Learn Photoshop Now

Changing Image Dimentions Using Adobe Photohop

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:34:00 +0000

If you want to resize a large photo you have to take the correct precautions to prevent losing too much resolution. Making an image smaller can make it appear blurry if you don't do it right. This can make the picture less clear than it should be.

This is a fairly common issue when resizing images, but with Photoshop there's a solution.

To perform this function you must own at least the CS version of Photoshop. If you don't have this version, you may want to get it as it has far advanced features. Buying the software will get rid of the limitations you may have when editing your pictures.

To make an image smaller go to Image> Image Size> Resample Image. Choose Bicubic Sharper from the resulting menu. This setting will minimize any blur that occurs when resizing the image.

When you want to make an image larger, select Bicubic Smoother.

This process is so effective that I would recommend setting Bicubic Sharper as the default selection when you start the software. You can do this by going to Preferences> General> Image Interpolation. Here you can select Bicubic Sharper as the default.

Using Photoshop to Shape Text

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:26:00 +0000

Photoshop's Warp Text tool allows you to wrap or bend text around an object in your image to make attention-grabbing, personalized banners or headlines. You can also warp text in both horizontal and/or vertical directions to give your text an individual look and feel.

Photoshop has many means by which to manipulate text, but this will provide a starting point that will especially come in handy if you have not had the chance to use these text features before.

First, open an image to which you want to add text. Choose the horizontal text tool from the toolbar and click the image near to where you want to position your text. Type in the text you would like to add. You can also add the more traditional style enhancements such as bold, italics or underline to your text while in text mode.

When you are done adding your text, select and right-click this text to open the contextual menu. To open the Warp Text dialogue box, choose Warp Text. From this box, you can choose from a selection of pre-defined text warps using the Style pull-down menu. Select the warp that best fits the effect you're trying to accomplish. If you're undecided on the kind of warp you want, try some out to see what effect they have on your image text.

There will be several sliders under the Style pull-down that will allow you to make fine-tuning adjustments to the warp effects. You can change the horizontal and vertical distortion and the text bend here. An option to using the sliders is to enter a percentage value for these properties. Once you have reached the effect desired, simple click OK and the Warp Text effect will be applied to your image.

Create a WaterFall

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Using photoshop you can create some pretty awesome effects with pictures alone. Here is a step by step guide to show you how to blend and create a smooth waterfall.

With your image open in Photoshop, grab your Lasso tool from the Tools palette: Select the Lasso tool from the Tools palette.You can also press the letter L on your keyboard to quickly select it.Then, with the Lasso tool selected, drag a selection around your waterfall.

It doesn't have to be surgically precise, but try not to stray too far from the edges of the waterfall: Use the Lasso tool to drag a selection around the waterfall.If you need help with making selections, check out our tutorial Unlock The Full Power Of Basic Selections. Copy the Selection Onto Its Own Layer.

With the waterfall selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Windows) / Command+J (Mac) to copy it onto its own layer above the Background layer. You won't see anything happen in the Document Window, but if you look in the Layers palette, you'll see the waterfall on a new layer: Press "Ctrl+J" (Windows) / "Command+J" (Mac) to copy the waterfall onto a new layer.

Apply The Motion Blur Filter To The New Layer With our waterfall now copied to its own layer, we can create our "silky smooth" effect by applying the "Motion Blur" filter to it. To do that, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, select Blur, and then select Motion Blur. This brings up the Motion Blur dialog box:mPhotoshop's "Motion Blur" dialog box. Adjust the Angle of the blur so it matches the angle at which the water is falling.

In most cases, this would be 90, since water would normally fall straight down. In my case, since the water is rushing so quickly over the edge, it's actually falling at a bit of an angle, so I've set my blur angle to -77.

The easiest way to match your blur angle to the water is to click inside the Angle value box and then increase or decrease the value one degree at a time using the up or down arrow keys on your keyboard, which is what I've done. Once you've set the correct angle, drag the Distance slider at the bottom until your waterfall looks nice and silky. I've dragged mine to a value of 73 pixels, which gives me a nice effect. The image after applying Motion Blur.

Restoring Old Photos with Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:54:00 +0000

Memories are precious and photos often hold these remembrances of times past. Since photos often become damaged through the passing of time, photo restoration is often sought as a way to save these memories. Pictures can become blurred; the color may fade and photos may even suffer from scratches and marks. Technology has come a long way, now offering a solution to these problems. Photo restoration is now available to everyone with the goal of saving and restoring their photos with the assistance of Photoshop.

The Elements in Photoshop, which are the Dust and Scratch Filter can eliminate marks and blotches in the photograph. Located on the Menu Bar, find the Dust and Scratches Filter and click on the Filter Tab. A drop down menu will appear listing the elements. Choose the Noise Tab and select Dust and Scratches.

After choosing the Dust and Scratches menu, a window will pop up containing two control sliders. The first slider is for the Radius and the other one is for the Threshold. There will also be another window if the preview box is checked. These are the main options that will be used in correcting the image.

Adjusting the Radius slider may remove the scratches; however there the potential that overdoing it can make the edges blurred too. Should this happen, adjust the Threshold slider and this will allow the details to go back and make the picture clearer with the scratches disappearing. The person should be cautious not to set them too far or it will only generate blotches on the picture.

Selecting the whole photo will not diffuse these marks when going to remove them. The alternative is to choose only the part where the scratches are to be found. You may use the Lasso to do this.

You can then feather the edges of the chosen area so that the selected area will not be apparent on the picture. You can do this by clicking the Feather option and click the Scratch and Dust Filter again. You can repeat the process of adjusting the Radius and Threshold sliders to get the texture desired and do away with the scratches.

You can do the method again by selecting the spot you would like to alter if there are still detectable marks on the other areas of the picture. To complete the procedure and make the picture acceptable, you can crop the image enough to remove the cracks and torn edges of the picture. The canvas may be use to uniformly crop the image.

You can insert drama into the picture by adding a drop shadow to it. This will make the picture seem as if it has been lifted off the page. The color may also be removed using the controls Shift+Ctrl+U. You can then add color by adding a small amount of Sepia using the Hue or Saturation tab. The contrast may be balanced using the Levels option.

This is a simple solution to removing blotches and marks on an aged photo. It will make the photo look new and fresh, but still maintain a classic appearance. Photoshop offers an easy and fun way to restore photos for viewing for years to come.

Making Coloring Books By Turning A Photo Into A Sketch

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:38:00 +0000

Have you ever wanted to make some interesting coloring books? The easiest way to do this is to turn a photo into a sketch. The process is fairly easy and consists of 6 simple steps.

To begin with, choose your photo. You will want to make sure it is the dimensions and resolution you desire your final page to be.

STEP 1 - Duplicate The Background Layer
The first step is to duplicate the background layer. You do this by choosing Layer> New> Layer via Copy. Now you should have 2 layers, the Background Layer, and Layer 1.

STEP 2 - Desaturate The Photo
With Layer 1 selected, choose Image> Adjustments> Desaturate. This will give you a grayscale version of the image.

STEP 3 - Duplicate Layer 1
At this point you need to duplicate Layer 1. Follow step 1 to create your duplicate. Now you should have 3 layers, the Background Layer, Layer 1 and Layer 2.

STEP 4 - Invert Layer 2
With Layer 2 selected, go Image> Adjustments> Invert. This step should make your photo look like a photo negative.

STEP 5 - Change The Layers Blend Mode To Color Dodge
In your Layers Palette change the Layers Blend Mode for the selected layer (Layer 2) to Color Dodge. Color Dodge will make your photo appear almost completely white.

STEP 6 - Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter
Choose Filter> Blur> Gaussian Blur. When you see the dialog box start by moving the Radius Slider all the way to the left. Once you've done that you can slowly begin to move it to the right.

At this point take time to experiment and make sure you are getting the desired effect.

Larger numbers (the more you move the slider to the right) will create a more pronounced effect. Please beware however that at some point this will return your sketch back into a photo, which is not what we want, so when you reach that point simply nudge the slider to the left just a little and that should do it!

Do Some Experimenting
Sometimes an image will not work as expected, and so you have to try different methods. If this happens try the Motion Blur Filter and the Radial Blur Filter.

Calling All Artists
Finally, print out your best sketches and create some interesting coloring books. This is a great thing to give the kids, along with some crayons, for those rainy days.

Beyond Editing, and AWAY!!!

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:22:00 +0000

Adobe Photoshop today has gone beyond image editing. Today, the software is labeled as an image manipulation tool. This somehow gives people the impression that Adobe Photoshop actually gives them a greater degree of freedom than other image-editing programs available today.

In fact, it actually does. If sight is reality, then Adobe Photoshop can help you create any reality that you want. With Adobe Photoshop, you will be able to create images of other worlds. You will be able to capture the beauty of the universe inside a glass jar.

Your creativity will be unleashed. That's how much Adobe Photoshop can change your life. In the world today, one can easily observe the impact that Adobe Photoshop has wrought on culture. Just like Google, Adobe Photoshop is now being used by people as a verb.

When a person is said to be photoshopping something, it is always assumed that the person is editing an image of come sort, whether he or she is actually using Adobe Photoshop or not.

Creating a Glass Ball tutorial Part II

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:44:00 +0000

Following on from Monday's Post..

Step 9 - Choose the duplicated gradient layer, giving it a slightly different gradient of greys and whites. Bring the duplicated gradient layer down, positioning it under both of the other layers. Move it to where it is seen from both sides as it is the rim of the orb.

Step 10 -Erase the parts of the orb that are not needed. Keep Ctrl/Cmd pressed and click on the layer thumbnails; first choose the big outer rim ellipse, having the gray gradient, and then Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+Click on the thumbnail of the upper top portion layer. The 2 ellipses will be selected, but we need to also select the bottom portion of the orb. Choosing the Rectangular marquee tool, hold down shift and drag over the bottom portion. Inverse the selection (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+I) and delete the middle part of the orb.

Step 11. Now to create the glass portion. Create a circle of the same size of the orb, any color you want. Place it behind the other layers.

Step 12 -As with the first outer orb, give this circle the same inner-glow effect, bringing it forward to cover all but the red outer sections of the orb.

Step 13) Go to the layer palette and make the fill amount =0 to make the layer invisible, but keeps the layer effects visible.

Step 14. As you had done with the red circle, ie, creating a white gradient reflection, create the same in a new layer above the glass layer, so as to create a more realistic lighting effect. Adjust the settings as required to make it as realistic looking as possible.

Step 15. Now select the base layers, ie the grey metal gradient layers and the white elipse, and merge them together. After this press Cntrl+U to adjust the hue of the layer. Since it's grey, click on colorize, and adjust to a redish colour in keeping with the colour of the orb itself.

Step 16) Lastly, make a very small drop shadow to the upper piece of the red orb, in order to create more realism. The lower portion may seem off, so create a new layer above the red lower orb portion. Select the radial gradient tool in the white to nothing option and drag from a point over the red to just a bit inward. Erase parts that are not enclosed within the red portion.

Now you have a glass ball. Any items can be displayed inside the ball now, but make sure they have a good reflection effect added on. This effect will provide the base a shiny and realistic look.

Creating a Glass Ball tutorial Part I

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Step 1 - With the circular marquee tool, create a simple circle in any color.

Step 2 - Give the circle an inner-glow layer effect by changing the glow color to black and changing the blend mode to multiply. Using an inner shadow can result in an angular deflection which is why we use the inner glow method for uniformity.

Step 3 Load the selection from the circular area. On a new layer, drag the linear gradient in white to transparent downward from the top making sure it is close but not entirely at the bottom.

Step 4 - Press Ctrl/Cmd+T to change the white gradient. Drag the handles bringing them up going halfway through, and drag it just a bit inward from the top and sides. Now lets create a merge composite layer. To do this, hide the background, create a new blank layer on top and press Alt+Ctrl+Shift+E or Option+Cmd+Shift+E on Mac, creating a merged layer on top.

Step 5. Take the merged layer and create a circular selection above. the circle should be much larger than the original circle. Again use your eyes to tell you what seems right, then copy the section and paste it in to a new layer. This creates the top portion of the orb. Place it again in the proper exact position.

Step 6) On now to the base of the orb and create an elliptical shape fitting in to the bottom half of the circle in a new layer. Duplicate this layer while reducing the size just a bit.

Step 7. Select the larger ellipse layer and load its selection by pressing Ctrl/Cmd and clicking on the layer thumbnail. Now select the cylindrical gradient tool and going with the grey-white-grey-white-grey color combo, drag across.

Step 8 - Again, duplicate this layer bringing the duplicate upward. Arrange the small white portion to above the actual gradiated layer. Link both of these layers while reducing their size some, to ensure that the outer gradiated ellipse is just within the red circle.

Check back again on Wednesday for Part II

Elements 3

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:32:00 +0000

The latest entry level image editor from Adobe Systems is called Adobe Photoshop Elements 3. The software package is sort of a cross between Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 and Photoshop Album. You get a host of image organization cum image editing tools.

Photoshop Elements 3 has a very simple user interface and is clearly geared towards for beginners. But don’t be fooled – the tool has some very powerful and flexible tools which even intermediate level users can make use of.

There is an ‘Organizer’ which lets you locate browse your photo collection and locate specific photos of interest. There is an ‘Editor’ where you can perform all sorts of image editing tasks on a photo. The integration between the two is seamless, meaning you can locate a photo in Organizer, then send it to the Editor with one click.

There are a host of options for sharing your photos in Photoshop Elements 3. You can attach the photos to email, burn CDs and DVDs, create calendars and postcards, upload a Web image gallery, among others.

Painting Tools of Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:28:00 +0000

Both painting and erasing are simple with Photoshop. The painting tools in Photoshop are a fundamental part of just about anything you can do with this program. Not only can you paint in color, you can also make selections, create transparency and much, much more.

Let's take a look at just a few of the more widely used tools in Photoshop such as the pencil, line, paintbrush, airbrush, eraser, paint bucket, and gradient tools, their functions, and their differences.

You can't paint without a brush. Photoshop 5, finds brushes in a floating palette, while Photoshop 6, the brushes palette are attached to the option bar as a drop-down menu.

You have a few options available to you in regards to how you add color. The most common are the paintbrush and the airbrush. Paintbrush is most likely the painting tool you will be using most often. The shortcut key is B. The Paintbrush tool applies color to your document similar to the way a traditional paintbrush would apply paint on paper or canvas.

The airbrush tool works more like a traditional airbrush or spray paint. Its shortcut key is J. The airbrush puts paint on a bit lighter than the paintbrush tool, but when you hold your mouse button down without moving the cursor, the paint builds up just like it would if you were to hold the nozzle down on a can of spray paint.

Of course we make mistakes, so let's know how to fix them. The eraser tool shortcut is E. The standard eraser tool has four painting modes to choose from: paintbrush, airbrush, pencil, and block. The eraser tool paints in transparency,

Become Adobe Certified.

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:01:00 +0000

It can be difficult to get ahead in today's market. To stand out and be noticed. More than ever, you need a clear and focused way to tell the world about your expertise. The solution? Become Adobe Certified. Adobe certification is an industry standard of excellence, and it's the absolute best way to communicate your proficiency in leading products from Adobe.

As an individual, an Adobe Certified credential allows you to:

Differentiate yourself from competitors

Get your resume noticed

Attract and win new business

Gain recognition from your employer

Leverage the power of the Adobe brand

As a business, use the Adobe Certified credential as a benchmark so you can:

Find the right person for the job

Quickly assess candidate skill level

Invest in, and promote, your most promising employees

Web Sites Are Difficult To Create

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:51:00 +0000

It is no easy task to actually build a working site that matches a visual design created in a tool like Photoshop. Photoshop is designed to give total freedom to the artist. The web, on the other hand, is built on top of many confusing technologies and standards that place other concerns ahead of preserving visual design integrity.

This situation has understandably intimidated many users who are good at Photoshop but don't want to spend months or years learning the gory details of the internet such as XHTML, CSS, javascript, etc.

SiteGrinder 2 successfully turns Adobe Photoshop into an easy-to-use and powerful website design and production tool.

While SiteGrinder is not aimed solely at the web neophyte, a SiteGrinder-equipped designer with no previous web experience can use only their Photoshop skills to go from concept to deployment of a professional, standards-compliant site in mere hours with no slicing or programming.

Create web 2.0 label

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:31:00 +0000

Creating a web 2.0 label is simple enough to do when you follow these easy steps:

1) Create the canvas. A large size will give the room for a lot of detail, while the final image can be made smaller when complete.

2) Draw a shape, any shape! Any size, any color! You can use the ones found in Photoshop or download new ones off of the internet.

3) Apply a layer style to the shape. You can use the Web 2.0 layer and gradients pack for this, or make your own.

4) Try using a bevel and emboss here. Use a large size and reduce the opacity of the shadow.

5) Now add your text using the character palette to place the letters to appropriate spacing.

6) Use one of the white layer styles in the pack and apply this to the white text.

7) That’s it! Now you have a Web 2.0 label for your web pages.

8) Okay, almost it. One suggestion is to add a drop shadow to add a lifted effect to your label.

9) Make the final step by flattening and removing the background, and save as a .png. Now this can be a great addition for any web page.

Be Gone Acne!

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:18:00 +0000

Nothing can make you want to toss a photo aside like the presence of acne on the subject of the picture. Don’t delete or cast aside that image yet, as you can fix that by touching up that photo in editing.

First, select the picture with the offending acne. Then click on the “Healing Brush Tool” and set the brush size to 5px for an example.

As you choose the brush size, set the “Hardness” to 100% and the “Spacing” to 25%. Press ALT while you click the mouse over a non-blemished area and click over the acne area to “clear up” the skin.

To remedy the areas with two different colors of blemishes, set the “Hardness” to 66% in order to blend the areas for a much more realistic effect. Finally click on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation to balance the colors out. The Hue slider for example can be adjusted to even out the reddish colored blemishes.

Shine or Not to Shine?

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Sat, 17 May 2008 19:02:00 +0000

You too can eliminate the shine that can result when you take a picture. All you have to do is follow these simple steps to this great but mostly overlooked trick:
After opening the image, open the same image again in a new window. Photoshop - choose Window - Arrange - New Window. Elements - choose View - New Window

This allows viewing of one window being zoomed in for detail work while the other window stays at 100% so you can judge the effects. Use the Magnifying Glass tool to place a box around the area of shine. Make the box big enough to enclose a fair amount of un-shiny skin also. Then select the Clone tool.

Choose 'Mode' from the top of the screen to 'Darken' and use the slider to set 'Opacity' to 50%. Using the Clone Tool, select an area of un-shiny skin by moving the circle over the area while holding down the 'Alt' button and left-clicking the mouse.

Try to use the area of skin closest to the shine to best match skin tone. To easily resize the circle making up the Clone tool, simply use the bracket keys, [ and ]. This is done much easier than moving the cursor back and forth between the photo and the Size slider. Just click on the shiny area and 'PRESTO" the shine is gone.

It will take a little bit of practice to master this technique for the best effects. Resample the unshiny skin often for larger areas and in the zoomed-in picture make sure to reference the 100% image regularly to track your progress, else your close up editing may become obvious.

Take a look at this video I found on You Tube...
Beauty is a product of photoshop!!

Transform Your Images Into 'Wordy' Masterpieces

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:49:00 +0000

Sometimes a picture alone is not quite worth a thousand words. When it is you want to convey a certain emotion or feeling, sometimes you have to go the next step. Sometimes it might be that the background theme needs to be highlighted by more than just brightness and sometimes even the focal point of your image might need a little boost.

In these cases nothing can punch up you picture better than a few well chosen words. How about a quirky caption, a thoughtful banner, or even your signature? Just about anything that adds to the importance or symbolism of the picture and the context you want to present it in can change the way it is viewed by others.

However, many photographers and editors have shied away from 'tagging' their images for years. This has come from the fear turning an art piece into nothing more than a tacky caricature, by the simple addition of a not-so-impressive effect, detracting from the picture's overall value.

The Photoshop revolution in the past few years has helped to change the thinking of these cynics by offering a vast selection of features previously unseen in more conventional digital photography editing programs.

Photoshop software not only allows you to caption your image, but also blend the text in, so that instead of standing out as a obvious addition to your picture, it can softly blend in as part of the frame.

Photoshop uses a technique called Anti-Aliasing to do this. This method consists of smoothing the edges of the text typed, by partially filling in the pixels along the edges.

You can even choose how vivid the effect of this technique appears by modifying the text options. Adjusting settings toward 'strong' will make your text appear heavier, to 'sharp' will make the letters more prominent. The possibilities are endless.

Resizing Images While Keeping Resolution

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:49:00 +0000

When you resize a large, sharp photo to a smaller size you may find that the new image has lost its sharpness. This is a common problem with changing the size of large, clear images. The blurry look can detract from the quality of the image.

Fortunately Adobe Photoshop has the ability to fix this issue with its advanced editing tools.

This method will only work in Photoshop CS and CS2. These versions are more powerful in a lot of ways, so if you don't have them I'd recommend that you invest in a copy as you may find that you will need the more advanced features.

To reduce the size of an image go to Image> Image Size. Select Resample Image and then select Bicubic Sharper from the menu. This is the optimal setting for reducing the blurring of the image when you resize it. Here is an image of an eye that was originally 1800 pixels across.

I reduced it to 250, and then further to 125 with minimal loss of sharpness. If you want to enlarge a photograph without losing too much resolution select the Bicubic Smoother.

This method is extremely effective in keeping the sharpness of the image. You can set this as the default to make things easy for you by going to Preferences> General where you will see Image Interpolation. Select Bicubic Sharper as the default choice and it will be set as the default from now on.

Remember that performing more than one resize on an image will give it more blur. To experiment with the size that you want, use a duplicate image as multiple resizing will ruin the original image. Once you've found the size you want, you can apply the dimensions to the original image

Abstract Art

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:14:00 +0000

Abstract art can be fun and entertaining. When you are working with Photoshop you can do pretty much everything from creating fire to making clouds looks as if they are calling for rain. Backgrounds with seemingly weightless, feathery looking pebbles can be quite popular. Start by creating a new document for this effect. Fill the background with the color black. Choose the gradient tool within the settings shown at the top bar. Applying it several times will result in an interesting effect.

From "Filter" menu select "Distort>>Ocean Ripple ". This will create a remarkable background appropriate for many things such as your desktop, messengers or even on the internet.

Photoshop Basics

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:09:00 +0000

My sister recently took a leap of faith and invested in Photoshop. With the belief that it would make things easier with her photos, she had planned this purchase into her budget, saving the extra dollar here and there. Now she would be only a few simple clicks and changes away from being practically a professional photographer. She was so excited at the idea of sending out the perfect pictures to friends and family. I’m sure you can imagine her dismay and frustration at how much she had to learn to reach her goal. Once you have the software, what exactly do you do with it to maximize results?

As with anything new, there will be an adjustment period of trial and error to realize all of the potential of the software and its feature awaiting your command. Explore what Photoshop has to offer and experiment with the tools at hand. Expand you knowledge by reading information and tips you can find on the program taking advantage of tutorials. Many are available online for review. Practice, practice and more practice will help you develop the basics and in time amazing graphics and photos will become second nature making you the envy of those you share them with.

RASTER GRAPHICS EDITORS

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:22:00 +0000

A raster graphics editor is a computer program that enables users to paint and edit pictures interactively on the computer screen and save them in one of many popular “bitmap” or “raster” formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF and TIFF. Typically an image viewer is favored over a raster graphics editor for viewing images. Some editors specialize in the editing of photo-realistic images like the well known Adobe Photoshop, while others are more focused on artist-created illustrations such as Adobe Fireworks.

Common Features of a raster graphics editor include:

Selecting an area for editing

Drawing lines with brushes of different color, size, shape and pressure

Filling in a region with a single color, gradient of colors, or a texture

Choosing a color using different color models (e.g. RGB, HSV), or by using a color dropper

Adding typed letters in different font styles

Removing scratches, dirt, wrinkles, and imperfections from photo images

Composite editing using layers

Editing and converting between an assortment of color models

Applying various filters for effects such as sharpening and blurring

Converting between a mixture of image formats

Click Here To See A Comparison chart

History of Adobe Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:22:00 +0000

A PhD student at the University of Michigan by the name of Thomas Knoll began writing a program on his Macintosh Plus to show grayscale images on a monochrome display back in 1987. This program appropriately named ‘Display,’ attracted the interest of his brother, John Knoll, an Industrial Light & Magic employee, who recommended Thomas create it into a full-blown image editing program.

Taking a six month break from his studies in 1988, Thomas collaborated with his brother on the program, which had been renamed ImagePro. Later that same year, Thomas renamed his program Photoshop and negotiated a short-term deal with scanner manufacturer called Barneyscan to distribute copies of the program with a slide scanner; shipping a total of about 200 copies of Photoshop this way.

John, in the meantime, made his way to Silicon Valley and gave a demonstration of the program to engineers at Apple Computer Inc. and Russell Brown, art director at Adobe. Both presentations were successful, and Adobe decided to purchase the license to distribute in September 1988. While John worked on plug-ins in California, Thomas remained in Ann Arbor writing program code. Photoshop 1.0 was released in 1990 for Macintosh exclusively.

ADOBE FEATURES

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:20:00 +0000

Adobe Photoshop has strong connections with other Adobe software for media editing, animation, and authoring. Files in Photoshop's originating format, .PSD, can be exported to and from Adobe ImageReady, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Adobe Encore DVD to make professional grade DVDs and make available non-linear editing and special effects services, such as backgrounds, textures, etc, for the Web, film, and television. Photoshop CS largely supports making menus and buttons for DVDs as one such example. Adobe Encore DVD can read as buttons or menus those .PSD files exported as buttons or menus also, needing only layers, nested in layer sets with a cuing format.

Photoshop can utilize the color models RGB, lab, CMYK, grayscale, binary bitmap, and duotone. It has the ability to read and write raster and vector image formats such as: .EPS, .PNG, .GIF, .JPEG, Fireworks, etc. Photoshop also has several native file formats:

• The .PSD (Photoshop Document) format holds an image while supporting most imaging options available in Photoshop. These include layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, Clipping paths, and duotone settings. This is different to many other file formats (e.g. .EPS or .GIF) that restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable functionality. Photoshop's positive reputation means that the .PSD format is widely used, and it is supported to some extent by most competing software.

• The .PSB (Large Document Format) format is a newer version of .PSD designed for files over 2 gigabytes. The .PDD (PhotoDeluxe Document) format is a version of .PSD that only supports the features found in the discontinued PhotoDeluxe software.

How to use Photoshop to Match Colors

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:14:00 +0000

The Match Color command is not used a lot. If used right though, it can create some spectacular images. The command makes Photoshop evaluate and match the contrast and color of one picture. It then can be applied to another picture to create a great artistic effect. It is also useful for producing the illusion of consistency in a series of photographs in terms of lighting and color. There are as many uses of this function as you can think of as with Photoshop the possibilities truly as endless.

You'll have to tweak this effect to make the image look just how you want it to, but experiment and you'll be surprised by what this command can do. Adobe states that the tool is perfect, but in my experience you will have to adjust it to get the best effect.

For more information go to:

http://www.photoshop911.com/tutorials/match_color.html

How to save underexposed photos

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:12:00 +0000

The good news is that dark photos have a lot more data than overexposed photos, so there is a better chance of recovering a decent photo from an underexposed one.

Bright photos blast the screen with light blocking any input with a sheer overload of information. So if you have a photograph that is too dark, you may have a chance of turning it into a decent image.

It should be said that not all shots can be saved. There is an element of luck in the process due to all the factors and variables that effect the process.

The best method to avoid underexposed photos is to alter your camera's aperture settings. Changing your shutter speed and film speed can help too. Does this sound too complicated? Well don't worry, Photoshop was created for the photographer who has better things to do.

So how do you save underexposed photos in Photoshop?

Just go to Image>Adjustments>Shadow/Highlight. The effect this has on your photo may be too much for you, but you can adjust the settings on the Amount and Tonal Width Sliders until you find just the right look.
This is a basic guide, so if you want more in-depth information on fixing underexposed photographs go to:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/fix-underexposed.html

How to Create a Mirror Image

noreply@blogger.com (learnphotoshopnow) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:56:00 +0000

Photographing products on a glass surface producing a fluid reflection is becoming extremely popular after Apple used it for advertising the iPhone. It gives a fresh,pure look to the product making it appear unique to the market.

Before the digital technology available today, it would require a lot of time and effort to achieve an effect like this. Without modern editing software, you would need to construct a set to prepare for this shot.

The best way to produce this effect is to take a straight shot of the product. If the shot is taken at an angle you will need oblique reversals which is very time-consuming. The product itself will have an impact on how successful this technique is.

Here is a link to a detailed look at how to achieve this effect:

http://www.photoshop911.com/tutorials/reflections.html