Tutorial on Blended DOF with Photoshop CS4

[gmitchel]

Last week I posted a couple of examples of DOF blending with the Photoshop CS4 Auto-Align Layers and Auto-Blend Layers commands. One was a white hydrangea. The other was a white Atamasco lily that made a composite of four shots.

I promised a video tutorial. I'm still intended to do that. Probably next week. In the interim, I have produced a PDF tutorial (around 20 pages altogether) in a new layout.

http://www.thelightsright.com/Extend...thPhotoshopCS4

What's different about this tutorial is that it has lots of practical advice as well as a description of the technique.

Comments about the technical cntent and about the new layout are welcome.

Best wishes for the new year!

Mitch

[Janet Petty]

Wonderful tutorial. It is well written and thought out. The instructions are clear and easily understood. I especially liked that you mention the techniques used are not fool proof and often need a little tweak. I also liked that fact that you boldly stated the processes used are RAM intensive. I certainly find that to be true of Photoshop in this case and with Photomerge as well. I like also that you state there appears to be a memory leak. That is also true and deserves the statement. It will help those trying the photo stack and auto blend to curb impatience and maximize time while waiting for the processes to complete. Your tutorial states these things openly and honestly unlike a lot of others who promote Photoshop usage. Thank you.

I do not like the double page pdf. Without the use of a wide screen, most would have difficulty navigating through the tutorial. The pictures and accompanying text are very well done.

Thank you for addressing this subject in depth. It is well worth the time and effort you put into it.

Janet

[gmitchel]

Thanks for the constructive feedback.

I was wondering about the booklet style and how that would be received. The good thing about a .PDF is that I can quickly change it. I will.

If you (or anyone else) want to change the layout without downloading it again, that's easy. With Adobe Reader, you use View | Page Display and then choose Single Page. With Adobe Acrobat, you use File | Properties | Initial View and select Single Page.

Thanks again for the thoughtful comments and taking the time to put them in a reply.

Best wishes in the coming year!

Mitch

[cricket1961]

Top Notch as always Mitch.

Thanks

Chris

[gmitchel]

Thanks, Chris. Coming from someone with your experience, that's high praise indeed!



Best wishes in the coming year!

Mitch

[gmitchel]

An 18 minute video on this technique is now available.

http://www.thelightsright.com/Extend...toshopCS4Video

Enjoy!

Mitch