes… so you don’t have to remember anything.

Layers can be likened to your command post, so it behooves you to spend some time in there. Let’s take a brief look around right now.

Hmm, looks complicated, doesn’t it? Well, unlike a lot of other functions inside Photoshop, Layers really is pretty simple.

Basically, it isolates different sections or transformations so you can work on them without affecting the rest of the image.

Which really comes in handy when you find yourself up against the wall and need to start that particular enhancement over: just throw that layer away.

Your Photoshop Layers box will automatically create a new layer for you for some changes, but you can also create a new yourself.

On your top menu bar, click “Layer,” then “New.” You’ll see a brand new, empty layer appear inside your Layers box. Notice that it has been highlited and the “background,” or original, layer is not.

The highlighted layer is the active layer, meaning that’s the one you’re presently working on. To activate a different layer, simply click on it, and Photoshop highlights (activates) it for you.

Becoming aware of this one function is essential for successfully working in layers.

(Note: Photoshop CS2 lets you activate multiple layers.)

Once you have a few layers inside your Layers dialog box, try clicking the eyeballs next to each one.

You’ll see that in this way you can visually isolate layers so you can tell exactly what it is you’re working on.

At times, you will find yourself creating many, many layers for a single image. When that happens, it gets difficult to find the layer you want to affect.

The solution to this problem lies in creating groups, or “layer sets.” Grouping layers allows you to place them into a folder. (In Photoshop CS, first link the layers, then choose “New Set from Linked” on the side menu of the Layers box.)

In Photoshop 7, you create a group by choosing each one, then clicking “Group with Previous” inside your Layer option in the top menu. Or you can click the tiny folder icon at the bottom of the

Layers palette and drag the layers into that layer when it appears, then click the collapse arrow to the left of the set folder to hide the layers inside the folder.

If you want to get rid of the set folder later, highlight it, then click Layer, Delete, Set, then choose either “Set and Contents” or “Set Only.”

Some versions of Photoshop require you to choose your layers and then “Shift-Click” on the bottom folder icon to create a set folder. In Photoshop CS2, you can align layers by choosing View > Show > Smart Guides.

Like all the other fabulous Photoshop functions, Layers offers almost limitless ways to affect your photos and the way you maneuver around inside Photoshop itself.

Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop With My 2 Hour Easy To Use Photoshop Video Tutorial.

Photoshop Vectoring

Photoshop Vectoring Video (check out the hours invested here.... yikes!)

Basic Photo Corrections in Photoshop CS

Welcome to the cadillac of photo-enhancers: Photoshop CS!
Retouching in Photoshop can be a breeze... but not until you learn how. The Photoshop CS program is such a powerful application you could spend years just mastering the basics.

Most of us, however, don’t really need a Masters in Photoshop. What most of us want is the flexibility, integrity and vast array of choices that Photoshop provides.

Let’s look briefly at some of the most basic photo corrections in Photoshop CD, the ones you’ll really need. Here are the first steps recommended by the experts, and they represent the process they apply to every photograph:

1- First and foremost, duplicate your original and work only on the copy.

That way, if something goes wrong, you’ll always have the original. This is a great habit to get into.

2- Next, assure the correct resolution. There are two basic categories of “resolution” in computer graphics: the monitor resolution and the image resolution.

Image resolution varies from low (about 72 pixels per inch, or “ppi”) to high (anything 300 ppi or larger). Of course, the higher the resolution, the bigger the file.

To change the resolution of your photo, click “Image,” then “Image Size.” On the bottom left of the box that comes up, type in the ppi you want, for example, 300 ppi. (You will probably want to change the size at this point. That’s fine, you will still retain the ppi you chose.)

3- Use your Crop tool ( ) from the toolbox to shape your picture the way you want it.

Many people don’t notice the width and height options underneath the top menu, but it’s a very handy feature.

At times you have an exact measurement you need to fill; rather than fiddling with the numbers after you crop, the proper way is to insert the width and height immediately after clicking the Crop tool, and then making the crop, dragging down diagonally with your mouse. You will notice the exact measurements appear without a struggle.

4- Experiment with your automatically adjusting features. Click on “Image” in your top menu, then “Adjustments.” You will see options for automatic levels, contrast and color. After you’ve tried them, you can go ahead and hone in to polish, if you like.

You can also try Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlight (or “Variations”). You’ll be astonished at the variety of preset options there.

As you gan imagine, there are endless variations on the themes represented by these basic steps and the choices made therein.

But Photoshop expands past them and out into the great beyond, offering an unlimited palette and a universe of options.

Your only problem will be how to tear yourself away.

Master The Basics Of Adobe Photoshop With My 2 Hour Easy To Use Photoshop Video Tutorial.

"Fix" Your Photos Online

Here's a great new "web 2.0" tool I just came across - Picnik.con, it's new, and it's a very cool online photo/image “fixer.”

You can tweak exposure and removing red eye, or crop and rotate an image, you can fix, or just use their “auto-fix” feature.

Obviously it's no substitute for Photoshop (could anything ever be?). But if you're on the road it's a very useful and fun tool, which also allows you to store photos, create slideshows and email your results.

It offers a few simple special effects and more are promised soon. And I just love playing with these new Web 2.0 tools :-)

See it for yourself here http://www.picnik.com/