Basic step to Photo Corrections in Photoshop CS

In this article, you will find the basic steps for acquiring, retouching and resizing images in Photoshop. The information applies to photos destined for printing as well as for Web images. All instructions are intended for maneuvering inside Photoshop CS.

To begin, open your Photoshop program, then hold down Ctrl-Alt-Shift in Windows or Command-Option-Shift for Mac OS. This restores the default preferences. Click on “Yes,” which resets, and then close the screen.

Open an image file inside Photoshop, then make a duplicate layer to work on. This is one of the best habits you can develop for working with Photoshop; once you’re used to editing only on a copy of the original, you will see that it’s easy and worth it.

CROPPING.
Select the “Crop” tool icon from your Tools bar, then drag it downward diagonally from the upper left corner to the bottom right corner. Release the mouse and then use it to manipulate the image size with the crop “handles.” Hit “Enter” or “Return.”

RESIZING.
Go to “Image” in your top menu, then choose “Image Size.” Enter the dimensions you need and hit OK. (You can radically change the outer shape of the image by unclicking “Constrain Proportions” at the bottom of the page and entering
different dimensions, then clicking OK.)

RESOLUTION.
The “Auto” resolution button on the right of your Image Size dialog box will resize your image to small, medium and larger sizes. Under “Document Size” in your Image Size box, you’ll see a place to enter the desired resolution. For the Web, normal resolutions will be 72 pixels per inch.

For print work, the resolution should be at least 300 ppi. When you increase the resolution, you increase the image size, and may need to resize it, but the resolution will stay the same.

COLOR CASTS.
Go into your Image > Adjustments menu and try using the automatic presets there: Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, Auto Color and/or Variations. This last option is especially fast and flexible, offering fine-tuning for shadows, midtones and
highlights as well as saturation.

Click Image, then Levels in your top menu. You will see a Channel box on top with a pull-down arrow that exposes options for red, green or blue. You can affect the color
cast of an image inside this level box by clicking on that color and moving the slider bars. Watch the image as you make the changes.

SHARPENING.
>From your top menu, click “Filter,” then “Sharpen.” Normally, the “Sharpen Edges” function, judiciously applied, will be all you need to bring clarity to your photo.

There is an unlimited cornucopia of enhancement options for the well-versed Photoshop user. The very basic steps above will get you started.

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Getting to grips with Editing gradients in Photoshop

Unleash the power of the Gradient Editor to customise Photoshop’s default gradients. The key to using the Gradient Tool effectively is to be able to master its editing options. Select the Gradient Tool and click on the gradient preview in the options bar to open the Gradient Editor.

You’ll see a variety of preset gradients displayed, from the default Foreground to Background gradient to the more complex Chrome gradient.

All these preset gradients can be edited to create new gradients. You’ll notice that some gradients have more colour ‘stops’ than others; the Foreground to Background gradient has two colour stops – black and white – while the Spectrum gradient has seven colour stops.

You can modify a gradient by changing the colour of the stops – simply click on one and choose a new colour from the Color Picker. Alternatively, click on an image and sample a colour for your customised gradient using the Eyedropper Tool.

You can also add new colour stops to an existing gradient by clicking anywhere along the bottom edge of the preview bar.

As well as editing colour stops for the gradient to blend between, you can also add different opacity settings to make it fade from solid to transparency.

Strike a balance The Gradient Editor automatically places a midpoint between each colour stop to create a smooth linear blend between colours.

You can tweak the effect of this blend by moving the midpoint to offset the mix between the colours. Using this technique you can create tight, dramatic blends between colours instead of gradual ones.

The opacity stops run along the top of the preview bar. A black opacity stop indicates 100% solid, a white opacity stop indicates that that part of the gradient is 100% transparent and grey stops indicate values in between.

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Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

Become the king of the keyboard by discovering more new shortcuts. Taking advantages of keyboard shortcuts to rapidly access tools in the toolbox.

Locating Keyboard Shortcuts.

Photoshop is more than happy to give up its secrets
A good place to start hunting down keyboard shortcuts is
within the Photoshop interface itself. Open the main menu,
and take look at a few of the commands. Next to each one
you’ll find the relevant keyboard shortcut listed if one is
available. Another comprehensive list of shortcuts can be
found in the Photoshop Help files.

Killer keyboard shortcuts

Mac users should treat the [Alt] key as the [Option] key and
the [Control] key as the [Command] key

Image Adjustments:

No doubt you’ll need to tweak things such as levels and
colour values on occasion. These shortcuts will take you to
the heart of the Image > Adjustments menu

- Adjust Levels.......[Ctrl]+[L]
- Auto Levels.........[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[L]
- Auto Contrast.......[Alt]+[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[L]
- Auto Color..........[Shift]+[ Ctrl]+[B]
- Curves ..............[Ctrl]+[M]
- Color Balance.......[Ctrl]+[B]
- Hue/Saturation......[Ctrl]+[U]
- Desaturate..........[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[U]
- Invert..............[Ctrl]+[I]

File Management:

Browse, open, close and save your files for a variety of formats, all at the touch of a key or three

- New File.............[Ctrl]+[N]
- Open File............[Ctrl]+[O]
- Open File Browser....[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[O]
- Save.................[Ctrl]+[S]
- Close................[Ctrl]+[W]
- Save As..............[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[S]
- Save for Web.........[Alt]+[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[S]
- Undo last action.....[Ctrl]+[Z]
- Step Forward.........[Shift]+[Control]+[Z]
- Step Backward........[Alt]+[Ctrl]+[Z]
- Page Setup...........[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[P]
- Print................[Alt]+[Ctrl]+[P]
- Print with Preview...[Ctrl]+[P]
- Print One Copy.......[Alt]+[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[P]
- Jump to ImageReady...[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[M]

Layer Mangagement:

Who needs to click icons or pull down menus when layer control is just a shortcut away?

- Show/hide Layers palette.........Press [F7]
- New Layer........................[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[N]
- New Layer (from copy of selected layer)...........................[Ctrl]+[J]
- New Layer (cutting selection from existing layer)...........................[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[J]
- Group with previous layer........[Ctrl]+[G]
- Ungroup from previous layer......[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[G]
- Merge Down.......................[Control]+[E]
- Merge Visible Layers.............[Shift]+[Control]+[E]
- To hide non-selected layers......Press [Alt] and click on the layer’s show/hide Eye icon.
- To cycle between layers..........[Alt]+[ [ ]&[Alt]+[ ] ]
- To bring a layer in the layers palette forward.........[Ctrl]+[ []
- To send a layer back.............[Ctrl]+[ ]]
- To jump from the top to the bottom layer in the Layers palette..........................[Alt]+[Shift]+[ [ ]
- To bring a layer to the top from any location......................[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[ ] ]

Super Fast Selections:

Copy, paste and modify selections more quickly to speed up your workflow.

- Constrain marquee.........................[Shift]+drag when first creating selection.
- Draw marquee from centre point ...........[Alt]+drag when first creating selection.
- Select All ...............................[Ctrl]+[A]
- Deselect .................................[Ctrl]+[D]
- Add to existing marquee selection.........[Shift]+drag
- Subtract from existing marquee selection..[Alt]+drag
- Fade...................................[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[F]
- Paste Into.............................[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[V]
- Nudge empty marquee selection ............Use arrow keys
- Nudge empty marquee selection in larger increments ..........................................[Shift]+arrow keys
- Copy and move selection...................Select the Move Tool, hold down [Alt] and drag
- Hide marquee selection(but keep it active)..[Control]+[H]

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Mastering photoshop shapes in 3 easy steps

Photoshop shapes can add a whole new dimension to your digital designs. They’re not difficult to use, and it’s well worth the effort to master them. Photoshop gives its users access to these shapes directly from the Tools palette: Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Line and Custom.

Once you’ve chosen a shape, you don’t need to go back to the Tools palette to change it to another shape; just select a new one from your Tool Options bar.

Inside the Tool Options bar, you will also find three options for your shapes, as described below:

1- The “Fill Pixels” option fills your shape with the foreground color (the top color square in your Tools bar).

2- The “Paths” option lets you create a shaped path to work with.

3- The “Shape Layers” option makes a new vector shape layer which, when selected, allows you to create shapes using “Styles” from the Style palette.

Your “Custom Shape Picker” offers a collection of shapes you can load. To find it, click on the “Custom” shape.

You can get pretty fancy with this option by combining shapes with your Style palette. Try adding a custom filled shape to an image, then clicking on that layer to bring up the Style palette. You can then blend to your heart’s content, using the precise layer blending modes inside the Style box, and changing the opacity of the fill.

To create your own shapes, first open a new blank file. Click on the “Pen” tool icon inside your Tool bar, then click the “Paths” option. To draw a line for your shape, simply click, then click again at a different point. To make a curvy line, click, then drag to the second point.

You can edit your new shape inside your “Direct Selection” tool, by first clicking on the form to see all the stopping points, or “nodes.” Drag them around to change and perfect your custom shape.

If you need to move the nodes individually, choose the “Convert Point” tool from your Tools palette, then drag on a handle. This separates the connection.

To save your new shape so you can use it again, choose the “Direct Selection” tool, then Edit > Define Custom Shape. A thumbnail will appear. You can type in the name of your custom shape and then save by clicking OK.

You can use any of your shapes, custom or preset, to make cutouts of your photos. Just choose the shape, then the “Paths” option and draw out the path. Click the “Load Path as Selection icon” at the bottom of the Paths palette; this transforms the path into a selection. Click on Select > Inverse to invert the selection, then on Delete. This cuts the selection out of the image just like a cookie cutter.

Photoshops shapes are great for making outstanding collages and web designs. You’ll find many other entertaining and practical uses for them too, but a word of warning here: once you get started on Photoshop shapes, you’ll be hooked for life.

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Cool Rock Dude done in Photoshop!

Ok not really the most handsome guitar player I ever seen and I don’t think he’d get a leading roll with U2 or the Rolling Stone. But some great work by Mark on this very impressive photoshop image. Please keep them coming in.

Speed painting of John Locke in Photoshop

You just have to watch this incredible video. If your like me and your in to the number one tv series on television "LOST" then this is for you. Watch John Locke being created in Photoshop. Thanks very much for Ben for sending this in.

Advanced Blending in Photoshop

Photoshop offers blending options unsurpassed in the design industry in your “Layer Style” dialog box, you will first find “General Blending” options, which are often enough for any task. Experiment with the Blend Modes and their opacity to see just how incredibly flexible the normal Blending Options can be.

To find your advanced blending options in Photoshop, double-click a layer or click the “Add a Layer Style” icon at the bottom left of your Layers palette, and then choose “Blending Options.” Your “Layer Style” dialog box will appear.

At the bottom of the Layer Style box, you will find, under “Advanced Blending,” something called the “Blend If” tool. What is the Photoshop “Blend If” tool, exactly?

Blend If is a “smart” blending tool. You can use it to blend images or create a more transparent image with almost infinite precision. This one tool is so flexible and handy it behooves any serios Photoshop designer to learn to use it, and use it well.

To experiment with advanced Photoshop layering, you’ll need something to work on. So first bring up a photo inside Photoshop, then create another layer with something on it.

On the bottom of your Layer Style box, you will find the “Blend If” settings.

Choose either gray, red, green or blue inside the drop-down Blend If menu, then use your slider bars to control the opacity of the layer you highlighted or the layer underneath.

Dragging the “white” slider left will diminish the whites or highlights, and the layer underneath will show through.

You will quickly see how blending each color affects the image. You can use this versatile feature, for example, to replace a washed-out sky with a nice blue sky, blending the transparency to a gnat’s eyebrow.

Try working back and forth from layer to layer, using the blending options on your Layer Style palette. To achieve a particularly soft blend, hold down your ALT key as you move the slider.

By dragging the bottom layer’s white slider to the left, its lightest colors appear over the image.

If you drag the “black” slider to the right, the darkest colors disappear and the image below appears. Dragging the underneath layer’s black slider will bring out the darkest colors from the bottom image.

To merge your blended layers when you’re finished, so that any further styling will be applied equally, click Layer in your top menu, then either Merge Down, Merge Group, Merge Visible or Flatten Image.

If you’re the kind of person who loves to learn and master a subject of interest, try out all the various permutations available in your Layer Style box’s Advanced Blending palette, under “knockout.” Right away, you’ll see how useful the three options in the Knockout menu itself can be: None, Shallow or Deep.

Below that is a list of options providing even more precise blending for the perfectionist in you.

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With Photoshop Sometimes You Don't Know What's Real Any More...

Who would have known the image on the right wasn't real? Thanks Alison for sending the image... Keep them coming!

Adobe to take Photoshop online

Hoping to get a jump on Google and other competitors, Adobe Systems plans to release a hosted version of its popular Photoshop image-editing application within six months, the company's chief executive said Tuesday.

The online service is part of a larger move to introduce ad-supported online services to complement its existing products and broaden the company reach into the consumer market, Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen told CNET News.com.

Chizen said Adobe laid the foundation for a hosted Photoshop product with Adobe Remix, a Web-based video-editing tool it offers through the PhotoBucket media-sharing site.

Like Adobe Remix, the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and marketed as an entry-level version of Adobe's more sophisticated image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Chizen envisions revenue from the Photoshop service coming from online advertising.

"That is new (for Adobe). It's something we are sensitive to because we are watching folks like Google do it in different categories, and we want to make sure that we are there before they are, in areas of our franchises," Chizen said.

Chizen described the introduction of Adobe Remix and the forthcoming hosted Photoshop as part of a larger move toward integrating hosted services into the company's product mix.

Bruce Chizen
Like Microsoft, Adobe's business is built largely around packaged software, installed locally on users' PCs. Likewise, Adobe's plans to diversify its business with online services mirrors a large-scale effort at Microsoft to introduce a combination of software and services.

As online applications become more functional, Adobe is seeking out areas where Web services can fill out its product portfolio, Chizen said.

The company intends to offer entirely hosted applications, as well as "hybrids," in which Adobe uses the Web to introduce features to desktop products, such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, he added.

"We recognize there is a customer there--we recognize they are not going to pay us, necessarily, directly. But we could use ad revenue as a model. Google has demonstrated that it works pretty well for certain types of applications," Chizen said.

Indeed, Adobe's online push has as much to do with consumers' expectations as encroaching competition from Google, said Peter O'Kelly, an analyst at Burton Group.

"From a digital-media consumer experience, Adobe really needs, for competitive and customer value reasons, to be the end-to-end products and services supplier," O'Kelly said. "It doesn't portend well if Adobe can't get on top of it."

The latest version of Google's Picasa, which is a desktop application, introduces features to post photos on the Web. It also allows people to read Photoshop files, O'Kelly noted.

Showdown with Picasa?
Chizen said that although hosted Photoshop is meant to be a low-end product, the company intends to ensure that it is of a higher quality than free alternatives. As an online image-editing application, Adobe faces a challenge in providing a good experience for customers, he added.

"You don't want (network) latency to be an issue for the user, so it's harder, in some ways, than a video Remix product," he said. "Even though bandwidth is increasing, the pipes are getting filled with video, so the user experience will likely stay the same for the next three to five years."

The company is also wary of not diluting the brand name of Photoshop, a program widely used by creative professionals such as designers and illustrators.

"If we offered a host-based version of Photoshop that's Photoshop-branded (and is) potentially better than Picasa, you'd probably go the Photoshop route because of your belief in the Photoshop brand and the quality associated with the brand," Chizen said.

A Google representative on Wednesday said that the company has had good success with the Web upload feature in Picasa since introducing it.

"We've seen really exciting growth in Picasa Web Albums since it launched last year, and we're continually listening to user feedback to further improve our products," the Google respresentative said.

As Adobe introduces more online multimedia features and products, the company intends to use its expertise in products such as Photoshop and video-editing suite Premiere Pro, and to combine it with the Web development savvy it gained through its acquisition of Macromedia.

Remix, for example, was written using Flex, the development environment for Adobe's Flash Player.

Chizen noted that Google's wealth of technical talent in Web development makes it the most likely candidate to challenge Adobe as it offers hosted media-editing applications. He indicated that Adobe is still weighing its options in regard to how it will deliver hosted, ad-supported services.

Its deal with PhotoBucket around Adobe Remix is not exclusive. The partnership arrangement allows Adobe to share advertising dollars without having to invest in the computing infrastructure and people to operate the Web site, he said.

But revenues from Web ads could potentially justify an Adobe investment in offering hosted services directly, Chizen said. "Once we see that it could be a significant revenue producer, then maybe we'll want to deal with it," he said.

The company already offers Acrobat Connect, a service for Web conferencing introduced with the most recent release of its Acrobat PDF reader.