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By Doug Nelson (doug) on Tuesday, April 17, 2001 - 03:12 pm:
You'll notice so far we only have TWO tips contributions (mine don't count).
C'mon guys, you can do it!
They don't have to be advanced, or Photoshop-specific...what was a tip that cleared something up for you?
By fugitive on Wednesday, May 02, 2001 - 04:23 am:
Layers illuded me for a long time. Then one day, I thought, I must learn this now, so I took some rock images (as in roll) and just converted 1 image at a time and made a collage with different artists or themes and in no time, I was good at it.
By mike cosgrove on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 01:03 pm:
Best ever photoshop tip in the universe - I only wish I could remember where I got it and who should be thanked. It sounds complicated, with lots of steps, but after just a couple it will be second nature.
Using curves or levels to lighten dark areas just seems to add noise. Instead, try this:
AN RGB original -
>IMAGE > Duplicate > OK
Turn the duplicate into a grayscale by
IMAGE > MODE > Grayscale > OK, then;
FILTER > Blur > Gaussian > OK (enter a value between 1.5 and 4, I have found 2.5 works well as a starting point. Higher values soften the edges in later steps.)
BACK TO ORIGINAL RGB IMAGE:
SELECT > Load Selection then check the box next to INVERT, and click OK
Lastly;
FILE > Fill
In the USE box, select 50% Gray.
In the BLENDING box, set opacity to between 40% & 80%. Higher values lighten more.
In MODE box, select Color Dodge, then OK.
Obviously, you'll want tpo experiment with the variables of gauss. blur and blending %. You can also reverse things by not selecting INVERT when loading the selection and make changes to the lighter areas.
Good luck and have fun!
By Lynne Mohr on Thursday, May 10, 2001 - 04:16 pm:
Mike, I want to try your tip . . . it sounds interesting, however, using Photoshop 6.01, I'm not able to change my duplicate layer to grayscale without effecting the original background layer. What am I missing?
Lynne
By mike cosgrove on Friday, May 11, 2001 - 10:54 am:
Lynn:
Don't duplicate the layer - the original should be flattened. Duplicate the original rgb image, convert the duplicate to grayscale, then follow the remaining steps. This is such a shot saver. I just did about 65 shots of school kids on a climbing wall in an old gym. My lighting wasn't even across the 60 foot wall, kids were in light and dark clothes, etc. I used this trick on about 30% of the shots. Again, once you use it a few times, it will be almost second nature.
Also, keep in mind you can reverse things to darken the lighter areas. The changes in steps come when you go to LOAD the selection. DO NOT CHECK INVERT. Then, when you go to the FILL step,
use COLOR BURN instead of dodge.
Good luck and have fun!
By Stephen K on Sunday, May 20, 2001 - 01:58 am:
A simple tip I can think of off the top of my head for retouching while using the clone tool...and I'll use taking out wrinkles from a black and white photo as an exmaple...
I like create a layer specifically for my cloning work - in the tool options, make sure Use All Layers is checked (this allows the clone tool to take pixels from layers below it and places them onto the cloning layer). This way you can manipulate the image without destroying the original content as you would if you were to clone directly on the layer where the original image info resides (heck of a lot easier to go back if you screw up this way)
Actually, it's a good idea to do this anytime you move pixels around or make color/level adjustments (they put that new adjustment layer button in there for a reason).
Simple tip that I'm sure most of you already know - but a tip none the less!
By mike cosgrove on Friday, June 15, 2001 - 08:19 am:
This isn't so much a TIP but it's a very useful site:
It has lots of hints and tips ab0ut how to do things, troubleshooting solutions that have saved me more than a few times, and general software/hardware discussions. Many of those answering are the on the development team, so they really know their stuff.
It's relatively easy to find your way to the registration area then onto the forum. It's a lot like this site but larger. It's not as well organized, though, It seems to be arranged in chronological order, not by subject; though some real key issues get their own folder.
By DJ Dubovsky on Friday, July 13, 2001 - 09:47 pm:
I'm not sure how much of a tip this is but I noticed that what you see on the screen and what the printer sees is two different things especially in the very dark shadows. So when I start working in the shadows with the clone and selection tools I can't always tell what I am doing. To fix this I add an adjustment layer of Brightness / Contrast and move the sliders to the right until I can see what is going on in the shadows. I leave it invisible until I need it to see how things in the shadows have blended and then delete the layer when I am done.
You'll notice so far we only have TWO tips contributions (mine don't count).
C'mon guys, you can do it!
They don't have to be advanced, or Photoshop-specific...what was a tip that cleared something up for you?
By fugitive on Wednesday, May 02, 2001 - 04:23 am:
Layers illuded me for a long time. Then one day, I thought, I must learn this now, so I took some rock images (as in roll) and just converted 1 image at a time and made a collage with different artists or themes and in no time, I was good at it.
By mike cosgrove on Monday, May 07, 2001 - 01:03 pm:
Best ever photoshop tip in the universe - I only wish I could remember where I got it and who should be thanked. It sounds complicated, with lots of steps, but after just a couple it will be second nature.
Using curves or levels to lighten dark areas just seems to add noise. Instead, try this:
AN RGB original -
>IMAGE > Duplicate > OK
Turn the duplicate into a grayscale by
IMAGE > MODE > Grayscale > OK, then;
FILTER > Blur > Gaussian > OK (enter a value between 1.5 and 4, I have found 2.5 works well as a starting point. Higher values soften the edges in later steps.)
BACK TO ORIGINAL RGB IMAGE:
SELECT > Load Selection then check the box next to INVERT, and click OK
Lastly;
FILE > Fill
In the USE box, select 50% Gray.
In the BLENDING box, set opacity to between 40% & 80%. Higher values lighten more.
In MODE box, select Color Dodge, then OK.
Obviously, you'll want tpo experiment with the variables of gauss. blur and blending %. You can also reverse things by not selecting INVERT when loading the selection and make changes to the lighter areas.
Good luck and have fun!
By Lynne Mohr on Thursday, May 10, 2001 - 04:16 pm:
Mike, I want to try your tip . . . it sounds interesting, however, using Photoshop 6.01, I'm not able to change my duplicate layer to grayscale without effecting the original background layer. What am I missing?
Lynne
By mike cosgrove on Friday, May 11, 2001 - 10:54 am:
Lynn:
Don't duplicate the layer - the original should be flattened. Duplicate the original rgb image, convert the duplicate to grayscale, then follow the remaining steps. This is such a shot saver. I just did about 65 shots of school kids on a climbing wall in an old gym. My lighting wasn't even across the 60 foot wall, kids were in light and dark clothes, etc. I used this trick on about 30% of the shots. Again, once you use it a few times, it will be almost second nature.
Also, keep in mind you can reverse things to darken the lighter areas. The changes in steps come when you go to LOAD the selection. DO NOT CHECK INVERT. Then, when you go to the FILL step,
use COLOR BURN instead of dodge.
Good luck and have fun!
By Stephen K on Sunday, May 20, 2001 - 01:58 am:
A simple tip I can think of off the top of my head for retouching while using the clone tool...and I'll use taking out wrinkles from a black and white photo as an exmaple...
I like create a layer specifically for my cloning work - in the tool options, make sure Use All Layers is checked (this allows the clone tool to take pixels from layers below it and places them onto the cloning layer). This way you can manipulate the image without destroying the original content as you would if you were to clone directly on the layer where the original image info resides (heck of a lot easier to go back if you screw up this way)
Actually, it's a good idea to do this anytime you move pixels around or make color/level adjustments (they put that new adjustment layer button in there for a reason).
Simple tip that I'm sure most of you already know - but a tip none the less!
By mike cosgrove on Friday, June 15, 2001 - 08:19 am:
This isn't so much a TIP but it's a very useful site:
It has lots of hints and tips ab0ut how to do things, troubleshooting solutions that have saved me more than a few times, and general software/hardware discussions. Many of those answering are the on the development team, so they really know their stuff.
It's relatively easy to find your way to the registration area then onto the forum. It's a lot like this site but larger. It's not as well organized, though, It seems to be arranged in chronological order, not by subject; though some real key issues get their own folder.
By DJ Dubovsky on Friday, July 13, 2001 - 09:47 pm:
I'm not sure how much of a tip this is but I noticed that what you see on the screen and what the printer sees is two different things especially in the very dark shadows. So when I start working in the shadows with the clone and selection tools I can't always tell what I am doing. To fix this I add an adjustment layer of Brightness / Contrast and move the sliders to the right until I can see what is going on in the shadows. I leave it invisible until I need it to see how things in the shadows have blended and then delete the layer when I am done.