Photoshop Elements SIG 11-19-08

Creating something different

1. Open an image
2. With image open > Change Background to a Layer
3. Rectangle Marquee select a rather small area in the center
4. Copy selection to a new layer using Control+J
5. Double click the new layer and change the name to top and
6. Change Blending Mode to multiply to be able to see it.
7. Make 3 more selections on the layer “0”, the bottom, each one a little larger and
8. Copy each to a layer using Control+J
9. Name the layers from top under the Top layer, Green, Gold. & Brown
10. Make Drop shadow for each starting from top by first
11. Creating a new layer under the Top layer by pressing the Ctrl key and
12. Clicking on the New Layer Icon then
13. Ctrl+click the Top layer to add the selection of the top layer and on the
14. New blank layer fill with black using the Paint Bucket tool, make sure the default colors are selected
15. Deselect and blur using Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Adjust the amount to suit.
16. Do the above on the Green, Gold and Brown layers
17. On the Top Layer press the Alt key and Click and hold the Adjustment Layer Icon at the top of the Layers palette.
18. Select the Hue/Sat Adjustment layer and click in Group with Previous box
19. Adjust Saturation -80%
20. Brightness 10
21. Paint with black on the Hue/Saturation Mask in the center to reveal some full color
22. Ctrl click the top layer to create a selection and then
23. Edit > Stroke the Selection with white
24. 5 px inside for the top layer
25. Do the same on the bottom layer with a 10 PX white stroke
26. On the Green, Gold. & Brown layers add an Adjustment layer as you did on the Top Layer, Alt + Click on Hue/Sat and Group with Previous checked.
27. Instead of adjusting the Hue, click on colorize and then adjust the color for
28. Green, Gold. & Brown respectively on each layer.
29. Select the bottom layer and
30. Ctrl+click on the New layer icon to add a New layer under bottom layer
31. Image > Resize > Canvas - Increase the Canvas by 1” Width and Height check Relative.
32. On the new layer on bottom add a Foreground to Background Gradient with the Foreground color – 4a3300 and the Background color – b40000
33. On the top layer choose the Burn tool with a brush size about ½ the size of the top layer.
34. 50% Exposure and Midtones
35. Drag along the top and sides to darken
36. Rotate the middle layers Using Free Transform (Ctrl+T) and click and drag outside of a corner.
37. You can use the Text tool to add your name on the bottom.
    

Photoshop SIG 11-10-08 - Photoshop CS4

OpenGL 2.0

For Photoshop to access the GPU, the display card must contain a display driver that supports OpenGL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0 and has enough Graphics RAM to support Photoshop functions, at least 128 MB (256 MB is recommended).

Information on the GPU accelerated features and on Adobe tested and supported graphics cards can be found at http://tinyurl.com/6rdxql.

The Accelerated Features can be turned on or off in the Preferences > Performance.

New Tabbed image window - To move a selection from one image tab to another, make the selection in one image and Ctrl + Drag to the other image until it opens and then drag the selection down into the image.

Photoshop CS4 Features and Shortcuts

Hide Panels - Shift + Tab

Change the Brush Size by pressing the Alt key and right click and drag to change the size. There will be a visual appearance in red of the brush. The color is set in the Preferences > Cursor. To change the Hardness press Shift +Alt and drag.

Spring Loaded Tools - with a tool selected press and hold the shortcut tool for the 2nd tool. This tool will be active as long as the key is held. You will return to the selected tool when you release the shortcut.

Zoom - For continuous zooming, choose the Zoom tool - shortcut Z and click and hold. Release the mouse when you reach the desired zoom level. Press the H and click again to fit in the screen and get a navigation square that can be moved in image to a different point in the image.

Content Aware Scaling - Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C - Must be on a layer. Double click background to change the background to a layer.

Select an area that you want to protect and save as a channel. In the Options pick the Alpha channel in the Protect box to protect the selected area or the People Icon to order to protect skintones.

Bridge in CS4 - Change thumbnail size - press Ctrl and use the mouse scroll wheel.

New Tool - To increase the tonal range of an image take two photos of the scend, one exposed for the highlights and the other for the shadows. Use the same f-stop and change the shutter speed to do this. In Bridge select the two images and choose Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers. On the top image add a Layer Mask and blend the two images together.

Increase Depth of Field - Take multiple images with different focus points and in Bridge select these and then choose Tools > Photoshop > Load Files into Photoshop Layers. In Photoshop select all layers using the shift key and in the Edit menu > Choose Auto Align Layers > Auto. Next choose Auto Blend Layers > Stack Images and make sure Seamless Tones and Colors is checked.

In Bridge to get a Full Screen Preview - Press the Space Bar

Stack like Images - Ctrl + G. To open the stack, click on the number in the upper thumbnail corner.

Adjustment Panels - Add a new Adjustment layer by clicking the left arrow in the lower part of the panel.

For Targeted adjustments click the icon at the top of those on the left that looks like a hand. Drag in the image. This is available in the Curves Adjustment where dragging up lightens and down darkens; in the Hue/Saturation where dragging to the right increases saturation and to the left decreases saturation. Ctrl dragging changes the Hue; in the Black and White panel, clicking in the image and dragging to the right lightens this tone and to the left darkens this tone in the image.

Clone and Healing brush live previews - To get a live preview of what you are cloning or healing make sure Show Overlay is checked in the Clone Source Panel. This should be checked by default.

For excellent tutorials on Photoshop CS4 go to http://www.lynda.com/cs4u/ All of the tutorials on this site can be accessed for a fee of $25 per month. I received a free month when I purchased the upgrade from Adobe.

Photoshop Elements SIG, 10-15-08

New features of Photoshop Elements 7.0 were discussed. The video shown on the new Scene Cleaner tool can be found at http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=709.

You can pay a monthly fee to view all tutorials on this site or buy the CD.

The steps used in creating the Triptych can be found in the September blog.

TBCS Photoshop SIG, Oct. 13, 2008

The URL's for the web sites of the plugin filters that were demostrated are:

Fixerlabs, FixerBundle V2 - http://www.fixerlabs.com/index.htm

Nic Software, Sharpener Pro 3.0 - http://www.niksoftware.com/index/usa/entry.php

The Action for creating an Out-of-Bounds photo is free from PanosFX
http://www.panosfx.com/. Scroll down on the page and you will find the Out-of-bounds action which is free. There are instructions for downloading, installing and using this Action. It cannot be used in Elements.

The Photoshop CS4 video on Content Aware Scaling by Russell Brown can be found on his site at
http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html. Scroll down on this page and you will find the Quick Time video.

Creative Enhancement in Camera RAW

1. Open an image in Camera RAW Converter
2. Move the following sliders to the right to 100, Recovery, Fill Light, Contrast, Clarity, and Vibrance. Move Black to about 50. Adjust Exposure and Black and the Contrast curve. This is the 2nd icon at the top of the converter dialog box. Move the Highlight and Lights sliders to the right and the Darks and Shadows sliders to the left to create a dramatic "S" curve.
3. Adjust all sliders to suite.
   

Phtotoshop Elements SIG, September 17, 2008

Create a Triptych

1. Turn on Rulers and Grids
2. I had in Edit > Preferences > GridGrid line every 2 inches and subdivisions 4
3. Duplicate background to a new layer using Ctrl+J and name “image name”
4. Set Background and Foreground to default
5. Choose the Rectangle Shape Tool (U) and Draw a rectangle – mine was 2” by 7”
6. With tool still active Ctrl+Alt+Shift click on rectangle and drag to the right about a block away to create a copy
7. Rt+Click on Shape tool and choose from bottom of list the Shape Selection Tool
8. Ggo to first rectangle and Transform > Shape > Perspective and drag down top right corner a block or division
9. The bottom moves up as well
10. Choose Enter or click the check mark
11. With Shape selection tool active duplicate (ctrl+Alt+Shift) the first rectangle and drag to the far right.
12. With far right shape still selected go to Image > Rotate > Flip Layer Horizontal
13. With the Shape Selection tool click on middle rectangle and drag the top and bottom to match the outside shapes
14. Choose Enter or click the check mark
15. Use the Move tool to position the 3 shapes
16. In the Layers palette drag the Shape layer below the duplicated background
17. Create a new blank layer below the Shape layer using the New Layer icon
18. Click on the Foreground color icon and choose a background color for the final, I choose Gray.
19. Fill new layer with this color
20. On the layers palette hold the Alt key and position mouse between the top image layer and the shape layer. Click when you see overlapping circles.
21. This creates a clipping group and groups the image into the shapes.
22. With the Shape Selection Tool move the two outside shapes closer to the middle one. Ctrl+shift while dragging to drag in a straight line.
23. With shape layer active go to the Effects palette and click the Layer Style button and choose Drop Shadows and double click to apply a style.
24. Double click the style icon on the layer and check Stroke and place a 4 pixel stroke in black. Change color from Red by clicking in the red box.
25. Add new layer under the shape layer
26. Edit > Fill Layer Choose 50% Gray
27. Change blend mode to Overlay
28. Move layer on to the top of image layer
    
29. Paint with black and a 30% opacity to darken edges of all shapes. You can hold the shift key to paint in a straight line.
30. Turn off Grid view
31. Save as PSD to maintain Layers.

Photoshop SIG 8-8-08

Click for a short video on using the Graduated Filter and Adjustment brush in Lightroom 2.
This is a new way I'm showing videos so it is a little choppy right now but I hope this will be better. Click on http://screencast.com/t/maiIlVpkKfW.

There are many good resources for learning Lightroom 2. Julieanne Kost of Adobe has some good free tutorials on her web site, http://www.jkost.com/lightroom.html.

A good introduction to Lightroom 2 is on the Photoshop User website,
http://www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom2/ where NAPP has some excellent videos on Lightroom 2. Non NAPP members can access this site.

Another good resource for learning Lightroom 2 is found on the Luminous Landscape site,
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/videos/download-videos.shtml. They have a downloadable 7.5 hours of video tutorials. The cost is only $39.95 and worth it.

A good book on Lightroom 2 is The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book by Martin Evening. I use this as a resource to look up questions I have when using Lightroom 2.

In the SIG I also discussed plugins for Photoshop from Kodak and Alien Skin Software. They are:

Alien Skin makes 4 of the filters, Exposure, Blowup, Image Doctor 2 and Snap Art. They can be found on the Alien Skin web site, http://www.alienskin.com/.

Restore Original Color is found on the Kodak, Austin Texas site, http://asf.com/products/plugins/rocpro/pluginROCPRO/. I showed an older version that is no longer available. The Pro version is the only one that is available but if you want to do photo restoration on photos that have lost their color, this filter is well worth the investment. There is no comparable way to match it's effect.

Photoshop Actions on the Internet

Photoshop Actions both free and not free can be found at the following web sites:

http://addictedtodesign.com/free_photoshop_actions.html

http://www.atncentral.com/download.htm

http://www.shutterfreaks.com/

http://www.panosfx.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Adobe