Tips for Adobe Photoshop

Article by Susan Brennan

Adobe Photoshop is a fabulous program containing tools for manipulating and enhancing pictures and graphics. Although the application is useful it can be complicated for some. Here are some tips you may find helpful even if you are a veteran Photoshop user.

Picture "pops out" of the frame

This is an easy task that can have dramatic effects. A portion of the picture will "pop out" of the original frame and look as though it has "popped" onto your screen.

• Save a copy of the original picture and work on a second copy, just in case you make mistakes.

• Use any selection tool to cut out only the portion of the image you wish to have "pop out".

• Lift the image by using the Float Command and duplicate it onto its own layer.

• Create a new layer in the frame for the photo. You can use textures, borders or nothing at all.

Place a picture into text

Placing a picture into text is a simple job that creates a word using the picture. The picture will be placed into the text.

• Select the image you want and place it in a new layer with a solid background.

• Set the word you want using the type input method of choice. Use a style with a large area so much of your picture can be seen.

• Select the type so you can move it around.

• Click on the picture layer to edit the picture.

• Use the Float Command to pick up the picture inside your text.

• The selection will start a new layer and fill with a copy of the picture.

• Turn off the original layer with the picture and your text will be filled with the picture.

Remove the white background from an image

Many images end up having a white background included in the frame. For example, a logo that may be used on different documents will often be surrounded by a white square. When placing it on a white page this is not a problem. However, placing it on a coloured page will show the white square behind it. For a more professional look, follow these steps to remove the unwanted background.

• Start a new layer and create an object of the same shape as your picture. The shape must replicate that of your picture and will be used like a cookie-cutter to place over the picture.

• Make sure your shape layer is under the original picture layer in the Layer Palette.

• Place the pointer over the line that divides these two layers in the Layer Palette while holding down the Alt/Option Key and click.

• You have created a layer group. Choose Save As and select Photoshop EPS as the file format. Name the file. You are done.

NOTE: You may use Help and Export Transparent Image for an interactive wizard to help prepare images with transparency to be used in a page-layout application.

Make old photos look more vivid

Old photos can look dark or have a brown or gray colour covering the entire image. Photoshop can help brighten and colour these types of photos to make them vibrant and bring them closer to their original state.

• Use Photo Filter from the Adjustment Layers area to choose colour filters based on what your photo looks like.

• Choose Colour Balance from the Adjustment Layers area to adjust flesh and other tone levels for different elements in the photo.

• Use Levels to balance the photo after the above changes are made.

• Select an area with the Magic Wand to adjust from the Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. You can repeat these steps as many times and in as many areas as necessary.

• Adjust the Brightness/Contrast levels as your final adjustments to the photo.

Whiten teeth and eyes in Photoshop

There is no better way to make someone look fantastic than to whiten their teeth and eyes in a photo.

• Create a new layer.

• Select the Dodge tool.

• Set the Range to Midtones on the Tool Options bar. The default Exposure is set at 50%. You may change this, but 50% is a good place to start.

• Run the Dodge tool over the teeth and eyes to whiten. If you make a mistake or the results are too white, you can use Undo to reduce the Exposure level.

• Zoom out frequently because the results often look different when viewing the entire image.

Published 6th Apr 2009

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