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![FromtheEditor
AfewwordsfromourE.I.C.…
WorldwidePhotoshopCompetitionAndthewinneris…
F
or years now, the Photoshop World Guru Awards have been recognized as the competition to win
in the digital imaging industry, and winning a “Guru” has been the career springboard for dozens of
talented designers, photographers, and Photoshop artists—kind of the “Oscars of Photoshop.” But
there’s always been a downside to the Gurus: Entry into the competition is just for those who attend the
NAPP’s Photoshop World Conference & Expo.
I actually think it’s pretty cool that the Gurus are what they are, and all who enter the Gurus are
there together at the live awards ceremony (part of the Photoshop World opening keynote). You can
feel the excitement and anticipation in the room when we start showing the nominees’ work in each
category—you can feel the electricity and it’s really something you have to experience firsthand.
But “firsthand” is also part of the problem. That’s why three years ago we set out to create a new com-
petition: a worldwide Photoshop competition open to every Photoshop user, everywhere. And I’m proud
to say that in our third year, the level of competition, the incredible prizes, and international recognition
that winning The Photoshop User Awards brings now rivals the prestigious Photoshop Guru Awards, and
we just couldn’t be more proud to host this annual competition.
Thefirstyear’sBestofShowprizewasanall-expensespaidtripfortwotoParis(togetinspirationtodesign
a cover for this magazine). In year two, we sent the Best of Show winner and a guest to Rome and this year,
we’re sending the Best of Show winner and his guest to beautiful Maui! I’m honored to announce that this
year’s Best of Show winner is…(well, you’ll have to turn to page 51 where we reveal this year’s Best of Show
winnerandtheworkofthewinnersineachcategory).Thankstoeveryonefromaroundtheworldwhojoined
the competition, and look for our special winner’s cover image on a future issue of PhotoshopUser.
It’s also worth noting that this is our largest issue ever (150+ pages!)—we’ve come an awful long way.
When NAPP first started 10 years ago, our first issue was 32 pages and was published only four times a year.
For this issue’s cover story (starting on p. 40), we have an absolute rock-star lineup of the hottest wed-
ding photographers sharing their insights and techniques including: David Ziser on “In the Driver’s Seat”
(where David shares his philosophy of excellence in wedding photography); Matt Adcock on “Trashing the
Dress” (about the phenomenon of trashing the bride’s gown); and Cliff Mautner on “Stepping Outside the
Darkroom” (all about encouraging people to use Photoshop without drawing attention to its use).
We also have a special second feature (p. 98) from digital video wizard (and Photoshop World instruc-
tor), Richard Harrington, on how to use the Vanishing Point filter to create a VPE file that you can export
to After Effects and create a 3D flyby look—all from a 2D image. This guy is just sick!
One last thing: If you want to get the most from your NAPP membership, stop by the member website
once a week and watch Larry Becker’s “NAPP News” video report. It’s right there on the homepage, it’s just
5-minutes long, and it quickly brings you up to date on the latest member discounts, deals, and news you’ll
want to know. We’re getting loads of great feedback from members who watch it religiously and if you
haven’t caught it yet, put down the magazine, head over there, and check it out.
Thanks so much for your support of the NAPP and what we’re trying to do as an association. It’s great to
have you on board!
All my best,
Scott Kelby
Editor and Publisher
“We just couldn’t
be more proud
to host this
annual competition
[The Photoshop
User Awards].”
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
010](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-11-2048.jpg)
![PhotoshopNews
AllthelatestonPhotoshop-relatedgearandsoftware
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
018
Adobe Stock Photos
discontinued
Adobe Systems Incorporated
released a notice in February
2008 announcing that it will dis-
continue its Adobe Stock Photos
operations as of April 1, 2008.
Customer support, however,
will still be available through
June 1, 2008. The company
reports that the service hadn’t
performed as well as they’d
originally hoped and that it will
turn its focus to new features
in current products and ser-
vices with their ever-evolving
new technologies.
According to James Alexan-
der, Adobe’s Director of Product
Management, “There is an on-
going additional cost factor, and
any companyinvolvedinprovid-
inga service has to look at how
effective it really is for our
business and our customers.”
Looking forward is Alexander’s
mission and he states that,
“Based on the Stock Photo
experience, there are certain
capabilities that will help us to
roll out these [new] projects
to the professional audience.
I don’t think this is the last time
Adobe is going to attempt to
bring content to its customers.”
Alexander says that Adobe
is looking at other services to
provide for video and online
PDF creation and photo-editing
services. “People are going to
see us experiment with more
of the online services…I think
it is the natural evolution.”
Adobe also reports that some
of these new offerings will be
revealed later this year and
in early 2009. For additional
information, visit www.adobe
.com/adobestockphotos.
Pentax offers new digital SLRs
The Pentax faithful will rejoice with the announcement of the new K20D digital SLR.This feature-
filled camera finds focus with 14.6 megapixels, a nearly 3" LCD display, and new noise-reduction
technology for improved image quality. Add to that shake and dust reduction, enhanced dynamic
range, a new LiveView function to view the image on the monitor when you’re shooting, six image
modes, and a weather-resistant body—a lot of value for the $1,299.95 price tag (body only).
Should you need a more compact system, check out Pentax’s new K200D with 18–55mm at
$799.95. The K200D offers many of the same new technologies
found in the K20D, but with a 10.2-megapixel CCD (charge
coupled device) sensor as opposed to a CMOS sensor. While
the K20D uses a rechargeable li-ion battery, the K200D runs
on AA batteries. Both models feature 11-point autofocus and
16 segment metering systems.
Bring in the new smc Pentax DA lenses due to ship in May
and you’ll have a lot of camera in your hands for a very good
price. Get more details from www.pentaxslr.com.
D60 digital SLR now available from Nikon
The new Nikon D60 compact, digital SLR camera is very fast—a stunning 0.18-second startup—
and includes the new AF-S DX NIKKOR 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6GVR image stabilization lens. Nikon’s
smallest digital SLR, the D60 has lots to offer with big features, such as a 10.2-megapixel CCD
sensor with Active D-lighting to optimize quality under extreme lighting conditions.
Like many new products in this category, the in-camera features now include special effects
and modest retouching abilities. The D60 sports dust-detecting technology that actually shakes
the particles from the sensor and uses Nikon’s Airflow Control System to reduce dust with each
shot. A 2.5” LCD monitor makes images easy to see and
menus easy to use. The D60 accepts SD, SDHC, and
Eye-Fi wireless memory cards.
In terms of performance, this is all-Nikon with
continuous shooting up to 3 fps, eight shooting modes,
EXPEED image processing, and 3D Color Matrix Meter-
ing II with three-area autofocus (similar to high-end
Nikon systems). The package is priced at around $750
with a body-only option in the mid-$600 range. Visit
Nikon at www.nikonusa.com.
Kodak unveils brand-new sensor
Imaging pioneer Eastman Kodak has announced an innovation in image-sensor technology
that further reduces the size of the device required to get impressive image quality. The Kodak
KAC-05020 image sensor is the first 1.4-micron, 5-megapixel device that’s small enough to make
even a camera-equipped mobile telephone produce quality images.
The new sensor outperforms other smaller-pixel technologies by increasing the sensitivity
and reversing the polarity of the silicon to improve the integrity and structure of each pixel.
According to Kodak, this produces a CMOS sensor that rivals the CCD sensors found in top-end
hardware. Kodak has also increased the light sensitivity with its TRUESENSE Color Filter Pattern
to add panchromatic (clear) pixels to the sensor to detect all wavelengths of visible light. This
is reported to dramatically improve images in low-light conditions and reduce motion blur in
high-speed motion images.
The new sensor is capable of imagery up to ISO 3200 with support for 720p video at 30 fps.
It supports Texas Instruments’ OMAP and OMAP-DM to employ enhancement features, such
as image stabilization, red-eye reduction, and facial recognition in mobile communication
devices. To find out more, check out www.kodak.com/go/imager.
Nikon D60
Pentax K20D](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-19-2048.jpg)
![››www.photoshopuser.com
019
onOne Software
acquires Liquid
Resize Technology
onOne Software, known for
its imaging and design tools,
announced that it has acquired
Liquid ResizeTechnology—
a method of image resizing
originally developed by Ramin
Sabet and Irmgard Sabet-
Wasinger in Vienna, Austria.
Mike Wong, Vice President
of Marketing at onOne Software,
explains, “The technology [of
Liquid Resize] that we acquired
is entirely different than the
patented resizing technology
that we have in Genuine Fractals,
which is intended when you
need to make a photo signifi-
cantly larger. The Liquid Resize
technology will allow users to
change the aspect ratio of a
digital image while minimizing
distortion. You’ll be able to take
a 4x5 aspect ratio, ‘stretch’ it to
a panorama format, and keep
all of the details in the image in
correct proportion.”
For more details, go to
their website, www.onone-
software.com.
Check out the new and considerably improved Aperture 2. Apple Inc. has kept all of
the power and functionality of Aperture while updating the interface to simplify using
the product. Aperture 2 has more than 100 new features added to its photo-editing
and management software—most notably a streamlined user interface and entirely
new image-processing engine. Also, Aperture 2 has new image-adjustment tools,
including one called“Recovery,”which pulls back“blown”highlights.
Priced at $199 (upgrade $99), Aperture now seamlessly integrates with Apple’s
.Mac, iLife, iWork, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV products.
In addition, Apple continues to roll out hardware products with the new MacBook
Pro models. The update to the line unleashes the power of Intel’s new super-efficient Penryn chips and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
graphics cards, with up to 512 MB of video memory, plus the addition of multitouch gesturing on the track pad.
Offered with either the base 2.4-, 2.5-GHz, or the seemingly inexplicable 2.6-GHz option (for an additional $250), the build-to-order
options include a 200-GB, 7200-rpm hard drive and up to 4 GB, 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM.
All of the connectivity is there too, with FireWire 400 and 800, USB 2 (15” offers two; 17” offers three), Bluetooth 2.1/EDR, Express-
Card/34 slot and 802.11n wireless AirPort Extreme. The 17” model also boasts the more environmentally friendly arsenic-free screen
with the option for a mercury-free LED display. Pricing starts at $1,999 with lots of options available.
For more information on Aperture 2 and the new MacBook Pro, visit www.apple.com.
By Daniel M. East
Apple updates Aperture and MacBook Pro
Sony develops new CMOS Sensor
Sony Corporation announced the development of a 35mm full-size (diagonal 43.3mm /Type
2.7), 24.81 effective megapixel, ultrahigh-speed, high image quality, CMOS image sensor that’s
designed to meet the increasing requirement for rapid image capture and advanced picture
quality within digital SLR cameras.
In addition, Sony’s Column-Parallel A/D (analog to digital) conversion results in less image
noise with improved performance. While full production is said to be under way for later this
year, there’s no information about which models might contain this new sensor.
FontAgent Pro Server 2.5 announced
Insider Software has announced its new font-manage-
ment system, FontAgent Pro Server 2.5. The company
promises Web administrators a way to get consistency
and control over font use by providing access to only
those fonts that have been designated for specific users,
groups, and projects.
FontAgent Pro Server 2.5 boasts new zero-config-
uration architecture that can access user information
stored in Active Directory servers, and it has also been
updated to take advantage of the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
operating system. FontAgent Pro can help organizations
to manage and reorder fonts easily while tracking license usage. The new font server will also
warn administrators when license limitations are exceeded.
For more information, visit www.insidersoftware.com.
Sharp and Sony sign LCD Memorandum of Intent
Sharp Corporation and Sony Corporation have signed a nonbinding memorandum of intent
to create a joint venture for new, large-sized LCD panels and modules. Assuming they receive
government approval, the Sakai City, Osaka, Prefecture LCD production facility (currently under
construction) will manufacture the new 10th generation mother glass substrates for the new
products. According to a press release from Sony, a new company name will be announced by
April 2009 with the majority of the total investment and capital (66%) coming from Sharp vs.
Sony’s 34%. Visit www.sony.net for details.
MacBook Pro
COURTESYOFAPPLE,INC.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-20-2048.jpg)
![By Bryce Smith
Visit the NAPP member website (www.photoshopuser.com) for more info regarding any item on
these pages or anything concerning your membership.
If you have suggestions or ideas for enhancing your NAPP membership, please send them to
the NAPP Executive Director, Larry Becker, at lbecker@photoshopuser.com.
Recent NAPPDiscounts
Mister Retro—Create profes-
sional-quality distress effects
with these MachineWash image
filters. Each volume contains
60 image filters to texturize,
age, and weather layered art-
work in Photoshop. NAPP
Members receive a 10%
discount on all individual
Machine Wash volumes.
DigitalTechnology Centre—The
DigitalTechnology Centre offers
NAPP members a 10% discount
on its hands-on workshops.The
Centre trains creative profession-
als and serious hobbyists in
photography, graphic design,
digital fine art, and videography.
LocatedinsunnySarasota,FL,the
CentreisanAdobeCertifiedTrain-
ing Center and Corel Certified
TrainingPartnerinCorelPainter.
The Lepp Institute of Digital
Imaging—NAPP Members
receive 15% off when they reg-
ister online or by phone for any
courses at the Lepp Institute.
Located on the scenic California
coast,The Lepp Institute is the
premier digital darkroom in
the United States.With only 16
students, an instructor, and two
teaching assistants per course,
participants receive the indi-
vidual attention they deserve.
Adobe—As a proud partner
of NAPP, Adobe has extended a
15% discount on most products
from the Adobe website. If you
access the Adobe Online Store
from the NAPP website, you will
see the discount instantly.The
discount also applies to third-
party plug-ins, training, and
books that are available for sales
directly from Adobe through the
Online Store or by phone.
Artlandia—NAPP members
receive a special 10% discount
on Artlandia SymmetryShop, a
Photoshop plug-in that lets you
create pattern designs from your
favorite digital images. NAPP
members also get the same dis-
countonallSymmetryShopvalue
packages, including a bundle
with Artlandia SymmetryWorks,
a pattern design plug-in for
Adobe Illustrator.
››www.photoshopuser.com
023
It came from the forums
The NAPP member community is one of the greatest, yet most overlooked benefits of
belonging to the largest image-related association in the world. We have thousands of
members who frequent our member forums, and besides Photoshop World or a 1-day
seminar, the sense of community is strongest there in the forums. And it’s an incredible
resource for getting others to help you with suggestions, critiques, and referrals to resources
they’ve used.
Sure, NAPP professionals are great. Scott Kelby, Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, Corey
Barker, Rafael Concepcion, and others will show you all kinds of Photoshop tricks and
techniques. And if you ask a question of Peter Bauer over at the Help Desk, you’ll get
an answer right away. On the other hand, if you want some group input to help you improve
a project or if you want to ask a few hundred people if they have seen a technique that
will improve a design you’re working on, your answers are just a forum post away.
There’s really no way we can convey all the great ways people meet, network, and trade
great information in our forums, so you should visit them at your earliest convenience
and go to the “Introduce yourself!” thread. Oh, and for the record, you’ll find that the NAPP
member forum is an incredibly friendly environment with great moderators who keep
everything moving in a positive, helpful direction. So if other forums out there have turned
you off, don’t worry! The NAPP forums are friendly, safe, fast, and amazingly helpful!
[Note: This member surely meant “pimping” in the kindest sense of the word and did not intend
for it to sound the way that might get a news correspondent suspended.—Ed.]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-24-2048.jpg)
![››photoshopuser›april/may2008
028
continued on p. 30
STEP EIGHT: It’s time to open the image that will be masked
within the graphic (our cityscape). As we’ll need a final RGB
document to composite the elements into, click on File>New.
In the dialog, we used 6.5" for Width, 8" for Height, and 200 ppi
for Resolution, and then clicked OK. With the Move tool (V),
drag your background image into this new document and posi-
tion it at the bottom (as shown). Note:You may have to use Free
Transform (Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T]) to resize your image; remem-
ber to press the Shift key while resizing to constrain proportions.
STEP SEVEN: Press Shift-Command-E (PC: Shift-Ctrl-E) to Merge
Visible layers and you should now have a black-and-white shape
of the car on one layer. Now we’ll load the white area as a selec-
tion. In the Channels panel
(Window>Channels), press
the Command (PC: Ctrl)
key, and click on the RGB
composite channel. This
will load the Luminosity
as a selection. Which, in
this case, is all the white
area of the image.
STEP SIX:With the Background layer active, use the Lasso tool to
select the top area of the car and fill this area with white, as we
did in Step Four. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.
Next, click the Background copy layer and its Eye icon to make
it visible and active. Set this layer’s blend mode to Multiply, which
willblendtheseelementstogethernicely.NowsetyourForeground
color to black, choose a
small, hard-edged brush,
and paint the small areas
of white around the car.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-29-2048.jpg)
![››photoshopuser›april/may2008
030
STEP TEN: Be sure the cityscape layer is active and the selection
is positioned over the image, then click on the Create Layer Mask
icon at the bottom the
Layers panel. This will
mask the street image
in the shape of the
graphic. Now unlink
the layer mask from
the layer by clicking on
the chain icon between
the thumbnails.
STEP NINE: Go back to your base (car) image with the active
selection. Click on any selection tool (it doesn’t matter which one
but make sure the New Selection icon is clicked in the Options
Bar) and drag your cursor over the selected area—it will change
to a move-selection indicator (circled below). Drag-and-drop this
selection onto your working document.
If you need to scale this selection, go to the Select menu and
choose Transform Selection, press the Shift key (to constrain the
proportions), scale the selection to fit within your document
boundaries. Press Enter (PC: Return) to commit the changes.
STEP ELEVEN: Click the layer mask thumbnail to highlight it
and press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to bring up the Free Trans-
form bounding box. Slightly rotate the mask counterclockwise
to add a little more dramatic effect, then reposition, if neces-
sary. Now click on the layer (not the mask) to make it active and
use Free Transform to similarly rotate the image to somewhat
match the angle of the car. Reposition this image to reveal the
best part through the mask.
To complete our composition, we used Levels (Command-L
[PC: Ctrl-L]) to increase the contrast of the street image with a
quick adjustment then added some text. ■](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-31-2048.jpg)
![››www.photoshopuser.com
033
STEP THREE: Drag the next photo over to the document and
bring up FreeTransform again.You want this photo to be nearly
half as tall as your main photo. So grab a corner, hold the Shift
key, and drag inward to scale it down. Make sure it fits to the left
of your photo but slightly above that center guide. Press Return
(PC: Enter) when the size looks right. Now do the same thing
with the other photo, but place it below the centerline so all
three photos are in place (as shown here). Now click on the top
layer and press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) twice to merge the three
photo layers into a single layer.
Now you’re going to add a black stroke border around your
photos. Choose Stroke from the Add a Layer Style (ƒx) pop-up
menu at the bottom of the Layers panel. When the dialog
appears, choose Inside for Position (so your corners don’t appear
rounded), change your stroke Color to black, then click OK.
STEP FIVE: Now that our setup is out of the way, let’s do what we
came here to do: create blind-embossed initials and ornamentals
on the background. First, click the Background layer, then go to
the Toolbox and choose the Custom Shape tool (nested under
the Rectangle tool). Now go up to the Options Bar and click on
the Custom Shape Picker. When the library appears, click on its
flyout menu and choose to load the Ornaments shapes set (as
shown here). Once you choose it, a dialog will appear asking
if you want to replace the existing shapes, or add (Append) to
them. Click Append and these Ornament shapes will appear at
the bottom of the Shape library.
STEP FOUR: Press Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R) again to hide the
Rulers. Now you’re going to convert these photos to black and
white by choosing Black & White from the Create New Adjust-
ment Layer pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers panel.
(Note: If you don’t have Photoshop CS3 yet, you can press Shift-
Command-U [PC: Shift-Ctrl-U] instead to do the conversion.)
When the Black and White dialog appears, choose whichever
built-in preset looks best to you, or create your own custom
black-and-white conversion using the sliders, and when it looks
good to you, click OK.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-34-2048.jpg)
![Taking Photoshop to the next level
When painting on a layer mask, brush hardness and diameter are critical to producing an accurate mask—
changing one without the other is a recipe for failure. Think about the relationship between these two
settings and you just might want to go back and rework your old images.
BrushSettingandMasking
PhotoshopMastery ■ BY BEN WILLMORE
half (again 50 pixels) will cause the brush
to fade out with a soft edge. Switch to a
50-pixel brush and you end up with half as
much space used for the fadeout because
50% of 50 pixels is 25 pixels for the opaque
region and an equal amount for the fade-
out zone. Larger brushes have softer edges
because more space is available for the
fadeout zone.
Working with various brush sizes
This can cause problems when you’re
using a semihard-edged brush because
you might use a large brush for most of
your paintingandthenswitchtoasmaller
brushwhen you run into a tight area, such
as a corner. If you leave the Hardness set-
F
or this tutorial, we’ll assume that you
already know how to create and use
layer masks. That way, we can concen-
trate on the details of which brush settings
should be used when editing a mask.
Determining hardness settings
The hardness setting of a brush should
matchtheedgequalityoftheobjectyou’re
attempting to mask. If the edge of the object
is crisp and in focus, you need a Hardness
setting near 100%; on the other hand, if the
object is out of focus or in motion (causing
motion blur), you’ll need a lower hardness
setting. The blurrier the edge of the object,
the softer the edge of your brush should be
to match the edge quality of the object.
I rarely use the Brush Preset Picker that
you access by clicking the Brush Preview in
the Options Bar at the top of your screen.
Instead, I use keyboard shortcuts, which are
faster and more efficient. For instance, to
increase or decrease the Diameter setting
for the active brush, type ] (right bracket) or
[ (left bracket), respectively, and to change
the Hardness setting, add Shift to the above
keyboard shortcuts. With these keyboard
shortcuts, you can cycle through Hardness
settings of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.
Changing diameter affects hardness
When you change the Diameter of a
brush,itwilllookasifitsHardnesshasalso
changed—even though the actual Hard-
ness setting hasn’t. Here’s why: Consider
that the Hardness setting is expressed as
a percentage, where 50% means that 50%
of the brushwidthwillbeopaquebeforeit
startstobecometranslucentandproduce
asoft edge. If your brush Diameter is 100
pixels andtheHardnessissetat50%,then
halfthewidthofthebrushwillbeopaque
(50%of100pixels=50pixels)andtheother
ting the same, there will be a visual differ-
ence between the areas created with the
larger and smaller brushes.
To solve this problem, consider reduc-
ing the Hardness of your brush when you
switch to a smaller brush. For instance,
when switching from a 100-pixel/50%
Hardness brush to a 50-pixel brush, be
sure to switch the Hardness setting to 0%
to maintain the same apparent hardness.
Here’s the math: 50% of 100 pixels is 50
opaque pixels, leaving 50 pixels for the
fadeout. To get 50 pixels of fade-out on
a 50-pixel brush, you’d need a Hardness
setting of 0% to allow all those pixels to
be used for fadeout.
Fine-tuning the results
Anytimeyoupaintonamaskwithdiffer-
entsizedbrushes,Isuggestyouviewthe
resulting mask directly by holding the
Option (PC: Alt) key and clicking directly
on the LayerMaskthumbnailintheLayers
panel.Then,ifyounoticeanytransitionsin
theareaswhereyouchangedbrushsizes,
considerpaintingoverthemwiththeBlur
tool(R)tobluranyareasthatlooktoocrisp.
Using this technique, you can usually cor-
rect for those times when you forgot to
adjust theHardnesssettingtocompensate
forthebrushsize. ■
BenWillmoreisthebest-sellingauthorofAdobe Photoshop CS3 Studio TechniquesandUp to Speed: Photoshop CS3,aswellasco-authorofHow to Wow:
Photoshop for Photography.Benspendsmanyofhisdaysontheopenhighway,adigitalnomadinhis40'motorcoach.Learnabouthislatestadventureat
www.WhereIsBen.com.
Same size brush with Hardness settings of (from
top to bottom): 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%
From top to bottom: 50-pixel brush/50%
Hardness; 100-pixel brush/50% Hardness;
50-pixel brush/0% Hardness
Mask created using three brush sizes with
identical hardness settings (left); result of
touching up the mask with the Blur tool to
produce a more consistent edge (right).
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
050](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-51-2048.jpg)
![■ BY BERT MONROY
When I heard that this issue had a wedding photography theme, I remembered a demo I used to do a long
time ago. It’s a technique inspired by all the wedding albums I’ve looked at through the years: the couple in
the champagne glass shot.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
056
BrideandGroominaChampagneglass
Remarkable art created by Bert Monroy
FromBert’sStudio
STEP TWO:WiththeMovetool(V),drag-and-droptheselected
coupleintothedocumentcontainingthewineglass.(Itsoundsa
littledrasticbutthat’stheterminology.Iassureyoutheyweren’t
harmed in the process.)You may have to resize or rotate your
image to fit, which you can do using the FreeTransform tool
(Command-T[PC:Ctrl-T]).
STEP THREE: It looks like a decal! So to make it look like the
couple is inside the glass, we need to let the highlights on the
glass and the surface of the liquid show through.We can do
that using the Blend If controls found in the Layer Style dialog.
Double-click on the layer (Layer 1) to open the Layer Style
dialog. Under Styles, the default should be highlighted (Blend-
ing Options: Default). At the bottom of the Blending Options
section, you’ll find the Blend If controls.
STEP FOUR:There are two sliders:This Layer and Underlying
Layer (see“Blend If Explained”for more on using these con-
trols).We’ll be using the Underlying Layer slider for our couple-
in-the-champagne glass example because the highlights on
the glass and liquid are in the underlying layer. Let’s drag the
Underlying Layer white slider to the left to allow these values
to be seen through the layer and lower our Fill Opacity to 83%.
STEP FIVE: Because there’s a hard edge to the highlights, let’s
soften that edge by splitting the slider. Press the Option (PC:
Alt) key and click-and-drag the left part of the white slider to
the left (we chose 206 and we also dragged the right slider to
W
e begin by opening the two images we need so
the couple can “go for a dip” in the glass: the happy
couple and the champagne glass. And here’s the
little trick I’d like to pass along to you.
STEP ONE:With the Elliptical Marquee tool, make a selection
that encompasses the main focus of the couple, then feather
your selection using Refine Edge (Select>Refine Edge). In the
Refine Edge dialog, click the OnWhite icon (circled) and check
the Preview box so you can see the effect your manipulation
of the controls will have on the selection. Click OK when you’re
satisfied.We gave the selection a vignette effect of softening
the outer edges (as shown).
©ISTOCKPHOTO/TATIANAMOROZOVA
©ISTOCKPHOTO/YINYANG](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-57-2048.jpg)
![[ How do you do it?*Save $100! Regular price $499.95. Offer expires June 15, 2008. ©2008 Jupiterimages Corporation.
“Microstock is cheaper with images for as little as $1 each!”
The fact is, those $1 images are generally low-resolution photos and for the price of about
40 high-resolution images from any of those microstock sites (usually $10 a pop), you
can have unlimited access to more than 350,000 high-res, professionally shot
photographs at Photos.com and download up to 250 per day.
That’s right – better value and no more low-res comps.
Show your clients you mean business.
SPECIAL OFFER...
1-year subscription only $399.95*
www.photos.com/promo/myth Professional Stock Photography by Subscription
]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-62-2048.jpg)
![Taking inkjet printing to the next level
■ BY JOHN PAUL CAPONIGRO
In French, bon à tire (BAT) means literarily “good to pull.” Classically, it’s used to refer to a final proof print.
To be definitive, a BAT must be printed as the final print will be printed, using the same image file, printer,
ink, paper, software, profile, and driver settings.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
062
TheFinalProofPrint,orBAT
TheFineArtofPrinting
ANTARCTICA XVII - 3600 K - 2007-12-25
A visual contract
Only one item, arguably the most important one, needs to be
takenmanually:asignature.Thisisparticularlyimportantwhen
aproofismadeforsomeoneotherthanyourself.Theclient’ssig-
natureensuresthatheorshehasseenandapprovedtheproof.
TheBATthereforebecomesavisualcontractwithyourclient.
Screen shots
A majority of the items that it’s helpful to note on a BAT can
be recorded by taking screen shots as you navigate a printer
driver. A screen shot makes an image file of visible items
onscreen, including printer driver windows. Using Adobe
Photoshop, you can file these screen shots in the printed
digital image by placing them in an appropriately named
layer set—for example, printer settings.
To make a screen shot you can use any number of programs,
such as SnapZ Pro or Grab. On the Macintosh platform, how-
ever, a simple set of key commands will do the trick: Simultane-
ously hold Shift-Command-4 (PC: Shift-Ctrl-4) and when the
crosshair icon appears, click-and-drag over the area of the
screen you wish to capture. Select (Command-A [Ctrl-A]),
copy (Command-C [Ctrl-C]), and paste (Command-V [Ctrl-V)
the screen shot into the image file, then use the Move tool
(V) to position the screen shot and rename the layer appro-
priately (double-click on its name).
F
or centuries, it’s been a time-honored tradition to
keep a final proof on file to refer to when you evaluate
prints over the course of a large print run, or when you
reprint an image. And there are several practices that make
creating a BAT particularly easy when printing digitally.
Here are some that you might follow:
Notes, notes, and more notes
Take note of any choices you make that affect print quality.
If you don’t take good notes, you may not be able to retrace
your steps precisely. Items to include in notes on a BAT
include printer, ink (which may include the ink lot number
contained on the ink cartridge), substrate, color-manage-
ment settings, driver software, profile, rendering intent, ink
limit and print speed, print resolution, light temperature
under which the proof is intended to be viewed (5000K or
3600K), and the date the proof was created.
Print your notes along with the image to create the
final BAT so that when you look at the proof, everything
you need to know about the printing conditions can be
seen at a glance. While you could manually write these
factors on the proof, when you take the steps necessary
to make them printable, you also make them a part of
the image file. If the BAT is lost, the notes won’t be. And
anyway, notes taken this way also tend to be more legible.
Typical horizontal BAT](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-63-2048.jpg)
![ReallessonsinPhotoshopforteachersandstudents
■ BY JAN KABILI
Using the improved Image Processor in Photoshop CS3 along with actions simplifies batch processing. The
processor waits to run an action until after it resizes an image, which makes it the perfect tool for automating
final image sharpening and other functions that depend on image size.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
072
BatchProcessing
PhotoshopforEducators
may vary
dependingon
the size and
contentofthe
imageyou’re
working on.
(Note:Amount
controls the
intensity of
sharpening; Radius determines how many pixels out from an
edge are sharpened; and Threshold controls how different a
pixel must be before the filter will sharpen it.)
Click the Stop Recording button in the Actions panel.
OPTIONAL STEP: If the photos on which you plan to use the
Sharpening action aren’t similar, click the box to the left of
the Unsharp Mask step in this action to insert a modal control.
This will cause the Sharpening action to pause on each photo
so you can enter custom values in the Unsharp Mask dialog. If
your photos are similar, skip this step.
STEP THREE: Next,we’llcreateanotheractiontomakeawater-
mark.ClicktheCreateNewActionicon,nameit“Watermarking,”
and click Record. Select the Type tool, choose your font set-
tings in the Options Bar, and type your watermark anywhere in
the photo. Click the checkmark in the Options Bar to commit
the type.
Choose Select>All. Choose Layer>Align Layers to Selection>
Bottom Edges. Choose Layer>Align Layers to Selection>Right
Edges. Choose Select>Deselect. You can also use the Arrow
keys to position the watermark. Drag the Fill slider in the
T
he Image Processor is a serious productivity booster,
offering a simple way to batch-process images by con-
verting them to one or more common formats (JPEG,
PSD, or TIFF), resizing them, and adding copyright informa-
tion. But that’s not all the Image Processor can do: You can
extend its functionality by having it run a custom-built action
on multiple images.
In the following exercise, we’ll create two actions to sharpen
an image and add a watermark, then sequence the two actions
into one. Next, we’ll use the CS3 Image Processor with our
custom-built actions to automatically process, sharpen, and
watermark a batch of photos. [As always, NAPP members can
downloadaPDFofthearticleatwww.photoshopuser.com/mem-
bers/aprmay08-downloads.html.]
Create, sequence, and test action
STEP ONE: Open one of the photographs you plan to process.
Use Image>Image Size to resize the photo to the most impor-
tantofyourplannedoutputsizes.Leavetheresizedimageopen.
STEP TWO: Now we’ll create an action that records our steps
as we sharpen this image. Open the Actions panel (Window>
Actions) and click the Create New Action icon. In the New
Action dialog, name the action Sharpening, choose an action
Set to contain the action (we created one called“My actions”),
and click Record.
Choose Filter>Convert for Smart Filters and click OK to
create a re-editable filter. Choose Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp
Mask. In the Unsharp Mask dialog, set Amount to 85%, Radius
to 1 pixel, Threshold to 4 levels, and click OK. Your settings
JANKABILIJANKABILI](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-73-2048.jpg)
![T
he interesting element this time will be adding a
reflection of the button that animates to match the
movement of the letters and stars. Let’s start by
animating the stars and adding the highlight, then we’ll
add the reflection. [NAPP members may download this image
and the final movie at www.photoshopuser.com/members/
aprmay08-downloads.html.]
Animating the stars
The stars we prepped before are now ready for us to animate
bilaterally across the top and bottom of the button.
STEP ONE: Assuming
that your stars are in
the same position we
left them, we need to
move the Bottom Stars
layer. Control-click (PC:
Right-click) that layer
and select Disable Layer
Mask from the menu to
hide the layer masks for
these layers. Grab the
Move tool (V), and move
the bottom stars over to
the right so that the far-left star is the first star that we see on
the left of the button.
STEP TWO: Control-click (PC: Right-click) and select Enable
Layer Mask to turn on the masks again and open the Ani-
mation panel (Window>Animation). Create starting posi-
tion keyframes for theTop Stars and Bottom Stars layers. Move
the CurrentTime Indicator (a.k.a. playhead) to the beginning
of the animation, click the Stopwatch icon next to Position for
theTop Stars layer and the Bottom Stars layer. Now move the
playhead to the end of the animation (3 sec.). Click theTop
Stars layer (not the mask) to select it and move the stars all
the way to the right until the last star on the left is up against
the left edge of the button (use the Arrow keys as needed to
nudge them into place).
You don’t want to move these too far because the stars
will scroll off the button, and you want the appearance that
if the stars were to keep moving there would be more com-
ing. Repeat with the Bottom Stars layer but in the opposite
direction. Remember that moving a layer that already has a
Position keyframe will automatically create a new keyframe
at the playhead repre-
senting the new position.
Adding the highlight
Now we’ll put a highlight in motion across the button to give
it more visual appeal.
STEP ONE: Click the
Create a New Layer icon
at the bottom of the
Layers panel and name it
Center Highlight. Select
the Elliptical Marquee
tool, go to the Options
Bar and enter 25 px in
the Feather field, and
then draw a tall, narrow
ellipse that’s slightly
taller than the height of
the button. Press D to set
your Background color
to its default white and press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Back-
space) to fill the selection. Now press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T)
to bring up the FreeTransform bounding box and rotate the
highlight approximately 25° to the right. Press Command-D
(PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.
STEP TWO: Next we need to create a layer mask in the
shape of the button and apply it to the Center Highlight
layer so that as it animates, the highlight is restricted to the
area of the button. So let’s Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click)
the Button layer thumbnail to load it as a selection. With
the Center Highlight layer still selected, click the Add Layer
Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Then click the
chain icon to unlink the layer mask from the highlight—this
will keep the mask in place when we animate the layer.
Finally, set this layer’s Opacity to 50%.
Using Photoshop to create professional-looking videos
■ BY GLEN STEPHENS
Last issue, we went through creating the masks necessary for the animations plus the shadows and highlights
that restore the original look of the button. We also started the animation of the letters. This time, we’ll animate
the stars and add a glare to the front of the button.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
084
AdvancedAnimations,Part3
MasterPhotoshopwithVideo
©ISTOCKPHOTO/MARKEVANS](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-85-2048.jpg)
![Practical tips for professional photographers
■ BY KEVIN AMES
It seems that successful portraits, especially of women, are all about smooth, silky skin no matter what the
reality might be. In our example, the semi-harsh light, which casts shadows to create a moody and mysteri-
ous portrait, also does a great job of showing any skin texture.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
086
SkinSmoother
DigitalPhotographer’sNotebook
F
ew are blessed with flawless skin in real life. Reality…
meet the skin smoother. The light on model Catherine
Norcom is coming from her left side creating the Rem-
brandt effect of a triangular highlight on her right cheek
formed by the shadow of her nose.
Oneretouchapproach is
to heal the texture from a
clear portion of skin—but
that’s way too much work.
There ought to be an easier
way and of course, Photo-
shop being Photoshop,
there is. The technique uses
a filteroriginallydesignedto
remove dust and scratches
quickly from scans of film.
No matter how carefully a
piece of film was cleaned,
it was impossible to get rid
of all of the dust specks.
On scans, they showed up
as black marks. Nicks in
the emulsion appeared as
irregularly shaped black
lines.Ittookanywherefrom
a few minutes to an hour
to eliminate these pests
on a high-resolution scan
by cloning them out in Photoshop. The solution has been in
Photoshop since version 5. Best of all, it works to reduce skin
texture too.
[NAPPmembersmaydownloadthefileusedinthistutorialat
www.photoshopuser.com/members/aprmay08.html.Allfilesare
forpersonaluseonly.]
STEPONE: Open the file 2392-0355.tif in Photoshop. Duplicate
theBackgroundlayerbypressingCommand-J(PC:Ctrl-J).Inthe
Layerspanel,double-clickLayer1andrenamethelayerRetouch.
Tip: I always duplicate the Background layer this way
for every project because it makes it easy to compare the
retouching with the original. The untouched Background
layer also serves as a backup of the original pixels, in case a
mistake is discovered too far into a retouch to be recovered
using the History panel.
STEP TWO: Use the Healing Brush tool, located under the
Spot Healing Brush tool (J), to fix any blemishes larger than
the texture of Catherine’s skin. Soften any lines here as well.
Look at the strategy map (shown above right) for areas that
need attention (circled in green).When you’re finished healing,
press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Retouch layer and
rename this layer Smoother Skin.
STEP THREE: From the Filter menu, choose Noise>Dust &
Scratches. When the dialog opens, click-and-drag in the pre-
view window to position it just under her left eye and then
click to set the sample area. Enter 7 pixels for the Radius. Her
skin looks so smooth it resembles plastic. Bring back some of
its texture by moving the Threshold slider to about 24. That
looks much better. Click OK.
STEP FOUR: Press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select the entire
image. Click the Edit menu and choose Define Pattern. Click OK
to accept the filename as the name of the pattern. Look at the
texture in the shadow area of her cheek; it still doesn’t look as
soft as it should. With that in mind, press Command-Option-Z
(PC: Ctrl-Alt-Z) twice to undo the Dust & Scratches filter.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-87-2048.jpg)
![087
Digital Photographer’s Notebook
ALL IMAGES BY KEVIN AMES
KevinAmescreatesevocativephotographsforclientssuchasWestinHotels,AT&T,andCoca-Cola.Hisfourthbook,recentlypublishedbyPeachpit
Press,isTheDigitalPhotographer’sNotebook:APro’sGuidetoPhotoshopCS3,LightroomandBridge.Heteachesthedigitalartsworldwide.
KevinAmescreatesevocativephotographsforclientssuchasWestinHotels,AT&T,andCoca-Cola.Hisfourthbook,recentlypublishedbyPeachpit
STEP EIGHT: Choose the second pattern from the menu and
work the shadow areas of her right cheek on both sides of the
strands of hair. Use a smaller, 20-pixel brush, being careful to
leave a buffer area of untouched texture next to her hair; use
the Left Bracket key ([) to decrease brush diameter as needed.
If the Healing Brush gets too close to the hair, the effect will
bleed into the hair resulting in a very unnatural look. Work on
the shadow side of her nose as well. Click the Eye icon on the
Smoother Skin layer to check the progress of the effect.
STEP NINE: Choose the Pattern
Stamp tool, nested under the
Clone Stamp tool (S). Select the
second pattern for the shadow
textures from the Pattern
menu. Using a 15-pixel brush,
clone through the buffer area
and well into the healed area
of shadow texture between
her hair and where the pattern
made with the Healing brush
ends.This reduces the texture
without affecting the hair on
her cheek.The Healing Brush
blends the Dust & Scratches
effect into the skin.The Pattern
Stamp tool lays a copy of Dust
& Scratches over the rough
areas. Blend any distinct lines
left by the Pattern Stamp by
using the Healing Brush to fill
in with the pattern.
Finally, switch to the Healing
Brush and change its options
back to the Source as Sampled
and uncheck the Aligned box.
Sample a smooth area of skin
then heal any of the places
the might appear blotchy. It’s
your choice whether or not to
remove her beauty mark.
Therewardofthistechnique
is not only the speed of
the smoothing, it’s also the
small amount of texture left
behind, making Catherine’s
skin softer and believable at
the same time. The result is
subtle, pleasing, and no one
can tell that you’ve been over
the portrait in Photoshop. All they know is that you’re a great
photographer because their prints look amazing.
Next time, the Notebook shows what to do when the lipstick
she’s wearing in the photograph cries out for an eye-catching
shade of red (or any other color for that matter). Until then,
keep shooting! ■
STEP FIVE: Now we’ll create a pattern for the shadow area.
Once again, open the Dust & Scratches filter. This time click
the filter’s cursor box to the left of her nose. Start with a higher
pixel radius (we used 10). Slowly lower theThreshold number
until this area of skin in the shadow smoothes out, around 14.
Ignore the effect on any pixels in the highlights. Click OK.
Onceagain,selecttheentireimagebypressingCommand-A
(PC: Ctrl-A), then choose Edit>Define Pattern. It’s fine to let this
pattern have the same name as the first. Remember that the
first pattern is for the lighter areas of skin while the second
one is used in the shadows. Finally, press Command-Option-Z
(PC: Ctrl-Alt-Z) to undo Dust & Scratches.
STEP SIX: Choose the Healing Brush tool from the Toolbox.
Change the Source in the Options Bar from Sampled to Pattern.
From the Pattern menu, click the first thumbnail of Catherine to
select the one for smoothing the texture in the lighter portions
of her skin. Click the Aligned checkbox to turn it on.
STEP SEVEN: Heal
the pattern over her
forehead and then
work the turquoise
eye shadow using a
70-pixel brush; use the
Right Bracket key (])
to increase brush
diameterasneeded.
Brushover the triangle
of highlight on her
rightcheek. Heal over
any objectionabletex-
ture on her left cheek,
nose, and forehead.
Before
After](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-88-2048.jpg)
![T
his article discusses the procedure for selecting data
points, which builds upon setting measurement to scale.
In Photoshop CS3, Select Data Points (the second item in
the Analysis menu) gives users the ability to choose which data
points are collected and added to the Measurement Log panel.
[Formoreinformationoncalibration(settingmeasurementscale),
SeePhotoshop User,Oct/Nov2007,p.86.]
You can extract quantitative data in Photoshop when
using Selections, the Ruler and Count tools, the Histogram,
and other interfaces. These data are lost if they’re not
manually entered into other spreadsheets or statistical
analysis programs. When using the Select Data Points fea-
ture, many of these numbers are collected into a table that
can be exported as a text file, which is easily imported into
other applications. To use this new feature, it’s important
to understand each of the data points Photoshop collects
and how they work.
The Common section
Begin by opening the
Select Data Points dia-
log (Analysis>Select
Data Point) so we
can review the data
Photoshop is able to
collect. You can see
four data families in
the dialog. The first
section, Common, is
metadata—literally
data about the data,
which is pretty self-
explanatory. Here’s
a brief description of
the data points in the
Common section:
Label field keeps track of the data. During any mea-
surement session, a running total of data points is tracked
and labeled as to which numbers relate to the different
measurement areas.
Date and Time option inserts the system’s time informa-
tion, which lets you keep track of when the data was col-
lected. This field is especially helpful if multiple analyses are
conducted on the same image.
Document records the file’s name, and associates that data
with the image from which it was collected. As measure-
ments are acquired in a single measurement log for all
images, it’s important to use this option to keep track of
which image contributed the data.
Source relates to what tool was used to collect the data. The
field will read one of the following: Selection, Ruler tool, or
Count tool.
Scale provides the calibrated measurement of how many
pixels are equal to a known standard length. If the default
measurement scale was used, then the dimension will be
reported in pixels (e.g., 1 pixel = 1 pixel). When custom
measurement scales are created and applied, all data will be
converted automatically to that scale.
Scale Units displays the units of measure in terms you define.
If you used the Set Measurement Scale option (from the
Analysis menu), then whatever you entered in the Logical
Units field will be displayed here.
Scale Factor reports exactly how many pixels are in the unit
of measure. There are some redundant values but when the
information is exported, it can save steps when working in a
spreadsheet program.
Data about your selections and more
The next three groups in the Select Data Points dialog relate
to data extracted from content using Selections, the RulerTool,
and the CountTool. The best way to explain these is to provide
an example.
Shown are four circles of different sizes (next page at
top). We used the Count tool (nested under the Eyedrop-
per tool) to number our circles by clicking each of them
once and then opening the Measurements Log panel
(Window>Measurement Log). When we click the Record
Document, analyze, extract, and present medical and scientific data
■ BY ERIC J. WEXLER
A revolution has occurred with the introduction of the analysis features in Photoshop CS3 Extended. You can
now use Photoshop to present and export image-analysis data natively without plug-ins. The ability to collect
analytical data is basic; however, complex questions can still be answered.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
094
SelectingtheRightDataSet
PhotoshopCS3ExtendedforResearch](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-95-2048.jpg)
![New compositing tools for architects, engineers, and scientists
■ BY SCOTT ONSTOTT
Visualizing a proposed building in the context of its site is often essential in gaining community, regulatory,
and client approval. Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended has some new features that make it relatively easy to
merge a building model into a site photo.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
096
Integrating3DModelswithSitePhotos
PhotoshopCS3ExtendedForEngineering
draw additional lines along a few key horizontal and vertical
edges in the photo (as shown, bottom left). Rename this shape
layer Perspective lines.
STEP TWO: Next, bring in a 3D building model. Choose
Layer>3D Layers>New Layer from 3D File. Enable one of five
supported formats (3DS, OBJ, KMZ, DAE, U3D) and select your
3D model file. When the new layer appears, drag it under the
Perspectivelineslayer,renameit3DBuilding,setthelayerOpac-
ityto50%,anddouble-click3DBuilding’sthumbnailtoenter3D
transformmode.
[NAPP members may download the files associated with this
tutorial from www.photoshopuser.com/members/aprmay08-
downloads.html.]
STEP THREE: Playing with the 3D transform tools is the
trickiest part of this tutorial—it requires some patience to
rotate, roll, drag, slide, scale, orbit, roll, pan, walk, and zoom
thebuildingintoalignmentwiththeperspectivelines.Ittook
me about 10 minutes playing with the 3D transform tools to
match perspective of the virtual and real cameras. Tip: Switch
into Edit the 3D Camera mode (C) and use the Zoom the 3D
Camera tool (Z) to change the virtual camera’s field of view to
adjust the building’s lines of perspective to match the photo.
I arrived at a 36mm lens after much experimentation. You
can enter precise numerical values in the 3D Camera Setting
dialog, which you can access by clicking the downward-facing
arrow next to the Zoom the 3D Camera tool (circled).
M
aking a 3D model fit within a 2D photo is a three-
stage process. Stage one is about matching the
perspective of the virtual camera—the one that’s
displayingthe3Dmodel—tothecharacteristicsofthecamera
that the photographer used to shoot the site photo. In stage
two, youmaskthe3Dlayerandpaintbackinforegroundele-
mentsthatareinfrontofportionsofthemodel,suchasother
buildings, cars, trees, people, and street furniture. The final
stage involves using a few tricks to illuminate and shade the
3D layer to match the light and shadow of the photo.
Perspective matching
MatchingtheperspectiveofvirtualandrealcameraswithPhoto-
shop is really more art than science. In other words, you have to
eyeball it to get believable perspective, so don’t expect or claim
photogrammetricaccuracy.
Open a site photo in Photoshop CS3 Extended. You’ll start
by drawing a few lines of perspective that will help later when
you’re playing with the 3D transform tools. Lines of perspec-
tive are easy to find if there’s any architecture in the photo, but
might not be possible to trace in a natural landscape.
STEP ONE: Click on the Shape tools (U) in theToolbox then, in
the Options Bar, choose the Line tool, click on the Shape Layers
icon (first on the left), setWeight to 1 px, Style to None, and
choose a bright red so the lines are visible. Draw a line along
any horizontal edge and overshoot it so the line covers the pro-
posed building site. Now select the Add to Shape Area icon in
the Options Bar—to avoid making multiple shape layers—and
©ISTOCKPHOTO/GILDEDCAGE](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-97-2048.jpg)
![RICHHARRINGTON
››www.photoshopuser.com
099
STEP ONE: Begin by selecting a photo with 3D perspective. Not
every photo will work well for this type of animation. After sev-
eral attempts with many images, I’ve found that VPE works best
when the subject of the photo has a clean angle of about 45˚. You
should also try to keep the frame as clear as possible so you have
less cloning and masking to perform.
[NAPP members may download the file used in this tutorial
from www.photoshopuser.com/members/aprmay08.html. All files
are for personal use only.]
STEP TWO: Next, we’ll apply the Vanishing Point filter. With the
photo layer selected in the Layers panel, choose Filter>Vanishing
Point. The Vanishing Point filter window opens. You now need to
draw a series of grids (or planes) that represent your subject. The
first grid should be drawn to encompass the largest surface of the
object. Here are some general pointers to help you: (1) Look for a
straight line to use as reference; (2) extend the grid a bit beyond
the boundaries to deal with roof peaks or extruding objects; and
(3) remember, you can tweak the first plane as much as needed.
STEP THREE: Now you need to define the four corner nodes of
the first plane. The Create Plane tool (C) is selected by default
when the filter window opens, so click at the four corner points of
your surface in the preview image to define the nodes. Try to use
a rectangle-shaped object in the image as a guide when creating
the plane. You can zoom in with the controls in the bottom-left
corner. Be sure to adjust the corner points to line up each edge
of the plane with the perspective of the photo. Take your time on
this step, as it is the most crucial part and sets the standard for
the rest (look closely at our sample below left for guidance).
STEP FOUR: Once the first plane is created, you’ll need to generate
a second for the other wall. Press the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and
then click-and-drag from the center of the existing plane’s edge
to create a new plane. It’s crucial that you “tear off” planes from
other planes rather than create new ones so the model can stay
attached. For this example, drag from the right edge of the initial
plane to create the second wall (as shown below). Drag to the right
until the plane extends beyond the edge of the wall on the photo.
STEP FIVE: Next you’ll need to adjust the angle of the new grid
so the lines in the plane match the wall in the photo. (Option-
click-and-drag [PC: Alt-click-and-drag] the center control point
on the right to change the angle of the new plane to its parent.) By
changing the plane so its top edge now aligns with the object,
you’ll create a perspective plane. Depending on your image and
initial plane, the angle may vary. Be sure to take your time and
make small adjustments as needed to get the best results. After
rotating, you may need to resize the plane by dragging its edge.
Look to the top left of the screen for Grid Size and Angle guidance.
STEP SIX: You may want to tear off planes to build the floor (or
parking lot in this case). Tear off planes like you did in Step Four
and be sure to adjust the two planes so they overlap. For this
task, you’ll find it easier to zoom out until you see some of the
gray canvas space surrounding the image. This makes it easier
to extend the planes beyond the edge of the canvas. Drag the
RICHHARRINGTON](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-100-2048.jpg)
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113
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Section
Mac:Library/ApplicationSupport/Adobe/Lightroom/Modules
Windows XP: Documents and Settings[Username]
Application DataAdobeLightroomModules
Windows Vista: Users[Username]AppDataRoaming
AdobeLightroomModules
Note: A plug-in, such as Mogrify, also requires the
installation (free) of ImageMagick to function. Check the
specific installation instructions offered by each plug-in
developer to make sure you’ve covered all the bases.
After you’ve installed an Export plug-in, you can cre-
ate presets using your favorite settings for that plug-in.
When you choose that preset, it will invoke the plug-in
and settings—a real timesaver!
Export settings
The export settings panels behave just like the panels
found in the rest of Lightroom, which means they’re col-
lapsible: Click a panel label to collapse and expand that
panel. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) any panel label to col-
lapse and expand all panels. Option-click (PC: Alt-click) any
panel label to enable and disable Solo mode. When a panel
is collapsed, you’ll see a summary of its settings displayed
in the header.
Tip: Some of the export plug-ins and piglets add many
panels to the dialog, so I find Solo mode reduces the need
to scroll and allows me to see all of my settings at a glance.
Export Location, File Naming, File Settings, Metadata,
and Post-Processing: These are pretty self-explanatory
so we won’t go into them in detail.
Image Settings: The image resizing function for JPEG,
PSD, and TIFF was given a considerable overhaul. The old
Constrain Maximum Size checkbox has been replaced by
Resize to Fit to make its job a little more clear. There are
now four different
options for resizing
yourexports:Width
& Height, Dimen-
sions, Long Edge,
and Short Edge.
I recommend experimenting with exporting test images
using each option but here’s a brief explanation of what
they do:
height (H) define the maximum amount each side can be
resized to fit while maintaining original aspect ratio.
within the entered dimensions while maintaining aspect
ratio. When this option is selected, height and width are
no longer associated with the values fields; you just enter
the maximum dimensions you want the images resized to
fit and Lightroom does the rest, regardless of orientation.
same manner: You set the maximum value for the edge in
question and Lightroom resizes all images to fit accordingly.
Lightroom can resample images smaller or larger than
the original image using the same resampling method as
Camera Raw (Lanczos’ algorithm). To prevent an image from
being resampled at larger than its original pixel dimensions,
check the Don’t Enlarge box. You can still choose pixels,
inches, or centimeters for units.
Exporting extended
The release of the Adobe Export SDK opened the door for
third-party developers to extend export functionality in a
variety of ways. Instead of only exporting copies to your
desktop, you can now export directly to sites such as Flickr,
Zenfolio, SmugMug, and Picasa Web or your own Web
server. You can perform additional image manipulation
(such as converting to other color spaces, watermarking,
addingborders, etc). You can even export metadata from
your catalogs into text files. And this is just the beginning!
For an example of what’s possible, I exported an image
directly to my Flickr account and in the process (beyond
default export options), configured all my Flickr settings,
applied a little output sharpening, stripped the profile (after
and colors, applied a graphical watermark, and pulled the
image title from the IPTC and displayed it on the border.
I could have done more!
I leveraged Jeffrey Friedl’s Flickr plug-in in conjunction
with Timothy Armes’ Mogrify piglet. You’re probably ask-
ing, “What’s a piglet?” A piglet is the name coined by Jeffrey
Friedl for a plug-in that plugs into another plug-in. You can
read about his piglet process in his blog. The beauty of a
piglet is that it allows different plug-ins to work together
in a single export. So for my example, the Flickr plug-in
handled the Flickr parts of the process while the Mogrify
piglet handled the image-manipulation parts.
and all the plug-in developers! ■
RobSylvan,atrainer,author,photographer,andWebdeveloper,istheHelpDeskSpecialistfortheNationalAssociationofPhotoshopPro-
fessionalsandalsoaSeniorImageInspectorforiStockphoto.CheckouthisLightroomtips,tutorials,andpresetsatwww.sylvanworks.com.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-114-2048.jpg)
![. . . .
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
114
X YX Y
The Camera Calibration panel is typically used to achieve accurate color in digital
images by making adjustments for specific camera sensors. While this is inter-
esting and important for some purposes, the Camera Calibration panel is more
functional and a lot more fun when used as a creative tool.
Angela Drury
Getting Creative with Camera Calibration
WORKING CREATIVELY IN LIGHTROOM
L
et’s start with a brief discussion of the Camera Cali-
bration panel before we get into the fun stuff. Camera
sensors respond to and represent color differently,
and can even vary within the same camera model. Tradi-
tionally, the Camera Calibration panel was used in Adobe
Camera Raw, and now Lightroom, to adjust and compen-
sate for these camera color variances.
Ifyourcameraproducesimageswithanoticeablegreen-
ishormagentatintinshadows,oranoverallredorbluecast,
usetheCameraCalibrationpaneltomakecoloradjustments
for this particular camera. Then you can create a preset of
the calibration and apply it to images shot with that camera
to compensate for the color shift. We could get very techni-
cal and detailed about measuring and adjusting color, but
for this article we don’t need to get too deep because our
focus is creative color adjustments and stretching the limits
of the Camera Calibration panel.
Creative control
Before Lightroom, the Camera Calibration panel in Adobe
Camera Raw was the best way to apply creative color treat-
ments to RAW images. The Camera Calibration panels in
Lightroom and Camera Raw are actually the same, but now
with the more intuitive HSL/Color/Grayscale panel, they’re
not necessarily the first place photographers go to adjust
color. Although it attracts less attention these days, the
Camera Calibration panel is still very effective as a creative
tool. There are many instances when it yields the best
results over other panels.
Our flower photo
isn’t a great image
by any means, but
it illustrates the vari-
ous treatments that
can be achieved in
relatively few steps
using the Camera
Calibration panel.
Thepanelalsoworks
well in conjunction
with White Balance
Temp and Tint slid-
ers to create vivid,
saturatedcolors.You
can achieve subtle effects depending on what’s right for the
image but because this image is a bit bland, we’re going for
over-the-top color.
STEP ONE: The original image needs some help. The flat light-
ing and oversaturated petals make the image somewhat dull,
but the background is interesting and could be emphasized to
add drama. In the Basic panel, we increased the Blacks slider,
lowered the Saturation slider, and addedVibrance.These adjust-
ments give it a tiny boost, but it definitely needs more.
STEP TWO: To add contrast and emphasize the background,
we decreased the Darks slider in the Tone Curve panel. This
brings down the dark tones in the background, and although
the petals are too dark and saturated, the image is starting to
look more interesting.
STEP THREE:We’re using the Camera Calibration panel for this
image because of the petals and the background.We can easily
target the isolated color of the petals and also make dramatic
adjustments to the
dark tones of the
background. Mak-
ing adjustments
here is an intuitive
BLACKANDWHITE
To create interesting black-and-white tones, simply lower
the Basic panel’s Saturation slider to –100 and adjust the
Camera Calibration panel’s sliders to get different mono-
chromatic tones. [For a complete tutorial on this method,
see Photoshop User, December 2007, p. 102.—Ed.]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-115-2048.jpg)
![Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Section
››www.photoshopuser.com
115
ALL IMAGES BY ANGELA DRURY
process and you have to make bold adjustments to every slider
to see what works. For the petals, adjustments to the Red and
Green Hue and Saturation controls softened the color and added
a slight shimmer. Slight moves of the Blue sliders further enhance
the color and now the image looks much better.
STEP FOUR: Because of the shadowy background, this image
illustrates the dramatic color changes you can make using
the Shadows slider. Dragging the slider to either extreme
completely changes the background tone, giving the image
a completely different appeal.You can further alter the colors
by revisiting the other sliders and pushing them around until
you come up with something interesting. Be sure to make
Snapshots so you don’t lose track of effects as you move the
colors around! [For more information on using Snapshots,
see p. 118.—Ed.]
Exposure and Contrast.You can always go back to the Cam-
era Calibration panel to correct any settings that become
too extreme, as we did here by lowering the Red Primary
Saturation slider.
STEP SIX: One last step is to lower the Basic panel’s Satura-
tion slider to see how the image works in black and white.
This one looks pretty good and we can continue making
adjustments to perfect the monochromatic tones.
Angela Drury is an award-winning photographer with 18 years’ experience shooting film and digital. She has received numerous
awards and has been featured in several group and solo shows. Angela lives in San Francisco and works at Adobe Systems Inc.
To see her photography, visit www.angeladrury.com.
As you can see, the Camera Calibration panel can be a lot of
fun and very creative. It also works well with landscapes and
other types of scenic imagery. I’ve also used it to enhance
the mood of travel images and portraits. Experiment and
have fun! ■
Result of setting
Shadows Tint slider
to –100 (green)
Result of setting
Shadows Tint slider
to +100 (magenta)
STEP FIVE: As previously mentioned, the Camera Calibration
panel works well with the White Balance controls. We created
the final color variation of this image using the White Balance
Temp andTint sliders, shifting the overall color balance to blue.
After changing the white balance, we made adjustments to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-116-2048.jpg)
![››www.photoshopuser.com
117
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Section
ALL IMAGES BY MATT KLOSKOWSKI
From one to many
Okay, we’ve made some changes to one photo; however,
there are a bunch of other photos from this shoot that were
shot in the same exact light, using the same exposure. So
whatever changes we had to make to the first photo will
need to be made to the rest of them. Let’s continue.
STEP THREE:Take a look down at the Filmstrip.You should
see the rest of your photos next to the one you’re currently
working on (the highlighted one). Once you identify the
photos to which you want to apply the same settings, you
have to select them so Lightroom knows which ones you
want to target: Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) or Shift-click
on the other photos now.
STEP FOUR: At the bottom of the right-side panels area in
the Develop module, you’ll see a Sync button. Click on it to
open the Synchronize Settings dialog and here’s where you
choose which settings you want to synchronize.You may be
asking,“What is there really to choose from?”Well, here’s a
good example: Remember, we cropped the photo back in
StepTwo. Chances are the crop you used for that first photo
won’t work for all of the others (unless it’s a product shot
taken on a tripod where nothing moved). So you’ll probably
want to uncheck the Crop checkbox so Lightroom won’t
apply those settings.
COPY-AND-PASTE
If you don’t have to synchronize a large number of pho-
tos but still want a quick way to apply changes from one
photo to another, then you can try the copy-and-paste
method. Here’s how it works.
First, find the edited photo in the Library module
from which you want to copy the settings. Then click
on it and choose Photo>Develop Settings>Copy Set-
tings. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, which is
Shift-Command-C (PC: Shift-Ctrl-C). The Copy Settings
dialog will open (it looks just like the Synchronize Set-
tings dialog). Choose which settings you want to copy
and then click the Copy button.
Next, click on the photo (or Command-click [PC: Ctrl-
click] to select multiple photos) onto which you want to
paste the settings. Click the
Photo menu and choose
Develop Settings>Paste
Settings (Shift-Command-V
[PC:Shift-Ctrl-V]).Thispastes
the settings you copied
from the source photo onto
the selected photos.
In the end, it does
exactly the same thing
as Synchronize; it’s just
a different way to do it.
There’s really no right
way: Use whichever
method is easiest and
works best for you at
the time. ■
STEP FIVE: Now make sure that everything else you want
to synchronize is checked and anything that you don’t want
synchronized is unchecked in the dialog.When you’re ready,
click the Synchronize button. If you look in the Filmstrip,
you’ll see the thumbnails of all the photos being updated to
reflect the new settings.
Note: If you’ve used the Quick Develop panel to make adjust-
mentstoyourphotos,youcanalsousetheSyncSettingscom-
mand in the Library module, and it will do the same thing as
SyncintheDevelopmodule.Butourtutorialisbasedontypical
photo editing in the Develop module, where the majority of
theworkisdone.(Foranotheroption,see“Copy-and-Paste.”)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-118-2048.jpg)
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118
If you have a Lightroom question you’d like to see published
in this column, please send it to letters@photoshopuser.com.
If, however, you’d like your question answered immediately,
go to the Help Desk at www.photoshopuser.com.
LIGHTROOM Q&A
X YRafael“RC”Concepcion
Q. I can’t find a way to rename my photo. Can you help?
TorenameyourphotoinLightroom,youhavetobeintheLibrary
module. Click on the photo and choose Library>Rename Photo
tobringuptheRenamePhotodialog.ClicktheFileNamingdrop-
downmenuandchooseyourfilenamingoption.Tobatchrename
aseriesofphotos,chooseLibrary>RenamePhotosandselectEdit
fromtheFileNamingmenu.IntheFilenameTemplateEditorthat
appears, make your selections and click Done. Or if you need to
rename a single photo quickly, open the Metadata panel, click in
theFileNamefield,andenterthenewname.
Q. How do Snapshots differ from the History panel?
When you import an image into Lightroom, the program starts
tokeeparunningtabintheHistorypanelofeverythingthatyou
dotothatimage,whichmeansthatyourHistorypanelwilllistall
the modifications that you’ve made to the image. On the other
hand,aSnapshotletsyousavethecurrentstateoftheimageasa
moment in time that you can go back to (click the plus sign [+] in
thepanelheadertocreateaSnapshot).Thisiswhereyoucankeep
multipleversionsofeditsinonespot.YoucanalsouseSnapshots
as a starting point of an edit. If you click on a Snapshot and make
additionalchangestoit,youcanControl-click(PC:Right-click)the
SnapshotnameandselectUpdatewithCurrentSettings.
Q. I’ve heard people talk about the “rule of thirds.” What’s that?
The rule of thirds is a compositional aid employed by photogra-
phersandartists.Pictureatick-tack-toeboardwheretwohorizon-
tal and two vertical lines intersect. When composing your photo,
ifyouplacetheitemofinterestnearanintersectionofthoselines,
yourimageinvariablybecomesmoreinteresting.
To illustrate, let’s use a photo from my friend Timothy White.
When we select the Crop Overlay tool (R), Lightroom displays
the rule-of-thirds crop overlay. Notice the area of interest at the
top-leftintersectionpoint.
But it doesn’t end there! In addition to the rule of thirds,
photographers and artists also make use of Divine Proportion
compositionalaids,suchasthegoldentriangleortheFibonacci-
inspired golden spiral. Those overlays are also in Lightroom.
Click on View>Crop Guide Overlay>Golden Spiral and Light-
roomautomatically replaces the rule-of-thirds overlay with the
graphical representation of the Fibonacci sequence. With the
spiraloverlayin place, crop so the most important areas in the
image follow the curve, and the image will be more interesting.
While they’re no substitute for getting the composition right
in camera, crop overlaysletyouseeyourimageindifferentways.
Tip:PresstheOkeytocyclethroughalloftheoverlays.
Q. How can I use Keyword Shortcuts in an image?
To set a Keyword Shortcut, go to the Library module and choose
Metadata>Set Keyword Shortcut, or press Command-Shift-K
(PC: Ctrl-Shift-K). In the Set Keyword Shortcut dialog that appears,
you can to enter a series of keywords that you can apply to your
image or images. When your keywords are set, select the image(s)
and press K to apply the keywords to those images. Keyword
Shortcuts appear in the Keyword Tags panel of the Library
module. Click the tag in that panel and Lightroom displays
only the images assigned to that keyword. ■
RAFAEL“RC”CONCEPCION
TIMOTHYWHITE
RAFAEL“RC”CONCEPCION](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-119-2048.jpg)
![QUICK KEYSTROKES
This issue, let’s explore helpful Option
(PC: Alt) key options:
1. Hold the Option/Alt key as you
choose Filter>Render>Clouds
for a much stronger contrast.
2. Hold the Option/Alt key and choose
Layer>Merge Visible to merge all the
layers into a new layer, but keep your
original layers intact.
3. Hold the Option/Alt key as you click
the Add Layer Mask icon to hide the
selection or, if nothing is selected,
give you a black layer mask.
4. Hold the Option/Alt key as you click
the Create New Snapshot icon in the
History panel to give you the New
Snapshot dialog with more options.
5. Holding the Option/Alt key as
you click the Create a New Layer
icon allows you to name the layer,
change its blend mode, or add it to a
clipping mask. ■
Saving copies
Lots of users get confused over the differ-
ence between the Save As and Save As a
Copy commands. The File>Save As com-
mand allows you to save the working file
under a new name and possibly a new file
type. After you’ve saved the file, the name
of the open file in Photoshop changes to
the newnameandislistedinthetitlebar.
When you Save a Copy (accessed in the
Save As dialog), the name of the working
filedoesn’tchange at all. You’ve created a
totally new and unlinked file on your hard
drive and that file isn’t open. The title bar
continues to display the original filename
and recent file list doesn’t include your
saved copy. If you choose File>Save after
making changes to your current image,
you save the version that’s open in Photo-
shop, which doesn’t affectyourcopyatall.
Don’t touch the default
I don’t like the default colors in Bridge.
The Bridge Preferences (Command-K
[PC: Ctrl-K]) allows the user to control
the shade of black-to-white for the User
Interface Brightness and the Image Back-
drop. I prefer to keep the User Interface
Brightness at almost white; however,
the sliders and slider bars don’t change
color quite the same way. As you can see
here, I almost need a magnifier to see the
slider bars now because the color of the
tabs and the sliders is almost the same.
If you make the User Interface Bright-
ness lighter than 60% gray, your sliders
become nearly invisible. The lesson is
don’t mess too much with these inter-
face defaults.
Around the Layers
panel in one tip
Where you click the
Layerspaneldetermines
whathappens.Double-
clickingthelayername
opensthatfieldsoyou
can rename the layer.
Double-clickingthearea
behindthenameorthe
layerthumbnail(ifit’sa
regularpixel-basedlayer)
opens the Layer Style
dialog.Double-clicking
the layer thumbnail
on a fill or adjustment
layer opens the cor-
responding dialog. If you
double-click a text layer
thumbnail, it opens the
type for editing. Command-clicking
(PC: Ctrl-clicking) the layer thumbnail
selects the contents of that layer in the
image.Command-clicking(PC:Ctrl-clicking)
on the layer’s name or surrounding white
space makes that layer active or makes it
part of a group of layers that are currently
the “active” layers.
Fix the marquee
YoucanusepercentasaunitintheFixedSize
areaoftheMarqueetools(intheOptionsBar,
clicktheStyledrop-downmenuandchoose
Fixed Size). For example, if you want an
ellipseorrectangletooccupyexactly75%
ofthefile(oranyotherpercent),justenter
thedesiredamountandthepercentsignin
theOptionsBar,thenclickintheimageto
placethemarquee.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
132 ALL IMAGES BY SHERRY LONDON
Some quick tips to make your Photoshop life easier
■ BY SHERRY LONDONPhotoshopQuickTips](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/psuser-april-may-140317222253-phpapp01/75/Ps-user-april-may-2008-133-2048.jpg)
![ColinSmith,anaward-winningdesigner,lecturer,andwriter,hasauthoredorco-authoredseveralbooksonPhotoshop,andhascreatedaseriesof
Photoshoptrainingvideosavailablefrom PhotoshopCD.com. Colin is also the founderofPhotoshopCAFE.com.
››photoshopuser›april/may2008
154
WorkSmarter
transformation properties, such as move,
scale, and rotate. It’s a great process to use
for making spirographic images.
Let’s look at some tips that will increase
your efficiency and help you to unlock
your creative genius.
Preset Manager
I’ve been asked many times how to load
brushes, patterns, etc. into Photoshop.
You can load all your assets through the
various tools’ panels, but the fastest way
is to go to Edit>Preset Manager. From the
PresetManagerdialog,youcanmanageall
your Brushes, Swatches, Gradients, Styles,
Patterns, Contours, Custom Shapes, and
Tool presets. If you reset your preferences
file, you’ll lose all these settings, so go to
the Preset Manager and make backups
on a regular basis. To do this, pick your
choice from the Preset Type menu, press
Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select all the
presets below, click the Save Set button,
and save the sets in a backup location.
Repeat for each preset and when the time
comes to load them, click the Load button
and navigate to your backup area.
Transform Again
Have you ever had to repeat the same
transformation several times? An example
would be rotating multiple layers at the
same angle each time. Instead of making
the transformation and then repeating it
over and over (a laborious task), try using
the Transform Again command. Make your
initial transformations using Free Trans-
form (Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T]), and then
press Command-Shift-T (PC: Ctrl-Shift-T)
to Transform Again. This repeats the previ-
ous transformations. It works on multiple
RequireaPasswordtoOpentheDocument
checkbox and enter a password. You can
now control different aspects of your
photos with a password.
Online photo galleries
How would you like to be able to post
your photos on the Web for all to see?
Good news, this functionality is built into
Photoshop. Choose File>Automate>Web
Photo Gallery. Now all you need to do is
choose a style for your gallery (you can
even choose Flash galleries), select a folder
of images, choose the Destination, and
click OK. Photoshop will go to work and
create the gallery for you. If you’re Web
savvy, you can incorporate the gallery into
your existing site, as well as modify the CSS
and create your own look.
Print all my shortcuts
Did you know that you can print all of
the keyboard shortcuts from Photoshop
or keep an electronic version on your
desktop? You can. Choose Edit>Keyboard
Shortcuts, or press Command-Option-
Shift-K (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-K). Click the Sum-
marize button, choose a location, and click
Save. An HTML page will open for you to
print (File>Print). You can also Print As PDF
so you have a portable cheat sheet. ■
Some quick tips to get you started in Photoshop
■ BY COLIN SMITHPhotoshopBeginners’Tips
Filter Gallery
The Filter Gallery, located under the Filter
menu, is a great place to experiment with
many different filters in Photoshop. You can
get a good idea of how they’ll affect your
image before applying them. The problem
withsomanychoicesistheendlessclicking
to expand and collapse each group to see
what filters are available. Here’s a tip to
speed all of that up: Hold down the Option
(PC: Alt) key and click one of the tabs. This
causes all the tabs to open or close in a
single click, speeding up browsing.
Prevent people from stealing
your photos
A big issue for photographers is finding a
way to email quality photos to clients for
approval. If you send photos that are too
high quality, they may be used without
payment. Send low-quality images and
you can’t sell them to the client. Sound
familiar? Here’s the solution: Create a high-
resolution PDF that people can view but
make them enter a password to extract
or print the photos. (I go into this in great
detail on my Special OPS disk on photo-
shopCD.com).Todothisforasingleimage,
choose File>Save As, and select Photo-
shop PDF. For multiple images, choose
File>Automate>PDF Presentation. In the
Save Adobe PDF dialog, choose Security
from the list on the left, and check the
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This issue features the winners of the third annual Photoshop User Awards competition. Over 1,200 submissions were received from around the world. The Best of Show winner and guest will be sent to Maui. This issue also includes wedding photography tips and techniques from top professionals. A special feature teaches how to use Vanishing Point and After Effects to create a 3D flyby animation from a 2D image. The editor discusses the growth of Photoshop User magazine and the NAPP over the past 10 years. Members are encouraged to watch the weekly NAPP News video on the member website for updates.
Ps user april-may.2008
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- 2. ® T H EA D O B E ® P H O T O S H O P ® “ H O W- T O ” M A G A Z I N E user A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 0 8 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PHOTOSHOP PROFESSIONALS VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.PHOTOSHOPUSER.COM SmoothCriminal Createsilkysmoothskineven withharshlightingconditions MastertheModule Getgreatresultsandstreamline yourworkflowwiththePhotoshop LightroomPrintmodule DISPLAY UNTIL JUNE 3, 2008 CombineAfterEffectsCS3andPhotoshopCS3 Extendedforimpressivefaux3Deffects Weddingphotographydos anddon’tsfromthepros enter the 3rd dimension I do PLUS: Resultsfromthethirdannual PhotoshopUserAwards
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- 5. Departments 8 | AboutPhotoshopUser Magazine 10 | From the Editor 14 | ContributingWriters 18 | Photoshop News 22 | NAPP Member News 92 | From the Help Desk 130 | Photoshop Q&A Reviews 120 | Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III 121 | Digital ROC, SHO, GEM, GEM Airbrush 121 | Imagenomic Professional Plug-in Suite 122 | Fluid Mask 3 124 | Black-and-White Infrared 124 | LensCoat 125 | Image Doctor 2 126 | PhotoTools 1 Professional Edition 127 | NIKKOR Lenses 128 | Photoshop Book Reviews 40 | Wedding PhotographyTips from the ProsWho Know Are you ready for wedding season? David Ziser shows you the path to becoming the best of the best; Matt Adcock inspires us with his studio’s interpretation of the“Trash the Dress”phenom- enon; and Cliff Mautner shares his wisdom from a darkroom perspective.—David Ziser, Matt Adcock, and Cliff Mautner 51|PhotoshopUser Awards We’re proud to announce the winners of the third annual Photoshop User Awards! See who prevailed from more than 1,200 submissions across 11 categories. 98|Createa3DAnimationwitha2DImage Have you ever wanted to fly through one of your favorite images? Well now you can using Vanishing Point and After Effects CS3.—Richard Harrington Features
- 6. But Wait—There’s More:Wherever you see the symbol at the end of an article, it means there’s additional material for NAPP members at www.photoshopuser.com. Columns 26 | Down & DirtyTricks Learn how to create an extreme video game cover, craft intricate ornaments for your wedding album templates, and make your designs rip from the page.—Scott Kelby, Felix Nelson, Corey Barker, and Matt Kloskowski 50 | Photoshop Mastery If you overlook the relationship between brush diameter and hard- ness,yourlayermasksmaysufferfrominconsistency.—BenWillmore 56 | From Bert’s Studio Bert uses the Blend If sliders to take the newlyweds for a dip in the champagne…with a nonalcoholic alterative too!—Bert Monroy 58 | Photoshop Speed Clinic Annoyed because your colors go flat every time you upload an image to the Web? Be frustrated no more!—Matt Kloskowski 62 | The Fine Art of Printing The bonàtire (BAT) tradition is an essential tool for keeping your fine art prints consistent over the years.—John Paul Caponigro 66 | Creative Point ofView Katrin plucks a page from Goldilocks and the Three Bears and places it in the context of image editing.—Katrin Eismann 70 | Deke Space Deke continues his quest to explain how Photoshop uses blurring to sharpen, this time with Smart Sharpen.—Deke McClelland 72 | Photoshop for Educators Learn about the Image Processor and how to string actions together to maximize your productivity.—Jan Kabili 74 | Beginners’Workshop If you get that glazed-over look in your eyes when someone says “nondestructive editing,”quickly flip to p. 74.—Dave Cross 78 | Digital CameraWorkshop Ever dreamed of putting your images up on theWeb but thought you lacked the expertise? Not anymore!—Jim DiVitale 82 | TheWOW! Factor Here’s how to get pristine landmark shots even if you have people traffic trying to get in the way.—Linnea Dayton 84 | Mastering Photoshop withVideo Here’s the conclusion (Part 3) on how to create a graphic animation for a newscast from a 2D image.—Glen Stephens 86 | Digital Photographer’s Notebook Kevin gives us an exceptional skin-softening technique, using model Catherine Norcom as his muse.—Kevin Ames 88 | Classic Photoshop Effects Making a movie poster is a timeless technique. Here’s how to make it look more complex with less hassle.—Corey Barker 94 | Photoshop CS3 Extended for Research Here’s an overview of the types of data you can get from an image using the Analysis tools.—Eric J. Wexler 96 | Photoshop CS3 Extended for Engineering Integrating a 3D model into a 2D image can help the client real- ize your vision and imagine the possibilities.—Scott Onstott 132 | Photoshop QuickTips Go click-crazy in the Layers panel; restrict your cropping; and learn powerful ways of using the Option (PC: Alt) key.—Sherry London 154 | Photoshop Beginners’Tips Back up your presets; create cool spiral artwork; use shortcuts to navigate the Filter Gallery; and more.—Colin Smith 51 ContentsApril/May 2008 | www.photoshopuser.com 66
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- 8. Contents 104 | LetLightroom ManageYour Color Printing Some Lightroom users have difficulty when it’s time to print. Once you have everything set up properly in the Print module, you can achieve quality prints every time.—Dave Huss PhotoshopLightroomSection 108 | Featured Photographer This issue, we take a look through the lens of world-renowned editorial and corporate photographer Maggie Hallahan. 111 | LightroomTips &Tricks 112 | Under the Loupe The Export dialog was upgraded in Lightroom 1.3. Users are now able to extend export functionality through third-party plug-ins.—Rob Sylvan 114 | Working Creatively in Lightroom The Camera Calibration panel is typically used to make adjust- ments for specific camera sensors, but it’s more fun when used as a creative tool.—Angela Drury 116 | Under the Hood When you have lots of photos to edit from a shoot, use the Sync function and take the rest of the day off.—Matt Kloskowski 118 | Lightroom Q&A 108 Feature
- 9. › ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 008 nati onal associati on of photos hop pr ofess i onals The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) is a dynamic trade association and the world’s leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop® training, news, and education. Founded in 1998, NAPP has become the largest graphics and digital imaging association in the world with more than 70,000 members worldwide. NAPP is open to any individual using Photoshop in a casual or professional environment. There’s no faster, easier, and more affordable way to get really good at Photoshop. Join today for only $ 99 U.S., $ 129 Canada, and $ 99 International (digital delivery). NAPP also offers special educational memberships. Go to www.photoshopuser.com to get more info. NAPP Membership Benefits: Annual subscription to Photoshop User magazine (eight issues annually) Members-only website with time- and money-saving content, including: Registration discount to Photoshop World Conference & Expo—the annual NAPP convention and the largest Photoshop event in the world Monthly e-newsletter produced just for members NAPP membership details at www.photoshopuser.com or call 800-738-8513 Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST. about photoshop user Photoshop User magazine is the official publication of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). It is for members, by members, and is not available to the general public by subscription. As a NAPP member, you automatically receive Photoshop User delivered right to your door eight times a year. Each issue features in-depth Photoshop tutorials written by the most talented designers, photographers, and leading authors in the industry. WeeklyTips andTutorials from world-class instructors Vendor discounts on hardware, software, services, plug-ins, and travel NAPP Perks for complimentary images, actions, shapes, and plug-ins Help Desk to get your Photoshop questions answered fast Advice Desk to get straight, unbiased advice on products Bookstore of latest educational books and DVDs, plus huge discounts National schedule of Adobe Photoshop training seminars NAPP Gallery for creating your online portfolio Cover photo: ©Maggie Hallahan www.maggiehallahan.com
- 10. We’re there withthe creative solutions you need. When you’re in the midst of exploring new creative ideas, the last thing you need is to get sidetracked by technology that won’t work together.At CDW, we carry a wide range of products from the best names in the business.And, our personal account managers can help you put them to work for you. Even across platforms. So call CDW today, because you never know what you’ll come up with tomorrow. 1 CallyourCDWaccountmanagerforupgrade-qualifyingproducts.OffersubjecttoCDW'sstandardtermsandconditionsofsale,availableatCDW.com.©2008CDWCorporation CDW.com/digitalflow 800.399.4CDW Apple® MacBook™ Air ® Core™ 2 Duo Processor (1.60GHz) ® ® X 10.5 Apple® MacBook™ ntel® Core™ 2 Duo Pr 0GB hard drive m 13.3" display ac OS® X 10.5 reative solutions you need. Adobe Creative Suite® 3 Design Premium image editing, illustration and Adobe PDF workflows experiences and mobile content Upgrade from Creative Suite Standard/Premium or Studio $599.99 CDW 1153123 Upgrade from Design Premium Group1 $1599.99 CDW 1153122 Full version $1799.99 CDW 1153121 Apple® 30" Cinema HD Display multi-display arrangements Display Connector, two FireWire® 400 ports and Kensington® security port $1799 CDW 659615 $ 1799CDW 1381695 When your mind is heading toward new creative areas, CDW makes sure your technology is right there with it.
- 11. FromtheEditor AfewwordsfromourE.I.C.… WorldwidePhotoshopCompetitionAndthewinneris… F or years now,the Photoshop World Guru Awards have been recognized as the competition to win in the digital imaging industry, and winning a “Guru” has been the career springboard for dozens of talented designers, photographers, and Photoshop artists—kind of the “Oscars of Photoshop.” But there’s always been a downside to the Gurus: Entry into the competition is just for those who attend the NAPP’s Photoshop World Conference & Expo. I actually think it’s pretty cool that the Gurus are what they are, and all who enter the Gurus are there together at the live awards ceremony (part of the Photoshop World opening keynote). You can feel the excitement and anticipation in the room when we start showing the nominees’ work in each category—you can feel the electricity and it’s really something you have to experience firsthand. But “firsthand” is also part of the problem. That’s why three years ago we set out to create a new com- petition: a worldwide Photoshop competition open to every Photoshop user, everywhere. And I’m proud to say that in our third year, the level of competition, the incredible prizes, and international recognition that winning The Photoshop User Awards brings now rivals the prestigious Photoshop Guru Awards, and we just couldn’t be more proud to host this annual competition. Thefirstyear’sBestofShowprizewasanall-expensespaidtripfortwotoParis(togetinspirationtodesign a cover for this magazine). In year two, we sent the Best of Show winner and a guest to Rome and this year, we’re sending the Best of Show winner and his guest to beautiful Maui! I’m honored to announce that this year’s Best of Show winner is…(well, you’ll have to turn to page 51 where we reveal this year’s Best of Show winnerandtheworkofthewinnersineachcategory).Thankstoeveryonefromaroundtheworldwhojoined the competition, and look for our special winner’s cover image on a future issue of PhotoshopUser. It’s also worth noting that this is our largest issue ever (150+ pages!)—we’ve come an awful long way. When NAPP first started 10 years ago, our first issue was 32 pages and was published only four times a year. For this issue’s cover story (starting on p. 40), we have an absolute rock-star lineup of the hottest wed- ding photographers sharing their insights and techniques including: David Ziser on “In the Driver’s Seat” (where David shares his philosophy of excellence in wedding photography); Matt Adcock on “Trashing the Dress” (about the phenomenon of trashing the bride’s gown); and Cliff Mautner on “Stepping Outside the Darkroom” (all about encouraging people to use Photoshop without drawing attention to its use). We also have a special second feature (p. 98) from digital video wizard (and Photoshop World instruc- tor), Richard Harrington, on how to use the Vanishing Point filter to create a VPE file that you can export to After Effects and create a 3D flyby look—all from a 2D image. This guy is just sick! One last thing: If you want to get the most from your NAPP membership, stop by the member website once a week and watch Larry Becker’s “NAPP News” video report. It’s right there on the homepage, it’s just 5-minutes long, and it quickly brings you up to date on the latest member discounts, deals, and news you’ll want to know. We’re getting loads of great feedback from members who watch it religiously and if you haven’t caught it yet, put down the magazine, head over there, and check it out. Thanks so much for your support of the NAPP and what we’re trying to do as an association. It’s great to have you on board! All my best, Scott Kelby Editor and Publisher “We just couldn’t be more proud to host this annual competition [The Photoshop User Awards].” ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 010
- 13. EDITORIAL: Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief IssacStolzenbach, Managing Editor Barbara Thompson, Senior Technical Editor Chris Main, Technical Editor Mike Mackenzie, Associate Editor Kim Gabriel, Traffic Director Felix Nelson, Creative Director Dave Damstra, Production Manager Taffy Orlowski, Associate Designer Christy Winter, Associate Designer Dave Korman, Production Designer Contributing Writers Web Team Scott Kelby, Publisher David Moser, Executive Publisher Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P. Business Manager Larry Becker, Executive Director of the NAPP Paul Parry, Chief Financial Officer V.P., Sales 813-433-2370 Melinda Gotelli, Advertising Director 916-929-8200 Advertising Coordinator 800-738-8513 ext. 115 Advertising Designers (Ronni) O’Neil, Director of Circulation/Distribution 800-738-8513 ext. 135 Fax: 813-433-5015 Customer Service: Letters to the Editor: Photo Gear Desk, and Advice Desk: Photoshop User APRIL/MAY 2008 The official publication of This seal indicates that all content provided herein is produced by Kelby Training, Inc. and follows the most stringent standards for educational resources. Kelby Training is the premier source for instructional books, DVDs, online classes, and live seminars for creative professionals. All contents ©COPYRIGHT 2008 National Association of Photoshop Professionals. All rights reserved. Any use of the contents of this publication without the written permis- sion of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Photoshop User is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way with Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be the representative views of the publisher. ISSN 1535-4687
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- 15. ContributingWriters Photoshop’smostwanted ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 014 Kevin Ames createsevocativephoto- graphsfor clients such as Westin Hotels, AT&T, and Coca-Cola. His fourth book, recently published by Peachpit Press, is The Digital Photographer’s Notebook: A Pro’s Guide to Photoshop CS3, Lightroom and Bridge. He teaches the digital arts worldwide. Steve Baczewski is a freelance writer, professional photographer, graphic designer, and consultant. He also teaches classes in traditional and digital fine arts photography. His company, Sore Tooth Productions, is based in Albany, California. Steve can be reached at foxhole510@sbcglobal.net. Peter Baueris the Director of the NAPP Help Desk and a featured colum- nist at Planet Photoshop. As an Adobe Certified Expert, Pete does computer graphics consulting for a select group of corporate clients. His latest book is Photoshop CS3 for Dummies. John Paul Caponigro, an inductee to the Photoshop Hall of Fame andauthorofAdobe Photoshop Master Class, isaninternationallyrenownedfine artist and authority on digital printing. Visit www.johnpaulcaponigro.com and receive a free subscription to his enews Insights. Linnea Dayton has authored, co-authored,andeditedmanybooks,maga- zines,andnewslettersforgraphicdesigners, illustrators,andotherswhousecomputers intheir art. She is currently at work on the 11th edition of The Photoshop Wow! Book, published by Peachpit Press. Jim DiVitale is an Atlanta-based photographer and instructor specializing in digital photography. His clients include IBM, Carter’s, Mizuno USA, Genuine Parts Company, Scientific Atlanta, TEC America, and Coca-Cola. Check out his website at www .divitalephotography.com. Angela Drury isanaward-winning photographer with 18 years’ experience shootingfilmanddigital.Shehasreceived numerousawardsandhasbeenfeaturedin severalgroupandsoloshows.Angelalives inSanFranciscoandworksatAdobeSystemsInc.Toseeher photography,visitwww.angeladrury.com. Daniel East is an author, freelance writer, presenter/trainer, and consultant with more than 20 years’ experience in professional photography, pro-audio, and marketing. Daniel is also founder and president of The Apple Groups Team support network for user groups. Dave Huss, with more than 25 years’experience as a photographer, has authored more than 18 books on digital photographyandphotoediting.Hislatest book is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 for the Professional Photographer. Dave is a popular conference speaker in the U.S. and Europe. Katrin Eismann isauthorofPhoto- shop Restoration & RetouchingandPhoto- shop Masking & Compositing. Katrin is theco-founderandpresentChairoftheMPS in Digital Photography Department at the SchoolofVisualArtsinNYC(www.sva.edu/digitalphoto).She was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2005. Laurie Excell has28yearsofphoto- graphy and photographic equipment sales experience. Her images have been showcased in galleries, Audubon calen- dars, Camping Life Magazine, Amtrak publications, and BT Journal. Check out her website at www.excellnaturephotography.com. Jan Kabili is a popular Photoshop author and educator. You can see her Photoshop video podcast at http://photo- shoponline.tv or subscribe to Photoshop Onlineatwww.itunes.com.Viewheronline training videos, including Photoshop CS3 Essentials for the Web, at www.lynda.com. Sherry London is author of Photoshop CS2 Gone Wild and has written a number of other books on Photoshop, Illustrator, and Painter. Sherry also writes tips and product reviews for Photoshop User and Layers magazines, as well as tutorials for Planet Photoshop. Bert Monroyis considered one of the pioneers of digital art. His work has been seen in countless magazines and scoresofbooks.Hehasservedonthefaculty of many well-known institutions, written dozens of books, and appeared on hundreds of TV shows around the world. Deke McClelland is recipient of the Videographer Award for Excellence, the OmniAward(both2007),andauthorofthe full-color Adobe Photoshop CS3 One-on- One (Deke Press/O’Reilly Media). He also hosts the online series, Photoshop Channels & Masks and Photoshop CS3 One-on-One (www.lynda.com/deke). Colin Smith,an award-winning designer, lecturer, and writer, has authored or co-authored 12 books on Photoshop and has created a series of Photoshoptrainingvideosavailablefrom PhotoshopCD.com. Colin is also the founder of the online resource PhotoshopCAFE.com. Scott Onstott, author of Enhanc- ing CAD Drawings with Photoshop, has written and edited dozens of books and videos on AutoCAD, Revit, 3ds Max, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. Subscribe to his Digital Architect video podcast on iTunes and check out his website at www.scottonstott.com. Rob Sylvanis a trainer, instructional designer, writer, Web developer, and photographer. In addition to being a NAPP Help Desk Specialist, he’s a Senior Image Inspector for iStockphoto.com. Check out his Lightroom tips, tutorials, and presets at www.sylvanworks.com. Glen Stephens,developer of the Tools for Television, Photoshop Toolbox (www.toolsfortelevision.com), has more than10years’experienceinthebroadcast video industry. His company, Pixel Post Studios, provides training and design services for the broadcast video industry. Ben Willmore istheauthorofAdobe Photoshop CS3 Studio Techniques and Up to Speed: Photoshop CS3, as well as co-author of How toWow: Photoshop for Photography.Currently,Benisontourwith hishitseminar“PhotoshopforPhotographers.”Checkoutthe freetipsandtutorialsathiswebsite,www.digitalmastery.com. Chris Orwig, a photographer and author, is on the faculty at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. His publications include Photoshop CS3 for Photographers, Photoshop Lighroom Essentials, and more. Check out his website at www .chrisorwig.com.
- 16. DAZ Studio isa Trademark of DAZ 3D, Inc. Photoshop is a Registered Trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. View-Master is a registered trademark of Fisher-Price, Inc. Artwork by: Janek, Cwrw, Bigjobbie, 3dstrike, and Adiene. Check it out at www.daz3d.com/3dbridge ™ EASILY pose pre-made models three-dimensionally in DAZ Studio, and see the results immediately in Photoshop!This plug-in is affordable, compatible with any version of Photoshop CS,and seamlessly integrates 3D into your 2D workflow. There’s nothing quite like viewing an image three-dimensionally because, well, life is three dimensional.
- 17. Official tour sponsors: Adobe,Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop Lightroom are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. for more locations, dates, and information about these in-depth and inspiring one-day training seminars call 800-201-7323 or visit www.kelbytraining.com/seminars. It’s time to get excited about Photoshop® all over again! Don’t miss your chance to get up close and personal with the world’s most renowned Photoshop® authors, teachers, and creative gurus.The Adobe® Photoshop® SeminarTour provides a rare opportunity to see the best on the planet teaching the absolute hottest and latest tips, tricks, and techniques. Welcome to the Show! The Most Popular Seminar Tour in the World Fullday only $99 $79NAPPmembers payonly Produced by Your one-day seminar also includes a detailed seminar workbook, keyboard shortcut guide, issue of PhotoshopUser and Layers magazines, and a bonus KelbyTraining DVD ($29.95 value). To register visit www.KelbyTraining.com/seminars WASHINGTON, DC SALT LAKE CITY, UT INDIANAPOLIS, IN PHILADELPHIA, PA DENVER, CO PORTLAND, OR BOSTON, MA COLUMBUS, OH MILWAUKEE, WI FT. LAUDERDALE, FL SACRAMENTO, CA CHICAGO, IL NASHVILLE, TN SAN FRANCISCO, CA SEATTLE , WA NEW YORK, NY Scott Kelby Dave Cross Bert Monroy Ben Willmore
- 18. Thin and light,the new Cintiq 12WX gives you the flexibility to work directly on screen the way you want. Rotate the 12.1” display when working flat on your desktop, stand it upright or even use it on your lap. At just 4.4 pounds, the Cintiq 12WX combines a wide-format LCD monitor with Wacom’s patented, professional pen technology to give you the perfect companion for your Mac or PC. Add pen-on-screen control to any computer and even use it to control other displays. The Cintiq 12WX delivers a highly-sensitive pen-on-screen experience so you can work directly on your images and applications in the most natural way possible. For more information, visit: www.Cintiq.com/PSU STARTING AT $999 A new option for working directly on screen
- 19. PhotoshopNews AllthelatestonPhotoshop-relatedgearandsoftware ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 018 Adobe Stock Photos discontinued AdobeSystems Incorporated released a notice in February 2008 announcing that it will dis- continue its Adobe Stock Photos operations as of April 1, 2008. Customer support, however, will still be available through June 1, 2008. The company reports that the service hadn’t performed as well as they’d originally hoped and that it will turn its focus to new features in current products and ser- vices with their ever-evolving new technologies. According to James Alexan- der, Adobe’s Director of Product Management, “There is an on- going additional cost factor, and any companyinvolvedinprovid- inga service has to look at how effective it really is for our business and our customers.” Looking forward is Alexander’s mission and he states that, “Based on the Stock Photo experience, there are certain capabilities that will help us to roll out these [new] projects to the professional audience. I don’t think this is the last time Adobe is going to attempt to bring content to its customers.” Alexander says that Adobe is looking at other services to provide for video and online PDF creation and photo-editing services. “People are going to see us experiment with more of the online services…I think it is the natural evolution.” Adobe also reports that some of these new offerings will be revealed later this year and in early 2009. For additional information, visit www.adobe .com/adobestockphotos. Pentax offers new digital SLRs The Pentax faithful will rejoice with the announcement of the new K20D digital SLR.This feature- filled camera finds focus with 14.6 megapixels, a nearly 3" LCD display, and new noise-reduction technology for improved image quality. Add to that shake and dust reduction, enhanced dynamic range, a new LiveView function to view the image on the monitor when you’re shooting, six image modes, and a weather-resistant body—a lot of value for the $1,299.95 price tag (body only). Should you need a more compact system, check out Pentax’s new K200D with 18–55mm at $799.95. The K200D offers many of the same new technologies found in the K20D, but with a 10.2-megapixel CCD (charge coupled device) sensor as opposed to a CMOS sensor. While the K20D uses a rechargeable li-ion battery, the K200D runs on AA batteries. Both models feature 11-point autofocus and 16 segment metering systems. Bring in the new smc Pentax DA lenses due to ship in May and you’ll have a lot of camera in your hands for a very good price. Get more details from www.pentaxslr.com. D60 digital SLR now available from Nikon The new Nikon D60 compact, digital SLR camera is very fast—a stunning 0.18-second startup— and includes the new AF-S DX NIKKOR 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6GVR image stabilization lens. Nikon’s smallest digital SLR, the D60 has lots to offer with big features, such as a 10.2-megapixel CCD sensor with Active D-lighting to optimize quality under extreme lighting conditions. Like many new products in this category, the in-camera features now include special effects and modest retouching abilities. The D60 sports dust-detecting technology that actually shakes the particles from the sensor and uses Nikon’s Airflow Control System to reduce dust with each shot. A 2.5” LCD monitor makes images easy to see and menus easy to use. The D60 accepts SD, SDHC, and Eye-Fi wireless memory cards. In terms of performance, this is all-Nikon with continuous shooting up to 3 fps, eight shooting modes, EXPEED image processing, and 3D Color Matrix Meter- ing II with three-area autofocus (similar to high-end Nikon systems). The package is priced at around $750 with a body-only option in the mid-$600 range. Visit Nikon at www.nikonusa.com. Kodak unveils brand-new sensor Imaging pioneer Eastman Kodak has announced an innovation in image-sensor technology that further reduces the size of the device required to get impressive image quality. The Kodak KAC-05020 image sensor is the first 1.4-micron, 5-megapixel device that’s small enough to make even a camera-equipped mobile telephone produce quality images. The new sensor outperforms other smaller-pixel technologies by increasing the sensitivity and reversing the polarity of the silicon to improve the integrity and structure of each pixel. According to Kodak, this produces a CMOS sensor that rivals the CCD sensors found in top-end hardware. Kodak has also increased the light sensitivity with its TRUESENSE Color Filter Pattern to add panchromatic (clear) pixels to the sensor to detect all wavelengths of visible light. This is reported to dramatically improve images in low-light conditions and reduce motion blur in high-speed motion images. The new sensor is capable of imagery up to ISO 3200 with support for 720p video at 30 fps. It supports Texas Instruments’ OMAP and OMAP-DM to employ enhancement features, such as image stabilization, red-eye reduction, and facial recognition in mobile communication devices. To find out more, check out www.kodak.com/go/imager. Nikon D60 Pentax K20D
- 20. ››www.photoshopuser.com 019 onOne Software acquires Liquid ResizeTechnology onOne Software, known for its imaging and design tools, announced that it has acquired Liquid ResizeTechnology— a method of image resizing originally developed by Ramin Sabet and Irmgard Sabet- Wasinger in Vienna, Austria. Mike Wong, Vice President of Marketing at onOne Software, explains, “The technology [of Liquid Resize] that we acquired is entirely different than the patented resizing technology that we have in Genuine Fractals, which is intended when you need to make a photo signifi- cantly larger. The Liquid Resize technology will allow users to change the aspect ratio of a digital image while minimizing distortion. You’ll be able to take a 4x5 aspect ratio, ‘stretch’ it to a panorama format, and keep all of the details in the image in correct proportion.” For more details, go to their website, www.onone- software.com. Check out the new and considerably improved Aperture 2. Apple Inc. has kept all of the power and functionality of Aperture while updating the interface to simplify using the product. Aperture 2 has more than 100 new features added to its photo-editing and management software—most notably a streamlined user interface and entirely new image-processing engine. Also, Aperture 2 has new image-adjustment tools, including one called“Recovery,”which pulls back“blown”highlights. Priced at $199 (upgrade $99), Aperture now seamlessly integrates with Apple’s .Mac, iLife, iWork, iPhone, iPod touch, and Apple TV products. In addition, Apple continues to roll out hardware products with the new MacBook Pro models. The update to the line unleashes the power of Intel’s new super-efficient Penryn chips and NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics cards, with up to 512 MB of video memory, plus the addition of multitouch gesturing on the track pad. Offered with either the base 2.4-, 2.5-GHz, or the seemingly inexplicable 2.6-GHz option (for an additional $250), the build-to-order options include a 200-GB, 7200-rpm hard drive and up to 4 GB, 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. All of the connectivity is there too, with FireWire 400 and 800, USB 2 (15” offers two; 17” offers three), Bluetooth 2.1/EDR, Express- Card/34 slot and 802.11n wireless AirPort Extreme. The 17” model also boasts the more environmentally friendly arsenic-free screen with the option for a mercury-free LED display. Pricing starts at $1,999 with lots of options available. For more information on Aperture 2 and the new MacBook Pro, visit www.apple.com. By Daniel M. East Apple updates Aperture and MacBook Pro Sony develops new CMOS Sensor Sony Corporation announced the development of a 35mm full-size (diagonal 43.3mm /Type 2.7), 24.81 effective megapixel, ultrahigh-speed, high image quality, CMOS image sensor that’s designed to meet the increasing requirement for rapid image capture and advanced picture quality within digital SLR cameras. In addition, Sony’s Column-Parallel A/D (analog to digital) conversion results in less image noise with improved performance. While full production is said to be under way for later this year, there’s no information about which models might contain this new sensor. FontAgent Pro Server 2.5 announced Insider Software has announced its new font-manage- ment system, FontAgent Pro Server 2.5. The company promises Web administrators a way to get consistency and control over font use by providing access to only those fonts that have been designated for specific users, groups, and projects. FontAgent Pro Server 2.5 boasts new zero-config- uration architecture that can access user information stored in Active Directory servers, and it has also been updated to take advantage of the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system. FontAgent Pro can help organizations to manage and reorder fonts easily while tracking license usage. The new font server will also warn administrators when license limitations are exceeded. For more information, visit www.insidersoftware.com. Sharp and Sony sign LCD Memorandum of Intent Sharp Corporation and Sony Corporation have signed a nonbinding memorandum of intent to create a joint venture for new, large-sized LCD panels and modules. Assuming they receive government approval, the Sakai City, Osaka, Prefecture LCD production facility (currently under construction) will manufacture the new 10th generation mother glass substrates for the new products. According to a press release from Sony, a new company name will be announced by April 2009 with the majority of the total investment and capital (66%) coming from Sharp vs. Sony’s 34%. Visit www.sony.net for details. MacBook Pro COURTESYOFAPPLE,INC.
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- 23. NAPPMemberNews Allthelatestonmembershipandbenefits ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 022 PhotoshopUser TV nowon the FOX Business Network PhotoshopUser TV made the transition from the Web to cable television February 5 with its debut at the I-was-up- late-anyway timeslot of 1:30 a.m. (EST) on the FOX Business Network. Reaching more than 30 million homes nationwide, the FOX Business Network can be found on multiple cable operators, including Time Warner, Comcast, Charter, and Direct TV. (Check your local cable provider or Satellite service for availability.) Of course, PhotoshopUser TV will still be posted on the website (www.photoshopusertv.com), and the iTunes/iPod version will be available as always. But now you can watch Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski, and Dave Cross from the comfort of your favorite couch or chair. Climb inside the mind of photography guru, Joe McNally Joe McNally’s vivid, dramatic photography has appeared in the pages of Sports Illustrated, Time, and National Geographic. Now he is breaking new ground with his newest photography book, The Moment It Clicks, by elegantly blending the stunning images and layouts of a coffee table book with the industry tips and tricks of a training manual. Joe breaks down pithy photogra- phy concepts into bite-size pieces and shares personal insights based on a lifetime behind the lens. Although unheard of to most photography books, he even gives readers the“inside scoop”on how each shot was taken and the challenges he had to overcome. TheMomentIt Clicks is currently available to NAPP members at www.KelbyTraining.com for $33.99. Master Layers with Matt Kloskowski’s new book As most of us know, mastering layers is the key to improving your overall efficiency and creativity in Adobe Photoshop. This was the impetus behind Layers: The Complete Guide to Adobe Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature—the latest book by NAPP instructor Matt Kloskowski. Described by Matt as “the Photoshop book I wish had been around when I was learning Photoshop,”Layers covers such topics as managing multiple layers, layers-based photo retouching, and time- saving design techniques. And it’s written in a clear, concise, fully illustrated style that makes learning easy and fun. NAPP members can get a copy of Layers:TheCompleteGuide to Adobe Photoshop’s Most Powerful Feature at www.Kelby- Training.com for $23.99.
- 24. By Bryce Smith Visitthe NAPP member website (www.photoshopuser.com) for more info regarding any item on these pages or anything concerning your membership. If you have suggestions or ideas for enhancing your NAPP membership, please send them to the NAPP Executive Director, Larry Becker, at lbecker@photoshopuser.com. Recent NAPPDiscounts Mister Retro—Create profes- sional-quality distress effects with these MachineWash image filters. Each volume contains 60 image filters to texturize, age, and weather layered art- work in Photoshop. NAPP Members receive a 10% discount on all individual Machine Wash volumes. DigitalTechnology Centre—The DigitalTechnology Centre offers NAPP members a 10% discount on its hands-on workshops.The Centre trains creative profession- als and serious hobbyists in photography, graphic design, digital fine art, and videography. LocatedinsunnySarasota,FL,the CentreisanAdobeCertifiedTrain- ing Center and Corel Certified TrainingPartnerinCorelPainter. The Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging—NAPP Members receive 15% off when they reg- ister online or by phone for any courses at the Lepp Institute. Located on the scenic California coast,The Lepp Institute is the premier digital darkroom in the United States.With only 16 students, an instructor, and two teaching assistants per course, participants receive the indi- vidual attention they deserve. Adobe—As a proud partner of NAPP, Adobe has extended a 15% discount on most products from the Adobe website. If you access the Adobe Online Store from the NAPP website, you will see the discount instantly.The discount also applies to third- party plug-ins, training, and books that are available for sales directly from Adobe through the Online Store or by phone. Artlandia—NAPP members receive a special 10% discount on Artlandia SymmetryShop, a Photoshop plug-in that lets you create pattern designs from your favorite digital images. NAPP members also get the same dis- countonallSymmetryShopvalue packages, including a bundle with Artlandia SymmetryWorks, a pattern design plug-in for Adobe Illustrator. ››www.photoshopuser.com 023 It came from the forums The NAPP member community is one of the greatest, yet most overlooked benefits of belonging to the largest image-related association in the world. We have thousands of members who frequent our member forums, and besides Photoshop World or a 1-day seminar, the sense of community is strongest there in the forums. And it’s an incredible resource for getting others to help you with suggestions, critiques, and referrals to resources they’ve used. Sure, NAPP professionals are great. Scott Kelby, Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, Corey Barker, Rafael Concepcion, and others will show you all kinds of Photoshop tricks and techniques. And if you ask a question of Peter Bauer over at the Help Desk, you’ll get an answer right away. On the other hand, if you want some group input to help you improve a project or if you want to ask a few hundred people if they have seen a technique that will improve a design you’re working on, your answers are just a forum post away. There’s really no way we can convey all the great ways people meet, network, and trade great information in our forums, so you should visit them at your earliest convenience and go to the “Introduce yourself!” thread. Oh, and for the record, you’ll find that the NAPP member forum is an incredibly friendly environment with great moderators who keep everything moving in a positive, helpful direction. So if other forums out there have turned you off, don’t worry! The NAPP forums are friendly, safe, fast, and amazingly helpful! [Note: This member surely meant “pimping” in the kindest sense of the word and did not intend for it to sound the way that might get a news correspondent suspended.—Ed.]
- 25. The following conferencesand seminars are sponsored or produced by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and provide special discounts to NAPP members.Visitwww.kelbytraining.com for all the latest seminar information. UpcomingSeminars MaximumPhotoshopCS3 featuringDaveCross Boost your creativity, productivity, and skills, and discover how to truly utilize Photoshop’s most powerful tools and features. This seminar will teach you the hottest tips, tricks, and techniques to maximize your creative talents! NEWYORK, NY May 30, 2008 Jacob K. Javits Conv. Center Regular admission is $99. NAPP members pay $79. Call 800-201-7323, or register online at www.kelbytraining.com. PhotoshopCS3 forPhotographers featuringBenWillmore Enrich your images with valuable tips for everything from setup to printing your masterpiece. Photoshop Hall of Fame guru Ben Willmore reveals key digital photog- raphy concepts, powerful adjustment tools in Photoshop, and remarkable restoration and manipulation techniques. CHICAGO, IL May 19, 2008 Donald E. Stephens Conv. Center NASHVILLE,TN May 22, 2008 Nashville Conv. Center SAN FRANCISCO, CA May 28, 2008 South San Francisco Conf. Center Regular admission is $99. NAPP members pay $79. Call 800-201-7323, or register online at www.kelbytraining.com. PhotoshopCS3 CreativityTour featuringBertMonroy While you may not be able to draw like Bert (he’s truly the master), in this seminar you’ll learn the Photoshop techniques he’s developed to create realistic images that boggle the imagination! It’s the perfect seminar for Photoshop users, photog- raphers, and illustrators alike! PHILADELPHIA, PA April 18, 2008 Pennsylvania Conv. Center BOSTON, MA April 30, 2008 John B. Hynes Conv. Center MILWAUKEE,WI May 7, 2008 Midwest Airlines Center Regular admission is $99. NAPP members pay $79. Call 800-201-7323, or register online at www.kelbytraining.com. PhotoshopCS3PowerTour featuringScottKelby Amplify the impact of your work with high-voltage, hair-raising techniques for Photoshop CS3.This seminar, created by the #1 best-selling computer book author, Scott Kelby, will boost your already impres- sive Photoshop skills with awe-generat- ing effects used by today’s industry pros. For registration and dates, call 800-201-7323 TheAdobePhotoshop LightroomLiveTour featuringScottKelby Take your photography to a whole new level of productivity, efficiency, and fun with real-world insider techniques that make your life easier and free your time so you can do what you really want with your photography—rather than boring, repetitive production tasks. For registration and dates, call 800-201-7323 PhotoshopWorld Conference&Expo ORLANDO, FL April 2–4, 2008 Orange County Conv. Center You’ll learn the most up-to-date tech- niques and hottest tips for Adobe Photo- shop CS3, Photoshop Lightroom, and Photoshop CS3 Extended from a team of the industry’s most talented and creative instructors. And don’t forget theTech Expo where you can get an insider’s look at the latest products and technologies. General admission is $699. NAPP members pay $599. Students (with ID) pay $149. Call 800-201-7323, or register online at www.kelbytraining.com. ■ NAPP-SponsoredPhotoshopTraining LearnthelatestPhotoshoptechniquesfromthehottestPhotoshopeducators ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 024 Instructorssubjecttochangewithoutnotice
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- 27. ■ BY COREYBARKER ››Photoshopuser›april/may2008 026 Video games are extremely well designed these days, especially the packaging. For example, I saw this interesting effect on the cover of an EA game called Burnout Paradise. Basically, it’s an inverted mask revealing the image within the object and leaving the background blank. Here’s a quick technique to achieve a similar effect. UseInvertedMaskingforEffect Down&DirtyTricks ThehottestnewPhotoshoptricksandcoolestspecialeffects STEP ONE: Start by picking the base image for your design— we selected a photograph of a car that’s positioned just as needed for the end composition. Then choose a background image that will be revealed within the outline of the car—we’ll use this cityscape. Note: Some of the settings used in the following steps will vary depending on the images you choose, so you may need to experiment a little. STEP TWO: Open your base image (our car). (Tip: Always use a copy image and retain the original, just in case.) Remove the color information from the image by pressing Shift-Command-U (PC: Shift-Ctrl-U).We need to smooth out any fine noise and minute detail in the image and retain relatively sharp edges so go to the Filter menu, under Blur, and choose Surface Blur. In the dialog, enter 10 pixels for Radius, 5 levels forThreshold, and click OK. ©FOTOLIA/IROCHKA©FOTOLIA/MICHAELSHAKE
- 28. ››www.photoshopuser.com 027 STEP THREE: Becauseof the varying contrast in this image, we’ll process two versions of it: one for the roof portion and one for the lower chassis. Click-and-drag the Background layer to the Create a New Layer icon to add a Background copy layer. For this copy layer, go under the Image menu and choose Adjustments>Threshold. In the dialog, choose 50 forThreshold Level and click OK. If there are noisy areas, that’s okay, because we’ll paint later to eliminate them, as needed. STEP FIVE: Click the Background layer to select it and press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the values of the image.Then go into the Image menu, under Adjustments, and choose Thresh- old.This time we enter 145 and click OK. (Remember that some experimentation may be needed depending on your image.) STEP FOUR:The areas around the top of the car will be our focus for this layer. Click on the Lasso tool (L) in the Toolbox and make a selection around everything that you want to remove—for our example, it’s the bottom section including the wheels, the bottom of the car, and the shadows.Then press Shift-Delete (PC: Shift-Backspace) to open the Fill dialog, choose White from the Use menu, and click OK to fill the selection with white (as shown). Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect and click the Eye icon next to this Background copy layer to hide it.
- 29. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 028 continued on p.30 STEP EIGHT: It’s time to open the image that will be masked within the graphic (our cityscape). As we’ll need a final RGB document to composite the elements into, click on File>New. In the dialog, we used 6.5" for Width, 8" for Height, and 200 ppi for Resolution, and then clicked OK. With the Move tool (V), drag your background image into this new document and posi- tion it at the bottom (as shown). Note:You may have to use Free Transform (Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T]) to resize your image; remem- ber to press the Shift key while resizing to constrain proportions. STEP SEVEN: Press Shift-Command-E (PC: Shift-Ctrl-E) to Merge Visible layers and you should now have a black-and-white shape of the car on one layer. Now we’ll load the white area as a selec- tion. In the Channels panel (Window>Channels), press the Command (PC: Ctrl) key, and click on the RGB composite channel. This will load the Luminosity as a selection. Which, in this case, is all the white area of the image. STEP SIX:With the Background layer active, use the Lasso tool to select the top area of the car and fill this area with white, as we did in Step Four. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. Next, click the Background copy layer and its Eye icon to make it visible and active. Set this layer’s blend mode to Multiply, which willblendtheseelementstogethernicely.NowsetyourForeground color to black, choose a small, hard-edged brush, and paint the small areas of white around the car.
- 30. www.ow com puting.com800.275.4576 OWC and OWC logo are registered trademarks and Other World Computing is trademark of Other World Computing. Other marks may be the trademark or registered trademark property of their owners. Prices, specifications, and availability are subject to change without notice. 1 of just 39! 2004-2 005-2006-2007 Circle of ExcellenceGoldHonore e Maximize your creative release with more memory from OWC®. Intel® memory starting from $24.99, singles or matched pairs. All OWC memory meets or exceeds manufacturer specifications for maximum quality assurance, but at the independent prices you can afford. Plus you receive the industry-leading Lifetime Advance ReplacementWarranty and award-winning US-based customer support. "That's a great deal!" -Dave Hamilton, Mac Observer TM MacBook® Pro, MacBook, and iMac Intel Memory - Up to 4.0GB Up to 32GB from $39.87 per Gig for your Mac® Pro. TM
- 31. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 030 STEP TEN: Besure the cityscape layer is active and the selection is positioned over the image, then click on the Create Layer Mask icon at the bottom the Layers panel. This will mask the street image in the shape of the graphic. Now unlink the layer mask from the layer by clicking on the chain icon between the thumbnails. STEP NINE: Go back to your base (car) image with the active selection. Click on any selection tool (it doesn’t matter which one but make sure the New Selection icon is clicked in the Options Bar) and drag your cursor over the selected area—it will change to a move-selection indicator (circled below). Drag-and-drop this selection onto your working document. If you need to scale this selection, go to the Select menu and choose Transform Selection, press the Shift key (to constrain the proportions), scale the selection to fit within your document boundaries. Press Enter (PC: Return) to commit the changes. STEP ELEVEN: Click the layer mask thumbnail to highlight it and press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to bring up the Free Trans- form bounding box. Slightly rotate the mask counterclockwise to add a little more dramatic effect, then reposition, if neces- sary. Now click on the layer (not the mask) to make it active and use Free Transform to similarly rotate the image to somewhat match the angle of the car. Reposition this image to reveal the best part through the mask. To complete our composition, we used Levels (Command-L [PC: Ctrl-L]) to increase the contrast of the street image with a quick adjustment then added some text. ■
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- 33. ■ BY SCOTTKELBY AND FELIX NELSON ››Photoshopuser›april/may2008 032 I saw this subtle design technique used on sample pages from Australian wedding photographer Yervant, who sells a large collection of wedding templates (for more info, visit www.yervant.com.au). One of his templates had this embossed corner effect I hadn’t seen used in this way before. EmbossedWeddingOrnamentCornerEffect Down&DirtyTricks ThehottestnewPhotoshoptricksandcoolestspecialeffects STEP ONE: He also used it with type for a similar effect. But to get to that point, it takes a little setting up first. Begin by creating a new RGB document (File>New) in whatever size you’d like for your wedding album page (in this case, an 8x10"), then open three photos in portrait orientation that you’d like to appear on the page (as shown here). Choose a light-to-medium gray as your Foreground color and press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Back- space) to fill your Background layer. STEP TWO: Take the Move tool (V), drag the main photo you want to appear on the page into that new document, and then press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to bring up the Free Transform bounding box. Press the Shift key (so your photo resizes propor- tionally), grab a corner, and size it so it appears approximately the size you see here. Now, press Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R) to make the Rulers visible, then click-and-hold on the top ruler and drag down a guide; position it along the two center handles of the bounding box (as shown here). Now you have a guide in place for aligning your next two photos. Press the Return (PC: Enter) to commit the transformation.
- 34. ››www.photoshopuser.com 033 STEP THREE: Dragthe next photo over to the document and bring up FreeTransform again.You want this photo to be nearly half as tall as your main photo. So grab a corner, hold the Shift key, and drag inward to scale it down. Make sure it fits to the left of your photo but slightly above that center guide. Press Return (PC: Enter) when the size looks right. Now do the same thing with the other photo, but place it below the centerline so all three photos are in place (as shown here). Now click on the top layer and press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) twice to merge the three photo layers into a single layer. Now you’re going to add a black stroke border around your photos. Choose Stroke from the Add a Layer Style (ƒx) pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers panel. When the dialog appears, choose Inside for Position (so your corners don’t appear rounded), change your stroke Color to black, then click OK. STEP FIVE: Now that our setup is out of the way, let’s do what we came here to do: create blind-embossed initials and ornamentals on the background. First, click the Background layer, then go to the Toolbox and choose the Custom Shape tool (nested under the Rectangle tool). Now go up to the Options Bar and click on the Custom Shape Picker. When the library appears, click on its flyout menu and choose to load the Ornaments shapes set (as shown here). Once you choose it, a dialog will appear asking if you want to replace the existing shapes, or add (Append) to them. Click Append and these Ornament shapes will appear at the bottom of the Shape library. STEP FOUR: Press Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R) again to hide the Rulers. Now you’re going to convert these photos to black and white by choosing Black & White from the Create New Adjust- ment Layer pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers panel. (Note: If you don’t have Photoshop CS3 yet, you can press Shift- Command-U [PC: Shift-Ctrl-U] instead to do the conversion.) When the Black and White dialog appears, choose whichever built-in preset looks best to you, or create your own custom black-and-white conversion using the sliders, and when it looks good to you, click OK.
- 35. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 034 STEP EIGHT: Thefinal step is to duplicate this layer and put a copy at all four corners so it creates a little embossed frame around your corners (as shown here).To do that, you simply press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the embossed shape layer (Layer 2), and then bring up FreeTransform. Once the FreeTrans- form bounding box appears, Control-click (PC: Right-click) inside the bounding box, choose whatever option you need to rotate the shape to create the other corners. In all, you should have one original corner and seven duplicates, all flipped and rotated (I let each corner shape overlap a little so they look like one shape, instead of two separate pieces). STEP SEVEN: Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected area (on the Background layer) and put it up on its own layer (you won’t be able to see anything on that layer quite yet). Choose Bevel and Emboss from the Add a Layer Style pop-up menu. When the dialog appears, lower the Size to 1 (to make the edges thinner) and increase the Soften to 6. Click Down for Direction (so it looks like it’s embedded down into the gray background). Down at the bottom of the dialog, increase the Highlight Opacity to100%,lowertheShadowOpac- ityto50%(tomakethehighlights brighter and the shadows less dark), and click OK. STEP SIX: Select Ornament 5 from the library and make sure the Shape Layers icon is clicked on the left side of the Options Bar. Press the Shift key, click-and-drag out this shape, and then position it above the top-left corner.Then go to the Layers panel, hold the Command key (PC: Ctrl key), and click on the Shape Layer’s thumbnail to load it as a selection.You can delete this layer altogether (drag it into the Trash) because now that your selection is in place, you don’t need it anymore. OPTIONAL STEP: For this example, I used the built-in shape from Photoshop but if you go to iStockphoto.com and search for “Ornaments,”you’ll find literally thousands of custom-made shapes you can buy from $1–5. Another technique used by Yervant is to do the exact same thing but with the bride’s first initial. So instead of using the Custom Shape tool, use aType tool and input her first initial.Then Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the layer’s thumbnail to load it as a selection. Throw the type layer away, and take the selected area up to its own layer (just like you did with the selection you made from the shape). Add the Bevel and Emboss effect and you’re done (as seen in the inset to the right). ■ ALL IMAGES ©ISTOCKPHOTO/VICKI REID
- 36. www.onOnesoftware.com NEW! Get back toshooting today with PhotoTools Professional Edition. For more information, free 30-day demo and video tutorials... © 2007 onOne Software, Inc. All rights reserved. onOne Software is a registered trademark of onOne Software, Inc.The onOne Software logo, Genuine Fractals, Mask Pro, PhotoFrame Pro and Intellihance Pro are trademarks of onOne Software. Adobe and Photoshop are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Instantly give your photos the professional look with the new PhotoTools Professional Edition. Jack Davis (Photoshop Hall-of-Fame member and Photoshop instructor) and Kevin Kubota (renowned professional photographer and Photoshop instructor) have teamed up with OnOne Software to bring you this indispensable Photoshop Plug-In. PhotoTools Professional Edition includes over 250 professional effects from Jack Davis and Kevin Kubota. Select, preview and stack multiple effects to get the perfect one-of-a-kind look and then start up the powerful PhotoTools batch processing engine to quickly enhance an entire shoot at once. Get PhotoTools Professional Edition today and save time, energy and money, while getting the creative quality you dream of. PhotoTools Professional Edition, another way that OnOne Software gets you back to shooting. “A truly indispensable piece of software has 2 qualities: everyday usefulness and an intuitive interface. Phototools Pro has done that perfectly, and in turn made itself truly indispensable to the Photoshop artist.We use it everyday in our studio.”—KevinKubota InstantlyGiveYour Photosthe Professional Look ORIGINAL
- 37. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 036 ■ BY MATTKLOSKOWSKI Energy drinks are popping up all over the place these days. Recently, we saw a can with a scratched surface, almost like it was ripped from the can—really cool. And you know what happens when we see something cool—yep, we have to re-create it in Photoshop. JustScratchingtheSurface STEP ONE: Start out with a blank canvas (File>New). For flexibil- ity, start out big: We used 1200x2000 pixels with a Resolution of 300 ppi; however, if you’re creating something for theWeb, 72 ppi will work just fine. To set the mood for the image, we’ll fill the background with black: Press the D key to set your Foreground color to its default black and then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill it. Down&DirtyTricks ThehottestnewPhotoshoptricksandcoolestspecialeffects STEP TWO: Now comes the logo or whatever object you want to make look like it was scratched. (This technique works best on thin objects because a claw mark doesn’t leave a very wide opening.) We called our energy drink“Mammoth,”so using the Lasso tool (L), we drew a jagged M on the canvas (to add to your selection just press-and-hold the Shift key).We were deliberately unsteady with the mouse to give the impression of jagged edges. Click the Select menu, choose Modify>Smooth and in the dialog, enter a setting of 5 pixels, then click OK to smooth the selection a bit.
- 38. ››www.photoshopuser.com 037 STEP THREE: Next,click the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to create a new layer (Layer 1). Click on the Fore- ground color swatch at the bottom of theToolbox and set the color to bright green (we used R:124, G:189, and B:53), then click OK to close the Color Picker dialog. Press Option-Delete (Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with the green color we just chose, and then deselect (Select>Deselect) the logo selection). STEP FOUR: Our“M”is kind of flat so let’s give it some depth. Click on the M layer to make sure it’s active in the Layers panel, then click on the Add a Layer Style icon (the small ƒx icon) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Inner Shadow. Make sure your settings (ours are the default) are as shown (or similar) but don’t click OK yet. STEP FIVE: Next, click on the words“Inner Glow”in the Styles list on the left (make sure you click on the words, not just the checkbox) to add an Inner Glow layer style. Again, your settings should be similar to what’s shown here. Don’t forget to change the color as well—click on the color swatch and when the Color Picker opens, drag your mouse (it changes to an eyedropper) and click on the green in your image. Go ahead and click OK to close the Layer Style dialog.
- 39. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 038 STEP SEVEN:To completethe“highlight,”click on the white M layer (Layer 2) to target it. Select the Move tool (V) and use your Arrow keys to nudge the white layer up and to the left.We pressed the Left Arrow key and the Up Arrow key only one time each, but you can try pressing them twice to make the highlight appear really strong. You can also try changing the Opacity of the white M layer (Layer 2) to around 60–70% to adjust the highlight strength. STEP EIGHT:You’ll probably have to resize your logo to fit on a can (since we made it so large).Then place your two M layers on top of a can (ours is courtesy of iStockphoto), add some text, and you’ve got an energy drink all your own! ■ STEP SIX: Next we need a touch of highlight on the outer left edges (where the light would be coming from) so hold down the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and click on the M layer’s thumbnail to load the M as a selection. Now, press-and-hold the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and click on the Create a New Layer icon to create a new layer below the M layer. Press the D key and then press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill the selection with white. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. ©ISTOCKPHOTO/DARYARYAN
- 41. TOP LEFT BYMATT ADCOCK AND SOL TAMARGO; TOP RIGHT BY CLIFF MAUTNER; BOTTOM BY DAVID ZISER
- 42. ››www.photoshopuser.com 041 edding photography hasseen the greatest increase to its ranks in years, and we all know why: digital cameras. Hey, the cost of membership into the “Wedding Photography Country Club” is a lot lower than it used to be. In pre-digital days, you practically had to mortgage the house for the equipment—Hassel- blads, Mamiyas, and Bronicas. And I haven’t mentioned lenses; you’d need to purchase the big “potato-masher” flash units to go with those fancy, expensive cameras. The cash outlay was often around $10,000–$20,000 or higher if you wanted pro results for your client. How can the influences of the digital age help us become better wedding photographers? Here are the facts: Equipment and lab prices are getting cheaper, faster, and better in this digital age, so photographers are poised in the driver’s seat to have the most profit- able times ever. It’s no wonder that so many people are jumping on the wedding photography bandwagon, as it seems like an easy way to earn a few extra dollars. For most emerging pros, however, that’s not enough to make the house and car payments. So, if you want to be a better wedding photographer and become more successful, buckle your seatbelts because here’s what you have to do. What can you do to make your images stand out from the crowd? The reality is that wedding photography looks pretty much the same these days—just Google “wedding photography” and you’ll see. Sure, there are some good shooters, but much of what you’ll see is pretty standard. Maybe you need to ask yourself, “ How are my images the same and how are they different from the competition?” Start by looking at what kind of images your competitors are producing. Take note of the kind of customer service they’re known for, what kind of products they offer, and where they are in terms of pricing, etc. Make lists and be specific. Then determine how many of the items on your list are the same as your competitors. The trick is to change as many of your similarities as possible into differences. (Did you know that customers will spend a lot more on perceived differences than similarities?) Work this list diligently, revisit it regu- larly, and make changes quickly when more parallels creep back. Otherwise, if everything looks the same, then price becomes the choice, and cheap wins! Something else to consider is what kind of passion you bring to your wedding photography? An article I read recently claimed that many wedding photographers are overpriced, based on the premise that if you’reonlyinitforthemoney,youbringnopassiontotheevent.Iagree! Several years ago, during a weeklong wedding class I was teach- ing, one of the class members asked another (who had traveled from Israel): “Why are weddings such a big event for people of your faith?” His answer is as clear to me today as it was 10 years ago. “In the over 5,000-year history of people of my faith, we endured by living from one joyous event to the next!” That’s when it became crystal clear to me that the role of the photographer was more than just about shooting a wedding. It’s about capturing the most joyous events in our clients’ lives. As we look through our viewfinders, each wedding photographer must see and feel that “joyous event” and only then will we be able to capture all the heartfelt images our clients deserve. It’s an honor for us to participate in such an important event. What’s your basic lighting and shooting technique?” Do you set your camera to “P for Professional” and just shoot away? Or have you read the manual cover-to-cover and learned all the magic your camera has to offer? Have you reviewed all the custom settings for your camera andflashandpracticedusingthecameraonthosesometimes-obscure settings? If not, your camera’s only firing on half its cylinders and it’s time for a “tune-up.” Read the manual, then practice on your spouse, practice on your kids, practice on your friends and family. Just keep practicing until it feels natural.
- 43. 042 ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 It’s not abouthaving every lens in your gear bag. For weddings, my basic gear bag would contain just two Canon 40Ds, one with 50mm f/1.4 lens, (the f/1.8 version will save you about $275), the other would be outfitted with a 17–85mm IS lens, with a third 70–200mm f/4 IS lens also in the bag. Couple this with two Canon 580EX II flashes, a monopod, 36" translucent umbrella, and a Quantum FreeWire, radio-controlled setup and I’m ready to go. Down the road, you can mix it up with a 10–22mm super-wide-angle fisheye lens, room lights, etc.—but that’s after your wallet begins to fatten up. So how do you get the creative juices flowing? Arrive early and start building a plan. First I walk around the interior, exterior, grounds, and any special nooks and crannies I can find, familiarizing myself with the location and looking for the places that give me the best, some- times the most dramatic, elements for my compositions. Remember, you have to work fast on the wedding day. Don’t do your research after things get started—that’s way too late! Another way to get great images I learned from the late Monte Zucker, legendary portrait and wedding photographer, who said, “First be a good copier.” Otherwise, first learn the techniques of a master photographer you admire, then get those techniques down cold so it becomes routine. Once they’re burned into your brain, you’re ready to add your own creative juices to the mix. (I studied with some of the greats: Monte Zucker, Rocky Gunn, Al Gilbert, Dean Collins, and many more. After a while, I broke away from the comfort of their styles, incorporated my own spin on what I’d learned, and eventually developed my own style.) Also, remember, nobody knows it all. We should be students for our entire life—it’s the only way to continue to learn and grow. How about going back to school? For free! It’s easy, just head over to Google.com, Flickr.com, and Photobucket.com and search for “wedding pictures.” On Google, you’ll get more than 19,000,000 matches; Flickr more than 200,000; and Photobucket more than 45,000—a lot of inspiration and many great ideas. The Flickr site even lets you group your favorites. As you add to your favorites, you’re continually creating a go-to resource of ideas for your wedding shoots. (Remember, these are just for your personal review and can- not be used in any promotional way.) The point is that as you save your favorite photographers’ site links and your favorite images from your image searches, then compile them into your very own reference library, the learning possibilities are endless. Okay, you have a great set of ideas, you’re all fired up and ready to go, but how are you going to use this energy and inspiration to improve your photography? Try this: Before every wedding, promise yourself that you’ll try something new and different and that you’ll work on the weakest aspects of your technique. Tiger Woods does it every day, so if you want to be a “Tiger” in this profession you should do it too! Get a plan together based on your meeting with the client, your timeline, and past experience of the venues. Set the schedule, mak- ing sure to fit “Murphy’s Law” (if things can go wrong, they will) into the equation. Some photographers have the “If you can’t shoot ’em good, shoot ’em fast” motto but forget that philosophy and just shoot smart. For every action, there’s an equal but opposite reaction and this holds true for a wedding shoot. Watch the action but also develop a sixth sense and be ready to anticipate how those around the action— moms and dads, wedding party members, and guests—might react. An action combined with a reaction creates a moment captured for the client and it’s your job to capture more moments on the wedding day than just the action. Remember too that it’s not all about the bride and groom: The parents also played a big part in planning and preparation for this wedding day. Take images that the parents want—extended families,
- 44. ››www.photoshopuser.com 043 grandparents, godparents, AuntMinnie from Milwaukee—and get the group shots that are special to the couple too—friends from col- lege, work buddies, childhood friends, and fraternity/sorority pals. In this photojournalistic age of wedding coverage, many impor- tant images are missed, so have you thought about a second shooter to help cover the wedding? Here in Cincinnati, we’re asked all the time how many photographers will be at the wedding. I work with a second shooter on many occasions to capture the peripheral action at the wedding. These images supplement the coverage nicely and can add substantially to your sales. One last idea: Form a “brain trust” of like-minded photographers and get together occasionally to discuss the status of wedding photography and how can you improve on it. More importantly, practice together and critique each other’s work. Hire college kids or use friends’ children to be your models for portfolio development. It’s a great way to hone your skills and create a knockout set of sample images. Some bridal shops have clearance racks where you can pick up an inexpensive bridal gown for about $100. Split the cost with your brain-trust buddies for cheap “tuition” to improve your photography. These are just a few things that I think make a good wedding photo- grapher but it’s all about practice, patience, and passion. If you’re giving the client 100% of your effort, talent, time, and energy…you need to give them more! Although he holds degrees in physics and engineering, David Ziser continues to enjoy a successful career as one of the coun- try’s top wedding photographers and has shared his passion for the profession with tens of thousands of photographers around the world. Once again he’s heading up the wedding photography track at Photoshop World this April in Orlando. for some free “photography lessons.” of your photography. dial on your camera and flash does. before the event so you can work faster on the wedding day. your style and technique while you’re not under the time con- straints of the shoot. to update those images. - room tutorials, and the latest happenings in the profession.” ALL IMAGES BY DAVID ZISER
- 45. 044 ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 n 2003, delSol Photography started receiving requests to cover unusual photo sessions that allowed almost 100% creative free- dom without the pressure of wedding-day stresses. The catch? The bride wanted to wear her wedding dress for a photo session in a seriously hostile environment. These clients weren’t interested in any “formal portrait” or a session that reminded them of their friends’ wedding photos. They wanted something extreme—and extreme is what they got! On one of del Sol’s first Trash the Dress (TTD) sessions, the client arrived in Mexico with a stack of photocopied images. She had tear sheets with shots from Howard Schatz’s underwater photo sessions and from model and fashion magazines. This bride wanted to do a fairytale session. For us, the del Sol TTD phenomenon was born. As a recent groom myself, I enjoy photographing these sessions with my insanely talented new wife, Sol Tamargo. Sol’s work and vision are constantly inspiring me, and as a team, our portfolio reaches the most dynamic level possible. Our studio, del Sol Photography (www .delsolphotography.com), is comprised of two photographers in love who spend their time photographing love. Talk about the dream job of a lifetime! Our studio serves the Mexican Caribbean coastline of the Riviera Maya, based out of Playa del Carmen. Being local to this region opens the door for more creative photo sessions. Our clients know that the beaches are magnificent and the Yucatán offers pristine jungle set- tings with some of the most amazing underground caves in the world. Having a Spanish-speaking tour guide on hand is a bonus too (thank you Sol!). After discovering some really amazing places, we began booking TTD sessions and have had many requests for repeats since. For this TTD shoot, Sol and I were standing in a cave sinkhole in the middle of the Mayan jungle 10 miles inland from the Yucatán coast. We were in water up to our knees. In some places, the ground appeared solid, but we had to be aware because there was quicksand mud. Bats were flying all around—lots of bats. In this part of the country, the indigenous bats have an 8–10" wingspan. Looking up, there was a 6' hole in the ceiling with a root system from the trees above, all reaching down to drink water from the cenote, a water- filled sinkhole usually found in South America. The water in places was waist deep and crystal clear. Each step took us deeper into the squishy dirt sediment. There were these oddly hard, small balls under our feet randomly scattered on the bottom…my guess—bat guano. We inserted the bride and groom in this absolutely anti-wedding atmosphere and indulged in one amazingly exotic photo shoot. Due to proximity of the wedding date (usually the day after), the clients are enjoying the time of their lives. These day-after sessions release all their tension. Some of the most amazing energy we’ve ever witnessed flows from the souls of our brides and grooms. For us, covering one of these sessions is a chance of a lifetime. The lighting setup and final product are results of dynamic team- work,madepossiblebyourtalentedteamofprofessionals.Ourimages wouldn’t exist without the help of our associate photographers and technical assistants. These sessions require lighting skills; excellent equipment; backup equipment; a subject (bride) who is ready for the excitement; and location, location, location! After three or four hours of shooting, we may end up with 1,200 photos that we sort through. ThenweusePhotoshopCS2andCS3,alongwiththeimagebrowsing assistance of Photo Mechanic (www.camerabits.com), to complete a tight edit for our clients.
- 46. ››www.photoshopuser.com 045 Photoshop enables usto finish the artwork in postproduction. On these controlled shoots, we try to nail the light from the start; how- ever, sometimes the rustic qualities of our location prevent capture of the ideal frame. Photoshop allows us to perfect the original vision by using simple masks and levels adjustments. We use some del Sol custom actions for brightening, darkening, masking, and toning. We also enjoy the versatility of the History Brush tool (Y) and a few other professional actions that help us balance for tungsten- or cooler-toned images, which makes our life way, way easier. Typical treatment in Photoshop involves some color correction and cropping. Occasionally, we’ll combine faces from one photo to another toimproveindividualframes.Ifweshoot10framesthatareallsimilar,or haveexactlythesamelightingandsurroundings,headsandfacespicked upfromdifferentphotographsblendmagnificently.Wefindartisticedit- ingveryenjoyableandoftenmakemultiplesnapshotsofoneimage. You can take snapshots of your image while you’re processing by opening the History panel (Window>History) and clicking the Create New Snapshot icon at the bottom of the panel. Snapshots enable excellent History panel navigation, allowing endless variations of the same photo during one edit session, and you can always repaint the last state of the image with the History Brush tool. When working on an image, we generally apply actions to create different results. For example, we may crop an image and fix a few dust spots on the sensor. Then we’ll make a snapshot to save our progress while we’re still working on the same image. Later on during the session, we can make a black-and-white version of this image with some minor contrast adjustments. After those adjustments, we’ll create another snapshot to save the results of the black-and-white editing. Then we can revert back to the first snapshot to start another postprocessing effect and see what the image looks like after applying another set of actions that converts the image to cross-processed. After fine-tuning the results of the cross-processing, we’ll make another snapshot to save that history state. If we aren’t yet satisfied with the results of the image, we can go back to the first snapshot we made and start another creative batch of techniques and actions to achieve more artistic results. Basically, a snapshot provides us with the ability to review results of countless postprocessing techniques applied to one image during a session of editing. We use the History Brush tool, with its blend mode set to Screen or Multiply in the Options Bar, as a brightening or darkening tool, respectively. It works similarly to the Dodge and Burn tools; it’s just a different way to get the job done. We look forward to many more exciting adventures. Creative freedom is important for the growth of all wedding photographers. For us, the del Sol TTD is a gift that keeps on giving. Every time we photograph a session that blows our minds, a client requests an even crazier ses- sion. This industry owes many thanks to all the photographers and skilled artisans who have been involved with helping Trash the Dress become its own artistic genre. Specifically, many thanks to Mark Eric, author of www.trashthedress.com and all the participating photogra- phers who perpetuate this worldwide phenomenon. MattAdcockisthecreatorandauthorofwww.flashflavor.com.Mattwritesaboutcreative,off-cameraflashtechniques for photographers while showcasing del Sol Photography and featuring other professionals throughout the indus- try. Del Sol Photography is comprised of Matt Adcock and Sol Tamargo, two photographers in love who spend their time photographing love—a dream job of a lifetime. You might be asking yourself, “Why in the world would anyone want to wreck something that costs thousands of dollars?” Well, I’m happy to paraphrase Mark Eric, wedding photographer and author of www.trashthedress.com, by saying: “Why? Why not? You’ve made your commitment to your one true love, so why let something so beautiful go the way of the slow rot in the closet? Just trash it! Especially if you can have a blast and get some fantastic images out of it at the same time.” ALL IMAGES BY MATT ADCOCK AND SOL TAMARGO
- 47. 046 ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 ome kind folksfrom this publication saw my images while I was giving a presentation for Nikon at their Imaging USA booth earlier this year in Tampa, Florida. When I was asked to contribute to Photoshop User magazine, my first inclination was to laugh—and laugh hard. I mean, I’m not exactly known as a Photoshop guru (understatement!). With all of the amazing Photoshop artistry going on around us, it’s easy to become awed and intimidated when gazing at the vari- ous styles and techniques used to manipulate photographs. But, after getting over my Photoshop-skill envy, I had a revelation: My knowledge of Photoshop, however limited I may think it is, allows me to work on my digital images in a similar fashion as if I were still in a “wet” darkroom. Why not share what I know? After all, while I’m no Eddie Tapp, I can give my images the necessary treatment to make them look their best, while still maintaining a sense that the postpro- duction doesn’t trump the original image. Simply put, I don’t want people to think I’m just polishing trash; I want my images to speak loudly on their own, not by the Photoshop work done to them. My background is in photojournalism: I shot 6,000 assignments in the 15 years I spent with the Philadelphia Inquirer. I learned dark- room skills from some of the very best printers on the planet. With an enlarger, light, lenses, and chemistry, we were able to enhance our film images to complete a vision for our work. Hand move- ments, exposure time, burning, dodging, and masking, were the ancestors of the Wacom tablet, mouse, and Layers panel. In the darkroom, however, there was a “truth” to the enhancement. Henri Cartier-Bresson, considered by many as the father of photojournal- ism, once said, “The picture is good or not from the moment it was caught in the camera.” Today, it’s fairly simple to overprocess images to compensate for inadequate photography skills. The “shoot first, Photoshop later” mantra is fairly widespread and, in my opinion, has enabled some photographers to cover their lack of a skill set with a decent knowledge of Photoshop. The only thing worse than an overprocessed, bad image, is a strong image that’s so overcooked in Photoshop that the original shot becomes secondary. I do my best to use Photoshop in a way that completes the vision for an image, but never distorts or trumps the original. My approach to Photoshop is fairly simple: Treat the image the same as if I were in the darkroom. A technique I frequently use is perhaps one of the most basic in Photoshop: Click-and-drag the Background layer to the Create a New Layer icon to duplicate it, press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to open the Levels dialog, and bring down all the too-bright areas that distract from the center of attention in the frame. Then I’ll click the Add Layer Mask icon, set the layer Opacity between 30–50%, and paint in black with the Brush tool (B) to bring back areas that are too dark, while leaving the hot spots down where they should be. There are also times I like to vignette an image. When in the dark- room, it was common to burn the edges of a print to draw the viewer’s attention to the subject. It’s easy to overdo this so for me it’s usually very subtle. Here’s how: First, duplicate the layer, then select the EllipticalMarqueetoolfromtheToolbox,andclick-and-dragacrossthe image to select the outer area that you’d like to vignette. Press Shift- Command-I (PC: Shift-Ctrl-I) to invert the selection, go to the Select menu, under Modify, and choose Feather. Enter 150 pixels or so in the Feather dialog and click OK. Then, open the Levels dialog and bring down the area you’re vignetting to the desired amount. If done right, you’vejustimprovedtheprinttenfoldbyallowingthesubjecttojump out at you. Not all images need vignettes, but when used in a subtle fashion, it’s an invaluable printing tool.
- 48. ALL IMAGES BYCLIFF MAUTNER ››www.photoshopuser.com 047 I know you’re saying, “Simple,” right? The answer is, “Yes, it is.” The trick is to be subtle. The goal is to use Photoshop on an image without being obvious that it’s ever been in Photoshop. The greatest printers of yesteryear were those who worked hard in the darkroom but you could never tell exactly how hard they worked. Halos around heads, highlights thataremuddy,colorsthatareoversaturated,andjustanoverall“unnatural” feeltotheimagearesignsthatthepostproductionwastooheavy-handed. The truth is, if I can learn the basics of Photoshop, anyone can. You don’t need masterful Photoshop skills to make great prints. Also, for those who purchase and use another’s actions to save time, that’s great. But do your best to avoid just pushing the Play button all the time: When this happens, so many images begin to look the same. I’ll use certain purchased actions, but I’ll use them for basic color tweaks, not to polish a finished print. Developing an individual Photoshop style is crucial. Even a neophyte like me has been able to learn enough of the basics to give life to my work and complete the vision I have for an image. When PhotoshopUser asked me to write about my favorite techniques, I bet they had no clue that I was so clueless. Maybe that’s the beauty of it! I know so many of my colleagues who are intimidated by the thought of using Photoshop, yet they have no idea how simple the basics are. I’m a living example that you can teach an old “photodog” new tricks. I may never be a Photo- shop Yoda, but when I tweak an image that completes my vision, it’s a feeling of great satisfaction. The only difference now is that when I’m done, I don’t smell like fixer. ■ Cliff Mautner’s photography career spans 26 years. After working 15 years as a photojournalist, he launched his wedding photography career; 600 weddings later he hasn’t looked back. He’s been recognized by Wedding & Portrait Photogra- phers International as, “one of the top photogra- phers and educators in the world.”
- 49. EXCLUSIVE LESSONS INCLUDE Closenessand Direction of the Light Source Keeping Your Subject Involved Studio Hardware The Model and the Light Size and Distance of the Light Source And many more! My training is CAPTUREDLIVE,onlocation, as I work,INREALTIME. I’m Joe McNally and I’m a teacher at KelbyTraining.com. Internationally acclaimed American photographer, long-time photojournalist, and former LIFE magazine staff photographer. Everything is shot,explained and solved,minute to minute, with the video cameras rolling. The Best Teachers on the Planet–Online–All in One Place Mastering Adobe® Photoshop® , digital photography, and the entire Adobe® Creative Suite® has never been easier or more affordable. Gain unlimited access to our online training catalog, featuring exclusive classes from the industry's most talented and gifted teachers…like Joe McNally. You can only get these lessons, from this amazing teacher, at just one place... www.KelbyTraining.com/online Napp Members pay only $ 17999 Yearly Napp Members pay only $1799 Monthly $199 $1999YEARLY MONTHLY or
- 50. ONE NAME...INFINITE POSSIBILITIES atkelby training we share your passion for photography and creativity. that’s why we’re your premier source for instructional dvds, books, online training and live training events that will boost your skills and take your work to that next level. w w w . k e l b y t r a i n i n g . c o m o r c a l l 8 0 0 - 2 0 1 - 7 3 2 3 PhotocourtesyofMattKloskowski
- 51. Taking Photoshop tothe next level When painting on a layer mask, brush hardness and diameter are critical to producing an accurate mask— changing one without the other is a recipe for failure. Think about the relationship between these two settings and you just might want to go back and rework your old images. BrushSettingandMasking PhotoshopMastery ■ BY BEN WILLMORE half (again 50 pixels) will cause the brush to fade out with a soft edge. Switch to a 50-pixel brush and you end up with half as much space used for the fadeout because 50% of 50 pixels is 25 pixels for the opaque region and an equal amount for the fade- out zone. Larger brushes have softer edges because more space is available for the fadeout zone. Working with various brush sizes This can cause problems when you’re using a semihard-edged brush because you might use a large brush for most of your paintingandthenswitchtoasmaller brushwhen you run into a tight area, such as a corner. If you leave the Hardness set- F or this tutorial, we’ll assume that you already know how to create and use layer masks. That way, we can concen- trate on the details of which brush settings should be used when editing a mask. Determining hardness settings The hardness setting of a brush should matchtheedgequalityoftheobjectyou’re attempting to mask. If the edge of the object is crisp and in focus, you need a Hardness setting near 100%; on the other hand, if the object is out of focus or in motion (causing motion blur), you’ll need a lower hardness setting. The blurrier the edge of the object, the softer the edge of your brush should be to match the edge quality of the object. I rarely use the Brush Preset Picker that you access by clicking the Brush Preview in the Options Bar at the top of your screen. Instead, I use keyboard shortcuts, which are faster and more efficient. For instance, to increase or decrease the Diameter setting for the active brush, type ] (right bracket) or [ (left bracket), respectively, and to change the Hardness setting, add Shift to the above keyboard shortcuts. With these keyboard shortcuts, you can cycle through Hardness settings of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Changing diameter affects hardness When you change the Diameter of a brush,itwilllookasifitsHardnesshasalso changed—even though the actual Hard- ness setting hasn’t. Here’s why: Consider that the Hardness setting is expressed as a percentage, where 50% means that 50% of the brushwidthwillbeopaquebeforeit startstobecometranslucentandproduce asoft edge. If your brush Diameter is 100 pixels andtheHardnessissetat50%,then halfthewidthofthebrushwillbeopaque (50%of100pixels=50pixels)andtheother ting the same, there will be a visual differ- ence between the areas created with the larger and smaller brushes. To solve this problem, consider reduc- ing the Hardness of your brush when you switch to a smaller brush. For instance, when switching from a 100-pixel/50% Hardness brush to a 50-pixel brush, be sure to switch the Hardness setting to 0% to maintain the same apparent hardness. Here’s the math: 50% of 100 pixels is 50 opaque pixels, leaving 50 pixels for the fadeout. To get 50 pixels of fade-out on a 50-pixel brush, you’d need a Hardness setting of 0% to allow all those pixels to be used for fadeout. Fine-tuning the results Anytimeyoupaintonamaskwithdiffer- entsizedbrushes,Isuggestyouviewthe resulting mask directly by holding the Option (PC: Alt) key and clicking directly on the LayerMaskthumbnailintheLayers panel.Then,ifyounoticeanytransitionsin theareaswhereyouchangedbrushsizes, considerpaintingoverthemwiththeBlur tool(R)tobluranyareasthatlooktoocrisp. Using this technique, you can usually cor- rect for those times when you forgot to adjust theHardnesssettingtocompensate forthebrushsize. ■ BenWillmoreisthebest-sellingauthorofAdobe Photoshop CS3 Studio TechniquesandUp to Speed: Photoshop CS3,aswellasco-authorofHow to Wow: Photoshop for Photography.Benspendsmanyofhisdaysontheopenhighway,adigitalnomadinhis40'motorcoach.Learnabouthislatestadventureat www.WhereIsBen.com. Same size brush with Hardness settings of (from top to bottom): 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% From top to bottom: 50-pixel brush/50% Hardness; 100-pixel brush/50% Hardness; 50-pixel brush/0% Hardness Mask created using three brush sizes with identical hardness settings (left); result of touching up the mask with the Blur tool to produce a more consistent edge (right). ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 050
- 52. ››www.photoshopuser.com 051 PhotoshopUserand the NationalAssociation of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) are excited to announce the winners of the 2008 Photoshop User Awards. After several rounds of judging by a creative panel led by Felix Nelson, the NAPP Creative Director, the winners were selected from more than 1,200 creative entries in 11 categories. Check out their marvelous images on the next two pages. And the prize for“Best of Show”goes to Gregory Carter for his creative entry,“Take the Field.”He’s won an all-inclusive five-day assignment to Maui, Hawaii (with an assistant) to create a future cover for PhotoshopUser. Congratulations also to the winners in each category who will receive a product package worth more than $2,500 from contest sponsors B&H, Peachpit Press, Imagenomic, KelbyTraining, and Layers magazine. Title:TaketheField SantaAna,CA
- 53. General Photoshop Winner: DenCops London, UK Title: The Mandrake 052 ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 Wedding/Portrait Winner: Susi Lawson Wytheville, VA Title: “Hey! I’m Trying to Read Here!” Student Work Winner: Deeneshen Sabapathee Vocoas, Mauritius Title: Mr General Photography Winner: Christopher Sellers Los Angeles, CA Title: 1959 Dodge Royal Lancer Restoration Winner: Karen Metrin Lake Mary,FL Title: Oklahoma Homestead
- 54. Illustration Winner: EugeneYoung Richmond,CA Title: Ash ››www.photoshopuser.com 053 Artistic Work Winners:Johansen,Tyskerud&Lundvold Rælingen, Norway Title: Inferno Angel Advertising Design Winners: Jose Luis & Claudia Soleto Tecamachalco, Mexico Title: Food for the Gods Retouching Winner: MikeTompkins Sarasota, FL Title: White Christmas Landscape/Travel Winner: Jared Martin Philadelphia, PA Title: DawnWorkers, Dazhengzou, China Composite/Collaging Winner: Adam Daniels Tampa, FL Title: Summer Keepsake
- 55. Produced by theNational Association of Photoshop Professionals 800-738-8513 www.photoshopuser.com Title:TaketheField Gregory and a guest of his choice will travel to tropical Maui, Hawaii, on an all ex- penses paid, five-day dream assignment to photograph some of the most gorgeous scenery on the planet for a future cover of Photoshop User magazine! See all winning works at www.photoshopuser.com/winners.php PhotoshopisaregisteredtrademarkofAdobeSystemsIncorporated A W A R D S We are honored to be sponsors of the only international competition dedicated to celebrating creativity, pushing the boundaries of digital design and photography, and recognizing the limitless talents and innovative vision of Adobe® Photoshop® artists worldwide. Advertising Design Winners: Jose Luis & Claudia Soleto Tecamachalco, Mexico Title: Food for the Gods Artistic Work Winners:Johansen,Tyskerud&Lundvold Rælingen, Norway Title: Inferno Angel Composite/Collaging Winner: Adam Daniels Tampa, FL Title: Summer Keepsake General Photography Winner: Christopher Sellers Los Angeles, CA Title: 1959 Dodge Royal Lancer General Photoshop Winner: Den Cops London, UK Title: The Mandrake Illustration Winner: EugeneYoung Richmond, CA Title: Ash Landscape/Travel Winner: Jared Martin Philadelphia, PA Title: DawnWorkers, Dazhengzou, China Restoration Winner: Karen Metrin Lake Mary, FL Title: Oklahoma Homestead Retouching Winner: MikeTompkins Sarasota, FL Title: White Christmas Student Work Winner: Deeneshen Sabapathee Vocoas, Mauritius Title: Mr Wedding/Portrait Winner: Susi Lawson Wytheville, VA Title: “Hey! I’m Trying to Read Here!” Best of Show Winner: Gregory Carter Santa Ana, CA Title: Take the Field Photoshop User magazine is the official sponsor of the Photoshop User Awards ®
- 57. ■ BY BERTMONROY When I heard that this issue had a wedding photography theme, I remembered a demo I used to do a long time ago. It’s a technique inspired by all the wedding albums I’ve looked at through the years: the couple in the champagne glass shot. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 056 BrideandGroominaChampagneglass Remarkable art created by Bert Monroy FromBert’sStudio STEP TWO:WiththeMovetool(V),drag-and-droptheselected coupleintothedocumentcontainingthewineglass.(Itsoundsa littledrasticbutthat’stheterminology.Iassureyoutheyweren’t harmed in the process.)You may have to resize or rotate your image to fit, which you can do using the FreeTransform tool (Command-T[PC:Ctrl-T]). STEP THREE: It looks like a decal! So to make it look like the couple is inside the glass, we need to let the highlights on the glass and the surface of the liquid show through.We can do that using the Blend If controls found in the Layer Style dialog. Double-click on the layer (Layer 1) to open the Layer Style dialog. Under Styles, the default should be highlighted (Blend- ing Options: Default). At the bottom of the Blending Options section, you’ll find the Blend If controls. STEP FOUR:There are two sliders:This Layer and Underlying Layer (see“Blend If Explained”for more on using these con- trols).We’ll be using the Underlying Layer slider for our couple- in-the-champagne glass example because the highlights on the glass and liquid are in the underlying layer. Let’s drag the Underlying Layer white slider to the left to allow these values to be seen through the layer and lower our Fill Opacity to 83%. STEP FIVE: Because there’s a hard edge to the highlights, let’s soften that edge by splitting the slider. Press the Option (PC: Alt) key and click-and-drag the left part of the white slider to the left (we chose 206 and we also dragged the right slider to W e begin by opening the two images we need so the couple can “go for a dip” in the glass: the happy couple and the champagne glass. And here’s the little trick I’d like to pass along to you. STEP ONE:With the Elliptical Marquee tool, make a selection that encompasses the main focus of the couple, then feather your selection using Refine Edge (Select>Refine Edge). In the Refine Edge dialog, click the OnWhite icon (circled) and check the Preview box so you can see the effect your manipulation of the controls will have on the selection. Click OK when you’re satisfied.We gave the selection a vignette effect of softening the outer edges (as shown). ©ISTOCKPHOTO/TATIANAMOROZOVA ©ISTOCKPHOTO/YINYANG
- 58. ››www.photoshopuser.com 057 From Bert’s Studio BertMonroy is considered one of the pioneers of digital art. His work has been seen in many magazines and scores of books. He has served on the faculty of many well-known institutions, written many books, and appeared on hundreds of TV shows around the world. the right to 249). Click OK.This softens the edges, making the highlights look a bit more pleasing. STEP SIX: Some sections of the background’s highlights weren’t quite what we wanted so, using a soft-edged Brush (B), we painted over those sections of the underlying layer with a color that was darker than the current Blend If values.The result was the happy couple you see here. STEP SEVEN:To add that final touch and personalize the image, use the HorizontalType tool (T) and a fancy font to add a“love message.”Then rasterize the text (Layer>Rasterize>Type) so we can use theWarp tool (Edit>Transform>Warp) and make the text followthecontoursoftheglass(asshown).ClickontheCommit checkmarkintheOptionsBar. STEP EIGHT:We’re not done yet!The text needs to pop out a little more so we’ll add some layer styles. Double-click on the text layer and in the Layer Style dialog, lower the Fill Opacity to 48%, click on the words“Inner Glow”in the Styles list, and set the Opacity to 78%. Next,clickBevel&Emboss,chooseChiselHardfortheTech- nique,setDepthto51%,Sizeto46px,andSoftento0px.Inthe Shadingsection,chooseGaussianforGlossContour,selectNor- malfortheHighlightModeandsetitsOpacityto73%.Fromthe ShadowModemenu,chooseMultiplyandsetitsOpacityto60%. ClickContourfromtheStylesmenu,selectRingfortheContour menuandsetRangeto55%,thenclickOKtoclosethedialog. Now we’re done! Here’s our final image to show the happy couple. What? They don’t drink? Start all over but this time, use a coffee cup instead of a champagne glass. ■ BLEND IF EXPLAINED The Blend If sliders in the Layer Style dialog are very pow- erful controls. Take some time to practice with them and see what they do. Moving the This Layer sliders will hide the values con- tained in the layer within the chosen range—especially useful to eliminate white behind an image in a layer. Mov- ing the white slider will hide the white in the background; the black slider will eliminate dark values. What’s impor- tant here is the nondestructive effect on the image. You’re not erasing anything but rather hiding it, based on the values chosen. This is one of the many ways of masking available in Photoshop. In the Underlying Layer, the sliders do the exact oppo- site: Any values selected will not be hidden by the layer above it.
- 59. Twicetheworkinhalfthetime ■ BY MATTKLOSKOWSKI Have you ever poured your heart into an image in Photoshop, saved it, and then placed it on a webpage only to find the colors looked dull and muted? I knew it! Me too. That’s why I’m writing this article—because it’s happened to me a million times. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 058 LookGoodontheWeb PhotoshopSpeedClinic color space, you end up getting a dull photo if you go this route. Let’s fix this and automate the task at the same time. STEP THREE: Go to the Actions panel (Window>Actions) and click the Create New Action icon at the bottom of the panel.When the New Action dialog appears, name it Save forWeb and click Record. Now you have an action recording, so everything you do from this point on will be recorded into B efore we jump in, let’s take a quick look at why this happens. See, the color settings that most people use in Photoshop are geared for printing. Yes, it’s important that you’re working in the RGB color space but did you know that there are multiple kinds of RGB? Yep, some of the most common include sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998). If you have Photoshop set to Adobe RGB (and chances are you do), then you’re not getting a good representation of what your image will look like on the Web (which displays things in sRGB). Now for the good news: Not only is there a way to help fix this problem, but there’s a way to automate the task so you can do it quickly each time. STEP ONE: Open a photo that looked great in Photoshop but looked like crap when you put it on theWeb. Below is my photo (left) and after I put it on theWeb (right). STEP TWO: If you click the Edit menu and choose Convert to Profile, you’ll see the Source Space profile does indeed read Adobe RGB (1998). This means the photo might look dull when it’s put on a website. Go ahead and click Cancel to close the dialog since we’re not going to use it just yet. So why can’t you just save the image as a JPEG and place it on the Web? Because if you use the File>Save As command and save as a JPEG, Photoshop leaves the color profile alone (which is Adobe RGB at this point). Because Web browsers ignore color profiles and assume every image is in the sRGB MATTKLOSKOWSKI continued on p. 60 On the Web
- 61. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 060 Photoshop Speed Clinic theaction. Now choose Image>Duplicate to make a copy of the image you’re working on, enter a name when the dialog appears, and click OK. STEP FOUR: Now go to the Edit menu and choose Convert to Profile.When the dialog opens, you should see that the Source Space is Adobe RGB (1998). Change the Destination Space Profile setting to sRGB IEC61966-2.1, then click OK to close the dialog.This is really the key step and you should see most of your color shift take place now. Note: Notice I said “most” of the color shift takes place now. All Web browsers and monitors handle color differently. Even though you convert to sRGB in Photoshop, you may still notice a shift in colors in your browser. Your final image, however, will be closer to the original if you do the conversion in Photoshop first instead of letting your browser do it later. STEP FIVE: Next, we need to save the image as a JPEG. Go to the File menu and choose Save As. Chances are you can leave the name alone but feel free to change it in this step. Then select JPEG as the Format setting. Finally, click the checkbox next to Embed Color Profile to turn it off because most brows- ers won’t read a color profile. Click Save and the JPEG Options dialog will open. Choose a Quality setting to suit your needs (I typically choose a setting of 7–8 here) and click OK. STEP SIX: Now that the JPEG is saved, click the File menu and choose Close for this image. Remember, it’s a duplicate of the original, so you don’t have to save it. Return to the Actions panel and click Stop Playing/Recording icon to end your action (as shown above). STEP SEVEN: Now you have this action recorded so you can play it again on any photo you plan to put on theWeb. Just open the photo, go to the Actions panel, choose the Save for Web action, and click Play. Photoshop will save it and leave your original alone because the first step of the action was to create a duplicate. HOMEWORK If you want a preview of what your photo will look like on the Web, try going to File>Save for Web & Devices. What you see in the onscreen preview is typically the closest to what you’ll see in your browser. Plus, the Save for Web & Devices dialog automatically converts to sRGB for you (as shown here). ■ If you have an idea for an action that you’d like to see in the “Speed Clinic,” please send it to letters@photoshopuser.com. ALL IMAGES BY MATT KLOSKOWSKI
- 62. [ How doyou do it?*Save $100! Regular price $499.95. Offer expires June 15, 2008. ©2008 Jupiterimages Corporation. “Microstock is cheaper with images for as little as $1 each!” The fact is, those $1 images are generally low-resolution photos and for the price of about 40 high-resolution images from any of those microstock sites (usually $10 a pop), you can have unlimited access to more than 350,000 high-res, professionally shot photographs at Photos.com and download up to 250 per day. That’s right – better value and no more low-res comps. Show your clients you mean business. SPECIAL OFFER... 1-year subscription only $399.95* www.photos.com/promo/myth Professional Stock Photography by Subscription ]
- 63. Taking inkjet printingto the next level ■ BY JOHN PAUL CAPONIGRO In French, bon à tire (BAT) means literarily “good to pull.” Classically, it’s used to refer to a final proof print. To be definitive, a BAT must be printed as the final print will be printed, using the same image file, printer, ink, paper, software, profile, and driver settings. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 062 TheFinalProofPrint,orBAT TheFineArtofPrinting ANTARCTICA XVII - 3600 K - 2007-12-25 A visual contract Only one item, arguably the most important one, needs to be takenmanually:asignature.Thisisparticularlyimportantwhen aproofismadeforsomeoneotherthanyourself.Theclient’ssig- natureensuresthatheorshehasseenandapprovedtheproof. TheBATthereforebecomesavisualcontractwithyourclient. Screen shots A majority of the items that it’s helpful to note on a BAT can be recorded by taking screen shots as you navigate a printer driver. A screen shot makes an image file of visible items onscreen, including printer driver windows. Using Adobe Photoshop, you can file these screen shots in the printed digital image by placing them in an appropriately named layer set—for example, printer settings. To make a screen shot you can use any number of programs, such as SnapZ Pro or Grab. On the Macintosh platform, how- ever, a simple set of key commands will do the trick: Simultane- ously hold Shift-Command-4 (PC: Shift-Ctrl-4) and when the crosshair icon appears, click-and-drag over the area of the screen you wish to capture. Select (Command-A [Ctrl-A]), copy (Command-C [Ctrl-C]), and paste (Command-V [Ctrl-V) the screen shot into the image file, then use the Move tool (V) to position the screen shot and rename the layer appro- priately (double-click on its name). F or centuries, it’s been a time-honored tradition to keep a final proof on file to refer to when you evaluate prints over the course of a large print run, or when you reprint an image. And there are several practices that make creating a BAT particularly easy when printing digitally. Here are some that you might follow: Notes, notes, and more notes Take note of any choices you make that affect print quality. If you don’t take good notes, you may not be able to retrace your steps precisely. Items to include in notes on a BAT include printer, ink (which may include the ink lot number contained on the ink cartridge), substrate, color-manage- ment settings, driver software, profile, rendering intent, ink limit and print speed, print resolution, light temperature under which the proof is intended to be viewed (5000K or 3600K), and the date the proof was created. Print your notes along with the image to create the final BAT so that when you look at the proof, everything you need to know about the printing conditions can be seen at a glance. While you could manually write these factors on the proof, when you take the steps necessary to make them printable, you also make them a part of the image file. If the BAT is lost, the notes won’t be. And anyway, notes taken this way also tend to be more legible. Typical horizontal BAT
- 64. ››www.photoshopuser.com 063 The Fine Artof Printing ALL IMAGES BY JOHN PAUL CAPONIGRO SUFFUSION II 3600 K 2007-07-25 John Paul Caponigro is an internationally respected fine artist, a member of the Photoshop Hall of Fame, author of Adobe Photoshop Master Class and the DVD series R/Evolution. Get more than 100 free downloads and a free subscription to his newsletter, Insights, at www.johnpaulcaponigro.com. Use the Text and Note tools While this method will record a majority of the items, several important factors won’t be recorded; therefore, consider recording these items: a specific printer (if you have more than one printer of the same model); an ink lot (number found on the ink cartridges); the light tempera- ture under which the print is intended to be viewed—typically 5000K (daylight) or 3600K (halogen); and a date (unless you alsotakeascreenshotofyourcomputer’s date/time settings). Use the Text tool (T) in Photoshop to take additional notes that you intend to be printed on the BAT. Additionally, the Notes tool (N) in Photoshop is useful for recording information you don’t intend to be printed but nonetheless impacts your printing process, such as impressions, opinions, reasons for the decisions made,extenuatingcircumstances,details to monitor, items to explore at a future date, etc. Retrace your steps With these items recorded, you can read the proof to help you identify relevant factors that contribute to print quality (for a specific image or for general purposes) and you can efficiently retrace your steps in subsequent printing sessions. If at any time a future proof doesn’t match the original proof, you’ll be able to quickly iden- tify the variables in the printing conditions that have changed. Annotations Don’t print notes included in a BAT on the final print—at least not in this way. You may want to annotate your finished prints with information about their production that’s relevant to collectors, but don’t include more information than is relevant and certainly don’t include it in a way that’s visually distracting. Make annotations manually if you choose to record them on the back of the print rather than passing the print through the printer twice and risking scuffing and burnishing. Full-scale BATs Though not all of the proofs made during a printing session are always made at full scale (proofing at a reduced scale can save time, materials, and money), a BAT is typically made at or near full scale, where detail, sharpness, edge quality, and noise can be accurately assessed. Adjustments for the subtle shift in appearance of an image at various scales can also be accurately assessed. Larger images appear to be lighter and contain less contrast; while BATs made at reduced scales are still an extremely useful reference for future printing, albeit slightly less accurate. Filing and maintenance File all of your BATs in an organized fashion so that you can retrieve them quickly. Though you may wish to, it’s not neces- sary to keep all the proofs from a proofing session. Consider keeping the very first proof pulled without additional adjust- ments, as this can be used to compare previous printing condi- tions with current printing conditions separate from session- specific adjustments. Always keep the BAT. If a significant amount of time has passed since you initially proofed an image, make a new proof using all previous proof- ing conditions to confirm that conditions haven’t changed. If slight shifts have occurred, continue proofing from that point until you get the results you want. You may replace old BATs with new BATs after each new proofing session. If you choose not to discard old BATs, be sure to refer to the most recent BAT as your mark to meet. When reprinting, don’t be slavishly faithful to the BAT. It simply sets a standard to meet. Hopefully you can exceed it as media, your technique, and your vision evolves. ■ Typical vertical BAT
- 65. Join today andreceive... National Association of Photoshop Professionals Photography by David Ziser, Professional Photographer and Photoshop World Instructor ©2007 w w w . p h o t o s h o p u s e r . c o m o r c a l l 8 0 0 - 7 3 8 - 8 5 1 3 Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. *Prices are for U.S. residents only. Corporate, Educational and International rates are also available. And, as a bonus, you’ll get“The Best of Photoshop User: The 10th Year”DVD Use code NAPM-1UM for your bonus gift. Wheredigital photographers learnPhotoshop® !Every day, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals teaches portrait photographers from around the world how to turn ordinary into extraordinary and memories into masterpieces. We’re your ultimate resource for Adobe® Photoshop® training, education, and news. Photoshop User magazine
- 66. © Alien SkinSoftware,LLC.All rights reserved.BlowUp,Alien Skin Software,and the Alien Skin Software logo are registered trademarks of Alien Skin Software,LLC.All other trade- marks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.We will never wear suits.
- 67. Photoshop from thecreative to the practical ■ BY KATRIN EISMANN Here’s a suggestion: Why don’t we take a page from GoldilocksandtheThreeBears and learn successful editing by processing our images three times to create the “not too hot, not too cold, but ahhh, this is just right” version of our images. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 066 Photoshop Fairytales CreativePointofView F airytales have long been used to teach children the ethics and morals of the society they live in and show them how to behave. For anyone growing up in subur- bia, taking Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel & Gretel too literally may not seem relevant; but as an adult, the more images I process, the more the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears rings true. If Goldilocks used Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, she would process her images at least three times to find the “just-right” version. I can hear her say- ing, “This image is too flat, this image is too contrast-y, and this image is just right.” Using the Goldilocks image-editing method of processing your images several times will result in more interpretations and discoveries as you explore and wander off the beaten path. The Goldilocks method Using the Goldilocks method to create the just-right image requires you to process the image at least twice in Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom and then create additional interpre- tations in Photoshop. I call the first version “natural” and use it to render the scene as I remember it with either Camera Raw or as in this example, Lightroom, with white balance, exposure refinement, and optical enhancements, such as input sharpen- ing and chromatic-aberration removal. Because of the late afternoon/early evening winter light, white balancing the image on the white stripes of the flag cre- ated the beautiful blue sky. The long exposures allowed the American flags to portray the cool evening breeze while fram- ing the Empire State Building. This gave me the inspiration to continue experimenting and exploring with Photoshop to combine variations of the “natural” and the “interpreted” versions to create the final image (bottom of the page). This image, in my opinion is “just right,” as it best portrays the motion, light, and layers of the New York skyline at dusk. Original Natural Just right KATRINEISMANN
- 68. ››www.photoshopuser.com 067 KatrinEismannistheauthorofPhotoshopRestoration&RetouchingandPhotoshopMasking&Compositing.In2005,shewasinductedinto thePhotoshopHallofFameandin2006wasnamedChairoftheMPSinDigitalPhotographyDepartmentattheSchoolofVisualArtsinNYC (www.sva.edu/digitalphoto). Goldilocks in theclassroom As a teacher, I’m always trying to create relevant and excit- ing homework assignments that promote learning and experimentation. Using the Goldilocks method encour- ages students to push themselves and not simply fulfill the assignment with what they think the instructor wants to see. For each assignment, students have to produce multiple interpretations, which in turn persuades them to explore a contemporary aesthetic and develop a look and style they’ll call their own. The flower image series shows the work of Heayeon Yoon, whoisbeginningtoexplorethetechnicalandaestheticmethod- ologyofhergraduatethesiswork.Theinitialimageisasthecam- eracapturedit.Forthesecondimage,HeayeonusedLightroom to correct the white balance and remove lens vignetting and dust.Inthefinalimage,sheopeneduptheshadowsofthe stems ever so delicately. This imbued the image with a weightlessness that’sfittingforherthesis:anexplorationoflonelinessandthe far-reachingimplicationsofsuicide. Martin Adolfsson, who is enrolled in the Photo Global program at the School of Visual Arts in NYC, photographed severalportraitimagesinNewYorkCity’sUnionSquare.Using aportablelightingsystem,Martinsetupintheparkandphoto- graphed 68 people in one day. The image processing is very fitting and doesn’t require much explanation, while the final resultsarequitesuccessfulandeffective. This exercise of building up to the final image is exactly what the Goldilocks method encourages students and artists to explore. So the next time you launch Adobe Camera Raw or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, try the three-method approach to discover and reveal the image you saw as you were pressing the shutter. ■ As captured Natural Just right As captured Natural Just right HEAYEONYOONMARTINADOLFSSON
- 69. When Matt Kloskowskiwas asked about his latest book, he described it as,“The Photoshop book I wish had been around when I was learning Photoshop.” Written in casual, easy-to-understand language, Layers:TheCompleteGuideto AdobePhotoshop’sMostPowerfulFeature covers such topics as… Regardless of your skill level, this book offers tons of essential but to excel. CoverPrice:$39.99* LimitedTime Offer – t o o r d e r c a l l 8 0 0 - 2 0 1 -7 3 2 3 o r g o t o w w w. k e l b y t r a i n i n g . c o m *All prices in US dollars. Copyright © 2008 KelbyTraining, Inc. – all rights reserved. Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. MattKloskowski:Adobe®Photoshop®Guru,Author,andNAPPInstructorMattKloskowski:Adobe®Photoshop®Guru,Author,andNAPPInstructor “ThePhotoshopbookIwishhadbeenaround whenIwaslearningPhotoshop” NAPP Member Price: $2399* KelbyTraining Price: $3199*
- 70. HIGH-END INDUSTRY RETOUCHINGTECHNIQUES DVD As you already know, the high end retouching industry has been very tight lipped about the techniques they use to produce world class results for magazines, advertising campaigns, displays and billboards throughout the world. The only techniques that have been readily available to the public have been the so called “smooth or soft skin” methods that simply blur or smudge the skin texture into an unrealistic plastic doll mess. This DVD-ROM contains the information you have been seeking but could not find. Your host Vitaly Druchinin, high end photographer and retoucher reveals all, first by thoroughly explaining to you how to apply Photoshop tools and functions specifically for retouching. Then hold on to your chair as Vitaly puts you front and center in front of his monitor as he retouches a beauty image captured with the Hasselblad H3D 39 Megapixel camera from start to finish, explaining every step and decision along the way. You will see first hand how to masterfully manipulate your images without destroying even a single pore of your model’s skin. The following original RAW files and complete Photoshop PSD files are included on the DVD-ROM for you to explore and experiment with. For more info & to order go to: www.digitalphotoshopretouching.com Use Coupon Code PSU20 and get 20% Off
- 71. Photoshop à laDeke ■ BY DEKE McCLELLAND In my last column, I demonstrated how you can exactly duplicate the effects of Unsharp Mask using Gaussian Blur. This is because Unsharp Mask uses Gaussian Blur to produce diffused halos (hence the name “unsharp”), and then applies the Add and Subtract blend modes to mask the halos along the original edges. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 070 MoreonSharpeninganImagewithBlurFilters DekeSpace This is not a technique. It’s much easier to sharpen an image using Smart Sharpen than build a custom effect with, say, Lens Blur. So why am I showing it to you? My belief is that by understanding the underlying mechanics of your tools, you may learn how to better apply the tools to your own images. Also bear in mind, Smart Sharpen didn’t come about until Photoshop CS2. Prior to that, the only way to achieve Smart Sharpen’s unique effects was to build the effect manually using Lens Blur or Motion Blur. This means that you can use the approach I’m about to outline with other blur filters—namely Surface Blur and Radial Blur—to achieve still more image- sharpening effects. I showed you Gaussian Blur last column. So this time around, we’ll focus our attentions on Lens Blur, with a footnote at the end about Motion Blur. STEP ONE: Open an image and copy it to a new layer by press- ing Command-Option-J (PC: Ctrl-Alt-J), name the new layer “Lens Blur,”and click OK. Choose Filter>Blur>Lens Blur. Option- click (PC: Alt-click) the Cancel button to reset all the values to their factory defaults. Change the Radius value (midway down the list) to twice what you’d normally use as a sharpening radius. For the sake of demonstration, I’ll go with a very high Radius, 24 pixels. Leave the other values alone and click OK. STEP TWO: Make another copy of the Background layer by clicking on it and again jumping it with Command-Option-J (Ctrl-Alt-J). Name the layer“Orig minus LBlur,”and move it to the top of the stack. Choose Image>Apply Image. Set the Layer option to the layer from the previous step, Lens Blur, set W hich may have led one or two of you to ask, “what about the Smart Sharpen filter (Filter>Sharpen> Smart Sharpen)?” One of the key differences be- tweenUnsharp Mask and Smart Sharpen is that while Unsharp Masklimitsyoutoasinglekindofblurcompensation(Gaussian Blur),Smart Sharpen lets you change the style of sharpening by choosing a setting from the Remove pop-up menu. These settings include Gaussian Bur, Lens Blur, and Motion Blur. So just as you can exactly duplicate Unsharp Mask with Gaussian Blur, you can likewise duplicate the effects of each of Smart Sharpen’s Remove settings using Gaussian Blur, Lens Blur, or Motion Blur. I propose to show you how in this column. For the sake of demonstration, I’ll use a graphic illustration, but you can use any image or continuous-tone photograph you like.
- 72. ››www.photoshopuser.com 071 Deke Space Deke McClellandearned a 2007 Ava Platinum Award for his 32-hour online video series Photoshop CS3 Channels and Masks (www .lynda.com/deke). He is also author of the full-color book Adobe InDesign CS3 One-on-One (Deke Press/O’Reilly Media). Blending to Subtract, and click OK.The lumi- nous result appears (lightened for print purposes) at right. STEP THREE:We need lots of duplicates. So click the Background layer to select it, press Command-Option-J (Ctrl-Alt-J), and name the new layer“Orig+ (O–LB).”Drag it to the top of the stack. Again choose Image>Apply Image. Set the Layer option to Orig minus LBlur (the layer from the previous step). Change the Blending option to Add and click OK to get sharpened highlights. STEP FOUR: Return to the Background layer. Press Command- Option-J (Ctrl-Alt-J), name the newest layer “Orig+LBlur(Inv),”and click OK. Drag the new layer to the top of the stack. Choose Image>Apply Image. Set the Layer option to Lens Blur, turn on the Invert checkbox, set Blending to Add, and click OK.The minimal- ist result appears on the right (this time darkened for print). STEP FIVE: Now for something a little different. Select the layer that you named Orig+(O–LB) that you made in Step Three. Press Command- Option-J (Ctrl-Alt-J), name this newest layer“Orig+(O–LB)– (O+LBinv),”and click OK. Drag this newest layer to the top of the stack. Choose Image>Apply Image and set the Layer option to Orig+LBlur(Inv) from Step Four. Keep Invert turned on, set Blending to Subtract, and click OK. Here’s the sharp- ened result. STEP SIX:To confirm that the result matches that of Smart Sharpen, again duplicate the Background layer, call it “Test,”and move it to the topofthestack.Choose Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen. Make sure Advanced is active and all Shadow and Highlight values are set to their defaults (Fade Amount: 0%;TonalWidth 50%; and Radius 1). In the Sharpen tab, set Remove to Lens Blur (best for correcting digital photographs) and turn off the More Accurate checkbox. Then apply an Amount value of 100%, a Radius of 12 pixels (or half the Radius you applied in Step One), and click OK. Assuming you nailed the right settings, the results of Steps Five and Six are 99% identical. (The very slight luminance difference—standard deviation: 0.54—falls well below the naked-eye threshold.) Motion Blur To investigate Motion Blur sharpening—which is useful for cor- recting camera shake—repeat the previous steps, but replace all occurrences of the words “Lens Blur” with “Motion Blur,” with a few caveats: (1) Smart Sharpen’s Radius value corresponds to Motion Blur’s Distance value. (2) Distance and Radius should be equal (no doubling, as with Lens Blur). (3) You can vary the Angle values to taste, but again, match the Smart Sharpen Angle when testing the effect in Step Six. And (4), unlike with Lens Blur, the effect of your manual steps and the Smart Sharpenfilter should be pixel-for-pixel identical. For custom effects that go beyond anything you can achieve with the conventional sharpening filters, change your approach in Step One: You can vary the many settings in the Lens Blur dia- log or substitute Lens Blur with Radial Blur, set to either Spin or Zoom. You can even experiment with Median or Remove Noise. Interesting stuff to be sure. But practical? I argue yes, if only because these steps illustrate one of the most essential les- sons of image editing: Photoshop’s sharpening functions do not enhance focus. They create the illusion of sharpness by blurringalongmaskededges.Whichmeansyouhaveasmany waystosharpenanimageasPhotoshopgivesyouwaystoblur. Stay tuned for practical applications in my next column. ■
- 73. ReallessonsinPhotoshopforteachersandstudents ■ BY JANKABILI Using the improved Image Processor in Photoshop CS3 along with actions simplifies batch processing. The processor waits to run an action until after it resizes an image, which makes it the perfect tool for automating final image sharpening and other functions that depend on image size. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 072 BatchProcessing PhotoshopforEducators may vary dependingon the size and contentofthe imageyou’re working on. (Note:Amount controls the intensity of sharpening; Radius determines how many pixels out from an edge are sharpened; and Threshold controls how different a pixel must be before the filter will sharpen it.) Click the Stop Recording button in the Actions panel. OPTIONAL STEP: If the photos on which you plan to use the Sharpening action aren’t similar, click the box to the left of the Unsharp Mask step in this action to insert a modal control. This will cause the Sharpening action to pause on each photo so you can enter custom values in the Unsharp Mask dialog. If your photos are similar, skip this step. STEP THREE: Next,we’llcreateanotheractiontomakeawater- mark.ClicktheCreateNewActionicon,nameit“Watermarking,” and click Record. Select the Type tool, choose your font set- tings in the Options Bar, and type your watermark anywhere in the photo. Click the checkmark in the Options Bar to commit the type. Choose Select>All. Choose Layer>Align Layers to Selection> Bottom Edges. Choose Layer>Align Layers to Selection>Right Edges. Choose Select>Deselect. You can also use the Arrow keys to position the watermark. Drag the Fill slider in the T he Image Processor is a serious productivity booster, offering a simple way to batch-process images by con- verting them to one or more common formats (JPEG, PSD, or TIFF), resizing them, and adding copyright informa- tion. But that’s not all the Image Processor can do: You can extend its functionality by having it run a custom-built action on multiple images. In the following exercise, we’ll create two actions to sharpen an image and add a watermark, then sequence the two actions into one. Next, we’ll use the CS3 Image Processor with our custom-built actions to automatically process, sharpen, and watermark a batch of photos. [As always, NAPP members can downloadaPDFofthearticleatwww.photoshopuser.com/mem- bers/aprmay08-downloads.html.] Create, sequence, and test action STEP ONE: Open one of the photographs you plan to process. Use Image>Image Size to resize the photo to the most impor- tantofyourplannedoutputsizes.Leavetheresizedimageopen. STEP TWO: Now we’ll create an action that records our steps as we sharpen this image. Open the Actions panel (Window> Actions) and click the Create New Action icon. In the New Action dialog, name the action Sharpening, choose an action Set to contain the action (we created one called“My actions”), and click Record. Choose Filter>Convert for Smart Filters and click OK to create a re-editable filter. Choose Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask. In the Unsharp Mask dialog, set Amount to 85%, Radius to 1 pixel, Threshold to 4 levels, and click OK. Your settings JANKABILIJANKABILI
- 74. ››www.photoshopuser.com 073 Photoshop For Educators JanKabili is a popular Photoshop author and educator. View hermovieseries, Photoshop CS3 for the Web,atthelynda.comonline movie training library. Watch her Photoshop podcast, Photoshop Online, on iTunes or at http://photoshoponline.tv. Layers panel all the way to the left (0%), making the text disap- pear temporarily. Click the Add a Layer Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Bevel and Emboss. In the Layer Style dialog, set the Bevel and Emboss options to your liking and click OK. Click the Stop Recording button in the Actions panel. OPTIONAL STEP: If you plan to output photos from the Image Processor at very different sizes, insert a modal control on the Make Text Layer step, so you can customize the font size and click the Options Bar checkmark when the action runs. STEP FOUR: Now we’ll sequence the two actions because the Image Processor allows you to specify only one action to run on a batch of images.To get around this limitation, we’ll program our Sharpening action to automatically run our Watermarking action. Here’s how: In the Actions panel, select the final step (Unsharp Mask) in the Sharpening action. Click the Record button. Select the Watermarking action. Click the flyout menu icon at the top-right of the Actions panel and choose Play. Click the Stop Recording button. This adds a step at the end of the Sharpen- ing action that invokes the Watermarking action. STEP FIVE:Test your actions before using them with the Image Processor. Choose File>Revert (F12). Resize the open image to output size again. In the Actions panel, select the Sharpen- ing action and press Play. If you inserted modal controls, the actions will pause for you to enter custom settings.The result- ing processed image should be sharpened and contain your watermark. Close your test photo without saving. Run the Image Processor Open Bridge CS3 and select your target images, then choose Tools>Photoshop>Image Processor. Alternatively, you can launch the Image Processor from Photoshop by opening all the target images (or place them in a folder), then choose File>Scripts>Image Processor. The steps to follow in the Image Processor are clearly marked: 1. You’ve already selected the images to process. 2. Choose to save the processed copies of the images in the same location as the originals or in a different folder. 3. Choose one or more file types to which to convert each image. If you choose JPEG, set the compression quality to 8. If this doesn’t give you the quality you want, run the Image Processor again with a different setting. You can resize each file type separately. Check the Resize to Fit dialog, and enter the pixel dimensions of an imaginary box into which each image will fit. This doesn’t resize each image to exactly these dimensions; it establishes the maxi- mum height and width of each image, with the longest side controlling the outcome. This allows you to resize horizontal and vertical images at the same time. If you’re preparing JPEGs to be posted to a website or viewed onscreen, check Convert Profile to sRGB. 4. Check Run Action. Choose your Action Set (My actions) and your Sharpening (watermarking) action. Enter some copyright information to be included in the metadata of each image. If you’re preparing images for the Web, don’t check Include ICC Profile. Click the Run button and watch as all your selected images are quickly processed: converting them to multiple file types, resizing them by file type, sharpening them, and adding your watermark and copyright information to each image. ■
- 75. Learning Adobe Photoshopfrom the ground up ■ BY DAVE CROSS You’ve probably heard the term “nondestructive editing,” but what does it really mean in practice, and why should you care? The premise behind working in a nondestructive manner is quite simple: Don’t make any changes that are permanent just in case you change your mind. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 074 BeConstructive Beginners’Workshop Before After Before After continued on p. 76 F or instance, rather than use the Eraser tool to delete portions of a layer, use a layer mask to hide the area. Now some people will say that it’s quicker or easier to simply erase—and to some degree that’s true—but for the small amount of effort it takes to use a layer mask instead, isn’t it worth it…just in case? Here’s a simple example: If we open the Levels dialog (under Image>Adjustments), make a dramatic adjustment, click OK, and then save the document, that change is pretty permanent. To illustrate this, press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L), move one of the end triangles in toward the center, and click OK so you make a dramatic change to the image. Without saving the document, press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) again and you’ll see a very different-looking histo- gram, one that’s very hard to readjust. (I’ve always felt that when the histogram looks like this, the words “good luck” should appear.) Now go to the bottom of the Layers panel and click on the Create Adjustment Layer icon to add a Levels adjustment layer. Again make a dramatic over-adjustment and click OK. This time however, we’ve built in flexibility. Just double-click on the layer thumbnail and the Levels dialog opens just as you left it, with the triangles in the same location(and the original histogram). Because we used an adjustment layer, the original image is untouched and we can either edit the adjustment layer or delete it. Let’s revisit our Levels example again. Another reason that using adjustment layers is less destructive is that by nature, adjustments like Levels are global: They affect the entire image the same way. When you use the Levels command, it’s difficult to affect only certain areas unless you make a selection first. With a Levels adjustment layer, sim- ply paint on the layer mask to remove the effects of Levels from certain areas. And if you change your mind about those areas, no problem; just paint on the mask again to alter the effects. Retouching, Cropping, and Camera Raw Some other examples of nondestructive editing include re- touching a photo, cropping, and using Camera Raw. Take a look at this retouching job where we use the Healing Brush to remove wrinkles. The “after” photo definitely looks like some bad plastic surgery—a little too perfect.Good Luck ©ISTOCKPHOTO/MICHAELKEMTER
- 76. introducing a microstock site likeno other www.snapvillage.com
- 77. Beginners’Workshop ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 076 DAVECROSSDAVECROSS Instead, add ablank layer above the original layer and with the Healing Brush selected, make sure All Layers is chosen from the Sample menu in the Options Bar. Now the result of the Healing Brush appears on a separate layer and, when we reduce the Opacity of that layer, the retouch looks more natural. The wrinkles are still there but they’re a lot less obvious. Even a simple function like Cropping has a permanent and nondestructive version. If you take the Crop tool (C), drag out an area, and press Enter, you’ve removed pixels from the image. Save the document and that change is permanent. If you think there’s even the remotest possibility that you might want to use the original, uncropped photo, try this alternative: First, double-click on the Background layer and rename it. Then with the Crop tool, drag out the cropping area but before pressing Return (PC: Enter), look in the Options Bar: There are two choices, Delete and Hide. Choose Hide, press Enter, and Save the document. Even though you saved the file, the original pixels are still there. To see the rest of the image, go to the Image menu and choose Reveal All. (You shouldn’t crop every single photo in this way, but at least consider the possibility.) By nature, Camera Raw is nondestructive and that’s part of its power. You can make some very dramatic changes to the RAW file, but when you click on the Open button, it’s almost like you’re making a copy of the original, because you can always go to back to the “as shot” RAW file. Why should you care? Some of the more common reasons you should care about building in some degree of flexibility include: don’t always match, so having some flexibility lets you con- tinue to edit the image to get the results you want. having to save multiple versions of the same document, build some variations into one document. another, and if you’ve ever tried to extract something from a flattened document, you know that keeping a layered version is preferable. they, or you, want. There are plenty of other examples of working in a flexible, nondestructive way: Saving a layered document rather than flattening and saving; using smart objects and smart filters; and using layer comps to save multiple versions of the same image in one document, to name a few. In most cases it takes just an extra step or two to create the flexibility, but compared with starting over again and redoing your work, isn’t it worth it? If you have an idea for a “Beginners’ Workshop” topic, please send it to letters@photoshopuser.com; however, if you have a question that you’d like answered immediately, go to the Help Desk at www.photoshopuser.com. ■
- 79. Creative control withdigital capture and Photoshop ■ BY JIM DiVITALE For designers and art directors, using the Internet for job approvals has opened up a whole new way to work with their photographers and illustrators. Photographers can quickly post websites for instant client feedback, using just a few steps in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 078 ConstructingSuccessfulPhotoGalleries DigitalCameraWorkshop B ack in the day of shooting film, photographers needed the client to be on the set to approve final Polaroids. And then the client had to stay for hours waiting for the transparencies to come back from the lab. In addition, photographic sets had to be held in limbo sometimes for days while the approval process reached the end clients for the final okay. High-end digital capture combined with the Internet has changed all that. Designers can now work with anyone either locally or long distance and they can art-direct right from their office desktops, while continuing to work on other projects. The final approval time has shortened too, because hard-to-find clients who travel around can check their com- puters for design updates from anywhere, making everyone’s job a little easier. Good communication between all the play- ers has always been the key to successful advertising projects. So, adding Web camera communications, such as Skype or Apple’s iSight, can get designers’ or photographers’ questions answered quickly face-to-face on the set, so that projects can finish up quickly and move on to their next stage. Web Photo Gallery The Web Photo Gallery (WPG) has been offered in Adobe Photoshop since version 5.5, yet it’s one of the most under- used features. Photographers using Photoshop, and now Lightroom, can put together sharp-looking websites that give all the information necessary for designers and clients to make critical decisions while the sets are still live. Both Photoshop and Lightroom have simple-to-use interfaces with which you can create websites in either HTML or Flash— without knowing how to use these applications. Before starting the process of posting to the WPG, the photographer (or designer) must first go through a few steps: Start by contacting the Web host to establish an FTP site. Then the Web host will create a folder on an established website and issue a secure address, host name, and password to access the FTP site. Next, you’ll need software to upload the WPG to the FTP site. Fetch, for example, is a popular one for Mac users and is very inexpen- sive. Once the site is established, you’re ready to upload to it. Here’s how: STEP ONE: From Adobe Bridge, open a folder of images and select the ones you wish to create into a gallery. You can select all the files at once by press- ing Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A). STEP TWO: Then choose Tools>Photoshop>Web Photo Gallery from the Bridge menu.This links over to the Automate menu in Photoshop and opens theWeb Photo Gallery dialog. In the dialog, first go to the SourceImages section and click on the Use drop-down menu to choose where the original files are coming from; in this case, we’ll chose Selected Images from Bridge.Then click on Destination and choose where the files should be placed.We had created a brand-new folder on the Desktop, so we’ll choose that folder. STEP THREE: Next, in the Site section, from the Styles drop- down menu, pick what type of template you’re going to use. Both HTML and Flash templates are listed. Click on the one you wantandnoticethepreviewattherightofthedialogtoseethe different designs.We chose Dotted Border –White on Black.
- 80. ››www.photoshopuser.com 079 Digital Camera Workshop ALLIMAGES BY JIM DIVITALE Jim DiVitale is an Atlanta-based photographer and instructor specializing in digital photography. His clients include Mizuno USA, Carter’s, Genuine Parts Company, IBM, TEC America, Scientific-Atlanta, and Coca-Cola. Check out his website at www.divitalephotography.com. How clients use the website Clients can then view this website and make final choices on the digital images. It’s that simple—an organized way to get everyone who needs to see the files to visit the webpage for quick review and approval. I like using the HTML template because the client can drag the enlarged images right from the site to their desktop. Then they can open the copied images in Photoshop, add correc- tions to the file, resave the images and email them back to the studio with final instructions for enhancements. Using Lightroom It’s even easier to use Lightroom when it comes to creating Web galleries and it has additional templates for a more corporate look. It also has a different interface but it basically asks for the same information. Just choose the Web module and go down the dialog on the right to fill in both the client’s and your name in the proper fields. You can pick Gallery type, Site Info, Color Palette, Appearance, Image Info, Output Set- tings, and Upload Settings. The site can be built out into a folder to be uploaded in Fetch or uploaded directly from the Web module—either one will provide a great link to get your jobs approved quickly. Good communication like this lets designers work with anyone they want while at the same time getting more work done back in the office. ■ Tip: When it comes to job approval, clean and simple works best. When using very high-key images, I prefer a simple black background so the images stand out. With darker low-key images, a white background really makes the images look good. Adding your email address in that field makes it easy for the viewer to click and create a quick direct email and get final project info back to you. STEP FOUR: In the Options drop-down menu, if you move from General to Banner, you can add the Site Name, Photographer, Contact Info, and Date. The next item in the Options menu is Large Images, where you choose the size and quality of the images. It’s very impor- tant to check the option to use the Filename (under Titles Use) so everyone can be sureofpickingout thecorrectfilesfor enhancementand final delivery. Following the Large Images option is Thumb- nails. When you choose this option, you can adjust Size, how many Columns and Rows, and whether or not to Use Titles. (Depending on which template you choose, some options may be grayed out.) If you’re not happy with the basic colors of the chosen template, you can choose different colors from the Custom Colors option. Under the last option choice, Security, you can add a simple Copyright watermark to the enlarged images. STEP FIVE: When you’re finished with the selections in the WPG dialog, click OK to start the process. Each of the original files is opened, resized to both the large and thumbnail sizes, and then saved to the destination folder along with all the HTML or Flash info needed to run your new website.Then you just upload this folder of information using Fetch to the sup- plied FTP address. You are now the only one who knows the password to get to this site. The actual name of the website folder is the final security to get into the site. The address is then added to your email and forwarded to the awaiting client as a link to click on.
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- 83. CreativetimesavingtipsandtechniquesforthephenomenalPhotoshop When you photographin a public place, often it isn’t easy (or polite) to control the foot traffic that runs through the scene as you try to shoot. But the Auto-Align Layers command in Photoshop CS3 makes it easy to eliminate passersby from the image after the fact. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 082 ManufacturingSolitude TheWOW!Factor Align Source Images checkbox at the bottom of the dialog unchecked, as we’ll auto-align the layered images later (in Photoshop Extended, there are two checkboxes; leave them both unchecked). Click OK. STEP THREE:When your new combined file opens, simply select and remove any unwanted parts from the top layer. For our image, we used the Lasso tool (L) to make a quick, rough selection of the man (circled), then pressed the Delete (PC: Backspace) key to remove him, and Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. Note: Although I almost always use masking (because masking is nondestructive), deleting often seems to pro- duce a better result when auto-aligning. Because we used the Load Files into Stack command, we’re working on a new, combined file so deleting doesn’t alter our originals. I n the old days of photography, when it took several minutes to expose a photographic plate and make the picture, it was easy to get an unobstructed photo of a building or statue, even on a busy street—any carriages or pedestrians moving through the scene didn’t stay long enough in one place to be recorded as part of the image. As photography advanced, taking such a picture required shooing people out of the area beforehand or painstakingly compositing bits and pieces from more than one photo. It occurred to me that eliminatingspectatorsmightbeeasyonceagainwiththeAuto- Align Layers command in Photoshop, so I took some tourist photos in Budapest with the idea of trying out my theory. STEP ONE: If you have one, use a tripod to maintain a consis- tent camera angle while shooting your photos.Take enough shots so that every part of your subject can be seen unob- structed somewhere in the photo series. Next, open your photos in Photoshop and select as few as necessary. (Tip: Adobe Bridge can be a big help for viewing and choosing the shots to include.) For this example, we needed just two photos. STEP TWO: Now we need to combine the photos into a brand- new layered file: Choose File>Scripts>Load Files into Stack. In the Load Layers dialog, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the names of any open files that you don’t want to include, and click the Remove button. Leave the Attempt to Automatically ■ BY LINNEA DAYTON
- 84. ››www.photoshopuser.com 083 The WOW! Factor LinneaDayton is currently at work on the 11th edition of The Photoshop Wow! Book (Peachpit Press). STEP FOUR: The lower layer is now showing through the deleted area. Notice that the“fill-in”layer below is a little offset (as shown). To fix the alignment, target all the layers in your file (click the top layerintheLayerspanel andShift-clickthebottom layer), and then choose Edit>Auto-Align Layers. In the Auto-Align Layers dialog, click OK to accept the default Auto setting. Inaligningtheimages, Photoshop will ignore any transparent areas createdby your deletions, so alignment won’t be based on something you don’t want in the finished image. OPTIONAL STEP:You may have to fix any tonal difference between the fill-in and its surroundings (as we did) by choosing Edit>Auto-Blend Layers. When using more layers… For our second example, we opened and stacked three photos with the Load Files into Stack command (as in Step Two but with one more image). Starting with the top layer, which had lots of people in the frame, we used the Lasso tool to remove them. Most of the holes filled in with stonework from the middle layer, but one girl showed through (top right). STEP FIVE:We clicked on the middle layer’s thumbnail in the Layers panel, selected the girl with the Lasso tool, pressed Delete (PC: Backspace) to remove her from the image, and Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.The“hole”was filled in by stonework from the bottom layer. Next, we used Auto-Align Layers as we did in Step Four. STEP SIX:We wanted to bring out some detail in the dark statue, so with all three layers targeted, we turned them into a Smart Object (Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to Smart Object) and then chose Image>Adjustments> Shadow/Highlight, made the adjustments in the dialog, and clicked OK.We also applied some sharpen- ing to the Smart Object (Filter>Sharpen>Smart Sharpen) and cropped the image. These two examples were fairly uncomplicated but some composites may need more attention. In one instance, after deleting and aligning, my image still included a small, unwanted intrusion. I targeted the top layer in the Layers panel, made a new composite layer by pressing Command-Option-Shift-E (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E), and then used the Patch and Clone Stamp tools on the composite to fix the problem. ■ ALL IMAGES BY LINNEA DAYTON
- 85. T he interesting elementthis time will be adding a reflection of the button that animates to match the movement of the letters and stars. Let’s start by animating the stars and adding the highlight, then we’ll add the reflection. [NAPP members may download this image and the final movie at www.photoshopuser.com/members/ aprmay08-downloads.html.] Animating the stars The stars we prepped before are now ready for us to animate bilaterally across the top and bottom of the button. STEP ONE: Assuming that your stars are in the same position we left them, we need to move the Bottom Stars layer. Control-click (PC: Right-click) that layer and select Disable Layer Mask from the menu to hide the layer masks for these layers. Grab the Move tool (V), and move the bottom stars over to the right so that the far-left star is the first star that we see on the left of the button. STEP TWO: Control-click (PC: Right-click) and select Enable Layer Mask to turn on the masks again and open the Ani- mation panel (Window>Animation). Create starting posi- tion keyframes for theTop Stars and Bottom Stars layers. Move the CurrentTime Indicator (a.k.a. playhead) to the beginning of the animation, click the Stopwatch icon next to Position for theTop Stars layer and the Bottom Stars layer. Now move the playhead to the end of the animation (3 sec.). Click theTop Stars layer (not the mask) to select it and move the stars all the way to the right until the last star on the left is up against the left edge of the button (use the Arrow keys as needed to nudge them into place). You don’t want to move these too far because the stars will scroll off the button, and you want the appearance that if the stars were to keep moving there would be more com- ing. Repeat with the Bottom Stars layer but in the opposite direction. Remember that moving a layer that already has a Position keyframe will automatically create a new keyframe at the playhead repre- senting the new position. Adding the highlight Now we’ll put a highlight in motion across the button to give it more visual appeal. STEP ONE: Click the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and name it Center Highlight. Select the Elliptical Marquee tool, go to the Options Bar and enter 25 px in the Feather field, and then draw a tall, narrow ellipse that’s slightly taller than the height of the button. Press D to set your Background color to its default white and press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Back- space) to fill the selection. Now press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to bring up the FreeTransform bounding box and rotate the highlight approximately 25° to the right. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. STEP TWO: Next we need to create a layer mask in the shape of the button and apply it to the Center Highlight layer so that as it animates, the highlight is restricted to the area of the button. So let’s Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the Button layer thumbnail to load it as a selection. With the Center Highlight layer still selected, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Then click the chain icon to unlink the layer mask from the highlight—this will keep the mask in place when we animate the layer. Finally, set this layer’s Opacity to 50%. Using Photoshop to create professional-looking videos ■ BY GLEN STEPHENS Last issue, we went through creating the masks necessary for the animations plus the shadows and highlights that restore the original look of the button. We also started the animation of the letters. This time, we’ll animate the stars and add a glare to the front of the button. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 084 AdvancedAnimations,Part3 MasterPhotoshopwithVideo ©ISTOCKPHOTO/MARKEVANS
- 86. STEP THREE: Nowthe highlight is ready to be animated across the button. Click the Center Highlight thumbnail and use the same technique that we used to animate the stars: place the playhead at the beginning of theTimeline; click the Stopwatch icon next to Position to create a keyframe; click-and-drag the highlight outside the button area to the upper left; drag the playhead to 1 second; and reposition the highlight to the lower right. Create a keyframe for this posi- tion, then 1 second later reposition the highlight outside the button to the lower right. If you don’t like when the highlight moves across the button, you can move the layer indicator in the Animation panel to the right, which also moves the keyframes for that layer. The reflection The last element to drive home the realism of the anima- tion is to animate the reflection at the bottom of the image. To do this we’re going to render out the animation as it stands right now, import it back into Photoshop as a smart object, flip it upside down, and then position it over the existing reflection. STEP ONE: Go to File>Export>RenderVideo to open the Ren- derVideo dialog.The main setting that needs to be changed from default is the QuickTime Export Settings. Click the Set- tings button, then click the Settings button in the subsequent dialog. Select Animation from the Compression Type menu, Select Millions of Colors from the Depth menu, and drag the Quality slider over to Best. Click OK twice to close the dialog, enter Button Animation PreRender in the Name field, and then click Render to render out the movie. STEP TWO: Next, place the QuickTime movie we just created in the document (File>Place). Simply hit the Return (PC: Enter) key after you place the object to accept its size and placement. Now we need to use Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal to flip the But- ton Animation PreRender layer. Add a layer mask to this layer and use the Gradient tool (G) to create a Black,White linear gradient on the mask that looks like this. STEP THREE: Click the layer thumbnail to select it and bring up FreeTransform. Rotate and position the Button Animation PreRender layer so that the posts at the bottom of both the button and the reflection line up. STEP FOUR: Now set the Opacity of this layer to 13% and apply a Motion Blur (Filter>Blur>Motion Blur). In the Motion Blur dialog, enter 81° for Angle, 98 pixels for Distance, and click OK. That finishes the final animation. The PreRender QuickTime layer is now covering the old reflection, creating a new, mov- ing reflection. The only thing to keep in mind is that if you make significant changes to the main animation, you need to re-render the reflection PreRender layer and bring it in again so that they match. ■ If you have a suggestion for a video topic that you’d like us to cover in this column, or an idea for using Photoshop with video, please send it to letters@photoshopuser.com. ››www.photoshopuser.com 085 Mastering Photoshop with Video Glen Stephens, developer of the Photoshop plug-in Tools for Television PRO (www.toolsfortelevision.com), has more than 10 years’ experi- ence in the broadcast video industry. His company, Pixel Post Studios, provides training and design services for the industry.
- 87. Practical tips forprofessional photographers ■ BY KEVIN AMES It seems that successful portraits, especially of women, are all about smooth, silky skin no matter what the reality might be. In our example, the semi-harsh light, which casts shadows to create a moody and mysteri- ous portrait, also does a great job of showing any skin texture. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 086 SkinSmoother DigitalPhotographer’sNotebook F ew are blessed with flawless skin in real life. Reality… meet the skin smoother. The light on model Catherine Norcom is coming from her left side creating the Rem- brandt effect of a triangular highlight on her right cheek formed by the shadow of her nose. Oneretouchapproach is to heal the texture from a clear portion of skin—but that’s way too much work. There ought to be an easier way and of course, Photo- shop being Photoshop, there is. The technique uses a filteroriginallydesignedto remove dust and scratches quickly from scans of film. No matter how carefully a piece of film was cleaned, it was impossible to get rid of all of the dust specks. On scans, they showed up as black marks. Nicks in the emulsion appeared as irregularly shaped black lines.Ittookanywherefrom a few minutes to an hour to eliminate these pests on a high-resolution scan by cloning them out in Photoshop. The solution has been in Photoshop since version 5. Best of all, it works to reduce skin texture too. [NAPPmembersmaydownloadthefileusedinthistutorialat www.photoshopuser.com/members/aprmay08.html.Allfilesare forpersonaluseonly.] STEPONE: Open the file 2392-0355.tif in Photoshop. Duplicate theBackgroundlayerbypressingCommand-J(PC:Ctrl-J).Inthe Layerspanel,double-clickLayer1andrenamethelayerRetouch. Tip: I always duplicate the Background layer this way for every project because it makes it easy to compare the retouching with the original. The untouched Background layer also serves as a backup of the original pixels, in case a mistake is discovered too far into a retouch to be recovered using the History panel. STEP TWO: Use the Healing Brush tool, located under the Spot Healing Brush tool (J), to fix any blemishes larger than the texture of Catherine’s skin. Soften any lines here as well. Look at the strategy map (shown above right) for areas that need attention (circled in green).When you’re finished healing, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the Retouch layer and rename this layer Smoother Skin. STEP THREE: From the Filter menu, choose Noise>Dust & Scratches. When the dialog opens, click-and-drag in the pre- view window to position it just under her left eye and then click to set the sample area. Enter 7 pixels for the Radius. Her skin looks so smooth it resembles plastic. Bring back some of its texture by moving the Threshold slider to about 24. That looks much better. Click OK. STEP FOUR: Press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select the entire image. Click the Edit menu and choose Define Pattern. Click OK to accept the filename as the name of the pattern. Look at the texture in the shadow area of her cheek; it still doesn’t look as soft as it should. With that in mind, press Command-Option-Z (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Z) twice to undo the Dust & Scratches filter.
- 88. 087 Digital Photographer’s Notebook ALLIMAGES BY KEVIN AMES KevinAmescreatesevocativephotographsforclientssuchasWestinHotels,AT&T,andCoca-Cola.Hisfourthbook,recentlypublishedbyPeachpit Press,isTheDigitalPhotographer’sNotebook:APro’sGuidetoPhotoshopCS3,LightroomandBridge.Heteachesthedigitalartsworldwide. KevinAmescreatesevocativephotographsforclientssuchasWestinHotels,AT&T,andCoca-Cola.Hisfourthbook,recentlypublishedbyPeachpit STEP EIGHT: Choose the second pattern from the menu and work the shadow areas of her right cheek on both sides of the strands of hair. Use a smaller, 20-pixel brush, being careful to leave a buffer area of untouched texture next to her hair; use the Left Bracket key ([) to decrease brush diameter as needed. If the Healing Brush gets too close to the hair, the effect will bleed into the hair resulting in a very unnatural look. Work on the shadow side of her nose as well. Click the Eye icon on the Smoother Skin layer to check the progress of the effect. STEP NINE: Choose the Pattern Stamp tool, nested under the Clone Stamp tool (S). Select the second pattern for the shadow textures from the Pattern menu. Using a 15-pixel brush, clone through the buffer area and well into the healed area of shadow texture between her hair and where the pattern made with the Healing brush ends.This reduces the texture without affecting the hair on her cheek.The Healing Brush blends the Dust & Scratches effect into the skin.The Pattern Stamp tool lays a copy of Dust & Scratches over the rough areas. Blend any distinct lines left by the Pattern Stamp by using the Healing Brush to fill in with the pattern. Finally, switch to the Healing Brush and change its options back to the Source as Sampled and uncheck the Aligned box. Sample a smooth area of skin then heal any of the places the might appear blotchy. It’s your choice whether or not to remove her beauty mark. Therewardofthistechnique is not only the speed of the smoothing, it’s also the small amount of texture left behind, making Catherine’s skin softer and believable at the same time. The result is subtle, pleasing, and no one can tell that you’ve been over the portrait in Photoshop. All they know is that you’re a great photographer because their prints look amazing. Next time, the Notebook shows what to do when the lipstick she’s wearing in the photograph cries out for an eye-catching shade of red (or any other color for that matter). Until then, keep shooting! ■ STEP FIVE: Now we’ll create a pattern for the shadow area. Once again, open the Dust & Scratches filter. This time click the filter’s cursor box to the left of her nose. Start with a higher pixel radius (we used 10). Slowly lower theThreshold number until this area of skin in the shadow smoothes out, around 14. Ignore the effect on any pixels in the highlights. Click OK. Onceagain,selecttheentireimagebypressingCommand-A (PC: Ctrl-A), then choose Edit>Define Pattern. It’s fine to let this pattern have the same name as the first. Remember that the first pattern is for the lighter areas of skin while the second one is used in the shadows. Finally, press Command-Option-Z (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Z) to undo Dust & Scratches. STEP SIX: Choose the Healing Brush tool from the Toolbox. Change the Source in the Options Bar from Sampled to Pattern. From the Pattern menu, click the first thumbnail of Catherine to select the one for smoothing the texture in the lighter portions of her skin. Click the Aligned checkbox to turn it on. STEP SEVEN: Heal the pattern over her forehead and then work the turquoise eye shadow using a 70-pixel brush; use the Right Bracket key (]) to increase brush diameterasneeded. Brushover the triangle of highlight on her rightcheek. Heal over any objectionabletex- ture on her left cheek, nose, and forehead. Before After
- 89. ■ BY COREY BARKER Although there are several ways to create a composite for a movie poster, this technique is one of the coolest and easiest. The beauty here is that as complex as the design may appear, all the elements are on their own layers so you can modify the design later. ClassicPhotoshopEffects Theoldiesbutgoodiesthatneverseemtogooutofstyle ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 088 ACoolMoviePosterEffect STEP ONE: First create a new RGB document (File>New), enter 6" for Width, 9" for Height, 150 ppi for Resolution, and click OK. This will be our working document size so go ahead and save it (File>Save). Select the Gradient tool (G) from the Toolbox and up in the Options Bar, click on the gradient preview to open the Gradient Picker. Click on the Foreground to Background gradient (the first icon), and choose Linear Gradient. Press the D key to set the Foreground and Background colors to their default black and white, respectively, then draw a gradient from the top of the document to the bottom to fill your Background layer. STEP TWO: Open the images that you’re going to use in your design. We selected two photos—one of a man and one of a woman—that we’ll use to create our dramatic composite exam- ple. Select the Move tool (V) and drag-and-drop each image into your working document so each is on its own layer. If necessary, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to open the Free Transform bounding box and scale the images to fit within your gradient document. STEP THREE: Click the Eye icons of these two new layers to turn off their visibility. Make the Background layer active and click the Create a New Layer icon, which will place a new blank layer (Layer 3) above the Background layer. STEP FOUR: With Layer 3 active, choose the Rectangular Mar- quee tool (M) from the Toolbox and draw a selection from the top to the bottom of the document—it should be about a third of the width of the document (as shown). Go under theWindow menu, choose Color, and enter R:236, G:183, B:49, which changes your Foreground color to a goldish tone. Press Shift-F5 to open the Fill dialog, choose Foreground Color from the Use menu, and click OK to fill the active selection with this new color. continued on p. 90 ©FOTOLIA/ANDRESRODRIGUEZ ©FOTOLIA/TOMASZTULIK
- 90. *All prices inUS dollars. Copyright © 2008 Kelby Training, Inc. – all rights reserved. NAPPMember Price: $3399* KelbyTraining Price: $4399* Joe McNally, one of the world’s top photographers, breaks new ground by doing something no photography book has ever done—blending the stunning images and elegant layout of a coffee table book with the invaluable training and insights of an educational manual. TheMoment ItClicks inspires, challenges, informs, and reveals the science and art of shooting photos in a way you never thought possible. CoverPrice:$ 54.99* TheFirstBookWithOneFootOn TheCoffeeTable,AndOneFoot InTheClassroom t o o r d e r c a l l 8 0 0 - 2 0 1 -73 2 3 o r g o t o w w w. k e l b y t r a i n i n g . c o m TheMomentItClicks byJoeMcNally
- 91. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 090 STEP FIVE: Clickthe Add a Layer Style (ƒx) icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Stroke. In the dialog, set the Size to 5 px, Position to Outside, click on the swatch next to Color, set the color to white and click OK, and then click OK again to close the Layer Style dialog. Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free Transform mode. Notice the last two fields in the Options Bar: Set Horizontal and Vertical Skew. Enter 15 in the H field and press Enter (PC: Return) to commit the transformation. Press Command-D (Ctrl-D) to deselect. STEP SIX: Now we’ll desaturate our first photo and create a clipping mask. Make the first photo layer (Layer 1) active and click its Eye icon to restore its visibility. Press Shift-Command-U (PC: Shift-Ctrl-U) to remove the color information. Hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key and move your cursor between this layer and the angled shape layer just beneath it. Click once when you see the overlapping circles appear. Then change the image layer’s blend mode to Linear Light. STEP SEVEN: Let’s increase the contrast a little bit using Levels: Press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L). In the dialog, set the Shadow Input Level to 100 and click OK. STEP EIGHT: Begin repeating this process for the second photo by clicking the shape layer and pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to make a copy of it.Then move it up the layer order just beneath the second image. Select the Move tool and reposi- tion the shape so it isn’t sitting on top of the other shape. Click the LockTransparent Pixels icon next to Lock in the Layers panel and fill the shape with R:13, G:47, B:110. Now make the second photo layer active and visible then desaturate the image and create a clipping mask as we did in Step Six. Also repeat Step Seven if you want to bump up the contrast a little. STEP NINE: To finish off your design, just add some text. Using clipping masks keeps all the elements on separate layers, allowing us to edit them independently. You can also increase or reduce the visibility of the images by scaling the shapes they’re clipped to or by painting in more pixels, because clipped images are only visible through the pixels of the layer they’re clipped inside. ■
- 93. PeterBauerisDirectoroftheNAPPHelpDeskand a featuredcolumnist at PlanetPhotoshop.com.Hislatestbookis Photoshop CS3 for Dummies. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 092 available except Vanishing Point, Lens Correction, Lens Flare, Lighting Effects, and NTSC Colors. None of the commands are available in Bitmap or Indexed Color modes. Most are available in Duotone mode and about half for images in Multi- channel mode. To: NAPP Help Desk From: Eddie How come so many of the filters in Photo- shop are no longer available? I never had thisprobleminearlierversionsofPhotoshop. To: Eddie From: NAPP Help Desk Actually, it’s probably not Photoshop that changed; it’s your digital camera. I suspect that in the past you captured your images in the JPEG file format and now you’re shooting RAW, and many Photoshop filters aren’t available for use with images in 16-bit color. You’ll notice that when you open a 16-bit RGB image in Photoshop, entire categories of filters are grayed out and not available. Now that you’reshooting RAW in 16-bit color, you’ll have to make a decision about filters: When is it more impor- tant to remain in 16-bit color and when is it more impor- tant to use a specific filter? If your artistic visionrequires one of the filters not available for 16-bit color, use the Photoshop Image>Mode>8-Bits/Channel command to change the image to 8-bit color. It’s important to keep in mind that if you convert the image back to 16-bit color after applying the filter, it does not restore the lost color depth; it merely increases your file size. So my advice is once you convert to 8-bit color, stay in 8-bit color. In the Photoshop CS3 Filter menu you’ll find six special features—Convert for Smart Filters, Extract, Filter Gallery, Liquify, Pattern Maker, and Vanishing Point—as well as 105 standard filters. Through the Image>Mode menu, Photo- shop supports eight color modes and three bit depths (the number of bits of data recorded for each color channel for each pixel). Only when you’re working in 8-bit RGB mode are all of the filters avail- able. For an image in 8-bit Grayscale mode, all commands under the Filter menu are In addition to 8-bit RGB and Grayscale, the modes you’re most likely to employ include 16-bit RGB, 16-bit Grayscale, CMYK, and LAB. Each of these color modes has a unique set of filters available. In the fol- lowing table, you can see which features and filter sets are available (green), which are unavailable (gold), and which sets are partially available (blue). Whenyou’reworkingwitha16-bit RGB image and have selected only one channel in the Channels panel, the filter menu availability matches that of 16-bit Grayscale mode rather than the list shown under 16-bit RGB. When two channels are active in a 16- bitRGBimage,themenuchangesabit more.Inadditiontothefiltersandfea- turesnotavailablefor16-bitGrayscale images, you’ll also lose Liquify, Lens Blur, Fibers, and De-Interlace. For CMYK images, you can apply any filter available for 8-bit Grayscale to an individual channel, then repeat that filter for each of the other channels, one at a time. ■ An in-depth look at common Help Desk questions ■ BY PETER BAUERFromtheHelpDesk Filter 16-bit RGB 16-bit Grayscale CMYK LAB Extract No No Yes Yes Filter Gallery No No No No Liquify Yes Yes Yes Yes Pattern Maker No No Yes Yes VanishingPoint Yes No No No Artistic None None None None Blur Not Smart Blur Not Smart Blur All All Brush Strokes None None None None Distort Only Lens Correction None Not Diffuse Glow, Glass, Lens Correc- tion, Ocean Ripple Not Diffuse Glow, Glass, Lens Correc- tion, Ocean Ripple Noise All All All All Pixelate None None All All Render Not Lighting Effects NotLensFlareor LightingEffects NotLensFlareor LightingEffects Only Clouds and Fibers Sharpen All All All All Sketch None None None None Stylize Only Emboss, Find Edges, Solarize Only Emboss, Find Edges, Solarize Not Glowing Edges Not Extrude, Glowing Edges, Solarize Texture None None None None Video Both OnlyDe-Interlace Neither OnlyDe-Interlace Other All All All All
- 94. THE Global JobBoard Network for Creative Industries Job postings appear on over 20 sites, reaching 8 million creative professionals monthly! Advertising / Marketing Multimedia / Web Design Video Games Animation & VFX / TV & Film Software / Tools / Technology Mobile / Wireless Digital Artists, Graphic and Web Designers, Animators, Compositors Game Designers, Programmers, Producers, Technology Directors, Editors and Instructors CreativeHeads.net Job Board Network Post jobs @ www.creativeheads.net
- 95. T his article discussesthe procedure for selecting data points, which builds upon setting measurement to scale. In Photoshop CS3, Select Data Points (the second item in the Analysis menu) gives users the ability to choose which data points are collected and added to the Measurement Log panel. [Formoreinformationoncalibration(settingmeasurementscale), SeePhotoshop User,Oct/Nov2007,p.86.] You can extract quantitative data in Photoshop when using Selections, the Ruler and Count tools, the Histogram, and other interfaces. These data are lost if they’re not manually entered into other spreadsheets or statistical analysis programs. When using the Select Data Points fea- ture, many of these numbers are collected into a table that can be exported as a text file, which is easily imported into other applications. To use this new feature, it’s important to understand each of the data points Photoshop collects and how they work. The Common section Begin by opening the Select Data Points dia- log (Analysis>Select Data Point) so we can review the data Photoshop is able to collect. You can see four data families in the dialog. The first section, Common, is metadata—literally data about the data, which is pretty self- explanatory. Here’s a brief description of the data points in the Common section: Label field keeps track of the data. During any mea- surement session, a running total of data points is tracked and labeled as to which numbers relate to the different measurement areas. Date and Time option inserts the system’s time informa- tion, which lets you keep track of when the data was col- lected. This field is especially helpful if multiple analyses are conducted on the same image. Document records the file’s name, and associates that data with the image from which it was collected. As measure- ments are acquired in a single measurement log for all images, it’s important to use this option to keep track of which image contributed the data. Source relates to what tool was used to collect the data. The field will read one of the following: Selection, Ruler tool, or Count tool. Scale provides the calibrated measurement of how many pixels are equal to a known standard length. If the default measurement scale was used, then the dimension will be reported in pixels (e.g., 1 pixel = 1 pixel). When custom measurement scales are created and applied, all data will be converted automatically to that scale. Scale Units displays the units of measure in terms you define. If you used the Set Measurement Scale option (from the Analysis menu), then whatever you entered in the Logical Units field will be displayed here. Scale Factor reports exactly how many pixels are in the unit of measure. There are some redundant values but when the information is exported, it can save steps when working in a spreadsheet program. Data about your selections and more The next three groups in the Select Data Points dialog relate to data extracted from content using Selections, the RulerTool, and the CountTool. The best way to explain these is to provide an example. Shown are four circles of different sizes (next page at top). We used the Count tool (nested under the Eyedrop- per tool) to number our circles by clicking each of them once and then opening the Measurements Log panel (Window>Measurement Log). When we click the Record Document, analyze, extract, and present medical and scientific data ■ BY ERIC J. WEXLER A revolution has occurred with the introduction of the analysis features in Photoshop CS3 Extended. You can now use Photoshop to present and export image-analysis data natively without plug-ins. The ability to collect analytical data is basic; however, complex questions can still be answered. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 094 SelectingtheRightDataSet PhotoshopCS3ExtendedforResearch
- 96. Measurements icon, wesee that each circle is identified with Feature 1–4 in the Label field. If multiple measure- ment areas are acquired simultaneously while a master feature is displayed, the individual features (listed as children) will display as part of the total feature. Next we selected the circles using the Magic Wand tool (while pressing the Shift key to add to our selections). In the Options Bar we turned off the Contiguous checkbox, then opened the Measurement Log panel, and clicked the Record Measurements button at the top left of the panel. You’ll notice the measurements populate in the panel, which pro- vide a value for each data point selected earlier in the Select Data Points dialog. Because the circles differ greatly in size, it’s easy to identify which measurement goes with each circle. But while the features are individually numbered, there’s currently no way to automatically label the selection to relate with its measure- ment. If objects aren’t easily discernible, then you’ll need to conduct measurements manually to keep track of individual objects and their related data (see chart below). The Ruler Tool section provides three things: Count, Length, and Angle. Data populated by the Count section can help you keep track of which instances the Ruler data points are used. Length displays the distance between points when the Ruler tool is used. The information is relayed in pixels, or if you’ve calibrated the calculated length using the Set Mea- surement Scale, it will display the units of the measurement scale. Hover your cursor near the end point of your measure- ment and press the Option (PC: Alt) key—you’ll notice the cursor change to an angle icon. Simply click-and-drag from that end point to create a second line of measurement. The Angle field will report data from either a single line or using the two-line technique mentioned above. When two ruler lines are used, three angles will be reported: The first will be the angle between the two lines; the next two angles are the orientation of each line to the horizon. The last option is the Count Tool section, which provides a single value—Count. This is the total of individual markers placed using the Count tool—it’s the only way to keep a record of this result. The picture of four circles with each circle labeled provides a data point count of 4. Depending on your needs and workflow, Photoshop CS3 Extended can be helpful in quantitative image analysis. It’s up to you to find the creative and practical uses for the data you collect. Much can be accomplished with these powerful tools but if you find limitations hampering your work, there are plug-ins that expand these new analysis features. In some cases, these plug-ins (such as Fovea Pro from Reindeer Graph- ics, www.reindeergraphics.com) improve Photoshop as an investigational tool. ■ ››www.photoshopuser.com 095 Photoshop CS3 Extended for Research Eric J. Wexler is a Research Scientist in the pharmaceutical industry with 20 years’ experience researching cardiovascular disease, cancer, and stroke. Currently, he’s a member of Adobe’s Biomedical Image Advisory Group and can be reached at wexlerimaging@gmail.com.
- 97. New compositing toolsfor architects, engineers, and scientists ■ BY SCOTT ONSTOTT Visualizing a proposed building in the context of its site is often essential in gaining community, regulatory, and client approval. Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended has some new features that make it relatively easy to merge a building model into a site photo. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 096 Integrating3DModelswithSitePhotos PhotoshopCS3ExtendedForEngineering draw additional lines along a few key horizontal and vertical edges in the photo (as shown, bottom left). Rename this shape layer Perspective lines. STEP TWO: Next, bring in a 3D building model. Choose Layer>3D Layers>New Layer from 3D File. Enable one of five supported formats (3DS, OBJ, KMZ, DAE, U3D) and select your 3D model file. When the new layer appears, drag it under the Perspectivelineslayer,renameit3DBuilding,setthelayerOpac- ityto50%,anddouble-click3DBuilding’sthumbnailtoenter3D transformmode. [NAPP members may download the files associated with this tutorial from www.photoshopuser.com/members/aprmay08- downloads.html.] STEP THREE: Playing with the 3D transform tools is the trickiest part of this tutorial—it requires some patience to rotate, roll, drag, slide, scale, orbit, roll, pan, walk, and zoom thebuildingintoalignmentwiththeperspectivelines.Ittook me about 10 minutes playing with the 3D transform tools to match perspective of the virtual and real cameras. Tip: Switch into Edit the 3D Camera mode (C) and use the Zoom the 3D Camera tool (Z) to change the virtual camera’s field of view to adjust the building’s lines of perspective to match the photo. I arrived at a 36mm lens after much experimentation. You can enter precise numerical values in the 3D Camera Setting dialog, which you can access by clicking the downward-facing arrow next to the Zoom the 3D Camera tool (circled). M aking a 3D model fit within a 2D photo is a three- stage process. Stage one is about matching the perspective of the virtual camera—the one that’s displayingthe3Dmodel—tothecharacteristicsofthecamera that the photographer used to shoot the site photo. In stage two, youmaskthe3Dlayerandpaintbackinforegroundele- mentsthatareinfrontofportionsofthemodel,suchasother buildings, cars, trees, people, and street furniture. The final stage involves using a few tricks to illuminate and shade the 3D layer to match the light and shadow of the photo. Perspective matching MatchingtheperspectiveofvirtualandrealcameraswithPhoto- shop is really more art than science. In other words, you have to eyeball it to get believable perspective, so don’t expect or claim photogrammetricaccuracy. Open a site photo in Photoshop CS3 Extended. You’ll start by drawing a few lines of perspective that will help later when you’re playing with the 3D transform tools. Lines of perspec- tive are easy to find if there’s any architecture in the photo, but might not be possible to trace in a natural landscape. STEP ONE: Click on the Shape tools (U) in theToolbox then, in the Options Bar, choose the Line tool, click on the Shape Layers icon (first on the left), setWeight to 1 px, Style to None, and choose a bright red so the lines are visible. Draw a line along any horizontal edge and overshoot it so the line covers the pro- posed building site. Now select the Add to Shape Area icon in the Options Bar—to avoid making multiple shape layers—and ©ISTOCKPHOTO/GILDEDCAGE
- 98. ››www.photoshopuser.com 097 Photoshop CS3 ExtendedFor Engineering Scott Onstott authors books and records video tutorials for architects, engineers, and builders. Check out his Photoshop for Architects DVD and The Digital Architect video podcast at www.ScottOnstott.com. Usethefactthatthebuildingispartiallytransparenttoalign its edges with the visual cues on the Perspective lines layer. When everything looks good, click the Commit button in the Options Bar. Increase the Opacity of the 3D Building layer to 100% and turn off the Perspective lines layer’s visibility by click- ingitsEyeicon. Mask the 3D layer Even though the model’s perspective looks good now, the building appears to be floating in space above the rest of the photo. With the 3D Building layer active, click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and you’ll be able to hide por- tions of the layer that should be obscured by other objects. Build up a selection representing what you want to mask. The Polygonal Lasso tool is good for straight architectural edges and the Quick Selec- tion tool (W) is great for looser selections, like those around cars and people. When you complete your selections, target the 3D Building layer mask thumbnail and choose Edit>Fill. Filling the selection with black completely masks those selected portions of the 3D layer. In some situations it’s easier to paint directly on the mask to reveal portions of the Background layer. For example, we set blackastheForegroundcolorandusedtheBrushtool(B)topaint in the potted plants so they appear in front of the 3D Building layer(seebelow).Tocleanupanymistakes,justpressXandpaint inwhiteonthemask. Faking light and shadow At this point the building fits within the photo but still looks artificial. You can dramatically improve the appear- ance of the 3D layer by rendering light with the Lighting Effects filter. Target the 3D Building layer thumbnail and choose Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to Smart Object. Now choose Filter>Render>Lighting Effects, adjust as needed until you get an appealing look, and click OK. The beauty of this smart filter technique is that you don’t have to get the lighting right the first time. Double-click Lighting Effects in the Layers panel and return to the Lighting Effects dialog for more tweaking. Surfaces in 3D models often look too smooth to exist in the real world. A little bit of noise roughs up surfaces and can make them more believable. Choose Filter>Noise>Add Noise and add just a little, say 2% Uniform noise. Shadows are the final touch to give your 3D model added punch. Paint shadows on a new layer or use my preferred technique of drawing paths with the Pen tool (P) and selecting Shape Layer mode in the Options Bar. The advantage of using paths for shadows is that their boundaries retain crisp edges and vector editability. Add a layer mask to the shadow shape layer and you can fade away the far shadow edge with the Gradient tool (G). ■ tion tool (W) is great for looser selections, like those around Faking light and shadow choose Filter>Render>Lighting Effects, adjust as needed
- 99. Using Vanishing PointExchange with Photoshop CS3 Extended and After Effects CS3 098 ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 By Rich Harrington First off, the technique you are about to learn is not easy. Nor will it work on every photo. And it takes some trial and error. Still reading? If so…it’s now time for something very cool! Through the Vanishing Point filter in Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can create a Vanishing Point Exchange (VPE) file and convert photos into a series of still objects that import and reassemble a 3D space inside After Effects. This can allow for some pretty cool moves “within” a photo. Note: You’ll need both Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended and Adobe After Effects CS3 to pull off this technique. Special thanks to Bob Donlon at Adobe who first showed me this. This tutorial is adapted from my book, Photoshop for Video, Third Edition, from Focal Press.
- 100. RICHHARRINGTON ››www.photoshopuser.com 099 STEP ONE: Beginby selecting a photo with 3D perspective. Not every photo will work well for this type of animation. After sev- eral attempts with many images, I’ve found that VPE works best when the subject of the photo has a clean angle of about 45˚. You should also try to keep the frame as clear as possible so you have less cloning and masking to perform. [NAPP members may download the file used in this tutorial from www.photoshopuser.com/members/aprmay08.html. All files are for personal use only.] STEP TWO: Next, we’ll apply the Vanishing Point filter. With the photo layer selected in the Layers panel, choose Filter>Vanishing Point. The Vanishing Point filter window opens. You now need to draw a series of grids (or planes) that represent your subject. The first grid should be drawn to encompass the largest surface of the object. Here are some general pointers to help you: (1) Look for a straight line to use as reference; (2) extend the grid a bit beyond the boundaries to deal with roof peaks or extruding objects; and (3) remember, you can tweak the first plane as much as needed. STEP THREE: Now you need to define the four corner nodes of the first plane. The Create Plane tool (C) is selected by default when the filter window opens, so click at the four corner points of your surface in the preview image to define the nodes. Try to use a rectangle-shaped object in the image as a guide when creating the plane. You can zoom in with the controls in the bottom-left corner. Be sure to adjust the corner points to line up each edge of the plane with the perspective of the photo. Take your time on this step, as it is the most crucial part and sets the standard for the rest (look closely at our sample below left for guidance). STEP FOUR: Once the first plane is created, you’ll need to generate a second for the other wall. Press the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and then click-and-drag from the center of the existing plane’s edge to create a new plane. It’s crucial that you “tear off” planes from other planes rather than create new ones so the model can stay attached. For this example, drag from the right edge of the initial plane to create the second wall (as shown below). Drag to the right until the plane extends beyond the edge of the wall on the photo. STEP FIVE: Next you’ll need to adjust the angle of the new grid so the lines in the plane match the wall in the photo. (Option- click-and-drag [PC: Alt-click-and-drag] the center control point on the right to change the angle of the new plane to its parent.) By changing the plane so its top edge now aligns with the object, you’ll create a perspective plane. Depending on your image and initial plane, the angle may vary. Be sure to take your time and make small adjustments as needed to get the best results. After rotating, you may need to resize the plane by dragging its edge. Look to the top left of the screen for Grid Size and Angle guidance. STEP SIX: You may want to tear off planes to build the floor (or parking lot in this case). Tear off planes like you did in Step Four and be sure to adjust the two planes so they overlap. For this task, you’ll find it easier to zoom out until you see some of the gray canvas space surrounding the image. This makes it easier to extend the planes beyond the edge of the canvas. Drag the RICHHARRINGTON
- 101. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 100 trial version fromthe Adobe System Inc. website (www.adobe .com). After launching After Effects CS3, create a new project (File>New>New Project). Then choose File>Import>Vanishing Point (.vpe). Navigate to the folder you created in Photoshop, select the VPE file, and click Open. STEP TEN: Poof, the 3D model appears! After Effects creates a new composition and reassembles the 3D objects based on the VPE file we created earlier. It arranges all the planes (each an individual layer in PNG format) and positions them in 3D space. (Double-click the Filmstrip icon in the Project panel to open the composition in the Timeline.) Note:Don’t touch the 3D layer switches down in the Timeline panel or you’ll disable the 3D object. STEP ELEVEN: You can use the Orbit Camera tool (C) to rotate around your scene in After Effects. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind as you position the camera: (1) You can rotate about 40˚ left or right before the scene begins to look too fake; (2) the object doesn’t have a roof so be careful not to pull the camera too high—if you want a roof, you can create and manu- handles and resize the planes as needed until it resembles the image above. STEP SEVEN: You can now export the information about the planes as well as the images that will be mapped to each plane. In the upper-left corner you’ll see a small right-facing arrow; click it, and choose Export for After Effects CS3 (.vpe). Create a new folder, which will serve as a destination for the PNG files and 3D data that Photoshop will generate. Name the VPE file and click Save. STEP EIGHT: After the VPE export is complete, click OK to store the Vanishing Point information and close the window. You can then save and close the Photoshop file. If you need to revisit the planes for tweaking, just open the PSD file and run the Vanishing Point filter again; your previous planes will be there for editing. STEP NINE: You’ll need the latest version of After Effects CS3 to try out this effect. If it’s not at your disposal, download the free Turn off planes to build the parking lot.
- 102. ››www.photoshopuser.com 101 Richard Harrington isowner of RHED Pixel (www.rhedpixel.com), a visual communications company in Washington, D.C. Author of Photoshop for Video, Third Edition, and co-author of Broadcast Graphics on the Spot and Producing Video Podcasts, Richard is Program Manager for the NAB Post-Production World Conference and a regular speaker at Photoshop World. ally position a Photoshop layer; and (3) use keyframes to create a useful animation. Remember you must turn the stopwatch on for each property that you want to keyframe by clicking the Stop- watch icon. You can animate properties like the zoom, position, and point of interest for the camera to create an animation. STEP TWELVE:You may find that you need to fix your layers because they fall short of filling the frame. The individual PNG files can be easily cleaned up in Photoshop. Click each layer in the Timeline to select them one at a time and press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to edit them. In Photoshop, use the Clone Stamp (S) and Eraser (E) tools to clean up unwanted pixels or fill in blank areas. After fixing the images, close and save them to return to After Effects. Note:Don’t change the Canvas Size when touching up your PNG files. Rather,ifyouwanttoextendthephoto’sedges, youshoulddothatpriortocreatingtheVanishingPointplanesin Photoshop.Repeatforalllayersasneededandbesuretosoften theedgesofanyerasing. STEP THIRTEEN: You’ll want to add either footage or a photo of the sky to complete the scene. You can get away with leaving this as a 2D layer if you want, and place it behind the building. Note: If you downloaded the materials mentioned earlier, you’ll find a photo that you can use for this purpose. This is what your Timeline panel should look like at this point (below left). STEP FOURTEEN: The After Effects composition is nearly ready. For safety, we recommend duplicating your composition and storing a copy for the future before rendering it. To duplicate the comp, select it in the Project panel and press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D). Finally, click the flyout menu icon at the top right of the Timeline panel, and select Composition Settings. Enter your preferred video output format and click OK. Tweak the animation as needed and then render the completed project. ■ Before After Poof, the 3D model appears Use the Orbit Camera tool to rotate around your scene
- 103. With every issueof Layers, you’ll discover new Adobe® Creative Suite tips and tutorials that will inspire your imagination and take your creativity to all new levels. Layers also offers portfolio spotlights, product reviews, and industry news you won’t find anywhere else. So, whether you’re a graphic designer, photographer, or digital artist…Layers is your“must read”magazine. The Best of Layers 2 DVD (a $39.99 value) – a must-have collection of video tutorials for Photoshop® , Illustrator® , Lightroom® , Acrobat® , InDesign® , Flash® , and much more. Plus, when you sign up today, you’ll get this fantastic bonus gift… 2-year subscription $ 3295* 73% off cover price Subscribeonlineatwww.layersmagazine.com orcalltoll-free877-622-8632 *All prices are in US dollars. Canadian and International pricing can be found at www.layersmagazine.com. Layers magazine is produced and published by Kelby Training, Inc. – www.Kelbytraining.com. Adobe, Photoshop, Lightroom, Acrobat, Illustrator, Flash, and InDesign are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. The How-To Magazine for Everything Adobe® D E S I G N P H O T O G R A P H Y V I D E O E D U C A T I O N THE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR EVERYTHING ADOBE J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 8 HE HOW-TO MAGAZINE FOR EVERYTHING ADOBE J AAAAAAAAA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NNAAA NA NA NAAAAA NAAA NAA NA NNAA NNA NNAA NNNA NNNNNA NNNNA NA NNNNNNNN UUUUUUUUUUUU AUUU AUUU AUU AU AU AUUUUUU AU AU AU AU AAUUUU AUU AU AU AUUUU AU AU AUUU AAUUUU AUUUUUU AUUUUU AU AUU AAUUUUUU AUUUU AUUUUU AUUUUUUU AAU AAAU AAAU AU AAU AUU AU AU AU AAUU AAAAA R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 8 ten simple solutions to make the switch quick and easyten sim the sw goLive witch quick and easymple solutions to make witch quick and easypp dreamweaver from to IN THE MIX get amazing audio quality using Adobe Soundbooth CS3 and Audition 3 ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS introducing our newest column by digital art pioneer Bert Monroy STEP-BY-STEP TUTORIALS FOR: Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, and more LAYERSMAGAZINE THEHOW-TOMAGAZINEFOREVERYTHINGADOBE JAN/FEB2008 DISPLAYUNTILMARCH18,2008 Produced by napp members
- 104. Library Develop SlideshowPrint Web Lightroom ® 114 118 Adobe® Photoshop® section PhotoshopUser magazine 108 104 111 116
- 105. IMAGE: ©ISTOCKPHOTO/JOSEF KUBICEKILLUSTRATION: TAFFY ORLOWSKI
- 106. Overthepastyear,I’vediscoveredthatproducingqualityprintsusingLightroomissimpleforsomebutfor others it’s achallenge. Some users have thrown in the towel and just print their images using Photoshop. While these extra steps might solve the problem, it complicates the workflow. The Print module in Lightroom can produce quality prints and the focus of this article is how to achieve quality prints without resorting to Photoshop. In the Print module, you can lay out the image as well as print it. We won’t concern ourselves with the layout portion, which is extensive, but rather begin by reviewing some basics on how the Lightroom print engine is designed to print. STEP FOUR: Click the Page Setup button at the bottom right of the Preview area. In the dialog that appears, select the printer, size of paper, and orientation (portrait or landscape). Make sure you select your printer first as it controls what paper size choices are available. You can’t pick the type of media you’re using in this dialog. There’s also an option to Scale the image but I recommend leaving it at 100%. If you need to resize the image, the best way is to jump back to the Layout panel in the Print module. By Dave Huss ››www.photoshopuser.com 105 ightroomofferstwomethodsforprintingimages:printer-managed printing (default) and Lightroom-managed printing. Using printer management,allofthecolorsaremanagedbytheprinter.Lightroom sends the printer a tagged file, which it uses to define how the printed colors will appear on the paper. In Lightroom-managed printing, you select a printer profile before printing. These profiles are designated by printer type and paper type, provided by the printer or paper manufac- turer. When it’s time to print, Lightroom controls allaspectsofthecolor management.It’sthebestchoiceforaccuratecolorprints,assumingyou don’tforgettoturnoffthecolor-management option on your printer. Which choice is best for you? Don’t be too quick to dismiss the printer-managed color option. Printers have come a long way in the past few years, and my tests confirm that allowing the printer to manage the color can produce good results. If you’re not sure, I recommendthatyouprintafewprinter-managedphotostoseeif itworksforyou. Print setup Regardless of which print-management method you choose, the process begins the same way. The Print module can print a lot of images in a single job, but for the sake of this article, we’ll look at what it takes to print a single photo. STEP ONE: To produce consistent quality prints in Light- room, you need to calibrate your monitor using a third- party calibration device (they’re relatively inexpensive). STEP TWO: IntheLibraryorDevelopmodule,selectthe photoyouwanttoprint.InthePrintmodule,youcan alsoselectphotosfromtheFilmstrip. STEP THREE: How the image appears in the Print module depends on which template is selected in the Template Browser panel. If the photo orientation is incorrect, there are no rotation arrows in the Print module, but we’ll fix it in the next step.
- 107. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 106 you have anyissues, check at www.epson.com and make sure you have the latest printer driver. If you’re using Windows, you don’t have to do anything except look smug. STEP THREE: Now, click Print Settings (you don’t have to close the Print dialog) and make sure you have the correct paper type selected. Click Save to return to the Print dialog. STEP FOUR: Click the Print button. To save some ink, look at the photo as the paper begins to exit the printer and kill the print job if it looks out of whack. The paper is already history but by killing the job you can save some ink. Lightroom-controlled color management To make the best possible prints, you need to use Lightroom to man- age the color. This method uses ICC profiles that are made for specific papers for your printer that you need to download from either the printer or the paper manufacturer’s website. Not all printers have profiles. Typically, profiles are only offered for high-end consumer and professional printers. So, if you bought a photo printer that only cost $60, odds are that you won’t find a profile and you should print using printer-managed color. STEP ONE: The first step is to download and install the profiles for the printer and paper you’re using. For example, Epson provides, free of charge, four different ICC color profiles for my Stylus Photo R1800. Why four? Because Epson makes four different paper types for use on this printer: glossy, matte, fine art, and canvas. (Note: Canon and HP also offer ICC profiles.) What if you want to use a paper made by a different manufacturer? Go to the paper manufacturer’s website and download an ICC profile that matches their paper with your specific printer. If you’re using a STEP FIVE: After completing Page Setup, go to the Print Job panel. If Draft Mode Printing is selected, all other options are grayed out and Lightroom uses the thumbnail as a print source. The resulting photo prints fast and it’s relatively ugly. The default Print Resolution setting is 240 ppi. This setting will make an adequate print but if you’re using an Epson printer, a setting of 360 ppi (which is an even divisor of the maximum ppi) is often recommended. I doubt you’ll see any difference in either print time or appearance. Generally speaking, larger images can get by with lower resolution settings. STEP SIX: Turn off Draft Mode Printing to enable the other options in the Print Job panel. Print Sharpening is a feature that confuses some users. It has three settings: Low, Medium, and High. What causes confu- sion is that when the setting is changed, nothing appears to have changed in the preview photo. That’s because nothing has changed.The sharpening is applied to the image file that’s sent to the printer and the original image is unchanged. Which Print Sharpen- ing setting should you use? It’s such a mild, albeit good, sharpening algorithm that you can use the High setting on nearly every photo without blowing out the edges of objects in the photo. Note: You don’t need to go through this setup every time. Once you have the print settings the way you want, save them as a Print Template (click the Add button at the bottom of the left-side panels area) and you can call them all up immediately with a single mouse click in the Template Browser panel. Printer-controlled color management This is the simple solution, as long as you make sure everything is set up correctly. STEP ONE: In the Print Job panel, choose Managed by Printer (it’s the default). STEP TWO: Click the Print button. We’re printing to an Epson Stylus Photo R1800, so we’ll click the drop-down menu below Presets, choose Color Matching, and click the ColorSync button. Windows users need to click the Properties button in the Print dialog, then click the Advanced button or tab and choose ICM Method for Image Color Management. This ensures the correct printer driver software is applied before printing the image. Note:The location of features in the Print dialog will vary greatly, depending on your printer. The important thing is to locate the ColorSync (in the printer color management section) and ICM set- tings in the Print dialog and use the settings listed above right. As of press time and depending on your printer, Epson users running Mac OS X Leopard may not be able to change the Color Matching to ColorSync—the option may appear grayed out. If it is, finish the steps in this section and the photo will still print nicely. If Set the resolution and sharpening in the Print Job panel
- 108. ALL IMAGES BYDAVE HUSS ››www.photoshopuser.com 107 definition, here are some generally accepted guidelines: For images that don’t have large areas of bright saturated colors, choose Relative; if you’re printing fine art photos on matte paper or printing images with lots of dark colors, consider Perceptual. STEP FIVE: Click the Print button. The most important step is to ensurethatPrinterManagesColorissettoOff(NoColorAdjustment). If you leave it on, both Lightroom and the printer will attempt to do color management and the usual result is a light magenta cast on the finished print. Onceyouhaveeverythingsetupcorrectly,youshouldexperienceaccu- rate,qualityprintseverytime.Wheneverythingworksright,makesure you save the settings as a template in the Template Browser panel. The cardinal rules are to ensure that the ICC color settings are correct for printer-managed printing and to make sure when using a profile that color management is turned off. If you’re still experiencing problems with a specific printer, make sure that you’re using the most current profiles and check the Lightroom section of the Adobe User to User Forums (www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/ webx/.3bc2cf0a) to see if someone else is having the same issue. ■ Selected profiles in the Print Job panel printer that’s several years old, consider buying a new printer. It’s far better to buy a new printer than to curse the fact that the manufac- turer doesn’t upgrade the ICC profiles for its older printers. STEP TWO: Now that the profiles are installed, your next step is to click Profile in the Print Job panel. If this is your first time, your choices will be Managed by Printer and Other. Click on Other to see the profiles available. Are any of the profiles checked? You most likely downloaded the profiles but didn’t install them. When you see the list of profiles, check the ones that you want to appear in the Color Management area of the Print Job panel and click OK. STEP THREE: The profiles you selected will appear in the Color Management area. Choose the profile that matches the printer and the media that you’re using for your print. STEP FOUR: The last step is to choose the Rendering Intent; the two choices are Relative and Perceptual. Rather than provide a technical With more than 25 years’ experience as a photographer, Dave Huss has authored more than 18 books on digital photography and photo editing. His latest book is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.1 for the Professional Photographer. Dave is a popular confer- ence speaker in the U.S. and Europe.
- 109. Folders/Maggie Hallahan ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 108 FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER MaggieHallahan Q. Can you give us a short list of the equipment you use? I use Canon EOS 5Ds with Canon 17–24, 24–70, 80–200, and 100–400mm lenses; (12) 4-GB SanDisk media cards; a 17" MacBook Pro; tripod with Really Right Stuff ballhead; Quantum Qflash; Canon Speedlite; and studio/mobile Dyna-Lites. I also have a MamiyaRZ67ProIIDthatIusewitharenteddigitalbackandmyMamiya50,80,and100–200mmlenses.Then,ofcourse,there’s Lightroom and Photoshop. Q. When did you know you wanted to be a photographer? Who influenced you? I knew very early on when I had a compulsion to put time in a bottle, and photography seemed like the best way to do it. My influences include the Family of Man exhibit, Ansel Adams, Brett Weston, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Warren King. Q. What’s your favorite feature in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom? After tagging the best selects, I can easily move everything to a Web gallery that my clients and friends can view. It really only takes a few minutes to upload the files, and then it’s ready. Q. You’re adept at many photographic styles. Do you have a favorite style or subject? I love being able to photograph different subjects. As a photographer, you don’t have to niche yourself unless you choose to, and I don’t buy into that philosophy. I’m having fun and enjoy the creative flexibility. It feels good. Q. The colors in many of your images are quite vivid. Do you let the scene speak for itself and reproduce it faith- fully or do you enhance the color? I see vivid colors everywhere. Film isn’t able to record the full range of color because of the limits of emulsion. There are also limits of the auto read- ing of the RAW digital file. I don’t bother setting a white balance before I photograph because I always shoot RAW, and normally the Kelvin of light in my shoots changes rapidly. I just set the camera to 5600 Kelvin. The RAW file isn’t different if you set it to Auto or put in a base Kelvin like I do. The RAW is the RAW is the RAW—the camera sensor just records one way. After saving the file, I open it in Lightroom and adjust to what I saw. From the time photography was invented, this is what has been done in postproduc- tion. Lightroom is a postproduction tool that frees me, and I feel confident that Icancapture the details of the scene as I saw it. When I go into post, I think of how it felt to be there. One of the other beauties about photographing digi- tally is I don’t have to think black and white or chrome or negative before the shoot—I can decide later in post. Contact Maggie Hallahan at www.maggiehallahan.com Maggie Hallahan’s award-winning work has been published in hundreds of newspapers and magazines worldwide. After a decade as a freelance foreign correspondent based in San Francisco and Tokyo, she worked for the Ger- man magazine Focus as a global correspondent. Since 2000, Maggie has merged from editorial to corporate, photographing for companies such as AMO USA, Disney International, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft. For the past two decades,Maggiehasusedherexpertisetohelpnonprofitsandfoundationstelltheirstoryandiscurrently concentratingherattentiononmalariapreventionissuesinAfrica,SouthAmerica,andAsia.Thisworkwillappearas a chapter in the book called WhatMatters (September 2008). CanonEOS5D,Canon17–35mm,1/60atf/2.8,35mm,CR2
- 110. Adobe Photoshop LightroomSection ››www.photoshopuser.com 109 CanonEOS5D,Canon17–35mm,1/125atf/5.6,17mm,CR2 CanonEOS5D,Canon17–35mm,1/500atf/8,35mm,CR2 CanonEOS-1Ds,Canon100–400mm,1/5000atf/4.5,105mm,CR2
- 111. Lightroom users, ifyou’d like to be considered for the “Featured Photographer,” email letters@photoshopuser.com. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 110 CanonEOS5D,Canon17–35mm,1/80atf/2.8,35mm,CR2 CanonEOS5D,Canon28–70mm,1/125atf/8,50mm,CR2 CanonEOS-1Ds,Canon28–70mm,1/640atf/8,28mm,CR2 CanonEOS5D,Canon17–35mm,30secatf/6.3,35mm,CR2
- 112. Chris Orwig XYX Y LIGHTROOM Tips &Tricks Recently, I was privileged to have lunch with the legendary photog- rapher Douglas Kirkland (see www.chrisorwig.com/douglas_kirk- land for photos). We were looking at his work and he stopped on an amazing, iconic photo of Audrey Hepburn. Douglas said, “Ya know, sometimes you just need to keep it simple.” Those words resonated with me. So enjoy some simple Lightroom tips. Filter out the clutter Photographers need to edit to find the best images from a group of images—no easy task! In fact, many argue that image editing is an art. To keep things simple, here’s what I recommend: First, import the images into Lightroom and scroll through them in the Library module’s Grid view (G) to get a feel for the image set. Next, click on the first image of the set and press the Caps Lock key (I’ll tell you why in a second). Then use the Arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the images. When you find an image you like, press 1–5 for Star ratings or 6–9 for Label ratings. I recommend you pick a rating convention and stick with it. For example, use one star to mark all the images that are the best. Because you pressed the Caps Lock key, when you add a Star or Label rating, it will rate or label the image and auto- matically advance to the next image. Finally, press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to turn on the Library Filters and click on the one star in the Toolbar. Click to the left of the stars and choose Rating Is Equal To from the list. Now you’ll see the images that are rated with one star. Oh no! Most creative photographers I know see mistakes as a vibrant part of the creative process. Personally, I figure if I’m not making mistakes, I’m probably not trying hard enough. So, if you make a mistake when processing your images in the Develop module, press-and-hold the Command key (PC: Ctrl key) and then tap the Z key to Undo multiple times. If you’ve gone back too far, press Shift- Command (PC: Shift-Ctrl) and tap the Z key to Redo multiple times. Move like a butterfly, sting like a bee When you process your images in the Develop module, it’s critical that you stay nimble, fluid, and free. One of the best ways to do this is to navigate between the different Develop module panels. First, Option-click (PC: Alt-click) on any of the triangular arrows that are used to open and close the panels. This will change the panels to Solo mode, which means only one panel will open at a time, thus getting rid of the need to scroll up and down to find the right panel. Next, access the panels with shortcuts. Press Com- mand-1 (PC: Ctrl-1) for Basic; -2 for Tone Curve; -3 for HSL/Color/ Grayscale; -4 for Split Toning; -5 for Detail; -6 for Lens Corrections; and -7 for Camera Calibration. Prepared and preplanned Backpacking in the High Sierras is one of my favorite pastimes. When you go to the high country, it’s critical to be prepared and plan for different contingencies. When you’re working on your images, this is equally true. In Lightroom, one of the best ways to be prepared is to download and install presets for the Develop module (including presets for sharpening and image process- ing). Some of you may be reticent about using presets because you don’t like the idea of “canned” settings. I’m with you. As a photographer, I want all of my images to be 100% unique; therefore, I use presets to get me started and to give me ideas for potential Develop settings. If you’re new to using presets, check out Matt Kloskowski’s preset tips, downloads, and instructions on www.lightroomkillertips.com. Another noteworthy preset site is www.inside-lightroom.com. ■ CHRISORWIG ››www.photoshopuser.com 111
- 113. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 112 . . .. X YX Y The Export dialog was given a substantial upgrade in Lightroom 1.3. Along with a new look and better preset management came the ability to extend export functionality through third-party plug-ins. Let’s take a look at this new and improved dialog. Rob Sylvan Exciting Export Options UNDER THE LOUPE T he Export dialog is now comprised of three main areas: On the left are the presets; to the right of that are the export settings panels; and on the bottom are the “ac- tion” buttons—Add, Remove, Export, and Cancel. Presets The left side of the dialog is reserved for presets, which are used to save a configuration of settings for reuse. Three preinstalled presets fall under the Lightroom Presets: Burn Full-Sized JPEGs, Export to DNG, For E-Mail, and these cannot be removed or updated. In addition, you’ll find the default User Presets folder, which is one location where you can save custom presets. You can create a folder for storing presets two ways: Control-click (PC: Right-click) the User Presets heading and choose New Folder, or click the Add button (bottom left of the panel) and create a new folder in the process of saving your preset. To delete custom presets and folders, just highlight them and click on the Remove button. Note: Removing a folder will delete any presets inside it. To share presets with other workstations, Control-click (PC: Right-click) the preset and choose Export. Copy the preset to the destination workstation, Control-click (PC: Right-click) the folder you want to keep it in, and choose Import. Presets can be updated with new set- tings by adjusting the set- tingsasdesiredthenControl- clicking (PC: Right-clicking) the preset and choosing Update with Current Settings from the contextual menu. Note: As mentioned above, you can no longer update the preinstalled Lightroom Presets with new settings. DOWNLOAD PLUG-INS Many export plug-ins have become available since the release of the Adobe Export Software Development Kit (SDK). Here’s where to find some that I’ve used: www.timothyarmes.com/lrmogrify.php www.timothyarmes.com/lrtransporter.php Timothy Armes created Mogrify and Transporter. Mogrify leverages ImageMagick to allow additional image modification on export (such as watermarking, image resizing, borders, and more). Transporter can pull metadata from your images to create companion text files for each exported image. Both plug-ins are free to use for a limited number of images per export, and unrestricted versions of each plug-in are available for a donation of any amount. http://regex.info/blog/category/camera-equipment/ lightroom Jeffrey Friedl created plug-ins for exporting to Picasa Web, Zenfolio, Flickr, and SmugMug, as well as the functionality that allows plug-ins to work together (called “piglets”—more on this later). These plug-ins are offered for free. http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroomsdk This is the home of the SDK, where you can download it and discuss it in the forum. More on the SDK in the sec- tion entitled “Exporting extended” later in this article. Plug-ins The section above the export settings is where you can access your installed export plug-ins. Only Export Files to Disk comes packaged with Lightroom. Just click the drop-down arrow to see the list of your installed plug-ins and choose the one you want. Of course, you’ll first have to install the plug-in. Installing a plug-in is as simple as putting the plug-in file (it will have a .lrplugin extension) into the Modules folder (you may need to create this) at the following location:
- 114. ››www.photoshopuser.com 113 Adobe Photoshop LightroomSection Mac:Library/ApplicationSupport/Adobe/Lightroom/Modules Windows XP: Documents and Settings[Username] Application DataAdobeLightroomModules Windows Vista: Users[Username]AppDataRoaming AdobeLightroomModules Note: A plug-in, such as Mogrify, also requires the installation (free) of ImageMagick to function. Check the specific installation instructions offered by each plug-in developer to make sure you’ve covered all the bases. After you’ve installed an Export plug-in, you can cre- ate presets using your favorite settings for that plug-in. When you choose that preset, it will invoke the plug-in and settings—a real timesaver! Export settings The export settings panels behave just like the panels found in the rest of Lightroom, which means they’re col- lapsible: Click a panel label to collapse and expand that panel. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) any panel label to col- lapse and expand all panels. Option-click (PC: Alt-click) any panel label to enable and disable Solo mode. When a panel is collapsed, you’ll see a summary of its settings displayed in the header. Tip: Some of the export plug-ins and piglets add many panels to the dialog, so I find Solo mode reduces the need to scroll and allows me to see all of my settings at a glance. Export Location, File Naming, File Settings, Metadata, and Post-Processing: These are pretty self-explanatory so we won’t go into them in detail. Image Settings: The image resizing function for JPEG, PSD, and TIFF was given a considerable overhaul. The old Constrain Maximum Size checkbox has been replaced by Resize to Fit to make its job a little more clear. There are now four different options for resizing yourexports:Width & Height, Dimen- sions, Long Edge, and Short Edge. I recommend experimenting with exporting test images using each option but here’s a brief explanation of what they do: height (H) define the maximum amount each side can be resized to fit while maintaining original aspect ratio. within the entered dimensions while maintaining aspect ratio. When this option is selected, height and width are no longer associated with the values fields; you just enter the maximum dimensions you want the images resized to fit and Lightroom does the rest, regardless of orientation. same manner: You set the maximum value for the edge in question and Lightroom resizes all images to fit accordingly. Lightroom can resample images smaller or larger than the original image using the same resampling method as Camera Raw (Lanczos’ algorithm). To prevent an image from being resampled at larger than its original pixel dimensions, check the Don’t Enlarge box. You can still choose pixels, inches, or centimeters for units. Exporting extended The release of the Adobe Export SDK opened the door for third-party developers to extend export functionality in a variety of ways. Instead of only exporting copies to your desktop, you can now export directly to sites such as Flickr, Zenfolio, SmugMug, and Picasa Web or your own Web server. You can perform additional image manipulation (such as converting to other color spaces, watermarking, addingborders, etc). You can even export metadata from your catalogs into text files. And this is just the beginning! For an example of what’s possible, I exported an image directly to my Flickr account and in the process (beyond default export options), configured all my Flickr settings, applied a little output sharpening, stripped the profile (after and colors, applied a graphical watermark, and pulled the image title from the IPTC and displayed it on the border. I could have done more! I leveraged Jeffrey Friedl’s Flickr plug-in in conjunction with Timothy Armes’ Mogrify piglet. You’re probably ask- ing, “What’s a piglet?” A piglet is the name coined by Jeffrey Friedl for a plug-in that plugs into another plug-in. You can read about his piglet process in his blog. The beauty of a piglet is that it allows different plug-ins to work together in a single export. So for my example, the Flickr plug-in handled the Flickr parts of the process while the Mogrify piglet handled the image-manipulation parts. and all the plug-in developers! ■ RobSylvan,atrainer,author,photographer,andWebdeveloper,istheHelpDeskSpecialistfortheNationalAssociationofPhotoshopPro- fessionalsandalsoaSeniorImageInspectorforiStockphoto.CheckouthisLightroomtips,tutorials,andpresetsatwww.sylvanworks.com.
- 115. . . .. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 114 X YX Y The Camera Calibration panel is typically used to achieve accurate color in digital images by making adjustments for specific camera sensors. While this is inter- esting and important for some purposes, the Camera Calibration panel is more functional and a lot more fun when used as a creative tool. Angela Drury Getting Creative with Camera Calibration WORKING CREATIVELY IN LIGHTROOM L et’s start with a brief discussion of the Camera Cali- bration panel before we get into the fun stuff. Camera sensors respond to and represent color differently, and can even vary within the same camera model. Tradi- tionally, the Camera Calibration panel was used in Adobe Camera Raw, and now Lightroom, to adjust and compen- sate for these camera color variances. Ifyourcameraproducesimageswithanoticeablegreen- ishormagentatintinshadows,oranoverallredorbluecast, usetheCameraCalibrationpaneltomakecoloradjustments for this particular camera. Then you can create a preset of the calibration and apply it to images shot with that camera to compensate for the color shift. We could get very techni- cal and detailed about measuring and adjusting color, but for this article we don’t need to get too deep because our focus is creative color adjustments and stretching the limits of the Camera Calibration panel. Creative control Before Lightroom, the Camera Calibration panel in Adobe Camera Raw was the best way to apply creative color treat- ments to RAW images. The Camera Calibration panels in Lightroom and Camera Raw are actually the same, but now with the more intuitive HSL/Color/Grayscale panel, they’re not necessarily the first place photographers go to adjust color. Although it attracts less attention these days, the Camera Calibration panel is still very effective as a creative tool. There are many instances when it yields the best results over other panels. Our flower photo isn’t a great image by any means, but it illustrates the vari- ous treatments that can be achieved in relatively few steps using the Camera Calibration panel. Thepanelalsoworks well in conjunction with White Balance Temp and Tint slid- ers to create vivid, saturatedcolors.You can achieve subtle effects depending on what’s right for the image but because this image is a bit bland, we’re going for over-the-top color. STEP ONE: The original image needs some help. The flat light- ing and oversaturated petals make the image somewhat dull, but the background is interesting and could be emphasized to add drama. In the Basic panel, we increased the Blacks slider, lowered the Saturation slider, and addedVibrance.These adjust- ments give it a tiny boost, but it definitely needs more. STEP TWO: To add contrast and emphasize the background, we decreased the Darks slider in the Tone Curve panel. This brings down the dark tones in the background, and although the petals are too dark and saturated, the image is starting to look more interesting. STEP THREE:We’re using the Camera Calibration panel for this image because of the petals and the background.We can easily target the isolated color of the petals and also make dramatic adjustments to the dark tones of the background. Mak- ing adjustments here is an intuitive BLACKANDWHITE To create interesting black-and-white tones, simply lower the Basic panel’s Saturation slider to –100 and adjust the Camera Calibration panel’s sliders to get different mono- chromatic tones. [For a complete tutorial on this method, see Photoshop User, December 2007, p. 102.—Ed.]
- 116. Adobe Photoshop LightroomSection ››www.photoshopuser.com 115 ALL IMAGES BY ANGELA DRURY process and you have to make bold adjustments to every slider to see what works. For the petals, adjustments to the Red and Green Hue and Saturation controls softened the color and added a slight shimmer. Slight moves of the Blue sliders further enhance the color and now the image looks much better. STEP FOUR: Because of the shadowy background, this image illustrates the dramatic color changes you can make using the Shadows slider. Dragging the slider to either extreme completely changes the background tone, giving the image a completely different appeal.You can further alter the colors by revisiting the other sliders and pushing them around until you come up with something interesting. Be sure to make Snapshots so you don’t lose track of effects as you move the colors around! [For more information on using Snapshots, see p. 118.—Ed.] Exposure and Contrast.You can always go back to the Cam- era Calibration panel to correct any settings that become too extreme, as we did here by lowering the Red Primary Saturation slider. STEP SIX: One last step is to lower the Basic panel’s Satura- tion slider to see how the image works in black and white. This one looks pretty good and we can continue making adjustments to perfect the monochromatic tones. Angela Drury is an award-winning photographer with 18 years’ experience shooting film and digital. She has received numerous awards and has been featured in several group and solo shows. Angela lives in San Francisco and works at Adobe Systems Inc. To see her photography, visit www.angeladrury.com. As you can see, the Camera Calibration panel can be a lot of fun and very creative. It also works well with landscapes and other types of scenic imagery. I’ve also used it to enhance the mood of travel images and portraits. Experiment and have fun! ■ Result of setting Shadows Tint slider to –100 (green) Result of setting Shadows Tint slider to +100 (magenta) STEP FIVE: As previously mentioned, the Camera Calibration panel works well with the White Balance controls. We created the final color variation of this image using the White Balance Temp andTint sliders, shifting the overall color balance to blue. After changing the white balance, we made adjustments to
- 117. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 116 . . .. X YX Y There are many reasons to use Lightroom in your workflow; however, one of the most compelling reasons is not what it does for one photo, but what it does for you when you have a lot of photos to edit. The Sync function makes short work of editing an entire shoot. Matt Kloskowski Change One Photo, Change ’em All UNDER THE HOOD L et’s assume a typical editing session where you’re working on your photos in the Develop module. You make changes to one photo and it looks good but you have a bunch of other photos shot under the same lighting conditions. They don’t need the TLC that you gave the first photo because they’re all basically the same. What you want is a quick, easy way to apply the changes from the first photo to all the others. Oh, and you don’t want to go in and manually change each one; you want Lightroom to do it for you. No sweat, here’s how: STEP ONE: Begin in the Develop module with the first photo of the group and develop this photo as you normally would. Here, we’ve adjusted theWhite Balance, Exposure, Recovery, Blacks, Clarity, and even theTone Curve. STEP TWO: Because this photo could use a little cropping, we’ll do that now, too. Just press the R key to enter Crop mode and make your changes. When you’re done, press R again to return to Loupe view.
- 118. ››www.photoshopuser.com 117 Adobe Photoshop LightroomSection ALL IMAGES BY MATT KLOSKOWSKI From one to many Okay, we’ve made some changes to one photo; however, there are a bunch of other photos from this shoot that were shot in the same exact light, using the same exposure. So whatever changes we had to make to the first photo will need to be made to the rest of them. Let’s continue. STEP THREE:Take a look down at the Filmstrip.You should see the rest of your photos next to the one you’re currently working on (the highlighted one). Once you identify the photos to which you want to apply the same settings, you have to select them so Lightroom knows which ones you want to target: Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) or Shift-click on the other photos now. STEP FOUR: At the bottom of the right-side panels area in the Develop module, you’ll see a Sync button. Click on it to open the Synchronize Settings dialog and here’s where you choose which settings you want to synchronize.You may be asking,“What is there really to choose from?”Well, here’s a good example: Remember, we cropped the photo back in StepTwo. Chances are the crop you used for that first photo won’t work for all of the others (unless it’s a product shot taken on a tripod where nothing moved). So you’ll probably want to uncheck the Crop checkbox so Lightroom won’t apply those settings. COPY-AND-PASTE If you don’t have to synchronize a large number of pho- tos but still want a quick way to apply changes from one photo to another, then you can try the copy-and-paste method. Here’s how it works. First, find the edited photo in the Library module from which you want to copy the settings. Then click on it and choose Photo>Develop Settings>Copy Set- tings. You can also use the keyboard shortcut, which is Shift-Command-C (PC: Shift-Ctrl-C). The Copy Settings dialog will open (it looks just like the Synchronize Set- tings dialog). Choose which settings you want to copy and then click the Copy button. Next, click on the photo (or Command-click [PC: Ctrl- click] to select multiple photos) onto which you want to paste the settings. Click the Photo menu and choose Develop Settings>Paste Settings (Shift-Command-V [PC:Shift-Ctrl-V]).Thispastes the settings you copied from the source photo onto the selected photos. In the end, it does exactly the same thing as Synchronize; it’s just a different way to do it. There’s really no right way: Use whichever method is easiest and works best for you at the time. ■ STEP FIVE: Now make sure that everything else you want to synchronize is checked and anything that you don’t want synchronized is unchecked in the dialog.When you’re ready, click the Synchronize button. If you look in the Filmstrip, you’ll see the thumbnails of all the photos being updated to reflect the new settings. Note: If you’ve used the Quick Develop panel to make adjust- mentstoyourphotos,youcanalsousetheSyncSettingscom- mand in the Library module, and it will do the same thing as SyncintheDevelopmodule.Butourtutorialisbasedontypical photo editing in the Develop module, where the majority of theworkisdone.(Foranotheroption,see“Copy-and-Paste.”)
- 119. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 118 If you havea Lightroom question you’d like to see published in this column, please send it to letters@photoshopuser.com. If, however, you’d like your question answered immediately, go to the Help Desk at www.photoshopuser.com. LIGHTROOM Q&A X YRafael“RC”Concepcion Q. I can’t find a way to rename my photo. Can you help? TorenameyourphotoinLightroom,youhavetobeintheLibrary module. Click on the photo and choose Library>Rename Photo tobringuptheRenamePhotodialog.ClicktheFileNamingdrop- downmenuandchooseyourfilenamingoption.Tobatchrename aseriesofphotos,chooseLibrary>RenamePhotosandselectEdit fromtheFileNamingmenu.IntheFilenameTemplateEditorthat appears, make your selections and click Done. Or if you need to rename a single photo quickly, open the Metadata panel, click in theFileNamefield,andenterthenewname. Q. How do Snapshots differ from the History panel? When you import an image into Lightroom, the program starts tokeeparunningtabintheHistorypanelofeverythingthatyou dotothatimage,whichmeansthatyourHistorypanelwilllistall the modifications that you’ve made to the image. On the other hand,aSnapshotletsyousavethecurrentstateoftheimageasa moment in time that you can go back to (click the plus sign [+] in thepanelheadertocreateaSnapshot).Thisiswhereyoucankeep multipleversionsofeditsinonespot.YoucanalsouseSnapshots as a starting point of an edit. If you click on a Snapshot and make additionalchangestoit,youcanControl-click(PC:Right-click)the SnapshotnameandselectUpdatewithCurrentSettings. Q. I’ve heard people talk about the “rule of thirds.” What’s that? The rule of thirds is a compositional aid employed by photogra- phersandartists.Pictureatick-tack-toeboardwheretwohorizon- tal and two vertical lines intersect. When composing your photo, ifyouplacetheitemofinterestnearanintersectionofthoselines, yourimageinvariablybecomesmoreinteresting. To illustrate, let’s use a photo from my friend Timothy White. When we select the Crop Overlay tool (R), Lightroom displays the rule-of-thirds crop overlay. Notice the area of interest at the top-leftintersectionpoint. But it doesn’t end there! In addition to the rule of thirds, photographers and artists also make use of Divine Proportion compositionalaids,suchasthegoldentriangleortheFibonacci- inspired golden spiral. Those overlays are also in Lightroom. Click on View>Crop Guide Overlay>Golden Spiral and Light- roomautomatically replaces the rule-of-thirds overlay with the graphical representation of the Fibonacci sequence. With the spiraloverlayin place, crop so the most important areas in the image follow the curve, and the image will be more interesting. While they’re no substitute for getting the composition right in camera, crop overlaysletyouseeyourimageindifferentways. Tip:PresstheOkeytocyclethroughalloftheoverlays. Q. How can I use Keyword Shortcuts in an image? To set a Keyword Shortcut, go to the Library module and choose Metadata>Set Keyword Shortcut, or press Command-Shift-K (PC: Ctrl-Shift-K). In the Set Keyword Shortcut dialog that appears, you can to enter a series of keywords that you can apply to your image or images. When your keywords are set, select the image(s) and press K to apply the keywords to those images. Keyword Shortcuts appear in the Keyword Tags panel of the Library module. Click the tag in that panel and Lightroom displays only the images assigned to that keyword. ■ RAFAEL“RC”CONCEPCION TIMOTHYWHITE RAFAEL“RC”CONCEPCION
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- 121. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 120 reviews GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopgear The seduction isthe high quality of its RAW files, how much they yield, and the large, stunning prints they can produce. Despite the sensor’s higher pixel density, there’s a noticeable reduction in noise when shooting at higher ISOs, such as 1,600, making it practi- cal to print blowups of cropped areas. A 16-bit RAW file opens in Photoshop at 120MBs and without any resampling, it produces a 20.8x31.2" print at 180 dpi. Files sharpen beauti- fully and if anything, are easily oversharpened. Combining the Mark III with one of Canon’s L-series lenses lets you capture textures and resolve detail not possible on the Mark II. The new Highlight Tone Priority feature is very effective at preventing clipped highlights and retaining detail by reducing the brightest areas by approximately 1 stop, and smoothing the gradation between midtones and high- lights.Meteringandfocusingis instantaneous and accurate— even in low light. The Mark III can shoot 5 frames per second (fps) RAW with burst rates of 11 images—remarkable consider- ing it’s processing 21-mega- pixel files at 14 bits. Although the new, bigger 3" LCD holds up well in bright light, I’m still not a fan of Live View and prefer to compose using the optical viewfinder. Unlike Canon’s 40D, Live View on the Mark III sadly has no autofocus option: Focusing is totally manual. A useful, 5–10x image-magnification assist fea- ture combined with the image stabilizer does a remarkable job of locking the image steady for critical focusing. Live View’s live histogram option is great for exposing for the widest tonal range. Canon has solved the per- sistent sensor-dust problem of the Mark II with an effective built-in dust-removal system, practically eliminating dust touchup in Photoshop. The Mark III uses a new long- lasting li-ion battery that’s half the size and weight of the Mark II’s antiquated NiMH battery. Comprehensive bat- tery data, such as shot count, remaining capacity, and over- all battery life, is now tracked as a menu feature. The Mark III operation has been streamlined by eliminat- ing the Mark II’s annoying need to press two buttons to access some camera functions. Menus have been reorganized to diminish scrolling, making navigating easier. Annoyingly, Canon still has no dedicated mirrorlock-upbutton;however, as a compromise, a great new feature called “My Menu” lets you select, save, and then quickly access any menu item including customized func- tions, such as mirror lock-up, to your own personalized menu list. Like the Mark II, the Mark III has slots for CF and SD memory cards. The new pro- cessor allows you to automati- cally save files to one card and simultaneously back up the files to the other card in either RAW or JPEG format. If you can handle the price and size, the Mark III is a work- horse and brings an exciting new level to digital SLRs. ■ At first, Canon’s new top-of- the-line, full-frame, 21.1-mega- pixel EOS-1Ds Mark III camera looks physically the same as its predecessor, the 16.7- megapixel EOS-1Ds Mark II. TheMarkIII,however,hasbeen significantly reengineered with manyimprovementsand anewCMOSsensortoproduce substantially higher-quality files. The Mark III also has a new dual-image processor thatworksintandemtospeed up data handling and a new 14-bit, A/D converter result- ing in more subtle colors and smoother gradients. The weatherproofed, magnesium-alloy body is exceptionally strong and responsive,performinginall kinds of weather and harsh environments—butit’sbigand heavy. It’s the camera equiva- lent of Dirty Harry Callahan’s .44 Magnum and for many, its size, weight, and $8,000 price tag might be a deal breaker. PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: $8,000 (body only) N/A Canon USA, Inc. 800-652-2666 www.usa.canon.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ EOS-1DsMarkIII Full-frame, 21.1-megapixel digital SLR Review by SteveBaczewski
- 122. ››www.photoshopuser.com 121 reviews GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopgear Professional image-correction plug-ins browneda bit. The default is slightly heavier in both blue and cyan which compensates for that issue, but a little tweaking can improve just aboutanythingifyourmonitor is properly calibrated. DIGITALSHOProisexcellent for correcting shadows and highlights, including backlight- ing and casting from exposure issues. It’s simple enough to eyeball the correction, and I’d recommenditsusebeforeDIGI- TAL GEM Pro for best results. DIGITAL GEM Pro does a finejobofremovingnoiseand grain from images without leaving them looking overly adjusted—something that’s common in some competing products. Again, the default may be too much, but you can duplicate your image layer, make this correction, and adjust the opacity of the corrected layer. DIGITAL GEM Airbrush Pro can make huge improvements easily, but it shows its value with larger image sizes and resolutions.I’drecommendthe layer method for best results (see GEM Pro above). With a little practice, you’ll find that details look correct and the skin surfaces are natural. This updated set of plug-ins (formerly from Applied Science Fiction) includes some of the best out there; however, as a loyal user, it’s time for a new user interface and more accu- rate default settings. ■ You only have a compact point- and-shoot camera when you snag that once-in-a-lifetime, candid headshot. Yougettheshotbut find that the image is noisy or has color issues from the obvious differences in camera quality. Kodak’supdatedimage-correc- tionplug-insofferanexcellent way to improve your photos. DIGITAL ROC Pro is for color balance restoration and overall image balance. This is a great tool for improving scanned images that are older and where some of the old N-finish papers may have $99.95 per plug-in Mac andWindows Eastman Kodak Company www.asf.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: ImagenomicProfessionalPlug-inSuite Image-correction plug-ins Reviewby DanielM.East noise, and it does so with fewer artifacts and less color loss than with Photoshop alone.Aswithallofthetitlesin this suite, the interface is com- plete and presents options for preview in several modes. Even oddly crossed, mixed- light sources and concert stage lighting become more defined and less pixelated without noticeable artifacts. Portraiture concentrates on enhancing skin. Using this plug-in may be trickier for some to get a handle on with- out an overdone and obvi- ously corrected result. There are several well-thought-out presets that I found myself wanting to try repeatedly. The commonsense interface can let the user produce images that look great, if you don’t overdo it. RealGrain presents interest- ing options, allowing for some effects and color controls that can both enhance and roughen the image, depend- ing on the direction you want to take. Punchier details or gritty black and white are just a couple of ways to help define the moment of your image. If you’re looking for a way to control your noisy images, improve portraits, and add effects, you’ll find the Imag- enomic Professional Plug-in Suite an excellent addition to your digital toolbox. ■ At the profes- sional level, there are lots of prod- ucts that claim to offer dramatic improvements to photos, but the Imagenomic Pro- fessional Plug-in Suite offers all the controls, yields excellent results, and is priced to compete with anything currently available. Today’s digital photography standards demand less noise, better exposure, and smooth complexions without a loss of detail. Noiseware does exactly what you’d expect: It reduces $239.85 Mac andWindows Imagenomic, LLC www.imagenomic.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: Review by DanielM.EastDigitalROC,SHO,GEM,GEMAirbrush ©ISTOCKPHOTO/TIBURONSTUDIOS©ISTOCKPHOTO/LISEGAGNE
- 123. reviews GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopgear ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 122 FluidMask3 Photoshop cutout tool Reviewby Dave Huss few weeks, it appears the third generation of this plug-in offers major improvements over Fluid Mask 2. Most selection software requires the user to draw an outline or select the colors of the subject to be selected. When you launch Fluid Mask either from Photoshop as a plug-in or as a standalone application, it detects all of the edges in the image, giving the appearance that it has converted your photo into a paint-by-numberspainting(no kidding). Using the tools, you can quickly select the back- groundandtheprogramoffers the option to automatically fill in the foreground. Like all software I test, I installed it and jumped right in to see if I could figure it out without reading the documen- tation. The first time I used Fluid Mask (version 2), I imme- diately closed the software and returned to the excellent tutorials and documentation provided on the Vertus website. When I wrote this review, there were only two tutorials that had been updated for version 3, but the existing version 2 tutorials explained the essentials. Fluid Mask 3 takes advan- tage of multicore processor architectures to noticeably speed up the startup time as it automatically performs the ini- tial edge detection. “The devil isinthedetails”isanexpression that was surely made by some- one attempting to isolate the subject from the background. Since the dawn of Photoshop, users have spent countless hours in their quests to remove subjects from backgrounds in photos. For almost as long, companies have been offering software that promises to perform the pixelated exor- cism in a fast and painless manner. Often the software solution turns out to be only a little better than the manual method. So it was with a little skepticism that I began evaluat- ing the Photoshop plug-in by Vertus called Fluid Mask 3. It’s described by the company as the “#1 Still Image Cutout Tool,” and after working with it for a To that end, Fluid Mask has added or improved a variety of tools to make this tedious job of defining and blending edges even faster and easier. Oncearoughselectionismade, Fluid Mask allows you to isolate edge detection and blending operations to specific areas using Patches (called Regions in version 2). My favorite is the ReviewCuttoolthatallowsyou to view the results instantly by dragging the tool over the image. This instant feedback is essential when isolating stray hairs and fine detail. Fluid Mask has intelligence built into the edge detection that deter- mines which edges should be hard and which require softer blending. All aspects of the edge detection and blending operations are configurable. Fluid Mask allows selection by color, which is a godsend for anyone who needs to replace an overcast sky in a landscape with another one. In all, Fluid Mask 3 is a powerful application that can get the job done—after you master it. The truth is it takes time to become familiar with the different tools and options. (Hey, you didn’t learn Photo- shop in a day.) You’ll also have to allow some time to develop proficiency with Fluid Mask. Fol- lowing the tutorials, you can do simple cutouts in a few minutes; executing exotic cutouts with hair flying in the breeze will takelonger.Vertusoffersafully functional demo version avail- able from their website. PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: $239 Mac andWindows Vertus 877-558-3788 www.vertustech.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
- 124. Your ultimate resource centerfor all things related to Adobe Creative Suite 3 The best series: From the experts you trust: In the format you need: Get your first 10 days or 50 page views FREE, whichever comes first. Sign up today at www.peachpit.com/cs3safari
- 125. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 124 Black-and-WhiteInfrared Convert your oldcamera to IR Review by Laurie Excell time I had my converted D70 back and suddenly, a whole new world opened up…. Ishoteverythinginmypath to see what rendered good IR and what didn’t. For example, portraits take on a very dreamy look with soft skin tones—very cool. Overcast days weren’t so effective but bright, sunny days worked very well, extend- ing shooting time far beyond the golden hours of sunrise and sunset. Green foliage is an excellent subject for IR, turning various shades of gray. Blue skies become black with white clouds—a stark, beautiful contrast. The possibilities are endless and the results some- times surprising. Life Pixel offers three different conversions to suit your style: Standard Color IR is similar to a duotone look and can be converted to B&W IR in Photoshop; Enhanced Color IR can give you some crazy ’60s effects or you can convert it to B&W IR in Photoshop; and Deep B&W IR gives you the effect of B&W IR straight out of the camera. If you like the effect of IR, find an old digital camera and have it converted. There’s nothing like a new toy to get you all jazzed up about photography again. ■ Currently, digital cameras are sensitive to IR light, and manufacturers place a hot mirror over the sensor to block IR light from affecting normal images. By simply removing the hot mirror and replacing it with a custom IR filter, a digital camera becomes an IR camera that can be handheld, without the need for any IR filters. Life Pixel IR Conversion Services, a company based in Redmond, WA, will either sell you a kit to do your own IR conversion or they’ll do it for you. So I dug out an old D70 camera and sent it along with $300 for the conversion. In no Starting at $250 N/A Life Pixel IR Conversion Services 866-610-1710 www.lifepixel.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: LensCoat Protective covers for camera lenses Review by Laurie Excell equipment from nicks and dings if it should get bumped. It also provides a thermal barrier to protect hands from extreme cold, which I put to the test on a recent trip to Yellowstone in –31° weather. My right hand got very cold hold- ing the camera but my left hand stayed warm having the LensCoat cover on the 200–400mm lens. I also felt comfortable having my lens exposed in adverse weather as the neoprene protected it from the elements. I really like the fact that the inside of the LensCoat is made of a gripper material, eliminat- ing the need for using glue or some other sticky substance on valuable lenses. LensCoat makes covers for a variety of Nikon and Canon lenses, as well as a few others. They also make Hoodies (lens covers to replace lens caps), covers for tripods, and even a cover to protect my Wimber- ley II head. You can select from a variety of camouflage patterns or plain black, which I prefer. You can even order cus- tom covers for your rare lens or piece of camera equipment that you want to keep pristine. I’m sold on LensCoat! ■ As a working profes- sional photographer, I have a consider- able investment in equipment. I believe in preventive mainte- nance and take care of my equipment. But in the field the conditions are some- times less than ideal. So when I learned about the folks at LensCoat and their protec- tive covers, I checked them out. Now I have a LensCoat cover on every piece of equip- ment possible. LensCoat products are made from closed-cell neoprene that protects Varies by product Lenses, tripods,Wimberley heads LensCoat www.lenscoat.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: reviews GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopgear LAURIEEXCELL LAURIEEXCELL
- 126. ››www.photoshopuser.com 125 reviews GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopgear ImageDoctor2 Photo repair plug-ins Reviewby DaveHuss PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: $199 Mac andWindows Alien Skin Software, LLC 888-921-7546 www.alienskin.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ mentsincludeasimplifieduser interface, the ability to work with16-bitimages,andnative support for Intel-based Mac computers(hooray). For those new to Image Doctor, here’s a rundown of the tools and what they do. Smart Fill, arguably the coolest tool, lets you remove unwanted objects from a photo and blend those empty spaces seamlessly into the background. For example, when the best photo of the bride includes her ex in the background maintaining his court-ordered distance, you could manually clone this nightmare out of existence, but with Image Doctor 2, sim- ply make a quick selection and launch the Smart Fill tool. The results appear in the preview. In most cases the Auto setting does the job perfectly and Mr. Nightmare is history. Recently, I needed to remove several ugly high- way signs from an otherwise pristine nature photo. After getting the best setting for the first sign, I only needed to draw a selection around each of the remaining signs and press Command-F (PC: Ctrl-F) in Photoshop to repeat the filter’s action—a big time saver. The Dust and Scratch remover works like the built-in Photoshop filter except it provides you with much more control. My favorite use of this jewel is to remove long, narrow areas from photos, such as power lines and telephone poles. While it’s possible to do the same with the Clone Stamp tool in Photoshop, I could remove all of the unwanted artifacts much faster using this tool. The next two tools, Blem- ish Concealer and Skin Soft- ener, are essential for doing portrait or wedding work. TheBlemishConcealerworks like the Spot Healing Brush tool except it’s obviously fine-tuned for working on fleshcolorsandmaintainsthe texture of the skin, whereas the Spot Healing Brush often makes the skin look like plas- tic. The name Skin Softener doesn’t adequately describe what this outstanding tool does best—remove flash glareproducedbyoilyskinor too powerful strobes. It does a great job of that. JPEG Repair takes a low- quality image that suffers from artifacting around the edges and attempts to clean it up. It won’t take a low- quality image and make it perfect, but it does a nice job of making it better. ImageDoctor2isn’tcheap but if you shoot weddings or portraits (even part time), it will pay for itself in time saved in short order. The Alien Skin site has an excel- lent before-and-after gallery that shows what Image Doc- tor 2 can do. There’s also a fully functional, 30-day demo available there. Image Doctor 2 by Alien Skin Softwareisanupdateoftheir successful Image Doctor plug-ins that first shipped in 2002.Ifyou’renotfamiliarwith Image Doctor, it’s a set of five plug-in filters for Photoshop thatincludeSmartFill,Dustand Scratch Remover, Blemish Con- cealer, Skin Softener, and JPEG Repair.Thepurposeofthesefive tools is to fix specific problems with photos instead of acting as a general image enhancer. Each filter includes presets and customizable settings. Themostnoticeableimprov- ement in Image Doctor 2 is renderingspeedandthequality ofthefinishedresults.Wow!It’s blazingfastnow.Otherimprove-
- 127. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 126 reviews GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopgear PhotoTools1ProfessionalEdition Photo effects plug-in Reviewby DaveHuss PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: $259.95 (Standard edition $159.95) Mac andWindows onOne Software, Inc. 888-968-1468 www.ononesoftware.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Software created a cool set of Photoshop filters and then enlisted the services of Mr. Wow—Jack Davis—to take these tools, combine them with the set of filters already in Photoshop, and develop presets that produce dazzling effects. Then they took it a stepfurtherandintegratedthe Photoshop actions developed by award-winning wedding photographer Kevin Kubota into the same filter. It’s as if you have these two pros at yourbeckandcallwhenyou’re movingthroughaseaofphotos. The result is a plug-in that allows you to convert a set of so-so wedding photos into a stunning artistic collection. I know this sounds like the hype you find on brochures, but PhotoTools is that good. PhotoTools Professional Edition creates a wide range of general image enhance- ments that adds pop to almost any image. It also reproduces camera filters such as polariza- tion, neutral density, and color correction, plus traditional darkroom techniques like solar- ization and cyanotype. When you launch Photo- Tools, it fills the entire screen with a preview of the image. Users can preview their selected effect before applying it, and each effect is applied as a layer in the control area of the dialog, which allows you to stack multiple effects on top of each other. After applying an effect, you can modify its strength by using a Fade slider. Many of the effects provide modifiers that control the intensity of effects. On top of this, you can control the order of the effects and how they interact to produce a look that’s uniquely yours. When you’ve found that unique comb- ination of effects, you can save and reuse them. PhotoTools also includes an easy-to-use and powerful batch-processing engine to apply the desired effects to an entire folder of images. When working with the tsunami of photos that are the result of a wedding, PhotoTools speeds the editing process with its ability to batch process files with multiple output formats, including differing sizes, color spaces, names, and even watermarks. For the record, I tested this product on wedding photos I shot the week before and probably spent as much time exploring all of the effects as I had saved in using them. There were more than a dozen shots that were typical flat indoor flash images that PhotoTools turned into real jaw-droppers. I began applying the filters to all of the photos I take, and the more familiar I become with the myriad effects, the more it speeds things up. If you take photos professionally, you need this filter. Your clients will thank you. PhotoTools 1 Professional Edition includes 250 effects; onOne Software also offers PhotoTools 1 standard that includes more than 150 effects, corrections, and styles. Both are available as free, fully func- tional 30-day demos. ■ Recently, onOne Software released PhotoTools 1 Profes- sionalEdition,adigitalimaging plug-in for Photoshop. The name PhotoTools might seem familiar to some of you as it was the name of a plug-in previously offered by Exten- sis. While onOne Software’s PhotoTools uses the name, everythingelseinthispowerful Photoshop plug-in is new. The idea behind PhotoTools is appealing—a filter that gives your photos a wide variety of professional effects with the click of a mouse button. Yeah, yeah, many plug-ins claim to do the same thing, so what makes this one differ- ent? The difference is onOne
- 128. ››www.photoshopuser.com 127 reviews GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopgear To complement theAF-S 14–24mm f/2.8G ED, Nikon also introduced the AF-S 24–70mm f/2.8G ED lens to cover the midrange area. It begins where the AF-S 14–24mm leaves off and takes you through normal into the beginnings of the tele- photo range, covering an angle of view from 84–34° with a minimum focus distance of 1.2' for getting close and personal with your subjects. It’s nice that Nikon has two new lenses, but how sharp are they? What about distortion? Are they fast? These lenses are so sharp and fast that I dare say they rival their fixed-focal- length companions! I was blown away by the clarity of my images from both lenses. Distortion, what distortion? And fast? Hang onto your hat; you’llbeinfocusandshooting before you can say “click.” Both lenses have Extra-low Dispersion (ED) glass to minimize chromatic aberration and produce sharp, snappy images. But it doesn’t stop there. There are aspherical elements in both lenses that further reduce aberration, even at the widest apertures. If that’snotenough,add a Nano Crystal Coat to eliminate internal reflections to prevent ghosting and flare for optimum clarity and sharpness. They even have Nikon’s Super Integrated Coating for additional reduction of flare and ghosting. In other words, Nikon has exceeded even their own high standards of quality and resolution with this pair of wide zooms. AF-S (Silent Wave) motors make both lenses fast focus- ing and virtually silent. Plus you can quickly reach up and take control of the focus ring without taking time to change to manual focus. Quick, quiet, easy to control—that’s the way I like my lenses. The AF-S 14–24mm has a built-in,scallopedshadetohelp prevent light hitting the bul- bous front element. The AF-S 24–70mmcomeswithadetach- ableHB-40lenshoodandhasa 77mm diameter filter size. BuilttoNikon’shighquality standards, you can expect both lenses to resist dust and moisture while standing up to the test of time with heavy, daily use. Neither lens is a lightweight, literally, yet they fit in my hand comfort- ably and allow quick and easy adjustments to either the focus or zoom. Designed to go with the FX format, the AF-S 14–24mm and AF-S 24–70mm work equally well on DX-format bodies. With the effective focal-length mag- nification, the AF-S 14–24mm is equivalent to 21–36mm and the AF-S 24–70mm to 36–105mm. By adding this dynamic duo to my already existing AF-S 70–200mm f/2.8G ED, I have three incredible lenses that cover a range from 14–200mm. Now that’s a package I won’t leave home without. ■ When Nikon introduced the D3 with its full-frame FX sen- sor, it stood to reason that there would be new lenses to complement it. Boy, did Nikon step up to the plate! I nearly dropped my camera thefirsttimeIlookedthrough the viewfinder with the AF-S 14–24mm f/2.8G ED set at 14mm. It felt like I could see from near to eternity. I’m used to the DX format on my AF-S 12–24mm f/4G IF-ED (18–36mm equivalent on DX bodies), but it just doesn’t compare. With an angle of view covering 114–84°, I’m back in the super-wide- angle business. The minimum focus distance of .9' allows me to move in really tight on the foreground and get a visual depth that doesn’t end. AF-S14–24mmf/2.8GED:$1,589.95 AF-S 24–70mm f/2.8G ED: $1,699.95 Nikon cameras Nikon USA 800-645-6687 www.nikonusa.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ PRICE: FOR: FROM: PHONE: WEB: RATING: LAURIEEXCELL NIKKORLensesforFull-frameSensors AF-S 14–24mm f/2.8G ED & AF-S 24–70mm f/2.8G ED Review by Laurie Excell
- 129. books GettheinsidescooponallthelatestPhotoshopbooks Reviews by PeterBauer There’s more Photoshop than nighttime photographyhere,butifyoudon’tknow anything about night photography, this book might be of some use. But be warned!The author gives some question- able advice about purchasing RAM (“the most you can afford”even though Photo- shop won’t be able to use more than 3 GB), brush hardness (100%“for most painting situations”), and color settings (“NorthAmericanGeneralPurpose2uses sRGB”).You’ll also find a number of typos (for example, a 20" monitor doesn’t have a resolution of“168 by 1050”and thesec- tiononfireworkssummarizeswith“when shootingamusementparkrides”). If you’re a graphic design teacher (or aself-teachingstudent),here’sabook worth a second look. The great big spiral binding permits this large, fat textbook to lay flat on a desk (or lap) while working, which is a good thing in a book designed for classroom use. Project-oriented, each section starts with specific goals and uses specific techniques to accomplish those goals. (Project files are on the CD.) Some of these projects would be better suited for Illustrator, but this is a good way to learn those aspects of Photoshop mostneededbygraphicdesignersand layout folks. Take a walk with Kevin Ames through his workflow, from capture through archiving and presentation. In his friendly, chatty way, the author dis- cusses some of his favorite photo shoots and digital projects, as well as some common (and not so common) lighting problems and how to overcome them. You’ll also get a guided tour of some of his favorite Photoshop retouching techniques and a look at his approach to black-and-white conversions. Many of the photos used in the book are available for download so the reader can walk through the same steps, using the same images. NighttimeDigitalPhotography withAdobePhotoshopCS3 by John Carucci AdobePhotoshopCS3: TheProfessionalPortfolio TheDigital Photographer’sNotebook by Erika Kendra and Gary Poyssick by Kevin Ames PRICE: PUBLISHER: DVD's: WEBSITE: RATING: $44.99 Peachpit Press 230 pages www.peachpit.com ◆ ◆ ◆ PRICE: PUBLISHER: PAGECOUNT: WEBSITE: RATING: $49.99 Against the Clock, Inc. 430 pages with CD www.againsttheclock.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 128 PRICE: PUBLISHER: PAGECOUNT: WEBSITE: RATING: $39.99 Peachpit Press 341 pages www.peachpit.com ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
- 131. Answers to someof the most commonly asked Photoshop questions ■ BY RAFAEL “RC” CONCEPCION ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 130 PhotoshopQ&A Q. What’s the difference between the History Brush tool and the Art History Brush tool? A. When you first open a document in Photoshop, a copy of it—called a Snapshot—is saved at the top of your History panel for reference. As you work on the image, your History panel records the things that you’re changing in the file, but that Snapshot continues to remain until you save and close the file.The History Brush lets you paint on the image, but instead of using a color, you use the Snapshot as a reference. This allows you to“paint back”the original state of the image, giving you a great way to work in specific effects. (In this example, we converted the image to black and white, and used the History Brush to paint back a por- tion of the original color.) The Art History Brush works in the same way in that it paints back from a snapshot, but is completely different because it takes that information and applies a style to it that can be changed in the Options Bar. The style that it usually applies is based on curling the brush. The Area, Tolerance, and Brush Size affect how the brush paints in the information. My recommendation: stick with filters if you want creative effects—you have more control over them. Q. I want to create a pattern of multicolored circles that covers my page. What is the best way to do this? A.The first thing I usually do when I create a pattern is to start it on a new layer. By having transparency around the areas of the pattern, you won’t be tied down to the background color. After creating a new layer, place the elements on the page that you want to use to make your pattern. Click the Eye icon next to the Background layer to hide it and use your favorite selection tool to create a selection around your pattern elements (if you don’t make a selection, it will make a pattern based on the width and height of the entire document). Click on Edit>Define Pattern and give your pat- tern a name. ©ISTOCKPHOTO/NAELNAGUIB/MTDEZIGNS There are a couple of different ways to apply your pattern to a document, but I prefer the Fill Layer command to do this. Click on Layer>New Fill Layer>Pattern. After giving the new layer a name, you can select the pattern from the drop-down list in the Pattern Fill dialog and, more impor- tantly, control the Scale of the pattern.
- 132. Photoshop Q &A ››www.photoshopuser.com 131 If you have a Photoshop question you’d like to see published in this column, please send it to letters@photoshopuser.com. If, however, you’d like your question answered immediately, go to the Help Desk at www.photoshopuser.com. Q. Every time I create a Solid Color fill layer, a shape appears on the screen? What am I doing wrong? A. It’s not so much that you’re doing something wrong; you’re just advanced in your Photoshop skills. Normally, if you cre- ate a Solid Color fill layer, it fills the area with the color you chose and creates a vector mask that spans the width and height of the document. If you’ve made a path or selection in your document, every time you create a fill layer, it will bind that layer to the path or selection. Q. I’m using the Butterfly brush from the set of Special Effect Brushes in the Brushes panel. Is there a way that I can control how clustered the butterflies are? A. A great way for you to put your own personal touch on a specific brush is to use the Brushes panel. Go into Window>Brushes and you’ll notice that there are a ton of different settings to control your brush’s behavior. To change the overall spread of the butterflies (or any brush tip), click on the word“Scattering”in the list on the left and drag the Scatter slider to either the right or left (right scatters them more, left clumps them closer together).You can also make additional modifications by clicking on the words“Shape Dynamics”on the left and altering the Size Jitter, Angle Jitter, and Count. Once you’ve made all of the changes that you want, you can click on the Create New Brush icon at the bottom of the panel (circled) and save that brush with those settings. ■ Q. I love the Lens Flare in Photoshop! Is there a way that I can control where it’s placed in the document? A. Everyone loves the Lens Flare (Filter>Render>Lens Flare) in Photoshop—ranking it right up there in“overuse”with the Trajan font. A lot of people don’t know, however, that in the Flare Center preview you can click-and-drag the crosshair to move the lens flare around. Now you can have some real custom lens flare going for your next space project. Q. What is Global Light and how can I use it in an image? A.There are a series of layer styles that are affected by light- ing: Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, and Bevel and Emboss. When Global Light is active (it’s on by default), all of these layer styles behave as if they’re being affected by a single light source. You can control the Angle of this singular light source in the layer style dialog or both the Angle and the Altitude by selecting Layer>Layer Style>Global Light.
- 133. QUICK KEYSTROKES This issue,let’s explore helpful Option (PC: Alt) key options: 1. Hold the Option/Alt key as you choose Filter>Render>Clouds for a much stronger contrast. 2. Hold the Option/Alt key and choose Layer>Merge Visible to merge all the layers into a new layer, but keep your original layers intact. 3. Hold the Option/Alt key as you click the Add Layer Mask icon to hide the selection or, if nothing is selected, give you a black layer mask. 4. Hold the Option/Alt key as you click the Create New Snapshot icon in the History panel to give you the New Snapshot dialog with more options. 5. Holding the Option/Alt key as you click the Create a New Layer icon allows you to name the layer, change its blend mode, or add it to a clipping mask. ■ Saving copies Lots of users get confused over the differ- ence between the Save As and Save As a Copy commands. The File>Save As com- mand allows you to save the working file under a new name and possibly a new file type. After you’ve saved the file, the name of the open file in Photoshop changes to the newnameandislistedinthetitlebar. When you Save a Copy (accessed in the Save As dialog), the name of the working filedoesn’tchange at all. You’ve created a totally new and unlinked file on your hard drive and that file isn’t open. The title bar continues to display the original filename and recent file list doesn’t include your saved copy. If you choose File>Save after making changes to your current image, you save the version that’s open in Photo- shop, which doesn’t affectyourcopyatall. Don’t touch the default I don’t like the default colors in Bridge. The Bridge Preferences (Command-K [PC: Ctrl-K]) allows the user to control the shade of black-to-white for the User Interface Brightness and the Image Back- drop. I prefer to keep the User Interface Brightness at almost white; however, the sliders and slider bars don’t change color quite the same way. As you can see here, I almost need a magnifier to see the slider bars now because the color of the tabs and the sliders is almost the same. If you make the User Interface Bright- ness lighter than 60% gray, your sliders become nearly invisible. The lesson is don’t mess too much with these inter- face defaults. Around the Layers panel in one tip Where you click the Layerspaneldetermines whathappens.Double- clickingthelayername opensthatfieldsoyou can rename the layer. Double-clickingthearea behindthenameorthe layerthumbnail(ifit’sa regularpixel-basedlayer) opens the Layer Style dialog.Double-clicking the layer thumbnail on a fill or adjustment layer opens the cor- responding dialog. If you double-click a text layer thumbnail, it opens the type for editing. Command-clicking (PC: Ctrl-clicking) the layer thumbnail selects the contents of that layer in the image.Command-clicking(PC:Ctrl-clicking) on the layer’s name or surrounding white space makes that layer active or makes it part of a group of layers that are currently the “active” layers. Fix the marquee YoucanusepercentasaunitintheFixedSize areaoftheMarqueetools(intheOptionsBar, clicktheStyledrop-downmenuandchoose Fixed Size). For example, if you want an ellipseorrectangletooccupyexactly75% ofthefile(oranyotherpercent),justenter thedesiredamountandthepercentsignin theOptionsBar,thenclickintheimageto placethemarquee. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 132 ALL IMAGES BY SHERRY LONDON Some quick tips to make your Photoshop life easier ■ BY SHERRY LONDONPhotoshopQuickTips
- 134. user ® A collection ofproducts,services, and the hottest Photoshop gear I N D E X O F A D V E R T I S E R S PhotoshopuserApril/May 2008 For advertising information, please contact Melinda Gotelli, Advertising Director, at 916-929-8200. email: mgotelli@photoshopuser.com Whileeveryattempthasbeenmadetomakethislistingascompleteaspossible,itsaccuracycannotbeguaranteed. 4 Over, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134–135 www.4over.com Adobe Photoshop SeminarTours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 www.kelbytraining.com Alien Skin Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 www.alienskin.com AMC Colorgrafix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145 www.amc-color.com Artistic Photo Canvas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119 www.artisticphotocanvas.com B&H Photo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152 www.bhphotovideo.com Bestblanks.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148 www.bestblanks.com BigStockPhoto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149 www.bigstockphoto.com BOSS LOGO Print & Graphics Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146 www.5000cards.com CDW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 www.cdw.com Clipart deSIGN USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 www.ClipartdeSIGN.com Copy Craft Printers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144 www.copycraft.com Corel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 www.corel.com Creative Juices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151 www.bigposters.com CreativeHeads.net Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 www.creativeheads.net Dahle North America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148 www.dahle.com Data Robotics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 www.drobo.com DAZ 3D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 www.daz3d.com DigitalPhotoshopRetouching.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 www.digitalphotoshopretouching.com eprintFast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138 www.eprintfast.com ExpoImaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 www.expodisc.com Fotolia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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- 155. ColinSmith,anaward-winningdesigner,lecturer,andwriter,hasauthoredorco-authoredseveralbooksonPhotoshop,andhascreatedaseriesof Photoshoptrainingvideosavailablefrom PhotoshopCD.com. Colinis also the founderofPhotoshopCAFE.com. ››photoshopuser›april/may2008 154 WorkSmarter transformation properties, such as move, scale, and rotate. It’s a great process to use for making spirographic images. Let’s look at some tips that will increase your efficiency and help you to unlock your creative genius. Preset Manager I’ve been asked many times how to load brushes, patterns, etc. into Photoshop. You can load all your assets through the various tools’ panels, but the fastest way is to go to Edit>Preset Manager. From the PresetManagerdialog,youcanmanageall your Brushes, Swatches, Gradients, Styles, Patterns, Contours, Custom Shapes, and Tool presets. If you reset your preferences file, you’ll lose all these settings, so go to the Preset Manager and make backups on a regular basis. To do this, pick your choice from the Preset Type menu, press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select all the presets below, click the Save Set button, and save the sets in a backup location. Repeat for each preset and when the time comes to load them, click the Load button and navigate to your backup area. Transform Again Have you ever had to repeat the same transformation several times? An example would be rotating multiple layers at the same angle each time. Instead of making the transformation and then repeating it over and over (a laborious task), try using the Transform Again command. Make your initial transformations using Free Trans- form (Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T]), and then press Command-Shift-T (PC: Ctrl-Shift-T) to Transform Again. This repeats the previ- ous transformations. It works on multiple RequireaPasswordtoOpentheDocument checkbox and enter a password. You can now control different aspects of your photos with a password. Online photo galleries How would you like to be able to post your photos on the Web for all to see? Good news, this functionality is built into Photoshop. Choose File>Automate>Web Photo Gallery. Now all you need to do is choose a style for your gallery (you can even choose Flash galleries), select a folder of images, choose the Destination, and click OK. Photoshop will go to work and create the gallery for you. If you’re Web savvy, you can incorporate the gallery into your existing site, as well as modify the CSS and create your own look. Print all my shortcuts Did you know that you can print all of the keyboard shortcuts from Photoshop or keep an electronic version on your desktop? You can. Choose Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts, or press Command-Option- Shift-K (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-K). Click the Sum- marize button, choose a location, and click Save. An HTML page will open for you to print (File>Print). You can also Print As PDF so you have a portable cheat sheet. ■ Some quick tips to get you started in Photoshop ■ BY COLIN SMITHPhotoshopBeginners’Tips Filter Gallery The Filter Gallery, located under the Filter menu, is a great place to experiment with many different filters in Photoshop. You can get a good idea of how they’ll affect your image before applying them. The problem withsomanychoicesistheendlessclicking to expand and collapse each group to see what filters are available. Here’s a tip to speed all of that up: Hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key and click one of the tabs. This causes all the tabs to open or close in a single click, speeding up browsing. Prevent people from stealing your photos A big issue for photographers is finding a way to email quality photos to clients for approval. If you send photos that are too high quality, they may be used without payment. Send low-quality images and you can’t sell them to the client. Sound familiar? Here’s the solution: Create a high- resolution PDF that people can view but make them enter a password to extract or print the photos. (I go into this in great detail on my Special OPS disk on photo- shopCD.com).Todothisforasingleimage, choose File>Save As, and select Photo- shop PDF. For multiple images, choose File>Automate>PDF Presentation. In the Save Adobe PDF dialog, choose Security from the list on the left, and check the ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH