Photoshop
®
T H E A D O B E ® P H O T O S H O P® “ H O W- T O ” M A G A Z I N E
user
Photoshop in
cyberspace Po’ Man’s HDR
A low-budget, 8-bit approach for expanding dynamic range
Blend It Like Beckham
Understanding blend modes and how they work
PLUS: Attached At the Hip: Learn the benefits of tethered shooting with Lightroom u The Graduated Filter: One of the stars of Lightroom 2 u
Features 34 | Photoshop and the Web
Have you ever wondered how—or even if—Photoshop could help you with your Web design endeavors? Rafael “RC” Concepcion gives us the scoop on what our options are when using Photoshop for the Web.
Departments 8 | About Photoshop User Magazine 10 | From the Editor 14 | Contributing Writers 16 | Photoshop News
Reviews 98 | Canon EOS 50D 99 | Blow Up 2 100 | Ricoh Caplio GX200 101 | PhotoFrame 4 Professional Edition 102 | Canon EOS Rebel XS
18 | NAPP Member News 74 | From the Help Desk 106 | Photoshop Q&A 108 | Photoshop Design Showcase
104 | Olympus E-520 105 | Photoshop Book Reviews
January/February 2009 | www.photoshopuser.com
Contents
Columns 24 | Down & Dirty Tricks
72 | The Copyright Zone Model-release myths, you’ve probably heard them all, but next time you’ll have a proper response.—Ed Greenberg and Jack Reznicki
Here’s a very unique use of the Lighting Effects filter. Plus, we give you our interpretation of the Pirates of the Caribbean promotion with the pirates emerging from the fog.—Scott Kelby, Felix Nelson, and Corey Barker
42 | Photoshop Mastery
76 | Beyond Photoshop Do you like high-dynamic-range imagery, but not the time it takes to put one together? Then you have to read this.—Scott Onstott
Do you think it’s time to don the lens cap when the sun goes down? Here’s a great reason to think again.—Ben Willmore
48 | From Bert’s Studio
110 | Photoshop Quick Tips Read about the improved loupe in Bridge; use the Ruler tool to straighten an image; and use the Spacebar as a shortcut key.—Sherry London
Make just about anything look as though it has stood the test of time by creating this rusty font effect.—Bert Monroy
50 | Graphic Secrets
130 | Photoshop Beginners’ Tips Colin takes the old wedding adage and puts it in Photoshop terms: read all about something old, something new...—Colin Smith
You see it all the time in modern collages: a face here, a splash of ink there, some text. Re-create that effect, fast!—Lesa Snider King
52 | Photoshop Speed Clinic Do you have a nondesigner friend who’s dying to help but just doesn’t know how? Make him a droplet and put him to work!—Matt Kloskowski
56 | Creative Point of View The ever-expanding power of Camera Raw and Lightroom continue to improve and redefine our postproduction workflow.—Katrin Eismann
58 | Deke Space After spending an extended amount of time under the hood of Photoshop CS4, Deke relays what really caught his attention.—Deke McClelland
60 | Beginners’ Workshop Patterns aren’t one of the most glamorous features of Photoshop, but they have important uses (part one in a series on patterns).—Dave Cross
64 | The WOW! Factor Trying to come up with new ways of displaying your artwork? Here’s how to do a toss-on-the-table collage.—Jack Davis and Linnea Dayton
66 | Digital Photographer’s Notebook Printing like a professional usually takes time, effort, and experience. Skip all that stuff and read this instead.—Kevin Ames
108 68 | Classic Photoshop Effects Take command of clipping masks and clipping groups to add style and versatility to your designs.—Corey Barker
But Wait—There’s More: Wherever you see the symbol at the end of an article, it means there’s additional material for NAPP members at www.photoshopuser.com.
Photoshop Lightroom Section
Feature
Contents
80 | Tethered Shooting à La Carte
Photographers who began the digital transition with the arrival of digital single lens reflex (SLR) cameras missed the era of tethered-only shooting in the studio. Let’s look at how to use the tethered-shooting capabilities of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for the smooth processing of digital images.—Jim DiVitale
84 | Lightroom News 86 | Featured Photographer Terri Gold shows us various cultures through their festivals, rituals, and celebrations.
90 | Under the Loupe Use the Lightroom Plug-in Manager to enable and disable installed plug-ins, and check their status for updates.—Rob Sylvan
92 | Under the Hood The Graduated Filter saves time when working on repetitive tasks, such as enhancing the sky, but it offers other neat benefits.—Matt Kloskowski
94 | Working Creatively in Lightroom This issue, Angela uses the Direct Positive preset as a starting point for enhancing the charm and beauty of Venice.—Angela Drury
96 | Lightroom Tips & Tricks 97 | Lightroom Q&A
86
E8K@FE8C8JJF:@8K@FEF=G?FKFJ?FGGIF=<JJ@FE8CJ
G?FKFJ?FGLJChannels) and click the Create New Channel icon at the bottom of the panel to create a new alpha channel (Alpha 1). Go under the Edit menu once more and choose Paste.
026
STEP TEN: Return to the Layers panel, click the Eye icon for Layer 2 copy 3 to hide it, and select the frame layer we created earlier (Layer 1). Go under the Filter menu, under Render, and choose Lighting Effects. Make sure the Light Type is set to Spotlight. At the bottom of the dialog you’ll see the Texture Channel area. From the drop-down menu, select the alpha channel we created in Step Nine. Drag the slider all the way over toward Mountainous to get maximum depth. The position and direction of light determines how the image is embossed. You can modify the light properties by moving the sliders; however, I prefer to grab the light object in the Preview window and adjust the light interactively. Grab the center point to move the light’s overall position. You can also grab and move the control handles on the oval to change the focus and intensity of the light. Click OK. continued on p.28
STEP ELEVEN: Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the Create a New Layer icon to place a new layer beneath the current frame layer (Layer 2). With this new layer active, Command-click (PC: Ctrlclick) the Layer 1 thumbnail to load it as a selection. Open the Swatches panel (Window>Swatches) and choose a color. We wanted a more gold color so the frame would look old-fashioned. With the color selected, press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection. (Note: Look at the Layer 2 thumbnail to see the fill.)
028
MOUNTAINS: ©ISTOCKPHOTO/ANDREW DAVID COUPLE: ©ISTOCKPHOTO/JENNIFER TRENCHARD
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP TWELVE: Select Layer 1 and change the blend mode to Overlay. This will blend the texture with the color, completing the effect. Now you can apply the lighting effects directly to the colored framed. I do it this way because if I decide to change the color of the frame, all I need to do is fill that layer with a new color, leaving the texture layer untouched. (Note: If the frame doesn’t appear when you change the blend mode, the color on Layer 2 is too light, so try a darker color.) Finally, we just added an inset black matte and a photo to complete the overall look. Here are a couple of examples. Enjoy. N
Down & Dirty Tricks The hottest new Photoshop tricks and coolest special effects N BY FELIX NELSON
Arrr! Mystic Fog For Ye, Matey!
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP ONE: Open the image you wish to use for this tutorial (a pirate, in our example). Using the selection tool of your choice, make a selection around your subject (we chose the Lasso tool). Now, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to place the selected subject on its own layer (Layer 1). Click on the Eye icon to the left of the Background layer to hide it. Now click on the Add a Layer Style (ƒx) icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Inner Glow. Choose Overlay from the Blend Mode menu, enter 125 for Size, and click OK.
030
STEP TWO: Click-anddrag Layer 1 onto the Create a New Layer icon (at the bottom of the Layers panel) to make a duplicate layer (Layer 1 copy). Click on the word “Effects” below this layer and drag it onto the Trash icon to remove its layer style. Press Command-Shift-U (PC: Ctrl-Shift-U) to desaturate the image and then press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to bring up the Levels dialog. Enter 195 in the Shadow Input Field (circled), and click OK. Change this Layer’s blend mode to Screen. STEP THREE: Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon and choose Levels. When the Levels dialog appears enter .51 in the Midtone Input field (in the center), 194 in the Highlight Output field, and click OK.
©ISTOCKPHOTO/GIORGIO FOCHESATO
There were a number of promotional posters created for the movie Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End. One particular series depicted the characters (in groups and individually) walking out of a misty fog. The fog rises from the lower left toward the right in every image, so chances are that it was added later (using Photoshop), instead of perfectly forming the fog each time. Here’s how we’d add it.
STEP FOUR: Click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon again but this time, choose Photo Filter. Select Sepia from the Filter drop-down menu, raise the Density to 94%, and then click OK. STEP FIVE: Now, click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon once more and choose Hue/Saturation. Enter –24 for Saturation, –12 for Lightness, and click OK.
STEP SEVEN: Create a new layer (Layer 2) by clicking on the Create a New Layer icon. Press the X key to switch your Foreground and Background colors. Click on the Foreground color swatch, and in the Color Picker, choose a brownish color (we used R:63, G:47, B:46), and click OK. Press the X key again. Now, choose the Gradient tool (G) from the Toolbox, go up to the Options Bar and select a Linear, Foreground to Background gradient, and click-and-drag the gradient from the left toward the right of the selection. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Layer 1 copy 2 thumbnail to make it a selection, press Command-Shift-I (PC: Ctrl-Shift-I) to invert the selection, and then click on the Add Layer Mask icon, which will reveal the pirate (or your subject) again.
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
STEP SIX: Duplicate Layer 1 again (Layer 1 copy 2), click-and-drag it to the top of the Layers stack, and remove the layer style as we did in Step Two. Lower this Layer’s Opacity to 50%. Press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key and click on the Add Layer Mask icon to mask out the entire image. Press the X key to switch the Foreground color to white. Now, select a soft-edged Brush (B) and paint back the highlight areas of the eyes, nose, cheeks, lips, teeth, hat, and collar (as shown).
031
STEP EIGHT: Create a new layer (Layer 3) and press the D key to reset your Foreground/Background colors. Go under the Filter menu and choose Render>Clouds. Change the layer’s blend mode to Overlay. Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on Layer 2’s Layer Mask thumbnail (not the Layer thumbnail) to load it as a selection, and then click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.
STEP NINE: Create another new layer (Layer 4) and add clouds (as we did in Step Eight) but this time, change the layer’s blend mode to Screen and lower the Layer Opacity to 50%. Now click on Layer 3’s Layer Mask thumbnail and then click on the Add Layer Mask icon. Choose the Brush tool (B) from the Toolbox and, making sure that white is your Foreground color, use a large, soft-edged brush to reveal some of the clouds on Layer 3, which gives the fog effect more depth (see example).
STEP TEN: Create another layer (Layer 5). Press Command-F (PC: Ctrl-F) to apply the previously used Clouds filter. Change the blend mode to Screen. Choose the Gradient tool from the Toolbox. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon. Now, clickand-drag a gradient (using the same settings as before) from the lower left toward the upper right of the image to make it appear as though the subject is coming through the fog.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP ELEVEN: Add as many additional layers as you need, depending on how intense you want the foreground fog, then add a graphic to complete the effect. N
032
Before After
Images: iStockphoto.com Layout Design: Taffy Orlowski
VcYi]Z
7nGV[VZaÆG8Ç8dcXZeX^dc
1\VM^MZNIQT[\WPIXXMV_PMV1U\MIKPQVOI,ZMIU_MI^MZKW]Z[M# )PIVL_QTTXWX]XQV\PMJIKSWN\PMZWWUIVL\PMXMZ[WVI[S[ ?PI\IJW]\\PMKWWTQV\MZM[\QVOIVQUI\MLJ]\\WV[NWZ\PM[Q\M( +IV1UISMITTWN\PW[MOZIXPQK[QV,ZMIU_MI^MZ(7ZJM\\MZaM\1TT \MIKPI8PW\W[PWXKTI[[IVL\ITSIJW]\Q\[IJQTQ\a\W_WZS_Q\P_MJXIOM[ IVL[WUMWVM_QTTI[S;WITT1VMMLQ[8PW\W[PWXIVL1KIVJ]QTLUa_MJ[Q\M(
h e answer to both questions is “No,” which often leaves people somewhat confused with the process. Dreamweaver has some very basic look-and-feel components, while Photoshop has some Web features, so merging the two applications offers the best chance at a great-looking website. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t create a simple site with Photoshop alone. Let’s spend some time talking about how Photoshop can help you from a Web-creation standpoint, where its limitations lie, and then we’ll learn how to leverage what Photoshop can automate to neatly present something online.
T
8PW\W[PWXIVL\PM?MJKWUX Whether for self-promotion or as a job for a prospective client, designing a website requires many revisions, and doing a lot of coding doesn’t make sense. Sure, changing a color here and there could be done using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), but when you’re trying to decide the overall direction of the site for the first time, you need speed and malleability. This is where Photoshop can help—by creating composites. Using comps and creating groups will let you change the overall design without spending too much time coding on a webpage. STEP ONE: Go under the File menu and select New to create a new file in Photoshop. In the New dialog, enter 955 pixels for Width, 600 for Height, 72 for Resolution, then select RGB from the Color Mode menu, and click OK. This gives you a work area that mimics a fully maximized 1024x768 page (according to Dreamweaver anyway). Personally, I like to make my page a little taller so that I can see what the layout looks like when scrolling down the webpage.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP TWO: Click the Create New Fill layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Solid Color from the menu. Find the color you’d like to use for your background and click OK. To keep organized, double-click on the words “Color Fill 1” in the Layers panel and rename the layer, “Web BG” (for Web background).
036
STEP THREE: Now add graphical components to the page using the Type tool (T), some primitive shapes using the Rectangle tool (U) and the other shapes nested under it, and then drop in some graphics of varying opacity. STEP FOUR: When you have all of that information set the way you want it, Shift-select all of your layers, click the flyout menu icon at the top right of the Layers panel, and select New Group from the pop-up menu. In the New Group dialog, enter the version number in the Name field and click OK.
TIPS ON USING PHOTOSHOP FOR THE WEB Two things to keep in mind: First, when creating things like navigation bars, banners, or buttons, try to use as many shape layers as possible, which makes changing the color as easy as double-clicking on the associated thumbnail—fast changes and less re-creation. Second, make sure that you place text into the comp that you’re working on. It’s very easy to see empty space and want to fill it with oversize buttons, type, and graphics. By putting in filler text in a Web area, you’ll force yourself to keep “overdesign” to a minimum, as well as give you a more realistic look for the page.
you’re trying to pass on to your viewer gets communicated. Typically, I don’t recommend placing navigation bars lower than 200 pixels from the top for a horizontal layout, or 160 pixels from the left for a left-column-based layout. Within these areas, your only limitation on the page is your own creative style.
Option One: Slice, Dice, and Export Once you have your entire layout committed and you’re getting ready to put it on the Web, it’s time to slice. A Photoshop document is a single PSD file but when you take it to the Web, each portion of the webpage will have its own separate image; for example, the header, each button at the top, and each decoration at the bottom should all have their own images. To create a single image from each component, we’ll employ the Slice tool to cut this document into discrete areas that will be saved on export. STEP ONE: Beginning with Photoshop CS4, Adobe Systems Inc. nested the Slice tool and the Slice Select tool under the Crop tool in the Toolbox. Thus, if you’re using CS4, click-and-hold the Crop tool (C) in the Toolbox and select the Slice tool (C) from the pop-up menu. If, however, you’re using Photoshop CS3, press the K key to select the Slice tool. Using the Slice tool, click-and-drag around one of the images, which draws a box around the subject matter. Continue to draw boxes around each of the sections (as shown).
8PW\W[PWX_MJXIOM UISQVOWX\QWV[ Try to make sure that you keep anything that’s relevant to the design within the viewable portion of the monitor. Remember that 955x600 canvas we made earlier? As a general rule, keep any logos, navigation information, and important messaging in that area. By setting all your important stuff in this space, you ensure that whatever message
When you first start working with slicing, it’s important to look at the sections of the website as rows and columns that you’re cutting out. This will help you assemble the individual components in Dreamweaver later using CSS. Tip: If you happen to release the Mouse button too soon, press-and-hold the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and then you can resize the box.
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
While this would seem like a great place for you to use layer comps, keep in mind that they only work with Visibility, Position, and Appearance (layer styles). I find that working with my versions in layer groups works better here.
037
STEP TWO: When you’ve finished, switch to the Slice Select tool and double-click on one of the slices you made and the Slice Options dialog appears—we’ll do this for all of the slices. This is where you can give your slices specific names (and much more). Take time now to name each of your buttons, headers, images, and ancillary graphics—you don’t want Photoshop giving them some random name that you won’t recognize later. You could even use this dialog to point a graphic to a specific page—if you know its filename. We’ll leave it blank for now and do it later. The Slice Type menu at the top of the dialog lets you specify whether you want the slice to be treated as an image or as a block of HTML, giving you the option to enter more text, if you’d like.
But, what if you don’t want to use Dreamweaver and you need to get something done quickly? Below are three more options. Option Two: Slice and Dice to Individual Directories Before we begin this option, I want you to be aware that using Photoshop to create a website the way I’m about to tell you is possible, but it’s probably not the most efficient—you’ll see why momentarily.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP ONE: Begin by creating a new folder on your desktop and name it “Test,” as this will be your test directory. [NAPP members may follow along by opening the about_merri.psd file so you can see the names of the different slices. Download the files from www .photoshopuser.com/members/janfeb09-downloads.html. All files are for personal use only.]
038
STEP THREE: Once you’ve named all of your slices, select Save for Web & Devices under the File menu, which allows you to specify graphics settings for each of the individual slices. Click on Save at the bottom of the window to place all of the graphics into a directory on your computer; from there, you can make Dreamweaver use it as a home directory, basing all of the pages on your site using a Dreamweaver Template. This will give you the most flexibility and efficiency to build a website, and as you become more familiar with CSS in Dreamweaver, you’ll feel more comfortable in setting up even more elaborate slicing for layouts.
STEP TWO: Go back to your Photoshop file, double-click on the first slice you made to open the Slice Options dialog, name it with an all-lowercase name with no spaces in the Name field, give it a URL, and then click OK. Here’s what we did for this example: Grab the Slice Select tool and double-click on the first slice (the Merri Bontempi header) to bring up the Slice Options dialog. In the dialog, enter “header_img” in the Name fi eld, input “index.htm” in the URL field, and click OK. Do this for all of the sliced buttons, giving them specific, all-lowercase names in the Name and URL sections of the Slice Options dialog. Tip: With the Slice tool active, you can bring up the Slice Options dialog by pressing-and-holding the Command (PC: Ctrl) key when you double-click the sliced sections.
STEP THREE: Click on Save for Web & Devices under the File menu and make changes to your graphics settings as needed. When you click on the Save button at the bottom, however, you’ll need to make some changes in the resulting Save Optimized As dialog. Select HTML and Images from the Format menu, then click on the Settings drop-down menu, and select Other. Click on the drop-down menu beneath the Settings menu and select Saving Files. In the bottom section, called Optimized Files, change
the directory name of the Put Images in Folder field to where you want the images to be saved: yourpagename_images (in our example, it’s “about_merri_images”). Click OK. As I said before, using Photoshop to make a website like this is technically feasible but a little cumbersome; however easy it may seem now, you’ll regret it later when you need to make changes to a single page, add graphics or additional content, reorganize the structure, or simply add a page. The amount of overhead wouldn’t be worth the setup. I’d still do the Dreamweaver route.
Option Three: Use Photoshop and Bridge to Create a Web Photo Gallery
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
Make sure that the name of the file in the Save Optimized As dialog is the same as the name you placed in the Slice Options dialog, and then click Save. This will create an HTML file with the sliced images assembled in a table. From this point forward, you can create a duplicate of this file, changing the colors, layout, and textual content to reflect the second link. When you perform the next Save for Web & Devices option, make sure that the name is different, and that the directory where it’s writing images is specific to your section (by default, Photoshop always writes to a folder called “Images,” and you may run the risk of overwriting if you don’t make it page-specific).
Photoshop CS3 has a Web Photo Gallery component built into it, which also gives you a quick way to develop a photo gallery that can be posted online. The process is pretty straightforward and contained in just one dialog, so it’s great for when you’re trying to make a gallery in a hurry. Adobe has also created the Adobe Output Module for Bridge CS4 (Window>Workspace>Output) that allows you to make more sophisticated Flash galleries with the same ease of use (it used to be called the Adobe Media Gallery when it was first tested in the Adobe Labs). In fact, these
039
less chance of overwriting any files—plus, it leaves you with very specific links to share with your viewers. For example, if you created a folder called “animals” and placed it on your website, your gallery link would be www.yourwebsite.com/animals.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
Option Four: Use Photoshop with a Third-Party Application
040
galleries became so compelling that starting with Photoshop CS4, Adobe dropped the use of the Photo Web Gallery in Photoshop, only offering it in Bridge. You can install the old Photoshop version of the Web Photo Gallery later (it’s in the Goodies folder) but by default, it’s not in Photoshop CS4. I love using the Flash galleries in Bridge because they offer a clean layout as well as Flash interaction. While Flash interaction is seen by some as just a “pretty add-on,” I rely on it specifically because it makes it harder for individuals to copy images from websites—essential if you’re trying to simultaneously show and protect your images. In both of these cases, one could design a custom header and place it at the top of the HTML page but it would require some knowledge of HTML. This layout also poses problems when sites invariably expand and you need to add additional galleries. Even the simple task of adding a basic information page would require a bit of coding on the user’s part. Another great feature of the Output Module in Bridge CS4 is that it allows you to use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to upload your results to a Web server without using a third-party program. But I’d recommend that any gallery you post online go in a separate folder so you have
If you find yourself stuck between the artistic side of Photoshop and the technical limitations of HTML, third-party providers may also help get that project up and running quickly. Take SiteGrinder from MediaLab for example. This program lets you take your PSD design—like we made back in Option One—and attach special “hints” to the layers, and with the push of a button, the software converts the design into CSS-compliant code (for more information, visit www .sitegrinder.com). I’ve heard many stories about the successful use of SiteGrinder and the application’s ease of use may warrant a look-see. Freeway 5 Pro from Softpress Systems Limited (www.softpress .com) is a program that also eschews the technical for the design minded. Import your Photoshop code into Freeway and you’ll begin to accomplish complex CSS-based website layouts with minimal programming. Softpress also touts the program as a complement to Dreamweaver CS4, which I like. As your sites become more and more complex (they always do), you’ll be able to wrap your head around the concepts in Dreamweaver a little better. Without a doubt, Photoshop offers a variety of ways to take your ideas and place them on the Web. Spend a little time thinking about what the overall goal is for your website and go through the sample files provided here. You’ll find yourself the Webmaster of your own domain in no time!
If you’d like to see more on this topic in greater detail, check out RC’s soon-to-be-released Kelby Media Group training classes at www.kelbytraining.com: Dreamweaver CS4 Basics, Dreamweaver and Photoshop Creative Integration, and Setting up an Online Portfolio using Dreamweaver, Photoshop. ■
ALL IMAGES BY RAFAEL “RC” CONCEPCION
Ben Willmore
Photoshop Mastery Light Painting Composites When the sun goes down, the time is right for pulling out a simple flashlight and painting a scene with your own wondrous illuminations. With multiple colored gels and a tripod, you can transform ordinary subject matter into extraordinary compositions by infusing the scene with color and mystery. ost high-end digital cameras offer a mode known as Bulb Mode—where the shutter speed is determined by how long you hold down the shutter button (or cable release). You can access it in the same area where you choose between Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, or you can use Manual mode and set the shutter speed to one past the longest setting that’s available. Make sure to use a tripod so that your images will be aligned. Find a location with an interesting subject in total darkness. Open the shutter and then turn on a flashlight and paint light onto the scene. The closer you hold the flashlight to the subject, the more focused beam you’ll get, so you can easily tell where you’ve painted. The farther away you hold the flashlight, the softer and more diffused the beam will become. You can hold colored gels over the flashlight for an added splash of color. Start a new exposure anytime you change the color of light you’re painting with, or when you change the distance from which you’re painting. In the example shown here, I shot during a full moon. To see many excellent examples of full moon light painting, be sure to check out www.lostamerica.com.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
M
042
Combining exposures Combine the images into a single Photoshop document by Shift-selecting the images in Bridge CS4, then choosing Tools>Photoshop>Load Files Into Photoshop Layers. Once the images have been combined into a single document, click on each layer, one at a time, and change its blend mode at the top of the Layers panel to either Lighten or Screen. Screen mode will always produce a brighter result than Lighten mode.
Final image The four exposures were combined using Lighten mode to produce the image shown in the upper right. In the Layers panel, you can see the masks that were used.
Refining the results You can adjust the Opacity of each layer to control how much it affects the overall composite. You can also add a layer mask to each layer and paint with black to prevent portions of each layer from affecting the image. In this case, the moon had moved enough between exposures that I had to mask it out of at least one of the layers so that it didn’t appear as a double image. Shifting colors You can also shift the color of any of the individual layers by making a layer active, choosing Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and moving the Hue and Saturation sliders. Ordinary objects can look extraordinary when they’re light-painted with flashlights and multiple colored gels. That means there’s no excuse to stop shooting once the sun goes down. ■
Ben Willmore is the author of Up to Speed: Photoshop CS4, which covers all the new features in CS4 and nothing else. Ben spends many of his days on the open highway, a digital nomad in his 40' motorcoach. Learn about his latest adventure at www.whereisben.com and view his photography at www.thebestofben.com.
I@JKArrange> Consolidate All to Tabs. I like this command so much that I assigned a shortcut to it. Choose Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts, scroll down to Window, click the right-facing arrow to expand it, and then click on Consolidate All to Tabs. Press Command-Shift-A (PC: Ctrl-Shift-A) and then click OK. (As viewers of my “101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes” video know, this is that one shortcut that “doesn’t do anything, Adobe!” Now it will.)
So these are my favorite hidden sneaks and tweaks in Photoshop CS4. Nary a one ranks among the features Adobe chooses to promote. I’d even hazard to guess that few have found their ways into the hearts and minds of the most hardcore Photoshop digerati. And yet, if my experience is any indicator, these are the tricks you’ll be embracing like crazy in the next few months. ■
Deke McClelland is author of Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-on-One (http://deke.oreilly.com) and the video series Photoshop CS4 New Features and Photoshop CS4 One-on-One (http://lynda.com/deke). In his spare time, he creates the free biweekly podcast, dekePod (http://deke.com/dekepod).
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
©ISTOCKPHOTO
©ISTOCKPHOTO
THREE: Switch to a brush or edit tool. You’ve long been able to press the Left and Right Bracket keys ([ ])to make the brush smaller and larger, respectively. But you have to work in fixed increments and you can’t preview the results. Photoshop CS4 introduces new ways to scale the brush in slight increments and preview the results, but they’re completely different between the Mac and PC. On the Mac, press-and-hold the Control and Option keys, then click-and-drag to change the size of the brush. To change the Hardness, add the Command key. On the PC, press Alt, Right-click, and drag to change the size. Add the Shift key to change the Hardness. As you drag, you’ll see a red brush preview. To select a different color, press Command-K, then Command-5 (PC: Ctrl-K, Ctrl-5), and click the Brush Preview Color swatch.
ONE: When working with floating windows, it’s a simple matter to move an image from one window to another. But what do you do when working in a tabbed window? Drag to the tab. Here’s how it works: Open multiple images and consolidate them per the previous tip. Now, get the Move tool (V), drag a selection or layer onto the tab for another image, wait for Photoshop to switch to that image, move the cursor back into the window, and drop. You have now successfully transported the selection or layer from one image to another.
059
Dave Cross
Beginners’ Workshop Patterns 101, Pt. 1 Although they’re not one of the most glamorous features of Photoshop, patterns have important uses. In this two-part article, we’ll first look at the patterns that are available in Photoshop and how to apply them. In part two we’ll explore how to create our own patterns. o understand how patterns work, think floor tiles: You need to put in a new floor in your kitchen so you go to the flooring store and pick out a design you like. Many of those tiles have been created so that when you install them edge-to-edge, there’s no obvious border or seam between them. That’s the basic idea of the built-in Photoshop patterns: Fill an area with one of these patterns and you shouldn’t see an obvious seam. (To take this analogy a step further: in your kitchen, you’d have to cut the tiles to fit the shape of the room; while in Photoshop, you make a selection of the shape you want to fill, and then the pattern fills in that shape.) Like flooring, some Photoshop patterns are square and some are rectangular (hardwood floors?). So where do we find these patterns, and how do we apply them? Glad you asked! Photoshop comes with several sets of patterns that are installed and waiting to be used. By default some “standard” patterns are available but you can also load the following sets: Artist Surfaces, Color Paper, Grayscale Paper, Nature Patterns, Rocks Patterns, and two Texture Fill sets. One of the easiest ways to see what patterns are available is to use the Preset Manager: Go to the Edit menu, choose Preset Manager, and from the Preset Type menu, choose Patterns. Then use the menu (click on the right-facing arrow to the left of the Done button) and one after another, load each pattern set, each time choosing Append in the dialog. Eventually you’ll see every built-in pattern.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
T
You may choose to keep the pattern presets this way so that whenever you want to apply a pattern, you’ll have the full selection of them easily available. This can make for a large dialog
full of patterns, however, so the other option is to choose Reset Patterns from that same menu to get back to the default patterns and load these additional patterns as you need them one set at a time (the choice is yours). Applying patterns There are a number of different ways to apply a pattern and, like everything in Photoshop, the method you use will depend on what you’re trying to create and how much flexibility you require. The first method is to select an area and use the Fill command (Edit>Fill or press Shift-Delete [PC: Shift-Backspace]). In the dialog, choose Pattern in the Use menu and then pick your pattern from the Custom Pattern menu. You can also choose a blend Mode and Opacity at this time, although it’s probably best (if possible) to create and fill the selection on a new layer and change the blend mode and opacity of that layer instead.
If you want to apply a pattern in a more freeform, paint-itwhere-you-want-it approach, try the Pattern Stamp tool. Sharing the same slot in the Toolbox as the Clone Stamp tool (S), the Pattern Stamp tool should probably be thought of as the “Pattern Brush,” as there’s really no similarity between it and the Clone Stamp tool. In other words, you don’t have to click a reference point; you just select the brush size and what pattern you want to use in the Options Bar and start painting with the pattern. Once again, it’s probably best to take advantage of layers and create a new layer for your pattern painting. The only drawback to these two methods is that you can’t control the size of the pattern, only the area in which it’s applied. If you do need to change the size of the pattern itself, then you’ll want to use the Pattern Overlay layer style or a pattern adjustment layer. If you have an object on a layer to which you want to apply
060
continued on p.62
Beginners’ Workshop
a pattern, click on the Add a Layer Style (ƒx) icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Pattern Overlay from the menu. In the dialog, you can choose the Pattern along with the Blend Mode, Opacity, and Scale you wish to use. Click the Link with Layer checkbox if you want the texture to move with the layer (as opposed to the pattern staying put if you move the object on the layer). Take advantage of the Preview to find your ideal combination of settings.
Below is an example (courtesy of our own Corey Barker) of an effect that was simple to create, thanks to using patterns. Corey added a layer mask to a textured photo and then used the Fill command to fill the layer mask with a pattern, creating this basketweave effect—and then added a photo on top for good measure.
062
Like all adjustment layers, it comes with a layer mask so you can determine where you want the pattern to appear, by painting on the mask with black in areas where you don’t want the pattern to be visible. Changing the pattern is very easy here: Double-click on the Pattern Fill’s layer thumbnail and choose a different pattern. To some degree, using a Pattern Fill layer would be the same as adding a new layer and using the Fill command to add the pattern. The big difference is the ability to edit the pattern quickly by double-clicking. Not so obvious Patterns can also be accessed in a few ways that aren’t so obvious. For example, when you’re editing the properties of a brush in the Brushes panel (Window>Brushes), you can use the Texture option to apply a pattern to the brush. With some experimentation, this can be great for creating different brushes to paint unusual, sloppy borders and edges (as shown top right). You can also choose patterns as one of the options when using the Healing Brush tool, although I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever found the need to do that.
So that gives you an idea of the many ways that a built-in pattern can be applied. Next time, we’ll take it up a notch and see how you can create your own custom patterns. ■
©FOTOLIA/NORTHSHORE SURF PHOTOS
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
In contrast to the layer style that’s attached to the contents of a layer, the Pattern Fill adjustment layer (Layer>New Fill Layer>Pattern) creates a new layer filled with the pattern of your choice.
If you have an idea for a “Beginners’ Workshop” topic, please send it to
[email protected]; however, if you have a question that you’d like answered immediately, go to the Help Desk at www.photoshopuser.com.
Jack Davis and Linnea Dayton
The WOW! Factor Tossed-on-the-Table Collage With a tossed-on-the-table collage, the photographer can break every rule of panoramas and still communicate the vastness of a landscape or even the intimacy of a still life. For this example, we used Adobe Photoshop CS4 to present the enduring majesty of a national treasure.
O
ur illustration started with infrared (IR) photographs, then we added a strong dose of Adobe Camera Raw enhancing, Photomerge, and a little dash of layer styles. In Photoshop CS4, Photomerge is smarter than ever about blending images. It can remove (or add) vignettes and even mine the metadata to compensate for lens distortion. Not needing this new power, this illustration technique relies instead on the bare-bones Reposition option. Let’s start in Adobe Bridge CS4 and then we’ll go to Camera Raw.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r Y 2 0 0 9
STEP ONE: We chose our four images by Shift-clicking them in Bridge. These images are from a series taken at Yosemite National Park on a sunny summer day with a Canon PowerShot pocket camera modified for shooting in infrared. The IR photos were well on their way to a nice wintry look—Camera Raw would take them the rest of the way there. (Check out www.adventuresinphotoshop.com for links on IR conversion, a “Basic Jones” type of article about pocket cameras and IR, with sample galleries.)
064
STEP TWO: Camera Raw is ideal for enhancing photos, whether they’re RAW, JPEG, or TIFFs. Select the images in your panoramic series, and then click the iris-shaped Open in Camera Raw icon near the top edge of the Bridge interface, or choose Open in Camera Raw from the File menu. Click on a photo and, from the list on the right, carry out the simplified “Davis four-step tango” for optimizing photos using the Basic tab. First, click Auto to set the black and white points. Then adjust Brightness and Contrast to taste by dragging their sliders (we increased Contrast significantly). Next, use the Fill and Recovery sliders to bring back detail in the shadows and highlights, if needed. Finally, enhance your shot by adjusting Clarity and Vibrance. For this IR photo we boosted Clarity all the way up. We also increased Vibrance to bring out some inherent blues in our image, giving it an even more wintry look. To cool the color scheme, we reduced the Temperature to –4. Typically, it’s a good rule of thumb to avoid doing local tone and color corrections in Camera Raw when the photos are headed for Photomerge because any local changes probably
Initial enhancements in Camera Raw
won’t match from one image to the next when the photos are combined. But for this example we made an exception to the rule: first, the photos weren’t going to be blended, and second, the “local changes” we’re about to make aren’t really local. We already increased Clarity to the max in the Basic tab, but— being greedy artists that we are—we wanted more. So, we click on the Adjustment Brush (K) at the top of the Camera Raw dialog, press the Right Bracket key (]) until the brush size is huge, push the Clarity slider to 100, and then—with the brush’s Density set to 100 and the Auto Mask checkbox turned off—paint over the entire image. Clicking the Show Mask checkbox, we could see that the coverage was complete. Once you’ve optimized and enhanced one photo, it’s easy to apply its magic to all the others. Click the Select All button, and then click Synchronize. We check all the boxes in the Synchronize dialog because we want to apply all the settings from this one image to all the others, including the Local Adjustments (our extra Clarity). After synchronizing, click Done to return to Bridge. STEP THREE: With your optimized photos selected in Bridge, choose Tools>Photoshop>Photomerge. In the Photomerge dialog, you’ll see your photos listed in the Source Files section. Choose the Reposition option, turn off Blend Images Together (so no layer masks will be made), and click OK.
The WOW! Factor
negative values of 5–10%). To rotate, Control-click (PC: Right-click) inside the Free Transform bounding box, choose Rotate from the pop-up menu, and then click-and-drag around the outside of the frame. Double-click inside the bounding box to complete the curland-tilt process. Move, curl, and rotate each photo to the degree you like, and the tossed-on-the-table collage is complete! ■
Photomerge arranges the photos, overlapping them in the right order, and makes the canvas big enough to hold them all. Click the Create New Fill Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Solid Color to create a background. Pick your background color in the dialog, click OK, and then click-anddrag the newly added layer to the bottom of the Layers panel. By using a Solid Color Fill layer, the background color will automatically expand as needed if we enlarge the canvas. File after Photomerge and Solid Color addition
STEP FOUR: To enhance the look of photos tossed on a table, click one of the photo layers to select it, and then click the Add a Layer Style (ƒx) icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. In the Layer Style dialog, add a Drop Shadow and also an old-fashioned photo print border using the Stroke effect, set to Inside, with the Size and Color adjusted to taste. To add an exaggerated vignette, use the Inner Shadow effect: set the Distance to 0 so the effect is the same on all four edges, and increase the Size until the dark shading peeks out from under the stroke. Control-click (PC: Right-click) the layer’s ƒx icon and choose Copy Layer Style. Target the other layers by Command-clicking (PC: Ctrl-clicking) their names, Control-click (PC: Right-click) to the right of the name of any one of the targeted layers, and choose Paste Layer Style to apply the layer styles to all of the layers. While we’re working with layer styles, we also add a Pattern Overlay to our background Fill layer. (Download the associated file to see the exact settings we used.) [NAPP members may download the final image used in this tutorial from www.photoshopuser .com/members/janfeb09-downloads.html. Images are for personal use only.]
Layer style added to one photo
STEP FIVE: Now, just a couple of final touches: Add a slight curl and rotate some of the prints to complete the illustration—doing both in a single Free Transform operation preserves the sharpness of the photos. To curl a photo, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T), and then go up to the Options Bar and click the Switch Between Free Transform and Warp Modes icon. While you’re up there, choose Arch from the Warp menu and enter a low Bend value (we used positive and Our final illustration
Jack Davis, a member of the Photoshop Hall of Fame for his lifetime contributions to the fields of education and digital imagery, is the author of How To Wow: Photoshop for Photography. Linnea Dayton, with coauthor Cristen Gillespie, is at work on The Photoshop CS3/CS4 Wow! Book, coming from Peachpit Press in late spring/early summer. ALL IMAGES BY JH DAVIS PHOTOGRAPHY
Kevin Ames
Digital Photographer’s Notebook Pro Printing I’m all for pro printing. Even though with soft proofing the color on the print doesn’t quite live up to its backlit counterpart on the monitor, soft proofing in Photoshop is wonderful, marvelous, and even with the “make ugly” box checked, it really isn’t What-You-See-Is-What-You-Print (WYSIWYP). ere’s a graduated Photoshop CS4 solution until WYSIWYP (pronounced whizzy-whip) really and truly happens; test prints are the prerequisite for great results with any printer. My printing technique is much improved thanks to fellow Photoshop User contributor John Paul Caponigro and his articles, website, and especially after participating in his series of workshops, The Fine Digital Print. [Visit www .johnpaulcaponigro.com for more information.—Ed.] This installment of the “Notebook” posits that you’re using at least a downloaded profile for your printer/paper/ink set, or at best a custom profile, and that you know how to tell your printer driver “No Color Management.”
H
STEP ONE: Open the file you want to print in Photoshop, choose Image>Duplicate, and click OK in the ensuing dialog to make a copy of the photograph. Arrange them so they’re side by side on your monitor.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP TWO: Choose View>Proof Setup>Custom. In the Customize Proof Condition dialog, select the profile for your printer/paper/ ink set from the Device to Simulate menu; set the Rendering Intent to Relative Colorimetric; and click the Simulate Paper Color checkbox—this is the “make ugly” button mentioned earlier. It’s not so bad if you’re printing to a glossy or luster paper, but it looks pretty awful if you’re printing on a matte or fine art paper as in our example; we’re using UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper from Epson. This is the get-it-as-close-as-you-can-onscreen-then-hopethe-print-looks-good portion of the process. Cross your fingers for luck.
066
STEP THREE: Go back to View>Proof Setup> Custom, uncheck the Simulate Paper Color checkbox, then click OK to close the dialog. Usually the problem is diminished brightness in the middle tones and a drop off of saturation caused by the properties of the paper. It’s very difficult to match this on the monitor. The best way is to make a test print that will display the possibilities so you can pick the best one. In Photoshop CS4, click the Curves icon in the Adjustments panel (Window>Adjustments) to add a Curves adjustment layer. Click the tonal adjustment tool (the icon with a finger pointing to double arrows), click in a darker midtone area in the image, and drag up to brighten it. Overdo the adjustment so the effect is overexposed. When you’re finished, hide the layer by clicking the Eye icon at the bottom of the Adjustments panel. STEP FOUR: Click the arrow icon in the bottom-left corner of the Adjustments panel to return to the adjustment list view, then click the Hue/Saturation icon (it’s the second one from the left in the second row). One of the great interface improvements in Photoshop CS4 is the always-available control in the Adjustments panel. Highlight an adjustment layer in the Layers panel and the controls are instantly available—and they update in real time. Drag the Saturation slider to +40 to make the adjustment much greater than needed. STEP FIVE: Tap the G key to make the Gradient tool active. Hit D to set the default Foreground and Background colors. Click at the left edge of the photograph, press the Shift key, and then drag
Digital Photographer’s Notebook
across to the right side. The Shift key constrains the gradient to a straight line across the layer mask of the Hue/Saturation layer. The left edge has the most saturation, with it diminishing as you look to the right. Let’s make the difference more obvious: Choose Image>Adjustments>Posterize. Set the number of Levels to 5 then click OK. It’s still not completely obvious, so we’ll make it easier to see the breaks. STEP SIX: Press Command-Shift-N (PC: Ctrl-Shift-N) to make a new layer at the top of the stack. Name the layer “Lines” in the dialog the click OK. Click-and-hold the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) in the Toolbox then choose the Single Column Marquee tool. Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the posterized layer mask on the Hue/Saturation layer. Click on the edge of the white and gray wedges. Now hold down the Shift key and click on each of the lines between wedges until you have a total of four vertical sets of marching ants. If you see only one line selected, zoom in to see the rest by pressing Command-+ (PC: Ctrl-+; plus sign). Highlight the Lines layer, choose Edit>Stroke, and set the Width to 10 px. If your photograph is dark like this one of a Lilly Pulitzer bluepaisley tuxedo jacket, click the Color swatch and choose white; if it’s light, use black instead. Check the Center button then click OK. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect, then Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the layer mask to return to the normal view.
Management. Choose Photoshop Manages Colors from the Color Handling menu, and set the Printer Profile and Rendering Intent menus to those you used in Step Two. Click Print. STEP NINE: View the test print under light that’s as similar to where it will be displayed as possible. Compare the print to the original on the monitor. Determine which patch on the print is closest to the monitor. (For this example, the fourth patch from the left looks the best to me.)
STEP SEVEN: Normally the next step would be to repeat the last two steps on the Curves layer. That’s way too much work. Click the Curves layer to highlight it, Control-click (PC: Rightclick) on its layer mask, and choose Delete Layer Mask. Click on the posterized layer mask, press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, then click-and-drag it onto the Curves layer. Done. STEP EIGHT: Press Command-P (PC: Ctrl-P) to open the Print dialog. Set the top drop-down menu on the right to Color
Next time, the “Notebook” dives deeper into creating tools that can help make printing easier and closer to WYSIWYP using smart objects. Until then, keep shooting! ■
Kevin Ames creates evocative photographs for clients such as Westin Hotels, AT&T, and Coca-Cola. His fourth book, recently published by Peachpit Press, is The Digital Photographer’s Notebook: A Pro’s Guide to Photoshop CS3, Lightroom and Bridge. He teaches the digital arts worldwide. ALL IMAGES BY KEVIN AMES
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
STEP TEN: Press I for the Eyedropper tool. With Curves 1 layer active, click the fourth path from the left to select the shade of gray that gave just the right effect on the layer mask. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the layer mask with that specific gray. Click the Hue/Saturation layer to activate it, then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) again. Click the Eye icon to hide the Lines layer and the photograph is ready to print.
067
Classic Photoshop Effects The oldies but goodies that never seem to go out of style ■ BY COREY BARKER
Clipping for Effect One aspect of masking in Photoshop that people tend to forget about is something called a clipping mask or a clipping group. It’s a way of making one layer visible only through another layer. Knowing this, you can take advantage of it in many ways to achieve some interesting effects.
©ISTOCKPHOTO/RICK RHAY
STEP ONE: What we’re after here is to use clipping groups to create a cool graphic effect with a basketball theme. We’ll begin with a basketball texture. As you can see here, it’s just a simple close up of a basketball.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP TWO: Select the Type tool (T) and click in the middle of the image to create a text layer. We chose Impact for the font because a much bolder typeface will show more of the texture inside the letters. In the Character panel (Window>Character), we set the text Size to approximately 225 pt, Leading to 175 pt, and the Tracking to –50 pt. Now type the words “BIG GAME” in all caps on two lines. Highlight just the word BIG and set the Horizontal Scale to 125%. This will help fill the space a little more since the top word has fewer letters. We can also manipulate the shape of the letters while keeping the text editable.
STEP THREE: Now click on the Add a Layer Style (ƒx) icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Stroke. Set the Stroke Size to around 12, choose Outside from the Position menu, and then click the Color swatch and change it to whatever you like (for this example, we used R:1, G:10, B:19). Click OK to close the Select Stroke Color dialog, and click OK again to close the Layer Style dialog. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to make a duplicate of this layer, Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the new layer’s name, and choose Rasterize Type from the menu. Don’t throw away the original text layer but go ahead and turn off its visibility by clicking its Eye icon.
068
continued on p. 70
STEP FOUR: Double-click the Background layer containing the texture and click OK to unlock it. Drag it to the top of the layer order. Create a clipping group by holding down the Option (PC: Alt) key and then clicking between the layers when you see the overlapping circles appear (as shown). This will make the texture visible only within the lettering on the layer below. Notice the stroke is still visible. This is because the stroke is a layer style and not part of the layer’s original pixels, which is the only thing that a clipping group looks at. STEP FIVE: Now we can modify each layer independently without affecting the other layers. For instance, let’s add to the text layer style we created earlier. Double-click the ƒx icon on the BIG GAME copy layer (to the right of the layer’s name). Choose Bevel and Emboss from the Styles list on the left and input the following settings: 75% for Depth, increase the Size to 8, change the Angle to 130, uncheck Use Global Light, and increase the Altitude to 48. Just remember these setting will vary depending on the resolution and dimension of your image. Choose Gradient Overlay from the Styles list. By default, it will apply a basic black-to-white gradient. All you need to do is change the Blend Mode to Overlay and click OK. STEP SIX: Let’s add a little nuance to our image. Grab the Elliptical Marquee tool, which is nested under the Rectangular Marquee tool (M). Press-and-hold the Shift key, click-and-drag to create a circular selection at the top of the “I” in BIG, and press Delete (PC: Backspace). Notice that the layer style was redrawn to the new shape. With the selection still active, go under the Select menu and choose Transform Selection. Press-and-hold the Shift and Option (PC: Alt) keys, grab a corner handle, and scale down the selection slightly. Press Return (PC: Enter) and then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection. It doesn’t matter what colors are used because all you should see is the texture. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect all.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP SEVEN: Now press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to activate Free Transform. Go under the Edit menu, under Transform, and select Warp. In the Options Bar, open the Warp menu, select Bulge, and set the Bend value to 35%. Experiment with the distortion until you get it to your liking and then press Return (PC: Enter) to commit the transformation.
070
STEP EIGHT: Now we just need a background element to finish the effect. We used a photo of a basketball court that was brought over using the Move tool (V) and placed it at the bottom of the visible layers. Then we simply used the Crop tool (C) to bring in the court closer and applied a small, 3-pixel Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) to create a sense of depth. For a finishing touch, we pressed Command-U (PC: Ctrl-U) to open the Hue/Saturation dialog, clicked the Colorize checkbox, set the Hue to 215, the Saturation to 55, and clicked OK. Finally, we added the shadow of a player within the text by dragging that layer into the existing clipping group, dragged it to the top of the Layers panel, changed its blend mode to Hard Light, and Opacity to 50%. Now we’re ready for some b-ball! ■
COURT: ©FOTOLIA/GHEORGHE ROMAN SILHOUETTE: ©FOTOLIA/BRIAN ERICKSON
Ed Greenberg and Jack Reznicki
The Copyright Zone Model Release Myths One of our favorite subjects to talk about is the model release. We don’t know of any other subject for photographers that generates more myths, bad information, half truths, and very fuzzy logic. Ed has litigated several hundred model-release cases in numerous states, representing photographers, models, model agencies, and others. hus, this is not just “Well, I think…” advice. This is real advice from the trenches. Of course, you’re free to ignore it. Ed’s wife does. There are, however, some “new myths” sharing space on the Internet with the older, more common fairy tales about releases, which concerns us. We’re flabbergasted by some of the nonlegal advice about releases that’s out there and that people will believe. It’s hard, as creative people, to wade through the muck and figure out reality from mythology. Here are some clarifications for you that will, as we like to say, separate the beef from the bull. First off, remember that the requirement for model releases in New York, California, Florida, and many other states is governed by statute. This means that whatever article some photographer, author, or “wannabe lawyer” has written that doesn’t mention your state’s statute and the statutes of the states in which your images may appear, is virtually worthless. The only thing about this issue that’s “one size fits all” is that you’re always better off having a signed release in your pocket. These statutes are in effect if your image is used in that state. If you shoot a wedding, you only have to worry about your own state statutes. But if you now run an ad in Brides magazine, it will appear in all 50 states, so now you need to have a release that covers you for all state statutes. That’s actually very easy if you have a decent, signed, and properly executed release. If an image is used in the State of New York, the New York Civil Rights Law Sections 50, 51 require (under criminal penalty in some cases) that if the photo, portrait, or likeness is to be used for trade or advertising purposes, a writing signed by the subject authorizing such use is required…period. That writing may take the form of a voucher, release, contract, agreement, or any other duly executed writing. We’ll address some of these new myths now floating around but will intentionally not delve into the details of these myths lest they be rebroadcast and, by so doing, gain credibility. Again, state statutes and laws vary. We note that the “lay experts” don’t seem to know or mention that critical tidbit.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
T
072
Photographer/subject relationship The photographer/subject relationship is irrelevant when determining whether the photographer, ad agency, client, stock agency, etc. has the legal right to disseminate, use, or employ the image for trade or commercial purposes without the subject’s written consent. Here’s a real-life example: A bank asks its employees to remain after closing if they want to be included in advertising and promotional materials to be distributed to advertise and promote the bank. It’s made clear that they have no obligation to hang around. Some remain and participate in your standard, everyday location shoot with a photographer, assistant, hair-and-
makeup person, art director, and the all-important caterer. They pose and the shoot takes several hours. Ads and promos come out. Some employees who never signed releases claimed violations of New York law. They won. A more common scenario might include where a photographer and model are involved in a personal relationship, living together or married. Images are taken—no releases are obtained. Implied consent to use the images was clearly there; both are willing participants in the shoot; and no written, signed releases were ever obtained. If the images are used for trade or commercial purposes sans release, the photographer is in peril. We’ve had this exact set of facts at least a dozen times. The nature of their relationship at the time of the shoot was irrelevant to the issue of liability. It might, however, affect the amount of damages the model could recover. You need consideration Some out there proffer the notion that the model must get paid money or receive some tangible item or benefit in order for the release to be valid. Wrong! In New York, for example, consideration is specifically not required. Orchestration Huh? Some proffer the notion that the need for a model release may be dependant upon how much coordination goes into the shoot/shot. You’re being told that whether “public space” is used may also be a factor, as well as whether the subject is photographed in a controlled environment where access is restricted. In the state of New York, these “factors” have little to no relevance in a court when determining liability. For example: Michael Jordan was crossing the intersection of 5th Ave. and 42nd Street in New York City in the midst of oh, say 500 people. His photo was taken and used to advertise or promote a product, service, or organization without Jordan’s written consent. (I really, really hope he calls me.) If Jordan has endorsement contracts (I think he does), he might—in addition to bringing an action under the Civil Rights Law—sue the shooter for interference with a contractual relationship, or in some places, something lawyers like to call a prima facie tort. Reasonable expectation of privacy This phrase is legal coin in the realm of the courtroom when talking about invasive police activity, taping private conversations without consent, or whether evidence should be excluded as obtained in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The phrase has neither meaning within the context of the New York Civil Rights Statutes nor many other equivalent state statutes that are addressed to the Right of Privacy or the statutory need for a
Photo taken in Seoul, Korea, during the Lotus Lantern Festival: Normally, we’d say that you need a model release for this image, but Jack retouched the monk’s face and hairline enough, so we can safely say that this monk doesn’t exist. Thus, no release needed.
written, executed release. Remember, applicable state statutes take precedence over anyone’s musings about what prior cases may or may not show. Using the phrase does not of itself reflect an understanding of its meaning.
Property releases not required by law We really love this one. Some have opined that there are no cases where the lack of a property release caused a shooter to be held liable—nonsense. Ed has been involved in more than a few cases where money changed hands due to the lack of a property release. There may be trademark and other legal considerations that don’t have anything to do with “releases” per se, but they’ll get you sued nonetheless. There’s so much bad advice out there on location and other releases that we’ll have yet more—especially on location releases—next issue. We’ll end this issue with this simple thought: All of this sturm und drang is avoidable by obtaining a signature(s) on a simple, one-page document. Why tempt fate? In the time it takes to think about getting a release signed, you could’ve had it signed and have piece of mind. ■
Normally, we’d say that you don’t need a model release for this image—not recognizable, no distinguishing features. But not so fast, if this were a hand model, a model release would be needed for use.
Ed Greenberg and Jack Reznicki can be reached at
[email protected]. Because of the large volume of questions and shortness of time, not everything can be answered. Anyway, most of the answers are simply, “Contact a lawyer.” ALL IMAGES BY JACK REZNICKI
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
Professional models vs. lay people Liability is not dependant upon the livelihood of the subject. In law, no mention is made of such a difference. Models who earn income from modeling will likely recover more money than civilians because they can (more probably) demonstrate financial loss. I won’t get into the demeaning, defamatory type of cases here but just be aware of them.
073
Peter Bauer
From the Help Desk To: NAPP Help Desk From: Kisha In the Blending Options section of the Layer Style dialog, when would you use the Layer Mask Hides Effects option?
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
To: Kisha From: NAPP Help Desk When working with multiple layers in an image, you can use a layer mask to hide parts of an upper layer, allowing the lower layer (or layers) to show through the masked layer. You may, for example, want part of the upper layer to be hidden to present the appearance of a hole in the artwork on that layer. Or you may want to hide part of an upper layer to make that layer and the lower layer appear intertwined. When a layer style is applied to a layer with a layer mask, the style normally conforms to the shape of the visible pixels on the layer. Overlay effects are applied to all visible pixels. Glows, shadows, and strokes follow the entire outline of the layer’s content. But sometimes that behavior can ruin the look you have worked so hard to produce. Consider, for example, the intertwined RGB graphic on the left (below). Layer masks on the R and G layers make parts of those layers appear to be “behind” the layer below in the Layers panel. Notice how the layer style enhances the idea that the G is hooked on the bottom of the R and passes through the top loop of the B. Compare that to the RGB graphic on the right, where the layer style conforms to the visibility of the layer’s content. This makes the end of the tail of the R and the stem of the G appear to be separate from the rest of the two letters. Rather than intertwined, the G looks pushed into the R and the B looks pushed into the G.
074
The only difference between the RGB on the left, properly executed to produce an intertwined effect, and the RGB look to the right is a single option in the Layer Style dialog. By selecting Layer Mask Hides Effects, the masks on the R and G layers can hide both the content of the layer and the layer style applied to that content. Using the Vector Mask Hides Effects option offers you the opportunity to work with a path as the basis for a mask that hides layer effects. Keep in mind, however, that the layer mask and the vector mask are cumulative on the layer—only pixels that fall within both masks will be visible. Alternatively, you can use the Layer>Layer Style>Create Layers command and mask or erase parts of the new layers containing the elements of the layer style. But, as you can see, that can make the Layers panel much more complicated and requires more work than simply selecting an option in the Layer Styles dialog.
Remember, too, that Photoshop CS4 offers the new Masks panel, which enables you to make adjustments to a mask quickly and easily. Especially note the Mask Edge button in the Masks panel, which opens the Refine Mask dialog (very similar to the Refine Edges option introduced in Photoshop CS3). And don’t forget that the Masks panel enables you to feather the edges of vector masks as well. ■ Peter Bauer is Director of the NAPP Help Desk and a featured columnist at PlanetPhotoshop.com. His latest book is Photoshop CS4 for Dummies.
Scott Onstott
Beyond Photoshop Poor Man’s HDR Although some people might prefer the 32-bit HDR (high-dynamic range) image—created from blending together multiple shots at different exposures—because it’s an outstanding visual and technical achievement, sometimes you might favor a “low-budget,” 8-bit approach to expanding dynamic range. o matter how you shoot architectural interiors on a sunny day, no single exposure will capture detail inside and outside a room; bracketing is required. With only two exposures and a layer mask (plus a few tricks), you can expand dynamic range while still in 8-bit mode and also see detail inside and out.
N
Developing the smart way After visiting a site, say you discover that you didn’t get enough bracketed shots to create a quality HDR image. In the following technique for expanding dynamic range, you need only two bracketed images: one exposed for highlights and the other for shadow detail. Tip: You should bracket by shutter speed to avoid depth-of-field issues. We’ll start by using Adobe Camera Raw to bring the source JPEGs into Photoshop as smart objects. That way we keep our development options open, and Camera Raw will help us finetune the composite image after we take masking as far as it can go.
Click the Select All button (circled), then hold down Shift, and click Open Objects. This opens the images as smart objects, which will allow us to revisit Camera Raw later to fine-tune the composite. Combining objects Next, we’ll combine both smart objects into one document. If you’re using Photoshop CS3, go to Step Three. If you’re using Photoshop CS4, it will have opened your documents as separate tabs within one window and unfortunately, this arrangement makes it impossible to combine objects. To fix this, go to the Window menu and choose Arrange>Float All in Windows. STEP THREE: Select the Move tool (V) and, while holding the Shift key, drag one image into the other image window (adding Shift ensures both images will stack perfectly). And now, you should have one document containing two smart object layers. Close the document with only one layer without saving.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP ONE: Launch Photoshop and choose File>Open. Navigate to the folder containing your bracketed images, or the provided samples from the NAPP member website. Using our sample images, we Shift-selected Highlight-detail.jpg and Shadow-detail.jpg and then clicked Open. Note: If the JPEGs don’t open in Camera Raw, go to Photoshop>Preferences>General and click on File Handling, and then check Prefer Adobe Camera Raw for JPEG files. [NAPP members may download the images used in this tutorial from www.photoshopuser.com/members/janfeb09-downloads .html. Images are for personal use only.]
076
STEP TWO: Resist the temptation to try and develop one image that shows detail both inside and outside simultaneously—the information just isn’t there. Instead, play with the sliders under the Basic tab to make what you do have in each exposure look good.
STEP FOUR: In the Layers panel, drag the Shadow-detail smart object layer below Highlight-detail. It might be a bit counterintuitive but Shadow-detail is the brighter image while Highlight-detail appears dark. The brighter image should be on the bottom of the Layers panel. Masking one exposure with the other The crux of this technique is to mask the top image with the bottom one. In this way, wherever the mask is close to white (in the window area), we’ll see the Highlight-detail layer. Where the mask is darker, we’ll see the interior space as seen on the Shadow-detail layer. STEP FIVE: Click the Shadow-detail layer to make it active, press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to Select All, then Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to copy it to the Clipboard. Now, press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.
Beyond Photoshop
STEP SIX: Next, target the Highlight-detail layer and click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the layer mask thumbnail to display it in the document window (currently white). Press Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste the copy of Shadow-detail from the Clipboard into this mask (masks are always grayscale) and deselect again.
We can brighten the room by making the mask darker, as this will hide more of the Highlight-detail layer and thereby show more of the Shadow-detail layer. In the Levels dialog, drag the shadow Input slider far to the right (in our example, 100), and then click OK.
STEP SEVEN: Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the layer mask again to display the result of the masked layer in the document window. Don’t worry: It won’t look good yet.
Fine-tuning in Camera Raw The smart objects allow us to revisit development settings in Camera Raw for fine-tuning the composite image. The room is still a bit too dark compared to the world outside—no problem for Camera Raw. STEP TEN: Double-click the Highlight-detail layer thumbnail (not the mask) and the Camera Raw dialog appears. Drag the Fill Light slider to 100, click OK, and the world outside gets brighter. Double-click the Shadow-detail layer thumbnail, drag the Recovery slider to 100, and click OK. Here’s our final image where the interior and exterior brightness match more closely. Blurring and leveling the mask Much like the mystery behind the Unsharp Mask filter, blurring the layer mask we’ve made will paradoxically improve the composite image. We’ll also use Levels on the mask to control how much of each layer gets mixed into the result.
The poor man’s HDR technique works in older versions of Photoshop (going way back if you optionally skip smart objects and Camera Raw), because it relies on creative masking techniques to expand dynamic range. You can even use it in Photoshop CS4 whenever you don’t have enough bracketed images to create a high-quality HDR image, or when you want to keep file size down and retain access to the full toolset for 8-bit images. Enjoy! ■ STEP NINE: Still working with the layer mask targeted, press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to bring up the Levels adjustment dialog. Note: We’re not doing a Levels adjustment on the smart object layer—just its mask.
Scott Onstott authors books and video tutorials for architects, engineers, and builders. Check out his Photoshop for Architects DVD and The Digital Architect video podcast at ScottOnstott.com. ALL IMAGES BY RICHARD TRUEMAN
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
STEP EIGHT: With the layer mask still targeted, choose Filter> Blur>Gaussian Blur. Select a radius of about 5.5 pixels and click OK. The image already looks better but the interior is still too dark.
077
1 Full Day of Photoshop® Training, 5 Info-Packed Classes – Just $99 It’s time to take your Photoshop® skills to a whole new level. With over 40,000 professional and amateur photographers, graphic designers, and other creatives attending our events each year, it’s easy to see why we are the most popular Photoshop® seminar tour in the world! Our expert trainers teach you the very latest photography, Photoshop® and Creative Suite 4 tips, tricks, and advanced techniques in a casual, easy-to-understand style that’s sure to have you working smarter, faster, and getting better results than ever before. Visit www.photoshopseminars.com for an event near you.
You’ll be amazed at how much you can learn in one day!
79 $99
$
NAPP Members
Non NAPP Members
Your one-day seminar also includes a detailed seminar workbook, keyboard shortcut guide, issue of Photoshop User and Layers magazines, and a bonus Kelby Training “Goodies” DVD ($29.95 value).
Produced By
To register visit www.photoshopseminars.com 100% Money Back Guarantee
Sponsored By
See website or call for details.
Coming to a City Near You!
Scott Kelby
Dave Cross
Bert Monroy
Ben Willmore
Fay Sirkis
Taz Tally
Terry White
Adobe Lightroom Live 2 Tour
Maximum Adobe Photoshop CS4 Tour
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Creativity Tour
Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers Tour
The Art of Photo Painting
Adobe InDesign CS4 Tour
Adobe InDesign CS4 Productivity Tour
With Photoshop and Corel Painter
For locations, dates and information about our one-day training seminars visit www.photoshopseminars.com or call 800.201.7323.
Adobe, Creative Suite and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Photoshop User magazine
Library
Develop
Slideshow
Print
Web
Lightroom Adobe® Photoshop®
®
section
86
94
92 80
93
97
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
itale By Jim DiV
080
of e arrival h t h it w ition ital trans nly ig d e h t tethered-o gan f e o b a o r e h e w ed th phers eras miss Photogra m a o be c ) R L nfining t x (S o le c f e o r o s t n gle le a little f digital sin ay find it m e m decade o o d S . n o io c d e u s their in the st o are in h y. w shooting e s o h other wa tt y u n b a , r k e r t o u w a comp uldn’t wired to s, and wo rt of it f e n e b ortant pa he t p w im o n n a k such pture digital ca htroom is ig L -shooting p d o e h r s e o h t t o e t h P ok at t Adobe time to lo ’s it Now tha , w lo f work es. ital imag d capture ig e d in f b o g m o cessin the c ooth pro m s r fo in s aga capabilitie
ne of the big issues is that different cameras have proprietary RAW-processing software. When early requests came in for a tethered workflow in Lightroom, Adobe took a very simple but effective approach to it: Have a watched folder that can be enabled by a click from the menu and can move the files right into Lightroom as they arrive on the hard drive. This way you can use the connection utility software of your choice.
What’s on the menu?
Most digital SLRs include camera connection software when you buy the camera; a few have it as an add-on accessory. Using the camera manufacturer’s proprietary software to connect the camera to the computer and make them communicate is the simplest and most trouble-free connection you can set up.
STEP TWO: Create a Watched Folder in a location where you can find it easily, such as your desktop (ours is called 2008_09_04). Make sure to set your camera connection software to download all photos to this folder and take another test shot. STEP THREE: Launch Lightroom and go to the Library module. Choose File>Auto Import>Enable Auto Import, then choose File> Auto Import>Auto Import Settings. In the Auto Import Settings dialog that appears, click Choose next to Watched Folder, navigate to the folder you created in Step Two, and click Choose again. This tells Lightroom where to find the images for your photo shoot. (Note: This folder must be empty for Lightroom to connect to it. If you have any test images in there, empty the folder and continue; if you forget, a warning dialog will appear and remind you to empty the folder.)
I’ll have the shrimp appetizer
Once this connection is made, each image is saved to a folder on the computer as it’s exposed. Lightroom sees the file in the folder and grabs it, moving it into its own designated folder and instantly importing it into the Lightroom Library module. This process, along with the camera’s individual features, makes it easy to achieve controllable and repeatable images. Here’s how:
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
STEP ONE: Connect the camera to your computer and launch the camera connection utility software (we’re using Canon’s EOS Utility). Use the AC power supply so the camera can stay powered up all day, if necessary. (You don’t want to constantly reconnect when the camera goes into sleep mode after sitting idle.) Do a custom white balance in the camera for the lighting setup and then set the camera to use that setting. This way your images will come into the system with perfect color from the start. For our Canon EOS1Ds Mark III, we’ll fill the frame with a large white card that’s illuminated with the same light source as the subject, shoot the photo, and set that as the custom white balance, as instructed by the camera’s menu.
081
STEP FOUR: Next, choose the Destination for the images. In the Move to field, click Choose, navigate to the folder where you want Lightroom to move the images, and click Choose again. If you don’t already have a folder set up for this, you can create a folder in the Choose Folder dialog. (Note: Lightroom doesn’t just point to the incoming files, it moves them to their own folder, so your Watched Folder will be empty. By default, this new folder is in the same location as the incoming files, and the images are placed in a subfolder called autoImport.) STEP FIVE: Files can be renamed as they’re brought in by filling in the File Naming information in the next field. [To learn more about renaming photos, see Photoshop User, July/August 2007, p. 80.—Ed.] Any Develop Settings can also be applied, along with Metadata information. Set the Initial Previews to Minimal to keep Lightroom running quickly. Click OK and do another test shot. The image arrives in the Watched Folder, and is then instantly moved into the autoImport folder from the previous step.
Mmm…tiramisu
Once the images are exposed, Lightroom can export the RAW images into the final TIFFs that will be checked out in Photoshop for any final adjustments before sending them on to the client. This easy-to-adapt tethered workflow is inexpensive to set up and it’s familiar due the RAW controls we’re used to in Photoshop. It isn’t going to be workable in every situation but when it’s set up correctly, this can be a comfortable way to work and get the best quality for our clients. If you’ve never tried this approach, you really need to give it a chance to prove that having control of every aspect of the original capture is the key to quality output. ■
Which entrée?
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
Making minor changes throughout a photo shoot can be limiting if your camera doesn’t have Live View capabilities, like the Canon EOS1Ds Mark III we’re using. With Live View enabled, your clients can sit at the computer and see subtle changes on the set as if they’re looking through the lens. This allows you to move things around the set, while the client stays clear of touching anything as you work. You can control exposure, white balance, and focus from your camera utility software and have the live preview window open onscreen. This way, you can shoot right into Lightroom for all the processing controls you could ever want. Clients love sitting at the computer as the images come into view. This setup gives you a lot of control over the photo shoot.
082
Jim DiVitale is an Atlanta-based photographer and instructor specializing in digital photography. His clients include Mizuno USA, Carter’s, Genuine Parts Company, IBM, TEC America, Scientific-Atlanta, and Coca-Cola. Check out his website at www.divitalephotography.com. ALL IMAGES BY JIM DIVITALE
X Y
Matt Kloskowski
LIGHTROOM News . . . .
▼ FOTOMAGICO PRO NOW SUPPORTS LIGHTROOM Boinx Software Ltd. released an update to their award-winning photo-presentation software, FotoMagico (for Mac only). FotoMagico 2.6 for professional photographers now supports Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 libraries, so users can seamlessly access GarageBand songs, iLife sound effects, media libraries from iTunes, or media files from any other folder on their hard disks. FotoMagico 2.6 Pro is available for $129. The upgrade is free of charge to current FotoMagico 2.x license owners. For more information or to purchase, visit http://boinx.com.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
▼ PHOTODEX OFFERS PROSHOW PLUG-IN FOR LIGHTROOM 2
084
In other slide show-related news (this time, for PC users), Photodex Corporation released the ProShow Plug-in for Lightroom. Now you can quickly and easily set up slide shows in Lightroom and export directly to ProShow Gold or Producer to further enhance and output. The plug-in allows you to add a copyright, title, and description to photos in your slide show from metadata. You can also refine slide shows by adding caption effects and adjusting caption size and placement on all of the slides. For all of you preset-hungry folks out there, ProShow lets you create presets of your favorite settings to apply later, as well as more than 280 transition effects and 10 photo borders for your slide show. Throw in the addition of adding pans, zooms, and rotations to your photos, and control the speed of the motion and timing for slides, and you have some slick extra features that the Lightroom slide shows just don’t offer. The ProShow Plug-in for Lightroom is free, ProShow Gold costs $69.95, and Producer is $249.95. You can find out more about ProShow at www.photodex.com.
▼ LR2/MOGRIFY RELEASED Timothy Armes (http://timothyarmes.com) announced the release of version 1.45 of the LR2/Mogrify export plug-in. This is Timothy’s donationware plug-in for watermarking, annotating, and adding borders to images as they’re exported from Lightroom. Mogrify taps into some already-free software and provides an easy-to-use interface for adding graphics to your photos during the export process from Lightroom. The newest version includes some highly requested features, such as advanced resizing options, sharpening after resize, color-space conversion, overlaying graphical watermarks or textual annotations, and putting borders around your images. Make sure you stop by www.lightroomkillertips.com for updated news, free presets, Lightroom how-to videos, and tips. ■
By Mike Mackenzie
FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER
Terri Gold My passion is photographing the rituals of the human drama, whether focusing my lens on the vanishing tribal cultures of Asia, the intimacy of a wedding celebration, or in my editorial work. The work is an exploration of our cross-cultural truths: the importance of family, community, and ritual, and the amazing diversity of its expression. I’m aware of the growing importance of understanding our common humanity in the global village we live in today. My goal is to assist in preserving our ancient knowledge and wisdom for future generations. I believe imagery that shares our stories can have a positive impact on our world. Q. Can you give us a short list of the equipment you use? I use a Canon EOS 5D and Canon EOS 350D converted to infrared (IR); Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM, EF 24–105mm f/4L IS USM, EF 70–200mm L IS, and 16–35mm USM lenses; Hasselblad XPan with 45mm lens; Mamiya 7 with 43mm lens; Zero Image pinhole camera; and Diana camera.
Q. When did you know you wanted to be a photographer? Who influenced you? My earliest memories are of spinning a globe, always drawn to the last mysterious corners of the world and to studying indigenous cultures and sacred sites. As long as I can remember, I wanted to visually capture images that explore our human connections as they’re being made. No matter where I am, I always feel more comfortable with a camera in my hand. My influences are the early explorers/photographers like Martin and Osa Johnson and Edward S. Curtis, and currently Nevada Wier, Chris Rainier, and Phil Borges.
Q. What’s your favorite feature in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom? I like to experiment with different versions of an image nondestructively using virtual copies.
Q. Do you immerse yourself in the culture or event before photographing it? I do extensive research about the culture and festivals. I read fiction and nonfiction books to learn what are the ties that bind this community together. Now, using the Internet, I can contact people in the remote areas and set up relationships before I leave. Working with local guides is immensely important in the tribal regions.
Q. Do you ever participate in the festivals or celebrations, or are you there just to record the event? Photographing at festivals, there are times when I step back and record, and moments where I’m looking to make a spontaneous connection. Acknowledging our first impressions, we’re often foreign to each other but also familiar. Occasionally, I’m invited to participate. I stay open to the wonder in a chance encounter.
Q. Are you hired to photograph festivals or do you do it out of your own passion?
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
This is truly my lifelong passion, whether commissioned or on my own. Change is the one constant in all our lives; only in our photographs can we celebrate the still moment. The body of work is entitled “Still Points in a Turning World.”
086
Q. How do you approach IR photography? What do you look for in a scene and how do you decide if you’re going to take a shot with your IR camera or your color camera? I wear many cameras around my neck, up to four: one infrared digital, one color digital, one XPan with cross-processed film or black and white, and a Mamiya 7. I step into this visual current and switch from one to another like a dance.
Contact Terri Gold at http://terrigoldworldimagery.com and http://terrigoldimagery.com Folders/Terri Gold
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon 10–22mm, 1/60 at f/8, 20mm, CR2
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Section
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon 10–22mm, 1/125 at f/6.3, 22mm, CR2
Canon EOS 5D, Canon 24–105mm, 1/200 at f/11, 32mm, CR2
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon 10–22mm, 1/320 at f/5.6, 17mm, CR2
087
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon 10–22mm, 1/160 at f/7.1, 20mm, CR2
088
Canon EOS 5D, Canon 24–105mm, 1/50 at f/5.6, 35mm, CR2
Canon EOS-1v, Canon 16–35mm, Agfa Scala film
Lightroom users, if you’d like to be considered for the “Featured Photographer,” email
[email protected].
UNDER THE LOUPE
Understanding the Plug-in Manager Rob Sylvan
X Y
You can extend the usefulness of Lightroom by installing export plug-ins to assist you in such tasks as uploading to photo-sharing sites, adding customizable watermarks, and managing your exported metadata. These export plug-ins aren’t new to Lightroom 2 (although many have evolved quite a bit), but the way to manage them has changed. . . . .
U
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
se the Plug-in Manager to enable and disable installed plug-ins and check their status for available updates. Access the Plug-in Manager by going to File>Plug-in Manager or by clicking the Plug-in Manager button found at the bottom of the Export dialog. In the Plug-in Manager dialog, you’ll see all of your installed plug-ins listed on the left side. A green light next to a plug-in indicates that it’s enabled and operational. If the light is off, then the plug-in is disabled. A yellow light indicates that there may be a problem with the plug-in— for example, if an update is required.
090
Click on a plug-in to select it and you’ll see its information displayed on the right side. You can enable or disable a plug-in by expanding the Status panel and clicking the desired button. A plug-in has to be enabled before it can be accessed in the Export dialog. (Note: Some plug-ins offer additional panels that provide update options and links to the developer’s website.) Lightroom will automatically add your plug-ins when it launches, if you first place your plug-in files in the following folder on your hard drive: Mac: [user]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ Lightroom/Modules XP: \Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\ Adobe\Lightroom\Modules Vista: \Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\ Lightroom\Modules Tip: To find that folder, open the Lightroom Preferences, choose the Presets tab, then click the Show Lightroom Presets Folder button. This opens the Lightroom folder in the Finder (PC: Explorer), and inside that, you’ll find (or create) the Modules folder. To install export plug-ins, just place the file with the .lrplugin extension inside the Modules folder and launch
Lightroom. When you open the Plug-in Manager, you should see each installed plug-in listed, and you’ll have to enable each one before you can access it on the Export dialog. To remove a plug-in, just remove the .lrplugin file from the Modules folder and relaunch Lightroom. What are the Add and Remove buttons for? The Add and Remove buttons in the Plug-in Manager aren’t always needed; however, they give you the option of putting the .lrplugin files in a different folder. If it suits you, skip the Modules folder, create a folder in another location, place the .lrplugin files inside it, then click the Add button. You’ll be prompted to navigate to that folder and select the .lrplugin file. After clicking the Add Plug-in button, it will be added to the Plug-in Manager. Repeat for each plug-in. Any plug-in added in this manner can be removed with the Remove button. A great place to find plug-ins is the Lightroom Exchange, which is a portal maintained by Adobe where third-party developers can share their work with the world. Click the Plug-in Exchange button at the bottom of the Plug-in Manager to open the Exchange in your browser. Once the plug-ins have been installed and enabled, you can access them in the Export dialog by clicking the dropdown menu at the top of the dialog.
A minor point of confusion Most plug-ins, such as the Export to Flickr or Export to SmugMug, come with their own set of unique export panels and options; however, there are a few plug-ins, notably LR2/Mogrify and Metadata Wrangler, that are technically considered Post-Process Actions and appear in a special section of their own under the Presets on the Export dialog. The difference is simple yet significant: A Post-Process Action can be used with any type of export. For example, when I use the Flickr plug-in to export directly to my Flickr account, I also integrate elements of LR2/Mogrify to add a custom watermark, and I use Metadata Wrangler to control exactly what metadata is included in the resulting JPEG that’s uploaded. ■
UNDER THE HOOD
The Graduated Filter Matt Kloskowski
X Y
For me, the Graduated Filter is one of the stars of Lightroom 2. This feature alone has not only saved me from many repetitive tasks, such as enhancing the sky in my photos, but, as you’ll see here, it offers some other neat benefits as well. . . . .
T
he obvious use of the Graduated Filter is to simulate using a graduated neutral-density filter on your lens. Sure, we had our ways to fake this in Photoshop if we didn’t use that filter when we took a photo, but the Graduated Filter in Lightroom 2 makes it much easier.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
STEP ONE: Select a photo in the Develop module. Here’s our original photo. The problem is that the color in the sky just isn’t as vibrant as it seemed when I was there.
092
STEP TWO: Click on the Graduated Filter tool in the Toolbar (or just press the letter M). You’ll find it near the top of the right-side panels area under the Histogram. When you click on it, a set of options such as Exposure, Brightness, etc. appears (as shown here). Here’s where we can replicate the look of a traditional neutral-density gradient filter and darken the sky. Try dragging the Exposure slider to the left. We went about –2/3 (–0.67) stop, but you don’t have to nail it the first time because you can go back later and change the setting, if necessary.
Tip: If you don’t see the sliders that we have but instead have – and + buttons, click on the little switch to the far right of the word Effect to switch to the slider view (we’ll call it the “cool kids” view). STEP THREE: Now click-and-drag from the top of your photo down toward the horizon line. As you drag, you’ll see you can control your filter by rotating it to the left or right to help it fit with the horizon if it’s not perfectly straight. Generally, you should release the mouse button before you get to the foreground (or horizon line) for the best graduated filter effect. If you don’t, then your filter results may leak into the foreground area, which was probably properly exposed in the first place.
STEP FOUR: After you release the mouse button, the little circle (pin) shows the center of the gradient. You can always reposition the gradient either by clicking-and-dragging on the pin and moving it or by dragging any of the handles that appear with it.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Section What I like most about this tool is that you can change and add other effects to the same area. For example, if you find the Exposure setting is too much or too little, then change it now. We brought ours down to about –1/2 (0.50) stop because it was too dark. We also increased the Clarity setting to bring some more punch into the top of the house and in the clouds.
The semi-obvious I use this filter in reverse as well. While the previous example did great in the sky, the foreground grass is really lacking something. It’s a little too bright and doesn’t have the same green saturation in it as the rest of the photo. It turned out that the filter works great there too, and because Lightroom allows you to add multiple filters (each with its own settings) to the image, we can use the same process. STEP ONE: Using the same photo, click on the New option at the top of the filter area and set the Exposure to –1 stop. This time, drag from the bottom toward the middle of the photo and you’ll see the darkening take place from the bottom to the top, instead of the way we used it before.
The not-so-obvious Here’s where this tool really goes above and beyond for me—portraits. While I expected I’d use it for landscapes all the time (and I do), I’ve found some other useful options for it. STEP ONE: This time around, select a portrait to work on. While I like the directional lighting coming from the left in our example, it’s just a little too bright. You can see hints of overexposure on the shoulder and even on the side of her face. I thought it would be good to tone that down a bit. STEP TWO: We’ll drop the Exposure setting on the Graduated Filter to –1 stop, then drag from the far left to the middle of the photo. This creates a vertical gradient instead of the horizontal ones we’ve been making so far. Again, my favorite part about this tool is that I’m not stuck with my settings: I can adjust the Exposure slider either way after the fact and really hone in on a good effect. We decreased the Exposure even more here. You can really see it if you check out how much more detail we brought back on her face, shoulder, and even in her hair and veil. ■
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
STEP FIVE: What’s really cool is that you can add to or change the color of your sky. Click on the Color swatch below the sliders and choose the light-blue preset. That really brings some color back into the sky, so it’s not only deeper, but bluer now too.
STEP TWO: If the area needs more color saturation, you can adjust it with the Saturation slider. Because we already created the gradient to darken, add to it by dragging the Saturation slider to the right. This gives it almost a perfect match between the grass in the background and the grass in the foreground (shown top right). ALL IMAGES BY MATT KLOSKOWSKI
093
WORKING CREATIVELY IN LIGHTROOM
Creative Direct Positive Angela Drury
X Y
The Lightroom Direct Positive preset is perfect for adding a quick enhancement to an image. It’s also a great place to start adding creativity to your shots. In processing images from a recent vacation, the Direct Positive preset proved to be the perfect starting point for enhancing the charm and beauty of Venice. . . . .
D
irect Positive is one of my favorite presets that I use often. It always seems to liven up an image, sometimes in unexpected ways. Since I apply this preset so regularly, I’ve created many variations on it and find them to be an essential component of my creative preset library. In this issue, I’ll take you through the steps to create one of these variations.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
A walk through Venice Walking through a piazza in Venice one morning, I snapped these musical instruments leaning against a cathedral wall and couldn’t wait to see what I could do with the shot. First, of course, I went for a sepia tone, which seemed to be the obvious look for this particular image. Sepia worked well with the image but I decided to try something less traditional and a bit more creative instead.
094
As you’ll see later in the final image, with a few Develop module adjustments, the shot becomes much more visually interesting. Here’s how: STEP ONE: We’ll make most of the color adjustments in the Camera Calibration panel in the Develop module. Use the Shadows Tint slider to make the dramatic color shift: By moving the slider to –43 (toward the green tint), the tones shift to a crisp, cool blue and the image immediately pops and becomes more interesting.
First, I clicked on the default Creative – Direct Positive in the Lightroom Presets on the left-hand side of the Develop module, which is a set of adjustments to the HSL Saturation panel in addition to a slight adjustment to the White Balance Temp slider. It doesn’t initially make a dramatic change to this image, but the cooler tone brings out the colors of the brick and stone.
STEP TWO: Next, make a few more slight color changes in the Camera Calibration panel by shifting sliders around until you find a combination that works. These color changes are subtle and the settings are subjective—mine are simply based on
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Section
what looked good to me at the time. The actual settings will vary from image to image and you’ll have to experiment to determine what looks best. Tip: What I do is move the sliders all the way to each end of the spectrum to get a feel for how it affects the image and then I scale back, making gradual changes until the image looks right.
Final image
That’s it. Four fairly easy steps to make a cool travel shot even better! Of course, I saved these settings to my User Presets library and began using it with some of my other shots. It adds a cool and kind of offbeat look to my Venice scenic vistas! ■
STEP FOUR: For our last step, we increased Clarity and Vibrance in the Basic panel. This was one of the most important steps because the Vibrance setting, which we increased to +52, did what it does so well by adding vibrancy to the tones of the image. And we bumped Clarity to +80 to really bring out the textures of the brick and stone.
Angela Drury is an award-winning photographer who specializes in floral, travel, kids, and stock images. Her work has received many awards and has been featured in numerous group and solo shows. Angela is working on several stock projects in addition to teaching workshops about Lightroom. To see her photography, visit www.angeladrury.com. ALL IMAGES BY ANGELA DRURY
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
STEP THREE: Next, we’ll add a vignette using the Lens Correction sliders in the Vignettes panel. For our image, it’s a big adjustment, with settings of Amount –87 and Midpoint 12. This darkens the image quite a bit, so we added a Tone Curve adjustment of +53 to the Darks to lighten it up again, and also made a Basic panel Brightness adjustment to +60 to brighten the overall tones.
095
Chris Orwig
X X Y Y
LIGHTROOM Tips & Tricks Crop coolness While you’re in any of the modules, press the R key to navigate to the Develop module and select the Crop Overlay tool. Now press the O key to cycle through the various overlays. These overlays are especially helpful for determining the composition impact of the crop. For even more control, certain overlays allow you to flip or alternate the overlay orientation by pressing Shift-O. When you need to quickly straighten an image while the Crop Overlay tool is active, press Command (PC: Ctrl) and click-and-drag along something vertical or horizontal in the image that should be level. This will automatically create a crop rotation and straighten the photo.
› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › j a n u a r y / f e b r u a r y 2 0 0 9
CHRIS ORWIG
Keyword List craziness One way to quickly add metadata keywords to your photos is to take advantage of the Library module’s Keyword List panel. Press G to enter the Library module’s Grid view, then press Command-3 (PC: Ctrl-3) to open the Keyword List panel. Next, make a selection of one or more images. Position the cursor over one of the keywords and a checkbox will appear to the left of the keyword. Click on this box and that keyword will be added to your image(s). As a side note, when you hover over the keyword, an arrow will appear to the right of the keyword count number. Click on this number and Lightroom will filter the catalog to show only the photos tagged with this keyword. Another way to add keywords quickly is to select one or more images and drag them onto a keyword. Conversely, you can select one or more images and drag the keyword onto the images.
096
Keyword Set quickness My favorite way to add keywords is to use Keyword Sets in the Keywording panel. This is especially helpful because sets of photos typically require similar keywords. Press G to enter Grid view, then press Command-2 (PC: Ctrl-2) to open the Keywording panel. At the bottom of the panel is the Keyword Set menu. A Keyword Set can be a predetermined set of keywords or most commonly used keywords. Click the pop-up menu and choose a Keyword Set from the list to change the list of keywords that appear below the Keyword Set field. Click on one or more of the choices to apply the keyword(s) to your photos. For even more speed, press-andhold the Option (PC: Alt) key and a number will appear next to each keyword in the set. Now press the appropriate number to add that keyword.
Basic panel processing speed The Basic panel is where all the fun of image processing takes place, and it’s where you’ll spend most of your time in Lightroom. That’s why you need to know as much as possible about using this panel. First, press the D key to navigate to the Develop module, and then press Command-1 (PC: Ctrl-1) to open the Basic panel. Now move the sliders to process your photos. If you want to be an advanced user, press the Less Than and Greater Than keys (< >) to cycle through the Basic panel controls (Temp, Tint, Exposure, etc.). Then press the Plus or Minus keys to (+ –) increase or decrease the control settings, respectively. For even more dramatic results, press Shift-+ or Shift-– to modify the controls in larger increments. This way you can process your images quickly without having to use your mouse. While you won’t use this technique all the time, try it and you’ll soon discover that it will come in handy throughout your regular workflow. ■
X Y
Rafael “RC” Concepcion
LIGHTROOM Q & A
Q. When I use the Adjustment Brush on a portion of a picture, sometimes I’m a little heavy-handed with it and add too much. How can I remove the adjustment without resorting to undos? There’s an Erase brush but it can be hard to find. In the Brush section of the Adjustment Brush panel, there’s an A and B brush that allows you to specify two different brush presets, and an Eraser brush. Simply click on the pin of the effect you want to change (press H if you don’t see the pin), click the Eraser, and paint over the section you want to erase. You can use your mouse scroll wheel to adjust the size of the brush as you work.
Q. Is there a quick way to apply the settings that I made for one picture to another? Yes there is. Once you make all of the adjustments to an image, click on your second image in the Filmstrip. Click the Previous button at the bottom of the right-side panels area to apply the previous settings to your image. Keep in mind that you also have the Sync option. To Sync images, click on your adjusted image then Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) or Shift-click on any other images you want to adjust. The Previous button becomes the Sync button. Click Sync and the Synchronize Settings dialog opens, allowing you to specify which Develop module settings you’d like to apply to the images you selected.
Q. Why does Lightroom keep turning off Solo mode? It’s not turning off Solo mode, but Lightroom gives you the option to select Solo mode on a module-by-module basis. (To enter Solo mode, Control-click [PC: Right-click] on a panel header and choose Solo Mode from the list.) I tend to use Solo mode in the Develop and Web modules, but don’t really care for it in the Print and Slideshow modules. Q. At a presentation, someone pressed a couple of keys and the image appeared onscreen by itself on a black background. How did he do that? This is what I like to call the “Tada!” effect. The combination is easy: Press Shift-Tab once to make all of the panels disappear. (If you press only Tab, then left- and right-side panels disappear.) Now press L once to dim the monitor and keep Lightroom visible, and press L again to enter Lights Out mode and hide everything but the image. The result is your image on a perfect black background. When I’m working on an image, I use this to check on my progress. The cool part is that if you move your mouse to the left or right edge, the panels area temporarily appears, allowing you to make changes. Move back to the center and the panels disappear. To get back to normal screen mode, press the L key to bring back the screen, and press Shift-Tab to bring back your panels. ■
› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m
RAFAEL “RC” CONCEPCION
Q. I have an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 printer and I’m trying to set up ICC profiles for Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Paper, but can’t find that in the Choose Profiles dialog. Can you help? Whenever you have a problem with ICC profiles, the first thing to do is head over to the manufacturer’s website and download the latest ICC profiles and drivers for the printer. In Epson’s case, new ICC profiles install with the driver install, so you’re doing both tasks at once. The one thing that isn’t explained is that with the new ICC profiles come a new set of acronyms for the papers that you want to use. Go to http://tinyurl/5qap16 and you’ll see an FAQ from Epson listing the new printer acronyms for the specific paper. Who would have thought that Pro38 ARMP is Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte, an acronym for an old name?
097
>