Some edits from last week

I've been busy!  Nothing too dramatic in this lot, just some nice clean processing.

(As usual, where the image was supplied to me in raw format, the "before" is rendered using ACR's default settings.)

Thanks to Shannon M and Tonii C for their permission to post these:

Ridding pesky rainbows

Ah, rainbows.  Aren't they lovely?  Well, not if they're annoying flares right across your subject's face!  I'm going to show you a quick and dirty way to fix it.

Thanks to the lovely Emma W for her permission to use this photo for this tutorial.  You can see the problem:

(Actually, there was some debate on the forum as to whether it really is a problem, or a lovely embellishment to the photo.  For now, we'll assume the former!)

First,  I'd do my regular editing with a few layers, then group them neatly to keep them out of the way:

If you wonder why you should shoot raw ...

... it's because, sometimes, you mess up your camera settings:

But raw data is wonderful and malleable:

(The "before" is displayed using ACR's default settings, and the camera's white balance.  I achieved the "after" with significant white balance and exposure adjustments in ACR, and various Levels and Hue/Saturation adjustments, and some cloning, in Photoshop.)

(Thanks to Katrina R for her permission to post this.)

Yes, it's another food analogy!

Yesterday I tried to make a batch of pancakes for the kids' afternoon tea.  Trouble was, I was also participating in a forum discussion about calibration at the same time, and I kept forgetting to turn them.  Needless to say, quite a few of them ended up a bit burnt.  Oops!  Ah well, those ones ended up on the "Daddy pile", so I ate more than my share!

Anyway, my gluttony is not the point of this post.  The point is about cameras.

It's not uncommon for Jpeg shooters to switch to Raw and be disappointed by the images that come out of their camera.  It's also not unusual to hear new DSLR owners lament "my little point-and-shoot camera takes brighter photos than this!"

It's my belief that high-end digital cameras are designed to capture photos a bit flat and dull.  And it's my firm opinion that this is exactly how it should be.

How to make a star shape in Photoshop

You never know when you might need a star shape, right?  Photoshop makes it really easy, and gives heaps of control.

Start by choosing the Shape Tool in the toolbar (shortcut key is U):

With the tool selected, go up to your Options Bar.  First, address these three little options:

• 1a is the one you'll usually use.  It creates a Solid Color layer with a vector mask.
• 1b simply creates a path, which you could then convert to a vector mask on an image layer.
• 1c just plonks a shape right on your image, which is pretty dangerous - don't use this one.

New Photoshop mini-course: Introduction to Adjustment Layers and Masks

Layers and masks are at the heart of everything that Photoshop can do.  Once you grasp them, everything else becomes a zillion times easier.

You've probably seen advice on forums like "do such-and-such and mask it back".  Or encountered a tutorial which instructs you to "make a such-and-such layer and adjust such-and-such".  The fact is, the internet is overflowing with great Photoshop resources to rock your editing world.  But if you lack that all-important core understanding of layers and masks, you'll find you can't take advantage of all the advice and tutorials you find.

I've written a short course for beginners, to teach you the basics of those layers and their masks.  It's an online slideshow presentation, with plenty of illustrations and screenshots.  The slides are brief and snappy, and easy to understand.  PLUS there are accompanying videos to watch; and best of all, it has complete question-and-answer interaction.  If you don't understand something, or would like further information or clarification, just type your question right there beneath the slide, and I'll immediately answer it next time I'm at my computer.

This is for people with both Photoshop AND Photoshop Elements.  Too many people think that Elements is a substandard program, lacking the powerful functionality of Photoshop.  I hasten to dispel this myth - Elements is an enormously powerful program, possessing much of the same important layer and mask ability as its big brother.  This course will empower Elements users to their fullest.

Color Settings in Elements - Part 2

In the last post I wrote about Elements' Color Settings for people who don't use Adobe Camera Raw.  The essence of the advice was "most of the time it doesn't matter which setting you choose".

That's not the case for people who use ACR to process their Raw (or Jpeg) files.  The ACR which comes with Photoshop CS# allows you to choose the colour profile independently of the parent program; but the ACR that comes with Elements doesn't give that choice - it automatically processes files in the colour space dictated by Elements itself.

So this means that Elements users have to choose their Color Settings with a bit more care than Photoshop users.

Color Settings in Elements - Part 1

Ages ago I wrote an article about the Color Settings in Photoshop.  Ever since then I've wanted to write one about Photoshop Elements, and finally, here it is ... well, half of it, anyway.

PART ONE

This article is for people who don't use Adobe Camera Raw:

• Jpeg shooters who open their files directly into Elements (ie not via ACR)
• Raw or Jpeg shooters who initially process their files in another raw program (eg Lightroom), then bring the pixel files into Elements

(ACR users - your settings will be discussed in the next post)

Color Settings are accessed via the Edit menu.  When you open it, you're presented with four options:

Cursor preferences

Have you played with Photoshop's cursor preferences?  If not, you should :)

Go to Edit > Preferences > Display & Cursors.  Here's how I have mine:

Painting Cursors:

"Standard" is silly - it makes your tools look pretty, but hopelessly imprecise.

"Precise" is a bit too precise - it gives you nothing but a crosshair to denote the very centre of your brush.  I don't know anyone who uses this.

"Normal Brush Tip" is my weapon of choice.  It represents a good "average" of the brush size.  With a soft-edged brush, paint of an opacity lower than 50% falls outside the circle, and above 50% falls inside it.  This is the default setting, so it's the one you're probably used to.

"Full Size Brush Tip" shows you the absolute extent of the pixels which will be painted when you use the brush, from 1% opacity paint to 100%.  This setting is an acquired taste, I think - personally, I've never gotten used to it.

Other Cursors:

"Standard" is the default setting, and it's the one you'll most likely change after reading this.  It means that the cursors of the non-painting tools (eg Crop, Paint Bucket, and so on) look exactly like their icons in the Toolbar.  You might think that's sensible, but let me ask you this - how accurately can you crop with that darned Crop Tool?  It's difficult, right?  That's why I prefer to use ...

"Precise".  This does what it suggests - it turns the non-painting tool cursors into crosshairs, so that you can work with pixel-precision.

Try it and see!

Footnote:  No matter what settings you have, you can turn on the "Precise" setting for all tools at any time by pressing Caps Lock.  This will give you crosshairs no matter what.  The funny thing is, most people discover this by accident, and it drives you crazy the first time!