Category
Posted July 19th, 2008
by David Peters
by David Peters
Sometimes, when it comes to getting a picture to convey a particular emotion, or augmenting the theme of the background you juxtapose it against, nothing works quite as well as a few choice words. These could either be in the form of a quirky caption, or an insightful banner, or just about anything that adds to the significance of the picture in terms of the context you want to present it in. However, many photographers and editors have shied away from ‘tagging’ their images for years, for fear of their pieces of art turning into tacky caricatures, by merely adding a not-so-impressive effect that detracts from their image’s artistic value. In recent times, the revolution called Photoshop has literally swept these cynics of their feet, offering an array of features that would have otherwise been considered impossible to attain with more conventional digital photo-editing softwares.
Photoshop relies on the principle of Anti-Aliasing, which literally blends the text in with its background, so that the final result of your editing efforts is not a scintillating image and a few well-thought over words but an image of which the text and the photograph are fundamental parts. Anti-Aliasing works on the pixels of your text, partially filling in the edges to have them merge with the image. And this remarkable tool also allows you to be flexible and discreet in the extent to which you use it. If you are looking for an effect that is well-blended and yet retains the distinctiveness of the text, the ‘Sharp’ option allows you just what you’re looking for, while the ‘Strong’ alternative makes the text heavier than the rest of the image.
If you are working with very small text that is below the font size of 10 or 12 points, then as Photoshop specialists recommend, steer away from using Anti-Aliasing by setting the preference to ‘None’. This keeps the text from being modified inconsistently, a factor that comes into play when working with images of a very small size, or of a low resolution. The ’smooth’ and the ’sharp’ alternatives live up to their name with the effects they bring about, but if you are looking for something in between, try the ‘Crisp’ option which, as the name suggests, makes your text appear decisive. To work with Anti-Aliasing, choose the option you intend to work with from the menu, which you will find in the ‘Type’ layer segment of the Layer Palette. You can move to this menu either by selecting it from the ‘Options’ bar, or from the ‘Character Palette’.
When working with the ‘Type’ options, you first need to activate the ‘Type’ tool with the letter ‘T’. This will bring all the Type Tool alternatives into the Options bar, all of which can be used to add or modify the text that you add to your image. Of the various tools that you find on the Options bar, the first two let you choose between a Type Layer and a Type Mask to work on your image with. If you are looking to add a relatively large piece of text to your image, you can also consider creating a Type Layer, on which you can click and create a rectangle or square to make a text column. You can then work this column to the relevant section of the image, to ensure more accuracy. And if you choose to type directly on the layer, you must remember to pay attention to the ‘I beam’ on the image, which has a small horizontal line across it, to denote the baseline. Adhering to the baseline will further augment the accuracy with which you position your text, saving you a lot of valuable time and effort in the entire process.
With Photoshop, you always have the option of previewing your text to check for font and style compatibility, even before you actually begin to type in the content. However, if you think you need to see the final effect to make your decision, you also have the alternative of typing your text in, highlighting it and then modifying the finer nuances. Coloring your text is another ballgame altogether. With Photoshop, you can not only fine-tune your color choice with every individual character, but also multi-hue your text while using only a single layer. While the Color-Picker is bound to spoil you for choice, you can also pick colors off your image by moving your cursor to the color you want to emulate, while keeping the Color Picker window open.
After you’re through with working on your image and are ready to showcase it in all its creative glory, you can exit the ‘Type’ mode with the ‘Enter’ key on the Numeric keypad. Other ways to move out would be by clicking on any other tool in the toolbox, or the checkmark in the Options bar. For any oversights you want to correct, there is always the ‘T’ icon in the thumbnail section of the Layer’s Palette, double-clicking on which, you can go back to the ‘Editing’ mode once again. An easy way to resize or reposition the text is to simply click and drag it as per your preference while holding down the ‘Shift’ key. This prevents your text from getting distorted in relation to the proportions you set out with and if you aren’t too particular about the same, you can also stretch your text out, or flatten it by not using the ‘Shift’ key.
Photoshop has endless avenues for both amateur enthusiasts and professionals to explore. Although the learning curve can be steep and hard to grapple with, take your time with the software and be as creative as you can when using it. With a little practice and loads of determination, turning everyday plain-Jane images to digital masterpieces will be a forte you have firmly etched out for yourself!
Tags: Photography Posted in Photography, Photoshop
Posted July 19th, 2008
by David Peters
by David Peters
Color Model: When you hear the term color model we are referring to the method from which we define or classify the color we are to work with. Examples of such are RGB, LAB, CMYK, etc. Color Space: A color space is simply a variation of your color model. For instance, within your RGB framework some common variations are, sRGB, Adobe RGB, and so on. Some of these spaces are better for display e.g. sRGB and Wide Gamut RGB while other color spaces are more suited to printing e.g. ColorMatch RGB and Adobe RGB. Now, it is important to note that every device in our workflow utilizes it’s own unique color space. Meaning, while your monitor, scanner, and printer will base their color spaces basically on what we can see their actual gamut (range of colors) will differ. This is where we lose our consistency across devices. This is the problem we must attend to.
This is where professional level CMS’s and entry level ones differ. At this point with the entry level you will scan in the printed target and the CMS will actually use the before generated scanner profile to correct the scan, so it can the correct your printed target. A professional level CMS will have a separate hardware device designed specifically for reading printed media targets.
I would recommend using Relative Colorimetric as your Rendering Intent when doing the Convert to Profile step and when printing with Print with Preview out of Photoshop. Rendering intents control how the profile is applied to either the scanner or printed image. Relative Colorimetric has proven to be the best in my testing. Read the documentation that came with your CMS in order to learn more about the other available rendering intents.
Adobe Photoshop has also led to a whole new level of art and animation. Did you know that tablets were developed specifically with Adobe Photoshop in mind? Artists of today have gone beyond using paints and a canvas. Today’s painters make use of tablet sensors and Adobe Photoshop to produce their masterpieces. With the technology of Adobe Photoshop, people are able to take the art of drawing, add a bit of computer technology, and come up with a whole new genre of animation. In the past, images had to be saved as specific file types in order to be usable for Adobe Photoshop. However, because of the proliferation of digital cameras and camera phones today, Adobe Photoshop can actually import the photographs directly from the sources. This means that the gap between taking the picture and sharing it is reduced.
Are you amazed by the awesome pictures posted in magazines and various Internet sites? Believe it or not, but even if you are not a professional photographer, you could also come up with similarly fantastic pictures. Introducing the Adobe Photoshop CS. The Photoshop CS is the more advanced and updated versions of the Adobe Photoshop software that has been around for quite some time. During the pre-computer era, you were perhaps engrossed into the hobby of cutting out pictures for better album presentations. But now, everything can be done using the computer. Even the cameras with negative films on it are slowly becoming obsolete, in favor of the modern camera types, where images are stored not on films but virtually through computer memories. In that case, how could you make good albums or edit pictures?
Manipulate objects in the Adobe Bridge. This new generation of file browser enables you to look at photographs and artwork in detail before you open the file, process multiple Camera Raw images, flip through pages in PDF documents, size, rate and organise your work in a convenient and highly user-friendly way. Goes way beyond the capabilities of the File Browser introduced in Photoshop 7. Get rid of imperfections with the Spot Healing Bush The Spot Healing brush enables you to get rid of slight imperfections – like dust or scratches at the click of a mouse. Unlike the Healing Brush or Patch tools, you don’t have to find a source point first. Remove “red-eye” in an instant. With older versions of Photoshop, removing red-eye and pet-eye was possible, but it wasn’t easy. Now, one click of the Red Eye removal tool can remove pet-eye and red-eye from your photographs, in less time than it takes your subject to say “cheese!”.
Graphicsoft.about.com: If you like free online tutorials, check out this site. All tutorial video clips are taught by Deke McClelland, who is also the trainer for several Adobe Photoshop CS2 training CDs. He’s offering a free sample of his lessons on this site – you won’t have everything you need, but the tutorials are enough to teach you some very important things and get you started. Included in the tutorial video clips are: learning about Vanishing Point, Camera Raw, Image Warp, Smart Sharpen Filter, Smart Objects, Adobe Bridge, Match Color and Shadow Highlight Filter. If you want to buy his tutorial videos, you’ll get an exclusive 20% discount if you use the promotion code. PhotoshopSecrets – CS2 for Digital Photographers: If you want to learn how to maximize your digital photos with the use of CS2, this video tutorial is for you. Learn how professional photographers produce better-looking photographs and use their tricks to turn your photos from blah to blast. This tutorial video is a CD-ROM format, has 43 lessons and runs approximately 3.5 hours.
Tags: Photography Posted in Photography, Photoshop
Posted July 10th, 2008
by David Peters
10 Top Photoshop Tips
1) Auto-Select a Layer – Hold down the Cmd/Ctrl key and at the same time click on a layer in the main image window in Photoshop.
2) Remove Color – Removing all color from an image without going into grayscale mode simply press Shift Cmd/Ctrl U (‘Desaturate’) while still in RGB mode to make your image grayscale. Another option is to use the channel mixer which will actually create a better result. In this option, all you need to do is click on the Grayscale option.
3) Move Selection to its Own Layer – Copy the selection by pressing Cmd/Ctrl J. Press Shift Cmd/Ctrl J to cut and move a selection.
4) Hide the Selction Marquee (‘Marching Ants’) – Press Ctrl/Cmd H.
5) Feathering ” When setting a feather using the Lasso Tools, press the Return/Enter key. This will highlight the Feather field in the Options palette and you can enter or change the value.
6) Color Fill – Press Alt/Option Delete to fill a layer or area with the color in the forefront. To fill a layer or selection with the background color, press Cmd/Ctrl Delete.
7) Changing Brush Size – Press the [ ] keys. By holding the shift key down and pressing the [and ] keys, the brush gets softer and harder, correspondingly. You are allowed to change the level up to five times).
Removing Scratches or Blemishes ” If your edition of Photoshop does not have the Spot Healing Brush, edit out blemishes or scratches from a photo by double clicking on the Blur Tool. Next in the Blur Tool Options palette, decrease the opacity to 15%, and then change the mode to Lighten. Now when you paint over scratches they will vanish.
9) Drawing With Brush Tools ” If you want to draw a straight line with one of the brush tools, click, hold the Shift key, and click again where you want the line to end. The Photoshop program will draw a straight line from point to point. These steps also work with most tools, including erasers and even the highlight tool in the Extract filter.
10) Creating Duplicates ” Choose Duplicate Layer in the Layers palette and change the document setting to New to generate a new picture from any layer.
