Quick, cool backgrounds

Today’s tip is a link to a video from NAPP. Check out Dave Cross’s solution to creating quick cool backgrounds:

http://kelbytv.com/askdave/2010/06/07/quick-cool-backgrounds/

These tips are distributed by NAPP – National Association of Photoshop Professionals and reposted here for your convenience.

Pesky Polygonal or Magnetic Lasso Tool

Photoshop Tip of the Day: When using the Polygonal Lasso or the Magnetic Lasso tools, you can remove control points in the order they were put down by backtracking along the selection path & pressing the Delete (PC: Backspace) key for each point. The Magnetic Lasso tool may try to add new points as you back up; just …delete them until you get back to where you need to be.

These tips are distributed by NAPP – National Association of Photoshop Professionals and reposted here for your convenience.

Text Wrapping in PS

I always knew there had to be a way to wrap text around an object in PS, and today I found a tutorial that revealed the secret.

Thanks to ilike2photoshop.blogspot.com for this revelation! I took their basic tutorial and modified it a little to fit my needs. You can check out the original tutorial to see how you can wrap text around a simple round object, like a pizza, but I wanted to show you a more detailed way to use this process.

Here is the object I would like to text wrap. This image would make a wonderfully dramatic backdrop for an advertisement or magazine article. I nabbed this image off of Google for the demonstration.

This process of wrapping text requires using the Shape Tool, the Pen Tool and Paths.

1. Open an image you wish to text wrap in Photoshop. Be sure your image has enough space for you to place your text. In this image I will place the text in the lighter area to the right of the face.

2. Select the Rectangle Shape Tool with  Paths and  Add to Path Area as your selected settings on the Options Bar as shown below:

3. Drag out a path on your image like below. The path of the rectangle shape defines the area where your text will be placed.

4. Next select the Pen Tool using Paths and Subtract from Path Area as your settings on the Options Bar as shown below:

5. Start outlining the face using the Pen Tool. It doesn’t need to be a precise outline since you are just trying to create a basic area for the text. Be sure to complete your outline by joining your last anchor point to the starting anchor point.

6. Select the Text Tool and click inside of the text area you have just created and either start typing or paste some text into the area.

If you find that you have made your text box a little too close to the subject you are wrapping, simply grab the Move Tool and reposition the text box.

Here is the final product:

Photoshop Shortcuts

For those of you who use shortcuts, you undoubtedly know the time saving value of these quick key combinations. For those of you who do not use shortcuts, it may take some time and practice to learn them but I promise you, you will love using them once you do.

Here is my list of favorite shortcuts that I use when working in Photoshop. If you have additional favorites, please feel free to post them.

Ctrl + A - Select All
Ctrl + C – Copy
Ctrl + D – Deselect
Ctrl + E – Merge Down
Ctrl + Shift + I – Inverse Selection
Ctrl + J – New Layer via Copy
Ctrl + L – Levels
Ctrl + M – Curves
Ctrl + N – New blank file
Ctrl + O – Open
Ctrl + R – Turn on/off Rulers
Ctrl + S – Save
Ctrl + T - Free Transform
Ctrl + V – Paste
Ctrl + W – Close Document
Ctrl + X – Cut
Ctrl + Z – Undo last action
Ctrl + Alt + Z – undo multiple times

Ctrl + (+ plus sign) – Zoom in
Ctrl + (- minus sign) – Zoom out
Ctrl + (: colon) – turn on/off guides
Ctrl + Tab – switch between open documents
Ctrl + zero – resize document to fit window
Double click the Zoom tool – resizes document to 100%

Right square bracket key ] – increase brush size
Left square bracket key [ - decrease brush size
Shift + [ or ] – increase / decrease brush hardness

D – default colors (black foreground/white background)
X - switch foreground and background colors
Spacebar – invokes the hand tool
Tab key – hides and reveals all palettes including the toolbar
Tab + Shift - hides and reveals only palettes
←, ↑, →, ↓ (arrow keys) – Nudge selection/layer 1 pixel
Alt + Delete – fill the layer with foreground color
Shift + Delete – fill the layer with background color

Tools

A – Direct Selection
B – Brush
C – Crop
E – Eraser
F – Cycle Screen Modes
G – Gradient
H – Hand
I – Eyedropper
L – Lasso
M – Marquee
P – Pen
S – Clone
T – Type
U – Shapes
V – Move
W – Magic Wand
Z – Zoom

Opacity
You can set the layer opacity by pressing the number keys (ie. 1 = 10%, 2 = 20%…). When you have the brush tool selected, pressing the number keys will adjust the brush opacity.

To draw precise, symmetrical  circle or square or straight line press and hold SHIFT, while drawing it.

You can test your fonts easily by selecting your text, then selecting “set font family” form and just pressing UP or DOWN arrows. This will cycle through your fonts and you will see what your selection will look like in each font.

Show/ hide your layers by clicking and holding your  mouse and dragging it up/down over the eyeball (visibility icon). Repeat to do inverse action.

Opacity vs. Fill

I was tutoring a friend today in Photoshop and she asked the question, “What is the difference between Opacity and Fill on the Layer palette?”. I had to respond truthfully and tell her that I have never really understood it myself. So I did some digging on Photoshop Help and found a great explanation of where you might use a Fill adjustment rather than an Opacity adjustment.

Most people who use Photoshop are familiar with adjusting the Opacity of a layer so that the layer has some degree of transparency which allows the pixels on the layer below to show through. This is considered affecting the “Master Opacity” of the layer. If you have a Layer Style applied to a layer and reduce the opacity of the layer, it will in turn reduce the opacity of the Layer Style.

Using the Fill adjustment will allow you to keep a Layer Style you’ve applied to a layer (i.e. drop shadows, glows, or bevels) at 100% opacity while reducing the opacity of the object to which you have applied the Layer Style.

For example, you can make a shape layer with a bevel  and outer glow applied to it.  Then reduce the Fill to 0% and you will still see the effect of the bevel and outer glow but see through to the layer beneath the shape.

In the example below I started with a background pattern of pink stripes, added a white heart using the Custom Shape tool. I applied an inner bevel and an outer glow to the shape (image on the left). With the shape layer selected, I reduced the Fill to 0% (image on the right).

Pretty cool effect huh?

Creating a Vector Mask in PS

I received an interesting call this evening from a fellow graphic designer. She was having trouble figuring out how to create a vector mask so that she could show part of an image through a “cut out” in her design. So she gave me a call but unfortunately I have never had the need to do this in the past.

We worked together over the phone for over two hours, both working in Photoshop as we talked and tried a variety of processes. Unfortunately, we were each working in a different version of PS, so that posed a few problems.

I checked the Help menu in PS CS4 and found a basic procedure but it still didn’t seem to be working for her. What we finally realized was that as she tried to create the path using the pen tool, she was missing one critical item. The all important Options bar settings were not properly set. In the tutorial below I have noted this important step in red.

She was very relieved to finally be able to finish her project that is due to her client tomorrow. As for me…I don’t think I’ll ever forget how to create a vector mask!

Photoshop Tools Reference

If you were ever wondering where you could find a collection of short tutorials for the use of each tool in Photoshop…here it is! There is a comprehensive Photoshop Toolbox Reference on a wonderful website: SimplePhotoshop.com

Kudos to Simple Photoshop! I love this reference manual and direct all of my students to this site!

Click on each tool to view its video-manual on the Simplephotoshop.com site:

Icon	Tool	Key	Purpose		Icon	Tool	Key	Purpose
	Elliptical Marquee	M	selecting			Single Row Marquee	-	selecting
	Rectangular Marquee	M	selecting			Single Column Marquee		selecting
	Lasso	L	selecting			Move	V	transforming
	Polygonal Lasso	L	selecting			Magic Wand	W	selecting
	Magnetic Lasso	L	selecting			Crop	C	transforming
	Slice	K	web design			Slice Select	K	web design
	Healing Brush	J	retouching			Patch	J	retouching
	Brush	B	painting			Pencil	B	painting
	Clone Stamp	S	painting			Pattern Stamp	S	painting
	History Brush	Y	restores to selected history state			Art History Brush	Y	painting
	Airbrush	J	painting			Eraser	E	erasing
	Background Eraser	E	erasing			Magic Eraser	E	erasing
	Paint Bucket	G	painting			Gradient	G	painting
	Blur	R	unfocusing			Sharpen	R	focusing
	Smudge	R	painting			Sponge	O	color adjustment
	Dodge	O	tonal adjustment			Burn	O	tonal adjustment
	Horizontal Type	T	typing			Vertical Type	T	typing
	Horizontal Type Mask	T	typing			Vertical Type Mask	T	typing
	Direct Selection	A	drawing			Path Selection	A	drawing
	Pen	P	drawing			Freeform Pen	P	drawing
	Add Anchor Point	-	drawing			Delete Anchor Point	-	drawing
	Convert Point	-	drawing			Rectangle	U	drawing
	Rounded Rectangle	U	drawing			Ellipse	U	drawing
	Polygon	U	drawing			LIne	U	drawing
	Custom Shape	U	drawing			Eyedropper	I	choosing color
	Color Sampler	I	color information			Measure	I	geometrical measurements
	Notes	N	non-printable data			Audio Annotation	N	non-printable data
	Hand	H	navigating			Zoom	Z	image viewing
	Color Selecting box	-	displays current color			Color Replacement	J	retouching
	Mode Selector	Q	selecting			Jump to Image Ready	Shift+ Ctrl+ M	web design

Use Gradient Map to Make Sunsets Stunning

I just joined an online Photoshop tutorial site and spent the better part of yesterday browsing the site for PS tips and tricks. Here is a pretty simple tutorial, but I found it quite useful.

Ever take a photo of a sunset, especially over water, and it just pales in comparison to what you saw? Well here is a quick,  easy way you can make that sunset just as stunning as the way you remember it using a Gradient Map.

1. Open your photo.
2. Set your Foreground Color to #FF0000 and your Background Color to #FDEE01.
   
3. Click on the Add Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers Palette and select Gradient Map.
4. This will add a nice orange gradient over your image. Now to change your Blending Mode to Overlay.
   
5. With the background layer selected click on the Add Adjustment Layer icon again and this time select Brightness/Contrast.
6. Adjust the Brightness down to around -30 and the Contrast up to around +25. These are just starting points and you can really decide what looks best for your particular image.
7. If you feel that the foreground of your image is too orange, you can always use the Layer Mask attached to the Gradient Map layer to mask out that area.
8. You can also adjust the opacity of the Gradient Map if you feel the colors are a little too intense.

Here is a before and after of a sunset image using this process. Pretty easy, right? I always wondered how they did this, and now I know!

Convert an Image to a Line Drawing

This tutorial was the result of a request by one of my Community Ed. students. He was in need of a way to convert images to line or pencil drawings for his business. I did a little research and came across one tutorial that produces fairly good results. Then I spent some time playing with Photoshop and devised another method of my own.

The original tutorial was created by Mark Clarkson and is titled “Photoshop Pixels to Pencil Drawings”. Visit this link to see Mark’s original tutorial:  http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/drawing/

I took the liberty of condensing, modifying and clarifying a few of the steps of the tutorial as follows:

1. Open your photograph in Photoshop and crop or resize it as necessary.

2.  Make the image B/W.
(If you are starting with a black and white photo, you can skip this step.)

• Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturate or click on the Create Adjustment Layer icon at the top of the Layers palette and select Hue/Saturation from the menu.
• When the Hue/Saturation dialog opens, slide the Saturation slider all the way to the left, this will remove all color from the photo, resulting in a B/W image
• With the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer selected, merge it down: Layer>Merge Down or use the shortcut Ctrl+E.

3. Duplicate the B/W image to a New Layer

• Click and drag the original image onto the Create a New Layer icon at the top of the palette, or use the shortcut Ctrl+J (Layer via Copy).
• Rename this layer to New Layer.

4.  Invert the colors of the New Layer

• With the New Layer selected, press Ctrl+I to invert the colors in the photo.
  (Your photo will look like a negative.)

5.  Set the Blending Mode to Color Dodge.

Change the blending mode of the New Layer, by choosing Color Dodge from the blend modes drop-down list at the top of the Layers palette. Color Dodge lightens the underlying image. Because the two layers contain opposite versions of the same image, they cancel each other out. The results will be pure white, or nearly so.

6.  Apply Gaussian Blur

• Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur
• Drag the slider to the right to increase the blur amount and the outlines of your image will begin to appear. The amount of blur you need depends on your particular image. The greater the blur, the wider and darker the lines and shadows will become.
• The Motion Blur, Radial Blur, and Blur More filters give nice results too. Your results will vary depending on the image you are using.
• You can also try changing the Blending Mode from Color Dodge to Linear Dodge and see what kind of result you get.

7.  Burn and Dodge

• You can stop here, or you can use the Burn Tool (used to darken) and Dodge Tool (used to lighten) to selectively lighten and darken areas of your image.
• Burn and Dodge on the New Layer only, not on the background layer.
• Keep in mind that the Dodging and Burning processes are permanent irreversible actions.

Here are the before and after images that resulted from the above tutorial. For this conversion, I used a pixel setting of 10 for the Gaussian blur step. I did not use any dodging or burning.

 
 
 
 
 
 
The second set of images of the dog are from a conversion I did using the same process. With this image, I used the dodge and burn options to enhance some of the areas. I felt this process did a much better job on this particular image than the first image.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The processes involved in this tutorial gave me an idea and after much playing with Photoshop I came up with the following tutorial which I feel gives somewhat varied results, depending on your needs and the image you are using.

I’ll title this tutorial “Convert an Image to a Line Drawing”. I wrote this tutorial primarily for PSE, but have made notations for PS users as well.

1. Open your photograph in Photoshop and crop or resize it as necessary.
2. Make the image B/W.
   (If you are starting with a black and white photo, you can skip this step.)
3. Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation or click on the Create Adjustment Level icon at the top of the Layers palette and select Hue/Saturation from the menu.
4. When the Hue/Saturation dialog box opens, slide the Saturation slider all the way to the left, this will remove all color from the photo, resulting in a B/W image. Click OK.
5. With the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer selected, merge it down: Layer>Merge Down or use the shortcut Ctrl+E.
6. Open the Effects palette (in PSE) and click on the first icon at the top of the panel  to select Filters, or go to the Filters menu (in PS).
7. Using the drop down box to the right, locate and select Sketch (in PSE) or from the Filter menu (in PS), locate Sketch>Stamp.
8. In PSE locate Stamp in the list and either double-click it, or click on it once and click Apply at the bottom of the palette.
9. A dialog box will open and you can adjust the image using the Light/Dark Balance and Smoothness sliders. Keep in mind that the white lines you see will eventually be your black outlines. When you are done making adjustments, click OK. You can also try using Photocopy from the Sketch group instead of Stamp. Your results will vary depending on your image.
10. If there are unwanted black areas you can always paint over these on separate layer. Create a new blank layer, by clicking on the New Layer icon. Make sure your colors are set to White foreground and Black background. Select your Paint Brush and paint on the blank layer above your image. If you make mistakes here, you can always use the eraser to remove excess paint strokes.

Here are the examples of the car image converted first using the Stamp Effect option and the second using the Photocopy Effect option.

Black & White Conversions using Photoshop

There are several different ways to convert images to B/W using Photoshop and I would like to share these methods with you as well as showing side by side comparisons of the end results. I have converted the same image to black and white using each method outlined below. See the images at the bottom of the page for comparison.

Method 1 – Image Mode Conversion

The first method is very simple, but generally does not produce good results. You simply change the mode of the image from RGB to Grayscale. This is done by the following steps: Image>Mode>Grayscale. The resulting image tends to be rather flat and even though this is an easy conversion, it is not one that I use or would recommend.

Method 2 – Desaturate

This method is just as easy as the Image Mode Conversion method. Simply follow these steps: Image>Adjustments>Desaturate. Again, this produces an image that is fairly flat and allows you no control over the outcome of the image.

Method 3 – Black & White Adjustment Layer

This method gives you much better control over the outcome of your image.

To begin, click on the Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of your layer panel, then select Black & White from the menu. From this point you can adjust the level of each color tone in your image using the sliders. The major adjustments I made to this photo were the Blues slider, to darken the background somewhat and the Reds and Yellows sliders to brighten the face of the infant. Pay attention to the colors in your original image and adjust the appropriate sliders based on those colors.

Method 4 – Gradient Map & Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers

I recently viewed a tutorial using this method and found it to be very effective and provides good control over the outcome of your image. Start by making sure you have your colors set to black as the foreground and white as the background then create a Gradient Map adjustment layer in the same manner as the previous method. Then create another adjustment layer using Channel Mixer as your menu choice. Before making any adjustments in the Channel Mixer panel, be sure to check the Monochrome box. The Channel Mixer has sliders similar to the Black & White adjustment layer, with the exception that you are strictly adjusting the RGB colors. The really nice thing about using the Channel Mixer adjustment is that it allows you to mask over portions of the image that may become too bright due to your slider adjustments. You’ll notice in this example I have masked over the entire image except for the infant’s face. This leaves the background darker and brightened the face area. Since the infant’s face is the focal point of the image, this is a definite improvement in overall appearance of the image.

Method 5 – Hue/Saturation & Levels Adjustment Layers

This is my preferred method of converting an image to B/W.

Start by adding a Hue & Saturation adjustment layer. Slide the Saturation slider all the way to the left, this completely desaturates the image. Then add a Levels adjustment layer and make adjustments to the histogram by sliding the black, white and gray set points. If necessary, you can also mask your levels adjustments in certain areas that may become too hot or blown out. With some images I will also add a Curves adjustment layer to increase the contrast in the image. I added a Curves adjustment to this image and also masked the infant’s face.

Any of the last three methods could be used with great results depending on the type of image you are converting. Try each method to see what works best for you!

Here is the original image:

Below are the resulting images from each of the methods described above.

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• Quick, cool backgrounds
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