We shall work on an image like this one.
Spot Healing Brush: samples pixels from edge of brush and applies them to centre.
Clone Stamp: copy from one area to another
Healing Brush: like clone stamp but blends pixels to hide repair
Smudge, Blur
Repair Filters: Despeckle, Median, Reduce Noise, Dust & Scratches
Restore Colour: Choose Window/Info, click the eyedropper icon and select HSB Color from the menu. Choose Enhance/Adjust Lighting/Levels. Press Alt and click the slider at the right end of the histogram in Levels. This displays the lightest areas of the image in yellow. Select the white dropper and click on one of the lightest pixels identified. Levels now uses this white point to adjust the image. Repeat this for the darkest/black point of the image.
To remove colour cast: click eyedropper in Info palette, select Grayscale from menu. Click gray eyedropper in Levels. Move dropper over image and check for 50% gray in Info palette. Click a middle gray pixel and the colour in the image will shift, removing any cast. Use Enhance/Adjust Colour/Hue/Saturation to change hue and saturation.
To blend one layer into another. Take any image, duplicated the layer and try changing the blend mode between the two. Adjust the opacity slider to modify the effect. Some of these can add 'punch' to an image, some have no effect where the same image is used while others produce results of little practical use. Blending can be used between layers of different images as well.
This image was produced by combining layers with different blending modes.
Blur, Gaussian: for soft focus, use a duplicate layer and erase any desired area of the upper layer so the original sharp layer is visible.
To remove freckles, wrinkles and blemishes blur the lower layer and use the eraser tool on the upper sharp layer to reveal the blurred layer beneath.
To whiten teeth: dodge tool, midtones, 20% exposure.
To lighten eyes: dodge tool. To whiten eyes: select white areas, choose Enhance/Adjust Colour/Colour Variations and then Midtones. Use Decrease Red and Lighten. Sharpen eyes by duplicating layer and sharpening it then drag layer under main layer and erase eye areas.
Add make-up: use brush in Soft Light mode or Hard Light, Hue, Colour or Overlay. Set suitable background and foreground colours and Hue Jitter to 15% (brush changes between foreground and background colours). Use new layers for lips and cheeks in Soft Light mode. For blush sample the current cheek colour and then increase saturation. Use airbrush option with fade set to low value.
Window/Histogram. Select individual colour channels if required or Colours to show all. Luminosity shows an evaluation of the relative brightness of pixels and the richness of colour.
Histogram shows distribution of light and dark pixels in an image or contrast. Move dark and light pointers inwards to move the white and black points. Adjust gamma to set midtones. When the midtone marker is moved right towards white the midtones are increased at the expense of light tones. When the midtone marker is moved left towards black the number of midtones is increased at the expense of dark tones. Where there is great contrast e.g. snow scenes, select out non-snow subjects like people (use Threshold), copy to a new layer (Layer/New/Via Copy), adjust Levels for the two layers and then flatten into one.
Use Dodge and Burn to lighten or darken areas of an image.
To reveal detail in a dark image: Choose Layer/New/Adjustment Layer and Gradient Map as the type. Set the mode to Overlay and the Gradient Used for Grayscale Mapping to Foreground to Background. This should lighten dark pixels with a gradient to concentrate the effect where it is required most.
The Hue, Saturation and Lightness panel can be reached by pressing Ctrl-U. This allows you to control the colour (or hue) of an image and the level of colour saturation. The saturation and lightness sliders can be used to make an image light enough to act as a watermark under a piece of text - saturated images have too many colours that interfere with text. (An alternative technique for making text easier to read is to place a coloured rectangle on its own layer between the text and the image and then adjust the opacity of the rectangle so the image below is visible.)
Colour casts occur when an image shows a bias towards one colour in particular. Choose Enhance/Adjust Colour/Remove Colour Cast.
Enhance/Adjust Color/Color Variations. Specify tonal area (shadows, highlights, midtones), set Adjust Color Intensity slider, click thumbnails to apply changes, increase or decrease.
Enhance/Adjust Color/Adjust Hue/Saturation allows manual adjustments to colour hue and saturation. Use Colorize option to apply a single colour to the image e.g. to colourize a photograph, give it a sepia tone.
Use Sponge tool to adjust saturation with a free brush.
Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask - gives control over sharpening, that is emphasising the borders between areas of the image. Threshold specifies the point of brightness difference between pixels before a change is made to them. Amount is the amount of change between pixels desired by sharpening. Radius is the number of neighbouring pixels to be taken into account for each pixel being evaluated for sharpening.
To sharpen an image duplicate the primary layer, name it 'sharpening' and sharpen this layer. Create a new empty layer for the mask layer and drag it between the Background and sharpening layers. Choose the sharpening layer and then Layer/Group With Previous to group the sharpening and mask layers. Paint in black on the mask layer to reveal the sharpened edges in the layer below. Use the Eraser tool to reset the mask.
Use Filter/Blur/Smart Blur to control the amount of blur added, it has Threshold and Radius settings like Unsharp Mask. Radius sets number of pixels around each pixel that the filter will search for dissimilar pixels to blur. Threshold determines how different pixels have to be before they are blurred. Use the Quality setting to control the quality of the blurring process. Use the Mode setting to choose the extent of the blurring.
Use Filter/Blur/Gaussian Blur to blur the background of an image. Add a new layer, blur it and then erase parts of it to reveal the sharp layer below. This will also work by blurring the lower layer and erasing the sharp layer above.
Use Filter/Blur/Radial Blur to create a Zoom or Spin effect. Make an image a perfect square by holding down Shift while drawing a selection box and cropping. The subject of the spin or zoom should be selected and pasted to a new layer to keep it in focus. The blur can then be applied to the background layer.
Use Filter/Blur/Motion Blur to create an illusion of movement. Use a duplicate layer as in other examples, apply blur to one layer and erase to reveal the sharp or blurred layer beneath.
Adjustment and fill masks are used to block data on layers below, you paint on them to reveal the data in the lower layers. A clipping mask works in the opposite way and is used to create images that follow outline shapes. Add a new layer, call it 'clippingmask' and drag it under the Background layer (double click the background layer and rename it Layer 0 first). The new layer should be transparent so select all (Ctrl-A) and press Delete to remove any fill. Now select the image layer (the original background) and choose Layer/Group With Previous. Click on the mask layer and add data to it by painting, by filling shapes or by pasting another image onto it and using an outline shape from that image. The clipping mask will reveal the layer above where pixels are opaque and will hide the layer above where they are transparent.
To add a new background to an image erase the background of one image and then paste in a new image (check that the sizes match). Drag the new layer under the erased layer to complete the illusion. Alternatively use the clone stamp tool to copy pixels from one image to another - this can be used to transfer sky from one image to another.
Image/Resize/Canvas size. Use this to add a border to images. Add an Inner Bevel from the Layer/Styles option. To create a patterned border add a layer below the background and use a layer style fill. Remove pixels from the border in the layer above so the pattern shows through. To tint the pattern add a new layer between the pattern and the image, fill with a desired colour and use the Opacity slider to reveal the pattern below.
A composite is a series of photographs that blend into each other, possibly with text and clip art to create a brochure or flyer effect.
To combine two images on one canvas drag a second image across to the first. Note that images may be different sizes and you will have to think about this before compositing. Set the blend mode of the second image to Hard Light and use the eraser to remove an unwanted pixels.
To create a scrapbook effect place a number of photos on a page with text captions - the page will have to be big enough to take the images e.g. A3. Add layer effects and/or frames to each photo and rotate them to create a design. Use the Shape palette to create shapes around images. Add text with the Text tool and use the Move tool to rotate it.
Filter/Distort/options - to distort parts of an image.
Filter/Render/3D Transform - to wrap an image around a 3D object.
Filter/Add Noise - in a new layer. To create snow add Filter/Stylize/Wind or Filter/Blur/Motion Blur. Set Blend Mode to Screen or Lighten to add the 'snow' to an image.
Duplicate the background layer. With the new layer selected choose Enhance/Adjust Lighting/Levels. Select the Green channel from the drop-down list and change the Output value from 255 to 0. Repeat this for the Blue channel, which should leave the Red channel only. Switch to the RGB channel, adjust the sliders for white, black and grey (gamma) and press OK. Use Enhance/Adjust Colour/Remove Colour to remove the red tint. Apply the Unsharp Mask filter. Use Enhance/Auto Levels to brighten the image again.
Filter/Adjustments/Invert converts an image to its negative. Duplicate a layer and blur the duplicate layer with Gaussian Blur. Invert the duplicate layer and apply the Vivid Light blend mode. Experiment with amounts of blur to create different effects. Use Levels to add additional effects such as channel tints.
Duplicate the Background layer. On the new layer choose Filter/Artistic/Underpainting. Choose brush around 7, texture around 20 and Relief around 8. Duplicate the background again, drag it under the second layer and apply Filter/Distort/Glass with Distortion and Smoothness set to 3 and Texture set to Canvas. Set the blend mode of the top layer (glass) to Overlay or Dissolve and change Opacity to get the effect you want. Add another duplicate of the background above the glass layer. Increase saturation, lightness and hue to taste. Apply Filter/Brush Strokes/Sprayed Strokes. Set the blend mode to Dissolve and adjust the opacity. Add a final duplicate layer, apply Filter/Brush Strokes/Accented Edges and set the blend mode to either Dissolve, Soft Light or Multiply with adjustments also to opacity.
Duplicate the background layer, call it 'composition'. Add a new fill layer under the composition layer with white or a light pastel as the fill colour - call it 'paper'. Select the area of the composition layer that you want for the image, feather it generously, invert the selection and delete the surrounding pixels - the paper should show through. Use Levels to remove the feathered border (drag the white point). Choose the composition layer and apply Filter/Noise/Dust and Scratches to make objects look like they were created with brush strokes (Radius 2, Threshold 35). Apply Filter/Blur/Smart Blur with Radius 4 and Threshold 20. Still on the composition layer choose Filter/Artistic/Watercolour with Brush Detail around 13, Shadow Intensity 0 and Texture 3. Now duplicate the composition layer and apply Filter/Brush/Accented Edges with Edge Width 1, Edge Brightness 45 and Smoothness 8. Set the blend mode of this new layer to Screen with 50% opacity.
Convert an image to greyscale as described above. Rename the red layer 'basis' and duplicate it 3 times. Rename the top copy midvalues and the middle copy darkvalues. Choose the basis layer and apply Filter/Sketch/Water Paper with Fibre Length 35, Brightness 60 and Contrast 80. Choose the darkvalues layer and apply Filter/Brush Strokes/Ink Outlines with Stroke Length 10, Dark Intensity 15 and Light Intensity 50. Set the blend mode for this layer to Vivid Light and Opacity to 66%. Select the midvalues layer (at the top). Apply Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask with Amount 130%, Radius 50 and Threshold 0. Apply Filter/Brush/Accented Edges with Edge Width 1, Edge Brightness 0 and Smoothness 8. Apply Filter/Sketch/Graphic Pen with Stroke Length 12 and Light/Dark Balance 40. Set Opacity for the layer to 40% to let the lower layers show through. Choose Styles and Effects/Effects/Frames/Strokes Frame.
Crop a portrait to a square and use the background eraser to remove the background. Choose Filter/Bur/Smart Blur with Radius 50 and Threshold 10. Reduce the Radius value until the preview shows detail has been removed. Choose Filter/Artistic/Cutout with Edge Simplicity 0 and Number of Levels 4-6. Increase the Edge Simplicity value until the image is simple but still recognisable. Use the Colour Replace tool to change the colours, adjusting the Tolerance level to apply the new colour to a range of existing colours. Create 4 different images and group them on a larger canvas.
Click the text tool, click the image and type the text required. To warp text choose Layer/Type/Warp Text. To add a backscreen behind text to help it stand out switch to the background/image layer and select the area under the text. Choose Layer/New Layer Via Copy. Set the blend mode of the new layer to Screen so you can see the text below. Try Hard Light or Soft Light to see if these work better. To improve contrast of the backscreen layer Ctrl-click its thumbnail in the layers palette and use Enhance/Lighting/Brightness/Contrast and make adjustments.
To create metallic text choose Filter/Styles and Effects/Effects/Brushed Metal. To tweak settings double click the 'f' in the layers palette.
Glowing Text. Add text, large with wide letters. Choose Layer/Simplify Layer to change the text to raster format and name it 'base'. With the simplified text layer selected choose the Magic Wand and click outside the letters to select the background. Invert the selection (Select/Inverse or Ctrl-Shift-I) and hold down the Alt key while you de-select the counters of letters such as 'o' and 'b'. Choose Save/Save Selection with name 'text' for later use. De-select the text and duplicate the layer, naming it 'glow'. Use Filter/Blur/Gaussian to blur the glow layer and set the blend mode to Screen. Duplicate the glow layer. Turn off the glow layers and choose Select/Load Selection/text to load the selection you saved. Feather the selection to around 20 pixels, depending on the size of the text. Choose the base layer and Layer/Layer via Copy. Rename the new layer 'shimmer' and set its blend mode to Pin Light. Choose the base layer and load the text selection. Choose Select/Modify/Contract Selection with a value around a quarter of the feather value used earlier. Choose Select/Modify/Smooth with Sample Radius half that of the earlier feather value. Choose Layer/New Layer via Copy, naming it 'block'. Set the blend mode to Difference.
To place an image inside text use the Horizontal or Vertical Type Mask tool. Type text and then use Copy to pick up what is inside the selection outline. Paste this into another image to transfer the text outline and the image inside it.
Copyright text: in a new file type copyright text (alt-0169 for the © symbol). Draw a selection around the text, invert the selection and fill the border with black. De-select and flatten. Apply Filter/Stylize/Emboss. Select and copy into another image and set blend mode to Hard Light.
To create artistic effects use a range of techniques in different ways to create different effects.
To create a 'paper' layer choose two colours for the paper in foreground and background then apply Clouds filter. Blur.
Add a pattern layer - Layer/New fill layer>Pattern. Choose from the wide range of patterns available, for example Artists Surfaces and Oil Pastel Light swatch. Change the scale of the pattern to suit the image. Set the Blend Mode for this layer to Soft Light and Opacity to 60%.
To blend the paper layer with the image duplicate the image layer (Layer/Duplicate) and drag it to the top of the layer stack.
Consider desaturating and lightening the highlights with Levels. Experiment with Blend Mode e.g. Hard Light. Drag this image layer to the top of the layer stack.
Add a layer mask to the new image layer with Layer/Add Layer Mask/Hide All. This step covers over the image but you will paint the mask away to reveal it.
Choose a brush - e.g. Charcoal Large Smear (36). Adjust brush in Window/Brushes. Set Scattering to 250% and brush opacity to 20%. Increase brush size to 125 pixels (use ']' key). Press D and X to set foreground colour to white. Make sure the layer mask layer is selected and start painting - the image will be revealed. Paint in black to hide painted areas. Change the opacity and size of the brush to suit the areas you are painting.
The choice of brush and its settings has a direct impact on the appearance of your art work.
Repeat the process of adding a copy of the image and a layer mask. Try filters on each copy of the image, for example Blur. Use different painting techniques on each layer.
To restore colour to a desaturated image create a copy of the image layer and drag it to the top of the layer stack. Add a layer mask (set to hide all). Set the blend mode to Darken. Use a brush set to white and low opacity to brush in areas of colour.
For a colourful image, for example a flower.
Copy the image layer twice. Desaturate the second copy and copy this desaturated layer again. Invert the third copy you have just made and set the Blend Mode to Colour Dodge. This makes the image pure white but you change this by applying a blur filter such as Motion Blur. Experiment with settings.
Drag the coloured layer to the top of the layer stack and set its opacity to around 25%. This provides just a little colour. Choose Layer/Merge Visible to reduce the number of layers to 1 (you don't need the earlier layers).
Now choose a suitable brush and settings and paint over the image using the faint colours to guide you. Low opacity will make the paint transparent and preserve brush strokes and blended colours. Zoom in and out and use new colours and brush settings to progress the painting. Use the Smudge tool to blend colours.
Apply Filter/Artistic/Paint Daubs for a painterly effect. Bring in coloured backgrounds such as leaves and erase parts of the image layer to reveal them.
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