Create a Kaleidoscope Retro Book Cover Effect
I really like the old retro look that are sometimes used on book covers – using Photoshop we can create a simple kaleidoscope effect to mimic the retro look. [More]
Tutorial
Photoshop Image Extraction with Channels
If you're creating image composites, and especially if you're working with stock images, you'll find yourself needing to extract image elements from a white background. This can be a straightforward task with Photoshop, and often you'll get better results with some of the old school techniques.
For example, take this image from Shutterstock. Here we have a figure on a white background, and your first thought might be, "I can make short work of this with Quick Selection Tool." (Or the magic wand). [More]
Luminance Masks in Photoshop
In this video I'll skim over the theory and get stuck in to the very handy luminance mask.
Still one of the easiest, and quickest ways to create complicated masks. [More]
Add Copyright Information in Photoshop – Automatically
It's always a good idea to copyright your work, and that includes embedding the appropriate information into your image metadata. Learn the three step process to create a template to add copyright metadata, to create an action to apply your template, and to use Photoshop's Script Events Manager to run your action every time you work on a file. It may sound scary, but it's a simple process, and you can "set it and forget it." I’ve written about this before a few years back, but this is a good reminder, I’ve brought it up to date with the latest version of Photoshop, and here is a video tutorial for those who prefer video learning. [More]
Remove Black and White Backgrounds in Photoshop
In this tutorial, exclusively for TipSquirrel.com, I show you how to remove black and white backgrounds from your photos using the Blend If controls within your Layer Styles dialogue box. [More]
Adobe Camera RAW from HDR Pro
I love HDR pro, and with the new Tone in ACR feature the workflow is quicker and easier than ever! With just a few clicks I can avoid all the HDR sliders and work in Adobe Camera Raw, where I’m much more familiar and comfortable with the controls. [More]
Data Driven Images in Photoshop
You may find yourself with a list of images to create, each one based on a template but with unique data and imagery. An example would be sports team cards, or trading cards, with images and text on each one. Photoshop can help to automate this process, and all it requires is a bit of planning and up front work - and a small text file. Learn to take advantage of data driven images in Photoshop and save yourself loads of time. [More]
Quick Mask-Style Selections in Photoshop Elements
I recently wrote an article here on TipSquirrel about using Photoshop's Pencil tool to make complicated selections. A comment was posted asking if the same thing was possible using Photoshop Elements. The answer to that is yes, but, as with a few things in Elements, we have to use a couple of workarounds. The original tutorial used Photoshop's Quick Mask feature. This allows us to create selections by painting them with the Brush tool (or any other of the drawing tools); the selected areas show up as a coloured overlay. Elements doesn't have this feature, sadly, so we'll be using an adjustment layer and its mask to achieve the same result. [More]
Lightroom 5 And the new Radial Filter
One of the best new features introduced with Lightroom 5 was Radial Filters. Radial Filters combine the controls of the adjustment brush (exposure, contrast, sharpness etc.) with circle based control points (if you’ve used any of the Nik filters you’ll be used to these sort of control points already).
The new Radial Filters are really easy to use and can be a great tool to improve your photographs. [More]
Lightroom Catalog Cloud Backup
With all the cloud backup solutions available today, you have access to lots of free online storage. Be it Dropbox, SpiderOak, Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive, Skydrive… you have access to many gigabytes of storage in the cloud. Why not use some of it to back up your Lightroom catalog? It's easy, and it's a good way to keep your backup. [More]
Photoshop Quick Tip: Button Mode and Menu Items for Photoshop Actions
Actions are a great way to get things done easily and quickly, but what happens when you need to insert a menu command?
By default a lot of menu items are unavailable during the recording of a Photoshop Action, but it’s easily overcome.
I’ll also be discussing the helpful Button Mode, a great way to launch your Actions. [More]
Cartoon Effect in Photoshop
I love playing with filters in Photoshop and in this tutorial I get to use two of the old timers. The effect were going to create is similar to the classic look of printed images in newspapers and comics. It’s a bold graphic effect which can make use of any photo but by far the best photos are those with big bold shapes. Portraits are perfect… even the ones that aren’t perfectly sharp! [More]
Wide Eyed Cat – Have Fun in Photoshop
A few years ago there were a number of birthday cards with large eyed cats and dogs on them, I thought I would spend a few minutes showing you how you can make your own spin on this idea. [More]
Fixing a Bad HDR Sky in Photoshop
HDR Tools are great for creating interesting images, but they can really destroy a sky. Here's a quick tip for rescuing an over baked sky and giving a more natural feel to your images. [More]
Create an Invisible Person with A Shadow in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements
In this video I use a couple of simple Photoshop techniques to make and invisible person cast a shadow.
This technique can be used in all versions of Photoshop and later versions of Photoshop Elements [More]
