i am shakin' in my closet photographer boots right now-i asked ashley sisk to help us out with some editing tip--i asked her what some top things she could share to make photo editing easy for ANYONE and you know what? she gets asked this all the time so she was totally on board!
have you seen her photos? they are amazing!
have you seen her photos? they are amazing!
i am sure she would love to hear your feedback on these tutorials and what else you have been wondering about when it comes to editing.
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The other day, I received a request from Melissa to share my five to ten favorite Photoshop
Elements tips. I sometimes take for granted that I have some experience with
editing and that I've downloaded so many actions, tools, etc to make my life a
little easier. All that said, I do have tools that I consistently use in
Elements to edit photographs.
I personally use Photoshop Elements 7 (and Adobe Camera Raw)
to do my editing - this is an older version. Photoshop Elements 8 and 9 are now
out and can be yours for between $82 and $140. For most hobbyists, I believe
that PSE is an incredible resource…especially if you don't want to spend more
than $100 on your editing software. There are a few freebies available such as
GIMP, but I honestly don't know how to use it.
Before I go to far, let’s first review the Photoshop
Elements Tool Bar. http://ashleysisk.blogspot.com/2010/05/tutorial-pse-toolbar.html If you’re not familiar with the basic tools, click
on that link for a description of each tool.
Now, with that said…if you’ve viewed any of my tutorials in
the past, you'll notice that I refer to a few tools that you'll need to add to
PSE such as layer masks and curve adjustment (I think they’ve been added in
version 9). Go to Grants' Tools (http://www.cavesofice.org/~grant/Challenge/Tools/Files.html) and download his Main Tools. Once you've
downloaded, follow the installation instructions (http://www.cavesofice.org/~grant/Challenge/Tools/HowtTo.html).
The instructions are written for PSE5 and older, but I used them for version 7
without a hitch. Texas Chicks (http://www.texaschicksblogsandpics.com/photography-page/)
also offers good tutorials for installing instructions.
Now, let me talk about actions. An action is a series of
tasks that you play back on a file - menu commands, palette options, tool
actions, and so on. There are a ton of actions on the web for free and for
sale. In Photoshop (not PSE), you can even create actions to either simply your
everyday post-processing steps or add a special effect. Because I operate out
of Photoshop Elements, I don't have the option to create my own actions
(although I will be upgrading soon and plan to make and share my own
actions)...instead, I've found a few great websites that offer what I believe are
awesome (and free) PSE compatible actions. If you'll go to my Inspiration page
(http://ashleysisk.blogspot.com/p/inspiration.html),
I've listed them all...but I want to draw your attention to a few that you'll
probably want to download (and if you have trouble, just let me know and we can
"talk"):
·
Texas Chicks (http://www.texaschicksblogsandpics.com/free-actions-for-photoshop-elements/)
offers an action called Perfect Workflow that is pretty awesome. This action is
really great for basic post-processing. I continue to use an action called
Squeaky Clean, but it’s no longer a freebie, so I won’t point you in that
direction. However, if you sign up for the Texas Chicks newsletter, you’ll
received Perfect Workflow along with several other freebie actions.
·
Coffeeshop's Baby Powder Room (http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/2009/11/coffeeshop-baby-powderroom-free-pspse.html)
: I really like this action because it helps me even out skin tone and create
that portrait finish for babies and children. Everyone has their own preferences
as to how much they alter a child's skin. Personally, I believe in using really
low opacity soft brushes to paint on the effect and then lowering the opacity
on each individual layer even lower so it's gentle and natural.
·
Morgan
Kervin
Like I said, these are just a few of my favorite actions
that I use for basic processing. Now, let’s talk about other tools/techniques
that I consistently use:
1.
Layer Masks: I often refer to layer masks...especially
as it relates to textures. Paint with a soft black brush with adjusted opacity
to remove things from that layer, or fill the layer mask with black to
completely mask out all of that layer's effect, then use a soft white brush
with adjusted opacity to "paint" back in things. If you didn’t download
Grant ’s Tools earlier, Coffeeshop
Photography also offers a layer mask action that does the same thing (http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/2008/11/coffeeshop-layer-mask-action.html).
Here's a tutorial on how to use layer masks (http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/2008/09/coffeeshop-layer-masks-tutorial.html).
2.
Blending Modes. Blending modes allow you to adjust how one layer or
color mixes with the colors in the layers below. My go to blending mode is Soft
Light which creates a really nice light. I also really like screen and
multiply. Here’s a tip: create two copies of your background layer. Set one to
screen and the other to multiply. You’ll want to use black layer masks on each
layer (see tip #1). Use a soft white brush on your screen layer to lighten
anything that needs lightening and use a soft white brush on your multiply
layer to darken anything that needs to be darkened.
3.
High Pass Filter. Another way to use your soft light
blending mode is to pair it with the high pass filter. You can find High Pass
Filter at the top of screen – go to Filter>Other>High Pass Filter. Select
how strong you want the filter to be and then set that layer’s blending mode to
soft light. You can use your opacity slider to change how strong you want the
effect or use a layer mask to paint on the effect where needed. I use this
technique anytime I want a little extra pop.
4.
Stretching a canvas using the Marquee Tool: When I’m
editing pictures, I often like to change the composition of the image. In some
cases, this means that I need to fill in canvas space that you’ve either added
by changing the canvas size or that you’ve created by over-cropping (selecting
space outside of the original photo for a new crop). Use your marquee tool to
select some of the blank space, click ctrl T (free transform) and then drag the
side of it to fill in the space.
5.
Replacing backgrounds or swapping heads: If you have a
background you don’t like or need to swap heads, it’s much easier to do than it
sounds. Use your quick select tool to trace the space that needs to be changed.
Click ctrl+J to lift that selection into it’s own layer. Then you can either
create a duplicate of a background and move it to the top layer, and click
ctrl+G to group the layers…then click ctrl+t to move the photo into place. OR,
you can drag and drop a new background on top of the selection, click ctrl+G to
group them and then merge the layers.
6.
I also tend to use a lot of textures. There was a
period of time where I downloaded a lot of textures from various websites.
Unfortunately, I don't know where they all came from, but I do have a few
really good resources: Shadowhouse Creations (http://shadowhousecreations.blogspot.com), Johnna LaFaith Photography (http://johnnariddellphotography.blogspot.com),
Kim Klassen
Well, I think I’ve made your heads spin enough for one day.
Let me know if you have questions.
3 comments:
I hope all of that makes sense. I really need to start doing video tutorials. Thanks for having me Melissa.
woah, so much helpful info. bookmarking this one for future reference :)
ashley is amazing.
Ashley, this is AWESOME! WOW, a ton of info. I agree with AmyLee; totally bookmarking this link for future reference. Something I've never tried is duplicating the background twice, doing screen and multiply and then painting - that's a great tip! Awesome as always! :-)
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