PHOTOSHOP

Masking Another Object – Bee Wings!

Posted on: June 19th, 2009 1

Photoshop CS4 is many things to many people….depending on what the goal is. Since I tend to make composite images almost exclusively, masking is super important. I need to select various elements from several diferent photos and combine them into a new composition.

In this screencast we take a look at masking another object that has translucent areas…..bee wings. We explore complex selections using Alpha Channels, Layer Masks, and brushing in opacity. I use these techniques all the time. It is important to understand Alpha Channels and what you can accomplish with them. While I touch on Alpha Channels here, this is by no means a definitive tutorial on them. Maybe the next time I’ll address Alpha Channels exclusively.

Please don’t be afraid to leave comments. How else can I get feedback on how to improve my screencasts?

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Masking a Complex Image

Posted on: May 9th, 2009 2

In this screencast we take a look at masking an object that has translucent areas…..plenty of fine fibers, and lots of complexity….a “fuzzy” dandelion. We explore complex selections using Color Range, saving selections as Alpha Channels, Layer Masks, and even a Blending Mode Brush trick…….in Overlay mode! There’s lots of useful information here, so I hope you take the time to check it out.

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Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted on: April 24th, 2009 0

Photoshop has many keyboard shortcuts….too many to memorize in fact. There are some that get used much more than others. Here are the ones I use every day.

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“Smart” non-destructive editing!

Posted on: April 12th, 2009 1

In this screencast we take a look at how to edit photos non-destructively with Camera Raw and Smart Objects in Photoshop. I show you some very cool and useful editing tools in Camera Raw, how to bring RAW images into Photoshop as Smart Objects, and how to do “round-trip” editing between Camera Raw and Photoshop……without changing a single pixel! I think you’ll agree it’s THE most flexible way to edit your photos.

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Bridge Made Easy!

Posted on: March 23rd, 2009 0

You don’t need to know everything there is to know about Bridge in order to use it effectively. I came up with a work flow that is the quickest and easiest way to:

  • View the photos on your camera card
  • Decide which ones to copy over
  • Convert to DNG
  • Rename them
  • Copy them into a folder on your machine

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