Johnny_Yuma

2007-11-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

Photoshop Tutorials
Photoshop CS3 techniques for Digital Photographers

NEW!!!!
Photoshop VIDEO tutorials

Color Correction 1-2-3

Using a Curves Adjustment Layer to fix color casts.

Graduated Neutral Density Filter

An easy way to create darker skies using the Gradient tool.

Creating/Reducing Depth of Field

How to change your depth of field using the Lens Blur Filter.

Soft skin made easy

An easy technique for creating softer skin.

Adding Life with a Gradient Map

Just one more cool thing you can do with a Gradient Map.

Spotlight Drama

A basic tutorial using Lighting Effects.

Easy Selections with Channels

Ahhhh, at last. How to use Channels to create selections.

Out of Bounds Advanced

A more advanced technique for for creating an Out of Bounds effect.

Out of Bounds Made Easy

A simple technique for creating an Out of Bounds effect.

Advanced Extractions

An advanced technique using the Extract Filter for near impossible selections.

Add Pop to your photos with Levels

Every photographer needs to understand how to use Levels to enhance their photos.

Add a Frame to a Photo

A simple way to add a frame to your photos.

Photoshop tutorial 8

2007-11-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Out of Bounds

STEP 1: Open and Duplicate your image

File -->Open (Ctrl-O) Open your image.

Duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers palette’. Toggle off the ‘Background’ layer (see step 4).

STEP 2: Create a Selection and add a Mask

*NOTE: Refer to one of my other tutorials to learn how to make ‘Selections’.

I used to the ‘Extract’ filter (Filter --> Extract) to make a selection. In this case to “extract” the main point of interest (the duck).

Now that we have something to work with, duplicate your ‘Background’ layer again.

Select the extraction layer (layer 0 copy 7 in the example above) in the ‘layers’ palette. Let’s make this into a selection by going to the ‘Select’ menu and choosing ‘Load Selection’. When the ‘Load Selection’ dialog box opens, hit OK. Now select the ‘Background copy’ layer and click on the ‘Add layer mask’ button at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette. We now have a mask of our selection.

*We could just use the ‘extraction’, but using a ‘layer mask’ is a non-destructive approach.

This way we can ‘refine’ our mask later on.

STEP 3: Create a Frame

We need to start off with a fresh layer. So click the ‘Create new layer’ button at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette. Now click and drag your new layer below the ‘Background copy’ layer.

Another way to do this is to select ‘Background’ layer and then the ‘Create new layer’ button.

With ‘Layer 1’ selected, grab your ‘Rectangular marquee tool’ (M) from the ‘tools’ palette. Click and drag on the image to create a framed (marching ant) outline. This doesn’t need to be right where you want it yet.

Let’s fill this layer. Click “D” to bring your foreground/background colors to there default setting. Then hit Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill). This will bring up your ‘Fill’ dialog box. Under ‘contents’ “Use” ‘Foreground color’ (white). Hit OK. You can use any color you want I choose white.

*If you have all your layers turned on you should be able to see your selection now.

Let’s turn this ‘fill layer’ into a boarder. To do so go to the ’Select’ menu and choose Modify --> Contract. In the ‘Contract Selection’ dialog box choose ‘Contract By’ 20. Hit OK.

Then hit ‘Delete’ then Ctrl-D, to deselect. You should now have a 20 pixel frame.

We need to ‘Distort’ our frame to give it some perspective.

With ‘Layer 1’ active, go to Edit --> Transform à Distort. You can now click and drag each corner till you get the desired look. Then hit Enter.

I should point out that if you toggle on and off some of your layers (see below), you can see why we have stacked them in this order. Also, by creating a ‘selection’ up front we can not only see how it flows over our frame, but we don’t have to try and erase (or hide) our frame under the selection.

STEP 4: Remove the Background

Let’s make another Duplicate copy of our Background (see step 1). With the new ‘Background copy 2’ layer active, click on the ‘Add layer mask’ button. Toggle the ‘Background’ layer off (Click the ‘eye’ next to the thumbnail).

Hit “D” the “X” to make sure that Black is set as our foreground color. Select the ‘Brush tool’ (B) from the tools palette. With the ‘Hardness set to 100 and the ‘background copy 2 Mask’ selected, start to paint around on your image.

Paint everything outside the frame. Notice the ‘selection’ is not affected. Try not to paint inside the ‘Frame’ we made. If you do go inside the frame then set your foreground color to white (X) to paint it back.

STEP 5: Add a new Background

To add a new background, click the ‘Create new layer’ button at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette. Click and drag the new ‘Layer 2’ below ‘Background copy 2’.

Now we need to fill it. So with ‘Layer 2’ active hit Shift-F5 to bring up the ‘Fill’ dialog box. Choose ‘Color’ from the “Use” drop down menu, and pick your color.

Another option at this point would be to fill our Background with a Gradient. With ‘Layer 2’ still active, choose the ‘Gradient Tool’ (G) from the tools palette. Gradients are an entire tutorial on their own. I choose a Gradient I made some time back and used the ‘Diamond Gradient’ option. You can play around and use anything you like. Duhh. :)

Let’s crop our image next. Select the Rectangular marquee tool’ (M) from the ‘tools’ palette. Click and drag to create an outline where you want to crop (you could just use the crop tool but this works better). From the ‘Image’ menu choose ‘Crop’.

STEP 6: Refine Mask

Before we start, make sure that the ‘Layer’ “layer 0 copy 7” is toggled off.

Now that we have a background you can see how poor our selection really is. Well at least how bad mine is.

I could spend days (and a book or two) discussing how to refine a mask. So we will just talk about the basics here.

I’m going to start with levels. With the ‘Background copy’ Mask selected (make sure the mask thumbnail is highlighted). Go to Image --> Adjustments --> Levels. With the ‘Levels’ dialog box open, drag the black slider (inside the ‘Input Levels’) to the right until the edges of your image start to look good. Hit OK.

Another thing you can do is to open up the Select menu and go to ‘Refine Edge’ (Ctrl-Alt-R).

A favorite of mine is to use the ‘Blur Tool’ (R) to soften the edges of my mask.

One more option is Filter --> Other --> Minimum set to 1-3. Followed by Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian Blur set to 0.5-1. This is a pretty Advanced technique and takes a lot of playing around to get right.

Don’t forget that you can paint in your mask too.

STEP 7: Drop Shadow

With ‘Layer 1’ selected (your frame layer), choose the ‘Magic Wand Tool’ (W) from the tools palette. Click somewhere on the background area. Inverse the selection. Select --> Inverse (Ctrl-Shift-I). Your frame should now be selected. We could have chosen ‘Save Selection’ (in the Select menu) when we first made our frame, but I wanted to show you this technique. Click on the ‘Create new layer’ button at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette. Click and drag your new ‘Layer 3’ below “Background copy 2’.

With black set as your Foreground color click Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill) Pick ‘Foreground color’ in the dialog box and hit OK. Ctrl-D to de-select.

With the ‘Move Tool’ (V) active, click and drag your new black layer out. This will be our drop shadow.

Go to Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian Blur, and set your Radius around 4. Then turn down the ‘Opacity’ in the ‘Layer’ palette. I set it to 71%.

Photoshop tutorial 6

2007-11-14T16:17:00.000-08:00

Spotlight Drama

Overview:

This tutorial will show you how to use Lighting Effects to add drama to your photos.

STEP 1: Open your image

File --> Open (Ctrl-O) Open your image.

And duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers palette’.

STEP 2: Lighting Effects Dialog Box

Let’s start by opening the Lighting Effects Dialog Box with, Filter à Render à Lighting Effects

With the Dialog Box open, chose ‘Flashlight’ from the ‘Style’ drop down menu.

You can move the light around (in the preview box) by grabbing the center handle, and/or change the size of the light by grabbing onto one of the outside handles. I made the light larger and moved it up.

I also changed some of the settings in the Dialog Box. I turned the ‘Ambience’ way down. I went a little bit more then I thought I might need, but I will fix this later. Also set the ‘Light Type’ to “omni” directional, and moved the ‘Intensity’ slider to 57.

Feel free to play around with different settings. That’s the beauty of PS.

STEP 3: Fade Lighting Effect

To adjust the overall effect, normally we would use the ‘Opacity’ slider in the ‘Layer Dialog Box’. This time I want to show you something else. Anytime you use a ‘Filter’ you can ‘Fade’ the effect by going to, Edit --> Fade Lighting Effects (shift, ctrl, F).

I turned the ‘Opacity’ down to 89 to bring back a little background detail, and left the Blending ‘Mode’ set to ‘Normal’. Sometimes changing the Blending ‘Mode’ can create some great effects, but not this time.

Before/After

Photoshop tutorial 7

2007-11-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

Easy Selections with Channels

Overview:

This tutorial will show you how to use Channels to create a Mask.

This method is best used for hard to select objects on high contrast backgrounds.

STEP 1: Open and Duplicate your image

File -->Open (Ctrl-O) Open your image.

Duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers palette’.

STEP 2: Pick your best Channel

Open your ‘Channels’ palette (Windows --> Channels). With the palette open click on each RGB channel (Red, Green and Blue). Look for the channel with the most contrast between your object and the background. For this picture I choose Blue (Ctrl 3). We don’t want to destroy this channel so grab it and drag it down to the ‘Create New Channel’ button at the bottom of the ‘Channels’ palette. This will make a ‘Copy’ of the Blue channel for us to use for our mask.

STEP 3: Create more Contrast

For our Mask to work we need to get rid of all our Mid-tones. We want the final mask to be only black and white. To do this we need to start with a levels adjustment.

With your ‘Blue copy’ selected in the ‘Channels’ palette, open the ‘Levels’ dialog box (Image --> Adjustments --> Levels). In the ‘Input Levels’ area of the dialog box, drag the Black slider in until the darks are dark, real dark. As dark (Black) as you can get without losing edge detail. Now do the same with the ‘White’ slider. Click ‘OK’.

Notice below that I used the ‘Blue’ Channel. Not the ‘Blue Copy’. Oops. I had to go back and re-do it (Ctrl-Z, to undo).

STEP 4: Paint the Background

With the ‘Lasso’ tool selected (L), make a loose selection around the flower.

Now we have our flower selected, but we want the background selected instead. To do this hit Ctrl-Shift-I (Select --> Inverse).

We need the background solid black. So with our background now selected click ‘D’ to give us our Default Foreground/Background colors and ‘Backspace’. Everything in the selection should now be black. Ctrl-D, to de-select.

If you still have some lighter areas around the flower, choose your ‘Brush Tool’ (B) from the ‘Tools’ palette. In the ‘Options’ palette, select ‘Overlay’ from the ‘Mode’ drop down menu. With Black as your foreground color (‘D’ then ‘X’), start to paint around the flower. This will make the dark pixels darker but will not change the light pixels. You might have to go over some areas a few times. Now hit ‘X’ to make White the foreground color and paint on the flower. This will make all the lighter pixels white.

We need to get rid of the black center section now. Set White as your foreground, and in the ‘Options’ palette, set the ‘Mode’ back to normal. Now just paint the center white.

*Note*

At this point you might want to ‘Blur’ the edges of your selection. To do this you will need your mask selected in the Channels palette. Select the ‘Blur’ tool (R) from the ‘Tools’ palette, and just run around the edges of the mask.

STEP 5: Load mask as a Selection

To make our Mask a Selection, click on the ‘Load Channel as Selection’ button at the bottom of the Channels palette.

Select the ‘RGB’ channel (Ctrl ~), and hit Ctrl-J (Layer --> New --> Layer Via Copy) to create a new layer via our selection. We now have a selection of the flower on its own layer.

STEP 6: Add a new background.

With your “new” background open in another window (Ctrl-O), select the ‘Move Tool’ from the tools palette. Hold down the Shift key as you drag the ‘new background’ ONTOP of your flower selection. Holding down ‘shift’ will center your new layer.

Now for the magic. Grab and drag your new layer (Layer 2) down below ‘Layer 1’.

VOILA!

An even better way to do this is to drag ‘Layer 2’ below the ‘Background copy’ layer. Then with the ‘Blue copy’ channel selected (in the channels palette) click on the ‘Load Channel as Selection’ button at the bottom of the Channels palette. With your mask now selected, select the ‘Background copy’ layer in the ‘layers’ palette. Click on the ‘Add Layer Mask’ button on the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette and BOOM! You now have a “non-destructive” layer mask.

Photoshop tutorial 5

2007-11-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

Adding Life with a Gradient Map

Overview:

This tutorial will show you how to use Gradient Maps to add life to dull photos.

STEP 1: Open your image

File -->Open (Ctrl-O ) Open your image.

STEP 2: Add Gradient Map

Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Choose Gradient Map from the pop-up menu. This will open up the Gradient Map Dialog box.

With the Gradient Map drop down menu open, select a Gradient. I chose ‘Yellow, Violet’. You can find this Gradient by clicking the drop down arrow, and choosing ‘Color Harmonies 1’. You will be asked if you want to “Replace current gradients with gradients from Color Harmonies 1.grd?” You can select either “OK” or “Append”.

With the ‘Gradient Editor’ open you can pull in either (or both) slider(s) to adjust color depth. You can also change colors by clicking on the color handle, then the color swatch below. I chose to stick with Yellow, Violet. Click ‘OK’ in the ‘Gradient Editor’. Before clicking ‘OK’ in the Gradient Map dialog box, select “Reverse”.

STEP 3: Changing Blend Modes

With the new ‘Gradient Map Layer’ active select your blending mode by opening up the ‘Blending Mode’ drop down menu in the Layers Palette.

I chose ‘Soft Light’, but a lot of times I will choose ‘Color’ for a different affect (scroll down to the bottom of the page to see an example).

Before/After

You can use the ‘Opacity’ slider in the ‘Layers Palette’ to adjust the amount of effect in the final image.

Here is an example using the ‘Color’ Blend Mode. I also added a Curves adjustment for a bit more contrast.

Here is another example. I started out by creating a new “Gradient Fill” layer. Then I used a Gradient Map for a bit of color (which I had to turn way down with the ‘Opacity’ slider).

2007-11-11T16:38:00.001-08:00

2007-11-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

Photoshop tutorial 4

2007-11-11T15:08:00.002-08:00

Soft skin made easy

STEP 1: Open your image

File --> Open (Ctrl-O ) Open your image.

STEP 2: Make a selection

Select the highlight details by holding Ctrl, Alt and Tildy (~).

*This is a great little trick for selecting 50% and brighter pixels only.

Let’s put this on a separate layer with the command, Ctrl-J.

*This will add the SELECTION ONLY to a new layer

STEP 3: Applying a Blur

With ‘Layer 1’ selected, go to Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian blur.

Raise your ‘Radius’ value until you have a nice soft skin effect. Don’t worry about the rest of the picture, just the skin. Let’s try a value of 7.0, and hit OK.

STEP 4: Applying a Layer Mask

With ‘Layer 1’ selected click on the ‘Add layer mask’ button at the bottom of your layers palette.

STEP 5: Working with your mask

Choose your ‘Brush tool’ (B) from the tools palette.

Click ‘D’ and then ‘X’ to bring up your default colors and to set black as your foreground.

Now click on the brush drop down menu in the ‘Options palette’. Set your brush ‘hardness’ to around 5-10 and Opacity at 40%.

Make sure your mask (layer 1) is selected and start to paint back in some of the details in the face. Like the eyes, lips and eyebrows. You can then use a harder brush, with the Opacity turned up, to paint in some of the details back in around the face.

You can check your mask by holding the ‘Alt’ key while clicking on the mask thumbnail in the ‘layer palette’.

Alt click again to bring the image back.

You can click on the ‘eyeball’ next to ‘Layer 1’ in the ‘Layers palette’ to toggle that layer on/off to see the effect and use the ‘Opacity’ slider to fine tune the amount of effect you have in the final picture.

Before/After

Photoshop tutorial 3

2007-11-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

Creating Depth of Field

STEP 1: Open your image

File --> Open (Ctrl-O) Open your image

STEP 2: Create new Gradient Alpha channel

In the Channels palette, click the ‘Create new channel’ button.

Hit the ‘D’ key to return your colors to the default, and the ‘X’ to make White your foreground color.

With the new alpha channel active, choose the Gradient tool (G) from the Toolbox. In the Options Bar, click the Gradient drop down menu. Click the first one in the top row. Make sure that the Mode is set to Normal and the Opacity 100%.

Holding down the shift key (to constrain the gradient), click and drag from the bottom of the picture to around the middle.

Click on the RGB channel to make it active (Ctrl~). Open your layers palette.

With the background layer active hit Ctrl-J (Layer--> New --> Layer via copy) to create a duplicate layer on top of your background layer.

STEP 3: Apply lens blur

With the new layer (layer 1) active, choose Filter --> Blur --> Lens blur.

Under ‘Depth Map’ ‘Source’ choose your alpha 1 channel.

Notice the areas that where white, in your gradient alpha channel are now blurred. If you move the ‘Blur Focal Distance’ slider to the right, just the opposite happens. Now the black areas are in focus and the white areas are blurred. You can also click inside the picture to establish your focal point.

Let’s try something a little different. Go ahead and click Cancel.

Let’s create a new alpha channel.

Go into the Channels palette, click the ‘Create new channel’ button.

Now with the Gradient tool (G) selected, Hold down the shift key (to constrain the gradient), click and drag from the middle up an inch or so.

Click on the RGB channel to make it active (Ctrl~).

With layer 1 active , choose Filter --> Blur --> Lens blur

This time under ‘Depth Map’ ‘Source’ choose your alpha 2 channel. Notice how much quicker the focal transition is now.

You may also want to try using a gray for your background color (instead of black), but then nothing will be in total focus. A better option is ‘Reflected Gradient” in the Gradient option bar.

Photshop tutorial 2

2007-11-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

Using a Gradient as a graduated neutral density filter.

STEP 1: Open the Image

File --> Open (Ctrl-O) To open your image

STEP 2: Add a Curves Adjustment Layer

Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Choose Curves from the pop-up menu.

Click and Drag the middle of the curve downward. Don't worry if the landscape gets too dark; that’s where the next step comes in. Once you're satisfied with the color of the sky, click OK. .

* Notice the Mask thumbnail in the curves adjustment layer (in the layers palette). This is where we will apply our Gradient

STEP 3: Apply a Gradient in a Layer Mask

Choose the Gradient tool (G) from the Toolbox. In the Options Bar, click the Gradient drop down menu. Click the third one from the left in the top row. Make sure that the Mode is set to Normal and the Opacity 100%.

With the curves adjustment layer active, place your cursor on the image at the top of the lake. Hold down the Shift key, and drag up to about the top of the mountains. Let go to apply the gradient. Holding down the shift key will constrain the gradient to a straight line. You may need to redo the gradient a few times. By simply starting over with the gradient tool, any existing gradient will be replaced by the new one. You can also change the Opacity in the layer palette to adjust how prominent your curves layer will be.

Photshop tutorial 1

2007-10-22T11:53:00.001-07:00

Color Correction 1-2-3

STEP 1: Open Image

File --> Open (Ctrl-O) Open your image

STEP 2: Set up your tools

Choose the Eye Dropper Tool (I) from the Toolbox. In the Options Bar, make sure your sample size is either 3x3 or 5x5.

STEP 3: Set up you Curves dialog box

Ctrl-M (Image--> Adjustments --> Curves) Too open up the Curves dialog box.

Now we need to set our values.

First double-click on the left eyedropper in the dialog box to set our black point. This will bring up your Color dialog box.

In the Color dialog box, set your R, G and B values to 10. Click OK.

Now double-click on the right eyedropper in the dialog box to set our white point.

This time set the RGB values to 245. Click OK.

Now we need to do the same thing with the middle eyedropper, setting our RGB values to 133 this time, and click OK.

When the ‘Save the new target colors as defaults’ dialog opens, click Yes.

STEP 4: Find our Highlight, Shadow and Mid-tone values

Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Choose Threshold from the pop-up menu.

With the Threshold dialog box open, slide the slider all the way to the left. Then start sliding it back to the right until you start seeing black. These are the darkest points on our image.

Holding down the Shift key, click in the dark area. This will set our black point (#1).

To set our white point, drag the slider all the way to the right. Then bring it back a bit until you start to see some white. Holding down the Shift key, click in the white area. This will set our white point (#2).

Click Cancel. We no longer need the adjustment layer

The real trick has always been to find the neutral gray, but don’t worry. I have any easy way for doing this too.

Create a new layer by clicking on the ‘Create a new layer’ button on the bottom of the layers palette.

With the new layer active hit Shift-F5 (Edit---> Fill) to bring up the Fill dialog box. Set ‘Use’ to 50% Gray, ‘Blending’ to Normal and ‘Opacity’ to 100%. Click OK.

With the new layer active, we need to change the blend mode to Difference.

Once again create a Threshold adjustment layer.

Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Choose Threshold from the pop-up menu.

With the Threshold dialog box open, slide the slider all the way to the left. Then start sliding it back to the right until you start seeing black. These are the mid-tone points on our image. Holding down the Shift key, click in the dark area. This will set our mid-tone point (#3). Click Cancel. Now that our mid-tone point is set, we can trash-can our 50% gray layer.

STEP 5: Add a Curves Adjustment Layer

Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Choose Curves from the pop-up menu.

With your Curves dialog box open, click on the left (black) eyedropper. You should still have the eyedropper tool open. With Caps Lock on (to create an easy to see ‘target’), hover over point #1, and click. Select the right (white) eyedropper in the Curves dialog box, hover over point #2, and click. Repeat with the mid-tone eyedropper. Click OK.

That’s it. You can click on the ‘eye’ symbol next to the Curves adjustment layer to toggle it on and off to see the difference.

2006-12-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

Stars and Muppets

I don't know why this is so Damn funny.

HOME

2006-12-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

Holy Grail in Lego

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Photoshop tutorial 10

2006-12-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

Add Pop to your Photos with Levels

STEP 1: Open your image

Ctrl-O (File --> Open) to open your image.

As you can see this is a pretty dull, lifeless picture. Pretty typical of Point & Shoot cameras.

STEP 2: Duplicate your background

Duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers palette’.

STEP 3: Color cast

With the ‘Histogram’ palette open (Window --> Histogram), click on the options drop down menu (the triangle and 3 bars icon) and select ‘All Channels View’.

This will show us a histogram for each RGB channel.

As you look at each channel you will notice that they don’t line up. The main ‘hump’ in the Red channel is a bit to the left, and the Blue channel a bit to the right. This indicates a color cast. You can also see that there is a lot more Red in the shadows as well. Further study of our histogram shows that each channel is offset to the right.

Go ahead and click on ‘Expanded view’ in the ‘histogram’ options palette to close the rgb’s.

STEP 4: Levels

Now that we know what the problem is, let’s get started.

With the ‘Background copy’ layer active in your ‘layers’ palette, click on the ‘Create new fill or adjustment layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette and select ‘Levels’.

This will open up our ‘Levels’ dialog box.

The only thing we need to worry about in the dialog box is the ’Channel’ and the Black and White arrows (more like triangles) inside the ‘Input Levels’ section.

Select ‘Red’ from the ‘Channel’ drop down menu (Ctrl-1). Hold down the ‘Alt” key and drag the black slider to the right. You image should now turn red. As you drag the slider to the right some black will show up on the image. This is when you want to stop (about 54). The black that you see will have an ‘R’ value of zero in the final image, so you don’t want to push it too far.

Now do the same with the ‘White’ slider. I stopped with a value of 225.

Now do the same things for the ‘Green’ channel (Ctrl-2).

And finally the ‘Blue’ channel (Ctrl-3).

The image should look a lot better now, but we are not quiet down yet.

If you still feel there is a bit of color cast you can drag around the ‘mid-point’ slider in each channel.

When you’re happy with the color click OK.

This wasn’t the greatest image to start with, but you can see what a big difference a simple Levels adjustment can make.

2006-12-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

Out of Bounds Made Easy

STEP 1: Open and Duplicate your image

File --> Open (Ctrl-O) Open your image.

Duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create a new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers ‘palette.

STEP 2: Extract Image

I used to the ‘Extract’ filter (Filter --> Extract) to make a selection. In this case to “extract” the main point of interest.

*NOTE: Refer to one of my other tutorials to learn how to make ‘Selections’.

Now that we have something to work with, duplicate your ‘Background’ layer again.

With the new ‘Background copy 2’ layer active, hold down the ‘Alt’ key and click on the ‘Add layer mask’ button at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette. Holding down the Alt key will fill your mask with black.

*At this point we could use our ‘extraction’ to create a ‘layer mask’ (on a new layer), but this is a more advanced technique. To find out more refer to “Out of Bounds Advanced” or “Advanced Extractions”.

STEP 3: Create a Frame

Make sure the ‘Layer mask’ (Background copy 2) is active. Using the ‘Rectangular marquee tool’ (M) from the ‘tools’ palette, click and drag on the image to create a selection that we can use to make our frame. It doesn’t need to be exact yet.

Hit Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill) to bring up the ‘Fill’ dialog box. Select ‘white’ from the “Use” drop down menu. Click OK.

This will fill our selection with white, ON OUR MASK. You can toggle off the ‘Background’ layer by clicking on the ‘eye’ next to the thumbnail to see how we ‘masked off’ the image.

To make our ‘selection’ into a frame click on the ‘Add layer style’ button at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette and select ‘Stroke’.

This will bring up the ‘Layer Style’ dialog box. I could write another tutorial on this dialog box alone, so just follow along for now. First change the ‘Position’ to Inside and the ‘Size’ somewhere between 20 and 30. Click on the ‘Color’ swatch. This will bring up the ‘Select stroke color’ dialog box. Choose white by clicking on the top left corner of the color palette. Or you can fill in the “RGB” values as 255. Click OK, and OK again in the ‘Layer style’ dialog box.

Click Ctrl-D to de-select.

STEP 4: Finishing touches.

Let’s add a new background. Click on the ‘Background’ layer to make it active. Then click on the ‘Create a new layer’ button at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette.

With our new ‘Layer 1’ active click Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill) to bring our ‘Fill’ dialog box back up. Select ‘Color’ from the “USE” drop down menu. You can pick any color you like then click OK. I picked a light tan.

Now that we have a background, let’s add some perspective to our frame. Go to the ‘Select’ menu and choose ‘Reselect’ (Shift-Ctrl-D).

Select our mask by clicking on the mask thumbnail in the ‘Background copy’ layer. It should be your only mask.

Let’s go to Edit --> Transform --> Distort. Now you drag each corner of the frame to give it the look you want. Hit Enter to confirm and Ctrl-D to de-select.

Now all you have to do is crop your image (C).

Photoshop tutorial 11

2006-12-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

Add a Frame to a photo

Overview:

This tutorial will show you how to add a nice frame and matte to a photo.

STEP 1: Open your image

Ctrl-O (File --> Open) to open your image.

STEP 2: Duplicate your background

Duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers palette’.

STEP 3: Add Canvas

With the ‘Background’ layer active, go to the ‘Image’ menu and select ‘Canvas Size’ (Ctrl-Alt-C).

Inside the ‘Canvas Size’ dialog box, change ‘Width’ and ‘Height’ to 4 ‘inches’ (NOT pixels!). Make sure that the ‘Relative’ box is checked and click OK.

Now we have LOTS of room to work.

*NOTE: Make sure you are not working on the original image whenever making changes to the Background layer. You could also Duplicate the Background layer again, and work with that layer.

STEP 4: Create a frame

Select the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (M) from the ‘Tools’ palette. To make our frame, click and drag across our new canvas where you want the frame to be.

Click on the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette (See step 2).

Hit Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill) to bring up the ‘Fill’ dialog box. Choose ‘White’ from the “Use” drop down menu.

Hit OK, then Ctrl-D to de-select.

To see our new layer you can toggle off the ‘background’ layer by clicking on the ‘eye’ icon next to the thumbnail.

Now with our new ‘Layer 1’ active, click on the ‘Add a layer style’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette and select ‘Stroke’.

This will bring up the ‘Layer style’ dialog box. Let’s start off by setting our ‘Size’ to around 32 (this will be different for each image). Set the ‘Position’ to ‘Inside’. Now click on the ‘Color’ swatch so we can change our frames color. When you click on the swatch it brings up the ‘Select stroke color’ dialog box. Click inside the color palette and drag your mouse off the bottom edge to select black and hit OK. Do NOT hit OK in the ‘Layer Style’ dialog box just yet.

*NOTE: You can also enter an RGB value of 0,0,0 to get black.

With the ‘Layer style’ dialog box still open, click on ‘Inner Shadow’ (make sure to click on the words and not the check box).With the ‘Blend Mode’ set to normal I choose an ‘Opacity’ of 52, an ‘Angle’ of 51 (with ‘Use Global Light’ turned on),a ‘Distance’ of 61, a ‘Choke’ of 8 and a size of 16. Again, these numbers will be different with each image.

You can also add a ‘Drop Shadow’ to your frame as well. Now click OK.

STEP 5: Add a Matte

We will add a Matte just like we did the frame in step 4, except we will want to use ‘Inner glow’.

So, select the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (M) from the ‘Tools’ palette, and click drag across our canvas where you want the Matte to be.

Click on the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette (See step 2).

Hit Shift-F5 (Edit --> Fill) to bring up the ‘Fill’ dialog box. Choose ‘White’ from the “Use” drop down menu.

Hit OK, then Ctrl-D to de-select.

Now with ‘Layer 2’ active, click on the ‘Add a layer style’ icon at the bottom of the ‘Layers’ palette and select ‘Inner Glow’.

With the ‘Layer Style’ dialog box open, choose a ‘Blend Mode’ of ‘Normal’ and select black as your color (see step 4). Every picture will be a little different but I choose an ‘Opacity’ of 75 and a ‘Size’ of 13.

STEP 6: Crop

A good way to crop your image is to use the ‘Rectangular Marquee Tool’ (M). Simply click and drag across your image. When you have the area you want selected, go to the ‘Image’ menu and select ‘Crop’. Then Ctrl-D to de-select.

EDIT:
Just wanted to note that you can also add a drop shadow to the image by applying a 'Layer Style' to the 'Background Copy' layer.

Photoshop tutorial 9

2006-11-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

Advanced Extractions

STEP 1: Open your image

File --> Open (Ctrl-O) Open the image you will be using for the foreground (extraction image).

STEP 2: Duplicate your background

Duplicate your background by dragging the ‘Background’ layer (in the layers palette) to the ‘Create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the ‘layers palette’.

Open the image (Ctrl-O) that you will be using as your new background.

With the new background image active, Select the ‘Move tool’ (V) from your tools palette. Shift drag background image onto the foreground image. Holding down ‘Shift’ will center the image for you.

In the ‘layers’ palette, drag your new ‘Layer 1’ below the ‘Background copy’ layer.

STEP 3: Create a Pen Path

Using your ‘Pen’ tool (P), create a ‘Pen Path’ (make sure you have ‘Paths’ selected in the options bar). I know. Pen Path (?) you ask. You will need to know how to create a Pen Path. I can’t help you here. Maybe someday I will have a good enough understanding of the Pen tool to create a tutorial for you.

What we are trying to do with the Pen tool is create a nice refined path around the hard edges. With the ‘background copy’ layer active start your path on the left arm (her right) and work your way around. Don’t worry about the hair yet. Just stay well inside the hair, and we will take care of the rest with the ‘Extract’ filter. Work your way around, and down the right arm (her left). Then make an anchor point out side the image. Continue your path around the outside of the image, making a path around the background, NOT the subject. When you get to the last anchor point, a small circle will appear next the first anchor point. This will ‘close’ your path and create a new “Work Path” in the ‘Paths’ palette.

STEP 4: Create Alpha Channel

With ‘Work path’ active in the ‘Paths’ palette and ‘Background copy’ active in the ‘Layers’ palette, open up your ‘Channels’ palette (Window --> Channels). Click on the ‘Create new channel’ button at the bottom of the ‘Channels’ palette. This will create a new ‘Alpha channel’. Hit Ctrl-I to invert our alpha channel to white.

We need to turn our path into a ‘Stroked’ path. Select the ‘Brush tool’ (B) from the tools palette. In the ‘options’ bar, set the size to 4 pixels and the hardness to 95%. Make sure that black is set for the foreground color (“D” then “X”) and hit Enter. Go back to the ‘Paths’ palette and click off of the ‘work path’ to un-select the path (it should no longer be highlighted).

STEP 5: Extract

With the ‘Background copy’ active in the ‘Layers’ palette go to Filter --> Extract (Ctrl-Alt-X). This will bring up our ‘Extract’ dialog box.

Choose the ‘Alpha 1’ “Channel” from the ‘Extraction’ menu. This will load our stroked path.

Select the ‘Edge highlighter tool’ (B) and paint in the hair.

Make sure you paint in all the hair. Don’t leave any gaps, except for areas you will not want extracted. Try to use the smallest brush you can to keep the edges tight. Once your done select the ‘Fill tool’ (G) and click inside your selection. This should fill the area blue. Now click ‘Preview’. Here you can use the ‘Clean up tool’ (C) and the ‘Edge touch up tool’ (T) to touch up the extraction. The ‘Edge touch up tool’ does a good job of cleaning up rough edges, while the ‘Clean up tool’, together with the Alt key, can be used to add and subtract from the image. We don’t need to get too carried away here because we will only be using our extraction to create a mask. When you’re done, hit OK.

STEP 6: Create a Mask

This doesn’t look bad, but we want it better. What we want to do is make a mask. We will use this extraction as a base. Once we have a mask we can refine our edges in a non-destructive manner.

With the ‘Background copy’ layer active in the ‘layers’ palette, Ctrl-click on the Thumbnail. This will make a selection from our extraction.

Now duplicate the ‘Background’ layer again (see step 2) and drag it above ‘Layer 1’.

Click on the ‘Add layer mask’ button at the bottom of the ‘layers’ palette. This will make a mask from our selection.

*note: Notice that it says “Add vector mask” in the picture above. This is because I have already added the layer mask to Background copy 2.

Toggle off the “Background copy’ layer by clicking on the Eye symbol.

STEP 7: Refine our Mask

Now that we have a mask its time to touch up our extraction.

One way to do this is with ‘Levels’. With the ‘Background copy 2’ Mask selected (make sure the mask thumbnail is highlighted). Ctrl-L ( Image --> Adjustments --> Levels)to open the ‘levels’ dialog box. With the ‘Levels’ dialog box open, drag the sliders (inside the ‘Input Levels’) around until the edges of your image start to look good. Hit OK.

With CS3 you might find it better to use ‘Refine edge’. Ctrl-Alt-R (Select --> Refine edge) to open the ‘Refine edge’ dialog box.

Here you can see that I choose to view my image on a white background. This made it easier to see fly away hair. I expanded my mask and added a slight feather to the edge.

This is all fine and good for the hair, but we went to all that extra trouble to have nice edges elsewhere. Now they are soft. To get that hard edge back just use your ‘History brush’(Y).

If you zoom in you can still see some artifacts on the edges left over from the extraction. To get rid of this make sure that the ‘Mask’ is still active, grab the ‘Blur tool’ (R) from the ‘Tools’ palette and go around the edges. This will soften the mask a bit.

One more option is Filter --> Other --> Minimum/Maximum, set to 1-3. Followed by Filter --> Blur --> Gaussian Blur, set to 0.5-1. This is a pretty advanced technique and takes a lot of playing around to get right.

Don’t forget that you can paint in your mask using the ‘Brush tool’ (B) as well.