basic editing workflow -...
TRANSCRIPT
Basic Editing Workflow Vocabulary
• Adjustment layers • Cloning • Color Balance • Curves • Destructive editing
• Healing • Highlights • Hue • Layers • Non-‐destructive editing
• Overexposure • Saturation • Shadows • Underexposure
How to Use Non-Destructive Adjustment Layers The adjustment layers described below should be done in order. If an adjustment doesn’t look good, you have the option to delete it (delete the layer), fade it (either change the Opacity of the layer in the Layer palette, or go to EditàFade), or adjust it (double-‐click on the adjustment icon in the Layer palette).
1 . Levels Adjustment Layer Move the outside sliders to “meet” the outside peaks of the mountain – this gives purer blacks and whites for increased contrast.
Another use for Levels: Fix a colour cast by clicking on the grey eyedropper first, and then on an area of the photo that is supposed to be a neutral grey. You may need to click several times to get the best recolouring. After you have applied the adjustment, you can lower the Opacity of the layer until the photo looks natural.
Practice:
• Open a photo in Photoshop and add a Levels adjustment Layer. Adjust until the photo is improved, with higher contrast but not so overexposed or underexposed that the highlights or shadows lose all detail!
• Start a new blog post called "Basic Editing Workflow Practice". Take a screenshot of your final image with the Levels adjustment panel showing; post this as the first image of your blog. Screenshot example:
grey eyedropper
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2. Curves Adjustment Layer Create three dots by nudging the line, with the center dot creating a slight “s” curve (or reverse “s”) for more/less contrast in the mid tones.
Practice:
• Follow the instructions at http://photofocus.com/2014/09/08/understanding-‐the-‐curves-‐command-‐in-‐photoshop/
• Add to your blog post a screenshot of your final Curves adjustment next to the final image, such as:
3. Hue/Saturation Move the sliders as needed. In either direction (positive or negative), 1 to 3 is slightly noticeable, 4 to 7 (max 10) is strong, and above 10 is exaggerated and fake looking. Never touch the “Lightness” slider (it reduces quality.)
Practice:
• Open a photo in Photoshop and add a Hue/Saturation adjustment Layer. Adjust until the photo is improved, with natural-‐looking colours.
• Take a screenshot of your final image with the Hue/Saturation adjustment panel showing; add it to your blog post.
4. Color Balance Bring some snap and vibrancy to your colours by working with individual channels—but don’t create fake images with unrealistic colours.
Practice:
• Open a photo in Photoshop and add a Color Balance adjustment Layer. Adjust until the photo is improved, with natural-‐looking colours.
• Take a screenshot of your final image with the Color Balance adjustment panel showing; add it to your blog post.
If you will be using the healing brush or cloning tools:
1. Make your density and colour adjustments first, as described above 2. Make a copy of the background layer 3. Rename the layer “healing brush” or “clone” 4. Choose the tool you want to use 5. Adjust settings as follows:
Change brush size to an appropriate size (remember, you can zoom in/out as well) Choose “0% hardness”
6. With Healing Brush or Clone tools, use “alt+mouse click” often to sample adjacent areas to make the blending look natural
Remember, no matter which adjustments or tools you use, you must save your final image twice: as a .psd file with all layers showing, as well as a flattened .jpg file. This will allow you to re-‐edit later, and it will allow me to see what you have done to the original image.
There are many tutorials online for all these tools! If you find a particularly helpful one, email me a link to it so we can add it to our Resources on the class website.
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