Reflecting on Blend Modes

THE ADOBE® PHOTOSHOP® “HOW-T0” MAGAZINE › › JUNE/JULY 2020

When retouching fashion images, Blending modes can be used to Photo agency standards are progressively create cool type effects from writing on a Designing in Effects moving toward a more natural look chalkboard to painting letters on a street Photoshop

Dave Thurau | KelbyOne Member

REFLECTING ON BLEND MODES Learn what lies beneath the surface of blending modes in Photoshop Do you have better photos inside you, just waiting to get out? This book can help.

A totally updated version of the #1 best-selling digital photography book of all time!

KelbyOne Pro members: Use your discount code at rockynook.com to get 50% off your purchase

Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. If you’re tired of taking shots that look “okay,” and if you’re tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, “Why don’t my shots look like that?” then this is the book for you.

| kelbyone.com | rockynook.com | #kelbyonebooks

; Layout: Jessica Maldonado Jessica Layout: ; Unsplash and Stock Adobe © Images: Background ©Adobe Stock/ashtproductions Stock/ashtproductions ©Adobe

[034] ©Adobe Stock/Viorel Sima Stock/Viorel ©Adobe [024] Valentine loves blending modes, which show up in just about every professional professional up in just about every blending modes, which show loves Valentine BLENDING MODES EXPLAINED By Scott Valentine Scott and effects corrections photographic from ranging in Photoshop, and workflow technique tour our be to him asked when we delighted was Scott illustration. design and graphic to he’ll Along the way, capabilities in Photoshop. essential these absolutely guide through explore things to of some hints you plus give tips and tricks, his favorite point out some of own. on your

[052] FEATURE

• JUNE/JULY 2020 • VOL 23 • NO 6 ] NO 23 • VOL • 2020 JUNE/JULY • USER PHOTOSHOP [ CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS [007] A NOTE FROM SCOTT HOW TO [024] DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS [009] A Different Approach to Duotone Effects CONTRIBUTORS [034] DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS Create Artwork Inspired by Adobe’s Honor Heroes [010] BENEFIT SPOTLIGHT [066] BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP How to Create an Action Sequence [012] KELBYONE COMMUNITY [072] EFFECTS TOOLKIT Give Yourself a Tattoo in Minutes! [020] [076] PHOTO EFFECTS HEARD ON THE TWEET Fashion Retouch for Agency Standards

[022] [096] DESIGNING IN PHOTOSHOP NEW ONLINE TRAINING Cool Ways to Blend Type into Images

[120] FROM THE HELP DESK COLUMNS [064] SHORTCUT CITY What the F Key!

ONLINE CONTENT Whenever you see this symbol at the [086] THE PERFECT SELECTION end of an article, it means there are either Quick Collage with Selections downloadable practice files or additional content for KelbyOne members at [090] PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND http://kelbyone.com/magazine. 3D Text Room, Part 2 Whenever you see this button in an article, click it to go to the KelbyOne [104] PHOTOSHOP Q&A site to watch courses that cover similar Get Answers to Your Photoshop Questions topics contained in the article. Whenever you see this button in an article, click it to go to the KelbyOne [108] PRODUCT & BOOK REVIEWS Online Community to ask questions or Get the Scoop on the Latest Gear make comments about this issue. Click this symbol in the nav bar at the top [118] PHOTOSHOP TIPS of the online reader to access the Contents. Boost Your Productivity & Creativity ©Unsplash/Ryoji Iwata ©Unsplash/Ryoji ©Adobe Stock: Man/nikolas_jkd; Dragon/Draco77 Man/nikolas_jkd; Stock: ©Adobe

[072] [096] KelbyOne Members Receive Exclusive Discounts

The Professional’s Source TM

Log on to KelbyOne’s website: http://kelbyone.com/discounts

420 Ninth Ave, NYC Visit Our SuperStore 877-885-1911 Consult a Sales Associate or Live Chat online

NYC DCA Electronics Store Lic.#0906712; NYC DCA Electronics & Home Appliance Service Dealer Lic. #0907905; www.BandH.com NYC DCA Secondhand Dealer – General Lic. #0907906 © 2018 B & H Foto & Electronics Corp. JN150613 Shop conveniently online › › FROM THE EDITOR

>A Note from Scott IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A PHOTOSHOP USER

I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again: It’s a great time to be a Photoshop user. Especially right now, as two big Photo shop things just happened. First, Adobe just released a pretty significant update to Photoshop, which included a huge leap in the technology and results we get from the Select Subject fea ture (that one-click AI-powered feature that recognizes objects in your image and makes a selec tion for you, or at least enough of one so you only have to do a little tweaking). Plus, they did a complete overhaul of the Camera Raw interface, making it much more Lightroom-like; now (plus, you’ll have access to an archive of the entire when you pop back and forth between the two, you conference after the live stream, so you can catch any don’t feel like you’re using two different programs. sessions you missed, or rewatch any classes you want to There are also a number of nice tweaks and enhance see again). Head over to kelbyonelive.com/photoshop- ments for designers, including one I love: There are no conference right now and reserve your ticket using the more warnings about missing fonts in your documents early-bird pricing, and we’ll see you online for two days with the new Auto-Activate Fonts feature. It just automat that will supercharge your Photoshop learning. ically grabs the fonts it needs for you from Adobe Fonts We also just released a Photoshop course I did on so you can get right to work. Plus, they added more AI to 25 Quick & Easy Portrait Retouching Techniques for the Match Fonts feature, making it even better. Head to Photographers. I wanted to give photographers who page 12 for our story on all the new stuff. do their own retouching a resource where they could Photoshop on the iPad got some nice updates, too, go and quickly learn exactly how to do that particular including tighter integration between Lightroom and retouch they need to know right now for the image on Photoshop via a built-in link from Lightroom to Photoshop which they’re working. So, if you need to learn how and back again. You can start your work in Lightroom, to trim eyebrows, there’s a quick lesson on just that. jump over to Photoshop when you need, and then shoot Hotspots? Check. One eye higher than the other? Got that image right back to Lightroom for some final tweaking. it. Need to reduce wrinkles? Go right to that lesson and Pretty much the workflow that we’re used to on the there it is—quick and easy. Hope you’ll give it a look. desktop, but on our iPads. Lots of cool Photoshop stuff going on right now. Like The second big Photoshop thing to happen (and closer I always say, it’s a great time to be a Photoshop user. ☺ to home) is that we’re so excited to announce the upcoming KelbyOne Photoshop Conference on July 14–15, All my best, 2020. It’s two full days, all live online, featuring two simultaneous training tracks, and an incredible team of instructors, including Terry White, Glyn Dewis, Serge Ramelli, Mark Heaps, Tracy Sweeney, Victoria Pavlov, Adobe’s own Bryan O’Neal Hughes, and yours truly. Best of all, it’s all online and open to everyone, everywhere, Scott Kelby KELBY ONE.COM

and it’s so affordable anybody can be a part of it. I hope KelbyOne President & CEO > you’ll join us for this accelerated learning experience Editor & Publisher, Photoshop User [ 7 ] JUNE/JULY 2020 • VOL 23 • NO 6

AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

EDITORIAL: Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief Chris Main, Managing Editor Kim Doty, Associate Editor Barbara Thompson, Copy Editor Cindy Snyder, Technical Editor

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Corey Barker • Peter Bauer • Dave Clayton • Dave Cross Unmesh Dinda • Mark Heaps • Kirk Nelson • Brittany Smith Colin Smith • Gilmar Smith • Lesa Snider • Scott Valentine Erik Vlietinck

GRAPHICS: Jessica Maldonado, Art Director Margie Rosenstein, Senior Graphic Designer Angela Naymick, Senior Web/Graphic Designer

MARKETING: Ashley Fosse • Rachel Scott • Kleber Stephenson

WEB: Adam Frick • Curt Husting • Yojance Rabelo • Aaron Westgate

PUBLISHING: Scott Kelby, Publisher Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P. Jean A. Kendra, Business Manager

ADVERTISING: Kleber Stephenson, Vice President of Business Development & Enterprise [email protected] Cover Image: Dave Thurau Dave Image: Cover

HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE: U.S. Mail: 118 Douglas Road East • Oldsmar, FL 34677-2922 Each issue we feature cover art Voice: 813-433-5000 • Fax: 813-433-5015 by a KelbyOne member Customer Service: [email protected] This issue’s cover is by Dave Thurau. Dave has loved photography since his teens, Letters to the Editor: [email protected] but after many years away from it, the world of digital photography and postprocessing renewed his interest. Being a geek at heart, he was amazed at what could be done with a digital SLR and Photoshop CS3. Dave began his quest for COLOPHON: knowledge on how to use the program and express his creative photographic Photoshop User was produced using Adobe Photoshop CC 2020 visions. HDR was the beginning of his “illustrative” style. Originally, he was heavy and Adobe InDesign CC 2020. Korolev was used for headlines and with the sliders (and sometimes he still is), but that’s what he likes: color and drama. subheads. Frutiger LT Std for text. For more on Dave, turn to page 19.

All contents ©COPYRIGHT 2020 KelbyOne, LLC. All rights reserved. Any use of the contents of this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Photoshop User is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way with Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be the representative views of the publisher. ISSN 2470-7031 (online) CONTRIBUTORS DAVE DAVE PETERBAUER COREY MARKHEAPS UNMESHDINDA and hastaughtfor KelbyOne, CreativeLive, andPhotoshop Cafe. andbooks, Photoshop co-hosted UserTV, manywritten articles Instructor,an Adobe Certified inthePhotoshop HallofFame, has has beenteaching Adobe for software more than30years. He’s Draws of is aUK-based graphic designer with over 30 years experience, author Hall ofFame in2010. Photoshop CC into . Hewasinducted for thePhotoshop Dummies sulting for group aselect latest clients. ofcorporate bookis His whodoescomputer graphics con- Expert is anAdobe Certified Look for hislatest bookPhotoshop Tricks. for Designers Instructor, hehasproduced numerous trainingtitlesfor KelbyOne. at thePhotoshop World Conference andanAdobe MAX Master is anaward-winning designer andillustrator. Afeatured instructor also an Adobe Influencer andalso anAdobe Influencer Manager atAstute GraphicsTraining . clients includeApple, Google, Dell, Coca-Cola, andmany others. tured atAdobe MAX, speaker SXSW, andmany otherevents. His photographer, andExecutive Creative Director. He’s beenafea- is anAdobe Professional, Community instructor, author, ter MagazineandPhotoshop User,andhe’s instructor. aKelbyOne forinstructor ShutterFest andPhotoshop World, publishedinShut- 500 videos on his YouTube channel, is aPhotoshop educator withmore and than1,000,000subscribers He Shoots, He , cohostofthesuccessful He Shoots, He ThatInInDesign How IDo Do podcast, CROSS CLAYTON BARKER and aPhotoshop World instructor. andKelbyOne He’s SCOTT Adobe’s prerelease team. Press) are usedincollegesacross theUS,andhe’s alongtimememberof voice to teaching through experimentation. HisHiddenPower blends hiseducationinphysics with his love for art,bringingaunique . He’sPiXimperfect been an VALENTINE

KIRKNELSON BRITTANYSMITH ERIK COLINSMITH LESASNIDER GILMARSMITH subjects fromsubjects logodesign to animation.Hecanbereached here. inPhotoshop.Expert Kirk’s career hastouched onabroad rangeof has aB.A. from andisanAdobe University George Certified Mason is a professional inthe graphics artist Washington, D.C., area. He teaching fitnessclassesatthe somethingfabulous. YMCA, orbaking behind acamerashecanusuallybefound atalocalcoffee shop, and LA. She also forwrites photography education sites. When not i News and Red Shark Sound. Shark andRed News Visit his website atVisuals Producer. , andmany others. to Healsocontributes UK-basedArts Shark Red for more than22years. for Hehas written , Macworld A J.D. has been bya freelance education, Erik technology editor . PhotoshopCAFE.com andpresident of Software-Cinema.com ing videos. Colin isalsothefounder oftheonlineresource who has authored 19 books and has created of train- a series is an award-winning photographer, digital artist, and lecturer video courses, andthe “Creaticity” columnfor. Macworld ManualMissing , Photographers: (2016), Classroom inaBook is theauthorofAdobe Lightroom CC andPhotoshop CC for .com andallaround socialmediaas@gilmarsmith. posites. You canfollow herventures atwww.gilmarphotography Orlando, Florida, specializingincreative andcom- portraiture is aself-taughtphotographer andPhotoshop basedin addict, s a fashion and beauty photographer working in NYC, Montana, inNYC, photographers afashionandbeauty working Montana, VLIETINCK TheSkinnyBooks.com eBooks, more than40 books (Adobe Photoshop CC: The Computer

[ 9

] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 10 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] > KELBYONE PROMEMBERSHIP? ARE YOU THEMOST GETTING OUTOFYOUR B As a Pro member, you’re receiving the ultimate experience As aPromember,you’rereceivingtheultimateexperience thing to immerse yourself in learning. We want to make sure thing toimmerseyourselfinlearning.Wewantmakesure tion, you have hundreds of quick tips and tutorials, guided tion, youhavehundredsofquicktipsandtutorials,guided (700+ courses), including a new course every week, taught (700+ courses),includinganewcourseeveryweek,taught you know about all of the added benefits you’re getting as a you knowaboutalloftheaddedbenefitsyou’regettingas Pro membersoyoucantakeadvantageofthemall! with KelbyOne.Thisisourcompleteplanthatincludesevery - private members-onlywebcasts. by world-classinstructorswhoyouknowandlove.Inaddi - learning tracks, and the opportunity to live-learn through learning tracks,andtheopportunitytolive-learnthrough ene Pro members have access to our entire course library Pro membershaveaccesstoourentirecourselibrary f it it S p o tli ght

You have access to all the new issues of able fromourpartners,suchasApple,B&HPhoto,andMpix. accelerate theirlearningtoday! and raphy helpfromtheamazingmembersinour but certainlynotleast,therearesignificant brushes, presets,eBooks,andotherfunfreebies.Andlast, added benefitsoftheProMembership issues. Youhaveaccesstoa You canalsogetPhotoshop,Lightroom,andphotog- Do youknowsomeonewhoshouldgoPro? Lightroom Magazine , along with more than 120 back , alongwithmorethan120back Creative Toolkit n with them to help withthemtohelp

Photoshop User discounts packed with packedwith Community Share the Share the avail- . photo © Don Komarechka photo © Rick Sammon

photo © Gilmar Smith

photo © Shiv Verma photo © Shiv Verma

Expand Your Creativity and Skillset

Tight spaces, low angles, close-up, macro – If you have the imagination, we’ve got the solution. Platypod gives you compact powerful tools to broaden your vision, take creativity to the next level and capture unique images that realize your full potential.

platypod.com [ 12] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 > Inspiration, information, andmemberartworkto fuelyour creativity CHRISMAIN, ASHLEYFOSSE K announced theupdates.Youcanclick cation, We coveredalltheLightroomupdatesinIssue62ofoursisterpubli- Creative Cloudapps,includingPhotoshop,Lightroom,andInDesign. On June16,2020,Adobereleasedupdatesacrossseveralofits Adobe Photoshop Gets aMajorJuneUpdate patterns inPhotoshop. Pattern Fill,aOverlaylayerstyle,orwhereveryou canapply can! You’ll now find the familiar Angle option whenever you add a couldn’t rotateapatterninPhotoshop?Wevll,guesswhat. Nowyou Rotatable Patterns: ences>Product Improvement. You canturnonthisfeaturebygoingtoPhotoshop(PC:Edit)>Prefer- and isoffby default whenyouinstallthe21.2(June2020release). Selection andContent-AwareFill.Theprogramiscompletelyvoluntary to trainthemachinelearningalgorithmsforfeaturessuchasObject program. ThiswillgiveAdobeaccesstoawiderrangeofimages better inthefuture,AdobealsointroducedProductImprovement extracted subjectonatransparentbackground. marching antsafterc on theright:Thetopimageisoriginal,secondshows to fine-tuneit. is selected,youcantaketheimageintoSelectandMaskworkspace selection withfinehairdetailsandbetteredgequality.Afterthesubject the personinyourimageandPhotoshopnowcreatesamorerefined has madeitevenbetterandfasterforselectingportraits.TheAIdetects ing selectionwithjustthec years ago,everyonewasexcitedbyhoweasyittogetagoodstart- Select Subject:WhenSubjectwasfirstintroducedmore thantwo Photoshop updates.Solet’sdivein. Here inPhotoshopUser,we’reobviouslygoingtotalkaboutthe To helpmakethisandothermachinelearningfeaturesworkeven Our initial tests have been quite favorable. Just check out the example e lb Lightroom Magazine,whichwepublishedassoonAdobe y O n Have you ever been frustrated by the fact that you l e icking SelectSubject,andthefinalimageis

Community l of a button. With this release, Adobe ick ofabutton.Withthisrelease,Adobe & DAVE here CLAYTON tofindthatarticle.

©Adobe Stock/yuriyzhuravov › › KELB YONE COMMUNIT Y

Big Changes to Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) Auto-Activate Fonts: In font news, the latest version of The first time you open ACR, a dialog will pop up giving you a Photoshop now automatically fetches and activates any choice between two UI styles. The first, which is now the ACR missing fonts when you open a document. Of course, default, is to have the Filmstrip along the bottom of the win- these fonts have to be available on Adobe Fonts and you dow, or you can opt to go old school and keep it on the right. have to be connected to the Internet (you did know you (Don’t worry, you can always Right-click on the Filmstrip and have access to Adobe Fonts through your CC subscription, change the orientation whenever you want.) right?). You’ll see a blue sync icon appear on the type layer Once ACR opens, you’ll notice a couple of other big in the Layers panel, and then it turns into a standard type changes. The first is that the panels are no longer tabbed; layer icon when it’s done. they’re expandable and collapsible just as in Lightroom. Also If the font isn’t available on Adobe Fonts, you’ll get the similar to Lightroom, you can Right-click on any panel header typical yellow warning sign that the font is missing. You and select Single Panel Mode or Multi Panel Mode. (And the can double-click that warning sign to open a dialog where Transform panel has been renamed to Geometry.) The sec- you can choose to Manage or Replace fonts. ond thing you’ll notice is that all the tools are along the right edge now instead of at the top. Better Font Matching: Adobe has also improved the Match There are several new features in ACR that were also Font feature found under the Type menu. Powered by included in the Lightroom Classic update: a Hue slider in Adobe Sensei, Match Font can analyze an image that the local adjustment tools, a revamped Tone Curve panel, contains text and give you suggestions for fonts either on adaptive ISO presets, and a center crop overlay. You can your system or on Adobe Fonts. The new-and-improved read the Lightroom Magazine article we mentioned earlier version supports more fonts, vertical text, and multiple- to learn more about those features. You can also click here line detection. to learn more about all the updates in ACR. Scott Kelby Scott KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 13 ] [ 14 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] › DEP live, virtualexcitement.Willyoubethere?Click bring Photoshop lovers together for two days of $150 offthefullticketprice.Wecan’twaitto ets areonly$149withearly-birdpricing—that’s and getthemanswered.Andrightnow,tick- have plentyofopportunitiestoaskquestions sessions withsomeofoursponsors,aswell extras, suchasourGearGuideandbreakout from ourKelbyOneCommunity. and probablyseea few familiarfaces and names eight industry-leading, professional instructors, two-day conference,you’llinteractwithour something foreveryone.Duringtheliveonline use textoverlaystocreateameme,there’s fessionally retouchportraitsforclients,oreven and landscapes,createimagecomposites,pro- here event, the and 15,2020,tobepartofamajorPhotoshop you’re reading?WewantyoutojoinusonJuly14 shop user;otherwise,doyouknowwhatmagazine If you’rereadingthis,chancesareaPhoto- A Live OnlineEvent The KelbyOne Photoshop Conference: That’s notall!Attendeeswillalsounlock Whether your goal is to enhance travel images Whether yourgoalistoenhancetravelimages A toreserveyourseattoday! RTMENTS KelbyOne PhotoshopConference . 2020. Forallthe details,rules,andprizeinformation, checkoutthe the contest,andworkmust becreatedbetweenJune1 is agreatplacetostartifyou’re lookingtobeinspired. KelbyOne Community kills every challenge we throw at them. Head KelbyOne Communitykillsevery challenge we throw atthem.Head get in ourkitchens and start cooking! We loveseeingthewayour Give itupforthisdeliciousphotograph. gratulations toRobinIovinelliforsteppinguptheactualplate! plate ofstrawberries,blueberries,andraspberriestodiginto.Con- sweet berriesneverlookedsoyummy.Wewishwehadahuge winning imagefromourFromMyKitchenMemberChallenge,and delicious, oratleastsomethingthatlooksdelicious.Belowisthe food? Wechallengedyoutogointhereandcreatesomething The kitchen—youknow,thatroominyourhousewhereyoumake Member Challenge37 Winner|From Your Kitchen here munity Member Challengethread perspective ofstreetphotography. family, capturingcurrentevents, oranythingelseyouseefromthe and capturewhat’sauthentictoyourreality. look atyoursurroundings,thepeopleonblock, neighbors, this challengeis“ScenesFromYourStreets.”We’rechallenging youto examples ofincrediblephotos. check outthewinnersfromallourpastMemberChallenges formore E All the photos submitted for this challenge made us want to All thephotossubmittedforthischallengemadeuswantto It could be a photo of the architecture, a portrait shoot with your It could be a photo of the architecture, a portrait shoot with your We alsorecentlyannouncedMemberChallenge38.Thetheme for ntrants must be KelbyOne Pro members to submit their work into ntrants mustbeKelbyOnePro memberstosubmittheirworkinto tocheckouttherunners-upforthischallenge,andthen . Goodluckand havefunshooting! This classfromIbarionexPerello 2 – here July Com 1 to to 9, 9, -

Robin Iovinelli ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> PAUL BARTELL MEMBER SINCE 2014 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> GEORGE STARK MEMBER SINCE 2015 ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> ROLF HARTBRICH MEMBER SINCE 2014 WHO’S WHO IN THE KELBYONE COMMUNITY >> DAVE THURAU MEMBER SINCE 2008 › › KELB YONE COMMUNIT Y

Who’s Who in the KelbyOne Community: Dave Thurau

Dave Thurau has been an independent insurance agent for the past 30 years and an amateur photographer and photo manipulator for just as long. He has been a KelbyOne member for well more than a decade, and he currently resides in the small town of Fenton, Michigan.

What was the spark that made you pick up a passion for training matched my passion for learning and camera and decide “this is me”? creating. I owe 85% of my photography and postprocessing I’ve always had a creative side that included music and draw- skills to the KelbyOne team. ing. I picked up my first SLR around 1970. A group of friends and I would go out and do long-exposure night shots using How has your camera gear evolved, every kind of light-generating object we could get our hands and what’s in your camera bag today? on (flares, flashes, fireworks, etc.) to create a story and atmo- I started shooting digital with a Canon Rebel XTi and later sphere. Life got in the way with marriage, children, and other upgraded to a Canon EOS 7D. My bag currently has multiple responsibilities, so I got away from it for quite a few years. It memory cards, a Canon 24–70mm f/2.8 L, a Canon 17–85mm was 2006 when I received a Canon Rebel XTi for a Christmas f/4–5.6 IS, a Canon 50mm 1.4, a Tamron 18–400mm f/3.5– gift and again returned to photography, except digital this 6.3, a Tokina AT-X 11–20mm f/2.8 Pro DX, a Canon Speedlite time. That’s when I came across Photoshop User magazine 580EX, a Benro Travel Angel Tripod, a Platypod, an assortment and began to experiment with pixel bending and developing of filters, a cable release for long exposures and reducing my Photoshop skills. camera shake, and a bag of Skittles—got to have a little snack!

Many photographers are naturally drawn to a style At what point did you decide that you needed or genre. What drew you to landscapes? Photoshop to go with your photography? What I love to see people’s interpretation of a location and the zdo you love most about Photoshop? treatment they use to present a photo. I wanted to be one It was 2007. Once I was able to begin to create the images of the people who made images using digital tools to show I saw in my mind, the whole thing changed. I became inspired what I saw when the picture was taken and that would make by all kinds of things. After discovering HDR, I went through people say, “Wow!” I’ve always leaned toward the dramatic. an “illustrative” phase where my images took on a cartoony I love images that put you somewhere you’ve never been and look, which still influences my current images. The key for me may never experience. was being able to create the drama and atmosphere I wanted in my images. What do I love most about Photoshop? If You have an eye for both color and composition. I had to pick one thing, it’s simple: Content-Aware Fill...wait... Who has inspired you over the years to develop Select and Mask...no!...it’s the…. your craft? Several people have and still inspire me to this day. Trey Ratcliff You’ve been a photographer for many years. Does the is my original muse. When I saw what he was doing with HDR, excitement ever go away? How do you stay inspired? it was a real game-changer for me. Then I found Scott Kelby, Interesting question. I was involved in a motorcycle accident Matt Kloskowski, Dave Cross, Ben Willmore, and Corey Barker. seven years ago that left me with some physical challenges and, until about a few months ago, had stolen most of my What was it that made you decide to become creative juices. I’m limited in my ability to walk distances a KelbyOne member? and on uneven surfaces, which I’m sure you can imagine As I previously mentioned, it was around 2006 when I first limits where I can go to shoot landscapes, at least those off became exposed to KelbyOne, which was the National Associ- the beaten path and worth the trip. So I’ve been reduced ation of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) back then. Its training to creating composites from my personal stock photos to create was always to the point and offered a way to develop a Photo- images from my mind. I do have to say that I’m now more shop skill set. KelbyOne’s offerings include Photoshop World, conscious about trying to capture the image in-camera rather Photoshop User and Lightroom Magazine, the video courses, than doing it in post, even though, unlike many photographers, discounts—I could go on and on. I guess I can say that their I love the post work. n KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 19 ] >Heard on the Tweet A Quick Glance at Some Highlights from our Twitter Feed JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 20 ] › › HEARD ON THE TWEET

Follow KelbyOne and Scott Kelby on Twitter! KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 21 ] Every week, we publish at least one new training course. Here Are Your Latest Online Courses Check out these brand-new courses below:

How to Make Magical Kids Portraits with Natural Light

Go behind the scenes with Tracy Sweeney during a sunset beach photo shoot with her two five-year-old daughters. Tracy shares her process and thoughts for guiding and directing the girls during the shoot, as well as her choices in gear and camera settings. After the shoot, Tracy takes a deep dive into her postprocessing workflow using Lightroom Classic and Photoshop. Tracy shares her techniques for bringing out the beauty, light, and color in her photos from her sunset shoot.

Digital Classroom Videos: Lessons in Lighting

From the fundamentals to the advanced, this class on lighting covers everything you need to know to start creating beautiful photographs in all kinds of lighting environments. Bob Davis begins the class by discussing the qualities of light, and then explains all of the various light modifiers he uses. He demonstrates how to judge an accurate exposure, use an incident light meter, and then works through a series of scenarios on location with a subject putting everything you’ve learned into practice. Every week, we publish at least one new training course. Check out these brand-new courses below:

Creating Landscape Composites

Join Bret Malley as he takes you on a journey of creativity while teaching you the techniques and concepts you’ll need to use to create eye-catching composites of outdoor scenes. Learn the importance of key blending modes, how to replace skies, multiple techniques for blending graphic elements into a scene, how to use selections and masks, tips for fine-tuning your creations, and how to add atmosphere and final touches. Learn powerful Photoshop techniques while breathing new life into your landscape photographs.

Newborn Photography: From Concept to Completion

Join Tracy Sweeney as she takes you through six different live newborn shoots from concept to completion. Tracy starts the class with a look at her lighting and gear, and then quickly moves on to the hands-on tasks of creating props, attention to styling and posing, wrapping each newborn for their comfort and for creativity, how she works through each photo session, and then a close-up look at her postprocessing workflow techniques from Lightroom Classic to Photoshop. [ 24 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] COREY BARKER DUOTONE EFFECTS APPROACH TO A DIFFERENT greater flexibility. breaking outthelightanddarktones into separate layers for layer. Inthistutorial, I’mgoingto show you acoolmethodof limited asitrequires the interaction of colors within thesame map, whichdoesproduce impressive results, butissomewhat most commonduotone techniques I’ve seen uses agradient in Photoshop, andduotone effects are noexception. Oneof the As you know, there are many ways to achieve thesameeffect › › DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

Step One: As usual, we’ll start the practice file. (We normally don’t recommend enlarging images, but this is only for with a photo. I chose this image practice purposes.) Go to Image>Image Size, turn on the Resample checkbox, select because it has a strong light that’s Preserve Details 2.0 from the Resample drop-down menu, set the Width to 2,000 producing harsh shadows on the pixels, and click OK. subject’s left side. Since the effect Once the image is open, go under the Select menu and choose Subject. This will is going to be created based on do a really good job of making the initial selection. The simpler the background, the the overall brightness of the image, easier it is to define the selection. the more contrast the better. Also, this subject is shot on a simple background, and his side that’s in shadows still has a visible edge, making it a little easier to create a ©Adobe Stock/Viorel Sima Stock/Viorel ©Adobe selection. If you’d like to download the low-res watermarked version of this image to follow along, click this link, log in with your Adobe ID, and click the Save to Library button. Double-click the image in the Libraries panel (Window> Libraries) to open it in Photoshop. To make it easier to work with the image, increase the resolution of

Step Two: Grab any of the selection tools in the Toolbar, go to the Options Bar, and click the Select and Mask button so you can adjust the selection around the subject’s hair.

Step Three: Once the Select and Mask workspace appears, go to the Toolbar on the left and choose the Refine Edge Brush tool (R). We’ll use this to adjust the selection around the soft edges of the subject’s hair. Tap the Right Bracket key (]) on your keyboard to increase the size of the brush to around 60 px. Paint just along the edge of the subject’s hair on both sides, keeping the crosshair in the middle of the brush cursor just outside the edge of the hair. You’ll see the selection adjust as you paint. Look around to see if you KELBY ONE.COM have more areas like this in your image, and > adjust those areas as needed. [ 25 ] › › HOW TO

Step Four: Go to the Properties panel and set the Edge Detection Radius to 1 or 2 px. This usually cleans up any minute fringing around the rest of the selection. Then, go down to the Output Settings section and set the Out- put To drop-down menu to New Layer. Click OK when done.

Step Five: In the Layers panel, you’ll see the subject has been Step Five extracted and copied to a new layer. Click on the Eye icon to the left of the extracted layer to turn it off. Click on the Background layer to make it the active layer, and click where its Eye icon used to be to make it visible.

Step Four

Step Six: Now open the Chan- nels panel (Window>Channels). Although the original image had a good amount of contrast, if you click on the individual color channels, you may find one that has even more contrast and detail. In this case, the Red channel looks perfect as it has very strong highlights and shadows. Make a copy of the Red channel by dragging it to the Create New Channel icon (plus inside a square) at the bottom of the Channels panel. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 26 ] › › DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

Step Seven: Let’s do a Levels adjustment to crush the shadows even more. Press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to open the Levels dialog. Here we set the Shadows at 10 and the Highlights to 225 to force the darkest areas to solid black and the brightest areas to solid white.

Step Eight: Activate the channel as an active selection by holding down the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and clicking on the Red copy channel thumbnail in the Channels panel. This loads the brightness, or luminosity, of the image as the active selection; however, we need to have the darker areas of the image selected, so go under the Select menu and choose Inverse. KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 27 ] › › HOW TO

Step Nine: Go back to the Lay- ers panel and create a new blank layer just above the Background layer. (I haven’t forgotten about that layer with the extracted subject; that will come into play in a little bit.) Moving on!

Step 10: Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbar, and select a color in the Color Picker. Here we’ve chosen a dark purple, which we’ll use to fill the shadow areas of the image. Click OK to close the Color Picker.

Step 11: Is your selection still active? If not, activate it again in the Channels panel, and then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Back- JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> space) to fill the selection with the dark purple. This color effect over the original image already has an interesting result. (Trying different colors is something worth experi- PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP

> menting with.) Press Command-D [ 28 ] (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. › › DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

Step 12: Create another new blank layer in the Layers panel and place it under the dark- purple filled layer. Again click on the Foreground color swatch in the Toolbar, but this time choose a lighter color for the highlights. We’re using the cyan mixture you see here. Click OK.

Step 13: Fill the new layer with this color by pressing Option- Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace). Now you have a duotone effect but with the light and dark tones separated into different layers, allowing you to change each color easily for a myriad of com- binations. So again, experiment with various colors.

Step 14: At this stage, you could call this a finished effect, but let’s take it a bit further. Remember how we started by extracting the main subject? In the Layers panel, hold down the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and click on the extracted layer’s thumbnail to load the shape of the subject as an active selection. You don’t KELBY ONE.COM need to turn the layer back on to > do this. [ 29 ] › › HOW TO

Step 15: Go under the Select menu and again choose Inverse to flip the selection to the background around the subject. We want to remove the selection to the left of the subject, so switch to the Rectangular Marquee tool (M), hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click-and-drag around the area on the left as shown here. When you release the mouse button, the selection should only appear around the background area to the right of the subject.

Step 16: Back in the Layers panel, click on the shadow layer that we filled with the dark purple (Layer 1) to make it active. Set the Foreground color to the same dark purple we used earlier, JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with it. Since we applied this to the lighter side of the subject, it adds more contrast and dimension even though it’s a solid color. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP

> deselect. Before we go to the next step, click [ 30 ] the Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) › › DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a layer mask to this layer.

Step 17: Now repeat Steps 14 and 15 but this time remove the selection on the right side of the image. Before you use the Rectangular Marquee tool to deselect the right side, remember to inverse the selection to the background after you select the subject.

Step 18: Select the Gradient tool (G); click on the gradient thumbnail preview in the Options Bar to open the Gradient Editor; select the Black, White preset (the third one in the top row); and click OK. Starting between the left side of the image and the subject, hold the Shift key as you drag to the right to near the center of the subject. This will fade the background on this side, revealing more of the lighter, cyan background. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 31 ] › › HOW TO

Step 19: To finish the composition, we scaled this layer up to make the subject a bit bigger. Just press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform, hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click-and-drag one of the corner points outward. Press Enter to commit the transformation.

Step 20: Here’s another color variation. Just click on the first icon to the right of the word “Lock” in the Layers panel to lock the transparency of the shadow layer, and then click on its layer thumbnail to make it active and not the layer mask. Fill the layer with a new, dark color, and then apply a new color to the light base color layer below. You can play with any combination of colors to suit your needs. At this point, you can say that it’s done—or can you? Well, if you’re just going for a cool photo effect then yes, we’re pretty much done, but for you designers out there, I know you’re aching to add some text, right? Check out this short video for adding a simple splatter text effect! (Click here if you want to download the custom splatter brush that I use in the video.) n JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 32 ] APPLY NOW!

PHOTOGRAPHER MATCHING SERVICE Connect with clients to help grow your business All photographers welcome! KIRKNELSON CREATE ARTWORK INSPIRED BY ADOBE’S HONOR HEROES If you’ve opened your copy of Creative Cloud recently, you’re probably familiar with the illustrated piece of a nurse with the title of HONOR HEROES below her. It’s a compelling illustration style and one that inspired the project in this tutorial. The artist who accomplished the original work is clearly very talented, and there’s no way to reproduce that effect without a bit of artistic skill. Still, there are some tricks in Photoshop that can assist with some of the foundational illustration components, and make it a lot easier to create them. This project makes extensive use of the Pen tool and shape layers within Photoshop, so it’s best to be at least familiar with working with those tools. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 34 ] “Doctor.” Click the Eye icon next to the “Doctor.” ClicktheEyeiconnextto the Width to 2,500 pixels, and click OK. OK. the Widthto2,500pixels,andclick this isonlyforpracticepurposes.)Goto to the Librariespanel(Window>Libraries) the shadow areas around her left eye, the shadowareasaroundher lefteye, the Dodgetool[O]inToolbar) with to hideit. the doctorintofile.Scaleandtrans- to createthenewfile.GoFile>Place OKto the colorto#fff3d9,andclick the rightofBackgroundContents,set from the Resample drop-down menu, set from theResampledrop-downmenu,set follow along, click follow along,click form theimageuntilit’sacloseupshot (nested below the Object Selection tool (nested belowtheObjectSelectiontool Using the Move tool (V), drag this image Using the Move tool (V), drag this image selection to a new layer. Double-click the the selection toanewlayer.Double-click set to 8% in the Options Bar to darken set to8%intheOptionsBar todarken your Adobe ID, and click the Save to theSaveto your AdobeID,andclick and position it as shown here. and positionitasshownhere. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the Press Command-J(PC:Ctrl-J)tocopythe a newfileat1,200pixelswideby a soft round brush tip and its Exposure a softroundbrushtipandits Exposure Embedded and place the stock image of Library button. Double-click the image in theimagein Library button.Double-click her chin. her chin. work withtheimage,increasereso- watermarked version of this image to watermarked versionofthisimageto checkbox, selectPreserveDetails2.0 name of the new layer, and rename it name ofthenewlayer,andrenameit close theColorPicker.ClickOKorCreate open it in Photoshop. To make it easier to open itinPhotoshop.Tomakeeasierto original doctor layer in the Layers panel original doctorlayerintheLayerspanel of thedoctor’sheadandshouldersonly. beneath her nose, and on her neck below beneath hernose, and onher neck below pixels high.Clickonthecolor swatch to don’t recommend enlarging images, but don’t recommendenlargingimages,but into the new file that you just created, into thenewfilethatyoujustcreated, lution ofthepracticefile.(Wenormally [W] in the Toolbar) to select the doctor. [W] intheToolbar)toselectdoctor. Two: Step One: Step Image>Image Size, turn on the Resample Image>Image Size,turnontheResample Use the Burn tool (nested below Use theBurntool(nested below If you’d like to download the low-res If you’dliketodownloadthelow-res Open Photoshop and create OpenPhotoshopandcreate Use the Quick Selection tool UsetheQuickSelectiontool this link , log in with , loginwith › DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS

©Adobe Stock/ashtproductions [ 35] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 36] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › Threshold to 24, and Quality to Threshold to24,andQuality HOW TO HOW Ctrl-click) on the Doctor layer’s ontheDoctorlayer’s Ctrl-click) the selection. that followsalongtheshapeof the Make Work Path from Selection thumbnail intheLayerspanelto Objects>Convert to Smart Object, toSmartObject, Objects>Convert slider to181. setting theleftsliderbelow High. Click OK, and follow this High. ClickOK,andfollowthis and then go to Filter>Blur>Smart and thengotoFilter>Blur>Smart a smartobjectwithLayer>Smart and click OK. Then go to the Paths OK.ThengotothePaths and click Enter aSampleRadiusof2pixels, and gotoSelect>Modify>Smooth. Blur. SettheRadiusto17, histogram to58andtheright with Image>Adjustments>Levels. with Image>Adjustments>Levels. create a selection of the doctor, create aselectionofthedoctor, of the panel to create a vector path of the panel to createa vector path panel (Window>Paths) and click click and panel (Window>Paths) icon (the middle icon) at the bottom icon (themiddleicon)atthebottom Step Three: Convert the layer to Command-click (PC: (PC: Step Four: Command-click Increase theimagecontrastby

the Pentool.—Ed.] Color Picker that appears, set the Color Pickerthatappears,setthe to Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color. Color. FillLayer>Solid to Layer>New Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to copy it. Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to copy it. the Pen tool (P) set to Path in the the Pentool(P)settoPathin tion tool (A) to select it, and press tion tool(A)toselectit,andpress (#fefbee), and click OK.Photo- click and (#fefbee), OK in the New Layer dialog. In the OK intheNewLayerdialog.In Options Bar to trace around the Options Bartotracearoundthe see the doctor image again. Use see thedoctorimageagain.Use shop automaticallyusesthepathas shown here. Click on the starting shown here.Clickonthestarting a vector mask for the layer. a vectormaskforthelayer. hide the Whites layer so you can hide theWhiteslayersoyoucan Name the layer “Whites” and click Name thelayer“Whites”andclick coat collar and the stethoscope as coat collarandthestethoscopeas path isfinished,usethePathSelec- point toclosethepath.Whenthat layer’s fill color to an off-white layer’s fill colorto anoff-white Step Five:Step [ Step Six: BackintheLayerspanel, Click › here DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS for some tips on using forsometipsonusing With the path active, go Withthepathactive,go [ 37] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 38] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › HOW TO HOW Combine Shapes. The paths can be Combine Shapes.Thepathscanbe the shoulders that are outside the the shouldersthatareoutside tool intheToolbar)toselectall tor layer the active layer. Go to tor layertheactivelayer.Goto to pastethecopiedcollarand (nested below the Path Selection (nested below the Path Selection setting thePathOperationsto simplified byselectingbothpaths squares) intheOptionsBar,choose stethoscope path onto this one. stethoscope pathontothisone. set the Threshold Level to 200, and set theThresholdLevelto200,and Range, click on an area rendered on an area rendered Range, click Merge Shape Components. Merge ShapeComponents. anchor pointsonthepathalong Press Delete (PC: Backspace) to Press Delete(PC:Backspace)to add themtotheselectedpoints. around all the black areas. around alltheblackareas. and clickOKtocreateaselection key and click singlepoints,ormar- key andclick with the Path Selection tool, and with the Path Selection tool, and collar path. You can hold the Shift collar path.YoucanholdtheShift menu (iconwithtwooverlapping ment, set the Fuzziness slider to 55, ment, settheFuzzinesssliderto55, OK.Then,gotoSelect>Color click press Command-V(PC:Ctrl-V) black bytheThresholdadjust- quee around multiple points, to quee aroundmultiplepoints,to delete theselectedpoints.Then, layer. UsetheDirectSelectiontool layer andmakesureit’stheactive Step Seven: Step layer againandmaketheDoc- Step Eight: HidetheWhites Image>Adjustments>Threshold, In thePathOperationsdrop-down Reveal the Whites RevealtheWhites

“Midtone 1,” and set the shape “Midtone 1,”andsettheshape Threshold dialog. Set the Threshold Threshold dialog. Set the Threshold 2,” and set the color to #97c2b8. andsetthecolorto#97c2b8. 2,” Selection icon again. Add a Solid Selection icon again. Add a Solid Go to Select>Modify>Smooth, use Go toSelect>Modify>Smooth,use Color fill layer, name it “Midtone Color filllayer,nameit“Midtone the same process of Select>Color the sameprocessofSelect>Color the Doctorlayertoreopen Color filllayer,namethislayer the Paths panel. Add another Solid the Pathspanel.Addanother Solid smoothing the selection by 2 pixels smoothing theselectionby2pixels see the effect. see the effect. see theeffect. Range to select the black areas, Range toselecttheblackareas, again, and double-click theThresh- again, anddouble-click Move this layer to the top of the Move thislayertothetopof the Mask. Turn on the Whites layer to Mask. TurnontheWhiteslayerto and usetheMakeWorkPathfrom a Sample Radiusof 2 pixels, and Level to 120, and click OK. Then use OK.Then use Level to 120, and click Layers panel, and then clip it to that Layers panel,andthenclipittothat with Select>Modify>Smooth, and and with Select>Modify>Smooth, converting the selection to a path in converting theselectiontoapathin old smart filter adjustment below old smartfilteradjustmentbelow Movetheshape color to#c6dace. OK.GotothePathspanel, click become the first midtones shape. become thefirstmidtonesshape. layer. Turn on the Whites layer to layer. Turnon the Whiteslayerto layer stack,and clipittotheWhites layer with Layer>Create Clipping Clipping layer withLayer>Create layer abovetheWhitesin Step 10: Step Step Nine: Step › DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS Turn off the Whites layer TurnofftheWhiteslayer This selection will Thisselectionwill [ 39] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 40 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] › HOW TO HOW to #619998. to #619998. set the color of the shape layer set thecolorofshapelayer again, but set the Threshold to 85, again, butsettheThresholdto85, name the layer “Midtone 3,” and name thelayer“Midtone3,”and Step 11:Repeatthesameprocess

35. This time name the Solid Color 35. ThistimenametheSolidColor fill layer “Black,” and set the color fill layer “Black,” and set the color the mode to Shape and the Path the modetoShapeandPath ters arevisible.GrabthePentool, to blackintheColorPicker.Atthis the eyes (the eye on the left here) the eyes(theeye on thelefthere) Step 12:Repeattheprocessone Operations to Combine Shapes, Operations toCombineShapes, set and it’s time to move on to the set andit’stimetomoveonthe secting shadows. Name this shape secting shadows.Namethisshape you’re about to create on the same you’re abouttocreateonthesame and in the Options Bar, change and intheOptionsBar,change adjustment fortheDoctorlayerso and trace around the contour of the and tracearoundthecontourof the which will keep all the shapes that which willkeepalltheshapesthat click on the Doctor layer to make ontheDoctorlayertomake click more detailedelements. more timewiththeThresholdsetto color to black. Zoom in to one of color toblack.Zoominoneof only theLevelsandSmartBlurfil- point, the foundational shapes are point, thefoundationalshapesare layer “eye.” layer “eye.” it active. Turn off the Threshold it active.TurnofftheThreshold layer. Press D to set the Foreground layer. PressDtosettheForeground Step 13: Step eye, lashes,eyebrow,andany inter- › DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS Hide the Whites layer, and HidetheWhiteslayer,and [ 41] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 42] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › Anchor Point tool (nested under the Anchor Point tool (nested under the HOW TO HOW Select bothshapelayersintheLay- those points. those points. the automatedshapesfrom Ctrl-G) togroupthemtogether, the group “LeftEye.” the group“LeftEye.” the same layer, be sure the Pen tool these smallershapestogetheron the whitesofeyeinimage the Pen tool to trace around the the Pentooltotracearound Opacity of the eye layer to 100%. Opacity oftheeyelayerto100%. visible again, and make the Black visible again,andmaketheBlack shape layersfortheface.Rename shapes arecomplete,restorethe Pen tool in the Toolbar) to remove Pen toolintheToolbar)toremove and drag the group above the and dragthegroupabove Path OperationsintheOptionsBar Black layerinterferewithyourhand- white areas of the eye. Once the white areasoftheeye.Once color to white. Again, to keep all color towhite.Again,keepall press X to change the Foreground press XtochangetheForeground below it.Createanewlayer,and drawn eye. If so, use the Delete drawn eye.Ifso,usetheDelete layer active. Check to see if any of layer active.Checktoseeifanyof is set to Combine Shapes. Now use is set to Combine Shapes. Now use Step 15: Step Step 14: ReducetheOpacityof ers panel, press Command-G (PC: ers panel,pressCommand-G(PC: eye shape layer so it clearly shows eye shapelayersoitclearlyshows Make the Whites layer MaketheWhiteslayer

You can turn off the Doctor layer at You canturnofftheDoctorlayerat this point,aswenolongerneedit. tools, comesintoplay,because the threeMidtonelayersand to makethelipsmorevisible.We artistic part, plus knowing how to artistic part,plusknowinghowto also outlinedhercollarinblack. and adjustedthemouthshading Black layertocleanuptheart- use thePenandDirectSelection mouth can be done in a similar way, mouth canbedoneinasimilarway, created thefirsteye.Thenoseand Notice howweroundedoutalot work andcreateamorepleas- opposite eye in the same way we opposite eye inthesameway we but with only adding black shapes. but withonlyaddingblackshapes. of theshapes,includingherhair, Step 16: Step it’s timetoeditthepathsin 17: Step ing illustration(asshownhere). › DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS Move on to creating the Move on to creating the Now this is where the Nowthisiswherethe

[ 43 > KELBY ONE.COM ] [ 44] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › “BG Gradient.”IntheGradient HOW TO HOW Gradient Editor and set the Angle to Gradient Editor and set the Angle to Gradient Editor, and choose the Gradient Editor,andchoosethe 90° in the Gradient Fill dialog. Click 90° intheGradientFilldialog.Click tion of 45%. Click OK to close the tion of45%.ClickOKtoclosethe the shapesfordoctor’sshirt. to #c6dace. Double-click the right- to #c6dace. Double-click the Gradientswatchtoopen touch, addacrescentshapeofblue (#92b5e9). Clip these blue shape (#92b5e9). Cliptheseblueshape OK. In the Layers panel, drag this OK. IntheLayerspanel,dragthis Use three different blue tones: Use threedifferentbluetones: and dragittotheleftaLoca- a dark blue (#3c3caf), midtone a darkblue(#3c3caf),midtone Below the gradient ramp, double- andnameit Layer>Gradient, use the Pen tool again to re-create use thePentoolagaintore-create Foreground to Background preset. Foreground toBackgroundpreset. on dialog thatappears, click Fill most color stop, set it to #619998, most colorstop,setitto#619998, theleftmostcolorstopto click open the Color Picker, and set it open theColorPicker,andsetit other shapes.Thenforanextra blue (#618cc5), and a light blue blue (#618cc5),andalight layer below the Whites layer. layer belowtheWhiteslayer. iris to each eye. iris toeacheye. layers ontothesamestackas Step 18: Step Step 19: Step To add a splash of color, Toaddasplashofcolor, Go to Layer >New Fill >New Go toLayer

135°, and then in the Gradient 135°, andthenintheGradient Set this gradient to an Angle of Set thisgradienttoanAngleof Gradient Fill dialog. Gradient Filldialog. Gradient Fill layer; Photoshop will Gradient Filllayer;Photoshopwill to Background preset again, and to Backgroundpresetagain,and (#97c2b8). Click OK twice to close (#97c2b8). ClickOKtwicetoclose Options Bar.Drawalargetrian- set theleftmostcolorstoptooff- Editor, choose the Foreground Editor, choosetheForeground as shown here. Then add another as shownhere.Thenaddanother and setthemodetoPathin use the path as a vector mask. use thepathasavectormask. white (#fefbee) and the rightmost white (#fefbee)andtherightmost color stop to a very pale green color stoptoaverypalegreen both the Gradient Editor and the both theGradientEditorand gular shape pointing downward gular shapepointingdownward Step 20:GrabthePentoolagain › DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS [ 45 > KELBY ONE.COM ] [ 46 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] › HOW TO HOW Shift-click the bottom rectangle thebottomrectangle Shift-click to SmartObject. Go to Edit>Trans tion, asshownhere.ClickOKto to createradiatinglines,andthen form>Distort, drag the bottom-right dragthebottom-right form>Distort, (U), create six narrow rectangular (U), createsixnarrowrectangular shape toselectallsixlayers.Com- angle shape in the Layers panel, and angle shape in the Layers panel, and and top-right control points down controlpointsdown and top-right horizontal shapes fairly close to to horizontal shapesfairlyclose with Layer>Smart Objects>Convert Objects>Convert with Layer>Smart commit the transformation. commit thetransformation. theshapesintoposi- click-and-drag bine them into a single smart object bine themintoasinglesmartobject Step 21:UsingtheRectangletool each other. Click on the top rect onthetop each other.Click -

Gradient Overlay and set the Angle Gradient OverlayandsettheAngle to 100%, and click OK to apply the OKtoapplythe to 100%, andclick ClickOKto the farrightis#c6dace. to 135°.ClicktheGradientthumb- stop on the far left is #fefbee, and and stop onthefarleftis#fefbee, and edit the gradient so the color and editthegradientsocolor close the Color Picker. Set the Scale close theColorPicker.SetScale nail toopentheGradientEditor, layer style. layer style. Go to Layer>Layer Style> Step 22:GotoLayer>Layer › DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS

[ 47 > KELBY ONE.COM ] [ 48] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › HOW TO HOW Ctrl-J) to duplicate the radiating toduplicatetheradiating Ctrl-J) to 125%, and click OK. OK. to 125%,andclick the gradientsoleftmoststop the opposite side of the image, the duplicate layer in the Layers the duplicatelayerinLayers (V) to drag the new shapes to todragthenewshapes (V) stop is #619998. Set the Scale stop is#619998.SettheScale and change the Angle to 58°. Edit and changetheAngleto58°.Edit the as shownhere.Double-click Flip Horizontal. Use the Move tool Flip Horizontal.UsetheMovetool words “GradientOverlay”below panel to open the Layer Style dialog, panel toopentheLayerStyledialog, lines andgotoEdit>Transform> is #97c2b8, and the rightmost andtherightmost is #97c2b8, 23: Step Press Command-J (PC: PressCommand-J(PC:

While the style is best served by hand-illustrated elements, the take-away lesson here While thestyleisbestservedbyhand-illustratedelements, take-awaylessonhere tool (M) to create a square selection, leaving a healthy margin from the edge of the tool (M)tocreateasquareselection,leavinghealthymargin fromtheedgeof style from photo to vector illustration, but that’s the beauty of creating art: It’s not just just not It’s art: style fromphototovectorillustration, butthat’sthebeautyofcreating thelayerjustaboveDoctortoselectalllayersthat stack, andShift-click a goodthing. machine-generated; there’s a human touchthat’s ultimately, And required. that’s the automating for method good one no cations offiltersandadjustments. There’s theAddLayerMask canvas. Usethisselectionasamaskonthegroupbyclicking make uptheillustration.PressCommand-G(PC:Ctrl-G)to groupalltheselected To frame the final illustration, click on the top layer (or group) in the layer onthetoplayer(orgroup)in Step 24: To frameclick the final illustration, is thateventhoseelementscanbemademoreaccessibleby usingsomecleverappli- inasquare)atthebottomofLayerspanel. icon (circle layers, andrenameit“DoctorShapeGroup.”Thenusethe RectangularMarquee n › DOWN &DIRTY TRICKS [ 49 > KELBY ONE.COM ]

I love me some blending modes. Love them! Blending modes show up in just about every professional technique and workflow in Photoshop, ranging from photographic corrections and effects to graphic design and illustration. You’ll find a little sample of each in the coming pages. It’s with great delight that I’ll be your tour guide through these absolutely essential capabilities in Photoshop, pointing out some of my favorite tidbits and giving you some hints of things to explore on your own. To that end, I’ve created a

demo file that you can download here. These are just simple layered files that you can tinker with to see how the modes work on your own. There are instructions in the file to get you going.

Ladder: ©Adobe Stock/Ayrus; Clouds: ©Adobe Stock/Sabphotov; Blue Sky: ©Razvan Dumitrasconiu on Unsplash The Basics: What Are Blending Modes? In short, blending modes are equations that compare the Each blending mode has its own equation, but many input from two or more layers and return a new output to are related to each other either by providing the inverse the Photoshop canvas. You assign a blending mode (equa- output, or by being a combination of two others. They’re tion) to a Blend layer, and the layer immediately beneath even grouped in such a way that you should be able to it is the Base. Since we can stack many layers together, it easily see this relationship, as well as determine generally may help to think of a backdrop as consisting of everything what each group does. below the Blend layer. Normal

Darken Bridge/Sky: Valentine Bridge/Sky: Scott

Lighten

Contrast

Two layer stack/multilayer stack

For simplicity, I’ll stick to talking about the Base and Comparison Blend layers in this article. Consider two layers with colored circles. In this example, the Blend layer is filled with green and assigned Linear Component Dodge (Add), which uses very simple math: Base + Blend = Output. In terms of additive RGB color, this is equivalent to saying “red + green = yellow.” Blend mode menu from Layers panel

The groups are often referred to as: Normal, Darken, Lighten, Contrast, Comparison (or Inversion), and Component.

The Normal Group First in the Blend mode menu is the Normal group, which consists of Normal and Dissolve. Normal is the default and only blends by way of adjusting Opacity. Dissolve isn’t really a blending mode so much as a randomizing algorithm that assigns a value between 1 and 100 to every pixel location in your image; when you set a value on the Opacity slider, any pixel with that number or higher becomes fully transparent. Normal on the other hand, simply responds to Opacity exactly as you’d expect and allows you to see through the Blend layer to the Base layer. Dissolve and Normal don’t depend on any lower layers at all; they just allow any lower content to show through. Red and green chips add up to yellow [ 53 ] [ 54] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020

©Adobe Stock/andreiuc88 Original/Final grainy forest results 50% and to Dissolve layer setting after pixels Original/Dark Apply ImageApply dialog You canthenaddaGaussianBlur(Filter> Grain blending mode to Multiply. Grain blendingmodetoMultiply. Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge them. Command-E (PC:Ctrl-E)tomergethem. Choose Color Burn for the Blending the Opacity to 50%. That turns out to the Opacityto50%.Thatturnsout to soften the edges. Finally, change the to softentheedges.Finally,change the Layer, and RGB as the Channel. the Source,Backgroundcopyas the selectionsinApplyImage throughout Photoshop.Duplicatea turn up. turn up. shows that blending modes are hiding shows thatblendingmodesarehiding and then Shift-click the Background and thenShift-clicktheBackground as possible, I just don’t have room to as possible,Ijustdon’thave room to a grittyfilmgraineffectusingthree Blur>Gaussian Blur) of about 3–4 pixels pixels Blur) of about 3–4 Blur>Gaussian Layers panel. I think that’s pretty cool, Layers panel.Ithinkthat’sprettycool, Next stop: Blend Mode Neighbors! Next stop:BlendModeNeighbors! Name thenewcombinedlayer“Grain.” copy layer to select both layers. Press copy layertoselectbothlayers.Press mode. Now we can assign other blend- content withitselfusingthechosen OK to return the result mode, and click never know where blending modes will never knowwhere blendingmodeswill cover someindepth,such as Apply modes insomeplaceotherthanthe blending mode to Dissolve and lower blending mode toDissolveand lower back on the layer in Normal blending back onthelayerinNormalblending blending mode,thenplacestheresults back tothelayer. place, and while I’ll try to hit as many place, andwhileI’lltrytohit as many but it’s just a sample of what’s to come. blending modes,andused give us a bunch of little dark pixels. give usabunchoflittledarkpixels. dialog show the current document as dialog showthecurrentdocumentas ground copy.” ChooseImage>Apply dark photo layer andnameit“Back- layer above the Background copy layer layer abovetheBackgroundcopy lots oflayers.Onthecopylayer,set ing modeswithouthavingtobuildup Image and Calculations. Keep your Image andCalculations.Keep your Image fromthetopmenu,ensuring eyes peeled as you use Photoshop; you eyes peeledasyouusePhotoshop; you Blending modes are all over the Tip: Blendingmodesarealloverthe To smooth them out, add a blank To smooththemout,addablank What this does is combine the layer What thisdoesiscombinethelayer One fun use for Dissolve also One fun use for Dissolve also In justafewsteps,we’veadded

©Adobe Stock/29mokara These two modes compare the gray value from each of the These twomodescomparethegrayvaluefromeachof The Contrastgroupismadeupofvariouscombinations The nextthreegroupsofblendingmodesliveneareach That means if we start with a blue circle (0, 0, 255) above a That meansifwestartwithabluecircle(0,0,255)above the Darken and Lighten groups, so it makes sense to talk the DarkenandLightengroups,soitmakessensetotalk Symmetric trees blended using Darker Color Darker using blended trees Symmetric Darken on on right left,/Lighten Blend Mode Neighbors: Darken, Lighten, andContrast Groups Red, Green, and Blue channels, then return either the low- about them together. about themtogether. Lighten, the result is cyan (0, 255, 255). Lighten, theresultiscyan(0,255,255). Darken, aLightenblendmodegivestheinversevisualresult. color where they overlap will be black (0, 0, 0). Switching to color wheretheyoverlapwillbeblack(0,0,0).Switchingto other mathematically. The Darken and Lighten groups are other mathematically.TheDarkenandLightengroupsare green circle (0, 255, 0) and blend with Darken, the resulting green circle(0,255,0)andblendwithDarken,theresulting est (Darken) or highest (Lighten) value from each channel. est (Darken)orhighest(Lighten)valuefromeachchannel. effectively justoppositesofeachother;forentryin Darker Color/Lighter Color: andDarkerColor/Lighter Darken/Lighten

The maindifferenceisthattheRGBchannelsarefirst Why? Because in RGB math, blue is darker than green. the weighting factor for each color channel using RGB white the weighting factor for each color channel using RGB white the humaneyeperceivesrelativecolorbrightness.Belowis factor is used to define actual brightness for screen display factor isusedtodefineactualbrightnessforscreendisplay (255, 255, 255): (255, 255,255): Darker Color on left/Lighter Color on right on Color left/Lighter on Color Darker so the colors are appropriately balanced to approximate how so thecolorsareappropriatelybalancedtoapproximatehow Ready forjustalittlemath? would be just blue and Lighter Color would be green. channels is multiplied by a luminosity weighting factor. This channels ismultipliedbyaluminosityweightingfactor.This circles, theresultofoverlapusingDarkerColor channel beingcomparedseparately.Inourexample combined before being compared, instead of each This pairisveryclosetoDarkerColor/LighterColor. In the world of Photoshop RGB color, each of the color In theworldofPhotoshopRGBcolor,eachcolor BL E ND 76.50 + 150.45 + 28.05 = 255. 76.50 +150.4528.05=255. + 0.59 + 0.11 = 1). In terms of + 0.590.11=1).Intermsof So the weighting factor helps us So theweightingfactorhelps us Converting RGB to grayscale, Converting RGB to grayscale,

thus, brightness)foranyRGB

you cansave that knowledge white. Gray values are decimals white. Grayvaluesaredecimals weighting factorsequal1(0.30 color. Clever, right?Anyway, of adding the weighting factors: of addingtheweightingfactors: of course0.5. between 0 and 1, so 50% gray is between 0 and1, so 50% gray is 0 is black and 255 is white. 0 isblackand255white. determine the gray value (and determine thegrayvalue(and luminosity, 0 is black and 1 is luminosity, 0isblackand1 I Similarly, look at the results Similarly, lookattheresults Notice that, when added, the Notice that,whenadded,the N G: 255 R: 255 B: 255 G M O D x x x E 0.30 0.59 0.11 S EXP = = = LAINED 150.45 150.45 76.50 76.50 28.05 28.05

[ 55] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 56] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020

Scott Valentine that Darken and Lighten will give you that DarkenandLightenwillgiveyou for later. At the moment, it means that for later.Atthemoment,itmeansthat Layer stackLayer Before/After/Dodge-and-burn layer set to Overlay shown here, the trees (see previous shown here,thetrees(seeprevious set of blendingmodesforsymmetric and Lighter Color will make a decision and LighterColorwillmakeadecision a newcolorthatcombinesthedirect while thecloudsuseLighterColor. composites; for example, in the images composites; forexample,intheimages right oneunchanged.Iliketousethis channels ofeachlayer.DarkerColor blue is “darker” than green. blue is“darker”thangreen. page) are blended using Darker Color, page) are blended using Darker Color, between twocolorsandgiveyouthe The thingtopayattentionis 50% gray, it uses Multiply. Anything exactly 50% gray on the Base layer is ignored, 50% gray,ituses Multiply.Anythingexactly50% grayontheBaselayerisignored, think of with basic arithmetic. Trust me—it all works out! think ofwithbasicarithmetic. Trustme—itallworksout! that ScreenusesaninversionofMultiply,soit’snotstrictly dividingasyou’d the block,muchlovedbyphotographers,illustrators,anddesigners alike.They’re Symmetric clouds blended usingclouds Symmetric Lighter Color so popular, they form the foundation for Overlay, Soft Light, and Hard Light. so popular,theyformthefoundationforOverlay,SoftLight, andHardLight. are brightened or darkened uniformly. are brightenedordarkeneduniformly. Multiply converts each channel to a luminosity value, then multiplies the Base and Multiply convertseach channel to a luminosity value, then multiplies the Base and Blend values together. This always results in a darker color. It also means Multiply Blend valuestogether.Thisalwaysresultsinadarkercolor.It alsomeansMultiply unwanted. To avoid this, we can paint with shades of gray so all RGB channels unwanted. Toavoidthis,we can paintwithshadesofgraysoallRGBchannels number multiplied by 1 is just that same number. number multipliedby1isjustthatsamenumber. brighter than 50% gray, it applies Screen blending. If the Base color is darker than brighter than50% gray,itappliesScreenblending. IftheBasecolorisdarker than but the math is a little different. I won’t go into detail, but the short answer is but themathisalittledifferent.Iwon’tgointodetail, theshortansweris ignores white because, as we just saw above, white has a luminosity of 1 and any ignores white because, as we just saw above, white has a luminosity of 1 and any Screen is, of course, the opposite, and always lightens. Screen ignores black, Screen is,ofcourse,theopposite,andalwayslightens. ignoresblack, This pair of best blending buddies are the popular kids on Multiply/Screen: This pair of best blending buddies are the popular kids on How does Overlay fit in? Basically, Overlay looks at the Base color and if it’s How doesOverlayfitin?Basically, OverlaylooksattheBasecolorand ifit’s Both Multiply and Screen can result in shifted hues, which can sometimes be Both MultiplyandScreencan result inshiftedhues,whichcansometimesbe

©Adobe Stock/Sabphoto to two painted layers, each set to Overlay blending mode. to twopaintedlayers,eachsetOverlayblendingmode. the Basecolortochoosewhichmodeapply,SoftLight for developing depth and dimension. This flat circle is treated for developingdepthand dimension. Thisflat circleis treated New shaded ball using the Brush tool set to Overlay set tool Brush the using ball shaded New 3D ball Flat ball/Shaded so great for illustration, where subtle shifts can help with so great for illustration, where subtle shifts can help with adjusting shadingandvalue. and highlights.Allthreecanbeusedquiteeffectivelyfor a scalingfactortoreducecontrast.Insteadoflookingat and-burn layerwithagraybehinditforvisibility. hue and saturation, so only brightness changes. The weird hue andsaturation,soonlybrightnesschanges.Theweird uration that’s desirable for photographic retouching isn’t uration that’sdesirableforphotographic retouchingisn’t with black to darken, or white to lighten. Doing so preserves with blacktodarken,orwhitelighten.Doingsopreserves realism and depth. We can achieve this by using Overlay realism anddepth. Wecanachievethisby usingOverlay of a classic dodge-and-burn technique: When you set a of aclassicdodge-and-burntechnique:Whenyouset other direction,increasingcontrastespeciallyinthedarks blank layer to Overlay blending mode, you can then paint blank layertoOverlayblendingmode,youcanthenpaint blending modesappliedtotools insteadoflayers.Inter- grayscale imageshownontheoppositepageisdodge- looks attheBlendcolorfirst.AndHardLightscalesin effectively becoming transparent. Overlay is the foundation effectively becoming transparent.Overlayisthefoundation estingly, the same characteristic of preserving hue and sat- The same painting technique can be used in illustration The samepaintingtechniquecanbeusedinillustration Soft LightiseffectivelythesameasOverlay,butuses Let’s take a little side trip on our tour and talk about Let’s takealittlesidetripon ourtourandtalkabout to darken the image (Color Burn); when the Blend color is to darkentheimage(ColorBurn);whenBlendcoloris the Blendcolorislessthan50%gray,contrastincreased them inaclubknownasthe“Special8,”whichincludes to toolblendingmodesisthatwecanswitch the lightinteractswithvarioustextures! few moremembersthatwe’llidentifyasthetourcontin- are moreextremethanMultiplyandScreen,alsoproduc- up the work the same way as Overlay at 50% gray: When up theworksamewayasOverlayat50%gray:When ues. Inthisexample,Iaddedsomecolorfulstripesoverthe using somevariationsinhue,saturation,andbrightness with itsowncontent(say,acolor),andputsitbackonthe with theBrushtool(B)andpaintingonalayersettoNormal modes ofthetoolonsamelayer.Fornow,let’sget of thepaintedcolor.TheBrushissettoOverlay,but photo layer and blurred them, then set the stripes’ blend- back onthemainpath. blend morenaturallywitheachother.Anotheradvantage behaves asifthetoolpicksuplayercontent,blendsit between layers,keepingthelayercontentsseparateand blending abovetheflatfilledcircle. greater than 50% gray, contrast is decreased to lighten the greater than50%gray,contrastisdecreasedtolightenthe image (Color Dodge). image (ColorDodge). ing newcolors.ThesetwoteamupinVividLight,splitting ing modetoVividLight.Fill is setto65%.Checkouthow layers IpaintedonaresettoNormal.Noticethatthecolors layer. Belowleftisadifferenttakeonthe3Dshadedball, ently with the Fill slider than they do with Opacity. This puts editable. Using a tool blending mode on the other hand editable. Using a tool blending mode on the other hand They alsohaveaspecialproperty:behavediffer- Color Burn and Color Dodge Color Burn/Color Dodge: ColorBurn and Color Dodge When a layer uses a blending mode, pixels are blended When alayerusesblendingmode,pixelsareblended BL Before and after and Before E ND I N G M O D E S EXP

©Adobe Stock/fesenko LAINED [ 57] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 58] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 the layer,startdabbinginsamespotwithanygood Laser in composite in Laser burst laser making for Progression Opacity setto100% intheOptionsBar.SetBrush Overlay. An interesting feature of Linear Dodge is that, Overlay. AninterestingfeatureofLinearDodgeisthat, Base andBlendcolors,LinearLightinsteadchangesbright- Linear Light.WhereVividLightchangescontrastbetween Linear Burn and Linear Dodge (Add),whicharecombinedin when used withtheBrushtool,itwillcausevirtuallyany ness. The effect is again similar, but more pronounced than ness. Theeffectisagainsimilar,butmorepronouncedthan color toeventuallybecomewhite.Wantacoollaserburst blending mode toLinearDodge(Add). On onesideof laser color(startingwithmediumbrightvaluesworksbest) layer), usealarge,softroundbrush(B)withFlowand effect? Checkthisout. On ablanklayer(preferablyabovesolidblack-filled Right next door is Rightnextdooris Dodge(Add): Linear Burn/Linear

50% gray. This blending mode doesn’t get much use, but it 50% gray.Thisblendingmodedoesn’tgetmuchuse,butit to squishandelongatetheteardrop. Transform teardrop shape,andthenEdit>Transform>Free some of the new Gradient presets. some ofthenewGradientpresets. Linear Burn/Dodge/Light are all members of the Special 8 areallmembersoftheSpecial8 Linear Burn/Dodge/Light until thecenterstartstoturnwhite.Onceyouhaveyour can give some cool results as a color overlay, especially with can givesomecoolresultsasacoloroverlay,especiallywith colored glows. colored glows. too, sousetheFillsliderjudiciouslytogetbeautiful, club, based on whether the Blend color is lighter or darker than based onwhethertheBlendcolorislighterordarkerthan glowing orb, use Edit>Transform>Warp tocreatealong glowing orb,useEdit>Transform>Warp even more difficult to predict. It selectively replaces colors even moredifficulttopredict.Itselectivelyreplacescolors The sametrickisgreatforbuildingupfireelements. Pin light is difficult to explain, and can be Pin Light:lightisdifficulttoexplain,andcanbe Pew pew!

©Adobe Stock/Factory: TSpider/Steampunk girl: faestock Original/Exclusion/Difference 75% and 100% Fill and Fill/100% Opacity Opacity Mix/50% Hard Original heads. By adding together each of the Red, Green, and Blue heads. ByaddingtogethereachoftheRed,Green,andBlue channels for the Base and Blend layers, Hard Mix returns channels for the Base and Blend layers, Hard Mix returns modes, andonethatleavesalotofpeoplescratchingtheir either 255 (white) or 0 (black). The result is that your image either 255(white)or0(black).Theresultisthatyourimage Hard Mix:Here’sanotheroftheSpecial8blending 100% and Fill at 75%. 100% andFillat75%. The Comparison Group to-white gradient on a layer set to Hard Mix. On the top to-white gradientonalayersettoHardMix.Onthetop ther apart two colors are, the closer to white the result. This towhite theresult.This ther aparttwocolorsare,thecloser forward; it’s the absolute value of the difference between forward; it’stheabsolutevalueofdifferencebetween Difference andExclusion: (which youcanseeinthebackground)withashortblack- Opacity to 50% with Fill at 100%, then finally Opacity at Opacity to50%withFillat100%,thenfinally aries and lets the spectrum show through. aries andletsthespectrumshowthrough. using Difference. using Difference. white, red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, and magenta. white, red,green,blue,yellow,cyan,andmagenta. with lesscontrast.”That’smostlytrue,inthatastwocol- cating alayer,flippingithorizontallyorvertically,andthen collages. As with the Darker/Lighter Color examples,it can colors. If two images are identical, the result is black. The fur- boundaries, whiletheOpacitysliderkeepshardbound- ors get further away from each other, the result is brighter. ors getfurtherawayfromeachother,theresultisbrighter. be interestingtogeneratetexturesandreflectionsbydupli- is the original blend, in the middle is the result of setting is the original blend,in the middleis the resultof setting is converted to a combination of eight solid colors: black, is converted to a combinationof eight solid colors: black, is most often used for alignment when stitching together is mostoftenusedforalignmentwhenstitchingtogether Exclusion is almost always described as “Difference, but Exclusion isalmostalwaysdescribedas“Difference,but Notice that the Fill slider actually softens those hard Notice that the Fill slider actuallysoftensthose hard For this example, I used a linear spectrum gradient For thisexample,Iusedalinearspectrumgradient BL E ND I Differenceisprettystraight N G M O D E S EXP LAINED

©Adobe Stock/huci [ 59] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 60] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020

©Adobe Stock/gromovataya Solid FilladjustmentlayerissettoExclu- field correction toremoveunwanted Where Difference looks at the absolute Where Differencelooksattheabsolute technical image applications such as flat technical imageapplicationssuchasflat Original portrait/Setting blurred copy blurred to Divide portrait/Setting Original value between Base and Blend for each value betweenBaseandBlendforeach vignetting from starfield photos. They vignetting fromstarfieldphotos.They sion (middle),thenDifference(right), omoesnuaiyt per I a wormholesingularitytoappear!( age ofeachchannelvalue(notthe apply exactlytheequationsyou’d Luminosity weighting) as part of the Luminosity weighting)aspartofthe know thisbecauseItried.) utility modesthatareintendedfor contrast, but also less saturation and contrast, butalsolesssaturationand calculation. Theresultistypicallylower channel, Exclusionusesthepercent- brightness. Compare the results in the brightness. Compare the results in the dividing by zero (black) doesn’t cause dividing byzero(black)doesn’tcause both at the same color and Opacity both atthesamecolorandOpacity expect, but before you get excited, expect, butbeforeyougetexcited, example on the previous page where a example onthepreviouspagewherea ence, Subtract and Divide are mostly ence, SubtractandDividearemostly Subtract andDivide: Like Differ- used withablurred copyofthesameimage,you getthisniftygraphicnovellook above. contrasty areas of theportrait,whileignoring the middleandbrightvalues. And when The dancer’s dark tones and white background create an interesting blend with the top ofthepage is atwo-photolayer stackwith a danceronlayerabove a portrait. Disappointing as that may be, Divide does have some neat creative uses. At the Disappointing asthatmaybe, Dividedoeshavesomeneatcreativeuses.Atthe Combining two images using Divide using images two Combining

©Adobe Stock/gromovataya ©Adobe Stock/Alexander Y At the end of our tour, the Component At the end of our tour, the Component The Component Group fixing variationsinskintone. What’s really different between them is What’s reallydifferentbetweenthemis White. WhenappliedtoaCurves adjust- term that includes saturation. Grayscale term that includes saturation. Grayscale that hueisatermreferringtodominant the differencetointensityofeffect. fairly evident,andthey’reusedby so the Hue blending mode has no effect so theHueblendingmode has no effect shop. Inparticular,theypointoutthatyou your color corrections have been altered. your colorcorrectionshavebeen altered. set to Color blending above a black-and- you someinsightaboutcolorinPhoto- shift saturationaround—veryhandyfor the content Each ofthesemodesreplacesthecontent adjustment layers: Curves and Black & adjustment layers:CurvesandBlack& as bothvisualizationtoolsandtohelp Luminosity. The name of the mode is the Luminosity. Thenameofthemodeis Blue, thechannelsareHue,Saturation,and hue has nothing with which to combine, hue has nothing with which to combine, white photo.UseHueblendingwhen with image correction. with imagecorrection. ration from shifting, leaving you to adjust ration fromshifting,leavingyou toadjust ment, Luminositypreventshue andsatu- color family,whileisamoregeneral confused, withmostpeopleascribing channel beingreplaced. nels, exceptinsteadofRed,Green,and can replacecolorcomponentsquiteeasily. own saturation so it works to colorize own saturationsoitworkstocolorize on shadesofgray.Colorbringsalongits of theBaselayerwiththatBlend retouchers (along with Hue and Color), retouchers (alongwithHueandColor), brightness alone without worrying that brightness alonewithoutworrying that black-and-white images. both hueandsaturationarealreadypres- group comprise utility modes that give group compriseutilitymodesthatgive like getting a Levels adjustment for each of like gettingaLevels adjustmentforeachof images have no saturation, which means images have no saturation, which means layer inafashionsimilartoswappingchan- effect, where colors are painted on a layer effect, wherecolorsarepaintedonalayer ent for a more subtle effect that doesn’t ent for a more subtleeffect that doesn’t This exampleshowsahand-tinted Saturation and Luminosity should be Saturation and Luminosity should be Of these, Hue and Color get a little Of these,HueandColorgetalittle Luminosity is great to apply to two Luminosity isgreattoapplytwo For Black & White, Luminosity is kind of For Black&White, Luminosityiskindof

to the blending mode. You can to theblendingmode.Youcan to make those adjustments. to makethoseadjustments. the primaryandcomplementary Colorized B&W image something called a “self blend,” something called a “self blend,” also use adjustment layers to get also useadjustmentlayerstoget adjustment layer acts like input Brush, check out Darker and Lighter Color for skin blemishes. Brush, checkout DarkerandLighterColorfor skinblemishes. Luminosity andColorwiththe CloneStampandHealingBrushtoolstosneak up on detailed corrections and help preserve texture. And with the Spot Healing up ondetailedcorrections andhelppreservetexture. AndwiththeSpotHealing helpful whenyou’reusingablendingmodeatthetopof alayerstackand use thecolorslidersinProp- where the adjustment layer acts where theadjustmentlayeracts will appear in color, and you can will appearincolor,andyoucan modes, where the output of the modes, wheretheoutputof can beusedwithblending other color manipulations. other colormanipulations. colors individually.Yourimage blending modes with the Brush tool? On your next retouching task, try out blending modeswiththeBrush tool?Onyournextretouchingtask,tryout don’t want to create a flat copy. It’s best done with Curves or Levels to avoid don’t wanttocreateaflatcopy. It’sbestdonewithCurvesorLevelstoavoid like doubling the Base layer so it can blend with itself. This becomes more like doublingtheBaselayersoitcanblendwithitself.This becomesmore erties panel (Window>Properties) erties panel(Window>Properties) Remember back in the Contrast group when we talked about using Remember backintheContrast groupwhenwetalkedaboutusing In fact, all adjustment layers In fact,alladjustmentlayers

blending mode to Luminosity set stack layer in adjustment B&W BL E ND I N G M O D E S EXP LAINED

©Adobe Stock/Poter_N ©Adobe Stock/Mr. Music [ 61 > KELBY ONE.COM ] [ 62] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020

©Adobe Stock/PeskyMonkey Through. In this mode, groups are simply organizational Through. Inthismode,groupsaresimplyorganizational Also in layer styles, you can create a sweet Also inlayerstyles,youcancreate asweet Glowing Fairy Dust Glowing FairyDust first, and then the results of that rendering are treated to first, andthentheresultsofthatrenderingaretreatedto Glow layerstyleandchanging itsblend- tools; the contents of the layers behave just as if they were tools; the contentsof the layers behave justas if they were fairy dust glow by applying the Outer fairy dustglowbyapplying the Outer to interactinamorerealisticway.I’ve Drop Shadow Replacement Drop ShadowReplacement (Add). Here, I’ve used a bright-green color (Add). Here, I’veused a bright-green color shadow should fall and making it pretty shadow shouldfallandmakingitpretty are two hacks you can try out. are twohacksyoucantryout. Burn. Notice how it interacts with the wall. Burn. Noticehowitinteractswiththewall. under Drop Shadow (Layer >Layer Style >Drop Shadow), Shadow), >Drop Style >Layer under DropShadow(Layer LAYER GROUPS AND LAYER STYLES STYLES LAYER AND GROUPS LAYER which oftendoesn’t looknatural.Choos- whatever blending mode you’ve chosen at the group level. whatever blendingmodeyou’vechosenatthegrouplevel. modes arealsousedwithlayerstylesandgroups. choose Color Burn or Linear Burn and a choose ColorBurnorLinearanda blending mode, the group contents are rendered together blending mode,thegroupcontentsarerenderedtogether black, so everything is darkened uniformly, black, soeverythingisdarkeneduniformly, blue shadow and changed it to Linear blue shadow and changed it to Linear dramatically impact how you develop various effects. Here dramatically impacthowyoudevelopvariouseffects.Here dark color. By default, Drop Shadow uses dark color.Bydefault,DropShadowuses given thisjumpingmanaboveaverydark- dark allowsthetwoBurnblending modes ing mode from Screen to Linear Dodge ing modefrom ScreentoLinearDodge in theregularlayerstack.Butwhenswitchingtoanyother ing a color from your scene where the ing acolorfromyourscenewherethe In addition to layers, adjustment layers, and tools, blending In additiontolayers,adjustmentandtools,blending Instead of the saturation-sucking Multiply blending mode Instead ofthesaturation-suckingMultiplyblendingmode Layer groups have a special blending mode called Pass Layer groupshaveaspecialblendingmodecalledPass Layer styles are definitely worth exploring, as they can Layer stylesaredefinitelyworthexploring,astheycan Side-by-side of Drop Shadow set to Multiply versus Linear Burn Linear versus to Multiply set Shadow Drop of Side-by-side

Final forest with glowy stuff glowy with forest Final Quote) key(whichisonthesameasTilde).The a boonforpaintersandillustrators! Eraser tooltohavethesamebrushyoupaintwith— tothisisthatyoudon’thavesetupyour advantage and canbemomentarilyenabledbyholdingthe`(Left Behind andClear.appliespainttoonlytranspar- Dodge (Add)isalsousedfortheglowingfigureincenter. with a custom scatter brush, and applied Outer Glow. Linear with acustomscatterbrush,andappliedOuterGlow.Linear we’ve still only seen a tiny fraction of what blending modes we’ve stillonlyseenatinyfractionofwhatblendingmodes modes from which you can choose in the Options Bar: modes fromwhichyoucanchooseintheOptionsBar: content. Clearturnsyourcurrentbrushintoaneraser, can do. The best way to learn about them is to use them, so can do. The bestwaytolearn about them is to use them, so I’ll leave you with a few things to think about and try: I’ll leaveyouwithafewthingstothinkaboutandtry: ent pixels,similartopaintingunderneathalayerthathas The Brush tool has two additional blending Bonus Tip: TheBrushtoolhastwoadditionalblending Even with everything that we’ve covered in this article, Even witheverythingthatwe’vecoveredinthisarticle, Pattern samples created with gradients and various blending modes • • The Brush tool uses blending modes in the Brush Set - Art HistoryBrush,ColorReplacement,Blur,Sharpen, tings panel (Window>Brush Settings). They control tings panel (Window>Brush Settings). They control Many additionaltoolsuseblendingmodes,includ and Smudge. blending inDualBrushandTexture. ing the Pattern Stamp, History Brush, Gradient tool, Share your favorite blending mode tips in the Community • Gradients, in particular, are just a blast to play with. Gradients, inparticular,arejustablasttoplaywith. Choose some simple gradients and a blending mode Choose somesimplegradientsandablendingmode from the Options Bar drop-down and go nuts! How from theOptionsBardrop-downandgonuts!How many patterns can you come up with? many patternscanyoucomeupwith? forums! BL n E ND I N G M O D E S EXP KelbyOne LAINED [ 63] > KELBY ONE.COM [ 64] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 > WHAT THEFKEY! Shortcut City F2 key. F2 key. pressthe to theclipboard, aselectedobject and copy is thewayto go. To Cut a fewoccasionswhenCut should too,butthereare with masks,andIthinkyou to worknondestructively ers inPhotoshop,soIlike of deletingpartslay- key! I’mnotahugefan mands byusingasingle You canaccessthesecom- you’ll useinPhotoshop. the mostusefulcommands and pastearesomeof S opens theHelpwindow. tap theF1key. after of the adjustment, to animageandwanttogglebetweenthebefore Redo command;forexample,ifyoumakeanadjustment Mac andPC.OnaMac,theF1keyservesasanUndo/ this istheonlykeythatinvokesadifferentfunctionon Shortcut #1: those keys. key to invoke the macOS functions assigned tothe Fn Keys AsStandardFunctionKeys.Nowyouneedtohold on Keyboard.TurnthecheckboxforUseF1,F2,etc. of thescreen,selectSystemPreferences,andthenclick ontheAppleiconattopleft keys ontheMac,click keys. Ifyou’dliketoreversethebehaviorofFunction override thedefaultmacOSfunctionsassignedtothese the FnkeybeforepressinganyofFunctionkeysto Note: sure to memorize thesefew shortcuts! shortcuts are often overlooked, butifyou want to maximize your Photoshop experience, make The Fs I’mtalking aboutare theFunctionkeys thatreside onthetop row of your keyboard. These Did you know there are alotof Fs you canuseto speedupyour workflow inPhotoshop? hortc On aPC,theF1key If you’reusingaMac,you’llneedtopress-and-hold ut #2: Cut,copy, GILMAR Let’sstartwithF1.OfalltheFunctionkeys, SMITH

all thesettingsinBrushSettingspanel. using thisshortcut,takesometimeandplayaroundwith things youcandowithbrushes.So,whilepractice in Photoshop.Icouldwriteabookjustonalltheamazing own brushes.Brushesareoneofthemostpowerfultools where youcanaccess,modify,import,andevenmakeyour If you’renotfamiliarwiththispanel,it’samagicalplace Shortcut #5: Command-V (PC:Ctrl-V). Shortcut #4: use theshortcutthatbetterfitsyourworkflow. it serves the same purpose as Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C), so Shortcut #3: To Paste, press F4. This is the alternative to To Copy a layer or selection, press F3. Yes, ToCopyalayerorselection,pressF3.Yes, F5willshow/hidetheBrushSettingspanel. ALL IMAGES BY GILMARSMITH

› › S HOR T CUT CIT Y

Note: Any Function key Shortcut #9: This is another occasion where the key- that shows or hides a panel board shortcut differs from Mac to PC. in Photoshop will also show To show/hide the Actions panel you use the F9 key, and hide any panels that are but on the Mac, you need to throw in the Option key, as docked to it; for example, in well. If you’re also using the Fn key on the Mac, this takes the image shown here, the some finger acrobatics. Brushes panel is docked to the Brush Settings panel, so when you press F5 it will Show/Hide both panels.

Shortcut #6: To show/hide the Color panel, press F6. The Color panel is where you can do things such as picking and changing the Foreground and Background colors. If you’re in the Essential workspace, the Swatches, Gradients, and Patterns panel are all docked with the Shortcut #10: To Revert an image to its original state, Color panel so, as described in the note in the previous press F12. I call this shortcut the creative breakdown shortcut, all of those panels will Show/Hide when you shortcut. It’s mostly used when you spend hours work- press F6. ing on an image only to realize you hate everything you did to it (I’ve used this shortcut a few times myself). To undo Revert, press F1.

Shortcut #11: To bring up the Fill dialog, press Shift-F5. As an alternative to this shortcut, you can press Shift- Delete (PC: Shift-Backspace). On a Mac, you don’t have to hold the Fn key for this shortcut. Believe it or not, the next two shortcuts are in my top 20 most-used shortcuts. I mostly use them when building Photoshop composites.

Shortcut #12: To feather an active selection, press Shortcut #7: To show/hide the Layers panel, press the F7 Shift-F6. This will bring up the Feather Selection dialog. key. I highly recommend that you memorize this shortcut. Select your Feather Radius and click OK. Again, you don’t I once lost my Layers panel and totally freaked out. I wish have to hold the Fn key on the Mac for this shortcut to I knew this shortcut back then. work. [For more on feathering selections, see “The Perfect Selection” on page 86.—Ed.] Shortcut #8: To show/hide the Info panel, press F8. Shortcut #13: To Inverse a selection, press Shift-F7. Unfortunately, you do have to hold the Fn key on a Mac for this one to work, which is a bit of a stretch for your fingers, so you may be better off using the Shift- Command-I (PC: Shift-Ctrl-I) shortcut to Inverse a selection.

Now that you know the power of F, it’s time to start KELBY ONE.COM

using all those keys along the top of your keyboard that > you’ve been ignoring all this time! n [ 65 ] LESASNIDER >Beginners’ Workshop HOW TO CREATE AN ACTION SEQUENCE Photoshop’s automatic photo-stitcher, Photomerge, lets you easily merge and align multiple photos into a single image. By hiding (masking) parts of each image, you can end up with a single photo containing an entire action sequence; much like a time-lapse, but with stills instead of video. It’s a practical technique for photographers and production artists alike, whether you’re a pro or an enthusiast. Read on!

If you’re photographing this technique, try using a tripod so Tip: If you’re starting in Lightroom, select the thumbnails the images have a head start on alignment; that said though, in the Library module and then choose Photo>Edit In>Adobe the examples used here were captured by hand-holding the Photoshop 2020, which opens the photos as individual doc- camera, so it’s not impossible. Next, think about the size uments. In Photoshop, choose File>Automate>Photomerge or ratio of the end result: Do you want to end up with a and click Add Open Files. wide-angle image (16:9) or something that fits in a standard frame (say, 4:5 or 5:7)? If you’re hand-holding the camera and moving with the action, you’ll likely end up with a wide-angle result, as we do here. Also, be sure to put your camera into continuous shooting mode (burst), and try shutter priority (Tv on Canon, S on Nikon) or manual focus with a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion. You may also want to experiment with AI Servo mode (Canon) or continuous-servo AF (Nikon), both of which are autofocus systems that contin- ually track a subject. Capturing an action sequence can take patience, so try not to get discouraged if your first effort doesn’t pan out. (KelbyOne members can click here to download the images used in this tutorial.)

Step One: Let’s bring all the images into a single Photoshop document. To do that, launch Photoshop and choose File> Step Two: Assess the layers by turning on/off each layer’s Automate>Photomerge (you can also access this command visibility (Eye icon) in the Layers panel. You want a little space in Adobe Bridge). In the resulting dialog’s Use drop-down between each subject in the composite, so you may want menu, tell Photoshop whether you want to use individ- to use every other layer. Here, we began with 30 images ual Files or a Folder of files. Then, click Browse to find and narrowed it down to 6 that were in the middle of the the images on your hard drive and click Open. (If you’ve sequence (see top of next page). To omit a layer, simply already opened the images as documents, click Add Open leave its visibility Eye turned off. Files; see the tip below for beginning in Lightroom.) Tip: You can turn off multiple layers at once by In the Layout section of the left side of the dialog, turn Option-clicking (PC: Alt-clicking) the Eye icon of the layer on Reposition. Next, turn off Blend Images Together: This you want to remain visible; Photoshop turns the rest of JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> option uses layer masks to cover up any seams, which we them off. don’t want to do. Make sure the Vignette Removal and Geometric Distortion Correction settings are also turned off, Step Three: We’re going to use layer masks to hide parts and then click OK. Photoshop combines the images into a of the remaining visible layers, except for the bottom layer. new document with each image on its own layer, rotated, In this example, we need to hide the left side of each layer PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP > and positioned to align with all the others. because our action is moving from right to left. Start by [ 66 ] › › BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP

Step Two

activating the topmost visible layer, and then add a layer From the Basics category, click the third thumbnail, which mask by clicking the circle-within-a-square icon at the is the Black, White option (circled). Make sure you have bottom of the Layers panel (circled). the Linear Gradient option selected in the Options Bar (it’s the first icon in the group of five icons to the right of the gradient preview thumbnail).

Step Five: With the mask active (it will have little brackets around it in the Layers panel), mouse over to the image and click-and-hold your mouse button just to the left of the subject, then drag rightward for a very small distance until you reach the subject. As you drag, you’ll see a line, and a blue point that represents where you first clicked (circled here). Release your mouse button and Photoshop

Step Four: In the realm of layer masks, painting with black conceals and white reveals. You can paint black onto a layer mask using the Brush tool; however, it can be faster to hide a large part of one side of each layer—the left side in this example—using the Gradient tool first, and then fine-tuning it with the Brush tool later. To do that, press G to grab the Gradient tool (circled). In the Options Bar, click the down-pointing triangle (also circled) next to the gradient KELBY ONE.COM preview thumbnail to open the Gradient Picker. > [ 67 ] › › HOW TO

fills the left side of the mask with don’t reveal the entire subject on the layer below, simply keep clicking- black and the right side stays white. and-dragging with the Gradient tool until you get it right. This hides the left side of that layer (remember, black conceals and Step Six: Click to activate the next visible layer down. Repeat Steps 3–5 for each white reveals), revealing the subject visible layer except for the bottom one. When using the Gradient tool on each of on the next visible layer below. If you the layer masks, drag about the same distance you did for the first layer.

Step Seven: Now we’ll switch to the Brush tool and fine-tune each mask. Press B on your keyboard to grab the regular Brush tool (circled). In the Options Bar, click the Brush Preset Picker (also circled) and choose the Soft Round Brush in the General Brushes folder. Set the brush Size to around 100 pixels for these example images, and make sure Mode is set to Normal and Opacity to 100%. On your keyboard, press D to set the color chips at the bottom of the Toolbar (circled) to their default values of black and white. Press X to flip-flop the color chips so that black is on top. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 68 ] › › BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP

Step Eight: Zoom in to your image by pressing Command-+ (PC: Ctrl-+) and then reposition your image by clicking-and-dragging while holding down the Spacebar. Click to activate the layer mask on the topmost layer (circled) and then brush across the area you want to hide. On this layer, that’s the left side of the image where it overlaps with the next visible layer down (the brush cursor is circled here). Don’t worry if you hide too much; simply press X to flip-flop your color chips so white is on top and then brush across an area to reveal it again. In this example, don’t worry about the shadow on the bench, as we’ll crop it out in the next step.

Step Nine: Repeat Step Eight for each layer mask. KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 69 ] › › HOW TO

Step 10: Zoom back out of the image by pressing Command- – (PC: Ctrl- –) to evaluate the composite. If you’re happy with the result, press C to grab the Crop tool and from the Ratio menu at the left of the Options Bar, pick the size you want (we used 16:9 here). Drag to adjust the crop handles to resize the crop box, and then drag the image itself to reposition it inside the crop box. Press Enter when you’re finished. Tip: To hide the crop box, simply switch to another tool, such as the Move tool.

And here’s our final result. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

Not only does this technique produce a visually interesting image, it’s a great way to improve your masking skills. In addition, you may consider offering it as a sellable item in your photography business and, for production artists or graphic designers, this technique makes for a slick ad, book, or album cover. Until next time, may the creative PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP > ALL IMAGES BY JACK DAVIS force be with you all! n [ 70 ] Discover Litra’s family of award winning lighting solutions for photography and videography. Bring your visions to life with the world’s most versatile, compact, durable and powerful continuous LED fixtures, modifiers and mounting accessories.

SEE THESE LIGHTS IN ACTION

Visit Litra.com for more information

© 2020 Litra® • Litra.com • @LitraGear [ 72 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] > GIVE YOURSELF ATATTOO INMINUTES! Effects Toolkit Effects Adobe Stock, or download the JPEG preview for free by Adobe Stock,ordownloadtheJPEGpreviewforfreeby Stock, youcanloaditfromyourLibrariespanel(Win- to Image>ImageSize,turnontheResamplecheckbox, the practicefile.(Wenormallydon’trecommendenlarg- We’ll begin by opening the image of our subject on which We’ll beginbyopeningtheimageofoursubjectonwhich to place the tattoo. This could be a picture of you or your further ado,let’sgetstarted! tattoo every week. (Facebook, ifyou’re old-school)?Well then,why notjustPhotoshop it?Thatway you cangetanew into gettingareal tattoo. Butwhatifyou justwanna getatattoo to show off inanInstagram post Tattoos are permanent.There’s alotof thinking,planning,andpain,notto mentionmoney, thatgoes select PreserveDetails2.0fromtheResampledrop-down skin in a realistic fashion using the wonders of blending skin inarealisticfashionusingthewondersofblending Photoshop. IfyoudownloadedtheimagefromAdobe Explorer), locateyourimage,anddrag-and-dropitinto work withthepreviewimage,increaseresolutionof working inApplicationFrame,gotoFinder(PC:File here, you may license the full-resolution version from here, youmaylicensethefull-resolutionversionfrom menu, set the Width to 2,000 pixels, and click OK. menu, settheWidthto2,000pixels,andclick modes andBlendIffeaturesinPhotoshop.Sowithout clicking theSavetoLibrarybutton clicking model. If you want to follow along with the photo used dow>Libraries) by double-clicking it.Tomakeiteasierto dow>Libraries) bydouble-clicking ing images,butthisisonlyforpracticepurposes.)Go Open,orifyou’re locate yourimage,andthenclick In this article, we’ll show you how to place tattoos on the In thisarticle,we’llshowyouhowtoplacetattoosonthe STEP ONE: OPEN THE IMAGE IMAGE THE OPEN ONE: STEP If you’re using your own image, go to File>Open, If you’reusingyourownimage,gotoFile>Open, UNMESHDINDA here .

©Adobe Stock/nikolas_jkd Stock. Ifyoudownloadedthepreviewversion,dragitinto the tattoo,andplaceitwhereveryoudesire.Don’tworry, the transformcontrols,adjustsizeandpositionof the case if you licensed this particular graphic from Adobe tial thatthetattoohasatransparentbackground,whichis Step Two: placed and sized Graphic your imagefromtheLibrariespanel.Itwillhaveawhite Enter whenit’sinplace. Locate the tattoo graphic that you want to use. We’re Locate thetattoographicthatyouwanttouse.We’re using a dragon illustration from Adobe Stock, which you using adragonillustrationfromAdobeStock,whichyou we’ll warp the tattoo according to the body later. Press can find by clicking clicking can findby background, butwe’lltakecareofthatinasecond.With inside thecanvaswhereyouhaveyoursubject.It’sessen- STEP TWO: PLACE THE TATTOO TATTOO THE PLACE TWO: STEP here . Drag-and-dropthetattoofile Step Three: Graphic set to Multiply set Graphic Step Three:

Dragon: ©Adobe Stock/Draco77 › › EFFE C T S TOO LKIT

To remove the white background around the pre- this great article by Dave Cross on “Better Masking and view image, first Right-click on the layer in the Layers Selections” for other ways to mask out the background. panel and choose Rasterize layer. Grab the Magic Wand tool (nested below the Object Selection tool [W] in STEP THREE: the Toolbar) and, in the Options Bar, set the Tolerance CHANGE THE BLEND MODE TO MULTIPLY to 20 and turn off Contiguous. Click on a white part of Double-click the name of the tattoo layer, and rename it the dragon image to select all the white areas, and then “Dragon.” With the Dragon layer active, from the blending press Delete (PC: Backspace). Press Command-D (PC: mode drop-down menu in the Layers panel, change the Ctrl-D) to deselect. blend mode from Normal to Multiply. Why? Because Multi- ply is a blend mode that darkens. As a bonus, if you’re using Note: If your tattoo is a flattened JPEG file with no transpar- the preview image, it will also drop out any white areas that ent background like the preview image above, check out may not have been deleted in the previous step.

STEP FOUR: USE LIQUIFY TO SHAPE THE TATTOO At this point, the tattoo looks flat with no sense of shadows and highlights; so let’s take care of the flatness first. With the Dragon layer active, if it’s not already a smart object, go to Filter> Convert for Smart Filters. (If Con- vert for Smart Filters is grayed out, that means the Dragon layer is already a smart object.) Next, go to Filter>Liquify. On the right-hand side, scroll down and make sure Show Backdrop is checked. Set the Use drop-down menu to Background, the Mode to Behind, and Opacity to 50% so that you can see the subject as you adjust the tattoo. With the Forward Warp Tool (W), shape the tattoo according to the contours of the body as shown here. (Tip: Keep the Pres- sure of the brush low to nudge the tattoo slowly, and use the Bracket keys on your keyboard to quickly change the size of your brush.) Once you’re satisfied with the result, click OK. KELBY ONE.COM >

Step Four: After using Liquify [ 73 ] › › HOW TO

STEP FIVE: ADD HIGHLIGHTS WITH BLEND IF With the Dragon layer active, Right-click on the layer and choose Blending Options. In the Blend If section of the Layer Style dialog, drag the right slider of the Underlying Layer toward the left. The tattoo gradually disap- pears as the highlight areas of the subject on the “underlying” layer start to come through. As you’ll notice, the transition is very harsh; so, hold the Option (PC: Alt) key and click on that right slider to break it apart. Separating it into two pieces allows us to make the transition between the visible and invisible areas smoother. For this example, we’ve chosen a value of 104/255 for the two parts of the right slider. Click OK.

STEP SIX: APPLY GAUSSIAN BLUR Tattoos are never that sharp in real life, especially on the skin. To make it look realistic, with the Dragon layer active, go to Filter> Blur>Gaussian Blur, and apply a blur Radius of 1.2 pixels. (For the Adobe Stock preview image, try 0.3 pixels.) Click OK.

STEP SEVEN: TAKE AWAY THE SKIN COLOR FROM THE HIGHLIGHTS Since we partially removed the highlight areas of the skin from the tattoo, the skin color ends up as a tint to the tattoo. We need to remove that. Hold the Command (PC: Ctrl) key, and click on the thumbnail of the Dragon layer. The tattoo will be selected. With the Background layer active, click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> (half-black/half-white circle) at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Hue/Satura- tion. Notice that the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer used the selection of the tattoo to create its mask. In the Properties panel PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP

> (Window>Properties), decrease the Satura- [ 74 ] tion to –50. › › EFFE C T S TOO LKIT

STEP EIGHT: ADJUST BLEND IF (OPTIONAL) If required, and at the cost of fading it a little bit, you can adjust the Blend If of the tattoo to make it look more natural. Right-click on the Dragon layer and choose Blending Options again. We dragged the left half of the right slider of the Underlying Layer to 76. Click OK.

See how easy it was to place a tattoo on someone’s body? We knew that this tattoo would darken the skin, so we chose Multiply as the blend mode. Then, to add highlights, we simply removed the highlight areas of the skin from the tattoo using Blend If. That gave us a great result but at the cost of the skin color getting into the tattoo; so we simply desaturated that area using Hue/Saturation. When it comes to Photoshop, if you can just understand the concepts, you can create anything you’ve envisioned in your mind. n

Final KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 75 ] [ 76 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] > FASHION RETOUCH FOR AGENCY STANDARDS P As the fashion industry continues to be more inclusive As thefashionindustrycontinuestobemoreinclusive the White Balance Selector tool. the White BalanceSelector tool. the feel of the golden color captured at golden hour in the feelofgoldencolorcaptured atgoldenhourin the color.Forthisparticularimage, Iwantedtomaintain tured inthebestlight.Thismeanscreatingcolor that are reminiscent of the intended end goal from the that arereminiscentoftheintendedendgoalfrom the finished product appears as though it hasn’t been the finishedproductappearsasthoughithasn’tbeen images inaway thatmeets agency standards. includes allaspects from shootingqualitywork, to developing arapport withmodels,to retouching the answer to thismultifaceted questioncomesdown to onecharacteristic: consistency. Thisconsistency that I’masked mostfrequently ishow to getone’s foot inthedoorwithmodelingagencies.The As afashion andportrait photographer whospecializes indeveloping models,oneof thequestions THE RETOUCH THE RETOUCH stellar image, and exercised with a soft-handed approach. stellar image,andexercisedwithasoft-handedapproach. so youdon’thavetorelyoneditingsaveit.Theuse stylist and makeup artist, as well as a stylist when they’re sistently workingintheindustryfromeverybodyelse. very beginning.Thismeansworkingwithaqualityhair- as possible to the captured scene, rather than utilizing as possibletothe capturedscene,ratherthan utilizing a black-and-whiteoption,asitusuallyevokesdiffer- aesthetic ofhowitlooksatthetimeshootina and embracesimperfections,theaestheticofimag- ultimate clientsatisfaction. white balanced. Therefore, minimal adjustments were white balanced.Therefore,minimal adjustmentswere way thatwon’tagetheimage.Agenciesalsoprefer willing. Italsomeanscapturingthebestoverallimage made using the Temp and Tint sliders to keep it as close made usingthe TempandTintsliderstokeep itasclose order to enhance the mood rather than have it perfectly order toenhancethemoodrather thanhaveitperfectly overall exposureandcontrast,ifnecessary,aswell mentality that they’re tools to improve upon an already mentality thatthey’retoolstoimproveuponanalready retouched atall,andthat’swhatdistinguishesthosecon- more refinedandnaturalretouch.Whendonewell, begin by making global adjustments to improve the begin bymakingglobaladjustmentstoimprovethe of Photoshop and Lightroom should be viewed with the of PhotoshopandLightroomshouldbeviewedwiththe idea tocreateaworkflowdeliverbothoptionsfor Step One: Step ent feelingandconnectionwiththeviewer.It’sagood edits thataren’toverthetopandkeepingoverall ery being produced is progressively moving toward a ery beingproducedisprogressivelymovingtowarda The key to achieving consistency is to capture images The keytoachievingconsistencyiscaptureimages h Modeling agencieswanttoseetheirmodelscap- o BRITTANY t In either Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom, IneitherAdobeCameraRaworLightroom, o E f SMITH f e c ts

After making white making balance adjustment After Original image

› › PHOTO EFFECTS

ALL IMAGES BY BRITTANY SMITH

Before and after removing distractions

Step Two: If working in Camera Raw, click Open Image to sample the surrounding area, and then paint over the open the image in Photoshop; if working in Lightroom, go area to be fixed. to Photo>Edit In>Edit In Adobe Photoshop 2020 to export Zoom in on the image to the skin, and repeat this step the image to Photoshop. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to for small blemishes. Once finished, press Command-E (PC: duplicate the Background layer. Ctrl-E) to merge the layer down to the Background layer. Assess the image to identify areas of similar color with very little texture that need to be removed. Using the Patch tool (nested below the Spot Healing Brush tool [J] in the Toolbar), select an area that needs to be fixed, and drag the selection to a more ideal area nearby to sample it for the patch. For areas that are more complex, try the Content-Aware Fill tool. Make a selection of the area to be fixed, and go to Edit>Content-Aware Fill. To provide an accurate fill, simply use the Sampling Brush tool (B) to paint on (the + icon in the Options Bar) and off (the – icon in the Options Bar) the areas you wish to be sampled. When the image in the Preview panel looks good, click OK at the bottom of the Content-Aware Fill panel. KELBY ONE.COM

For smaller, more difficult areas, you can also use > the Healing Brush tool: Option-click (PC: Alt-click) to Before and after closeup of removing blemishes [ 77 ] [ 78 > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 ] › Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment Add a Hue/Saturation adjustment HOW TO HOW Saturation slider down to –100. Saturation sliderdownto–100. Curves), click on the middle of the onthemiddleof Curves), click Create aCurvesadjustmentlayer this reduces a color shift within the this reducesacolor shiftwithinthe to startwithtoo littleaneffect,as Change theblendmode(near the filefordodgingandburning. the image. (When a layer mask is the image.(Whenalayermask is tion makes it easier for the eye to tion makesiteasierfortheeyeto this layerfromNormaltoColor. top leftoftheLayerspanel)for (Layer>New AdjustmentLayer> (Layer>New (B), and in the Options Bar set its (B), and in the Options Barsetits Opacity to 100% and Flow to 3%. to3%. Opacity to100% andFlow Using a soft round brush, begin Using asoftroundbrush,begin slightly, darkening theimage. slowly painting with white on the slowly paintingwithwhiteonthe and rename it “Dodge.” and renameit“Dodge.” active, pressingDwillsetthe Fore- as ameasureofqualitycontrol to Eliminating thecolorinforma- hide theeffectofcurve.Dou- ment layer, add a control point ment layer, add a control point toinvertits mand-I (PC:Ctrl-I) curve inthePropertiespanel(Win- out adequately, as well as to keep out adequately,aswelltokeep pixels; if desired, additional Curves pixels; if desired,additional Curves black, andnamethislayer“Burn.” thecurve’slayername ble-click point, anddragitupslightly, pinpoint areasthatneedwork. ground color to white.) It’s better ground colortowhite.)It’sbetter toaddacontrol dow>Properties) identifying areasthatneedwork. layer (Layer>New AdjustmentLay- layer (Layer>New in themiddle,andpullitdown layer maskfromwhitetoblack lightening theimage.PressCom- layers, eveningoutthetones in layer masksoftheDodgeandBurn Step Four: SelecttheBrushtool Step Three: Nowlet’sprepare Invert the layer mask from white to Invert thelayermaskfromwhiteto I often toggle this layer off and on often togglethislayeroffandon I ensure the skin tone is evening er>Hue/Saturation), and drag the anddragthe er>Hue/Saturation), Create asecondCurvesadjust-

Step Four: Before and after dodging and burning and dodging after and Before Step Four: and Burn layers. and Burnlayers. all those layers. Press Command-G (PC: Ctrl-G) to group the layers, and rename the all thoselayers.PressCommand-G (PC:Ctrl-G)togroupthelayers,andrename adjustments layerscanbeaddedtobuildupontheoveralleffect. Inthisimageretouch, under the eye and cheekbones, the image begins to feel fake and less relatable. Also, under the eyeandcheekbones, theimage beginsto feelfakeandless relatable.Also, need work, as well as see the overall results. Once finished, click the top adjustment thetopadjustment click need work,aswellseetheoverallresults.Oncefinished, paint away some of the effects, as well as painting with black on the individual Dodge paint away some of the effects, as well as painting with black on the individual Dodge dodging and burning remains true to the model. If shadows are reduced too much dodging and burning remains true tothe model. If shadows arereduced too much group “Dodge/Burn.” If necessary, you can add a layer mask to the layer group to group “Dodge/Burn.” If necessary, you can add a layer mask tothe layer group to layer in the Layers panel, and then Shift-click the bottom adjustment layer to select thebottomadjustment layertoselect layer intheLayerspanel,andthenShift-click it on and off to reveal the color image, which will help you quickly identify areas that I wound up with three Curves adjustment layers for dodging and three for burning. I woundupwiththreeCurvesadjustmentlayersfordodging andthreeforburning. Click the Eye icon next to the Hue/Saturation layer in the Layers panel to toggle Click theEyeiconnexttoHue/SaturationlayerinLayers paneltotoggle Pay special attention to the bone structure of the face, and make sure that the Pay specialattention tothebonestructureof theface,andmakesurethat the › › PHOTO EFFECTS

keep the final size of the image in mind, as this can save a lot of precious editing time. Unless it’s going to be on a billboard, there’s no reason to zoom in to edit individual pixels: It’s only necessary to work on what the viewer’s eye will see. If this were to be a beauty image, however, there would be a more substantial amount of work, with a tighter crop on the face. When you’re done with the dodging and burning, you can turn off the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer.

Before dodging and burning closeup Step Five: Learning to dodge and burn properly is an acquired skill that takes time to finesse. If additional work needs to be done to even out the overall image, especially when becoming well versed with dodging and burning, you can create an optional frequency separation group. Make two duplicate layers of the cleaning layer by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) twice. Rename the layers, “Texture” and “Color.” The Texture layer is where we’ll work with the detail of the image, and the Color layer is where we’ll make all of our color adjustments. Turn the Texture layer off. With the Color layer After dodging and burning closeup active, go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Select a Radius where the texture of individual pores is gone, but the details of the image are still visible. Each image will be a little different. Click OK.

Step Six: Turn the Texture layer back on, make it active, and go to Image>Apply Image. In the Apply Image dialog, make sure the Layer selected in the drop-down menu is the Color layer and the Blending drop-down menu is set to Subtract. The Scale should be set to 2 with the Offset at KELBY ONE.COM

128. Click OK. The layer will turn gray, but if > you zoom in, you can see some of the texture. [ 79 ] [ 80] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › HOW TO HOW Stamp tool (S) with the Stamp tool(S)withthe Gradually paint ontheover- Clone Stamp to subtly work Clone Stamptosubtlywork the color and even it out. the color andevenitout. Step Nine Step Eight Step Opacity to no more than 3%. Opacity tonomorethan3%. Opacity and Flow set to Opacity andFlowsetto saturated areas to reduce saturated areas toreduce steps. Select the Clone steps. SelecttheClone should havealreadybeen set it to a soft black brush. set ittoasoftblackbrush. and namethegroup“Fre- and Colorlayerstogether, and then paint with the and then paint with the around 7%intheOptions addressed in the previous Bar. Option-click (PC:Alt- Bar. Option-click hide the gray and reveal the hide thegrayandreveal now be done in the Color now bedoneintheColor need to be toned down, need tobetoneddown, click) to sample color tones, tosamplecolor tones, click) choose the Brush tool and choose theBrushtooland out anycolorandgradation blend mode to Color and the blend modetoColorandthe blend mode of the Texture blend modeoftheTexture quency Separation.” quency Separation.” layer, as the texture work layer, asthetexturework if there are any colors that if thereareanycolorsthat issues thatneedtobefixed. Step Eight: Allworkwill image. GrouptheTexture layer toLinearLight.Thiswill Step Nine: Step Seven: Step In the Options Bar, set the In theOptionsBar,set especially in the highlights, especially inthehighlights, Additionally, Additionally, Change the Changethe to preserve theintegrity oftheoverall qualityofthe image. face, set the Brush tool back to Normal mode, Option-click (PC: Alt-click) on a color to onacolorto (PC:Alt-click) face, settheBrushtoolback to Normalmode,Option-click Before and closeup after of separation frequency sample it, and paint with a low Opacity brush to achieve a better color match. sample it,andpaintwithalow Opacitybrushtoachieveabettercolormatch. of the image. of theimage. Step 10: Step effect isn’t overly done. Realness and believability are very important for the overall quality effect isn’toverlydone.Realness andbelievabilityareveryimportantfortheoverallquality Note: Reduce the Opacity of the Frequency Separation Group to about 85% to ensure the Reduce theOpacityofFrequency SeparationGrouptoabout85%ensurethe If there are any tonal discrepancies, such as in the highlights of the neck and Frequency separation isdestructiveandtherefore shouldbeusedwithfrugality Step 10 Step › › PHOTO EFFECTS

Step 11: Now we need to color-correct the skin tones of the image to create a mood. The goal for this particular image was to conserve the authenticity of the late afternoon golden winter glow and the beautiful contrast. The highlights and shadows are spot on; however, the skin tones are overly saturated and need to be reduced.

Create another Hue/Saturation adjustment layer at the top of the layer stack, and lower the saturation of the Reds, Yellows, and Mag entas until satisfied. (You can find the different color channels in the second drop-down menu near the top of the Properties panel.) In this case, the Saturation values were as follows: Reds: –12, Yellows: –19, and Magentas: –12. It still needed a slight desaturation; therefore, the overall Mas- ter saturation value was set at –3.

Press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the layer mask to black, and gently paint the color correction onto the skin with a soft, white, low Opacity brush, until satisfied. KELBY ONE.COM >

Before and after applying a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to desaturate the skin [ 81 ] [ 82] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › HOW TO HOW the golden hues of theskintones.CreateaColorBalance adjust After applying a Color Balance adjustment layer to match the background color to the skin tones skin to the color background the to match layer adjustment Balance a Color applying After values for Yellow were as follows: Midtones: –10, Highlights: –5, values Highlights, and Shadows to match the overall look and feel of the Highlights, andShadowstomatchtheoveralllookfeelof and Shadows: –3. Invert the layer mask and, using a low Opacity, and Shadows:–3.Invertthelayermaskand,usingalowOpacity, white, soft brush, softly paintonthecolorcorrectiontomatch ment layer at the top of the layer stack, and adjust the Midtones, of thelayerstack,andadjustMidtones, top the at layer ment background totheskintonesasmuchpossible. image. Inthiscase,onlytheYellowneededadjusting.Thecolor Step 12:Thebackgroundnowneedsaslightadjustmenttomatch - Background before Background › › PHOTO EFFECTS

Step 13: Lastly, reduce the overall color of the image ever so slightly by creating a Black & White adjustment layer with the Opacity set to 3–5% in the Layers panel. If certain parts of the image, such as the skin tones, need more neutralization than the rest of the image, a layer mask can be used to paint the effect on or off.

Step 14: The image can now be converted to an sRGB color profile and saved for the agency. From here, it’s prepped to provide a beautiful black-and-white conversion. The key to a successful black-and-white image is to start with a properly executed color image with adequate contrast and tonality.

Original image

Step 15: Create another Black & White adjustment layer at the top of the layer stack, and change the blend mode to Color. KELBY ONE.COM >

Final color edit [ 83 ] [ 84] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 › HOW TO HOW Gradient fill layer (Layer>New Gradient filllayer(Layer>New While thisretouchis geared thumbnail to open the Gradient thumbnail toopentheGradient the topBlack&Whiteadjust Click OK again to close theGradi- Click OKagaintoclose to 10%, and thenpaintonthe toward fashion and models, with toward fashion and models, with the agency. the black-and-whiteversionfor traits andpersonalbranding, to the stepscanbeusedfor any you wanttohidetheeffect. Press D to set the Foreground Press DtosettheForeground Editor. In the Presets, select the Editor. Inthe Presets, selectthe a littleextrapunchin the overall apply ablack-to-transparentgra- achieve high-quality results. a focusonagencyexpectations, user preference. Fill dialog, click ontheGradient Fill dialog,click atthetop Fill Layer>Gradient) Foreground toTransparentgradi- color to black, and then add a a color toblack,andthenadd of the layer stack. In the Gradient of thelayerstack.InGradient optional anddependentupon gradation. Thisstepiscompletely give an already gorgeous image dient atabout10% Opacityto layer so it’s active (not its mask). layer soit’sactive(notitsmask). layer maskintheareaswhere is convertedtosRGB,andsave Step 16 (Optional): 16 Step important retouch, especially por- ent Fill dialog. Set the layer Opacity ent Filldialog.SetthelayerOpacity OK. ent intheBasicsset,andclick Click on the layer thumbnail for onthelayerthumbnailfor Click Double-check that the image Double-check thattheimage We can Wecan n ment

Before and adding after Gradient Fill Get your portfolio website now Without paying for developers & designers + 30-day money back guarantee.

What You Get

A professional portfolio website built for you as part of the annual Master plan

A cutting-edge gallery with unlimited albums for projects, events, travels, personal use and clients

Photo-sharing that you control, including disappearing albums

Public/private albums and collections with password Please check out this informative 90 second video from protection, watermarks, right-click-save, hide owner, and world renowned photographer, Serge Ramelli more privacy and security

Built speciﬁcally for photographers, no coding required

And more... All the features you could possibly need

Get your portfolio website built for you now!

What they don’t want you to know about building a portfolio website

No matter what anyone says or what tools you use, trying to build your own website is not easy. It’s like using Photoshop for the ﬁrst time — you need to devote a lot of time and trial & error to ﬁgure it out.

However, you don’t have to do it yourself. Let us take the frustration out of the process by having our professional web designers build your portfolio website. You’ll get a pro-grade photo sharing service and a portfolio website created for you, all for about the same price you’d pay for hosting anywhere else.

Most great photographers have their portfolio websites built by web designers. Now, you can too! Click the button below and reserve your space now as seats are limited.

Get your portfolio website built for you now! MARKHEAPS >The Perfect Selection QUICK COLLAGE WITH SELECTIONS One thing that’s as old as Photoshop itself is the creation of digital collages. This type of photo asset is used for everything from poster backgrounds to the covers of corporate financial reports. It’s a classic storyteller technique that mixes and blends a variety of images to create a visual motif. Below is an example of a collage representing science and research.

While working at an event recently, my team was asked to make 10 collages to be placed in a presentation for ©Unsplash/CDC a high-level executive who was going onstage in 90 ©Unsplash/CDC minutes! This meant we had to find the right five or so images for each of the 10 themes, lay them out, and blend them together. This is where a little pre-thought about the engineering and process can really save you under pressure. To speed up the process and create some visual con- ©Unsplash/SpaceX sistency, there are some basic techniques you can use to build your own digital collages. First, you’ll need multiple ©Unsplash/Science in HD JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> images. It’s best to start with a good background image on which you can collage all the other images. This is less of a feature image, and more of an element that can fill in any gaps in your collage after you’ve blended together the

other images in the Photoshop file. Having a base image ©Unsplash/Science in HD PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP > that has similar colors to the other images helps with the [ 86 ] Collage images › › THE PERFECT SELECTION

overall quality where it fills in the gaps. On the previous technique, it shouldn’t matter, but it’s always good to make page, you can see the images used for our collage example. sure to turn on Anti-alias just in case. Notice that you can’t really see much of the base image in Feathering is the process in which the edge of a selec- the example, but it’s doing a nice job of filling the gaps. tion is split into a range. So instead of being masked with precision as a nice sharp edge, it will blend that edge over INSERTING YOUR IMAGES a range of pixels that you choose in the Options Bar. For Building your collage obviously requires that you make a this collage, we’re going to use a large number, say 100 new file in Photoshop at the size that’s needed for the final px, which means the edge will blend from 100% visible to project. Is this for a video, or a poster? After making your file 0% visible over a span of 100 px. So, why is this import- size to spec for your project, you can start inserting all those ant? Although you can create a collage by painting on layer images into your working file. masks with the Brush tool (B) set to a big soft brush, this If you have all of the collage images in a folder on your often slows people down while they make artistic decisions computer, you can simply drag them all at the same time about where they should paint. Using the feather selection from the folder into the Photo- technique allows you to focus and work faster. shop file, which is faster than Now that you’ve set the Feather option for your Lasso placing them one at a time. tool, any selected area will have a feathered edge. This will As each image appears in the become apparent the first time you outline an interesting document, press Enter on your part of the image with the Lasso tool, and then click the keyboard to place it on its own Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom layer as a smart object. This is of your Layers panel. You’ll immediately see that the invaluable for protecting the masked area has a blended edge. pixels of the images while you resize them for your collage. (If you’re new to smart objects, you can click here to learn more about them.)

USE FEATHER TO WORK FASTER Now we’re going to use a selection technique that not only speeds up masking the images but also creates visual consistency. An option that we can use on nearly all of our selection tools is Feather, which you’ll find in the Options Bar at the top of Photoshop. For this example, we’ll look at the options for the Lasso tool (L).

Selected area Here the yellow line illustrates where the Lasso tool was used to draw a selection in the image. Once the layer mask is added (make sure you’re on the layer of the image you want to mask), you’ll see this lovely blended edge. Note: If your selection is too close to the edge of the image, you’ll For the Lasso tool settings, you’ll want to set a Feather get a sharp edge as a part of the blend, so be sure to select value and check on Anti-alias, which helps blend all the little an area well within the image boundary. square pixels together so they look less “jagged.” Because If you like the amount of Feather for the blending, now KELBY ONE.COM we’re not going to have any sharp masked edges in this you can simply go through each image layer, draw your > [ 87 ] › › COLUMN

selection around the area on which you believe is worth focusing, and then add a mask. Try to draw more organic shapes, not rigid triangles, circles, or rectangles, as this makes it harder for the audience to see the collage as a series of frames and more as a cohesive single visual. Do this for all your images except the bottom image layer, which is used to fill the gaps. Now that all of your images have a nice big feathered mask, arrange them how you like over the base image. Use Edit>Free Transform to resize the various images. Press Enter to commit the transformations. Closeup of feathered mask Switch the stacking order of the layers to change how the images blend with each other. If you’ll be FINAL ADJUSTMENTS adding text or titles, then move your If you find a sharp edge along the boundary of a masked image, or some other ele- blended elements to the outer parts ment that’s distracting, you can refine your collage quickly by painting on the layer of the collage. If you think there’s masks with a large soft round brush. Click on the layer mask thumbnail of the image an image around which everything layer you want to adjust, and then paint with black to hide more of the image, or should be based, place it in the cen- paint with white to show more of it. Don’t forget that you can reduce the Opacity ter, and have your various images of your Brush tool in the Options Bar to give you an additional level of control in scattered around it. blending elements throughout your collage. n JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP > Look for lines in the photos that help create an interesting compositional grid [ 88 ]

[ 90] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 > 3D TEXTROOM,PART 2 Photoshop Proving Ground Proving Photoshop To replicate the columns and look of a newspaper classified advertisement section, we To replicatethecolumnsandlookofanewspaperclassified advertisementsection,we then open the Libraries panel (Window>Libraries) and select 3D Room (or create one if andselect3DRoom(orcreateoneif then opentheLibrariespanel(Window>Libraries) to the3DRoomlibraryweaddedlastissue.Opentutorial fileyoucreatedfromPart1, the wall smart objects. the wallsmartobjects. on thistechnique to give italittlemore flexibility for your designs. the room andtake advantage of thesmartobjects we created. Finally, we’ll explore somevariations to buildsomecustom graphics to addto our3DRoomlibrary, thenwe’ll addafew more elements to Last issue,we setupour3Deffect usingsmartobjects andPerspective Warp. Thisissue,we’re going Keep this in mind as you build the bits and baubles to use in your project! Keep this inmindasyou buildthebits andbaublesto useinyourproject! you haven’t yet done so). At the moment, there should be only one element in this library you haven’tyetdoneso).Atthemoment,thereshouldbe onlyoneelementinthislibrary and choosePlaceLayersfrom thecontextualmenutoplaceacopyoflibraryitemas a need to create a few little design elements that we can reuse easily, and then save them need tocreateafewlittledesignelementsthatwecanreuse easily,andthensavethem regular layerinstead ofasmartobject.This isgoingtobeourvisualguide. ontheFrameitem can belaidoutandmovedaround. IntheLibrariespanel,Right-click called “Frame,”whichiswhatweusedforvisualizationwhile transformingandpositioning playground for ourdesign elements, so itjust needs to be large enough that all the pieces Step One: Step Tip: Conveniently, the new layer will already be named “Frame,” just like the library object. Conveniently, the new layer will already be named“Frame,”just like thelibrary object. SCOTT Createanewdocument(File>New) about2000pxoneachside.Thiswillbea VALENTINE Frame on canvas on Frame › › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND

Step Two: Turn on snapping (View>Snap) and rulers (View>Rulers), and then drag from the vertical ruler to the left edge of the Frame item to add a guide; it should snap into place at the outside edge of the black line. Repeat for the other vertical side, as well as for the top and bottom. This will help with sizing and placement of the elements. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Frame layer’s thumbnail in the Layers panel to create a selection of it, switch to any selection tool in the Toolbar, click on the left edge of the selection, and drag it to the left of the Frame layer. Drag out vertical guides to mark the sides of the selection. Now drag the selection to the right of the Frame layer and add another set of vertical guides. These guides give you three columns in which to build your elements. At this point, you can turn off the Frame layer’s visibility if you like, or lock it so it doesn’t move around. Go ahead and build your individual elements, keeping everything on its own layer. I’ve added a Guides and starter elements on canvas couple small paragraph text boxes, some header caps, separators, and two callout boxes. You can use the various shape tools (U) in the Toolbar set to Shape in the Options Bar to draw most of the elements. For the stars, use the Polygon tool, click on the gear icon in the Options Bar, and turn on the Star option. For the dotted box, use the Rectangle tool, set the Fill to No Color, the Stroke to black, the Width to 5 px, and then click on the stroke preview to open the Stroke Options, and select one of the dotted line options. Organization is going to be critical for this project; be sure to put elements that stay together into a group and name both elements and groups Layer stack of newspaper elements clearly. You’re going to be moving and copying bits, and a little effort right now really helps keep it all manageable.

Step Three: Once you’re done, place everything (except the Frame and Background layers) inside one master group called “Newspaper Elements,” and drag that group to your 3D Room library in the Libraries panel. At this point, you can delete this KELBY ONE.COM document because the library item has everything > you need. Library showing Newspaper Elements item [ 91 ] › › COLUMN

Layer stack of final back wall

Step Four: Back in the main 3D room document we created last issue, open the Back Wall smart Back wall laid out object by double-clicking its thumbnail in the Layers panel. Your smart the layer group and repeat the pro- object should now be open as a cess for the remaining columns. Be document with five columns. Use sure to rename your top level groups the Place Layers option (as we did as you go! in Step One) to get your Newspaper Tip: For the paragraph text Elements library content into your boxes, you can resize their height document, and rename the group by choosing the Type tool (T) and “Column 1.” Using the Move tool (V), clicking in the text area. This acti- align the contents with the leftmost vates the handles on the box, and frame outline, moving everything in you can simply drag the bottom the master group together. handle up or down for less or more Now you can get into the groups text. Don’t use Free Transform or and, with the Move tool, start the text will scale! arranging things in the first column, as you see fit. Use the Layers panel Step Five: When you’re done with to select grouped objects so they the columns, you have some cleanup stay together, and turn off Auto to do. Remember all those invisible Select in the top Options Bar. Dupli- layers you don’t need? Yeah, they cate groups and layers as needed, need to go. At the top of the Layers and make certain any elements you panel, you can use the Filter menu don’t want to use in the first column to choose Attribute, then Not Visible. are simply not visible (click their Eye Click on the top layer, then Shift- icon in the Layers panel), rather than click the lowest layer, and click the JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> deleted. Since everything started in Delete Layer icon (trash can) at the an aligned column, you can take bottom of the Layers panel to delete advantage of linking, alignment, the selection. Easy, right? etc. The column elements should Now select all five Column groups already be properly sized since the Layer stack of hidden layers and drag them into the Libraries PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP

> same Frame object was used. After panel. They’ll appear as one item in [ 92 ] you’ve placed everything, collapse the library. Rename it “Columns.” › › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND

Step Six: Turn off the Back Wall outline layer, save and close your Back Wall smart object, then move to the next item (walls, ceiling, or floor) and repeat the process. It actually goes fairly quickly once the back wall is done and you’ve saved the Column groups in the library. After you double-click the next smart object layer to open it, Right-click on Columns in the Librar- ies panel, and select Place Layers. All five Column groups will appear in the image. Now you can rearrange them, and delete them as necessary. When you have the columns placed the way you like, save the smart object file and close it. When you’re done building the 3D room, go to Image>Canvas Size, turn on Relative, click on the center grid in the Anchor grid, and then add 3 Inches to both the Width and Finished interior room with guides and Reference layer hidden the Height. Click OK to create some space around your 3D room.

Step Seven: From here, we can use the same Columns library item along with the Place Layers command to create a foreground around the room. Add the column elements to your main document, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform, and resize the groups (if necessary) all at the same time so they match the width of the front edge of your 3D room columns. If you simply duplicate the groups you placed after sizing, you KELBY ONE.COM

won’t have to repeat that step, and > Final newspaper room all your pieces will be consistent. [ 93 ] › › COLUMN

3D TEXTURE ROOM The result is a pretty cool illusion, but what if we want to use something other than newsprint? We’ll need to approach setting up the content

just a little differently. The effect works best with Stock/entanglement ©Adobe flat-looking 2D textures, so I’ve chosen a pretty spartan one for this example. (You can download the low-res preview version from Adobe Stock by clicking here, logging in with you Adobe ID, and clicking Save to Library.)

Step One: First, from the working document, duplicate the Reference group to a new document by Right-clicking on the group and choosing Duplicate Group. In the dialog that appears, choose New from the Document drop-down menu and click OK. This creates a new document that’s the same size as our working document, and sets up the Reference layer in exactly the same place. Set the Opacity of the Reference layer back to 100%. Press D to set the default colors, create Raw texture a new layer, and go to Layer>New>Background from Layer. Drag out layer guides and place them along the edges of the back wall region.

Step Two: Place your chosen texture into this new document below the Reference group, and ensure the texture layer is active (if you downloaded the preview version from Adobe Stock, drag it from the Libraries panel into your document, and press Enter). Using the Rectangular Marquee tool (M), drag out a selection around the top middle area representing the ceiling based on the guides, and press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selection to a new layer. Name the layer “Ceiling,” and then click back on the texture layer. Tip: Use Snap (View>Snap) to make precise selections along your guides. Repeat the process for each region that cor- responds to a section of our 3D room: back wall, floor, and the left and right walls. That leaves the corners out. Be sure to name each of your copied JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> regions so they match your 3D room, and then Guides along back wall edges place them in a group called “Slices.”

PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 94 ] Layer stack of cut texture pieces › › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND

Step Three: Back in the main document, open up one of the wall smart objects by double-clicking it, and hide all the Column groups. Then drag the appropriate layer from the temporary texture document to the opened smart object document. Place the texture piece in the upper-left corner of the smart object document canvas, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform, and hold Shift while dragging the lower-right corner of the texture piece to the lower-right corner of your document. Doing this transform step helps ensure the texture lines up properly with the back wall. Hit Enter, then save and close the smart object. Your main document should update showing the texture piece in place. Repeat for the remaining regions.

Step Four: When you’re done, you should have all five regions filled with texture that lines up! Final lined texture To finish it off, hide all the newspaper groups that make up the foreground, and place your chosen texture behind the 3D room smart objects. Then select the two groups that make up the 3D room and enter Free Transform. Option-drag (PC: Alt-drag) a corner point to

USING IMAGES You can do this with some scenes, too, but your mileage will vary because of the lack of corner pieces. Images with open, blank skies work really well, along with some masking along the edges.

Now that you’ve gone through all those steps, look back at the workflow. We broke the task down into repeating steps, built small chunks for flexible Tree version reuse, and set ourselves up early for the final work. Planning and organization are absolutely “king of the hill” for this kind of effect, and the time we spent on laying out guides and smart objects made applying the texture a complete breeze. For some variation, throw a frame around the border of the box, or place an object inside. I’d love to see what you come up with in the KelbyOne Community forum! n KELBY ONE.COM >

Layer stack of cut texture pieces [ 95 ] [ 96] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 > COOL WAYS INTO TO IMAGES BLENDTYPE .com 1,000 px and the Tracking to –25 in the Properties panel 1,000 pxandtheTrackingto–25inPropertiespanel D Color Picker. Choose your font (we picked a handwritten Color Picker.Chooseyourfont(wepickedahandwritten that takes advantage of one of the lesser-used blend that takesadvantageofonethelesser-usedblend to set your type. In this example, we set the Size to around to setyourtype.Inthisexample,wetheSizearound transform controls around the text, where you can drag a transform controlsaroundthetext,whereyoucandraga intheimage font calledBradleyHandBold),andthenclick techniques where blendmodeswillhelpusachieve thedesired effects. them to getsomegreat typeeffects. Inthis tutorial, we’re goingto gothrough several design toshop. Andwhilethey’re very powerful for retouching andcompositing,we canactuallyuse Blend modeshave beenaround since2000,five years after layers were first introduced inPho- (Window>Properties). We also rotated the text slightly. (Window>Properties). Wealsorotatedthetextslightly. and-hold the Command (PC: Ctrl) key to bring up the and-hold theCommand(PC:Ctrl)keytobringup modes, Dissolve. This blend mode is great for making grainy modes, Dissolve.Thisblendmodeisgreatformakinggrainy color to an off-white (#ebebeb), and click OK to close the OKtoclosethe color toanoff-white(#ebebeb),andclick rotate it. rotate it. corner pointtoresizethetext,ordragoutsidebox ground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbar, set the ground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbar, set the like chalk.Idownloadedachalkboardimagefrom Step One: Step In this first technique, we’ll do something nice and basic In thisfirsttechnique,we’lldosomethingniceandbasic effects, so in this demo, we’ll use it to make our type look effects, sointhisdemo,we’lluseittomakeourtypelook CHALK TEXT T es i towhichaddthetype. p: DAVE With theTypecursorinsertedintext,press- i Switch to the Type tool (T), click on theFore- SwitchtotheTypetool(T),click g nin LYTON CLAY g inP h o t o ©Pexels/Dids shop Pexels

90%, whichallowsthe to experiment (you can even create an exploding type experiment (youcanevencreateanexplodingtype to to useDissolvecre- through thetypeasif (not theOpacity)in ate achalkyeffect. OK. This gives the type a soft,semi-transparent and click Layers paneltoabout Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. Set the Radius to about 10 pixels, Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur.SettheRadiustoabout10pixels, chalkboard. That’sa of theLayerspaneltoDissolve,whichmakestypelook chalkboard tocome convert thetextlayertoasmartobject,andthengo grainy andchalky.It’sagreatblendmodewithwhich quick-and-simple way it wereactuallyona Step Three: Now settheblendmodeneartopleft Step Two: Step edge, which will work great with the Dissolve blend mode. edge, whichwillworkgreatwiththeDissolveblendmode. effect). ReducetheFill Next, go to Filter>Convert for Smart Filters to Next,gotoFilter>ConvertforSmartFilters

› › D E S I GNING IN PHO T OSHOP

MISTY WINDOW WRITING In this technique, we’ll use Linear Burn to make some text look as if someone wrote with their ©Unsplash/AJ Jean finger on a misty window.

Step One: First, we need our misty window (or frosted glass) image, so I downloaded another image from Unsplash, and opened it in Photoshop.

Step Two: Add a text layer using a font that looks hand-drawn. I used a font called Daft Brush (that I previously purchased from Creative Market), and typed the words “LiNEAR BURN” in off-white. Resize the text so it fits most of the image in the center.

Step Three: Apply the Linear Burn blend mode in the Layers panel so that the white text goes kind of opaque; it’s already starting to look like it’s imprinted on the window.

Step Four: To make it more realistic, we’ll add a Gaussian Blur. Because you have a text layer active, when you go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, Photoshop will ask if you want to Rasterize the text or Convert to Smart Object. Choose to convert it to a smart object, and then apply a small amount of Gaussian Blur (around 3 pixels); just enough to take the harsh edge off the text. Click OK. KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 97 ] › › HOW TO

Step Five: We’re almost there, but we should kind of be able to see through the glass where we wrote

“LiNEAR BURN.” To fake this, we’ll Banks ©Unsplash/Clay use a street scene. I downloaded a scene of the Chicago Bean from Unsplash. Go to File>Place Embed- ded, navigate to the image you want to use, and click Place. The image will appear with a bounding box around it. Hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, and drag a corner point outward to resize the image from the middle until it fills the frame. Press Enter to commit the image. Go to the Layers panel and clip the image to the text by Option-clicking (PC: Alt-clicking) between the two layers. You should now be able to see the image inside the text. You can use the Move tool (V) to position the image inside the text, as desired.

Step Six: Whenever you write on a window, there’s always a little extra condensation that starts to appear in the letters, so add a 4-pixel Gaussian Blur to the image layer. Then change the blend mode to Color Burn, which lightens the image (strange, I know; you’d think “Burn” would make it darker). Finally, reduce the Fill of the image layer to 90%. These changes make the effect look more like you were looking out onto the Bean. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 98 ] › › D E S I GNING IN PHO T OSHOP

STREET WRITING Step Two: Back in Photoshop, click In this example, we’re going to make on the Foreground color swatch, and some text look as if it has been painted set the color to yellow (#d0ba00).

©Unsplash/Ryoji Iwata ©Unsplash/Ryoji on a road. We’re using another image Using the Type tool, type the words from Unsplash of a crosswalk taken “WALK THIS WAY>” at around from above. 275 pt just above the crosswalk near the middle of the image (use the Move tool to position the type). Step One: Open the image you want Grab the Crop tool (C) and crop the to use. For the font, we’re going to use image as shown here. Right-click Axia Stencil Black from Adobe Fonts. Go on the type layer in the Layers panel, to Type>More from Adobe Fonts, search and choose Convert to Smart Object for Axia, and then click the Activate Font so we can start adding some non- switch next to Axia Stencil Black. destructive effects.

Step Three: Go to Filter>Distort> Ripple. Set the Size to Medium, slide the Amount down to around 45%, and click OK. This will make the KELBY ONE.COM edges of the type uneven. > [ 99 ] › › HOW TO

Step Four: Next, add a 1-px Filter> Blur>Gaussian Blur just to make the edges even less perfect. Finally, add a little noise by going to Filter> Noise>Add Noise. Set the Amount to around 3%, the Distribution to Uniform, turn off Monochromatic, and click OK.

Step Five: Now that we’ve roughed up our type, we need to set our blend mode to Overlay in the Layers panel to reveal the road texture in the text. For a little extra finishing effect that will make the paint look a little heavier on the road, just add a very small bevel. Click on the ƒx icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Bevel & Emboss. Set the Style to Outer Bevel, Technique to Smooth, Depth to 50%, Size to 2 px, and Soften to 0 px. Click OK. And that’s a quick-and-easy Detail road-painting job, using only blend modes and a couple of extra effects. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 100 ] › › D E S I GNING IN PHO T OSHOP

TEXT IN SPACE For this technique, we’re going to use text, a blend mode, and some layer styles to create some space text, ©Unsplash/Benjamin Voros but by simply changing the blend mode, you can create many different type effects.

Step One: For our main background, we’re going to use an image of some mountains at night from Unsplash.

Step Two: Click on the Foreground color swatch, click the darkest blue in the sky to sample it, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Add some type with the Type tool. We typed “SOFT LIGHT” (guess which blend mode we’re using!) in the font Amboy Black at 600 pt. Amboy is available on Adobe Fonts (see Step One in “Street Writing” above for activating Adobe Fonts.) Use the Move tool to place the text so that it overlaps some of the mountains in the center as shown here.

Step Three: Click on the ƒx icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Stroke. Click on the Color swatch and set the stroke color to the darkest pink that appears in the image (we went for #9a638a). Click OK to close the Color Picker, select Inside for Position, and set the Size to around 13 px. Click OK to apply KELBY ONE.COM the layer style. > [ 101 ] › › HOW TO

Step Four: Now that we have our text laid out, set the blend mode to Soft Light in the Layers panel. This will make the type pop a little more. We want the text to sit behind the mountains, so grab the Quick Selection tool (nested below the Object Selection tool [W] in the Tool- bar). Click on the Background image layer in the Layers panel to make it active, and paint the mountains to select them. The tool actually does a really nice job of this. Press Com- mand-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to copy the mountains, and then Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste them back in on a new layer. Drag this layer to the top of the layer stack.

Step Five: We want to add a little more glow to the sky area so, with the copied mountains layer active, click on the ƒx icon again at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Outer Glow. Sample a light pink from the sky, and set the Blend Mode to Multiply, Spread to 15%, Size to 100 px, and Range to around 85%. Click OK. ©Unsplash/Casey Horner ©Unsplash/Casey

Step Six: Now we’re going to download another starfield image from Unsplash. Go to File>Place Embedded, navigate to the downloaded image, and click Place. Use JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> the bounding box to rotate the image into a horizontal position, and then hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and drag a corner point outward to expand the image to cover the text. PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP > Press Enter. [ 102 ] › › D E S I GNING IN PHO T OSHOP

Step Seven: Drag this layer down in the Layers panel so it’s just above the text layer, and clip it to the text layer by pressing Command- Option-G (PC: Ctrl-Alt-G) so that the starfield only appears inside the text. It’s not a huge difference because the clipped layer picks up the Soft Light blend mode of the text, but it does add some more interest to the type. You can experiment with different blend modes with the clipped starfield image if you’d like.

Step Eight: For the final touch, click on the text layer to make it active, and add an Inner Shadow layer style with the following settings: Blend Mode Multiply; Opacity 100%; Angle 129°; Distance 10 px; Choke 50%; Size 30 px; and Noise 50%. Click OK.

Step Nine: Feel free to experiment with the blend mode on the type for some different effects. Here we set it to Color Burn.

Experimenting with type and blend modes is a lot of fun. Keep an eye out for other real-world examples, and then jump into Photoshop and try to re-create them. n KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 103 ] [ 104 ] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 > P A: Q: h to Photoshop. When youopenaRAW filefrom CameraRawinto What’s the difference between opening a opening between difference the What’s Raw, soyou’dbeapplyingthefilter settings“ontop”of are ignored; it’s asifyou’re startingfresh withCamera Photoshop asasmartobject,youcangobackand ing the Camera Raw Filter as a smart filter? filter? a smart as Filter Raw Camera the ing whatever you’dpreviously doneinCameraRaw. Filter) on a Camera Raw smart object, the existing settings Filter) onaCameraRawsmartobject,theexistingsettings worked on the file in Photoshop. Just double-click worked onthefileinPhotoshop.Justdouble-click click OK,andtheupdatedfilewillbe returned click current settings you’ve applied. Make any changes, on thesmartobjectlayerthumbnailinLayers panel toreturnCameraRaw. There you’llseethe Camera Raw file as a smart object and apply and object a smart as file Raw Camera edit thesettingsinCameraRaw, evenafteryou’ve RAW file will be opened as smart object as smart opened be will file RAW If you use the Camera Raw Filter (Filter>Camera Raw If you use the Camera Raw Filter (Filter>Camera Raw o DAVE t o shop Q&A CROSS Opening smart object in Camera Raw Filter will ignore original Camera Raw settings Raw Camera original ignore will Filter Raw Camera in object smart Opening -

To convertalayerforsmartfilters,gotoFilter>Convert for Smart Filters. for SmartFilters. apply the Camera Raw Filter as a smart filter then you apply theCameraRawFilterasasmartfilterthenyou already open in Photoshop(or even to an individual already there; youcan’t edittheoriginalsettings. and can’t beedited. Onceagain,ifyougototheCam- Filter” that appear below the layer in the Layers panel. Filter” thatappearbelowthelayerinLayerspanel. can alwaysedittheRAW settings forthatdocument mally” (notasasmartobject),thesettingsare “bakedin” or layer by double-clicking the words “CameraRaw or layerbydouble-clicking layer), thenyou’dusetheCameraRawFilter. Ifyou era RawFilter, you’re applyingsettingsontopofwhat’s Similarly, ifyouopen a RAW file into Photoshop “nor If you wantto apply Camera Raw to a JPEG that’s - › › PHO T OSHOP Q&A

ALL IMAGES BY DAVE CROSS EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

Q: I want to extend a photo to make it wider, but it’s a Camera Raw smart object. Is it possible to use Content-Aware Fill on a smart object? A: You can’t use Content-Aware Fill on a smart object, but there are a couple of other options. First, you need to extend the canvas itself to make room for the extended photograph. You can do this using the Image>Canvas Size command, or with the Crop tool (C) by dragging out a side handle to add more canvas. Then add a new layer. Now you have a couple of choices: the Patch tool or the Content-Aware Move tool. With the Patch tool (nested below the Spot Healing Brush tool [J] in the Toolbar), make a selection around the extra canvas you added (you could also use the Rectangular Marquee tool [M] to make the selection and then switch to the Patch tool). In the Options Note: As soon as pixels are created with the Patch Bar, make sure the Patch drop-down menu is set to tool and Content-Aware Move tool, they no longer have Content-Aware and Sample All Layers is turned on. any connection to the Camera Raw smart object, so you Using the Patch tool, click-and-drag the selected area can’t change the Camera Raw settings and expect the to the area you want to use as a patch. After you let extended area to update. So be sure that the Camera go, you can use the Structure and Color settings in the Raw settings are “final” before using these techniques Options Bar to fine-tune the results. to extend the photo.

Q: How do I move an existing guide? A: Switch to the Move tool (V), and when you hover your cursor over a guide, it will change to indicate that the tool is now operating as a “guide mover” (not an official name). Just click-and-drag to move the guide. Bonus: When you hover the Move tool over a guide, hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click the guide, the orientation of the guide will change from horizontal to vertical or vice versa.

Q: I have three photos on separate layers and If you’d prefer to use the Content-Aware Move tool can see that they don’t quite line up with instead (also nested below the Spot Healing Brush tool), each other. How do I line them up? change the Mode to Extend in the Options Bar, and turn A: The first step is to select all three layers, so in the Lay- on Sample All Layers. Switch to the Rectangular Mar- ers panel, click on one layer and then hold down the quee tool and Select an area in the image that’s larger Command (PC: Ctrl) key, and click on the other layers. than the blank extra canvas, and then switch back to the (If your layers are contiguous in the Layers panel, you Content-Aware Move tool. Click-and-drag the selected can click on the top layer, hold down the Shift key, and area over the extra canvas, and press Enter. click the bottom layer to select them.) Then switch to In both cases, you may need to use the Spot Healing the Move tool (V) and look in the Options Bar where Brush or Clone Stamp tool (S) to cover up any obvious you’ll see the Align commands. You’ll want to use the repetitions that appear. You may also want to add a layer second set of buttons that will Align Top Edges, Align KELBY ONE.COM mask to blend the extension with the original. Vertical Centers, or Align Bottom Edges. > [ 105 ] › › COLUMN

Q: I want to create an effect with a photo showing up inside the letters of a word, while keeping the type editable. Is that possible? A: Yes, you can keep the type editable by using a clipping mask. Leaves: ©Adobe Stock/Gennadiy Poznyakov Stock/Gennadiy ©Adobe Leaves: Create a type layer and then directly above that layer, add the photo that you want to appear inside the letters. With the photo layer active, go to the Layer menu and choose Create Clipping Mask. Now the photo will only be visible inside the letters, and you can continue to edit the type. You can also click on the photo layer in the Layers panel to make it active, and then use the Move tool (V) to reposition the image inside the text. n

If you have a Photoshop question that you’d like Dave Cross to answer in the pages of Photoshop User magazine, send it to [email protected]. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 106 ]

>Reviews GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR

The Air Direct by Tether Tools is a wireless, high-speed tether- Air Direct ing system that allows you to transfer RAW or JPEG images to your computer using the software program of your choice, or Wireless, High-Speed Tethering System to a mobile device using Tether Tools’ Air Remote app (Nikon Review by Gilmar Smith and Canon users only). Air Direct can be mounted on the hot shoe, or an L-Bracket using the Arca Clamp accessory available Company: Tether Tools for purchase on the Tether Tools website, and connects to the

Price: $329.99 camera through a USB-C cable. It has the option of 2.4-GHz or 5-GHz bandwidth for faster transmission, less environmental Rating: interference, and further distance (up to 200'). The Air Direct Worked seamlessly with Smart Shooter 4 Hot: only weighs 6 oz and measures 1.5x3.6 x2.7". JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

Not: Compatibility issues with macOS Catalina The unit is independently powered by an LP-E6/N battery, > so it doesn’t take power from your camera, and the battery life is 3.5 hours. The Air Direct comes with a DC port that allows you to change the battery without losing power and interrupt-

PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP ing your session. >

[ 108 ] › › REVIEWS

The Air Direct currently has compatibility issues with macOS Catalina, but Tether Tools is working on a fix. (If you haven’t made the update to Catalina, or you use Windows, there are no “I love having the compatibility problems.) As a Mac user, I had already upgraded camera ‘untethered,’ to Catalina when I received the Air Direct for review; so, in order because I mostly work for it to work, I had to download Smart Shooter 4, which is compatible with Nikon, Canon, and Sony cameras. (Smart with kids, I usually forget Shooter costs $69.95, and the Pro version costs $195.95, but the camera is attached there’s a free 30-day trial available.) The Air Direct worked wonderfully, and I was able to wire- to the computer via a lessly transfer my images to my computer via Smart Shooter cable, and I’m clumsy.” with no issues. I love having the camera “untethered,” because I mostly work with kids, I usually forget the camera is attached to the computer via a cable, and I’m clumsy. n KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 109 ] REVIEWS › ›

I imagine many photographers have at least one FlashBender with them at all times. It’s a flash modifier that can direct, soften, or FlashBender v3 diffuse light efficiently, while also being foldable and lightweight enough to take it with you in your photo bag. How to Improve a Portable Light Modifier The basic concept of the FlashBender hasn’t changed since the first version hit the market. It’s the weight, bending system, and Review by Erik Vlietinck attachment system that have evolved, with the current version (v3) hugely improved in all three areas. The most obvious improvement is the attachment system, which will save you time and worry. Whereas the first version used Company: ExpoImaging, Inc. two elastic bands and Velcro strips, and the second allowed for the bands to fit smaller flash heads better, holding the FlashBender Price: $39.95 (Small reflector); $44.95 (Large reflector); more securely in place, the attachment now depends on a buckle $119.95 (XL Pro Lighting System) connection. This allows you to tighten the attachment by pulling on the nylon fastening bands while the FlashBender mounting Rating: piece is already wrapped around the flash head. It’s especially great with the large model which, because of the weight of the shape Hot: Buckle system; dramatic weight loss; very mobile; effect on lighting rods and the rather thick fabric, used to be top-heavy and not that easily taken from one location to the next. Not: All that has changed! The buckle connection creates a much more secure attachment, further helped by the mounting area, JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

which now has a soft, padded silicon rubberized surface so it > can really shape itself and sit even tighter around the flash head. No more wobbling, not even with the big FlashBender. The shaping rods and the reflector fabrics themselves have also been improved. The rods, once bent, stay in place with no further fiddling, and they’re easier to manipulate while still holding their PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP

> shape as well as before. Finally, the fabric seems to weigh less while [ 110 ] still maintaining its perfect opacity. n › › REVIEWS

PDFpenPro 12 is the most feature-complete PDF editor for the Mac. It’s a paid upgrade, as it includes a considerable number of PDFpenPro 12 new features, including ones that bring more businesslike functionality to the Mac. Business Functionality and Better PDFpenPro 12 reduces a PDF’s file size as much or as little as Creation Tools for Mac needed. You can set options for color, grayscale, or monochrome images to compress documents for sharing, storing, or archiving, Review by Erik Vlietinck all while retaining quality. You’ll also find that PDFpenPro 12 uses several compression methods such as MRC, CCITT, as well as post OCR compression. Company: Smile The visible improvements start with the ability to create a PDF from customized paper styles with a specific orientation for new Price: $129.95; $35 (Upgrade from PDFpenPro 11) documents. When creating documents, you’ll need some power- Rating: 5 ful zooming functionality to position elements in exact positions. PDFpenPro 12 supports zooming in on specific areas of a page Hot: Resizing algorithm; DocuSign functionality; with a new Magnifier window. In the window, you’ll see your magnification; new callout feature magnified area with up to 2,000% magnification. DocuSign support, the most important new feature, will appeal Not: to people who need to digitally sign documents. DocuSign is a company that automates how businesses prepare, sign, act on, and manage agreements; so, first, you’ll need a DocuSign account. Once you’ve set that up, you can log in from within PDFpenPro 12, and the whole process won’t take more than lit- erally 2 minutes. Finally, but not too important, PDFpenPro 12 has a new welcome experience, offering a few tips to start working with the app. It stops being useful as soon as you know the app. In short, PDFpenPro 12 puts the powerful functionality that KELBY ONE.COM

Acrobat delivers on the Windows platform in the hands of Mac > users, without a subscription fee, and that’s a good thing! n [ 111 ] REVIEWS › ›

The Nissin MG80 Pro is a flash with a guide number of 60 at 200mm. Unique about the MG80 Pro is that it can be powered by Nissin MG80 four 14500 Li-ion or four AA rechargeable batteries. I tried the Nis- sin with the 14500 cells, which deliver a recycling time of 1.2 sec. The build quality of the Nissin MG80 is what you’d expect Pro Flash from a high-end product. The flash is robustly built and perfectly finished, with a ventilated head that enables it to maintain its Modeling Light and HSS Done Right highest speed over a good number of shots. Its color LCD inter-

Review by Erik Vlietinck face is home to largely graphic but clear information. The battery door has an idiot-proof lock mechanism, and the mounting foot is all metal with a large blue locking ring for easy, quick fastening. The control knobs are easy to use, even with gloves on. The Company: ExpoImaging, Inc. select dial is a bit too small for gloves-on operation but controls lesser-used features, such as high-speed sync (HSS), channel Price: $549.95 switching for the Nissin Air System (NAS), manual zooming, and

Web: the switch for the (loud) audible feedback. The flash comes with two exchangeable lenses. Hot: Build quality; control panel; ease of use; The MG80 Pro offers TTL automatic flash exposure with HSS; modeling light; uniform output; +/- 2 EV compensation in 1/3 EV step intervals and a manual flash battery options; transceiver functionality output mode, offering 1/256 to 1/1 control in 1/3 step intervals. JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> Not: Air 10s incompatible with older My test unit was the Sony-compatible version, and the distributor Alpha cameras; 8 shots (instead of 10) was kind enough to send me the Air 10s Commander to test the at high speed NAS system. Unfortunately, the Air 10s isn’t compatible with my older A700, so I couldn’t test the NAS wireless radio control of multiple off-camera flashes, which promises eight channels, eight PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP

> groups, and a maximum transmission distance of 100 meters. On [ 112 ] Sony cameras, the MG80 Pro supports both ADI and PTTL. The › › REVIEWS

flash offers first curtain and second curtain sync, red-eye reduc- tion, HSS (up to 1/8000s at 1/32 to 1/1 output), and slow shutter sync. It zooms from 24–200mm. Other high-end features include continuous flash mode with up to 10 shots/sec, a really useful modeling light, advanced grouping capabilities, and TTL memory. I was pleasantly surprised by the user-friendly interface. Many of the controls, however, hide more functionality than is shown. To operate those (many of which require you to hold a button “…high-end features for a number of seconds), you’ll have to consult the manual. The firmware of this flash can be updated using a Micro SD-card slot. include continuous flash One of the advanced features of the MG80 Pro is its modeling mode with up to 10 shots/sec, light. When used in a NAS setup with other flashes, the modeling light of the whole group can be switched on. On the Nissin MG80 a really useful modeling light, Pro, it’s a constant LED light you turn on for as long as you wish with a simple button. In comparison, on my Metz Mecablitz 64 advanced grouping capabilities, AF-1 digital flash, you have to select this optional feature in the menu, and it makes the flash strobe quickly for about 5 seconds. and TTL memory.” Another advanced feature is the HSS functionality. I consider it advanced because Nissin has made it a simple operation; and it actually works well, unlike on some other flashes. The MG80 Pro’s implementation means that not only can you freeze action, but you can also shoot an interior without the need to create a HDR image in post to show what’s outside the window. Of course, you buy a flash for its basic quality, and my test unit created beautifully even results at every output level. If there’s anything that didn’t KELBY ONE.COM

fully live up to the specs, it was the Li-ion recycling time: That was > spot-on for about 8 shots instead of the promised 10. n [ 113 ] REVIEWS › ›

The USB 3.1 Gen 2 Tool-Free NVMe SSD Enclosure from Plugable lets you quickly switch between SSDs. We tested it with a Crucial Plugable SSD P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD. The Crucial P1 delivers sequential read/write speeds up to 2,000 MB/s and 1,700 MB/s. On my machine, the maximum throughput Enclosure with of the Crucial P1 stranded at a respectable 1,700 MB/s read and 993 MB/s write speed; however, the enclosure I used to test the maximum throughput was a Thunderbolt 3 device. Crucial P1 SSD The Plugable USB 3.1 Gen 2 NVMe SSD Enclosure is very small, made of black anodized aluminum, with the Plugable logo dis- Small Aluminum SSD Enclosure Has creetly placed on top and a USB-C type port on the side. The Great Performance with Crucial P1 opposite side is home to a spring-loaded lock. Both top and bot-

Review by Erik Vlietinck tom have cooling ribs. The whole thing is a centimeter or so longer than Apple’s Magic Mouse and about half as large. The Crucial P1 was an exact fit. Companies: Plugable and Crucial Inside the enclosure, you’ll find a rubber peg with a notch. The SSD’s edge fits in the notch so it sits tightly. The Plugable NVMe Price: Plugable SSD Enclosure: $69.99; enclosure’s design allows for easy switching of NVMe SSDs, Crucial P1: $104.99 (1 TB) although I can’t tell what the effect would be if you did that a

Rating: number of times a week. Plugable ships the enclosure with a few silicon bumpers to Hot: Plugable: Design; fits a shirt pocket; secure shorter NVMe SSDs. In addition, the box also contains a JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> decent performance; switching few extra pegs, and the bottom plate inside has holes in different units is easy locations to accept them, also to fit shorter SSDs. Crucial P1: Faster than most NVMe As for performance, the speed of the Crucial P1 in the Plugable SSDs with Thunderbolt 3; compatible with most systems enclosure wasn’t as high as with Thunderbolt 3, but it was still considerable at 600 MB/s write and 850 MB/s read speed. The PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP

> unit does get warm when copying a lot of files to it, so I think you Not: [ 114 ] shouldn’t use it to copy gigantic numbers of files in one move. n › › REVIEWS

At the beginning of May, the Capture One team gave a live stream presentation of the then upcoming update because they Capture One couldn’t keep silent about it. That update is free and it’s a really important one. It speeds up retouching and editing with at least a factor of three. While the update has several improvements, Pro 20.1 the two most important ones are the new healing/cloning layer functionality and a brand-new Before/After slider. Intelligent Healing/Cloning and Useful To work with the Heal/Clone Brush, it’s no longer necessary Before/After Slider to first set a source point and repeat that for each and every Review by Erik Vlietinck blemish in the image. The new tool allows you to just start painting over blemishes and things that you want to remove from the photo. Capture One figures out for itself what you want to remove and what it must steer clear of. In 99% of the cases, the source points that are chosen are the ones you’d select yourself. The new feature works with no delays in the Company: Phase One processing whatsoever. Capture One removes an object that touches on boundaries Price: $299.99 of others without disturbing the area that should remain intact as well. For example, a tin can lying in the gutter of a street is Rating: 5 difficult to get rid of, even for the app, but as the source points

Hot: Accurate results; slider is more useful can be edited and switched from visible to invisible and vice than competition’s; improved Lightroom versa, you can adjust the point and let Capture One adjust the catalog importer; a specific Capture One lighting angle and strength to compensate for the removal of version is now available for Nikon users the object. Not: The new Before/After slider is implemented in a more useful way than in competing apps. It works on multiple images at once, shows edit results on all of them in real time, and syncs KELBY ONE.COM

(slows down/speeds up) its progress to compensate for the > difference between portrait and landscape mode. n [ 115 ] REVIE WS › ›

Digital Photography for Dummies, 9th Edition Ninth Edition? Wow! A lot has changed since the first edition. Julie Adair King (My first book in this Wiley series, Photoshop CS2 for Dummies, Review by Peter Bauer even had a short chapter on why you should switch from film to digital. And that was only 15 years ago.) Back in those days, a

Publisher: Wiley 1-megapixel camera was pretty special. A 6-megapixel camera from Kodak might set you back almost $30,000 (that’s close Pages: 368 to $50,000 today). The camera I carry in my pocket, which Price: $13.00 (Kindle); $24.99 (paperback) I also use to make phone calls, is 12 megapixels. But enough

Rating: of Memory Lane and onto the Fast Track. If you’re exploring photography (digital, of course) or know someone who is, this is the perfect book. The author starts at the beginning (selecting a camera) and works all the way through to the end (preserving, JUNE/JULY 2020 JUNE/JULY

> printing, and sharing your photos). In between, you’ll find basic concepts including exposure, depth of field, and cropping. n PHOTOSHOP USER PHOTOSHOP >

[ 116 ] › › REVIE WS

Up Close and Personal: The Wide World of Insect Photography This is a short book, but it covers the subject pretty thoroughly. Thomas Vasas (I could make a joke about a tiny book for tiny photographic Review by Peter Bauer subjects, but time flies and it might bug you!) Seriously, the author looks at macro photography of insects closely. (Ouch!)

Publisher: Amazon.com Services LLC The examples are excellent, and each includes information about what lens and settings were used to capture the image. Pages: 29 He talks about photographing insects at different times of day, Price: $4.50 (Kindle) which insects make the best subjects (with specific tips for dif-

Rating: ferent types of insects), and has very good recommendations on equipment. (In addition to his favorite macro lenses, he rec- ommends specific tripods, angle viewfinders, and even which focusing rack is best for the job.) There’s even a very short chapter (83 words) on respecting the insects that are posing for you. He ends that chapter with the sentence “Each life, no matter how small, should be respected.” n KELBY ONE.COM >

[ 117 ] [ 118 ] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 > There are somePhotoshop tipsthatare well known andthenthere are somethataren’t. Theimportant BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY &CREATIVITY P This option is great if you have lots of small objects on your This optionisgreat ifyouhavelotsofsmall objects onyour The CreativeCloudappwillnowcheckforanyup-to-the- turn on Auto-Select in the top Options Bar, and choose Layer turn on Auto-Select in the top Options Bar, and choose Layer turn onEnableAutoUpdate.Ipersonallydon’tuseauto force-check foranewupdate,evenifitdoesn’tappear UPDATE PHOTOSHOP simple, right? Well, it is! With the Move tool (V) selected, simple, right? Well, it is!Withthe Move tool(V) selected, shop tomakeitactive,justasyoudoinIllustrator.Seems second updates. This is often where you’ll find your latest How would you like to simply click on an object in Photo- How wouldyouliketo simply click Has this ever happened to you? You hear about a new Has thiseverhappenedtoyou?Youhearaboutanew also turn on Show Transform Controls. also turnonShowTransform Controls. update to Photoshop, so you jump onto your computer, update toPhotoshop,soyoujumpontoyourcomputer, update, becauseIprefertowaitandseeifthereareany on thethree-dot update. Ifyoulike,canalsoclick weeds! Youdon’tseeanewupdateatall.Here’showto question is:Doyou know them?Ifyou don’t, thenthey’re notwell-known to you. Inthisissue,we’re doing right in Windows; click on Updates in the column on the right in Windows; click only seeOpenbuttons,chooseHelp>CheckforUpdates. andtumble- open theCreativeCloudapp,and—crickets is selected and have access to transform handles at all times, is selectedandhaveaccessto transform handlesatalltimes, in thedrop-downmenuto right.Toknowwhichlayer left; andlookforblueUpdatebuttonsonyourapps.Ifyou icon inyourOS,eitheratthetoprightforMac,orbottom in your Creative Cloud app. Click on your Creative Cloud issues, asMacOSupdatescanoftencauseconflicts. icon nearthetoprightofCreativeCloudappand CLICK TO MAKE OBJECTS ACTIVE ACTIVE OBJECTS MAKE TO CLICK a mixof notwell-known andsomewell-known, butforgotten tips.How many of theseare new to you? So why wouldn’t you leave Auto-Select on all the time? So whywouldn’t youleaveAuto-Selectonall thetime? h o COLIN t o shop Tips SMITH When I’m using a Wacom pen for drawing, I like to have the padlocknexttoTransferlockthosesettings.Pres- the settingsonleftsideofBrushSettingspanel?If the opacity.Thisiseasyenoughtosetup,butmoment the penpressurecontrolbrushsize;however,when trying todosomethingaspecificlayer.Youdon’talways the wayifyouonlyhaveafewoverlappinglayersandyou’re for Opacity Jitter from Off to Pen Pressure, you can click for OpacityJitterfromOfftoPenPressure,youcanclick settings. Thisisabigtimesaverforme. sure willnowcontrolopacityandnotsize,evenwhenyou so youhavetochange the settingsinBrushSettings you click thepadlock,itwilllockthosesettings.So,ifyou you click you switchtoadifferentbrush,thebrushsettingschange, and then press D to set your Foreground color to white. and thenpress DtosetyourForeground color towhite. adjustment disappear intheimage.Choose the Brushtool, angle totherightofadjustment layer’sthumbnailto apply thefilteroradjustmentonlywhereyouwantit.Imag - Did you know that you can paint in any adjustment or filter Did youknowthatcanpaintinanyadjustmentorfilter whole image. In the Layers panel, click onthewhite rect- whole image.IntheLayerspanel, click PAINT IN ANY ADJUSTMENT OR FILTER FILTER OR ADJUSTMENT ANY IN PAINT LOCKING YOUR BRUSH SETTINGS SETTINGS BRUSH YOUR LOCKING on. want toselecteverythingyouclick make its layer mask active. Press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to make itslayermaskactive.Press Command-I(PC:Ctrl-I)to menu forSizeJitterfromPenPressuretoOff,andthengo change brushes.Itwillstaythiswayuntilyouunlockthe new brush. panel (Window>BrushSettings)eachtimeyouselecta page that you’re rearranging, but this behavior can get in page thatyou’rerearranging,butthisbehaviorcangetin go intoShapeDynamicsandsettheControldrop-down invert the mask from white to black, which will make the invert themaskfromwhiteto black,whichwillmakethe ine the creative possibilities this opens. ine thecreativepossibilitiesthisopens. in Photoshop?ThatmeansyouusetheBrushtool(B)to into TransferandchangetheControldrop-downmenu I’m retouching,Iprefertohavethepenpressurecontrol When you apply an adjustment layer, it applies to the When youapplyanadjustment layer,itappliestothe Did youevernoticethepadlockicontorightof › › PHO T OSHOP TIPS

ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH

Now wherever you paint on your image (with the mask still the Toolbar can be converted to a double column of selected), the adjustment will appear—an Adjustment Brush tools instead of a single column, which makes it much in Photoshop. Neat! shorter. If your Toolbar is docked, you’ll see double arrows I also said filter, didn’t I? To do this with a filter, Right- at the top left; if it’s floating, the arrows will be at the click on the layer to which you want to add the filter and top right. Click those arrows and the Toolbar switches to choose Convert to Smart Object. Now when you apply the two columns, which not only makes it shorter, but it also filter to the entire image, it will be applied as a smart filter. makes the Foreground and Background color swatches a In the Layers panel, you’ll see the Smart Filters mask below little bit bigger. This is how Photoshop’s Toolbar always the layer and above the filter name. Click on the mask, press looked; until it didn’t. Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to invert it, and you’re ready to paint with white to add that filter where you want. FLOW VS. OPACITY FOR BRUSHES I’m often asked what’s the difference between Flow and Opacity in the tool Options Bar for brushes. The short answer is that it’s like comparing an airbrush to a pencil. Flow controls how much comes out of your brush at once. Imagine a can of spray paint. The longer you hold down the nozzle, the more paint builds up. It’s the same in Photoshop; but your mouse button or pen tip is the nozzle. In contrast, Opacity is the maximum darkness you’ll get no matter how long you hold the mouse button or paint over the same area; you have to release the mouse button or pen tip, and then paint the same area again to make it darker, more like a pencil. In other words, with Flow, the paint will build up as you hold the mouse button and you move your cursor back and forth; with Opacity, you have to make separate brushstrokes to build up the paint. So try both and use the setting that feels right for the way you work.

BLEND MODES ON BRUSHES I’m sure most people are familiar with blending modes on layers. These blending modes are also available on brushes. Once you choose a brush, you can choose different blending modes in the Mode drop-down menu in the top Options Bar. Using blending modes with brushes is useful for many things, including adding light to images. The most useful is the Color blend mode. In Color mode, only the color changes in the image, and the luminosity is protected. Worth noting, the keyboard shortcuts for cycling through blend modes work on brushes. When a brush is active, DOUBLE COLUMN TOOLBAR holding the Shift key and tapping either plus (+) or minus This is such a simple tip that I assumed everyone knew (–) will cycle through all the different blending modes. [For it, so I never thought of sharing it. But it’s come to my more on blending modes, check out this issue’s feature KELBY ONE.COM attention that newer Photoshop users don’t realize that story on page 52.—Ed.] n > [ 119 ] [ 120] > PHOTOSHOP USER > JUNE/JULY 2020 > ANSWERS TO PHOTOSHOP ANDGEAR-RELATED QUESTIONS From the Help Desk You never noticed that menu command before?) You nevernoticedthatmenucommandbefore?) This shouldn’t be necessary if the two layers are copies This shouldn’tbenecessaryif the twolayersarecopies Stack). The resulting Photoshop file will have two layers, Stack). TheresultingPhotoshopfilewillhavetwolayers, those on the lower layer. Every pixel that’s identical to the those onthelowerlayer.Everypixelthat’sidenticalto the active layer. Change the layer’s blending mode from the activelayer.Changelayer’sblendingmodefrom tripod whenshooting.) two nearlyidenticallandscapeimages,evenifyouuseda to eachotherratherthanattemptingcreateapanorama. for the pixels are exactly the same. for thepixelsareexactlysame. the same color profile), you can easily compare where the the same color profile), you can easily compare where the (You’ll definitelywanttousethiscommandifyou’recom- down to thepixel level. Isthere aneasy way to dothis?—Stevie I have two different versions of aphoto andI’d like to compare thedifference, notjustvisually, but shop’s menu command Select>All Layers. (What’s that? Layers.(What’sthat? shop’s menucommandSelect>All among pixels on the top layer and those on the lower Photoshop compares the pixels on the upper layer with Photoshop comparesthepixelsonupperlayerwith Projection option Auto, and click OK. This aligns the layers OK.Thisalignsthelayers Projection optionAuto,andclick Layers (or in Photoshop, go to File>Scripts>Load Files into Files into Layers (or in Photoshop, go to File>Scripts>Load Normal to Difference. Using the Difference blending mode, Normal toDifference.Using the Differenceblending mode, or as white. Some areas may have very subtle differences of seconds with that command. In the dialog, select the of secondswiththatcommand.Inthedialog,select of the same photo, but itdoesn’t hurt to spend a couple command Tools>Photoshop>Load Files into Photoshop FilesintoPhotoshop command Tools>Photoshop>Load copies differ.SelectthetwoimagesinBridgeanduse pletely black. By “identical,” I mean that the RGB values pletely black.By“identical,”ImeanthattheRGBvalues pixel directlybelowitonthelowerlayerwillturncom - paring twophotosfrom,forexample,aportraitsession,or one fromeachofthetwoselectedimages.UsePhoto- pixel dimensions, neither cropped or resized, both with pixel dimensions,neithercroppedorresized,bothwith If the two images are basically the same photo (identical If thetwoimagesarebasicallysamephoto(identical Areas that are very different will show as colorful areas Areas that are very different will show as colorful areas In the Layers panel, click on the top layer to make it onthetoplayertomakeit In theLayerspanel,click In Photoshop’sEditmenu,chooseAuto-AlignLayers. PETERBAUER

two layersaren’tidentical.And,ofcourse,youcanadd tions byswitchingthetoplayerbacktoNormalblending to thecursor’spositioninimagewindow(theX/Y to theX/Ycoordinates. tool, showing the RGB and CMYK differences in addition tip toworkproperly?TheCroptool.Whenthetool the twolayers. the cursor through the image (move, don’t drag), and switch thetoplayertoNormalblendingmodeand subtle tosee,goPhotoshop’sWindowmenuand a separatelayerwithbright circles, arrows,andsuchto as the top layer. You can further demonstrate the varia- away fromitspanelgrouptoseeitfullyexpand.Move highlight areasofdifference. reduce itsOpacityto,say,50%toshowareaswherethe its Eye iconintheLayerspanel.Youcanalso clicking mode andswitchingthatlayer’svisibilityonoffby coordinates relative to the upper-left corner of the image). watch forchangesintheRGBorCMYKvalues ple) thatoneofthetwoimageshasbeenmanipulated, open theInfopanel.Youmayneedtodragpanel of thethreecolorchannels. profile). Someofthosevariationsmayevenbeinonlyone is active,theInfopanelonlyshowsinformationrelated I generallysuggesthavingtheallegedlyalteredversion Interestingly, the Perspective Crop tool acts as any other Info paneltoidentifysmallvariationsbetweenpixelson layer (especiallyifeitherimageisusingadifferentcolor Photoshop If youneedtopresentevidence(toaclient,forexam- If youwanttoexplorethedifferencesthataretoo

T r i via : Whichtoolcan’tbeactiveforthis n

Watch What’s Trending on the KelbyOne Channel!

Change Mood with Tracy Sweeney | Photo Tip Friday

Prevent Sensor Dust with Scott Kelby | Wedding Details with Bob Davis | Photo Tip Friday Photo Tip Friday

Directing Models with Bob Davis | Photo Tip Friday

Lightroom Tips | Photoshop Tutorials | Photography Tips “Photo Tip Friday” Quick Tips | Online Class Trailers | Full Episodes of The Grid Learning Light Designed by Scott Kelby

Learn lighting in the palm of your hand. • Made for educators and students • Designed to teach photography lighting • Offers a variety of lighting techniques • Lightweight handheld design • LED is cool to the touch • Optional mount for a tripod or stand • Standard AA batteries included EDU Price: $89.90

Quickly switch Center column rotates Includes KelbyOne between daylight to change lighting video training and tungsten light options for students and educators

Experiment with various light techniques and effects

Direct Light Diffused Light Fresnel Gobo

See how different light patterns look on your subject Designed by Scott Kelby

The Learning Light is the first educational lighting device that allows you to experiment with various lighting techniques without the need for complex or expensive equipment.

Scott is a photographer, designer, and award- winning author of more than 80 books, including The Flash Book, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It, and The Digital Photography Book Series. He’s Editor of Photoshop User magazine, and CEO of the Split Rembrandt Butterfly Loop KelbyOne Online Educational Community.

See it in action and order yours at fjwestcott.com/learning-light-by-scott-kelby