Color to Black and White

You want to make a grayscale image from a color one, but the black and white image becomes flat and boring? There is a good reason for it. Different colors with the same brightness look similar when converted to grayscale. Look at the color strips of Red, Green, Blue turning into the same exact gray below when using the simple Image/Mode/Grayscale command.

In cases when you have an image with blue sky and yellow sand, or orange flowers surrounded with green leafs, you need to use the Channel Mixer... layer effect to create your black and white images. Open the layers window, and click the fourth icon from the left to open the Layer Effects menu and select Channel Mixer... In the channel mixer you can simulate what professional photographers achieve with their color filters to make dramatic black and white images. By mixing more of the blue channel into your image the sky will become brighter for example. If you need to bring out your orange flowers from the green background, you would need to decrease red and increase the green source channels. Experiment to achieve the best result for your image. Note how the RGB color samples turn into different levels of gray on your image.

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Enchancing Highlights and Shadows

This Photoshop tutorial will show you an incredibly effective way to enhance shadows and highlights within your digital images. You can create very interesting effects by using more prominent levels adjustments, or create subtle effects by using more slight levels adjustments. This tutorial does everything in a non-destructive way, which allows you to tweak the shadows and highlights at anytime.

Shadows and highlights help add more drama to an image, which is a simple way to bring the viewer into the image. The perceived dimension in the image is also heightened as the shadows and highlights are increased.

1. Step 1: Preparation
   Open your image and then duplicate the image layer by pressing ctrl (command) + j on the keyboard. Set the blend mode for this duplicate layer to color. Next, select the layer below the duplicate in the layers palette.



2. Step 2: Add Levels Adjustment Layer
   Select layer > new adjustment layer > levels from the menu set the mode to pin light, and then click OK. The pin light mode is the key to this technique because it allows only lighter or darker areas to change.
   
   The values you use for the levels will vary from image to image, but the key is to drag the right hand sliders to the left to increase highlights, and drag the left hand sliders to the right to increase shadows.

You can switch the channel you are working on from RGB to Red, Green, or Blue from the channel drop down in the levels dialog box. The settings used for this image are in the listing below, but again each image will have a fair amount of variance so you will need to make adjustments based on the levels in your image. The reason for adjusting the levels of the different channels is that it allows changes to the shadows and highlights based on the color, and you are able to make more subtle adjustments.

• RGB: 0, 0.70, 230
• Red: 0, 0.70, 255
• Green: 0, 0.85, 255
• Blue: 30, 1.40, 220
  

As will all levels adjustments, you will need to be careful to avoid introducing banding within your image. High-bit images don't really have this problem, but images in the common 8-bit format may introduce banding if the adjustments are too high.

After you have made your levels adjustments and you are pleased with the way everything looks, click OK. You can adjust the intensity of shadows and highlights that appear by painting on the layer mask for the levels adjustment layer. Black will completely hide the effect, and white will show it. You can make subtle adjustments by using a light gray color to paint the mask, or use black with a low opacity.

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Congratulations, you should now have a much more interesting image.

Removing Shadows

Adobe Photoshop's Match Color feature to remove my shadow from panoramic photography. Ideally, if I can, I shoot in such a way to avoid my shadow showing up in the shot, but that does not always happen.

Sometimes I leave the shadow there, or blend it in with a soft brush. Other times I just clone over it with similar material. You can't just increase the brightness; contrast and color and curves also change due to the changes in type of light hitting the surface.

This time I decided to use the Match Color Feature under Photoshop's Adjust Menu. I was amazed at how easy and accurate it was to use.

So my goal here is to remove the effects of the shadow so that the concrete tiles under the shadow looks like the rest of the concrete. First I duplicate the image and select the area shown by the red box in the shadow on my duplicate document. I then make a selection on my original image of similar material outside of the shadow. These selection areas represent material that under the same lighting would have similar color and tone. Once the two areas are selected, then with the duplicate document active, use the Match Color Adjustment making sure to check to box to ignore selection when applying.

Next copy the duplicate image and add it as a layer on your original image. Using either layer select the shadow by using whatever tool works best for you. I started with the magnetic magic wand and made a mask of that. I then used a pressure/size sensitive brush to clean it up. set this selection as a mask so that the only part of the new layer that shows is where the shadow was.

Once I set the shadow/mask the results were very good. In some places it looks like I have a perfect match in other places it looks just a little off. My next and last step is to add a new layer and use a the clone tool to clean up the edges. I zoom in and use a soft brush for this. to help blend in. The edges are there due to either a minor error in my shadow selection or due to the fact that shadows have fuzzy edges.

I was pretty surprised how well this worked. The results are very natural and there is hardly a clue of the shadow that was there. I don't expect results would always be this good. For example a situation with multiple light sources or really dark shadows could cause problems, but for your basic sunny day shadow on concrete it is quick and easy.

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Photoshop Brush Tool Tips

The brush and pencil tools are grouped together in the toolbar. If the brush is not visible, click on the icon of the pencil in the toolbar, and choose the brush tool from the pop-up menu.

Dragging in the image with this tool creates colored strokes similar to what might be created by a paintbrush. The way the paint is applied varies according the options you have selected.

The basic painting procedure is to
1. choose your foreground color by clicking on the foreground square in the toolbox or the Color palette
2. set your options (explained below)
3. select a brush from the pop-up palette in the options bar
4. drag in the image to paint.

Note that you can limit the area that paint can be applied to by making a selection and then painting inside it. Paint will only appear within the selections outline, even if you drag over areas outside of it.

Straight lines can be painted by clicking once in the image where the line should begin, and then Shift-clicking where you would like the line to end.

A shortcut for changing brush sizes while using any of the painting tools is to press the left bracket [ to decrease brush size, and the right bracket ] to move to the next larger brush. Pressing Shift with the bracket keys will increase or decrease brush softness. Shift-right-clicking on your document while using this tool will open the blend modes menu next to your cursor.

If you choose Edit > Fade immediately after using this tool, you can change the opacity and blend mode of the strokes you have just applied.

If you have chosen “brush size” in Display & Cursors preferences, (find at Edit > Preferences > Display & Cursors ), you can toggle to “precise” by pressing Caps Lock. If you have your preference set to “precise”, it will toggle to “brush size”. A preference of “standard” will go to “precise” when Caps Lock is pressed.

The keyboard shortcut key for the brush tool is the letter B. Toggle between the brush tool and pencil by pressing the Shift key, and the shortcut letter.

Photoshop Eyedropper tips

Some helpful tips for using the Photoshop Eyedropper…

First, if you’re using a tool that involves a color (paint brush, paint bucket, vector shape tool, etc.), you can hold down the Alt button (Option for Mac) and the cursor will change into the eyedropper, allowing you to select colors from your document. This is very useful for me as I’m lazy and would rather limit how often I switch tools.

Another tip is that you aren’t limited to the colors in your document when you’re using the eyedropper tool! You can pick colors from other visible documents, from the Photoshop interface—even from other applications as long as you can see them on the screen! As long as you start in your document and click-and-hold with the eyedropper tool, you can then drag outside of the document to anywhere in your window and pick a color.

Finally—if you’re like me (not overly observant or very task-focused), you may have never even noticed the toolbar options area. The “sample size” dropdown allows you to use the eyedropper to gather a “point sample,” a 3×3 average sample, or a 5×5 average sample. This is really useful if you have an image that has a lot of shading going on, and you want to get an approximate “average sample” instead of a weird color from a particular point.

Croping and Image

The Crop Tool allows you to delete unwanted portions of an image. Please note that the Crop Tool only lets you crop rectangular selections.

1) Choose crop tool. View the original image, and select the Crop Tool from the toolbox.

2) Select area to crop. Starting in any corner, click and drag the mouse over the portion of the image you want to keep. (The portions outside of the crop marks will become gray to help you see the exact area that will be cropped.)

The crop marks can be resized using the handlebars along the “marching ants” marquee.

The entire crop marquee can be moved around over the image by placing the cursor inside the crop marks. When the cursor changes to a black arrow, the entire marquee may be moved.

3) Crop. After the marquee is the proper size and in the correct position, press Enter to crop the image.

Make Those Lips Red

Making thin lips look fuller is one of the easiest Photoshop problems to solve. Red lips is not for those who want to blend into the crowd, so be ready to get noticed. Want your photographs to be noticed, then try this for a stunning effect.

First take the pen tool and select the lips. Once you have the lips selected to your satisfaction you need to select the path panel. From layers palette select the Path panel and click on the Load path as selection icon. Next choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance. Then, press ok, and in Color Balance Panel set the options as following: Red +45 Green +90 Blue -15. Make sure your Tonal Balance is set to Shadows also.

There you have it. Nice beautiful red lips. You'll really get noticed now.

Whiter Teeth

You don't need special toothpaste if you've got Photoshop! The dodge tool makes quick work of whitening and brightening your smile.

1. Open the image.


2. Go to Image > Duplicate and close the original.


3. Go to View > New View. This will open a duplicate window of the same image.


4. Zoom one of the windows so that you can see the teeth as large as possible. Set the other window view to 100%


5. Arrange the two windows so you can see both the zoomed view and the 100% view at the same time.


6. Select the Dodge tool.


7. In the options palette select midtones and set the exposure to about 20%.


8. Select a small, soft brush. Be sure the brush is smaller than the teeth.


9. Carefully paint over the teeth with the dodge tool.

Remember that too much brightness will make the image look faked. If you overdo it, go to Edit > Fade in. And for better accuracy, select the teeth before working with the dodge tool.

Removing Blemishes

We are going to use the healing brush to remove blemishes as it pulls information from the surrounding area we are altering and blends it to make the transition smooth and unnoticeable.

To make things more effective, we need the right kind of brush. Too hard and it will show. I normally use a hardness and spacing of 10%, the diameter will change as you work so there is not a set size for this. You can experiment with these settings, these are just what I find most effective.

To really remove blemishes well, you must zoom right in on the area that you wish to "clean" and work with a small brush, this will result in changes that even his lovely mother wouldn't notice!

First place the brush over an area of skin that is similar to that which you wish to change. Make sure it is a largish area with no blemishes, lines or other effects as these will be transferred, blended and noticeable in the result. If the area has small pores this is great and will make the effect even more natural.

When you have placed the brush over a suitable area, press the ALT key and left click on the mouse, this selects that area as a benchmark and will use it for all healing until you do that process again. Now you can start to play. Place the brush over the scar, scratch or blemish and start to "paint" over it whilst keeping the left mouse button pressed.

All the time you are "healing" you will see a marker cross which indicates where you are pulling the healing information from. You will notice that it moves as you move the mouse. Be careful not to let it run over an area that is different to your selected patch, otherwise it will show in the result.

When you release the left mouse button, you should see that the blemish has gone...magic! Have a play at this point and see where errors can be made. Don't go too mad with the alterations, it is easy to get carried away when you first discover this tool. Make it look natural.

While you are zoomed in close, press the space bar and move the mouse around the image to remove all other blemishes, remembering to select a new area close to that which you wish to change each time. Your end result should be a nice, clean image with unnoticeable results. A portrait to be proud of.

Using Photoshop Tools To Fake Reflections

Here’s the thing; when you manipulate a photo you want it to look as if it has not been changed. You can achieve this effect by using Photoshop to change an image in big ways. When you manipulate an image you want the people looking at it to appreciate it for the composition and content.

You can be a pixel-pusher and add an entire new element to the scene but content and composition come first.

The image below is rather boring but you can add some
dynamics to it by choosing the Marquee Tool to select the
top section of the image.

You will want to include the base of the bridge aw well.

Copy and paste this into a new layer and then go to Edit>
Transform>Flip Vertical.

This will create an upside-down version of the bridge. Then
you can click[V] and this will allow you to use the Move
Tool to position the bridge as shown.

Now you have an image that has a reflection that looks
unrealistic because it is too perfect.

Let’s change that. Select the reflection layer and you can
give the refection a sense of perspective if you go to
Filter>Blur>Radial Blur.

Try different values until you achieve one that is pleasing
to you. Try a setting of 23 and see what you think. What
you are going for is a special effect that does not overdo
the filter value.

When you are trying to get the perspective of the blur so it
looks natural you can move the Blur Center so it matches the horizon in the image.

Imagine a real reflection; you can’t see it in the
highlights of a rippling surface. You can fake this effect
by using the original image’s highlights to break up our
reflection.

Choose the reflection layer and change the blending mode to Overlay. When you do this the reflection that was created with the filter will be blended with the highlights of the layer that is underneath. You may also want to reduce the opacity of the reflection to 77% to achieve a more subtle effect.

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Straightening an Image

Often when you scan things, or take pictures, you discover after you see the picture on your screen that you were a few degrees off the horizon. Usually this doesn’t matter, and you can get away with cropping out the edges, and nobody will ever be able to tell.

Some times, however, you aren’t so lucky, and will have to straighten the lines in an image considerably. You might be trying to use the Transform tool, or you might try to rotate the image in another way, but you will find that it can be incredibly hard to completely align an image. This is particularly frustrating if you have a line running along the length of an image; The edge of a building for example. If the line is only a fragment of a degree off, it becomes very obvious.
Luckily, Photoshop provides a useful way to solve the problem

Red Eye Removal

It's the perfect picture... except it's been ruined by those unsightly, glowing red eyes from camera flash. It's happened to us all; and fortunately, it's fairly easy to correct. Follow these simple steps to remove red eye from your photos using any version of Photoshop.

Resizing an Image

This tutorial explains how to resize an image. This is useful for many reasons, including reducing the size of large images to send via email or to upload to an online photo album, or to create thumbnail images for purposes such as MySpace or online dating site profiles.

Using Layers

It's easy to use layers in Photoshop to achieve special effects. Learn how to cut out a subject from an image, changing the background by using multiple layers.