Library: Inside Photoshop

by Jim Whitcomb
Application:
Adobe Photoshop CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5
Operating Systems:
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows
 

Modern photos are great but at times you may want to give your images a turn-of-the-century look. For fun, you might want to dress up in an late 19th-century costume, strike a pose, shoot some shots, use our technique to antique your results, and see if you can fool your friends into believing you found a photo of a long-lost relative!

To achieve the antique look, we’ll:

1. Use the Duotone command to change the color of the image.
2. Soften the edges with the Brush tool.
3. Use the Brush tool again and distress the image with a few scratches and dust spots.

Photography has definitely changed over the years. First there was the Daguerreotype, then the silver halides films and prints, then reversal films, and now digital images. Along the way, not only have the methods and materials changed, but the look has as well. While you probably don’t want to go back to photography of the early 1900s, you might want to re-create the soft, warm feeling of prints from that era. By using Photoshop’s Duotone command and a few antiquing tricks, you can easily give your digital images that turn-of-the-century look, as shown in Figure A.

A

The good ol’ days
The good ol’ days weren’t really all that good with regard to

by Amy Courtright
Application:
Adobe Photoshop CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5
Operating Systems:
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows

Although not as in-depth as Illustrator, you can still create sharp, high-quality illustrations in Photoshop. Not only that, but you can then take advantage of all of Photoshop’s filters and effects to enhance your images. So, the next time you have to draw a simple graphic, try using your favorite image-editing program.

To create drawings in Photoshop, we’ll:

1. Explain the difference between vector art and pixel art.
2. Discuss Photoshop’s extensive vector tools including how to use the Pen tool and custom shapes when working in shape layers.
3. Show you how to use these tools by creating a cat graphic, and we’ll show you how to apply layer styles, such as fills and drop shadows, to it.
4. Explain how to make your graphic a custom shape and show you a few different approaches you can use to fine-tune your illustrations using Photoshop’s brushes.

Usually when you think of an application geared toward creating illustrations, Adobe Illustrator comes to mind. However, Photoshop is also a powerful application that you can use for creating digital art. With advanced vector capabilities and enhanced brushes, you can create digital illustrations, as displayed on this month’s cover, that rival those created in more traditional drawing applications. And besides that, it’s nice to be able to create an entire project in one application. So, rather than use another program to draw your graphics and then import them into Photoshop to apply special effects, you can do it all right in Photoshop. We’ll show you how.

Vector vs. pixels

Vector-based drawings are drawings made up of resolution-independent shapes or lines. The benefit of using vector-based objects is that you can resize them without compromising the quality of your graphic, unlike pixel-based images, as demonstrated in Figure A. When pixels are enlarged, they become choppy and lose clarity. This is because pixels are small squares that make up an image. When viewed from a distance, they blend together to create a smooth image. However, when you enlarge or scale them, the individual squares become more apparent.

by Jim Whitcomb
Application:
Adobe Photoshop CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5
Operating Systems:
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows

The Healing Brush tool is a terrific helping hand in removing imperfections from an image you might otherwise find unusable. You’ll benefit by having a wider selection of subjects to choose from, you won’t have to spend additional time and expense reshooting or buying an image, and you can use this tool to fix imperfections in portraits and product shots.

To help you heal images with the Healing Brush tool, we’ll:

1. Review just how the Healing Brush tool works.
2. Select an image and identify the areas we want to alter.
3. Practice on a problem area and note the cause-and-effect relationship of using the Healing Brush tool and its options.
4. Look at our work and review our results.

Have you ever come across an image that would be perfect to use except for a spot located right in the middle of your subject? A speck of dust, a scratched paint job, or a smudge of dirt can all render your image less than desirable. But you don’t have to let a little spot ruin an entire image. Photoshop’s Healing Brush tool is a great tool for correcting these types of imperfections. With the Healing Brush, you can touch up a problem area, making it blend into the surrounding image, and avoid having to reshoot a subject or having to use a different image.

Select a practice photo
Before you start, go through your archives and find a good candidate for retouching with the Healing Brush tool, such as the example shown in Figure A. Next, launch Photoshop and open your file.

A

As mentioned earlier, take a few moments to analyze your image. Our example is a daffodil with a number of dirt spots and other blemishes. The surface of the flower is smooth and without busy detail. The flower is softly lit from the top with only a hint of shadow under the petals. Because the lighting is low-key and gradual, any retouching yo

by Jim Whitcomb
Whether you’re new to digital photography or have been shooting for some time, you eventually get to the point where you ask yourself, How can I take better pictures? Your answer should have two parts—you can improve your technique and improve your design.

To take better photos with a focus on lines, we’ll:

1. Provide a brief overview of design and the design process.
2. Look at specific line design elements and the visual significance of each.
3. Show you various examples that demonstrate each configuration.

No doubt you’re aware how important technique is. To be able to take a digital photo, you must know how your digital camera operates, how best to use light, and how to properly frame your shot, among other things. But what’s important about design? Just as design guides an artist as he creates a layout or drawing, design also guides a successful photographer. Although snapshots are fun, and every photographer takes them, when you’re ready to take the next step toward better digital photos, like our shot in Figure A, design becomes a vital part of your picture. We’ll begin our multi-part series about design elements with the line.  

A

Design 101
Design is a broad topic of study that encompasses many facets. However, simply put, a design is a plan that serves an artist, such as a photographer, as a guide to creation of a work, such as a photograph. The design process has two stages: development and application. First, the artist fashions a design,

Reader Forum
by Amy Palermo
Application:
Adobe Photoshop CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5
Operating Systems:
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows

I want to crop an image clos

Reader Forum
by G.H. Cloutier and Amy Courtright
Application:
Adobe Photoshop CS3/CS4/CS5
Operating Systems:
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows

Is there any way to easily align objects in Photoshop? I want to have all of my images line up perfectly, but it can be tedious trying to do it by eye, and even when I use guides they still don’t line up perfectly.

Photoshop does have alignment options located on the Layer menu. You can align the top edges, vertical centers, bo

Reader Forum
by Stephen Dow
Application:
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Operating Systems:
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I’m having trouble controlling noise in my images when shooting with my digital camera. Do you have any recommendations on how I can avoid noise when shooting? I appreciate any suggestions you can provide.

This is a great question, as digital noise is one of the biggest problems faced by digital photographers. The good news is that you can avoid it. The first thing to do is consider your ISO setting. Higher ISO settings tend to display more digital noise than

Reader Forum
by Amy Palermo
Application:
Adobe Photoshop CS/CS2/CS3/CS4
Operating Systems:
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows

I’m working on about a dozen Photoshop collages and am doing a lot of moving and pasting images into the main collage document. Specifically, I’m wondering is th

Quick Tip
by Jim Whitcomb
Application:
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Operating System:
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Have you ever viewed an image and thought it would be better if only there were a few branches in the foreground or a row of trees in the background? We think our shot in <

Quick Tip
by Jim Whitcomb
Application:
N/A
Operating Systems:
N/A
 

Bullets—text bullets, that is—are common layout elements used to signal or flag important points in documents and slide show presentations. Al

Quick Tip
by Stephen Dow
Application:
Adobe Photoshop CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5
Operating Systems:
Macintosh, Microsoft Windows
 

In Photoshop terms, jitter is the amount of variation you allow for a certain setting when using a custom brush. While jitter is typically used to vary