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Photoshop Tips And Tricks


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#1
gsbharaj

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Tips And Tricks For Adobe Photoshop
Sharpening JPEG images:-

blurring an image that is to be saved as a JPEG file will reduce its file size,whereas sharpening it will increase the size.to sharpen an image for the web,choose filter>sharpen>unsharp mask and use a low amount setting (some where around 20%),a high radius setting(15-20 pixels)and a low threshold setting (3-5 levels).this will keep your file size down but will still make your image appear a little sharper.


For Paint shop pro

Sharpening images:-
open the image in PSP and go to effects>enhance photo>automatic contrast enhancement.play around with the setting to get the desired effect.for greater visibility keep Bias lighter,strengh normal and appearance natural.



for more tips wait for some time.and reply about this tip.
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#2
admin

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This topic has been pinned. Nice tips! <_< I learned something. :D
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#3
gsbharaj

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MORE TIPS ON:-



PHOTOSHOP

setting feather options
feathering and anti-aliasing are very important to give a natural to your selections.make sure u choose the anti-aliased option and give ur selection a pixel or two of feather before u use any selection tool such as lasso or marquee.


feathering selections
to feather a part of a selection,switch to quick mask mode,select the area u want to feather and apply the gaussian blur filter.to make the transition look as smooth as possible,u should feather the seletions before u apply the blur effet.

wait for more tips.
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#4
gsbharaj

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MORE TIPS ON PHOTO SHOP

Painting selections
u can paint selections using photoshop's painting tools such as airbrush.click on the quick mask mode button and start painting ur selection.the default colour is red but u can change this by double clicking on the quick mask mode icon.when u have finished painting ur eection,cic on the tnr moe button to get the eection.


Hiding Palettes
u can get rid of all ur open palettes to create more space by pressing the [Tab] key.alternatively,u can also press [Shift]+[Tab] to hide other palettes except the toolbar.press the same keys to bring them back.


Using the Dodge tool

for white,shiny effects like,say,the brightning of theeth or pure white marble texture,u can make use of the dodge tool.this tool helps in faster whitening and brightning of the desired selection.in the options pallete,select midtones and set the exposure to about 20%.select a small,soft brush.besure the brush is smaller than the portion selected.carefully paint over the selection with the dodge tool.for better accuracy,select the portion befor working with the dodge tool.it can definitely brighten up the smile on ur face.


keep checking for more tips. <_<
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#5
gsbharaj

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Some More Tips On Photoshop


Defringing cutouts
the defringe command is the layer>matting option removes unwanted pixels from cutouts.for this,just type in the number of pixels u want to defringe and they will b deleted from the edges of the cutout.


Working with colour range
if u r working with images that do not have the highlights and shadows in order,u can use the colour range option to correct them.go 2 select>colour range,choose highlights or shadows from the drop down menu to apply in the troubled areas and click ok.then feather ur selection and use the levels dialog box to gey those shadows or highlights under control.the colour range option is quite useful as u get better selections than with the magic wand tool.u will notice that u get selecteds that also contain partially selected pixels(shown as grey),which the magic wand cannot do.

check out soon for more!!!!!!!!! <_<
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#6
yoshihiro

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Does anybody know how to select just one item from a picture?

e.g if I have a picture of a person and a background, how can I just select the person from the picture?
This has been a real bug bare for years! but i know it can be done.
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#7
ditto

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well the easiest way to explain it, but not the easiest way to do it, is the following:

Using the polygonal lasso tool (l), select around the person that you want to cut out. After making the selection, cut a new bitmap (Ctrl-c or right click->edit->cut).

File->new to create a new psd file, then paste the new bitmap. Now zoom in on the object, and select the erase tool. Now very carefully outline the object with the eraser tool. The reason i blow it up is so if i make a mistake it wont be that noticeable when its in true size. So after you have done this, use the lasso tool to select excess pixels and hit del to erase.

I know this isnt the best explanation, but there is a way of doing this by using mask layers. Basically you select what profile using.




attatched is an example of what i did. Is this what you want? I also added a little blur on the edges

Attached Thumbnails

  • faq1.gif

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#8
yoshihiro

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Hi ditto,

sorry for the late response. Yes this is what I wanted. I just always thought there was an easier way since all of the magazines and newspapers seem to use this method quite regularly.

Cheers!
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#9
ditto

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well i think there is an easier way of doing it using masking layers. I will ask some of the graphic designers where i work.
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#10
pinksugarprincess

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If the background is plain, you can select it with the magic wand tool then go to "selections" or "options" and invert the selection. If the background isn't very busy, its sometimes easiest to make it all one colour, and then select and invert so you just get the person at the front.

Well, thats what I do!
:tazz:
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#11
cobhcf

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Magic wand and lasso tools are easy to use but they yield bad results. Use the extract tool or masking will yield good results. I personally go with extract tool. open the pic, select filter->extract. Then select a small brush (3 pixels) and carefully draw an outline around the image you want to separate. The outline doesnt have to be precise, but make sure you highlight the edges with the brush. You can zoom in and zoom out as you wish for a closer look. afteryou have selected the image. fill it with the fill tool. and click on extract. photoshop finds the edges for you and extracts the image very precisely. Now ctrl click on the selected image layer and go to select->modify->contract and contract it to 2 pixels. Then Select->feather and feather it to 2 to 3 pixels. now Select->inverse to select everything except the image. Then filter->blur->gaussian blur and enter a low value of 1 to 2 . That will give a better output. My sig has been done using extract tool. Alexi playing guitar is a separate picture. I got a concert pic and extracted alexi out of it and copied it into my self made fire layer. Isnt it great?

For a more explanatory tutorial about extarcting, check the link below.
http://www.good-tuto....com/track/4973

Hope it is useful

Cheers! :tazz:
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#12
roguetrader

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I personally go with extract tool. open the pic, select filter->extract.


Interesting, unfortunately I see no such command either under 'filter', nor under any other heading. Are we still talking about Adobe photoshop?
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#13
TerryVortex

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The older version still had the >extract command howerver it wasn't under filter.

You'll have to go through all of the menu options (File etc...) to find it, if you take your time you'll find it.

I know it was in version 7, I just don't remember where.

What version do you have?
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#14
BlackHalo

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I'm studying Graphic Design and we actually did this in class just a couple of weeks ago. Firstly (and easily) you can use the magic wand tool. Try fiddling with the tolerance of it to select what you want. This usually only works if there is stark contrast between foreground and background.

Secondly you can use the magnetic lasso tool. Set the frequency pretty high (i usually work with a frequency of 100, no matter how stark the contrast) and then just outline the thing you want to extract. You can also use the polygonal lasso tool or regular lasso tool (if you have a steady hand). (All lasso tools are under the same button, just click and hold to reveal the other options).

You can also use the extract option (as mentioned above). I find this technique a bit frustrating, but it is good if you want to select an image which has finer details (such as hair or blades of grass) (In CS3, the Extract tool is under Filters. The shortcut is Alt+Ctrl+X).

Or you can just outline it with a circular/rectangular marquee and paste to a new layer/document and erase the edges. To do this i always set the hardness of the brush (eraser) to about 60% or 70% and the size VERY small. Then just zoom in and erase. (Where i erase around hair i set the opacity of the eraser to 20% and erase by using numerous clicks instead of one single one, gives a very soft, hazy effect). Takes ages to do, but the results are good.

Lastly you could use the pen-tool. Select it and then click on certain points around the image to create nodes. You can then bend and curve the lines you create by dragging the mouse once you click (if you want to 'cut off' a node, simply click on it again while pressing Alt). Once finished, go to the 'paths' tab in your layers pallette. There should be a tag saying 'Work Path' with a tiny representation of your drawing. Right click on the word 'Work Path' and click 'Make Selection' and then choose your settings concerning feathering, etc. Your selection should look like any other selection now (with the outline moving).

With all of the above methods you can select the image and then go to its mask (at the bottom of your tool-pallette on the left, you should see the little button that can take you to mask/unmask)(I'm working with CS3, but I know CS2 had it as well, don't know about earlier versions). Everything that is selected is shown in red. Here you can fine-tune your selection by erasing everything you don't want selected (NOTE: when using this, be sure to do it with a regular selection AND inverted selection so that you can see exactly what you have selected!). When you're done, simply go back to an unmasked view and cut+paste your selection to a new layer/image.

Note: If your cut image still has some rough edges, feel free to use the blur tool (just set it to about 30% or 50%) or even the smudge tool at places to go around the edges and soften it out a bit. Hope this all helped.

Attached is an example using the magic wand, mask, blur and smudge tools (Please note that the quality is pretty bad, I just did it to illustrate an example, my actual work is usually substantially better! :b

Posted Image

Final note: Also check gsbharaj's posts above about defringing and feathering selections, very useful stuff!

Edited by BlackHalo, 07 September 2007 - 05:53 PM.

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#15
BlackHalo

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Saving time, using actions:

I've only recently discovered actions in Photoshop. They are easy to use and save you immense amounts of time!(They are free to download at most Photoshop-resource sites or you can make your own). When editing an image, click on the Actions button to the right of the screen. This displays almost the same way as your brushes pallet. Right click at the top-right and add any actions you may have created/downloaded (be sure to name them according to what they do). Once you have an action loaded, just select it and click on the 'play' button at the button and the action performs. One can find many interesting actions on the web, from 'vintage photo' actions to 'max payne-style' actions. I even have an action which transforms my image to the same style used in the movie 'A Scanner Darkly'.

(Hint: to see what an action actually does, play it and then keep clicking undo to see the phases it went through).
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