Photoshop CS3 Tutorials

Photoshop Freelancer Tips To Making Money Online

2010-03-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

There are several Ways on How You Can Make Money with Adobe Photoshop…
Are you a college student looking for a way to make some extra cash? Are you finding a great hobby after office hours where you will be able to make some extra money? Are you stuck for cash right now and looking for a way to earn money by working from home? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you may want to become a Photoshop freelancer.
So, just what exactly is a Photoshop freelancer?Basically, a Photoshop freelancer is a person who uses Adobe Photoshop to make some extra cash. If you are already familiar with Adobe Photoshop, then you know that this is an image and photo editing software where you will be able to create new images and even edit photos to make it look like it was taken by a professional. There are also quite a lot of cool effects that you can add to photographs and images.
So, just how exactly can you make extra cash as a Photoshop freelancer?
You may not know it but there are quite a lot of Photoshop freelancers today that makes quite a significant amount of cash. In fact, when you search for them in the internet, you will even be able to find numerous websites that advertises their services.
If you want to become a Photoshop freelancer, then you first need to know the basics in Photoshop. You need to first learn how to use the different tools in the software in order for you to know how you will be able to turn amateur photographs to look something like it was taken by a professional.
You will see that these things are possible to do with Adobe Photoshop. It doesn’t really take very long to learn. Just try experimenting and read the tutorials. Once you get the hang of it, then you will now be ready to take on small photo editing jobs.
For example, if someone wants a photograph restored, then you can do so with Adobe photoshop. This is a simple process where all you need are the basic tools used in Adobe Photoshop. All you need is a scanner, a computer with Adobe Photoshop installed, and a high quality color printer as well as a lot of photo paper.
Another way to edit images is by removing red-eye. We all know that the red-eye phenomenon is something that can eventually ruin a perfect photograph. With Adobe Photoshop, you will be able to remove the red-eye.
Some people will also want to edit some of the photos they took. For example, there will be some people who want to remove other people from the photograph they took. This is also possible to do with Adobe Photoshop but it will require some time and also quite a bit more work. Other people will want to change the background of the photo. Again, this is also possible to do with Adobe Photoshop but it will also require more skills and you need to have plenty of time to do these kinds of jobs.
Almost everything is possible with Adobe Photoshop. In fact, professional photographers use this software for the so-called air brushing where they remove imperfections from the bodies or faces of their models.
By becoming a Photoshop freelancer, you will be able to make some extra cash out of it and really make amateur looking photos in to professional looking ones. By mastering Adobe Photoshop, you will see that there are quite a lot more ways on how you will be able to make money out of this software.
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How To Apply Airbrush To Facial Images

2010-03-29T04:45:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most used techniques for Digital Photographers. In fact you can alter your facial image so much by using this technique… It’s really quite amazing. When you see all the front page covers of all the glossy magazines this is the technique they use and it’s so simple to do. So let’s get started.
Firstly, you need to open the facial images you are going to use, and I must stress that this technique only works best for facial images.
You need to duplicate your layer and then put this into a group, and the shortcuts for these are Ctrl +J (Duplicate) and Ctrl + G (Group). Now it’s up to you what you call your group name, but in this example the group was called “Airbrush” and also give your duplicated layer a new name.
Next you need to “Select your Duplicated Layer” and “Select your Surface Blur Filter”. The reason we are using this filter is because it retains the edge details. See images below

We are trying to get your facial image to look something like you see in the image below, but if it’s not, you need to redo your Surface Blur Filter and alter your settings.

If you are happy with your settings just “Press OK”. Next you need to create a new layer, but you must move it above the last layer you just created. Now you need to select this layer and change the blend mode on it to “Hard Light”. You are going to use this layer to add a slight texture to the skin.
Next you need to make sure you have the new layer selected. Once it’s selected you need to Select > Edit > Fill. In this example the following settings were used. See image below.

Next we need to add the noise filter, and to do this you need to Select > Filter > Noise Menu. Again in this example the following settings were used. See image below.

After you have done that you need to Select > Choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Again in this example the following settings were used. See image below.

If you have done this you now need to temporarily tint the colour of this layer. The simplest way to do this is to Select > Eye Dropper Tool, and this can be found in your “Tool Box”. You now need to sample an area of the skin in your photo. Once you have done this you need to click on the flyout dialog box and select the HSB sliders, which are on the right hand side.
Now you need to open your “Hue/Saturation Tool” and to do this you need to Select Image > Adjustments >Hue/Saturation. Make sure you have a check in the “Colourize Option”. Then you can adjust the “Hue, Saturation and Lightness”, but you need to alter them the same as you did before, so make a note of them when you are using them to sample the skin. See image below

Once you have done this you need to select the group you created before, and you’ll find this in the Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All. What happens now is that this layer will create a layer mask, which is filled with the black colour and it will hide the group.
Next you need to “Press D” on your keyboard and this will set the background to your default colours, which are black and white. Then select the “Brush Tool” and apply the settings below.

When you are doing this it’s best if you zoom in to around 100% and then paint over the skin in your facial image. You will find that some of the skin tone on your facial image doesn’t look right, but don’t worry about this, as the reason it doesn’t look right is because you didn’t choose the correct colour when you applied the “Hue/Saturation” to tint in one of your layers.
You will have to change your brush size and the best way to go about doing this is with the shortcuts. Decrease brush size: [ , Increase brush size: ], Decrease brush softness by 25%: Shift + [ and Increase brush softness by 25%: Shift + ]. See image below.

Once you have finished and you’re happy you’ll notice that your layer mask will have the skin areas in the white and the skin from your image should be smooth.
In your next step you are going to fix back the colour and the tone of the skin. To do this you need to select that layer and then select “Hue/Saturation”. Now we need to apply the natural skin tone. Hue needs to be set around 10, Saturation needs to be set around – 56 and lightness needs to be set around -8, but you will have to alter the settings to fit your image. What you are looking for here is a more natural skin tone.
Your last step is to restore the skin details. To do this you need to Select > Image > Apply Image. In this example the following settings were used. See image below.

As you can see in the before and after images this airbrush technique gives you an amazing smooth skin tone finish!

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Learn Photoshop CS4 - How To Virtual Weight Loss

2010-03-29T04:10:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial we are going to be looking at Virtual Weight Loss. We’ll be using a variety of tools in this Photoshop CS4 tutorial, but the main tool we’ll be using is the “Liquify Tool” and we’ll also be covering the “Healing Brush Tools”, “Patch Tool” and the “Clone Stamp Tool”.

The first thing we’ll be covering is the “Liquify Tool”, so you’ll need to head to the top and Select > Filter > Liquify. You’ll now notice the “Liquify Dialog Box” and another box on the right handside. The first thing you need to select is “Forward Warp Tool” then go over to the right handside and select your “Brush Settings”.
The two things we’ll be focusing on, will be “Brush Size” and “Brush Pressure”. Now you need to zoom in on the backside of this image. See image below.

Now we are going to bring in her sides. So very simply just hold your mouse button down then click and drag. Do the same on the left handside. See image below.

I also mentioned the “Brush Pressure” option before, it works like this. The higher the setting the more of a sharper result you’ll get.
The settings that were used in this tutorial are: “Brush Pressure - 90”.

The next thing you need to do is work your way up and down her body and pull in the areas you think need pulling in. What we are looking for her is a base result, something to start working with.

After you have finished that you’ll need to shrink her bottom. To do this you’ll need to use the “Pucker Tool”, this can be found on the left handside. You’ll need a big brush for this. Now just click a few times on the middle of her bottom, which will make her bottom shrink, again use your “Forward Warp Tool” just to move her thighs in a little bit. See image below.

Like I said this is just a base result. Make sure you save your results. Now zoom in on the back once again and we are going to take care of the roll, as you can see this adds a lot of bulk to her body.

For this you are going to need the “Patch Tool”. All you need to do now is make a selection around the area you are wanting to get rid of, to do this just click and drag your mouse around the roll. See image below.

Now just click and drag to a smooth area you want to replace it with and then let go. You’ll notice it will sample the area you dragged on top of and replaced it with the selection, this effect makes it look really natural. See image below.

Next we’ll be focusing on the “Clone Stamp Tool”. For this you’ll need to get the correct brush size. For this to work you need to “Hold Down Alt or Option” to sample an area. What we are looking for here is a smooth area, then click and brush, that’s it.
As you can see in the image below the roll has nearly gone. I’ve spent seconds doing this and as you can see it’s looking pretty good so far, make sure you spend more time altering the finer details.
Next we are going to go back into the “Liquify Tool” and make some very minor adjustments by bringing her body in. We are looking at the small changes here. These are the ones which make the biggest differences to your images.
Check the before and after images below for the finished result.

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Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials Explore The Variety of Ways You Can Edit Your Photos Using Adobe Photoshop Software

2010-03-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

The goal of a professional photographer is to do everything you can to make the conditions for taking pictures perfect. Ideally you would place your subject in perfect lighting and do everything you can in order to eliminate red eye or other things that can ruin the picture. This is where Photoshop comes in, and the more important Adobe Photoshop video tutorials.
With today’s technology, even amateur photographers can take an ordinary photograph and make it look extraordinary. How is this possible? With the power of Adobe Photoshop anyone can turn an ordinary photo into a professional looking one. As a matter of fact, most professional photographers turn to Adobe Photoshop to air brush out so called imperfections in the pictures they took with their SLR camera.
One of the very helpful things you can do with Photoshop is to remove items you’re your photos. For instance, you may have a plane flying overhead that you would like to eliminate for that perfect, clear blue sky appearance. You can also easily remove imperfections in your photos, such as scars, wrinkles and even pimples. And say goodbye forever to red-eye. These techniques are used by studio photographers who want to make their subjects look perfect.
In fact, the joy of Photoshop is that you can make your Aunt Edna look like Angelina Jolie (albeit with a bit of work on your part). Such is the magic of Adobe Photoshop. With this photo editing software, anything is possible, once you have viewed step by step adobe Photoshop video tutorials.
You also needn’t worry about not having the latest and greatest digital camera on the market. With an everyday 4 megapixel camera, you are able to studio quality photos with a few clicks of the mouse. You can even take a washed out photo and change it into something incredibly vibrant.
As I mentioned earlier, we have all had the red eye syndrome which can completely ruin a great photo, now these can be edited. No more worrying about red eyes on your subjects as Adobe Photoshop is able to remove them. The lighting tool enhances dark pictures. Simply adjust the brightness of the picture as well as the contrast and it will look like you took the photo in a perfect lighting environment. Back lighted pictures are no longer a problem with Adobe Photoshop.
One of the best things about this program is that it is relatively easy to use. Be warned that it may take some time to become familiar with the tools in Photoshop, but after you are comfortable with the program you will be able to edit pictures like a professional.
Hopefully by now you are aware that you don’t need a digital photo studio in order to make your dull pictures look a little bit better. Photoshop makes the pictures you take look as if it was taken by a professional. Even using an ordinary digital camera, you can be sure that you will be able to take great pictures with the help of Photoshop.
So, if you want to improve how the pictures you take look, then Adobe Photoshop will be able to give you the power to take pictures like a professional. In fact, there are so many possibilities that you can do with your pictures with Adobe Photoshop.
With ease you are able to change the background of the picture or even replace someone’s body with another person’s body.
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Working with Layers

2010-03-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Photoshop offers very powerful layer capabilities, which can cause confusion. It is also quite common to find many who fail to use layer functions that would help to speed their work.
The basic operation of a raster program depends on a selected layer. You do not have to build multiple layers, but you do need at least one layer. Pasting an item or creating text in Photoshop automatically creates a new layer. For any other operation, you will have to manually add a layer before drawing. If you do not add a layer, the object will be drawn on the currently selected layer and drawn objects will merge together automatically.

Create a new layer
There are several ways to create a new layer. Select Layer>New>Layer from the Main Menu or use SHIFT+CTRL (Command) + L. I find I most often use the Layers palette for layers operations. With the Layer tab active, click on the side arrow to activate the pop out menu. Click on New Layer. The New Layer window will appear. I advise that you type in a name for your layer, since working with even a few layers will become confusing. Choose a name that you will be able to identify, even if you return to the document months later. Click OK and your new layer will appear immediately above the layer that was selected when you created the new layer.
You can also duplicate a layer, which will copy the selected area and create a new layer to place the copy. Select the layer you wish to copy. Activate the side pop out menu and choose Duplicate Layer. Windows users can also right click on a layer and choose Duplicate Layer from the flyout menu. You will be presented with the Layers Option window, and can rename the copied layer from the Photoshop default, which is the name of the current layer with "copy" added.
When the copy is created, it is placed immediately on top of the original layer, which makes it seem as if nothing has happened. Use the Move tool to move the layer and you will see the new layer as well as the original layer.

Create a layer from a selection
You may wish to copy only a portion of a layer, or perhaps you would prefer that one area of a layer was on its own layer. You can copy or cut any selection to a new layer easily. Activate the layer (click on it) that contains the information you wish to duplicate or move to a new layer and select the area you would like to work with. Choose Layer>New>Layer via Copy or Layer via Cut from the main menu. For a quicker method, right click (Windows) or Command click (Mac) on the layer containing the selected area, and choose the Layer via Copy or Layer via Cut from the flyout menu. The selected area will be duplicated to a new layer if you chose to copy, or moved if you chose the cut option.
I often use the layer via copy or duplicate layer functions when creating navigation elements. Careful naming as you create repeating elements is essential for efficient production.

Rename a layer
If you do not name a layer as you create it, or if you are not presented with the choice to assign a name to a layer, you can easily rename any layer. Double click on the layer in the Layers palette and type a new name into the Name area of the Layer Options window. This window is also available through a right click (Command click) or the side flyout menu.

Change Layer Position
Solid areas in layers will hide the layers below in the stacking order. Quite often, you will find that you need to change the order of the layers. This is a very simple procedure in Photoshop. Simply click and drag the layer to the position you desire. As you are dragging, a clenched hand will appear. Release the mouse when the layer is
in the position you require.

Share layers between documents
You can also drag a layer from one Photoshop document to another. Have both documents open – the one containing the layer you wish to copy, and the document that will receive the layer. Click and drag the layer from the original document to the document where you would like to add the layer. The layer will appear in the new document exactly as it was in the original document, but it will also remain in the original location.

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Linking and Merging Layers

2010-03-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

Linking Layers
Suppose you have followed my advice, and have created layers for each step your drawing. Now you have an object with a fill, an outline and text. You would like to move this object over a few pixels. The only smart move is to merge the layers so that all will move as one unit.

That is one solution, but it is not the only one, nor is is probably the best one. You can link layers so that they are seen as one unit, but you can still separate them whenever you wish to make a change.

To link, simply select the main layer (any layer will do, but it is easier all around if you use a layer that makes sense as the "main" one in the link group.) Click on the second column from the left (as shown by the finger pointing cursor in this sample) to create a link. The chain symbol appears to indicate that this layer is linked to the active layer, and will appear any time the main layer in the link group is active. Repeat for any layer you would like to have as part of this group.
To unlink any layer, simply click in the link area on the Layers palette again.
Linked layers can be moved and transformed as if they were one layer.
You can fill selected areas on each layer independently, and even delete one layer in a link group. (Note: If you change your mind, and use the undo feature, the link will not be restored and you will have to link the layers again.)
What's a merge?
Merging layers creates one layer from two or more layers. Once layers are merged, they cannot be separated into the original layers, so be careful with this command. If you are certain you will not need the layers separate again, position the layer you wish to merge above the layer you wish to combine it with in the Layers palette. Click on the flyout menu and choose Merge Down. The layers will be combined with the name of the lower layer remaining.
If you have linked layers that you do not require to be separate, choose Merge Linked Layers from the flyout menu.
You can also merge all your layers together by choosing Flatten Image from the flyout menu.
Please make sure that you will not require the layers separate before merging. I will often link layers for a while before I make the decision to merge. This allows a trial period before committing to the merge. Why bother with merging at all if separate layers are so much better? It is not hard to build an image with 20-50, or more layers. Scrolling through the list or CTRL clicking an object to select a layer can become time consuming on a complicated image. If you are certain that several layers may be safely merged, it is best to simplify your work.

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Powerful Layering Tools

2010-03-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

So ... now I have you adjusting the values almost every time you apply an effect. How on earth can you keep consistency across your image? That's easy! Photoshop offers the option to copy your effects from layer to layer.
When you have added effects to a layer, a symbol appears on your layer as shown at the left, highlighted with a yellow circle. Double clicking on this symbol opens the Effects window. Right clicking (Command click) will bring a valuable new menu to your fingertips. We will use this menu to provide consistency and speed to your work. Note: You can reach the same menu by choosing Layer>Effects in the main menu.
When you have the effects on one layer perfected, you can copy the effects to move to another layer. Simply open the effects editing drop-down as explained above, and choose Copy Effects. Activate the layer you would like to have the same effects applied to, open the drop-down menu and choose Paste effects. Yup, that's it. As long as you do not copy effects again, that setting will stay on the clipboard waiting for you to apply it to layer after layer. You can also paste the effect into a layer in a separate document.
Now for real power, what if you could apply an effect across linked layers? You can! Create your linked layers as described a few days ago in linking and merging. Activate the layer that others are linked to, open the effects drop-down menu and choose Paste Effects to Linked. That's it - you could apply an effect to 25 layers (or many more) at once as long as they were linked.
In the sample of the rectangles at the left, I decided to reduce the size of all the boxes. Linking them let me reduce the rectangles across the layers in one step. With the reduced size, the shadow was blurred too much. I corrected one of the layers, then copied and pasted the effects to the linked layers. Very powerful tools.

Time for some fun?
Let's take the layer effects' power and have some fun with it. You can separate the layer effect from the layer and manipulate it with all the power that Photoshop offers. The image below started as a ball with a layer effect shadow. I separated the effects to a separate layer, and using the transform commands, manipulated the shadow to make the ball appear to be floating well above the surface.

The first step here was to create the ball and then apply a shadow effect. I used the darkest Web-safe gray as the shadow color, a distance of 150 and blur value of 30. Not very realistic though.
Right click (Command click) on the effects symbol to activate the drop-down menu, and a powerful option is presented. Choose Create Layer, and the layer effect will be moved to a separate layer, as shown below.

You can now manipulate the shadow in the same way as any other layer. In fact, you can apply an effect to the effect if that will achieve the results you seek. Add texture, noise, scale, rotate, skew ... whatever you wish, since it is a normal layer. It is wise to link the shadow layer to the object once you have achieve the right look.
This is how you can achieve perspective shadows on objects, making them appear to be standing up, or floating in the air. Experiment with the transform tools on a shadow layer and see what you can produce. You may have to play a while, but always keep light in mind. Where would the light be coming from, and what effect would that have? Place objects near a light source and observe the effects of the shadows.
We have the tool to create any three dimensional effect with effects layers, and you owe it to yourself to learn how to bring the dimension into your work.
Work with layers until you can accomplish all basic functions without thinking. Without understanding layers perfectly, you will not ever be able to master the power of Photoshop, and will find it difficult to create professional, highly editable images.
Finally, always, and I mean always, always, always – as in don't EVER forget – save a Photoshop format (PSD) copy of your files with layers intact. Even if you never work on that image again, you can use elements of it by dragging layers or copying effects.

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Web Pages with Photoshop

2010-03-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

Photoshop is a wonderful tool for creating web sites. It allows even a novice the ability to create a fully functional web site without much knowledge of HTML or JavaScript. You can create an entire web page template with Photoshop, and then use Image Ready to slice up the image and create the HTML for you. Or you can use Photoshop to create just the navigation for your web site, or to optimize images on your web site. No matter how you use Photoshop, it will definitely make your web site look much nicer, and also help it to run faster.

Photoshop can help you to create an entire web site without coding much HTML by hand. You can draw a complete web site in Photoshop, and then transfer your image into Image Ready so that you can slice up the image into smaller elements, and then save the images and the corresponding HTML to render the page very easily. Then all you have to do is use you’re newly created web site and entire content into the blank spaces that you have left in the template. After you have added the content to your pages, you will be ready to post your new web site to the web.
When I am creating web sites I use Photoshop to create the navigation for the web site and also to optimize all of the images, so that my web site will load faster. I usually create buttons for the navigation, and then create rollover effects from within Image Ready. This saves me quite a bit of time, because all of the JavaScript for the mouse over effects are done for me, which allows me to work on the more advanced coding of the pages. Even if you want to create all of the navigation and layout of your web site without Photoshop, then you should at least use Photoshop to optimize your images so that you web site loads within a reasonable amount of time.
Photoshop can give you 3 different optimized views of a particular image, and tell you how fast it will load on a particular connection speed. Then you can choose which optimized image you would like to use based on the ratio between how good the picture looks and how fast it loads. Without optimizing your images your web site will perform very slowly and visitors will be less likely to wait. You can create a web site on your own by hand coding the entire site, but using Photoshop will make creating your web site much easier and more appealing.

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Enhancing Your Photos

2010-03-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why the Hollywood stars always look so perfect in the magazine photographs? Why is it they consistently look so good? Their hair, teeth and skin always seem to be perfect and so beautiful. Is this the magic of stardom or Hollywood? No, this isn’t magic. It’s just Photoshop.
Photoshop is the same photo editing software program being used by professionals in the entertainment industry to make movie stars look younger, slimmer and better. They have been doing it for years and now you can achieve the same results with a little training and practice using Photoshop for some of these same photo enhancements.
You can learn to make amazing enhancements to any photograph using the tools and functions available in Photoshop. The following are just a few of the improvements you can make to people pictures.

Whiten stained teeth
Remove unsightly scars
Smooth age wrinkles
Clear up acne
Remove blemishes
Double chin removal
Fill in bald spots by adding hair
Open closed eyes
Remove tattoos
Hide body piercings
Change eye color

With Photoshop you can easily make yourself or anyone look better. You can even change the colors of the clothing people are wearing. You will be amazed by the results you can achieve with Photoshop. You will not only be able to improve the appearance of people but you will be able to completely remove people from the photograph, add people from other photos or change the background.
Master these Photoshop techniques and you will be in demand for photo editing and graphic design projects. People with these types of skills are in needed for photo retouching, web design work, logo design, advertising, and more. Not only can you have fun touching up your own photos but you could start a business doing photo enhancements.

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How To Make Speech Bubbles

2010-03-24T16:42:00.001-07:00

Here is a great speech bubble tutorial found on PSTUT.com written by Edvard Erlandsson

Creating a speech bubble shaped pathIn this step we will create a path with the shape of a speech bubble, we will use the Ellipse tool and the Pen tool.Start out by selecting the Ellipse tool in the tools menu. Now the options bar for the Ellipse tool should be visible above your work area.The important settings here is to select paths mode, you can see my settings below.

Now you should draw an Ellipse that looks something like the one I have drawn bellow.Adjust the size of the Ellipse to match the content you want to have inside the speech bubble.

Now it's time to add the part of the speech bubble that indicates the origin of the speech.For this task we will use the Pen tool, select the Pen tool in the tools menu and in the options bar set the mode to paths mode and set it to Add to path areaBelow are my settings for your comfort.

Draw a triangle like I have done in the image below and make sure to connect the third dot with the first by clicking in it.

Time to style our speech bubbleNow we need to fill the path with a white or whitish color.First create a new layer, then go to the tools menu and select the Path selection tool.Click the ellipse path, hold down shift while clicking in the triangle path, now you have selected both paths. Right click anywhere in the work are and select Fill path in the menu.The Fill path dialog in the image below will appear, in the drop down select color and the Color picker will appear, select the color you want.

Now we can start applying layer effects to style the speech bubble.Right click the layer you just created and select Blending options, now apply all the settings that I have used in the images bellow.

Were finished with the speech bubble tutorialBelow is my final result, remember since we have used paths you can resize the path without getting jagged speech bubbles.

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Adobe Photoshop Environment

2010-03-24T16:40:00.000-07:00

In the following tutorial you will learn about the overall scope of Adobe Photoshop CS3. This program is used mostly to manipulate images. People that do web development, graphic design, and photography will probably prefer the use of this program to edit their images. Once you have grasped this basic knowledge of the software, you will be able to dive into Adobe Photoshop and quite possibly Adobe Fireworks, which works in a similar way. Adobe Fireworks is just a little simpler and has less features. Adobe Fireworks was originated as Macromedia Fireworks. Enough of the chit-chat, lets get down to business!When you first enter the Adobe Photoshop environment you will see a plethora of features and plug-ins to mess with. Fortunately, with a little training from me you won't have to be confused by these things. Go to the top left of the screen and select file/new.
Now you should see the picture above. This is the basic variables that you are able to change when you start a new file. You can change the name of Photoshop document to whatever you please. This is best suited when you are trying to organize stuff during your Adobe Photoshop training sessions on the web. The preset window lets you select what type of paper size, resolution, and color mode that you would like to have to start out with. Of course most will just go with custom so that they can personalize their specific project. Most of the time, the project you are working on won't fit into a category. Adobe has specifically put custom as the first on the list because of this fact. For today session, let's change the preset to Web.
Following these steps will present you with a black window with the name of the file, percent of the resolution it is viewing at, and the color mode you have chosen at the top of the window.
From here we can learn about what some of the things you see on the left and right of the screen are. We will start on the left side of the screen because this is the first thing you should learn when you starting to make and edit images in Adobe Photoshop. I am using Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, which has some extra features. I will go over these briefly to educate you. The first on the top left is the "move tool" It is an icon that has a cursor and crosshair on it. You can use this tool to move objects on the screen around to your liking.
The next tool is the rectangular Marquee tool. You can also just use this tool to make squares around areas in an image to cut them out easily. You can use that feature to cut out a piece of a picture and paste it somewhere else. I personally use this image a lot when I am working on images for my website or editing my digital photos.
This tool has four variations to it. Two of them are relatively new and you may know them or not. The second variation is the Elliptical Marquee tool that allows you to trace circles. The third is the Single Row Marquee tool. The fourth is the Single Column Marquee tool. These are great when you want to slice out the image of an excel spreadsheet and only post that specific data too an audience. It is most likely it will end up looking like an "L" shape and you will be able to write information around the image within a website. This is very useful for website designers with the proper knowledge of Adobe software products.
Next up is the Lasso tool. This tool allows you to highlight an image that you have made in an image or an image you have opened in Adobe Photoshop. This marquee tool likes to have smooth hard edges to follow. If you a photograph that doesn't have a easy to follow edge around objects you will find it hard to use this tool. You have probably seen this when people cut their heads out of a picture and paste it onto somebody else's body. It is a very funny feature and this is the tool that does it!
The lasso tool has three different variations. The second version is the Polygonal Lasso tool. This tool can make different shapes and curves when tracing around or cutting out a piece of an image. The third variation is the Magnetic Lasso tool that only works on images that have defined edges. The tool will clamp onto an edge and give it anchor points to shape the corners. This is good when you don't have that steady hand you used to have back in high school. I use this myself because I am not the man I used to be!
The next up is the crop tool. This feature does exactly what is says. It is like a marquee tool except it is made specifically for cutting square pieces out of images. That is pretty much all it does. However, this simple feature is used quite often to developed website images.
The next up is the Slice tool. This tool allows you to slice an image into smaller pieces. This is usually used in web design with the use of tables to display formatting on a webpage.
The next in line is a list of four tools that provide ways for the user to fix problems in images. The Spot Healing Brush tool first appeared in Adobe Elements 3. It was implemented into Adobe Photoshop CS2 after that. This tool allows you to fix areas of an image by replacing or blending the colors in an area so that it is like growing a new piece of skin over a bad rash. The Healing Brush tool allows you to fix problems in the image by sampling the surrounding area around the problem and trying to replicate the pattern in the area that is problematic. The patch tool is pretty much a mix of the Healing Brush and the Lasso tool. It is allows you to highlight the area that is scratched or empty and sample the surrounding area to fix the problem. Lastly, the Redeye tool allows you to select the common problem of red eyes and correct them with sampling a piece of the black pupil area and replacing the red eye with the natural pupil color. This is a widely used tool by many consumers.
The next tools are made for painting on the canvas freestyle. The first one of them is the Brush tool. The Brush tool is an old favorite for people that want to free hand draw things like they had a brush which they can decrease and increase the size of the contact point. You can also change the hardness of the stroke as well. This will show differences in contrast. The Pencil tool is just like a real pencil with some added tricks. The modes can give you complete freedom or help you make straight lines when you are trying to make objects. The last one is the Color Replacement tool. This handy tool allows you to select a color scheme on an image and replace it with something else. Unlike the bucket tool that will cover the complete area, this tool will allow you to draw in the replacement by hand as if you had a brush. Let's say if you had a blue cup in a picture. You can sample the blue color and decide to make it green. Then you just draw over the area of the cup and anything that is of the sampled color will turn green!
The stamp tools are a very nice addition to the Adobe Photoshop regime for photographers. Specifically it is great for editors that write tabloids and want to doctor the pictures. With the Clone Stamp tool they will be able to edit out an area of a picture and make it look like it was never there. They can do this by sampling the area around the object they want to not be there and adding it into the portion of the picture they want it too be in. The Pattern Stamp tool allows you to stamp a specific pattern at your desired brush hardness onto an image to make something unique. Like you can take a brick wall patter and make a complete building.
The History brush tool and the Art History brush tool are unique and sometimes overlooked. You can use the History Brush tool to restore the original image in only just section or part of an image. It is usually used when you take a color picture to black and white and then convert a part of it back to color. It's kind of like finding a dusty painting and then wiping it off to see the beauty that it holds underneath. It is a true treasure for the graphic designer or photographer that uses Adobe software product regularly. The Art History Brush tool allows you to copy the texture of an image through the use of art specific styles. Unlike the History Brush tool the Art History Brush tool takes the data from the image and creates something new out of it. It allows you to put a different style of art to an image without it losing its originality.
The next feature is the three types of Eraser tools. The most basic is the Eraser tool itself. You can change the size of the area that the eraser returns to the original background. The Background Eraser Tool does exactly what it states. It is able to erase the background without any use of changing layers. Once you have done this you can add in colors to make a new background at will. The Magic Eraser tool acts like the Magic Wand tool. It will erase an area based how it is clicked and verified.
The next up on the list is the Gradient tool and the Paint Bucket tool. These are old favorites from the long line of Adobe Photoshop releases. However, for all the new Adobe Photoshop CS users out there these items are something that may not be so familiar after searching through the web for image editing software. The Gradient tool provides the user the ability to make colors stretch in all directions from high to low in intensity. It is similar to the way you would view the sunset as the colors transition from light to dark. You can also use this feature to apply to certain types of patterns and textures. These features are also available Macromedia and Adobe Fireworks. The Paint Bucket tool is capable of filling in a space or a space inside of the Magic Wand tool to a certain color, patter, texture, or stamp. This is used as a quick way to change colors in a predefined area.
The following set of tools previously were found in another section of Adobe Photoshop, but are now offered conveniently on the left side of the menu. All three of these do pretty much what they say they do. I will still give you a brief explanation of their capabilities though. The first of them is the Blur tool. The Blur tool blurs the area where you paint. The Sharpen tool increases the contrast in the areas you paint. The Smudge tool blends the pixels where you paint. This is similar to when you drag something through wet paint that has various colors.
Oddly enough, three more features that were previously hidden to the human eye are now available for you to view on the left menu. This time though the names have almost nothing to do with what they do. First up is the Dodge tool. This tool lightens an area on the image. The Burn tool darkens an area on the image and the Sponge tool changes the level of saturation on an area in the image. These all have their special purposes that you will come to find out about. Burn and Dodge are usually used for making shadows or erasing shadows.
The next feature has a wide array of variations to it. This feature is the Pen tool. The pen tool allows users to create paths, curves, and anchor points to move lines around in weird shapes without the use of freehand drawing. Ironically enough, this leads to the rest of the tools. The next is the Freeform Pen tool. Unlike the pen tool that automatically makes anchor points where you draw, the Freeform Pen tool lets you draw as if you really had a pen. After you have used either of the tools you can use the next feature, which is the Add Anchor Point tool to create anchor points for new lines or freeform drawing. This helps when you want to attach a line to another line that has already been drawing without overlapping incorrectly. The Delete Anchor Point tool gives you the ability to delete an anchor point that you are not satisfied with. The Convert Point tool changes vector shape masks and paths. This allows different types of anchor points to connect to each other even if they are composed of different types of corners.
The next tools are the Type tools. They specifically describe the Horizontal Type tool and the Vertical Type tool. These pertain to the angle that you are able to write in (Horizontal or Vertical). Unfortunately, when you use this you must turn it into a bitmap and that makes it non-editable after you are finished. The Horizontal and Vertical Type Mask tool allows you to write with text that is filled with a patter or an image as the font color. It can be a nice addition if you are writing against an odd background.
The Path Selection tool and the Direct Selection tool are both used for paths. The Path Selection tool will allow you to select a path component even if it is surrounded by many different paths. The Direct Selection tool will only select a segment of a path. This is a way to reshape a segment to a different path after it has been created and saved.
The following tools are some of my personal favorites. I have started one too many images with these objects. If you look at my website you can see almost exactly where I started when I created it. The first of these is the Rectangle tool that makes a rectangle of various sizes. The Rounded Rectangle tool makes rectangles that are rounded. I used to use this exclusively in Macromedia Fireworks before I purchased the Adobe CS series. The Ellipse tool allows you to make seemingly perfect circles. The Polygon tool allows you to make polygons. The Line tool makes lines with anchor points at the end so that they can be managed by the Pen tool if you want to get fancy.
Below these more popular features are some cool features that you may or may not find interesting. I believe these have been in all the Adobe CS releases, but I am not sure about the Macromedia MX series. The first up is the Notes tool that allows you to add small notes to your images in the background. Also there is an Audio Annotation tool that allows you to add verbal notes to an image.
The tools described below are a set of useful features that you may find useful in addition to some of the other options. I believe some of these tools are used in conjunction with the other tools. However, this makes it a little simpler if you want to do it the old fashioned way. First is the Eyedropper tool that helps sample color from an area. The Eyedropper tool is pretty basic though. The Color Sampler tool has a few more features that allow you to gather the color data from any layer without calling that layer. You can see levels of gradient or replace colors and shapes back to an image. The Ruler tool helps you measure things inside of an image if you are trying to be precise about how you do things. This helps if you are a web developer and you are trying to make every symmetrical and in order. I personally try to do this sometimes and have to slap myself. I like to be organized myself, but I don't want my websites to look so fine tuned that they would be passed up as not being original. The Count tool helps you count.
The Hand tool is used to move objects that are in a layer in anyway that you would like that is 2d in fashion.
The Zoom tool helps you zoom in on a picture or object so you can do fine tuning.
The Default Foreground and Background Colors tool lets you return back to black and white when you have gone totally out of whack with you colors you are thinking you are in the 1960s!
The Switch Foreground and Background Color tool lets you switch the colors you using at will. It is almost like have a painters tablet to hold your saved colors on.
I forgot to mention that each of these features has its sub-features displayed at the top of the program when you click on them. You have probably noticed by now though. By now you have gained enough knowledge of the Adobe Photoshop CS3 basic features to jump in and start creating your own stuff. You will be able to find further information on each of these features in use with illustrations soon. I can tell you this because I am writing them right now. I believe the visitor will take from you if they can look at one person and know what type of information he is giving rather than it coming from a million different people that may or may not know how to effectively write information to people. Please check back often to view further updates to the website and even more great tutorials in various disciplines in Adobe Software.
Some of you may be looking for even further guidance or special programs that will help you through every step of the process. I would love to be there standing behind you pointing to everything you need to do, but that is just not feasible..... yet! However, my website has a growing amount of unique content written by yours truly and not randomly dispersed from random websites where you are not sure of the credibility of the author or not. The complete tutorial with picture of this tutorial is available at my webpage below. Remember, you can unlock the Adobe Guru in you!

So come on take the FIRST step and lets get started

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Gradient Tutorial

2010-03-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

This tutorial will go over the use of the Gradient Tool in Adobe Photoshop CS3. This is a short and focused tutorial on the capabilities of the gradient tool. Many different things can be constructed from such simple features. Many new web 2.0 buttons, headers and images are using finely tuned gradients to give off a smooth effect. I personally like this look and feel, and will be developing it into some of my new tutorials. If you are looking for a more defined tutorial on how to use this feature, you can check out of the links to the side or a webpage from the resource site link. Also there is the full package of teaching tutorials that you will find summarized at the end of this tutorial. Enough of the idle talk lets continue with the tutorial.

Let’s start by opening up Adobe Photoshop CS Extended and making a document of a large square shape (500 pixels x 500 pixels). Then you can select the Gradient Tool.

Now drag a line from the top left portion to the bottom right portion like shown in the image below.

Now you will see what happens with the color patterns from blue to brown. You can see the color pattern at the top left of the program. That is the way it is shown for a gradient.

Now select that gradient box and you will see the default option within it. There are a variety of pre-made color patterns.

Let’s take a look at one in use. Pick the transparent rainbow.

Now drag a line from the top right to the bottom left.

Now you will get an opposing gradient image from another corner of the document. You could do with different layers and make all kinds of cool contrasting stuff.

Now lets get a fresh document and select the Linear Gradient located at the top of the screen as shown in the image below.

Now drag a line from the left to the right.

Now you will get a linear gradient with the transparent rainbow. The transparent rainbow is nothing more than a few blending changes. You blur the rain colors and then you set the opacity to about 50% and there you go.

Let’s make another clean document and select the Angle Gradient.

Select the option Foreground to Background, which will take your personally made background and foreground colors and make an angled gradient with them. You can do this with any of the gradients.

Now drag a line from left to right.

Now you will have an angled gradient. My gradient is from blue to white so it looks like it takes up only half the screen. You can make yours look like whatever you want.

Now make a new document and select the Reflected Gradient.

Drag a line from the bottom left to the top right.

Now you will see the image below.

Now select the Diamond Gradient from the top. I am sorry for not having the proper caption for this. Now select the black and white color option.

Now drag a line from the top left to the bottom right.

Now you will have an odd looking diamond speared gradient object. I probably should have demonstrated this in another color pattern.

The rest of the options are pretty self-explanatory. Next to the gradient types are the modes you can run them in. I kept it on normal for simplicity sake. They are shown below.

The gradient is a great tool that has many useful possibilities. It has been used since digital graphic editing started and it will continue on with these brilliant programs. Nothing catches the eye more than a well used gradient in an image. It mimics the changing faces of the sky that we see everyday. Some people would state that they have never seen anything more beautiful than a colorful sky. I believe they may be on to something. I hope this tutorial has taught you a few features that Adobe Photoshop CS3 has to offer with gradients.

Click Here! to learn the basics of Photoshop in just 2 hours.

How To Create Multicolor Gradients

2010-03-24T16:30:00.000-07:00

If you want to create a cool multicolor gradient
without much time spent, follow these steps.

Create a high quality grayscale image.

Use the gradient tool from darker to lighter (or vice versa) — either linear or radial.

After applying the gradient, change color mode to Indexed color (select it from the Mode menu) — but not less than 8-bit.

Then select any color table you want by choosing ColorTable option in the Mode menu. Good results can be achieved by choosing always-present-in-Photoshop Black Body (instant German flag gradient) or Spectrum color (instant lame effect) tables.

Click Here! to learn the basics of Photoshop in just 2 hours.

Using Photoshop To Create The Perfect Shot

2010-03-24T16:26:00.001-07:00

Many amateur photographers have recently switched over from using traditional film to the digital realm, especially with the advent of the cheaper digital SLR or DSLR cameras.

Now you can use your digital camera in exactly the same way that you could a traditional 35mm SLR. In fact the digital models are even better as you can set the film speed and make previews etc etc.

Having made the change to digital there are far too few photographers who realize the power of Photoshop.

Digital enhancement of your images is something that can turn some of the most amateur photos into professional looking shots.

The possibilities are endless but include;

Creating better composition.

This is the first and most important step in creating the perfect image. Get this right and your photo could be stunning.

There are certain rules to the composition of the perfect image which we will not go into in detail here but you can adjust your image in Photoshop so that it adheres to some of these rules. For example, with a little creative use of the crop tool you can resize your image and adjust the position of the subject to fall into one of the key positions making it more pleasing to the eye. For example, in most cases, a central subject is not as effective as one that is offset to the side (adhering to the rule of thirds). Using crop can effectively move the subject over, up or down to position it perfectly.

Create depth of field.

You can quite easily add depth of field to the images that you have taken "snaps" of. If you have an image that is completely in focus and the background too is in focus (a common effect of non SLR digital point and shoot cameras) the you can solve this using Photoshop. You simply draw a mask or make a selection around the subject, invert that mask so that it selects all but the subject and apply a blur effect to the part of the image that is selected. In the later versions of Photoshop there is actually a filter that emulates the natural lens blur. The end result is a sharp, in focus subject with an out of focus background. This can be very effective and can draw attention to the subject.

Color Correction

You can change the color of your image and balance the overall exposure of your images in a number of ways. The most common is by using the levels function or the curves. Here you can gently touch up your photo making the dark areas darker and the lighter areas lighter to achieve greater or lesser contrast.

There are countless other methods and techniques you can use with Photoshop to better your images without having them look like they have been altered. Selective blurring can give the impression of movement, you can change certain areas of a photo such as the color of a specific object, red eye effects can be removed, skin blemishes and spots can be hidden and even with a little more skill and knowledge, complete makeovers can be achieved.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that Photoshop is a tool for designers and fantasy artists alone. It is fast becoming the chosen tool of the trade for most professional photographers and is used on a daily basis.

How To Create A Professional Logo Design On Adobe Photoshop

2010-03-24T16:23:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial you will learn how to create an elegant logo that would fit in nicely with most any design company. The techniques taught in this tutorial can also be altered in many ways to create an almost entirely different company logo.

Process # 1
open an existing document in photoshop, or create a new one. I will be using a document that is 440 x 312 for this tutorial. Fill the background with white (#FFFFFF).

Process # 2
Get out the Custom Shape Tool () and select the Grass Shape.

Create a new layer, set your foreground color to black (#000000) and draw the shape onto the canvas:

Get out the pen tool (), and right click anywhere inside of the shape. Choose "make selection":

Click OK

Fill this selection with black:

Process # 3
Double click this layer, and apply the following blending options:
Drop Shadow:

Result:

Process # 4

Now press CTRL + J to duplicate this layer. Go to "Edit->Transform->Flip Horizontally".Press 'V' on your keyboard to get out the
move tool, and nudge the duplicate layer over as l've done in this image:

Process # 5
Next we'll add some text to it. Set your
foreground color to white (#B4B4B4). Get out
the text tool, and pick a nice thick font
that you like. I'll be using DreamScar which
you can download in our download section.,
however there are several designer fonts
available for download in our downloads
section. My result:

Double click this layer and apply the following blending options:

Drop Shadow:

At this point the same techniques are applied to create more detail. You can choose another custom shape and apply an inner shadow such as l've done here:

Click Here! to learn the basics of Photoshop in just 2 hours.

How To Create Panoramic Photos With Photoshop CS Photomerge

2010-03-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

These days you don't need a special camera to create awesome panoramic photographs. With Photoshop CS using Photomerge makes the process quick and easy. Photomerge in Photoshop CS was created especially for panoramic photography. The process itself is really quite easy but the results of the merge will be depend on the layout and image source quality. The Photomerge feature permits the selection of images intended for automatic panoramic Photomerge and it also allows for manual arrangements.

Since your final photo depends on the quality of the source images it is necessary to make note of some tips when shooting scenic photographs. These tips include:

Use manual exposure when shooting pictures. Merging the pictures later on will be difficult if different exposures per shot are used.
Try to keep the camera as steady as possible when shooting. If you can, use a tripod to steady the camera.
Keep a long distance between the camera and the subject, especially when working with landscapes. Chances of parallax are greater when objects are too close to the camera

Here are simple step-by-step instructions on how to come up with great panoramic images using Photoshop CS Photomerge:

Open several images of a single scenery in Photoshop CS.
Go to the File option, the select Automate, and then go to Photomerge. This will open the Photoshop dialog box.
Check that the images you want to merge are in the dialog box.
Next check the Attempt to Automatically Arrange Source Images box and then select okay
The program will then automatically select the images one by one, and attempt to merge them into one panoramic photo. If your photos don't quite match you may get an error because the program cannot merge the images automatically. If this happens don't panic. It is still possible to arrange the images manually.
If an errors does occurs, integrate the image or images that were not merged by pulling that image or the images from the top window into the panorama and arranging to the desired position. Photoshop CS will then integrate the image into the panorama automatically.

Tips for great Panoramic Photos:

Sometimes, clear lines that separate the images in the panorama may appear. It is possible to blend the lines so that they disappear. Select the Advance Blending option located at the right of the Photomerge window, then select Preview. Inconsistencies in color will be calculated by the program. At this point, the images will blend together.

Photoshop will combine all the individual images for your panoramic into a single layer. If you select the Keep as Layers option it is easier to edit each image individually. This is a great help if one of the images is brighter or darker then the other images. You can select that image in layers and adjust the brightness for just that image. It is a good idea to save the layers as a .psd file so that you can always come back and correct any mistakes or make any changes later. It's a real pain to have to redo everything from scratch just if you made a mistake or want to change something later.

You can also distort the pictures so that the scene will look like it is in perspective. Choose the Perspective option on the bottom of Settings. You can also do this by choosing Set Vanishing Point in the Photomerge window, then click to an area in the panorama.

Using the Perspective mode can often produce panoramic photos in a more accurate manner then the Normal mode. The Normal setting usually does not match the images seamlessly where Perspective does.

You can also use Cylindrical mapping which is where images are projected into a cylinder.

Beautiful panoramic photos are easy to create with Photomerge in Photoshop CS. Photomerge will make the task a breeze for just about anyone to produce inspiring and professional-looking images.

Click Here! to learn the basics of Photoshop in just 2 hours.

How To Place A Photo Into Text

2010-03-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Have you always wondered how to put photos into text using Photoshop? This Photoshop trick is perfect for creating simple yet cool looking headers for your websites or blogs. Say you are planning on setting up a website, but you are totally clueless on how to design the header and hiring a professional graphic designer is out of your budget, no worries, with Photoshop you can bang out a simple and sleek looking website header in no time by applying this really cool Photoshop trick. You can also use this effect to create magazine covers, movie posters, ebook covers and much, much more.Ok, without further ado, here are the steps on how to place a photo into text:

Open a new file then go over to the Horizontal Type Tool or vertical Type Tool and click on the icon. Next just type whatever text you want using the type tool.
Open up a photo that you wish to place inside the text and the go to Select > Select All (alternately hit ctrl+A on the keyboard).
Once you've selected the whole image or photo, just go over to Edit > Copy (ctrl+ C on the keyboard).
Next head over to image where you created the text and hit ctrl + V on the keyboard or go to Edit > Paste. Now you have pasted the whole photo onto the text but how do you place it into the text? Take a look at your layer palette; notice that the image layer (layer 1) is right above the text layer? Yes? Cool, because in the next step you will discover how to insert the image layer into the text layer via the layer palette.
Go over to the layer palette and hold the Alt key on your keyboard. Then move the cursor right between the layer that contains your photo and the text layer. Once you do this, you should be able to see that the cursor has changed shape.
Left click on the mouse and bingo! You have successfully placed a photo into text. Of course you can still make some adjustments like moving or resizing the photo inside the text or even the text itself, so that the whole effect looks just right. Simply use the Move Tool (V) to move the image around or go to Edit > Free Transform (ctrl+ T) to resize the photo.

That is how you do a photo into text trick in Photoshop. It's so simple isn't it? You can also spice up the whole thing by adding a few layer effects like bevel and emboss and what not. With Photoshop, anything is possible so get creative!

Click Here! to learn the basics of Photoshop in just 2 hours.

How To Create Reflected Text

2010-03-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

In this Photoshop tutorial you’ll learn how to create reflected text. Reflected text can add a unique and classy effect to your graphic designs. You have probably seen it all over the web, but never really knew how to do it. This is a lot easier than it looks and you will love how elegant it can make your websites or designs appear. First, you want to open a new document in Photoshop. You will want to choose the 640×480 preset option in the New dialog box. Now you want to select the Text tool in the toolbox. It is the “T” icon and will type horizontally, which is what you need to have a reflection that goes below the text.
Now, let’s choose a color for your text. Click on the Swatches tab on the Color palette. If you don’t see it, press the F6 key and it will show the swatches palette and hide the colors. Click on the RGB Red in the top left hand corner with the eyedropper. You can select any color that you wish though. You have your text tool and your color, now you need a font. You can choose your font from the text options bar at the top of your screen. For a really elegant effect, choose a font such as Trajan and set it to 72 points. Type a word in your new document. It should be large and the color that you chose. Type in all caps to prevent any reflection problem later.
Now you are going to duplicate your type layer. Select the text layer in the layers palette and press Ctrl+J. This will create a copy layer. Now you have two text layers, you can use one of them to create your reflection. The reflection is an upside down version of your original layer, so you need to flip it upside down. You will flip the original text layer, so you need to select it and then go to Edit at the top of your screen and then select Transform. A sub menu will pop up and you will click Flip Vertical. The original text layer will flip upside down.
Drag the layer below the unflipped layer. You will want to drag it until it is touching the bottom of the unflipped layer. Now that you have your flipped text below the unflipped text, you are going to create a fade and this can be done by using a Layer Mask. At the bottom of your Layers palette you will see a little box with a circle in it. Click on this to add a layer mask. A layer mask is automatically filled with white. To make it appear as though our text is fading away, you are going to select the Gradient tool. On the Options Bar you will choose the black and white gradient. Ensure that your layer mask is selected and not the layer. With it selected, drag out a gradient vertically. When you release your mouse, Photoshop will apply the gradient. And your text will be faded. You will only want to draw the gradient about halfway between the top and bottom of your two rows of text. You can hold the Shift key as you make the gradient line to ensure that the gradient stays perfect straight. Once this is complete you have perfectly reflected text.

Click Here! to learn the basics of Photoshop in just 2 hours.

Learn Photoshop Like A Pro

2010-03-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

At the dawn of computer generation, image editing was made more efficient and remarkable by various photo editing software. But when people talk about the world leader in digital image editing, Adobe Photoshop takes center stage.Photoshop is, above all else, a superior image editing tool, one that will always be remembered best as the software that forever changed the way the world looks. In many ways, Photoshop has become almost indistinguishable from photo or image editing. And as technology advances, it has become one of the most proficient tools in creating web-based images.
For all of their bells and whistles, however, Photoshop still serves best when used with Photoshop tutorials. Many people are familiar with Photoshop but not all of them are fully capable of managing the tricks and tips of the program. Hence, Photoshop tutorials can facilitate the full use of the software for better image editing.
There are so many websites that offer Photoshop tutorials nowadays. The best thing about Photoshop tutorials is that people can access them for free. Hence, they can learn many things about photo editing and other services needed to enhance the images.
When it comes to Photoshop tutorials, there are so many factors to consider in order to get the lessons you need to know. Some may go for the advanced tutorials while others may find basic Photoshop tutorials beneficial. If you really want to learn the basic tips and tricks in Photoshop, you may find these Photoshop tutorials useful:
1. Photographic effects
With the help of digital cameras, photographers nowadays can really make wonders on their images. However, with the help of Photoshop, they can truly create a new perception of the world. Professionals know how to do their thing but ordinary people cannot. Hence, with the help of Photoshop tutorials, they can create different photographic effects in their images the way the experts do.
2. Lighting
With light, you can create different moods in the picture. Through the use of lenses, flares, and other lighting effects, images may appear surreal, romantic, or morbid. Photoshop tutorials can teach you the basic tips in creating different lighting effects to achieve the mood that you want.
3. Touch ups
This is the most basic section of Photoshop tutorials. In fact, this is what Photoshop is all about. People would want to enhance their pictures. If the camera may not seem to do the tricks, Photoshop can fix it. All you have to learn is to identify the basic steps in doing touch ups. With Photoshop tutorials on touch ups you can even make an old picture look new or arrange some flaws and make it more appealing.
4. Image presentation
Photoshop tutorials can give your picture a good lift from the ordinary. You can make two people appear together in the picture even if they were taken separately. Photoshop tutorials will teach you various means of presenting your picture — totally different from the way you have captured the moment. You can mix and match, combine and contrast, or simply create a new background without having to take a new shot. You just need to learn the basic Photoshop tutorials on image presentations.
So if your books and magazines cannot tell you more than what you need to know about image editing, hook yourself to the Internet and learn the different image editing tips and tricks through Photoshop tutorials.

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Photoshop LAB Color

2010-03-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

I consider LAB color space and it's use to be one of the most important subject when it comes to the whole image processing concept.

And why is that, you ask? because the LAB color space is the only "device independent" color space in Photoshop, and when used correctly, it is the only one that will allow the user to have the best color match from capture to display to print.

Simply put - the LAB color space is the only one representing the way the human eye sees color. And that is the most important thing when it comes to ensuring color match throughout the process.

Let me explain what "device independent" means:

Simply put, "device independent" color space is one that regardless of which device is used the human eye will always see the exact same color.

RGB an CMYK color spaces are component based spaces. What it means is that when a color is "created" it is made up of certain amounts of each component. The problem is that different devices use different components. Take for example two monitors. Their RGB phosphors will be different, so despite the fact that they may display same quantities of RGB components, the human eye will see two different colors. The same is true for CMYK - take two printers, and same CMYK amounts will result in the eye seeing two different colors.

That is not the case with LAB. When the same LAB value is measured on any number of devices (which will probably require different component, RGB or CMYK, to do that, which is what device profile do), the human eye will always see exactly the same color.

A great book to read about Photoshop LAB color is Dan Margulis's "Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace"

Which makes it the most powerful color space!

This book is outstanding! It's not for beginners, and it is not an easy read for advanced user either - you need to have a solid understanding of what you're doing with RGB or CMYK color adjustments, and basic retouching first. Working in Lab is an incredibly powerful way to pull out very natural and vibrant colors with much less effort.

Dan Margulis's knowledge of color runs deep. This book is nothing short of amazing. If color matters to you as it is to me, this is a must read book.

Dan essentially advocates color correction and image improvement through LAB, and he advances compelling evidence to support the concept. The trick is to get a grasp of what kinds of images LAB excels at, and where it falls short (in which case Dan points out which of the remaining color spaces, RGB or CMYK, is the better option). He also demonstrates image correction in as few steps as possible, often without selections (rather, he generates what he needs by employing more useful channels... which helps avoid obvious selection edges that do not match).

As I said, it's not an easy read. I keep picking it up and read out a few pages here or there, trying out techniques as I go along. And by now I use LAB almost exclusively for color corrections.

On top of that, even though this is not one of the free Photoshop downloads, it is very straight forward to turn a lot of the book techniques into Photoshop actions, which I did. Just go through the motions and record them - that's all it takes.

As far as I'm concerned, if you are serious about color match throughout the process, LAB is the only way to go. Give it a go, and you'll realize that yourself.

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How To Add Sunlight Through The Trees

2010-03-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

In this Adobe Photoshop tutorial, we're going to learn how to add beams of sunlight through trees, which is not only a great way to make an image look more interesting, it's also a lot easier to do than you might think, as we'll see. We'll even finish things off by making the sunbeams appear to be shining on the ground after they pass through the trees, which adds more realism to the final effect.

Step 1: Find The Color Channel With The Highest Contrast

Free Adobe Photoshop tutorials, Photoshop tutorials and photo shop tutorials on photo effects and Photoshop effects.

With our image open in Photoshop, the first thing we need to do is find out which of our three color channels (Red, Green and Blue) contains the highest amount of contrast. To do that, switch over to your Channels palette, which by default is grouped in beside your Layers palette. You'll see the "Red", "Green" and "Blue" channels listed, which combine to create all the colors we see in our image. You'll also see what appears to be a fourth channel, the "RGB" channel at the top, but it's really just the composite of the Red, Green and Blue channels ("RGB" stands for "Red, Green and Blue") and isn't a channel itself:

We're interested in the three color channels, and what you want to do is click on each channel while keeping an eye on your image to see which one of them gives us the highest amount of contrast in the image.

Click on the Red channel first and you'll see your image turn black and white. Remember what it looks like, then click on the Green channel. You'll see a different looking black and white version of the image. Again, remember what it looks like, then click on the Blue channel for a third black and white version of the image. You want to choose the version that offers the highest amount of contrast, and chances are, if the image you're working on looks similar to mine, it will be the Blue channel with the highest contrast. Here's what my Blue channel looks like. The sky in the background is nice and bright while the trees and ground are very dark, exactly what I was looking for:

Step 2: Make A Copy Of The Channel

Now that I know my Blue channel is the one that offers the highest amount of contrast, I need to make a duplicate of it. To copy a channel, simply click on it and drag it down onto the New Channel icon at the bottom of the Channels palette (it's the second icon from the right):

Release your mouse button and you'll see the copy of the channel below all the other channels in the Channels palette. Since I copied my Blue channel, Photoshop named the duplicate "Blue copy":

Adobe Photoshop tutorial: Drag the black slider towards the right until all the dark areas in the image appear filled with solid black.

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box. Here's my image after dragging the slider. The dark areas now appear filled in with black while the sky in the background remains nice and bright:

Adobe Photoshop tutorial: The copy of the Blue channel after darkening the dark areas further with Levels.

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How To Remove Blemishes

2010-03-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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How To Modify Standard Shapes

2010-03-20T16:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered how someone was able to create a logo that looked so perfect? I used to think that someone probably had to draw the logo by hand, but then I learned some very interesting things about creating shapes in Photoshop. I used to think that you could only create standard shapes like ovals, rectangles, squares, and circles. However I recently learned that Photoshop gives you the ability to take these standard shapes and modify them to make new shapes that are very appealing. The way that this is accomplished is by selecting the path of the shape and manipulating it to create a completely new and different shape.

The first thing that you need to do is create a shape like a rectangle or an oval. Then choose the direct selection tool (white arrow), and select the path around the shape. You will know that you have selected the path, because you will see anchor points at the corners of the shape. Once you see the anchor points you will be able to click the anchor points and use them to resize and redesign the shape. The best thing about using paths to change the shape’s design is that the shape maintains its crisp lines, and looks just as good as a standard shape. How are you able to do this? The reason these changes are so clean is that the shape is vector based, and not pixel based, so you are able to just manipulate the vectors that comprise the shape. Another great thing about editing a shape in this way is that whatever formatting you have used on the shape will not be affected by modifying the path. If you have a gradient fill on the shape it will be modified as you modify the path of the shape, and it will maintain the same look as before you modified the shape. Now that you know how to modify the path of a shape you are no longer limited by the standard shapes that appear in the tools palette. Use your freedom wisely, and take this new found knowledge to you computer so you can create graphics that everyone else will envy for a change.

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How to Remove Background

2010-03-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

If you have ever done any image editing in Photoshop, you know that one of the hardest things to do is to take an image out of its current background. I have a very easy way to do this, which is also very accurate in getting just the image that you would like to use. Here are the steps to use to remove the background from an image in Photoshop.The first thing that you need to do is to open the image whose background you would like to remove. Then select the Magic Wand Tool from the Tools box. The Magic Wand Tool is a great tool to get the image you are trying to select roughed out. This tool will select a section of an image based on the color of the image. Do not worry about getting everything exactly right using this tool, but you want get a rough selection of the image you are trying to extract from the background. You want to click on the image to make the first selection, and then hold down the shift key while clicking to continue adding selections, until you have the entire image that you would like to remove selected. Right now you will probably notice that not the entire image has been selected, or that the selection is not very clean looking. To fix this, Photoshop has a very handy built-in tool to help clean up your selection.
Right below the color selection area in the Tools box is two small icons that look like cameras. The one on the right is Edit in Quick Mask Mode, click on this one and everything you have not selected will turn red. Then you can use the eraser tool to add to your selection, and the paint brush tool to remove from your selection. After using these tools to clean up your selection, click on the Edit in Standard Mode button to see your finished selection. Then you can click on Edit, Copy and then click on File, New to open a new image. Photoshop will look at the image that you have copied on the clipboard, and size the new image to the same size as the image copied. Then paste your copied image to the new image, and you will have your extracted image with a transparent background.

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Crop around an image

2010-03-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

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Sometimes, you want to crop around an image with a complex shape. Most people do this in Adobe Photoshop or another image-editing program, but you can do it in PowerPoint if you don't have or know another program. If you have PowerPoint for the Mac, the Picture toolbar has two lasso buttons that you can use. These are similar to the lasso tools found in image-editing programs and I wish that PowerPoint for the PC had them. But if you're on a PC, here's another option:
Let's say you'd like to crop around this photo, to remove the background.
Follow these steps:
1. Insert the image that you want to use. It needs to be a separate file, rather than pasted from the Clipboard.
2. Increase the zoom to at least 100%, more for a complex outline. Make sure that the entire image is on the screen. (Closing an open task bar helps.)
3. From the Drawing toolbar, choose AutoShapes>Lines>Freeform. (In 2007, use the Insert tab and click Shapes. Choose the Freeform button in the Lines section.)
4. Click anywhere along the edge where you want to crop and drag around the image (with the mouse button held down). For straight lines, you can release the mouse button and click at the end of the line. When you're back to the start point, release the mouse button and the freeform should complete itself.
Note: It doesn't have to be perfect; you can edit it later. Also, I must admit that using a mouse is somewhat awkward and I used instead a Wacom tablet with a stylus. This is the ideal tool for the job.
5. Double-click the freeform to open the Format AutoShape dialog box. (In 2007, this displays the Format tab.) Change the fill to No Fill, but leave the outline alone. (For this tutorial, I made the outline thicker, so you could see it clearly.)
6. Now you'll see some places that need to be adjusted. For example, on the right side of the image, the line is too far away from the collar and shoulder.
7. Select the freeform and on the Drawing toolbar, choose Draw>Edit Points. (In 2007, click the Format tab and choose Edit Shape>Edit Points. You now see lots of dots around the outline.
8. To adjust a point, click it and drag it to the desired location. You can also right-click a point that you don't want and choose Delete Point. Continue until your freeform closely follows the outline of the image.
9. Delete the image.
10. Double-click the freeform. Click the Fill Color drop-down list and choose Fill Effects. Click the Picture tab. (In 2007, click Shape Fill on the Format tab and choose Picture.) Choose the picture you chose before and click Insert.
11. The picture now fills the freeform. Because the freeform is the shape of the image (minus the background that you don't want), the result is to crop the picture!
12. Format the freeform again and set the outline to No Outline.