Photoshop User December 2013

T H E A D O B E® P H O T O S H O P

Combine landscape, portrait, and still-life photography to add depth and enrich images

E I G H T H

®

“ H O W -T 0 ” M A G A Z I N E ›

CREATIVE POINT OF VIEW

A N N U A L

SCOTT KELBY’S

›

DECEMBER

New and hidden features that will improve the way you interact with fonts

2013

CREATIVE CLOUD

GONZO HOLIDAY GEAR GUIDE

DISPLAY UNTIL JANUARY 14, 2014 THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PHOTOSHOP PROFESSIONALS VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.PHOTOSHOPUSER.COM

the

power

you need

The Intel Core i7 is my processor of choice. It gives me a faster, smoother and richer experience while helping me bring my creative vision to life. The amazing performance lets me capture, post process and share my work faster than ever. I can absolutely breeze through archiving loads of high res images and multilayered

Your most demanding tasks have met their match the 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor the perfect engine for power users. PCs based on the 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor help RSWLPL]H \RXU ZRUNÁRZ DQG maximize your productivity during editing, importing and exporting of photos. Unparalleled performance will unleash your digital creativity for a richer and smoother experience. The only thing more amazing than Intel® technology is what you will do with it.

PSDs, and best of all, my work has never looked sharper! Scott Kelby Photographer, Designer and Award Winning Author

[ for hardcore creatives ]

©2012 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Insider, are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Photopraghy courtesy of iStockphoto, and Scott Kelby

ta b l e o f c o n t e n t s

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D EC E M B E R 201 3

FEATURE

46

SCOTT KELBY’S GONZO HOLIDAY GEAR GUIDE Scott Kelby is back with his “8th Annual Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide.” From stocking stuffers to great value gear to things that make you go “cha-ching,” you’ll find it all here. Scott only includes gear that he can’t live without, so you know it has to be good. Add one or two of these items to your gift list for the photographer or Photoshop user in your life, and he or she will have a wonderful holiday season. Scott Kelby

COLUMNS

DEPARTMENTS From the Editor

6 28

About Photoshop User Magazine

10 82

Contributing Writers

12 94

NAPP Member Community From the Help Desk NAPP Member Gallery

16 100 20

110 22 118

DESIGN MAKEOVER Laying Down the Law CREATIVE POINT OF VIEW Still-Life Portraits THE ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD New and Hidden Font Features in Adobe Creative Cloud THE SMALL BUSINESS AND FREELANCE COACH Question Everything PHOTOSHOP TIPS PHOTOSHOP Q&A

HOW-TO DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS Pitted, Rusty Type Effect

34 62

Flip Fonts

38 66

HDR Compositing

42 90

BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP Safe Healing and Cloning

58 96

CLASSIC EFFECTS Get Your Head in the Clouds FROM BERT’S STUDIO Drawing Dog Tags DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S NOTEBOOK The Power of Layer Comps BEYOND PHOTOSHOP Out of This World Animation, Part 1

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REVIEWS

LIGHTROOM LIGHTROOM FEATURE Understanding Presets UNDER THE HOOD HDR and Panoramics UNDER THE LOUPE Expanding Web Gallery Options LIGHTROOM TIPS & TRICKS

70 102 74 78

DANNY PORTNOY

103 104 106

80 108

DYNAMIC RANGE

86

DANNY PORTNOY

RICH LEMONIE

www.photoshopuser.com

Exposure 5 Actual Multiple Monitors DxO ViewPoint 2 Brianna Graham Actions Florabella Collection Smooth Skins 2 Photogenic Ion Topaz ReStyle Photoshop Book Reviews

TWOFROMONE Dave Cross shows us how to double process a single RAW exposure using Camera Raw and smart objects: once for highlights and once for shadows. He then blends the smart objects together using stack modes to extend the dynamic range in the image. The beautiful thing about this technique is that it requires no masking. Dave Cross

BUT WAIT—THERE’S MORE KEY CONCEPTS These icons at the beginning of columns indicate there’s a short video on a tool or function used in that tutorial at the Key Concepts NAPP member webpage at www.photoshopuser.com/keyconcepts.

Dodge & Burn tools

Lasso tool

Layer masks

Pen tool

Smart objects

Quick Selection tool

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT Whenever you see this symbol at the end of an article, it means there are either downloadable practice files or additional content for NAPP members at http://members.photoshopuser .com/magazine.

a few words from

› ›

FROM THE EDITOR

scott kelby

GOING GONZO FOR THE HOLIDAYS

It’s the end of the year and time for one of my two favorite annual issues: our “Annual Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide” (my other favorite is the “Photoshop 100 Hot Tips” issue—it’s hard to beat getting a year’s worth of tips in one issue). Once again, I’m sharing some inexpensive stocking stuffer ideas (I have a few in there for around six bucks), and a host of gifts that will put a huge smile on the face of someone special on your holiday gift list. Lots of cool stuff (all stuff I use myself in my own work), and I hope you find some real gems in there, because there’s nothing more fun than getting gear you didn’t have to buy yourself. It starts on page 46. Of course, we have lots of other cool stuff on tap, including your favorite columns, such as Lesa Snider’s “Beginners’ Workshop” on how to use the Healing Brush and Clone Stamp tools effectively and nondestructively (p. 58). Our own Pete Collins shows how to create a cloud brush to add happy little clouds to plain skies for a little added drama in our “Classic Effects” column (p. 62). Dave Cross shows how to double process a single RAW capture using smart objects, and then combine them using stack modes—no masking required (p. 86). In our “Adobe Creative Cloud” column, Jay Nelson takes a closer look at some of the font features that are available in the CC versions of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator (p. 94), and Kevin Ames looks at how and why you’d use layer comps in the “Digital Photographer’s Notebook” (p. 90). In other year-end NAPP news, I hope you’ll join us this spring as we bring the Photoshop World Conference & Expo to Atlanta for the first time ever. I think Atlanta is going to be a rockin’ location for Photoshop World because it has such a thriving design and photography community. There are so many great opportunities for us in that area, with great locales and lots of studios, plus Atlanta is a really fun town all the way around. We’re out at the beautiful Cobb Galleria Centre, and the location couldn’t be better (close to great shopping, dining, and fun), so I hope you’ll make plans to join us April 8–10. Get all the details (and save a bundle by signing up now) at www.photoshopworld.com (don’t forget, as a NAPP member, you save $100 off the nonmember price). We have some really big things coming at the beginning of 2014, and I wish I could share them now, but we’re still putting the finishing touches on it all. I think it’s the most exciting thing that’s happened to NAPP in years, and I’m really glad you’re here to be a part of it. My humble thanks to all our members in more than 120 countries around the world for your support this year, including your ideas, suggestions, enthusiasm, evangelism, and friendship. I can’t wait to share all the cool new stuff the new year has to offer. Here’s wishing you a safe, fun, happy, and healthy holiday season, and may 2014 be your best year yet!

› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

All my best,

006

Scott Kelby NAPP President & CEO Editor & Publisher, Photoshop User

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE

DECEMBER 2013 • Volume 16 • Number 10 • Printed in USA The official publication of The National Association of Photoshop Professionals

EDITORIAL: Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief Chris Main, Managing Editor Mike Mackenzie, Senior Editor

Contributing Writers Kevin Ames • Corey Barker • Peter Bauer • Larry Becker • Bruce Bicknell Pete Collins • “RC” Concepcion • Michael Corsentino • Dave Cross Seán Duggan • Daniel East • Katrin Eismann • Brian Matiash • Sean McCormack • Bert Monroy • Jay Nelson • Scott Onstott • Colin Smith Lesa Snider • Rob Sylvan • Erik Vlietinck • Jake Widman

GRAPHICS: Felix Nelson, Creative Director Dave Damstra, Production Manager Taffy Clifford, Senior Associate Designer Dave Korman, Senior Premedia Specialist

Marketing Team Krista Rosado, Marketing Director, NAPP Eduardo Lowe • Leslie Montenegro • Margie Rosenstein

Web Team Karey Johnson, Director of Web Development Melissa Cozart • Christopher Reed • Aaron Westgate

PUBLISHING: Scott Kelby, Publisher David Moser, Executive Publisher Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P. Jean A. Kendra, Business Manager Larry Becker, Executive Director of the NAPP

ADVERTISING: Kevin Agren, V.P., Sales 813-433-2370 Jeanne Jilleba, Advertising Coordinator 800-738-8513 ext. 215 Veronica (Ronni) O’Neil, Director of Circulation/Distribution 800-738-8513 ext. 235

HOW TO CONTACT THE NAPP: U.S. Mail: 333 Douglas Road East • Oldsmar, FL 34677-2922 Voice: 813-433-5005 • Fax: 813-433-5015 Customer Service: [email protected] Letters to the Editor: [email protected] Letters to the Lightroom Editor: [email protected] Membership Info: [email protected] Membership Suggestions: [email protected] World Wide Web Including the Photoshop Help Desk, Photo Gear Desk, and Advice Desk: http://members.photoshopuser.com

COLOPHON: Photoshop User was produced using Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe InDesign CC. Blair ITC was used for headlines, Adobe Myriad Pro for subheads, and Frutiger LT Std for text.

This seal indicates that all content provided herein is produced by Kelby Media, Inc. and follows the most stringent standards for educational resources. Kelby Media is the premier source for instructional books, DVDs, online classes, and live seminars for creative professionals.

All contents ©COPYRIGHT 2013 National Association of Photoshop Professionals. All rights reserved. Any use of the contents of this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Photoshop User is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way with Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks mentioned belong to their respective owners. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be the representative views of the publisher. ISSN 1535-4687

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about photoshop user

› ›

ABOUT

PHOTOSHOP USER MAGAZINE Photoshop User magazine is the official publication of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). It is for members, by members, and is not available to the public by subscription. As a NAPP member, you automatically receive Photoshop User delivered right to your door (or digitally) ten times a year. Each issue features in-depth Photoshop tutorials written by the most talented designers, photographers, and leading authors in the industry.

ABOUT NAPP THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PHOTOSHOP PROFESSIONALS is a dynamic trade association and the world’s leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop® training, news, and education. Founded in 1998, NAPP has become the largest graphics and digital imaging association in the world with more than 70,000 members worldwide. NAPP is open to any individual using Photoshop in a casual or professional environment. There’s no faster, easier, and more affordable way to get really good at Photoshop. You can join for only $99 U.S., $129 Canada, and $99 International (digital delivery). NAPP also offers special educational memberships. Go to www.photoshopuser.com to get more info.

MEMBER BENEFITS

MEMBER DISCOUNTS Save anywhere from 2–4 times your membership cost by using our many industry-related discounts.

TECH SUPPORT Fast, friendly Photoshop, Lightroom, and photo gear help, equipment advice, and more from certified experts.

MEMBER COMMUNITY NAPP members range from beginners to pros and love to lend each other a hand. Together, we have built the friendliest, most knowledgeable Photoshop and photography forum on the Web.

NEWS & REVIEWS Unbiased coverage on the latest equipment, plug-ins, and programs in the marketplace.


MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER

010

PHOTOSHOP USER MAGAZINE Ten issues of the best Photoshop tutorial-based magazine in the industry.

MEMBERS-ONLY WEBSITE Our extensive website features time- and money-saving content.

TUTORIALS & EDUCATION Thousands of Photoshop tutorials, bonus classes, and quick tip videos.

Produced exclusively for members to keep you informed of everything new in the industry and at NAPP headquarters.

REGISTRATION DISCOUNT TO PHOTOSHOP WORLD CONFERENCE & EXPO The semiannual NAPP convention and the largest Photoshop and photography learning experience on the planet. It’s an amazing Photoshop event.

FIND NAPP MEMBERSHIP DETAILS AT www.photoshopuser.com or call 800-738-8513 Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST.

Small flash. Big results. “Lastolite accessories are essential for my shoots. The Ezybox is my go to speedlight softbox, it produces fantastic soft light for portraits, and packs up tight for easy transport. Trigrips are always in my pack. Having a grip handle makes these reflectors very easy to use.”

Image on left taken with Ezybox Hotshoe shown above, designed to work with most flash guns.

Tom and Lastolite Professional

Don’t let your flashgun control your photography. Our comprehensive range of speedlight accessories let you control the light so you can explore the full potential of your small flash. Whether you want to bounce, diffuse, reshape the light or you simply want to be more creative, Lastolite has the solution. For more information: [email protected]

www.lastolite.us.

photoshop’s most wanted

› ›

contributing writers KEVIN AMES creates evocative photographs for clients such as Westin Hotels, AT&T, and Coca-Cola. His fourth book, published by Peachpit Press, is The Dig tal Photographer’s Notebook: A Pro’s Guide to Photoshop CS3, Lightroom and Bridge.

STEVE BACZEWSKI is a freelance writer, professional photographer, graphic designer, and consultant. He also teaches classes in traditional and digital fine arts photography. His company, Sore Tooth Productions, is based in Albany, California.

PETER BAUER is an Adobe Certified Expert that does computer graphics consulting for a select group of corporate clients. His latest book is Photoshop CC for Dummies. He was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2010.

BRUCE BICKNELL is the founder of Digital Blue Productions. He has been an instructor on Adobe’s in-box training, and is an instructor at Sessions.edu. His clients include Time Inc., NFSTC, DTCC, and magazines that include People and National Geographic.

PETE COLLINS is an education and curriculum developer and website overseer for NAPP. He is one of the Photoshop Guys and co-hosts Photoshop User TV. With a fine arts background, Pete is well versed in photography, graphic design, and illustration.

MICHAEL CORSENTINO is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer, Photoshop and Lightroom expert, author, columnist for Shutter Magazine and Resource Magazine, and speaker and international workshop leader. Learn more at www.michaelcorsentino.com.

SEÁN DUGGAN is the co-author of Photoshop Masking & Compositing, Real World Digital Photography, and The Creative Digital Darkroom. He leads workshops on digital photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom (SeanDuggan.com).

DANIEL EAST is an author, freelance writer, presenter/trainer, and consultant with more than 20 years’ experience in photography, pro-audio, and marketing. Daniel is also founder and president of The Apple Groups Team support network for user groups.


KATRIN EISMANN is the author of Photoshop Restoration & Retouching and co-author of Photoshop Masking & Compos ting and The Creative Digital Darkroom. Katrin is Chair of the MPS in Digital Photography department at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

ED GREENBERG & JACK REZNICKI have a blog at www.thecopyrightzone.com where you can read about their book, Photographer’s Survival Manual, published by Lark Books.

MATT KLOSKOWSKI is a full-time education director for Kelby Media Group and a Tampa-based photographer. He’s the editor of Lightroom Magazine, a best-selling author, and teaches Photoshop and Lightroom seminars around the world.

BRIAN MATIASH is a published photographer, writer, and Googler. When not out photographing, he leverages his industry experience to help grow the Google+ Photos platform and community.

BERT MONROY is considered one of the pioneers of digital art. His work has been seen in countless magazines and books. He has served on the faculty of many well-known institutions, written dozens of books, and appeared on hundreds of TV shows around the world.

JAY NELSON has been writing about graphic design topics since 1992. As former publisher of Design Tools Monthly, he knows a lot about digital publishing, fonts, and font management. Learn more at www.DesignToolsMonthly.com.

SCOTT ONSTOTT is the author of Photoshop CS6 Essentials, Enhancing Architectural Drawings and Models w th Photoshop, and many other books and videos. You can see what he’s up to at ScottOnstott.com.

COLIN SMITH is an award-winning digital artist, photographer, and lecturer who has authored 18 books and has created a series of training videos. Colin is also the founder of the online resource PhotoshopCAFE.com and president of Software-Cinema.com.

LESA SNIDER is the author of Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual and several training videos (lesa .in/clvideos), and co-author of iPhoto ’11: The Missing Manual. She’s on the Photoshop World Dream Team, a columnist for Macworld, and founder of PhotoLesa.com.

ROB SYLVAN is the Lightroom Help Desk Specialist for the NAPP, on staff at the Digital Photo Workshops, and the author of Lightroom 5: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process. You can learn more at www.lightroomers.com.

ERIK VLIETINCK founded IT Enquirer in 1999 (http://it-enquirer.com). A J.D. by education, Erik has been a freelance technology editor for more than 20 years. He has written for Macworld, Computer Arts, Windows NT Magazine, and many others.

JAKE WIDMAN is a writer and editor who lives in San Francisco. He’s been covering the intersection of computers and graphic design for about 25 years now—since back when it was called “desktop publishing” and Photoshop was just a piece of scanning software.

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For a free sample and more information, visit: fuelbooks.com

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INDUSTRY NEWS TRAINING AND INFORMATION › ›

NAPP MEMBER COMMUNITY BY LARRY BECKER

Where you’ll find notable achievements, musings, and inspirational work from fellow members COREY LIVES IN A TIME WARP Ever since I saw his first Photoshop tutorial, I knew Corey Barker saw things differently, and the results are really cool. He can realistically change a dry cityscape into a rainy street scene, complete with puddle reflections and falling drops. Or he can use something like rendered fibers to make believable water pour from a faucet. It’s cool stuff! But sometimes Corey shows what goes into a big, complicated production, without necessarily making it into training video. He shows the process. Originally inspired by “speed painting” videos on YouTube, he has done a number of time-lapse videos of larger projects. Some have eventually become tutorials, but if you just want to be inspired by some great Photoshop production, and you’re ready to be entertained (more so than trained), have a look at some of Corey’s time-lapse videos. Here are links to three of them: http://kel.by/1aDbgd2, http://kel.by/HF5b41, and http://kel.by/1bWgBsC.

A HOLIDAY (GIFT) STORY: GIFTED NAPP MEMBERS AND THEIR FRIENDS NAPP has been around for almost 20 years and we have our faithful, long-time members to thank for spreading the word so that NAPP could continue to grow, becoming the largest image-related association in the world. For many years, NAPP members who loved their memberships and wanted to share it with friends wanted to buy gift memberships for fellow creatives. Unfortunately, it was hard to do. We didn’t really have a gift certificate until we were old enough to drive (around our 16th birthday). We don’t really make a big deal out of it, but since we’ve had them for a few years now, I thought it would be worth reminding NAPP members that it’s pretty easy to give the gift of NAPP. All you have to do is call the toll-free number at 800-738-8513 and we’ll send you a 6x9" NAPP Gift


Certificate and mailing envelope that you can personalize. Finally, giving the gift of NAPP is as easy as ever.

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ACCLAIMED MICROSTOCK COMPANY FOTOLIA HAS SMARTPHONES IN MIND In response to the new trends in social media, mobile phone, and smartphone use, Fotolia launched a new app and collection, uniquely designed for smartphone photos. Created for iPhone 4 and up (an Android version is coming soon), Fotolia Instant offers fresh, new, in-the-moment images taken using the new app, which allows users to shoot and upload to Fotolia directly from their smartphones. Thanks to a new filter and easy exposure control, the new Fotolia Instant app allows users to take better, more aesthetic shots without compromising image quality and resolution. The Instant Collection offers users a new opportunity to enhance their visual

MORE COMMUNITY INTERACTION › › Here are more ways to interact with us and other NAPP members MEMBERS ONLY NAPP members, show off your talent by uploading your artwork to the Portfolios section. You could be the next Editors’ Choice: Image of the Week winner. Visit http:// members.photoshopuser.com/portfolio for inspiration. We also have the best community around. Visit the Forums section and become part of the conversation. Have a look at http://forum.photoshopuser.com.

communications with spontaneous, high-quality photos. Photos being submitted to the Instant Collection must meet the same quality and aesthetic standards as other images for sale on Fotolia, as well as meet the legal requirements related to image rights and intellectual property as specified by Fotolia. The Fotolia Instant app makes it easy for photographers to upload digital model

SOCIALLY SPEAKING Friend us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Google+, and check out informative blogs by industry leaders.

releases to the site, directly from their smartphones, making the process simple and efficient. Fotolia Instant is available for free in the App Store, and should be available for Android users by the time you receive this magazine. An iPad application will also be launched shortly that will allow users to browse Fotolia’s library, and download images to their device or Dropbox account. For more information, visit http://us.fotolia.com/instant.

TAKING BETTER PICTURES WITH YOUR SMARTPHONE Speaking of smartphone pictures, as many of you know, we’re pretty darn good friends with B&H. Several folks on staff here are the reviewers and onscreen talent behind many B&H video reviews on their YouTube channel (http://kel .by/175zrKZ). The reason we mention this is because recently, Larry Becker recorded a quick, simple class all about taking better pictures with your smartphone. Stop by the B&H YouTube channel and look for Larry’s smartphone class. Who knows? You might just get rich with Fotolia stock photos.

NAPP

www.facebook.com/PhotoshopUser @NAPP_news

Scott Kelby

www.scottkelby.com @scottkelby www.facebook.com/SKelby kel.by/onGplus

Matt Kloskowski

www.lightroomkillertips.com @mattkloskowski www.facebook.com/ThePhotoshopGuy kel.by/MattGplus

Corey Barker

www.planetphotoshop.com @planetphotoshop www.facebook.com/PlanetCorey kel.by/CoreyGplus

Rafael “RC” Concepcion

Recently, we told you about a regular event on the NAPP member site called the “Photoshop Fun Contest,” where Pete starts us off with an image and practically no guidance, and the best composite using the supplied image(s) wins. With this in mind, Pete undertook the challenge of putting together a comprehensive Photoshop training class all about compositing called Design Series: Compositing Fundamentals, and it’s one of the latest full-length classes posted on the NAPP members’ site. Just log onto the members-only site at http://members.photohsopuser.com and click the Online Classes link. There, you’ll find around 50 full-length classes, listed in chronological order. Because it’s new, Pete’s compositing class will be near the top, right along side Trey Ratcliff’s Landscape & Travel Photography Series class and Calvin Hollywood’s Color Adjustments and Manipulations class.

@aboutrc www.facebook.com/webrc kel.by/rcgplus

Pete Collins

@PeteCphoto www.facebook.com/PhotoshopPete

Jessica Maldonado

www.facebook.com/PhotoshopJessica

The Grid Live

kel.by/TVtheGRID @TheGridLive

Podcasts and More

YouTube: YouTube.com/KelbyMediaGroup Photoshop User TV: KelbyTV.com/photoshopusertv Kelby TV: KelbyTV.com Official NAPP Gear Store: kel.by/NAPPgear

› › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m

PETE COLLINS, COMPOSITING GURU

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SIGMA ANNOUNCES NEW ART LENS Sigma Corporation of America announced a new lens at the PhotoPlus Expo 2013, the 24–105mm f/4 DG OS HSM Art lens. This new Art lens was developed as part of the company’s global vision and will be on shelves by the time you read this, starting with Canon mounts, for the street price of $899. The full-frame lens, which will also work with APS-C sensor cameras with an effective increase in focal length, will be available in Nikon and Sigma mounts in December, and Sony mounts will soon follow. All but the Sony mounts will incorporate Sigma’s proprietary Optical Stabilizer (OS) technology to compensate for camera shake. This functionality is omitted from Sony mounts to accommodate for that manufacturer’s in-camera image-stabilization system. The 24–105mm f/4 DG OS HSM has an internal focusing system that eliminates front lens rotation, enhancing the lens stability and allowing the use of circular polarizing filters. It also offers the largest possible fixed aperture-to-zoom ratio that will maintain optimal integrity for many kinds of photography, including landscapes, architecture, portraiture, and still life. With a minimum focusing distance of 17.7" and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:4.6, this lens is also excellent for close-up photography. For more information, visit www


.sigmaphoto.com.

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NIKON RELEASES TWO VERY DIFFERENT DSLRS In mid-October, Nikon Inc. announced a new addition to its DSLR lineup, the Nikon D5300. Though compact and lightweight, the Nikon D5300 has an enhanced 24.2-megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor, EXPEED 4 image processing, and the convenience of built-in Wi-Fi that allows users to easily capture and share amazing images and videos. Following the technology of the well-received D7100, the 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor boasts heightened clarity and detail due to the removal of the optical low-pass filter (OLPF). The Nikon D5300 covers a wide ISO range of 100–12,800, expandable to ISO 25,600. The new EXPEED 4 image processor maximizes performance and energy efficiency, while reducing image noise and delivering true-to-life colors. To further help users capture the intended image, the D5300 features Nikon’s Scene Recognition System and 2,016-pixel RGB metering system to analyze and recognize the scene. Using these systems results in adjustments to exposure, AF, and white balance to deliver the best photo possible. It also has a 39-point autofocus system, and it shoots at a respectable 5 frames per second. The Nikon D5300 is available now for $799.95 (body only), or $1,399.95 with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18–140mm f/3.5–5.6G ED VR lens. Right before going to press, Nikon announced the Nikon Dƒ, a powerful DSLR that pays homage to the classic Nikon F-series film cameras from the 1970s. The Nikon Dƒ (for digital fusion) is billed as a photographer’s camera. A series of knobs and dials put commands that are ordinarily found buried in the menu at the photographer’s fingertips, such as white balance, ISO, and exposure compensation. The Nikon Dƒ uses the same 16.2-megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor found in the flagship Nikon D4. It also uses Nikon’s EXPEED 3 image processing engine; a 39-point AF system; 2,016-pixel 3D matrix metering; 3.2" LCD screen with 921K-dot resolution; and an ISO range from 100–12,800, expandable to 204,800. Arguably, the most interesting aspects of this camera, apart from the design and features, are what it doesn’t include. There’s no built-in flash and no video. This camera was designed for photographers who yearn for a digital camera that feels like a film camera. The Nikon Dƒ is available now for $2,749.95 (body only), or $2,999.95 with the new 50mm f/1.8G Special Edition lens, which also pays homage to classic NIKKOR styling. For more information on both the D5300 and Dƒ, visit www.nikonusa.com.

FLEXIBILITY & SUPPORT FOR YOUR WEB HOSTING PROJECTS

FROM THE HELP DESK PETER BAUER › ›

Answers to Photoshop, Lightroom, and gear-related questions

What’s the real deal behind Adobe’s new Creative Cloud program? How come I can’t just purchase a boxed set as an upgrade to my current Creative Suite?—KENT To: Kent From: NAPP Help Desk

ALL INCLUSIVE

The Creative Cloud is a subscription ser-

already using some of the additional

Included Domains: .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz Q Linux or Windows operating system Q Unlimited Power: webspace, traffic, mail accounts, SQL databases

vice to one or more products of what was

programs as part of your regular workflow

formerly the Adobe Master Collection.

and plan on continuing the full member-

For a set monthly fee, you have access

ship after the free one-year subscription,

to all of Adobe’s creative programs. The

there’s no need to also join the $9.99 deal.

annual fee for the entire Creative Cloud

So, what do you get for your money?

1&1 APP CENTER

set of programs is $49.99 per month,

You have access to the programs of the

billed monthly, with an annual subscrip-

plan you selected, plus Behance and cloud

tion. Upgrading from any Creative Suite 3

storage, of course. You also have regular

or later edition or individual product

updates and new features available as

knocks off $20 per month for the first

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napp member gallery

› ›

WHERE MEMBERS EXHIBIT THEIR WORK

NAPP MEMBER GALLERY RICH LEMONIE Rich Lemonie is a New Jersey-based graphic designer, photographer, and newly added title iPhoneographer. iPhoneography has integrated itself into Rich’s daily life over the past two years. Rich uses his iPhone from start all the way to finish (snaps the photo and uses a few key apps to edit, post, and even print directly from his iPhone). www.richlemonie.com; [email protected]

PAULO PACHECO Paulo Pacheco is a Brazilian photographer who graduated from Boston University and works in the area of commercial and editorial photography. He is the winner of several photography awards for various editorials and magazine covers. In 2012, he was invited to become the National Director of Photography of Miss Brazil USA, working with the most beautiful Brazilian models in his photo shoots for commercials. www.LexusStudios.com; [email protected]


DANNY PORTNOY

022

Danny Portnoy, born in 1943 in Finland, developed his first roll of film at age 7. Residing in Israel and Switzerland, Danny is an engineer and IT professional turned fine-art photographer who also likes street and travel photography. Using his creative digital-darkroom techniques, Danny introduces a special mood into his images. www.dportnoy.com; [email protected]

If you’d like to have your work considered for publication in the “NAPP Member Gallery,” submit samples of your artwork to [email protected].

d a n n y p o r t n oy

pa u l o pa c h e c o

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rich lemonie

024

pa u l o pa c h e c o



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› ›

DESIGNMAKEOVER JAKE WIDMAN

CLIENT

The Law Offices of Marc L. TerBeek http://terbeeklaw.net

laying down the law BEFORE

Marc TerBeek is a practicing attorney in Oakland, California. He focuses most of his attention on “the little guy,” helping renters, workers, and others deal with people with more power who might be trying to rip them off. His practice is evolving, but his website hasn’t kept pace. “My real estate focus is broader than it was, and it’s not limited to the tenant side of the equation. And I don’t do foreclosure matters any more,” Marc says. “I’ve branched out into cannabis business law and consulting.” TerBeek recently spent time in the California state capital advising lawmakers on proposed changes in the state’s laws dealing with medical marijuana. He also has to reassure potential clients that they’ve come to the right place. His site is at terbeeklaw.net, but there’s still a site at terbeeklaw.com, his old URL. That address now leads to a Spanishlanguage website advertising a different variety of legal services. “I got scammed by a Yellow Pages rip-off a couple of years ago that stole the domain name terbeeklaw.com,” he recalls. Two years ago, a friend designed his current site, the one at terbeeklaw.net. It’s an all-Flash site, with stirring orchestral music that starts playing right away. “I like the general look a little, and I like the theme music,” he says, “but I don’t like that there’s not much

“ HIS PRACTICE IS EVOLVING, BUT HIS WEBSITE HASN’T KEPT PACE.

”

content to it.” Despite the fact that there’s not a lot of content, the text is small and spindly; combined with being set in a light color on a dark background, it’s not that easy to read. In looking for a new site, Marc says, “The image I would want is of professionalism and dedication. It should suggest the unique problem solving of seemingly intractable matters.” We asked three design-


ers to step up to the bar and provide him proper representation.

028

MAKEOVER SUBMISSIONS

WE’RE LOOKING FOR PRODUCT PACKAGING OR LABELS, PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS, WEBSITES, AND MAGAZINE COVERS THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN THE MARKETPLACE FOR FUTURE “DESIGN MAKEOVERS.” SO IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS A DESIGN THAT YOU’D LIKE US TO CONSIDER MAKING OVER, OR IF YOU’RE A DESIGNER AND YOU’D LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR A FUTURE “DESIGN MAKEOVER,” SEND US AN EMAIL AT [email protected]. (NOTE: THIS IS PURELY A DESIGN EXERCISE AND THE DESIGNERS DO NOT WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE CLIENT, CREATE FUNCTIONING WEBSITES, ETC.)

› ›

design makeover

SIGNER Dan Simon www.dansimondesign.com

AFTER

The client said that he was happy with the existing look and feel of his site, so I chose to keep a similar color scheme. I did, however, decide to give him a more stylized and up-to-date logo using the ever-popular and seemingly trendy Trajan Pro. (I’ve noticed a resurgence of this font on everything from billboards to TV and movie titles.) For me, it incorporates a very modern feel with a touch of elegance and formality. The current Flash interface limits the page’s readability and results in ugly and unnecessary scroll bars, unintuitive content windows, and an overall UI stuck in the days of ActionScripting. Instead, I went with the standard 960 Grid System to give the content more of a presence. With bigger fonts plus better user elements like sliders, accordions, and videos, I created areas of interest with teaser copy and good calls to action. They entice the user to learn more about particular areas of the practice while ignoring areas that don’t help with information gathering, and ultimately start a conversion by calling the number in the header or filling out the form presented. Finally, SEO is a prime consideration for attorneys who want their phones to ring, and therefore it was a paramount consideration in my redesign. Given how much competition there is for a narrow term like “Real Estate Attorney, San Francisco Bay Area,” this site needed the H1 treatments I used (multiple practice areas), footer geographic search terms, a Google+ link, a map, and relevant navigation in the footer. The full build would incorporate perfect usability by way of custom sidebar navigation, siloed flyouts in the top navigation, close attention to detail in the meta information on a page level and, of course, the ever-evolving consideration of

ABOUT THE DESIGNER DAN SIMON

In 2003, after nearly acquiring two other Associate’s degrees in Illustration and Sequential Art, Dan Simon completed an Associate’s degree in Graphic Design from Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan. As part of the requirements for said degree, he did an internship at Marvel Comics in New York City. Upon leaving the comics world in 2007, he began to focus on a more lucrative career in Web design, working for many freelance clients, e-Commerce brands, and marketing agencies. Focusing on design, HTML and CSS (where he is self-taught), typography, and UI/UX, the transplant from Michigan is the senior designer and art director for a small startup in Princeton, New Jersey. Coincidentally, his firm’s main clientele are doctors and lawyers looking to get top placement in Google and Bing, provide strong usability for their users, and above all, increase the number of cases they’re receiving. APPLICATION USED: Adobe Photoshop CS5


device-responsive grids.

029

design makeover

› ›

DESIGNER Griswold www.hellogriswold.com

AFTER

We approached the redesign of the TerBeek Law website with two goals in mind: To strengthen their message (“Fighting for Main Street, not for Wall Street”) and to create a responsive website so that it’s viewable and easy to use on multiple platforms (phone, tablet, and desktop). The use of dark and bold color tones makes the page feel more inviting and also emphasizes the content. We used large, full-bleed background images to alleviate the visitor’s need to scan through multiple, distracting, and unnecessary graphics. We placed the content on a single long page so that prospective clients would have the chance to view all the content easily. We decided to use a sans-serif font—Mark Simonson’s Proxima Nova—and settled on a fixed size and leading to make it easier to read. Proxima Nova, a modern sans serif, ties into the new design of the site, which is more modern and minimalistic. When it came to the practice areas, we decided that instead of listing all the practices, it would be best to let users scroll through the different areas of expertise of the firm, so that they’re only presented with information they’re interested in. We also added photos of the members of the law firm because images evoke a quick and powerful emotional response in a way that written words can’t. We added a Google map that visitors can click on to get to a page for directions to the firm. The redesign makes everything more cohesive, simple, and useable. It brings the site to a more modern user base, while still letting it communicate its original goal and message of providing information about the firm and the


different ways it can help.

030

ABOUT THE DESIGNER GRISWOLD

Griswold is an interactive design studio based in New York and Los Angeles. Formed in 2011 by founder and creative director Johnnie Hamn, Griswold’s focus is to design and develop engaging experiences for interactive, mobile, and social applications. They work with clients ranging from large powerful brands to agile young startups and everything in between. Some of their clients include Rockstar Games, Adult Swim, Nordstrom, Voltron, Disney, and Whole Foods Market. Before forming Griswold, Hamn worked for various interactive agencies in Austin, Texas, and New York City as an art director and designer. Griswold’s design team includes lead art director Matt Bordey and interactive designer Dominic Saraum. Matt has more than 12 years of interactive experience and has won various awards for his design work. Dominic is a talented multidisciplinary designer with five years of interactive design experience on both Web and mobile. “We believe in creating great work, and we’re passionate about doing things better,” says Hamn. APPLICATION USED: Adobe Photoshop CC

› ›

design makeover

SIGNER Charles D’Aprix www.facebook.com/daprixcreative

AFTER

For this project, I wanted to take away the intimidating and disorganized look and feel of the existing website and make it much more inviting. I also wanted to eliminate the Flash gimmicks and dramatic music that make the current site look dated and feel unprofessional. I decided that the best way to convey the message would be to use strong dynamic photography with clean, organized type. The client wanted his website to embody professionalism, dedication, and unique problem solving. To achieve this, I kept the brown color to ground the layout, and added texture for a more sophisticated, organic look. Complementary touches of blue help transform the website into a more inviting space. I chose a dynamic detail image of a gavel to represent professionalism and dedication, accompanied by the client’s tagline “Integrity, Experience, & Knowledge: Fighting for Main Street, not Wall Street.” I believe this image and copy convey a strong message of dedication for the client with high-impact visual elements. I felt the type on the client’s original website was muddled and too small—and because of the color palettes that were chosen, too hard to read. Within my design, I chose to stick with white for the majority of the copy, and blue for the deck. To get more content on the landing page—a desire of Mr. TerBeek’s—I reduced the space devoted to images. Just having a banner freed me up to organize four columns of intro text describing the four practices that Mr. TerBeek represents, along with an intro paragraph that introduces his law firm. I used two font families to accomplish the layout: Univers and Memphis. I believe these two fonts convey a clean, clear message

ABOUT THE DESIGNER CHARLES D’APRIX

Charles owns and operates DaPrixCreative, a small creative studio in Dallas, Texas, that focuses on advertising, print and Web design, publication design, and commercial photography. Charles prides himself on beautiful, clean layout and typography, and attention to detail. With nearly five years’ experience in print, Web, and publication design, he has been able to grow a diverse list of clients and work in many different media within the creative profession. He continues to learn, grow, and explore as a creative to stay innovative and dynamic. Charles is forever grateful for all the support he receives from his wife and kids. They are the inspiration that drives his passion. When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, playing pool, and watching movies. He also has an unhealthy addiction to hand lettering and typography. He can be reached at [email protected]. Q APPLICATION USED: Adobe Photoshop CS6


while retaining a professionally organized, modern feel.

031

h o w -t o

› ›

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS Pitted, Rusty Type Effect

FELIX NELSON

I wanted to create a type effect to go along with the pirate theme for Photoshop World 2014. While finding a swashbuckler-looking font was pretty easy, I also wanted the type to have a very textured, rusty appearance, as if it were a piece of iron or steel that had been exposed to the elements of the high seas for an extended period of time.

Create a new 17x12.75", 300-ppi document. Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbox to open the Color Picker, choose gray as the color (R:52, G:57, B:65), and click OK. Press Option-Delete (PC: AltBackspace) to fill the entire Background with gray. Press D then X to set the Foreground color to white. Choose the Type tool (T) from the Toolbox, click on the center of the document, and enter your text (we used the font Pieces of Eight at 305 pt but you can use any font you like). Open an image of a rusty or worn piece of metal. Using the Move tool (V), click-and-drag the image into your original document (this will create a new layer, Layer 1), and reposition it over the P and H. Press Enter to place the texture.

STEP TWO:

[NAPP members may download the texture used in this tutorial at http://members.photoshopuser.com/ magazine/issue/december-2013. All files are for personal use only.] Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Layer 1 thumbnail in the Layers panel to make it a selection. Press Command-Option-T (PC: Ctrl-Alt-T) to duplicate the selection and bring up the Free Transform bounding box. Right-click in the bounding box and choose Flip Horizontal. Now, move the bounding box toward the right until the edges of the original texture and the copied texture align (see example). Press Enter to apply the transformation. Repeat until the entire word is covered by the texture.


STEP THREE:

034

With Layer 1 active, Command-click (PC: Ctrlclick) on the type layer thumbnail to make the type a selection. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the Layers panel. Click on the Eye icon next to the type layer to hide it from view. Click on the layer thumbnail for Layer 1 so the mask isn't active, and then press D to reset the Foreground color to black.

STEP FOUR:

RUSTY TEXTURE: ISTOCK, WRAGG, IMAGE #7286875

STEP ONE:

› ›

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

STEP FIVE: Click on the Add a Layer Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Inner Glow. Select Multiply for the Blend Mode, and lower the Opacity to 50%. Click on the yellow color swatch, choose black, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 5 px for Size. Choose Gradient Overlay from the Styles list on the left side of the Layer Style dialog. Choose Multiply as the Blend Mode, and lower the Opacity to 75%. Click on the Gradient thumbnail, and choose the Foreground to Transparent preset in the Gradient Editor. Click-anddrag the right opacity stop above the gradient ramp toward the center (see example), and click OK to close the Gradient Editor. Enter –90º for Angle. Don’t click OK yet. STEP SIX: Choose Outer Glow from the Styles list. Choose Multiply for the Blend Mode, and enter 25% for Opacity. Click on the yellow color swatch, choose black for the color, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 10 px for Size and click OK to apply the layer styles.

STEP SEVEN: Duplicate Layer 1 (Layer 1 copy) by dragging it into the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Click directly on the layer mask thumbnail next to Layer 1 copy to make it active. Now, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the layer mask thumbnail to load it as a selection. Go to Select>Modify>Contract. Enter 20 pixels and click OK. Press Command-Shift-I (PC: Ctrl-Shift-I) to inverse the selection. Finally, press Command-Delete (PC: CtrlBackspace) to fill the selection with black. Deselect.

Layer 1 copy to open the Layer Style dialog. Enter 75% for Opacity, click on the black color swatch, choose a light-brown color (R:147, G:139, B:118), and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 15 px for Size. Choose Color Overlay from the Styles list. Choose Overlay for the Blend Mode, click on the red color swatch, choose a bluish-gray color (R:114, G:141, B:148), and click OK to close the Color Picker. Now, choose Outer Glow from the Styles list. Choose Multiply for the Blend Mode, and set the Opacity to 75%. Click on the color swatch, choose the same light-brown color used for the Inner Glow, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Enter 25 px for Size and click OK.


STEP EIGHT: Double-click on the words “Inner Glow” under

035

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

› ›

Click on Layer 1 to make it the active layer. Duplicate Layer 1 again (Layer 1 copy 2) and move it below Layer 1 in the layers list. Click-and-drag the word “Effects” under Layer 1 copy 2 into the Trash icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to remove the layer style. Click directly on the layer mask thumbnail next to Layer 1 copy 2. Now, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the layer mask thumbnail to load it as a selection. Go to Select>Modify>Expand. Enter 20 pixels and click OK. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill with white, revealing more of the rusty texture around the edges of the text. STEP NINE:

Add a new layer (Layer 2). Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the layer with black. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay near the top left of the Layers panel, and lower the Fill opacity to 0%. Click on the Add a Layer Style icon and choose Bevel & Emboss. Enter 1000% for Depth, 10 px for Size, uncheck the Use Global Light box, and enter –24° for Angle and 37° for Altitude. Click on the down-facing arrow next to the Gloss Contour thumbnail and choose Ring – Double. Lower the Highlight Mode Opacity to 35% and the Shadow Mode Opacity to 45%. Click OK. STEP TEN:


STEP ELEVEN: Add another new layer (Layer 3) and move it to the top of the layers stack. Change the layer blend mode to Overlay. Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbox. Choose a blue-gray color (R:106, G:117, B:118), and click OK. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection.

036

Add another new layer (Layer 4). Change the Foreground color to a light blue (R:149, G:182, B:182). Choose the Brush tool (B) from the Toolbox. Using a large, soft-edged brush, start painting in some rusty areas (see example). The blue color won’t look much like rust, but it will add some discolored areas to the texture that will help enhance the worn, rusty look.

STEP TWELVE:

Showing the painted areas on Layer 4 only

› ›

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

Change the Foreground color to an olive green (R:148, G:128, B:78). Paint in more discolored areas (see example). STEP THIRTEEN:

Change the Foreground color to a burnt-orange color (R:184, G:127, B:78). Now, paint in your rust areas (see example). Once you’re finished, change the layer blend mode to Overlay to complete the effect.

STEP FOURTEEN:


We used the same technique on the word “World.” Here’s how the textured type fit into the rest of the logo. ■

037

h o w -t o

› ›

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS Flip Fonts

FELIX NELSON

I saw this technique used as a headline type treatment for an advertisement in a recent issue of SkyMall magazine. What’s nice about this technique is its simplicity and flexibility. You can have as many or as few tiles as needed, and you can change the font color or messaging very easily. It’s one of those simple but effective techniques that works perfectly as an additional design element.

Press D then X to make the Background color black, then choose File>New to create a new 6x4", 212-ppi document with the Background Contents set to Background Color. Click on the Foreground color swatch at the bottom of the Toolbox, choose gray as the color (R:100, G:100, B:100), and click OK. Click on the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a new layer (Layer 1). Choose the Rectangular Marquee tool (M) from the Toolbox. Make a rectangular selection in the upper-left portion of the document. STEP ONE:

STEP TWO: Choose the Gradient tool (G) from the Toolbox. Click on the Gradient thumbnail in the Options Bar to open the Gradient Editor, choose Foreground to Background, and click OK. Hold the Shift key and click-and-drag a linear gradient from the bottom toward the top of the selection. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.

Click the Add a Layer Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Stroke. Enter 1 px for Size, choose Inside for Position, and lower the Opacity to 75%. Choose Gradient as the Fill Type, enter 90º for Angle, and 100% for Scale. Now, choose Inner Shadow from the Styles list on the left side of the Layer Style dialog. Uncheck Use Global Light, enter –90º for Angle, 0 px for Distance, and 20 px for Size. Click OK to apply the layer styles.


STEP THREE:

038

Create a new layer (Layer 2) and move it below Layer 1 in the Layers panel. Click on Layer 1 to make it the active layer, then press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to Merge Down (it will merge with Layer 2).

STEP FOUR:

› ›

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

STEP FIVE: Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Layer 2 thumbnail to load it as a selection. Press Command-Option-T (PC: Ctrl-Alt-T) to duplicate the square in Layer 2 and bring up the Free Transform bounding box. Now, Right-click in the center of the bounding box and choose Flip Vertical. Using the Down Arrow key, move the duplicated square below the original square. Press Enter to apply the transformation.

Create another new layer (Layer 3). Choose the Rounded Rectangle tool (nested under the Rectangle tool [U]). In the Options Bar, set the drop-down menu on the left to Path, and enter 10 px for Radius. Create a small, vertical, rounded rectangle on the left side of the two squares (see example). Go to the Paths panel (Window>Paths) and Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Work Path thumbnail you just created to load it as a selection.

STEP SIX:

Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on Layer 3 to load it as a selection. Go to Select>Modify>Expand. Enter 3 pixels and click OK. Click on Layer 2, press Delete (PC: Backspace). Click back on Layer 3 and press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to Merge Down.

STEP EIGHT:


STEP SEVEN: Choose the Gradient tool, click the Gradient thumbnail in the Options Bar, choose Copper as the gradient (it’s one of the default gradients), and click OK. Click-anddrag a gradient from the top toward the bottom of the selection. Press Command-Shift-U (PC: Ctrl-Shift-U) to desaturate the color. Now, while holding down the Command-Option-Shift (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift) keys, click-and-drag a duplicate shape to the right side of the squares (see example).

039

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

› ›

Now that all the elements are on one layer, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the Layer 2 thumbnail to load it as a selection. Choose the Move tool, press-and-hold Command-Option-Shift (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift), and click-and-drag to duplicate it (on the same layer) as many times as needed, depending on the number of characters you’ll need for your messaging. Our example calls for three rows with seven characters in each row.

STEP NINE:

Choose the Type tool (T) from the Toolbox, and set the Foreground color to a lighter gray. Choose your typeface (we’re using Helvetica Bold Condensed) and enter your first line of text (each line of type will have to be created independently on separate layers). Make your text the appropriate size, and then position the first letter over the first set of squares. Place the cursor between the first two letters, hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and press the Right Arrow key on your keyboard to kern the second letter until it’s centered over the second set of squares. You’ll have to kern each character individually so they line up over the center of each set of squares.

STEP TEN:

STEP ELEVEN: Click on the Add a Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Gradient Overlay. Choose Overlay as the Blend Mode and click OK. Commandclick (PC: Ctrl-click) on the Layer 2 thumbnail to load it as a selection. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the Layers panel.

Repeat Steps Ten and Eleven for any additional lines of type to complete the effect. ■


STEP TWELVE:

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h o w -t o

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS HDR Compositing

COREY BARKER

Since HDR is such a big thing these days, I thought I’d show you how I use it. A lot of people use thirdparty applications to process HDR images, but when compositing images, I find that using only Photoshop works just fine. And with the HDR Toning feature, you can incorporate regular images into your HDR images.

STEP ONE:

The first thing we need to do for this example is

to process the HDR backdrop. I have five exposures of a brick wall I shot while at a workshop in California. To start, we need to go to the File menu and select Automate>Merge to HDR Pro. [NAPP members may download the files used in this tutorial at http://members.photoshopuser.com/magazine/issue/ december-2013. All files are for personal use only.]

STEP TWO:

When the Merge to HDR Pro dialog appears,

click on the Use drop-down menu and choose Files. Click the Browse button to the right, locate and select your files, and click

Step Two

Open. When the filenames show up in the Merge to HDR Pro dialog, make sure the Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images option is checked on, and then click OK.

STEP THREE:

Depending on the speed of your system, this

part may take a moment to process. Once it’s done, you’ll see the full Merge to HDR Pro dialog appear with a large preview of the image, along with the individual exposures along the bottom. On the right side are the settings. (Note: If you don’t see any settings, you’re probably in 32-bit mode. Click the Mode drop-down menu and choose 16 Bit.) I usually start by pushing up the Detail quite a bit in the Tone and Detail section. This will give the image a grungy effect.

042

Adjusting the Detail will often make the image

brighter, so you may need to drop the Exposure a bit. I bumped up the Gamma, as well. All these settings are based on how this particular image looks. The effects are live, so I can see exactly how it will look in the main preview.

STEP FIVE:

Move up to the Edge Glow section and check on

Edge Smoothness. Now it’s just a matter of adjusting the Radius and Strength sliders until the image looks the way you like. I’ve

COREY BARKER

› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 3

STEP FOUR:

Step Three

discovered that it’s best to keep the Radius set higher than the Strength. Go ahead and move the sliders around and watch what happens so you know exactly what they’re doing to the image. When done, click OK.

Step Five

› ›

STEP SIX:

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

The fully processed HDR backdrop looks pretty

good but it could use a little extra punch. Make a duplicate of the Background layer by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J). Then, change the layer blend mode near the top left of the Layers panel to Soft Light. This will enhance the color and contrast. STEP SEVEN:

Next, throw on a quick Filter>Sharpen>

Unsharp Mask to help bring out the detail a little bit more. Click OK. STEP EIGHT:

Here we have a subject to add to the scene;

however, we only have a single exposure of this image. We

Step Seven

Step Six

want to place him in the HDR backdrop but we also want him to look like HDR, as well. HDR Toning to the rescue! STEP NINE:

First, make sure your document is flat be-

cause HDR Toning won’t work on a layered file. Then, go to Image>Adjustments>HDR Toning. You’ll pretty much see the same settings you saw earlier in the Merge to HDR Pro panel. STEP TEN:

As before, start in the Tone and Detail section

and bump up the Detail quite a bit. This change already has a cool effect. Remember to drop the Exposure to compensate for FOTOLIA, GINO SANTA MARIA, IMAGE #45433163

the Detail increase. I left the Gamma alone this time. Up in the Edge Glow section, check on Smooth Edges and then adjust the Radius and Strength sliders. Remember to keep the Strength setting pretty low and set the Radius just a little higher. Once the subject looks similar to the background, click OK.

STEP ELEVEN:

We need to extract the subject from the

background in order to place him on the HDR backdrop. Since the background is a solid white, grab the Magic Wand tool

Step Eight

(nested under the Quick Selection tool [W] in the Toolbox) and click on the background. Be sure to include any areas that were missed, like between his arm and leg, by holding down the Shift key and clicking in those areas. Then, go to Select>Inverse. This flips the selection around from the background to the subject. STEP TWELVE:

Click on the Refine Edge button in the

Options Bar. While I’m sure I have clean selection, it’s not a bad idea to check with Refine Edge. Change the View to a › › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m

background where it’s easy to see any mistakes. Even though this looks fine, I’m going to nudge the Edge Detection Radius slider just a bit to take care of any tiny imperfections I may not see. Will anyone else see them? No, but I know they’re there! Set the Output To drop-down menu to New Layer with Layer Mask, and click OK. STEP THIRTEEN:

Using the Move tool (V), drag this

extracted layer into the HDR backdrop file and position the subject in the middle of the composition. Select the subject by

Step Ten

Step Twelve 043

DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS

› ›

holding down the Command (PC: Ctrl) key and clicking on the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel. It will load the shape of the mask as an active selection. If more of the image is selected, simply switch to the Lasso tool (L), hold the Option

Step Fifteen

(PC: Alt) key down, and drag around the unwanted areas to remove them from the selection. STEP FOURTEEN: With the selection active, click the Create

a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, press D to set the Foreground color to black, and press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with black, creating a silhouette of the subject. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. STEP FIFTEEN:

Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to activate

Free Transform. Move the object down to the sidewalk, grab the top-middle control handle, and then drag it down to squash the shadow as you see here. Drop the Opacity in the Layers panel to 40%. You can also run a very subtle Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur to soften the shadow.

Step Sixteen

Finally, as a finishing touch, I added a glow

Elements section, increase the Size to 250 px, and click OK.

to the subject for added pizzazz! Not necessary, but still pretty

Against this particular backdrop, the glow works really well but

cool. Click on the main subject layer to make it active, click on

that won’t be the case with every image.

STEP SIXTEEN:

› › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › D EC E M B E R 2 0 1 3

the Add a Layer Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel,

044

and choose Outer Glow. Click on the color swatch, change the

In the end, we have a rather nice blend of regular HDR

color to white, and click OK to close the Color Picker. Set the

and fake HDR with a few added layer tricks all right here

Blend Mode to Overlay and the Opacity to around 80%. In the

in Photoshop. ■

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Scott Kelby’s 8th Annual

G nzo Holiday G ar Guide


W

046

elcome to my “8th Annual Gonzo Holiday Gear Guide.” If you’ve been a faithful reader of this Gear Guide for the past seven years, this year’s name probably sounds familiar, and that’s because it is. It’s the original name for this Gear Guide, and I’m bringing it back with a vengeance (I’m not really sure how to make a Gear Guide vengeful but I’m working on it), with all of its original “Gonzoness” (yes, that’s a word, I’m pretty sure). This is replacing last year’s “Awesome Gear Guide” name (awesome is way overused—mostly by me), and now here you are, reading it right now. How “in the moment” is that, right? Okay, this year, I’m breaking things into three distinct categories (see box to the right). Anyway, the “Awesome” is out, the “Gonzo” is back, and this year’s Gear Guide is packed with some really cool stuff that we don’t need, but we really, really, really want because getting (ahem—I mean giving) is what it’s really all about. At least, that’s what I read in a Christmas card once.

Illustrations: iStock Layout Design: Taffy Clifford

1: Stocking Stuffers (You can also use these as actual holiday gifts if you’re not that crazy about the person.) 2: Great Value Gear (Stuff that’s a really good deal for not a lot of money, but he or she will totally dig it.) 3: Ch a-ching! (Stuff you buy for the doctor/lawyer/rap mogul on your holiday gift list. This is the stuff that makes them burst into spontaneous tears of joy. Well, at least I would.)

THE RULES:

These are my self-imposed guidelines for which products make it into the guide. It’s just two rules, actually. To be listed here the products have to be ones that I use myself, that I absolutely love, and now can’t live without (well, I could live without them, but I just wouldn’t want to). And if a product makes the guide, it has to be one I would recommend to a close friend without hesitation, especially if my friend were a rich doctor (kidding). Also, to make things easy, we put up a webpage (www.scottkelby.com/13gearguide) with direct links to all the products I picked so you don’t have to wonder if you’re getting the exact right one. Okay, folks, hang on to your Fruchtsaftgetränke, here we go!

Stocking Stuffers 20x24" Rosco CTO Gel Sheet

If the photographer on your gift list has a flash, this is a perfect gift because it’s something he needs but probably doesn’t have, and it’s cheap as anything. Get him a big sheet of thin orange gel. He tapes it over his flash head and it warms up the color of the flash, creating a more flattering color for portraits. Get the Rosco CTO (Color Temperature Orange) 1/4 sheets for just $6.49 a sheet at B&H. Do you want to really splurge on him? Throw in the 1/2-cut and full-cut sheets, as well. If he doesn’t like cutting, get the Rosco precut Strobist pack for just $7.95 with gels in all sorts of colors. A fantastic deal.

Price: Starting at $6.49

Roll of Gaffer’s Tape

If he already has some gels, get him a roll over Gaffer’s tape. This is the handiest stuff on earth for photographers (I even give away a few rolls at my seminar—I’m not making this up). It looks like black duct tape, but it comes off clean with no residue or pulling off any paint. It rocks. $6.50 a roll. Buy two (and keep one for yourself).

www.bhphotovideo.com

Price: Starting around $6.50/roll


www.rosco.com

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30" Westcott 5-in-1 Collapsible Reflector/Diffuser

He probably already has a reflector, but that’s okay— what you want is the diffuser inside the reflector (you zip it open and there it is). You use this outdoors to turn harsh, direct sun into beautiful, soft, flattering light (just put it between the sun and your subject). Around $30. Plus, you could keep the reflectors and just give him the diffuser. I’m just sayin’.

http://fjwestcott.com


Lightroom Magazine

048

Does the photographer on your gift list use Light Of course she does! So get her a few issues of Magazine. (I love this magazine because—because, w the publisher, but it’s an awesome, awesome magazine is a case where using the term awesome, and using it is perfectly acceptable.) You can find it on the App St iTunes for $4.99 an issue. Cheap. If you really want to go all out, go ahead and buy her all the back issues.

https://itunes.apple.com

Price: $4.99 per

Price: $35.90

Some Cool Books

Your photographer will love Zack Arias’s Photography Q&A book (only $21.66 on Amazon). Or how about the recent refresh of The Digital Photography Book, Part 2 by Scott Kelby (I love everything he writes) for $18.23 on Amazon (weird price; cool book)? If he’s into sports, get Peter Read Miller on Sports Photography ($31.86 on Amazon), or if you want to splurge a little, get Frank Doorhof’s Mastering the Model Shoot for around $28.45 (I worked on this book with Frank—he totally rocked it!). Note: Prices on Amazon.com change frequently. Pricing is correct as of this printing.

www.amazon.com


Great Value Gear DxO FilmPack 4

This is probably the best plug-in for Photoshop or Lightroom out there for faithfully reproducing classic film effects, and it totally nails these effects. It has a great interface with a smart design, and you can’t argue with the realistic looks it effortlessly creates, but you can still tweak each look big time. Plus, it does everything from contrast effects to borders and custom frames. I don’t use a whole bunch of plug-ins, but when I want a realistic film look, this is the only plug-in I reach for (and by reach, I mean I just go under a menu).

Price: $79 for the Essential Edition; $129 for the Expert Edition › › w w w. p h ot o s h o p u s e r . c o m

www.dxo.com

049

Vanguard Quovio 49T Rolling Bag

If you want a rolling camera bag with Think Tank Photo quality, but can’t quite swing it, then check out the Vanguard Quovio 49T. It holds a lot of gear (and your laptop), and it holds it all well. I’ve taken it on a few trips now and I really like how it’s made and its usability. Lots of clever little features and great overall design.

www.vanguardworld.com

Price: $249.99

Imagenomic’s Portraiture Skin Retouching Plug-in

The incredible Frank Doorhof turned me on to this plug-in when I asked him how he was retouching skin in his portraits, because his stuff was really looking good. I had to pry it out of him a bit (LOL!), but as soon as he told me, I went straight to Imagenomic’s site and picked up a copy. Pretty darn amazing; pretty darn fast. It’s $199.95, which ain’t cheap, but the wedding or portrait photographer on your list will hug you and not let go for a good long while.


http://imagenomic.com

050

Price: $199.95

Westcott’s Rapid Box 20" Octa Mini and Deflector Plate

This is, hands-down, the best beauty dish for hot-shoe flash I’ve ever seen. Plus, it pops up and you’re ready to go, so it fits with the whole run-andgun portability behind hot-shoe flashes. Very well made and thought out. I use the 20" Octa Mini ($169.90), but you’ll need the Rapid Box Deflector Plate for another $19.90 (that’s what gives you the beauty dish look). She will be super-diggin’ this.


Price: $169.90 for the 20" Octa Mini; $19.90 for the Deflector Plate

Kata LPS-216 DL Laptop Backpack

I generally don’t like backpacks (I use rolling bags instead), but what I love about this one is that it’s not big and bulky, yet it still holds a lot of gear and my laptop. Plus, the interior is bright yellow, so you can actually find stuff. It’s really well made and only $109.99, which makes it my favorite photo gear backpack ever!

www.kata-bags.us

Price: $109.99

Squarespace.com

Every photographer, designer, and illustrator needs a portfolio, and Squarespace.com has a killer deal on them with very slick professional templates. With Squarespace, you can have a very cool-looking online portfolio up and running in about 15 minutes with absolutely no Web design experience necessary. I use Squarespace for my sports photography portfolio and absolutely love them! They start at around $10 a month (but you’ll get your photographer a full year for $96). You’ll be a hero.

www.squarespace.com Price: Starting at $8 a month with an annual subscription

You know what photographers hate? They hate waiting for their cards to download to their computer. That’s why this baby was born. Well that, and the fact that a lot of cameras these days have more than one memory card slot, and often those are two different types (like an SD card and a CompactFlash, or a CompactFlash and an XQD card). With this, you buy the docking bay ($99.99) and then up to four readers that pop right in, in any format you want (SD, CF, or XQD) starting at $36.99 each. I love this. Big time.

www.lexar.com

Price: HR1 Hub: $99.99; SD reader: $36.99; CompactFlash reader: $36.99; XQD reader: $44.99


Lexar Professional Workflow HR1 (FourBay USB 3 Reader Hub)

051

Yongnuo YN560-III Hot-Shoe Flash

If you want her to think you spent a bundle, which will lead to you getting “Most Favored Friend” status for all of 2014, get her a Yongnuo hot-shoe flash. It’s only $70 but looks like it cost $600. It creates a bright flash of light (just like every other flash), but without the high price of about every other flash.


www.hkyongnuo.com

052

Price: $70.95

FP-1 Floor Plate for Using Remote Cameras

If you’ve ever thought about using a remote camera (like a camera set up behind the bride or on the balcony, or for sports), this floor plate is fantastic! I use these for sports and absolutely love ’em. They’re very strong, yet surprisingly lightweight, and they’re designed to work with just about any ballhead and PocketWizard remote. Incredibly handy for only $65.

http://fplate.net

Price: $65

B&H Gift Cards

Not sure exactly what to get her? Yes you do. Get her a B&H Gift Card. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want something from the greatest photo store on earth, plus this way she can get whatever she wants (within the limit of how much you put on the card, of course). You can order them direct from the B&H site. They send a card and a catalog so it looks pretty substantial.


Price: Starting at $20

PocketWizard has always been the gold standard in wireless triggers for flash or even for firing remote cameras, but the best is always expensive. But this year, they came out with a new budget-priced model for only $99 each (you need two—one for your camera and one for your flash), called the PlusX, and it has the ruggedness, range, and quality without the high price. They’re simple and they work. If you can’t swing the $198, try Cactus triggers instead (two for $60). Not the same quality, build, design, or range, but it’s not the same price either.

www.pocketwizard.com

Price: $99


PocketWizard PlusX Wireless Transceiver

053

Impact Quickbox Softbox Kit

B&H Photo put this kit together and for the money, I don’t know how you can beat it. It’s a 24x24" collapsible pop-up softbox, a tilt-swivel bracket, a bracket that holds your flash and the softbox, and a 8' light stand, all for $149. It’s hero time.



Canon Close-up Lens Filter (for Canon or NIKKOR)

054

Get him this screw-on lens filter that turns most any Canon or NIKKOR lens into a Macro lens for close-up photography. It’s small (only about 1" thick), screws on just like a filter, and violá, you have a macro lens that you can toss into any camera bag (perfect for wedding photographers). They start at around $72 and go up to around $150, based on how wide his lens is (in millimeters).



Price: $149.06

CHA-CHING! Westcott SkyLux LED

What’s the next big wave in lighting? LED continuous lighting (it’s not a flash, so what you see is what you get). Video creatives have long-embraced LEDs but now they’re finally (finally!) making their way to still photography. Westcott’s SkyLux is really fantastic, and even though it’s here in “Cha-ching Land” at around $1,200, it’s one of the cheapest LED solutions out there. Plus, Westcott makes a ton of softboxes that fit right on it. This is where lighting is going. You can take someone special there now, this holiday season, and he will love you like a puppy without all the yipping (well, some yipping but it ends after a few weeks).

Price: $1,199.90

Canon EOS 70D

I got a chance to use the Canon EOS 70D on a few studio shoots and events, and I have to say this camera body may be the best deal of anything on the list, value-wise (well, maybe beside the $6.49 sheets of Rosco gel). It has features way beyond its price, and if the photographer on your gift list has any ideas about shooting DSLR video, he’ll lose his mind over this puppy! Did I mention it has a touchscreen, and that you can pinch to zoom and flick to scroll through your photos, and it’s responsive like a smartphone touchscreen. I remember when Nikon released the D700 a few years back and we all thought, “What was Nikon thinking? It’s too good a deal.” I feel the same way about the 70D. Pro-quality images with many pro features, but they pretend it’s for consumers.

www.usa.canon.com

Price: $1,199



055

PrioLite MBX500 500 W/s Monolight

This is a serious studio strobe that lets you use studio strobes on location. That’s not new; there are a bunch of strobes that you can take out in the field using a battery pack that slings over your shoulder. The difference here is that there’s no battery pack to sling over your shoulder. The pack is built right into the strobe itself. There’s no cable. There’s no battery pack. It’s just the light. It’s awesome! But it ain’t cheap. They’re $1,479 each. Definitely for pros or for the Wall Street crony on your holiday gift list.

www.priolite.com

Price: $1,479


AF-S NIKKOR 28–300mm f/3.5–5.6G ED VR or Tamron 28–300mm f/3.5–6.3 XR Di VC

056

The AF-S NIKKOR 28–300mm f/3.5–5.6G ED VR is my all-time favorite travel photography lens because it’s one lens that does it all—from wide-angle to portrait lengths to a tight zoom. Plus, this particular lens is amazingly sharp, lightweight, and very well built. It’s not cheap at $1,049.95, but it’s worth it. Give her this as a holiday gift and you may not be able to get rid of her. A perfect gift for someone you’re stalking. If the photographer on your list is a Canon shooter, unfortunately Canon doesn’t make a compact 28–300mm like this Nikon model. (The Canon version is full size, quite heavy, and expensive at an MSRP of $2,689.) Tamron makes a 28–300mm f/3.5–6.3 XR Di VC that will do the trick. It’s not as sharp as the Nikon 28–300mm or the Canon for that matter, but it’s not nearly as expensive either at around $630. Q

www.nikonusa.com www.tamron-usa.com

Price: $1,049.95 Price: $629

h o w -t o

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BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP Safe Healing and Cloning

LESA SNIDER

When it comes to retouching, the Spot Healing Brush and Healing Brush tools are perfect for repairing or removing items and then blending surrounding pixels so your changes look real. The Clone Stamp tool, on the other hand, copies one area of an image to another. Today, you’ll learn to use those tools safely to clean up a snowy portrait. STEP ONE:

The Spot Healing Brush tool (J) is great for repairISTOCK, LINDAYOLANDA, IMAGE #3496810

ing small- to medium-sized areas with surrounding pixels; those that Photoshop automatically picks. Create a new layer by pressing Shift-Command-N (PC: Shift-Ctrl-N), name it “spot healing brush,” and click OK. Position this layer above the layer you’re fixing. [NAPP members may download the files used in this tutorial at http://members.photoshopuser.com/magazine/issue/ december-2013. All files are for personal use only.] Step One

Step Two STEP TWO:

Grab the Spot Healing Brush from the Toolbox.

(Tip: Pressing Shift-J repeatedly cycles through all tools in that toolset.) In the Options Bar, set the Type to Proximity Match (uses pixels immediately outside the brush cursor) or ContentAware (analyzes a larger area of nearby pixels); you’ll get slightly different results with each Type. Turn on the Sample All Layers checkbox to make Photoshop look through the active empty layer to pixels on layers below.

STEP THREE:

Mouse over to the image and make your brush

cursor slightly bigger than the area you’re fixing. Click or clickand-drag to remove a few snow and water droplets from this

Step Three

girl’s face. If you don’t like the results, press Command-Z (PC: › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

Ctrl-Z) to undo and either change brush size or switch modes

058

(from Proximity Match to Content-Aware, or vice versa) and try again. Tip: Press the Left Bracket key ([) to decrease brush size and the Right Bracket key (]) to increase it. Zoom in and out of your image by pressing Command-+ or Command-– (PC: Ctrl-+ or Ctrl-–), respectively.

STEP FOUR:

The Healing Brush tool is great for fixing small-

to medium-sized areas with pixels from another area in your image that you pick by setting a sample point. Create a new layer as described in Step One, name it “healing brush,” and position it at the top of your layer stack.

Step Four

› ›

beginners’ workshop

Activate the Healing Brush tool (nested below the

STEP FIVE:

Spot Healing Brush tool), and in the Options Bar, set the Sample

Step Five

menu to Current & Below.

STEP SIX:

To reduce the dark area beneath eyes, set a

sample point by Option-clicking (PC: Alt-clicking) the spot you want Photoshop to use for the fix, such as the cheek area shown here. Try to use a nearby or adjacent area to match tone and texture. Step Six

STEP SEVEN:

Mouse over to the problem area and adjust

the brush size to be a little bigger than what you’re fixing. Next, click or, in this case, click-and-drag across the area. Tiny crosshairs mark the sample point as you drag, and a preview of the sampled area appears inside your cursor. Repeat this process on the other eye. If you’re fixing a small area, you’re probably okay with setting one sample point; for larger areas, you may need to set a new sample point every few brushstrokes. Tip: If you

Step Seven

accidentally introduce a repeating pattern, either set another sample point and paint the error away, or switch to the Spot Healing Brush tool to fix it.

STEP EIGHT:

Reduce the Opacity of the “healing brush” layer

so your changes look realistic (40% was used here).

STEP NINE:

The Clone Stamp tool (S) copies one area of your

image to another, making it great for duplicating objects or removing stray hairs. Create a new layer as described in Step One, name it “clone stamp,” and position it at the top of your layer stack.

STEP TEN:

Activate the Clone Stamp tool and, in the Options

Bar, set the Sample menu to Current & Below.

Step Nine

Step Ten


Step Eight

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beginners’ workshop

STEP ELEVEN:

› ›

Repeat Steps Six and Seven to remove strands

of hair on her teeth and chin. (Tip: Use a small brush to remove or duplicate small items and a larger brush for bigger stuff.) STEP TWELVE:

Here’s the before

and after version of the image, along with the final Layers panel.

Step Eleven

Step Twelve STEP THIRTEEN:

As mentioned earlier, you can use the

Clone Stamp tool to duplicate items. In this image, we’re going to duplicate a snowball. Create a new layer, name it “clone

060

Mouse over to an empty bit of sky and then click-and-drag to create another snowball. If you introduce any repeating elements, set another sample point and click to fix it, or switch to the Spot Healing Brush or Healing Brush tools to fix it. STEP FOURTEEN:

Be sure to choose File>Save As and pick

Photoshop as the Format so you can edit each layer later. You can undo edits by activating that layer and using the Eraser tool (E) or by using a layer mask. Next issue, we’ll discuss using the Patch tool and the ContentAware Fill command to remove items from your photos. Until next time, may the creative force be with you all! Q

Step Thirteen ISTOCK, ZENAPHOTO, IMAGE #6594728


stamp,” and set a sample point atop an existing snowball.

h o w -t o

› ›

CLASSIC EFFECTS Get Your Head in the Clouds

PETE COLLINS

One of the brushes that I keep going back to is the cloud brush. It can be used to add an extra cloud to an already dynamic skyline, or you can add many clouds to crank up the drama. Once you learn how to make them, you’ll find they also come in handy for creating anything from fog and smoke to unique textures. STEP ONE:

Find a good cloud image. What makes a good

cloud image? Look for a singular cloud that has a bit of sky all the way around it. This will make selecting it much easier. You can purchase stock clouds at places such as Fotolia.com, but I prefer to have my camera or iPhone ready whenever I see good clouds, and I keep a library of shots from which to choose. (Since it’s going to become a brush, the resolution of your camera phone will probably work just fine.) I like this cloud image because I can actually create several different-sized and -shaped clouds from one image.

Step One

STEP TWO:

When creating a brush from an image, anything

that’s black or shades of gray will be the part of the brush that leaves a mark, and anything that’s white is transparent. So we want to convert the photo so that the cloud is not white but black and shades of gray. (This will make sense in a minute.) There are several ways to do this, but I prefer to add an adjustment layer. Click the Create New Adjustment Layer icon (half-black, half-white circle) at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Black & White from the menu. The Properties panel will appear with a bunch of sliders and the colorful sky will be a shade of gray. Move the Blues slider to the left and the gray should darken. Don’t go overboard. You want it close to black,

Step Two

but if you go too far the cloud will start to get clumpy and not that attractive. Now move the Cyans slider a little to fine-tune › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

the cloud since it will probably have some of that color in the sky, as well. When you’re done tweaking the sliders, your image should look like a white cloud on a black or near-black sky.

STEP THREE:

When you’re satisfied with the look of the

cloud and sky, select the adjustment layer and press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to Merge Down. Now you’ll have only one layer to work with.

Step Three 062

› ›

STEP FOUR:

CLASSIC EFFECTS

Remember that black and gray are the colors

that do the painting when you create a brush? As things are right now, if we made a brush from this image, it would paint a big box with a cloud-shaped hole in the center. We need to flip things around. Press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the image. Now the cloud should be black and the sky white. Perfect! Use the Lasso tool (L) to just select the cloud you want to make a brush from and copy it to its own layer by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J). At this point, I usually add a plain white layer between the bottom cloud layer and the new single cloud so I can easily see what I’m doing. Click the bottom layer to make it active, click the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, press Shift-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to bring up

Step Four

the Fill dialog, choose White from the Use menu, and click OK. The edges of the cloud may be a little sharp, or you may have a few stray white areas that need addressing.

STEP FIVE:

Here’s a neat trick that I stole from Corey Barker.

Press D then X to set your Foreground color to white. Choose the Gradient tool (G) from the Toolbox, click the Gradient thumbnail in the Options Bar, choose the Foreground to Transparent preset, and click OK. Back in the Options Bar, click the Linear Gradient icon and set the blend Mode to Screen. Now, select your cloud layer in the Layers panel, place your cursor outside of the cloud, and click-and-drag a gradient toward the center. You’ll see the edges of that side of the cloud soften. It may take a little playing around with this to get the hang of it, but when you do, you can go around the entire cloud and soften it. Step Five

STEP SIX:

With your cloud edges looking fluffy, make a selec-

tion around that cloud with your selection tool of choice (we used the Rectangular Marquee tool [M]), then go to Edit>Define Brush Preset. In the Brush Name dialog that appears, name the brush


(notice the size of the brush below the thumbnail), and click OK.

Step Six 063

CLASSIC EFFECTS

STEP SEVEN:

› ›

Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect,

then press B to choose the Brush tool. The newly created brush will be the last one in Brush Presets panel (Window>Brush Presets). Choose the brush and make sure your brush color is set to white because we want happy clouds. Open an image with a bland sky. Click the Create a New Layer icon, use the Left and Right Bracket keys to adjust the size of your brush, and click in your image to place a cloud. If you find the cloud too opaque, you can lower the Opacity in the Layers panel and even add a layer mask to hide parts of the cloud if it’s behind an object in your scene. STEP EIGHT:

Now you can go back and make more cloud

brushes and use them to make lots of cloud layers that can be rearranged to make the best compositional impact. Now all you need is a catchy title and a semiobscure PBS reference to take your designs to new heights! That last pun was pretty bad, I admit, but being able to create your own cloud brushes is pretty awesome. I’ve used cloud brushes to add crusty mud to a rhino illustration, and if you look closely, you can see I used it to add the paint and splotches to the paintbrush in the final image. So take a little time to play in the clouds and you’ll see that I’m not full of hot air. ■


BACKGROUND: FOTOLIA, SILOTO, IMAGE #9330295 PAINTBRUSH: FOTOLIA, HAMSTERMAN, IMAGE #34697472

Step Seven

Step Eight 064 ALL IMAGES BY PETE COLLINS EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

› ›

key concepts:

Pen tool

FROM BERT’S STUDIO Drawing Dog Tags

BERT MONROY

In this issue’s tutorial, we’ll create a metallic dog tag complete with a chain. As I’ve said many times, it’s not what you’re doing in Photoshop but how you’re doing it—what’s important are the steps used. A slight modification here and there and these techniques can be used in many other situations. CREATING THE TAG STEP ONE:

Start by creating a new file (File>New) that’s

12x9" at 72 ppi. Click on the Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the Toolbox, pick a medium-gray color in the Color Picker (R:128, G:128, B:128), and click OK. STEP TWO:

Option-click (PC: Alt-click) the Create a New Layer

icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, name it “plate” in the New Layer dialog, and click OK. Using the Rounded Rectangle tool (nested under the Rectangle tool [U] in the Toolbox) set to Pixels in the Options Bar, create a rectangle like the one here, which is roughly 5x3". Note: The Radius of the corners

Step Two

is controlled in the Options Bar for the tool (we used 30 px in this example). Make the rectangle a selection by clicking on its preview thumbnail in the Layers panel while pressing the Command (PC: Ctrl) key. STEP THREE:

Create another new layer and name it “rim.”

Choose Edit>Stroke. Enter a Width that will give you a rim bordering the edge of the tag (we used 12 px in this example— you may need to use a higher Width depending on the size and resolution of your image). The Color should already be set to the same medium-gray color that you set for your Foreground color earlier. Set the stroke to Center and click OK. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. STEP FOUR:

With the rim layer active, click on the Add

a Layer Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Bevel & Emboss. Alter the settings to give you a nice › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

highlight and shadow along the edges. Click OK, then hold

066

the Option (PC: Alt) key and click-and-drag the words “Bevel & Emboss” that appear below the rim layer in the Layers panel to the plate layer. This will copy the layer style to the plate layer. Note: The layer style will not show on the faceplate of the tag until the next step. STEP FIVE:

In the plate layer, switch to the Elliptical Marquee

tool (nested under the Rectangular Marquee tool [M] in the Toolbox), hold the Shift key, and draw a small circular selection to represent the hole where the chain is going to go through. Press Delete (PC: Backspace) to cut out the hole, and deselect. The layer style will make the hole appear three-dimensional.

Step Four

› ›

STEP SIX:

FROM BERT’S STUDIO

Create a new layer above the plate layer, and call

it “sheen.” Switch to the Brush tool (B), and press D then X to set the Foreground color to white. Right-click in the document and choose the Soft Round brush in the Brush Preset Picker. Use your Left and Right Bracket keys to adjust the size of the brush, and paint some different-sized strokes to represent highlights on the metal surface. Clip the sheen layer with the plate layer by clicking between the two layers in the Layers panel while pressing the Option (PC: Alt) key. Lower the Opacity of the sheen layer to around 40%. Step Five ADDING THE TEXT STEP SEVEN:

Select a color that’s slightly lighter than the

gray you selected earlier. Switch to the Type tool (T), and in the Options Bar, set the size to around 50 pt and select the Left Align Text option. Type in the message you want to appear on the dog tag. Note: Using the Type tool will automatically place the text into its own layer. Choose any font you wish. Courier is the closest to what you usually find on dog tags. Select all of the text with the Type tool, hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and press the Left or Right Arrow keys to control the tracking (space between characters), and the Up and Down Arrow keys to control leading (space between lines).

STEP EIGHT:

Step Six

Give the text a layer style of Bevel & Emboss.

Set the Style to Outer Bevel, and increase the Depth and Size settings. In the Shading section of the Layer Style dialog, turn off Use Global Light and set the Angle to the opposite of the current direction. This will make the letters appear to be punched into the surface of the plate. Click OK.

STEP NINE:

Turn off the Eye icon for the Background layer

to hide it. Making sure you have the topmost layer active in the Layers panel, press the Option (PC: Alt) key and choose Merge Visible from the panel’s flyout menu. This will make a new layer containing a merged copy of all the layers while leaving all the original layers intact. This is useful if, say, you wish to make multiple tags with different names. Note: Not pressing

Step Eight

ability to make changes or repurpose sections for other images.

STEP TEN:

Double-click the name of the merged layer and

rename it “tag.” For the sake of organization, click the Create a New Group icon (folder) at the bottom of the Layers panel, drag all the original layers into the group folder, and name it “pieces.” Turn off the Eye icon for the folder containing the original layers so you no longer see them, and drag it below the tag layer. Turn the Eye icon back on for the Background.


the Option (PC: Alt) key will merge the layers—loosing the

067

FROM BERT’S STUDIO

STEP ELEVEN:

› ›

Make the tag layer active, press Command-T

(PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform, and click-and-drag outside the bounding box to alter the angle of the dog tag in any way you wish. Press Enter to commit the transformation. Give the tag layer a layer style of Drop Shadow, and click OK to apply the default settings. CREATING THE CHAIN STEP TWELVE:

Create a new layer above the tag layer and

call it “chain.” Using the Pen tool (P), draw a shape you want the chain to follow. Choose the Brush tool with a small brush

Step Twelve

size—small enough to represent the thin wire that runs through the chains found in dog tags (6 px in this example). In the Brush panel (Window>Brush), turn off any default settings. Set the Hardness to 100%, and reduce the Spacing to the lowest value of 1%. Make sure you’re still in the Brush tool, and stroke the path by clicking on the Stroke Path with Brush icon at the bottom of the Paths panel (Window>Paths). STEP THIRTEEN:

Create a new layer above the chain layer

and call it “balls.” Choose a larger brush Size to represent the tiny balls of the chain (20 px in this example). In the Brush panel, increase the Spacing until the preview at the bottom of the Brush panel looks like individual balls. Once again stroke the path for the chain.

Step Thirteen

STEP FOURTEEN: Give the balls layer a layer style of Bevel &

Emboss. Leave the Style set to Inner Bevel, and adjust the Depth, Size, and Soften settings to make the chain appear realistic. You can also try raising the Opacity of the Highlight Mode in the Shading section. Click the checkbox next to Drop Shadow in the list of Styles on the left side of the Layer Style dialog to apply the default settings. Click on Blending Options in the list of Styles, turn on Layer Mask Hides Effects, and click OK. Copy these layer styles to the chain layer. THREADING THE CHAIN STEP FIFTEEN:

Make the balls layer active, and click the Add

Step Sixteen

Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the Layers › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

panel. Make the tag layer a selection by Command-clicking

068

(PC: Ctrl-clicking) on its preview thumbnail in the Layers panel. Using the Brush tool with a soft, round tip set to black, paint inside the selected area to hide the parts of the balls that are running under the tag. STEP SIXTEEN:

To duplicate the mask over to the layer

with the chain, in the Layers panel, Option-click-and-drag (PC: Alt-click-and-drag) the mask preview thumbnail from the balls layer over to the chain layer to apply it there, as well. This image shows the mask and how the chain and tiny balls are being hidden by it. The final result is a realistic-looking dog tag and chain. Q ALL IMAGES BY BERT MONROY

070


UnderstandingPresets

By Sean McCormack WHAT ARE PRESETS EXACTLY, AND HOW DID PEOPLE START SHARING THEM? A PRESET IS A SAVED COPY OF YOUR CURRENT SETTINGS IN THE DEVELOP MODULE. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO HAVE ALL THE SETTINGS IN THE PRESET, OR JUST SOME OF THEM. IN FACT, THIS ABILITY TO CHOOSE WHAT GOES INTO A PRESET GIVES YOU A REALLY POWERFUL METHOD OF MANAGING YOUR PRESETS AND HOW THEY INTERACT.

CREATE A CUSTOM PRESET

We had established that a preset file is a text file, but what is its function? Let’s create a preset and then take a look inside it. When Scott Kelby visited London, one great takeaway I got from the seminar was about black-and-white photographs. It wasn’t even a Lightroom seminar, but the information still applied. What makes for a quick, but good black-and-white? Simply desaturate a photo, and bump up the contrast. You can do that in Lightroom by simply by lowering the Saturation to –100 and raising the Contrast in the Basic panel.


Presets have been in Lightroom since before version 1. During that phase (without blowing my own trumpet too much), many of us were exploring what was happening in Lightroom independent of the information provided in the beta forum on Adobe Labs. Unfortunately, those posts were all lost when Lightroom 1 came out, but it was then when I found out that preset files are merely text files. Back then there were no tools to show where these files were stored, so we had to figure all that out. Because they were text files, we shared them by simply cutting-and-pasting the text contained within them. Had there been a way to attach files, we would’ve done that instead! A fellow tester, Richard Earney, solved the issue of sharing actual files by creating a site called Inside Lightroom (http://insidelightroom.com).

071

Now, we’ll save the preset via the New Preset command in the Develop menu. You can also use the shortcut Shift-Command-N (PC: Shift-Ctrl-N), or click the Create New Preset icon (+) on the Presets panel header. Any of these methods will open the New Develop Preset dialog. Because we’ve only changed the Saturation and Contrast, we can click the Check None button to deselect all, then tick the Contrast and Saturation boxes, as well as the Process Version. Why? Basically, we’re telling Lightroom to only change these settings and leave everything else alone. Unless you specifically need a preset to make changes to the whole Basic panel, it’s better to leave unused settings out. For instance, if we set an Exposure value in a preset, it will wipe out any existing Exposure value. If you’ve gone to the trouble of fixing the exposure in a photo, best not have it wiped out by a preset. As to the Process Version being added, Contrast in PV2012 is different to PV2010, so we need to tell the preset to apply the Process Version, too, or this won’t work properly. Name your preset “Easy B&W,” and click the Create button. In the case of our preset, we can now quickly apply it to other images. Using Grid view (G) in the Library module, we can select photos to convert to black and white, then select our new Easy B&W preset to apply it to those photos. You can select the preset through the Saved Preset drop-down menu in the Quick Develop panel. Notice that all other aspects of the photo remain the same: Exposure, Shadows, Highlights, etc.

GOING DEEP


Let’s take a look at what’s going on inside the preset. In the Presets panel in the Develop module, go to the Users Presets folder, Right-click on the Easy B&W preset, and choose Show in Finder (PC: Explorer). Open the Easy B&W.lrtemplate file in a text editor (not a document editor such as Word). I’ve used TextWrangler, a free Mac text editor. The important lines here are lines 7–11.

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There are four key lines here.Three of these are lines that match our ticked boxes: Contrast (called Contrast2012 to distinguish it from the older PV2010 Contrast) is at +29, Saturation is at –100, and the Process Version is 6.7 (from Camera Raw 6.7). The final item is “ConvertToGrayscale = false.” This is an internal value letting Lightroom know that the Black & White option hasn’t been selected. Of course, our image is black and white, but not through normal Lightroom channels.

This time we’ll go a little fashion retro. Up until Lightroom 4, you could only get retro looks through the Split Toning panel. Now we have the Red, Green, and Blue channels in the Tone Curve panel. First up, we’ll use a trick that Matt Kloskowski showed recently in Lightroom Magazine. We’ll fade the image using the RGB Tone Curve. If you see sliders in the Tone Curve panel, click the small icon at the bottom right to open the Point Curve (see top right). This gives us a far more powerful version of Curves. First, make sure the Channel drop-down menu is set to RGB, and then drag the bottom-left point up. A good starting point is around 10–15%, but it’s really up to you what you like. Next, in the Channel drop-down menu, change RGB to Red. Pushing the curve up adds red, while pulling down adds the opposite color, cyan. Let’s add cyan to the shadows. Click a point near the middle of the curve to fix the highlights in place, then drag a second point down in the left of the curve. We’re not going to play with the Green curve here, but it’s worth mentioning that pushing up in the green adds green, and pulling down adds magenta. Next, go to the Blue channel. Again, pushing up adds blue, while pulling down adds yellow. Let’s add yellow to the highlights. Click a point in the middle to hold the shadows, then drag down in the right part of the curve. Now let’s save the preset and call it “Faded Retro.” This time, only select Tone Curve and Process Version in the New Develop Preset dialog.

If we look at this preset in a text editor, we’ll see quite a difference from the Easy B&W preset. First, it’s a lot longer, and second, it has completely different settings. The first part of the settings (from line 7) is the parametric curve. We didn’t use this, so all the settings are at their defaults. In the ToneCurvePV2012 section we see lines of numbers: 0, 28, 255, and 255. These tell the curve that 0 has been moved to 28, and that 255 remains at 255. This is our fade. For the other curves, each pair of numbers is the input point and the corresponding output value. Where the numbers match, the point doesn’t change.

PRESET WORKFLOW

By only including the things you’re changing for a particular look, you can build up new looks by applying these “partial” presets on top of each other. Because they only affect particular panels in the Develop module, they won’t overwrite each other. Using Preset Folders, you can have a folder of presets for each panel in the Develop module: Basic, Tone Curve, B&W, Split Toning, etc.. You can create folders by selecting New Folder in the Folder dropdown menu in the New Develop Preset dialog. By hovering over the preset name in the Presets panel, you can see the affect it will have on the current photo. If you’re really happy with a look from applying multiple presets, save these settings as a new preset to a Looks folder where you know it will overwrite far more.

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL

Both the Easy B&W and Faded Retro presets can be downloaded from http://members.photoshopuser.com/magazine/issue/december-2013. To install them, Right-click on any preset in the Develop module, and choose Import. Go to where you unzipped the download, and choose the Easy B&W.lrtemplate or Faded Retro.lrtemplate file to add them to the Develop module. Q


TIME FOR ANOTHER PRESET

073

adobe photoshop

lightroom section

› ›

UNDER THE HOOD

HDR and Panoramics Brian Matiash Picture this: You’re in a stunning and historic church in beautiful Sorrento, Italy. You have the entire place to yourself except for a few locals who are sitting quietly with their thoughts and prayers. You’re standing all the way in the back of the church, trying to capture all of the ornate details of the wide interior. . . . . You know that you’re going to have to shoot some brack-

balance. Next, I selected all of the remaining bracketed imag-

ets to tone map an HDR image, but your lens isn’t wide

es in the Filmstrip and clicked the Sync button to synchronize

enough to capture everything in one frame (or set of brack-

the white balance and ensure consistency. Now, when you

ets). This is where the beauty of shooting panorama panels

look at three of the sample brackets in Survey view (N), you’ll

comes into play, and it even works well if you’re creating an

see a more accurate color representation.

HDR image. CAPTURING THE PHOTOS

The scenario I described above is exactly what I experienced several years ago when I visited Italy. I simply couldn’t get a wide enough frame, even though I had my Canon 17mm Tilt-Shift (TS) lens on a full-frame Canon EOS 5D Mark II. That’s when the idea of panos popped into my head. If I took a set of brackets covering the left, middle, and right portions of the church, I should be able to tone map and stitch everything together to get a beautifully wide, ultra high-resolution HDR pano. And that’s exactly what I ended up doing. I simply shifted my TS lens to three sections—from far left, middle, and far right—and took a series of bracketed images at each section. Don’t worry if you don’t have a TS lens. The same general workflow below will apply even if you simply swivel your tripod head to capture the pano panels. You are using


a tripod, right?

074

STEP ONE:

Typically, whenever I begin editing a series of

brackets for HDR, the only edit I make before tone mapping is white balance correction. In the case of these images, the white balance was off because of the light inside the church. So, in Lightroom, I simply pressed W to choose the White There are actually two ways you can proceed

Balance Selection tool, and selected a portion of the image

STEP TWO:

that I wanted to use as the base for my new custom white

from here. Some photographers prefer to stitch each set of

› ›

under the hood

brackets into their own pano image files before tone-map-

For the sake of keeping my library tidy, I always stack the

ping, but I find that process to be more time-consuming and

tone-mapped image along with the bracketed source images.

convoluted. I prefer to first create my three tone-mapped HDR files and then stitch those into a single pano. To begin, I’m going to send my first set of nine bracketed images to Photomatix for tone mapping. Now, you don’t have to use Photomatix; you should use whatever tone-mapping product you’re most comfortable with. In Lightroom, I selected the Photomatix export action that I created, which launches the Photomatix dialog. You can also select the photos and choose Photo>Edit In>Edit in Photomatix Pro, or whatever application you’re using if you’ve set it up as an external editor in the Lightroom (PC: Edit)>Preferences. Because there was motion from some of the churchgoers in my bracketed images, I made sure the Remove Ghosts checkbox was turned on and selected the

STEP THREE:

Next, I drew selections around the people

who were moving through the frames and chose the bracketed image I wanted to use as the source. When the elements are looking good, I proceed to tone map the image accordingly. When I’m done and return back to Lightroom, I’ll have the first of three tone-mapped panels ready to go.


With Selective Deghosting Tool radio button.

075

under the hood

› ›

STEP FOUR: The next steps are actually pretty automated.

Because I want to ensure that my three tone-mapped HDR images blend evenly during the pano stitching process, all I do is select the next set of brackets, send them to Photomatix, and apply the tone mapping without touching any sliders. One thing to note is that you want to make sure that whatever tone-mapping software you use has sticky settings, which essentially remember the state of the sliders from your last session. Because Photomatix supports sticky settings, all I need to do is click one button to proceed with the exact same settings as before. Repeat this process for each panel that you want to tone map and subsequently stitch together. With the tone mapping complete, I can see the three source panels that I’m going to stitch together to create my pano image.

shop. In the Photomerge dialog that appears, you’ll have a variety of options for how the files are analyzed, edited, and stitched together. I almost always use Auto then click OK. STEP SIX:

When Photoshop is done analyzing and stitch-

ing, the result is a beautifully wide photo that accurately conveys all of the details, architecture, and craftsmanship of this gorgeous church. There isn’t much to do at this point other than choose the Crop tool (C), crop the pano, and then save the file to finish things in Lightroom. STEP FIVE:

While there are many apps out there that

will stitch multiple files together to create a pano image, I’ve been really happy with how Photoshop CC handles this task, and because I already have it installed on my computer, there are no extra apps to buy or install. To start, select the three source panel images in Lightroom, Right-click on one of the photos, and choose Edit In>Merge to Panorama in PhotoSTEP SEVEN: Because I prefer to create my initial tone-mapped HDR images to be rather flat, the final pano image

could stand to have a few mild edits applied. This image is truly beautiful and stands on its own, and for that reason, I don’t want to apply any heavy-handed changes, such as cross-processing, so I stick with some basic adjustments like cooling off the color temperature, adding a contrast boost via the Tone Curve panel, and applying some sharpening. Now I’m left with a truly accurate and beautiful representation of what it felt like to stand in this church, and it


couldn’t have been possible without combining two fantastic tools with HDR and pano stitching. Q

076 ALL IMAGES BY BRIAN MATIASH

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adobe photoshop

lightroom section

› ›

UNDER THE LOUPE

Expanding Web Gallery Options Rob Sylvan The Web galleries that come with Lightroom can provide an okay starting point for building your online presence, but to take the Web module’s capabilities to the next level, you’ll want to explore some exciting third-party Web galleries. . . . .


A lot of people check out the Web module, click through the different Web galleries found in the Layout Style panel, shrug, and never come back again. This is too bad because there’s a lot of power in that module that’s waiting to be tapped into, and luckily there are some independent Web gallery creators that have been doing just that. Whether you’re interested in new options for standalone galleries or wanting to run a full-fledged website right from Lightroom, there may be a gallery that fits your needs (and budget) waiting to be found. Let’s start with a look at the Web galleries that come bundled with Lightroom. From the Web module, expand the Layout Style panel and you’ll find five different styles from which to choose. These are the same five styles that have been in Lightroom for several versions now. Four of the five styles are Flash based, which may limit your search engine optimization efforts (SEO) and support on iOS mobile devices. There’s only one HTML gallery, and while it can be customized to an extent, it’s actually pretty limited for today’s Web needs.

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What are these other options? Well, your first thought might be to click the Find More Galleries Online button at the bottom of the Layout Style panel. Clicking that button will take you to the online Adobe Exchange for Lightroom, where you can find a number of Web gallery options and other plug-ins for Lightroom. The only problem with that option is that (as of this writing) it’s sadly outdated. It seems that there’s some snafu on the back end that’s impeding third-party developers from updating and adding new content. If you do find something of interest on the Lightroom Exchange website, I highly recommend you seek out the website of the developer responsible for that item to see if there’s a more up-todate product available.

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS

My two favorite places to start looking are Photographer’s Toolbox (www.photographers-toolbox.com) and The Turning Gate (www.theturninggate.net). Photographer’s Toolbox provides a number of very strong gallery options from Sean McCormack and Timothy Armes, along with a wide range of other Lightroom plug-ins from other developers. The Turning Gate (TTG) is the work of Matthew Campagna, who is (to my knowledge) the only person working full time on developing Lightroom Web galleries, and this really shows in the level of integration and sophistication of his offerings. All of the galleries I’ve mentioned do cost a small fee to use, but this is a reasonable expense for the increased functionality they provide, and I’m happy to help support fellow photographers who are behind all of these efforts. DETERMINE YOUR NEEDS

I’ve had a WordPress blog running for some time on my sylvanworks.com domain and I’ve been wanting to find a way to leverage it to support my new stock photography endeavor on Stocksy United. I wanted to create a standalone gallery that would integrate well with my existing WordPress blog, but could also tie back to my work on Stocksy—along with allowing integration with social media sharing (Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.)—and be flexible enough to display well on mobile devices. I was also curious to see if I could find a way to also tie into a platform for print sales. After doing a bit of research, I settled on trying two products from The Turning Gate: CE3 Theme for WordPress and CE3 Gallery. The CE3 Theme for WordPress allows me to update my existing WordPress theme and provide a unified look across my existing pages, as well as provide a consistent feel on the new gallery page. The CE3 Gallery plug-in is the engine for creating a new HTML photo gallery with a host of SEO-friendly features, a slick slide show feature, social media integration, and even tie into print sales via Fotomoto (recently acquired by Bay Photo). This is just what I was looking for. Installing a third-party Web gallery is very simple and the process is the same no matter where you get the gallery. Here’s how: Download the ZIP file from the developer, and unzip this to a folder on your desktop to make it easy to find.

STEP ONE:

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STEP TWO:

ing location:

Copy that .lrwebengine file to the follow-

Mac: Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ Lightroom/Web Galleries Windows: Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\ Web Galleries Note: If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, you’ll need to open a new Finder window, click the Go menu, and press-and-hold the Option key to show the Library. Click Library to get started on the right path. On Windows, the AppData folder is hidden by default, so you’ll need to open Windows Explorer, go to Tools>Folder Options>View, and check the box to Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives. On both operating systems, you’ll need to create the Web Galleries folder in the Lightroom folder, if it’s not there already. STEP THREE: Restart Lightroom. When Lightroom opens, you should see the new Web galleries listed in the Layout Styles panel. That’s all there is to installation.

With each of these third-party galleries, you’ll have a wide range of new options to explore and test. In my experience, these plug-ins are very well documented (check the website of the developer) and the developers have proven to be very responsive to questions. Keep in mind that you’ll find entirely new options in these galleries that don’t exist in the default galleries, which is exactly what you’re looking for, so take your time in becoming familiar with these new offerings before pushing them live onto your website. I don’t have the space to detail every step I took to customize the new options available in these galleries, but I want to highlight some of the most compelling options and some of the things I learned along the way. First, don’t rely on the built-in FTP capabilities of the Web module because it isn’t that robust. Instead, try out a dedicated FTP program. You may already have a favorite, but I’ve been using Cyberduck on my Mac and FileZilla on my Windows machine happily for years. You’ll get a much more power-

ful program for managing your website and you’ll have no problems uploading. When your gallery is ready to upload, click the Export button (instead of Upload) to save all of the related gallery files to a folder of your choosing on your hard drive, which you’ll upload to your Web server using your FTP program. You’ll obviously need a Web domain and Web host that allows for FTP transfer, which is pretty standard. Use collections as a starting point for creating your galleries, and then save your gallery settings with your photos by clicking the Create Saved Web Gallery button. This will create a new collection of those same photos with your Web gallery settings saved together. SETTING UP YOUR SITE

With your collection loaded and new Web gallery selected, the first panel to dig into will be the Site Info panel. The contents of this panel will vary widely with each gallery, but this will probably contain the most important elements affecting the look of your gallery. One of the simplest (and most welcome) features of The Turning Gate galleries are the fields pertaining to SEO and Google Analytics; these are webpage development 101 things, but also completely lacking in the built-in galleries. Another nice feature is being able to integrate all of my social media links in a consistent manner across all of my website’s pages. From there, continue to work your way down through the settings in each panel until you’re done. The preview in Lightroom is okay for basic configuration, but you’ll want to test in a real Web browser as you go by clicking the Preview in Browser button, and then finally testing it live on your site.

You can test drive my website, where the theme is entirely generated from the TTG WordPress plug-in (you don’t blog from Lightroom, you just use it to generate the files that make up the theme) and my growing gallery using TTG Galleries, by going to www.sylvanworks.com. Drop me a line if you have any questions. Q


The Web gallery file itself has a .lrwebengine file extension.

under the loupe

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adobe photoshop

lightroom section

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Seán Duggan

LIGHTROOM Tips & Tricks THE WHITE BALANCE SELECTOR TOOL

The White Balance Selector tool is the primary way for setting a custom white balance in an image. You can activate it from either the Library or the Develop modules by pressing W on the keyboard. Pressing W again docks the eyedropper back in the Basic panel. To use it, simply click on something in the image that should be a neutral tone, such as gray or a white with tonal detail (more on that below). USING GRAY TARGETS TO SET WHITE BALANCE


Placing a gray or color target in the scene and taking a few well-exposed test shots will give you an accurate reference that can be used to set white balance when you process your shots. This image shows the SpyderCUBE by Datacolor. In addition to neutral gray areas for measuring white balance and midtone repsonse, the SpyderCUBE also has a chrome ball for reflective specular highlights, white and black sides for highlights and shadows with detail, and a black “trap” to set absolute black. Once in Lightroom, you can use the White Balance Selector tool to click on the gray area of your target to set a correct white balance for the shot.

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they help me determine a neutral color balance for the image. Of course, elements you find as part of the scene may not be strictly neutral in terms of setting a correct white balance, but it will get you much closer to the mark and you can then fine-tune with the Temp and Tint sliders, if needed. SYNCING WHITE BALANCE ACROSS MULTIPLE FILES

Once you have corrected the white balance in one shot, you can apply the same setting to multiple files that need the same correction. With the corrected shot still selected in the Develop module Filmstrip, select the other shots. If they’re in a contiguous row adjacent to the first shot, simply Shift-click on the last shot to select the entire row. If you need to select noncontiguous shots, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the thumbnails you want to select. Then click the Sync button in the lower right. In the Synchronize Settings dialog, click Check None, then click the checkbox for White Balance at the top left, and click Synchronize to apply the white balance from the source shot to all the selected files. SAVE A CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE PRESET

If you routinely find yourself in the same location and lighting conditions for a specific and recurring job, consider saving a custom white balance preset that can be applied to images as they’re imported. To do this, follow the steps above for using a gray target to set white balance. Then click the Create New Preset icon (+) in the Presets panel header. In the New Develop Preset dialog, click Check None, and then select White Balance and Process Version (the latter will ensure predictable results in future versions of Lightroom). When you import files, you can access the custom preset in the Apply During Import panel on the right side of the Import dialog. Open the Develop Settings menu and find your white balance preset for that location and lighting conditions. Q

CORRECTING WHITE BALANCE WITHOUT A GRAY TARGET

Even though many gray targets are small and easy to carry in a pocket or camera bag, there will be times when they’re not available for a shot. If there’s any area in the scene that should be a neutral, or close to it (e.g., the gray in a cloud, the whites of the eyes, gray metal, gray cement, a white shirt), you can use these with the White Balance Selector tool to get started. If you’re clicking on a reflective metallic object, zoom in and make sure you’re not inadvertently clicking on a reflection that has color in it. I refer to these areas as neutral guides because ALL IMAGES BY SEÁN DUGGAN

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CREATIVE POINT OF VIEW Still-Life Portraits

KATRIN EISMANN


In photographic history, the primary genres include landscape, portrait, and still life, and more recently abstraction. Combining these categories by exploring the figure in the landscape and the portrait enriched with still-life elements adds depth and can enrich your photographic voice.

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FIGURE IN THE LANDSCAPE

rule of thirds composition, in which the figure falls on the

Combining landscape photography with figure studies

intersection of three lines that both balance the scene

expresses a sense of place, light, and scale. Working in a

and create an interesting visual tension. Placing the figure

beautiful environment with talented and trusting models

in the direct center of the frame can feel unbalanced, as

allows for collaboration to create successful images. Success-

the landscape around the figure teeter-totters around the

ful landscape and figure images are often built on the classic

centered figure.

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CREATIVE POINT OF VIEW

Playing with a sense of scale, allowing the figure to be smaller in the frame gives the scene a feeling of grandeur, which is created by using a wider-angle lens. Using a longer lens compresses the background-to-figure relationship and brings the background closer to the subject, creating a stronger relationship with the environment in this example, the stormy Pacific Ocean and the silhouetted figure. PORTRAITS AS STILL LIFES

The intersection of portraiture and still-life photography is a fascinating area to explore and express symbolism of emotion, history, and perception. In my opinion, the simpler the inanimate object, the richer the final portrait can be. With a person in the image, there’s no reason to be heavy-handed or cliché, as we are naturally fascinated a person, and the addition of the object encourages our minds to create new combinations of meaning. An egg is among the most symbolic objects with great religious and cultural meaning for life, hope, and fertility. Contrasting the egg against the strong face and intense eye contact of model Jean-Pierre Vertus glorifies the positive symbolism and importance of the egg. The photograph was lit with a large soft bank to camera right and a black flag on the left side to subtract light to contrast the egg more effectively.


by pictures of people. Photography allows us to gaze at

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c r e at i v e p o i n t o f v i e w

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Creating a successful single image is often the motivation for me to continue exploring an idea. In this instance, the opportunity to work with Jean-Pierre Vertus at a Gorman Photography Workshop for a week allowed me to continue exploring the still-life portraits. As the locations changed, I found props onsite that fit to the scene and light. Contrasting deer antlers with his face created the opposite of the egg image, as the antlers are masculine and sharp that cast graphical shadows over his face. To show a softer side, I placed garlic from the gardens where we were into his protective shadow to symbolize the hidden aspect of growth and regeneration. I prefer to find props on location, but of course bringing props or clothing can also be very successful. BUILD COLLABORATION

Finding beautiful locations with privacy often requires favors and friendship. Never take that for granted— a bottle of wine and some good prints will open more doors than money. Always leave the location in the same or better shape than when you arrived: pick up trash; don’t trample flower beds; stay out of private areas of the home; don’t assume you can use the bathroom facilities; arrive and leave on time; and of course, return all props to their original location. Working with professional models, dancers, or actors will allow you to concentrate on your photography. Professional models understand how to pose, have confidence, and very importantly will understand that you need to take a lot of pictures to get just what you want. Make sure to give them breaks with privacy, warm or cool beverages, and warm clothing as needed. One last note: If you, the photographer, are uncomfortable (as in being cold, hungry, or tired), then your models will be, too. If anyone on your team is uncomfortable, no one will be able to › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

concentrate on his or her work. Be the team leader

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and take care of everyone by being positive and, for example, paying for breakfast after an early morning shoot. Little things count and are remembered longer than a paycheck. TAKE A LEAP

We all have habits and photographic subjects that we’re comfortable with. Take a workshop, find a muse, and mix things up. With these images I had the good fortune of working with professional models in beautiful locations, and now I feel empowered to push the contrast of the portrait and still life in new directions. Q ALL IMAGES BY KATRIN EISMANN

DYNAMIC RANGE

TWO ONE FROM

Creating and Blending Multiple Exposures from a Single Image

By Dave Cross Since this technique relies on smart object stack modes, you must have an Extended version of Photoshop or Photoshop CC. It also requires that you create Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) smart objects. In order to do this, open your RAW file and click on the blue link at the bottom of the ACR window. This will open the Workflow Options dialog where you check Open in Photoshop As Smart Objects. After you click OK to close the Workflow Options dialog, you’ll notice that the Open Image button has changed to Open Object. With this option checked, a two-way street is established between ACR and Photoshop. That means that after applying the ACR settings to a file and opening it in Photoshop, you can continue to edit the file back in ACR simply by double-clicking on the smart object in the Layers panel. That’s a key aspect of being able to blend together two exposures. In this example, we’ll use a single shot that was captured in an attempt to get a bit of a lens flare from the sun while preserving the blue sky and seeing detail in the tree branches. It’s close to the effect I wanted but needs a little tweaking. We’re going to need to make two versions of the same photo using ACR, so in the first step you adjust either for one challenge or the other: in this case, the blue sky or the backlit branches.


In many situations you can take advantage of a tripod, bracketing shots, and using HDR techniques to merge together different exposures. But what do you do if you only have one shot, or the situation doesn’t lend itself to HDR (such as portraits)? This method involves automatically combining multiple exposures from a single image— with no masking required.

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Images: iStock Layout Design: Taffy Clifford

Open a RAW file and make your initial adjustments—we’ll start with the branches. We adjusted the settings to make the details in the branches more visible. Don’t worry about what this does to other parts of your image (in this case, the sky). Click Open Object.

STEP ONE:

We need to make a copy of the ACR smart object that can be edited independently of the original. Right-click in the Layers panel beside the smart object thumbnail and choose New Smart Object via Copy.

STEP TWO:

Double-click on the new smart object layer thumbnail to jump back to ACR. This time we’ll adjust the settings, focusing our attention on the sky. Click OK.

STEP THREE:

Shift-click the original smart object layer in the Layers panel so that both layers are selected. Right-click on one of the selected layers and choose Convert to Smart Object.

STEP FIVE: From the Layer menu, choose Smart Objects>Stack Mode>Median. This will mathematically combine

the two ACR smart objects, resulting in a new exposure.


STEP FOUR:

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SMART OBJECTS Although you may be happy with the result from this stack mode, the beauty of the technique is its editability: we can still access—and edit—the ACR settings for both of the layers that have been combined. Here’s how: Double-click on the smart object thumbnail to open a second window with the contents of the smart object (in this case, two ACR smart objects).

STEP ONE:

STEP TWO:

STEP THREE:

Here are some other examples of the kind of additional experiments you can try with automatic updates (thanks to the stack modes): 1. If you drastically lighten an image using the Shadows or Blacks sliders, use the Detail tab to add some Noise Reduction.


2. Change one of the two ACR smart objects to grayscale: use the fourth tab (HSL / Grayscale) to Convert to Grayscale.

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3. Add another version of the ACR file by using New Smart Object via Copy and edit it. Try increasing the Clarity or Vibrance. Once again, when you save the contents of the smart object, the stack mode will update to reflect the change in contents.

ORDERED

Although this technique can be applied to a variety of challenging images, there’s one thing to consider, and that’s the order in which you do things. It’s great to be able to continue to edit the two ACR smart objects, but remember that some things do not update; for example, let’s take a look at this image that we created using the same technique we’ve been discussing.

PHOTOSHOP CC CAMERA RAW FILTER

SMART OBJECTS

STEP ONE:

STEP TWO:

STEP THREE:

STEP FOUR:

STEP SIX:

Now we have a sharpened image, with the option of digging down through the smart objects to access the adjustment layers and the original ACR smart objects—and the only masking we had to do was some basic painting on the adjustment layers. Q ALL PHOTOS BY DAVE CROSS EXCEPT WHERE NOTED


STEP FIVE:

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h o w -t o

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DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S NOTEBOOK The Power of Layer Comps

KEVIN AMES

“Which one is better? This, or this?” No, this isn’t an eye exam. It represents the decisions made every day between differing versions of a final photograph. Turning certain layers on then off to show changes requires remembering the differences, and what if the client wants to see the versions side by side?


Anyone versed in using the amazingly powerful layers in Photoshop can do all of these things. It’s time-consuming; it’s also cumbersome, at best. Why isn’t there an easier way? There is. The little-known panel named Layer Comps. To learn more, download the file 2788-Nebulas.psd from the NAPP member website and follow along.

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Step One

[NAPP members may download the file used in this tutorial at http://members.photoshopuser.com/magazine/issue/ december-2013. All files are for personal use only.]

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digital photographer’s notebook

Open the file 2788-Nebulas.psd. From the menu

the 5 key to set the layer’s Opacity to 50%. Click-and-drag

bar, choose Window>Layer Comps. The panel opens with

the Red Nebula layer until its center is aligned with the Blue

some layer comps already in place. The active layer comp is All

Nebula’s center.

STEP ONE:

Layers > No Layer Mask. All of the Eye icons in the Layers panel are showing, while all of the layer masks have red Xs, indicating they’re disabled.

STEP FOUR:

Next, press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free

Transform. Right-click inside the bounding box, then choose Distort from the contextual menu. Drag the center point of the

Now, in the Layer Comps panel, click on the

bounding box over the middle of the two nebulas (it’s a little

empty box to the left of the layer comp Blue Nebula > With

hard to see, but it’s there). Grab the right handle and drag it

Layer Masks. The red goes away and some of the bright flares

until the edge aligns with the edge of the Blue Nebula. Repeat

in the corners are gone.

for the top-center handle. The center moves a bit. Compensate

STEP TWO:

handle until the centers once again align. Click the Commit

Layers panel and turn on the layer Red Nebula (click where

checkmark icon in the Options Bar. Press 0 to put the layer’s

the Eye icon used to be). It’s not centered in the Blue Nebula

Opacity back to 100%. Finally, press Shift-Option-B (PC: Shift-

below it, so switch to the Move tool by pressing V, and press

Alt-B) to set the blend mode of the layer to Color Burn.

Step Two


by dragging the middle handle on the left side and the bottom Let’s make a new layer comp. Go to the

STEP THREE:

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digital photographer’s notebook

STEP FIVE:

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Click the Create New Layer Comp

icon at the bottom of the Layer Comps panel. Name the layer comp Red Nebula > Center > Transform > Color Burn. I know it’s tempting to use the suggested naming of Layer Comp 1, 2, etc. Don’t! You’ll never remember what you did to get the result. Next, and this is super important, under Apply to Layers, make certain that the Position and Appearance boxes are checked. Click OK. The new layer comp appears under the supplied one Red Nebula > With Layer Masks. STEP SIX:

Click the layer comp named Red

Nebula > With Layer Masks. This is exciting. Even though the Red Nebula layer was moved,

Step Five

transformed, and had its blend mode changed in the previous steps, it’s now in its original (offcenter) state! Click ahead to the next layer comp to return to the version from Step Four. Save your work. LAYER COMPS TO FILES

At this point, variations can be viewed by selecting different layer comps. What about comparing the versions side by side? You could duplicate the file four times—one for each layer comp—flatten, then save them with different names, but that’s a lot of work. Or… STEP SEVEN:

Choose File>Scripts>Layer Comps

to Files. Click the Browse button to choose the destination for the new files. You can add a prefix if you’d like. I leave it blank. If you only want certain

Step Seven

layer comps made into files, select them first in the Layer Comps panel, then check Selected Layer Comps Only. Next, choose the type of file you want from the drop-down menu. Finally, click Run. STEP EIGHT:

Navigate to the destination folder


in Bridge. All four versions are there as JPEGs (my

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choice for this example), complete with a numerical prefix, followed by the layer comp description so it’s easy to know which version came from which comp. By the way, these photographs are the holiday lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. I rotated the camera on the tripod to get the nebula effect. There’s more to layer comps than there’s space to cover here. There’s a video on the Tutorials section of the NAPP site with this tutorial step by step, plus even more info about using layer comps. Until next issue, keep shooting! Q

Step Eight ALL IMAGES BY KEVIN AMES

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THE ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD

JAY NELSON

New and Hidden Font Features in Adobe Creative Cloud With all the new features added to the Creative Cloud versions of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator, it’s easy to miss some that are the most useful. Each time Adobe revises these applications, they improve the way you interact with fonts. Strangely, different improvements are given to each application. PREVIEW SELECTIONS (PS, ID & IL)

All three apps let you scroll through your font list to see a live preview applied to selected text. It works like this: Select some text in your document. Click on the name of the font in the Character panel, Options Bar, or Control Panel. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys on your keyboard and watch as your selected text takes on the appearance of the next font above or below your current font in your font list. You can now do the same thing in InDesign and Illustrator CC by clicking on the downward-pointing triangle to the right of the font name, which displays your list of fonts. Pressing the Arrow keys will scroll up and down through the fonts and update the selected text in the document to the currently highlighted font in the list.

isn’t available from the Type>Font menu). Then choose either Search Entire Font Name or Search First Word Only—the default is Search Entire Font Name. When you type in some characters, the font list will shrink to display only the fonts whose name contains those characters. A search for “Garamond Bold It” collects fonts from multiple foundries.

FONT FAMILIES GROUPED AND INDENTED (ID & IL)


In InDesign and Illustrator CC, font family members (styles) such as Light, Bold, Italic, and Condensed are now hidden and grouped under the main name of the font family in the drop-down list of fonts. To see them, click the downwardpointing triangle to the right of the font family name to see a list of your fonts. When you click the disclosure triangle to the left of a font family name, the font family members appear indented under the family name. Click the triangle again to hide them. Note that you can still choose font family members from the drop-down menu next to the font name in the Control panels for both InDesign and Illustrator.

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FAVORITE FONTS (ID)

InDesign still groups recently used fonts at the top of its font lists, and you can control how many fonts it remembers—and whether they’re listed alphabetically or in order of most recently used—in the Type preferences. To sort your recently used fonts alphabetically, choose InDesign (PC: Edit)>Preferences>Type, and check the Sort Recent Fonts List Alphabetically box. But InDesign CC adds a new organizational twist: Favorite Fonts. To add a font to your personal list of Favorites, click the star to the left of its font name. To view your Favorites, click the downward-pointing triangle at the right of the current font name, and tick the checkbox labeled Show Favorite Fonts Only.

FIND PARTS OF FONT NAMES (ID & IL)

In previous versions of InDesign and Illustrator, you could type the beginning of a font name in the Font field of the Control or Character panels to see only the fonts whose name begins with those letters. However, many font names begin with the font foundry (Adobe, ITC, P22, etc.) instead of the font family name (Garamond, Franklin Gothic, etc.), so finding all the Garamonds at once was impossible. InDesign and Illustrator CC now have a search option that finds all the fonts whose name contains those characters, even if they appear in the middle of the name. To use it, click the magnifying glass icon to the left of the font name in the Control or Character panel (oddly, this option

As with the Search feature mentioned above, the Favorite Fonts feature is available in the Control and Character panels, but not in the main Type>Font menu. TYPEKIT (PS, ID & IL)

In the November 2013 issue of Photoshop User, this column focused on Adobe’s integration of Typekit into Creative Cloud apps. The short version is that Adobe has made hundreds of fonts available to every Creative Cloud subscriber. To get yours, go to the Creative Cloud app, click on the

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Fonts tab, and click the button labeled Browse Fonts on Typekit. That will take you to the Typekit website where you can explore and select fonts. Some are in a format that can only be used on websites, while others include both Web and desktop versions. The Web fonts remain on Adobe’s servers and are served up when people visit websites that specify them in their design. The desktop fonts you choose will be automatically downloaded to a hidden location on your computer and activated for use in any application. When your subscription to Creative Cloud ends, the Web fonts discontinue being served and the desktop fonts are removed from your computer. Note that the Package feature in InDesign and Illustrator will not collect Typekit fonts, so everyone who opens your document needs to already own the fonts or have access to Typekit.

THE ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD

click on any of the bottom row of icons. If they’re grayed out, the font doesn’t support that OpenType feature. Hover your mouse over any of them to see their names. Illustrator has a dedicated OpenType panel with similar controls. Choose Window> Type>OpenType. To access the OpenType features in InDesign, you need to jump through a few hoops. After applying an OpenType Pro font to your selected text, choose OpenType from the either the Character or Control panel flyout menu. Be sure to explore the Stylistic Sets, which are combinations of that font’s special features as chosen by the font designer. If an option has brackets around it, that feature isn’t available in the current font.

ADVANCED OPENTYPE FEATURES (PS, ID & IL)

To access all this intelligence, first be sure you’re using an OpenType Pro font. Select some text and begin exploring the OpenType areas of the Character panel, Control panel, and Glyphs panel. Amazingly, Photoshop CC provides easier access to OpenType features than either InDesign or Illustrator. Note the OpenType options that appear near the bottom of the Character panel in Photoshop. With some text selected,

Both InDesign and Illustrator have a fantastically useful Glyphs panel that shows every glyph (character) in your currently selected font. For both InDesign and Illustrator, go to Type>Glyphs. The Show menu can whittle down the grid to show only the punctuation, fractions, ligatures, ornaments, alternates, and so forth. If a glyph has a little triangle in the bottom-right corner of its square, it has alternate versions. Choose an alternate by clicking-and-holding on the glyph until they appear, then mousing over to the one you want. It even keeps track of your most recently used glyphs so you can easily find them later! Exploring the Advanced OpenType features is similar to exploring Filters in Photoshop: you may want to pour a favorite beverage and dedicate an evening to getting lost in the creative possibilities. Q


Adobe has done a remarkable job of hiding the most creative features available in advanced OpenType fonts. An advanced OpenType font usually has “Pro” in its name, and includes a remarkable amount of intelligence. For example, some have multiple alternate glyphs (letterforms) for various letters, which you can use to give a unique appearance to your name or other important words in titles, captions, postcards, and so forth. Others choose variants of glyphs for you when they appear next to other specific characters (e.g., fractions or special ligatures such as fi, ffl, Th, or st). Some even provide increasing levels of “swashiness” in a script font. For example, Adios Script Pro’s lowercase “h” has 43 variants and the entire font has a staggering 1,470 glyphs.

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h o w -t o

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BEYOND PHOTOSHOP Out of This World Animation, Part 1

SCOTT ONSTOTT

In the course of this three-part series you’ll learn many animation skills that you can apply to images and 3D models. You’ll keyframe everything from layer positions, transforms, and effects to 3D scenes, meshes, lights, and cameras. Develop out-of-this-world skills in Photoshop CS6 Extended and Photoshop CC. STEP ONE:

In part 1 of this series, we’ll set up the animation

project by preparing its assets. All of the source images in this project are courtesy of NASA. Open EarthTopography.jpg. To convert this 2D map into a texture-mapped 3D sphere, choose 3D>New Mesh from Layer>Mesh Preset>Sphere. If your workspace doesn’t automatically switch to 3D, choose 3D from the Workspace drop-down menu on the right of the Options Bar. In the 3D panel, select Infinite Light 1. In the Properties panel, uncheck Shadow and increase Intensity to 140% to brighten the sphere’s texture map. [NAPP members may download the files used in this tuto-

Step One

rial at http://members.photoshopuser.com/magazine/issue/ december-2013. The download also includes the series’ completed animation. All files are for personal use only.]

STEP TWO:

Press V to select the Move tool and click the Ro-

tate the 3D Object icon in the Options Bar (first icon in the 3D Mode section). Click-and-drag the Infinite Light 1 until its source (circled) is in the upper-right corner of the document. Rotate it forward slightly so that Southeast Asia is illuminated. If you need to change the orientation of the Earth, click on Sphere in

Step Two

the 3D panel, and then click-and-drag in the document.

STEP THREE:

You’ll make the Earth more realistic by add-

ing a bump map simulating 3D topography. In the 3D panel, expand the Sphere node (if it isn’t already), and select the Sphere_Material. In the Properties panel, click the folder icon for the Bump slider and select Load Texture. Select EarthBump.jpg › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

from the download files, click Open, and drag the Bump slider

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to 7% to reduce the strength of the effect slightly.

STEP FOUR:

Press Command-R (Ctrl-R) to show the rulers (if

they’re not already showing). Right-click the top ruler and select Inches from the menu. Select the Move tool, then click the Slide the 3D Object icon in the Options Bar (fourth icon). Click-anddrag upward in the document to effectively slide the camera backward in space. Continue dragging until the Earth measures approximately 1" in diameter, centering it in the document window. In the Layers panel, double-click the Background 3D layer and rename it Earth. Save the document as Animation1.psd.

Step Three

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STEP FIVE:

BEYOND PHOTOSHOP

Open LunarLandscape.jpg. Select the Magic

Wand tool (nested under the Quick Selection tool [W]) and in the Options Bar, set Tolerance to 25, and check Anti-Alias and Contiguous. Click anywhere in the blackness of space to select everything but the Moon. Open the Layers panel and double-click the Background layer to unlock it. Type Moon in the New Layer dialog and click OK. Press Delete (PC: Backspace) to clear the selection and Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect all. Right-click layer Moon and choose Convert to Smart Object from the menu.

STEP SIX:

Step Six

Choose Window>Arrange>Float All in Windows.

Shift-click-and-drag the Moon layer thumbnail from the Layers panel into the Animation1.psd document window. Right-click the ruler and choose Percent. Press V to select the Move tool and Shift-click-and-drag the Moon layer down so that the highest part of its surface is approximately 75% of the way down from the top. This establishes the perspective of the viewer on the Moon.

STEP SEVEN:

Choose Layer>New>Layer, type Starfield

in the New Layer dialog, and click OK. Press D to select the default Foreground and Background colors, and then press

Step Seven

Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the layer with the Foreground color (black). Choose Filter>Noise>Add Noise. Set Amount to 50%, Distribution to Gaussian, check Monochromatic, and click OK.

STEP EIGHT:

Press Command-L (PC: Ctrl-L) to open the

Levels dialog. Drag the shadow Input Levels slider on the left all the way to the right to reduce the number of stars. Drag the highlight Output Levels slider on the right to the middle of the range to reduce their intensity, and click OK. Drag the Starfield layer to the bottom of the stack in the Layers panel. Step Eight STEP NINE:

Open Sun.jpg, double-click the Background

(nested under the Rectangle tool [U]), and choose Path from the drop-down in the Options Bar. Dragging from the center of the Sun, press-and-hold Option-Shift (PC: Alt-shift) and drag a circular path approximately the diameter of the Sun. Select the Path Selection tool (A), click the circular path, and nudge it with the Arrow keys to center it. Command-Optionclick (PC: Ctrl-Alt-click) the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a vector mask. Right-click layer Sun and choose Convert to Smart Object. Shift-drag this smart object’s thumbnail into the project document.

Step Nine


layer, rename it to Sun, and click OK. Select the Ellipse tool

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BEYOND PHOTOSHOP

STEP TEN:

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Select the Sun smart object, click the Add a Layer

Style icon (ƒx) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and select Outer Glow. Click the Gradient radio button in the Structure group, and click the gradient swatch to open the Gradient Editor. Change Gradient Type to Noise, set Roughness to 33%, and click the Randomize button until you get a gradient that has oranges and reds in it. Drag the R, G, and B sliders to refine the color range until the gradient has similar colors to the Sun layer, and click OK. In the Layer Style dialog, set Spread to 22%, Size to 250 px, Range to 100%, and Jitter to 3%. Click OK. STEP ELEVEN:

Open Venus.jpg, double-click the Back-

ground layer, and rename it Venus. Press U to select the Ellipse tool, press-and-hold Option-Shift (PC: Alt-Shift), and click-and-

Step Ten

drag a circular path somewhat smaller than the diameter of Venus. Choose the Path Selection tool, click the circular path, and nudge it with the Arrow keys to center it. CommandOption-click (PC: Ctrl-Alt-click) the Add Layer Mask icon. Rightclick layer Venus, choose Convert to Smart Object, and Shiftclick-and-drag it into the project document. STEP TWELVE:

Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free

Transform, click the Maintain Aspect Ratio icon (link) in the

Timeline button. Toggle off the Venus and Sun layers in the Layers panel, and save your work as Animation2.psd.


Options Bar, type 15% in the Width field, and click the Commit

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icon (checkmark) to reduce the size of Venus. Drag the Venus

Next issue, we’ll animate both the Moon and Earth to make

layer to the top of the stack in the Layers panel. Open the

it look like the viewer is taking off from the Moon and flying

Timeline panel (Window>Timeline) and click the Create Video

toward Earth. Q

Step Twelve ALL IMAGES COURTESY NASA

column

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THE SMALL BUSINESS AND FREELANCE COACH Question Everything

LARRY BECKER

Asking questions can help you better understand your business, open new markets, have happier customers, and be more successful. Some questions will prompt you to say, “Yeah, I should probably do that.” There are also questioning strategies you can apply to a specific business effort that will breathe new life into everything you do. Chances are that you’re reading this column because you’re wondering if there’s something that can help you with your business. Maybe you didn’t go so far as to self-analyze and think hard about your motivation to flip to this particular page, and focus your attention on these specific words; but somewhere in your fleeting thoughts you’re probably reading this to find some answers to questions you have about being successful and

She had learned the stereotypical, conventional approach of building a storybook wedding album and not letting the bride see anything until the album was done; but she realized that her audience was made up of young brides who grew up with the Internet, flipping through online images their whole lives. So, she changed her business model to uploading every single shot

INTENTIONALLY ANALYZE AND QUESTION

She realized quickly that the young brides were logging onto

In business, it’s always good practice to intentionally ques-

her website, feverishly clicking checkboxes by each image they

workflow that we don’t stop to analyze. With respect to general productivity, some obvious questions you can ask to analyze if you’re being effective might include: Is this project going to increase my income? Will this reduce my workload? Is this the most efficient way to do it? Is this customer really worth the trouble? While you should use most of these questions from time to time to analyze your workflow and the effectiveness of various processes in your business, that last one might make you smile a little because it sounds like a question we’d mutter quietly when putting up with a demanding customer. In one of my columns last year, in fact, I even covered the 80/20 rule that says specifically 80% of your income comes from 20% of your customers, so if you can trim the less-productive customers from your roster and find more that are like your best 20%, you can grow your business. › › p h ot o s h o p u s e r › d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3

tional wisdom, and opposite from the way she was taught.

effective in business.

tion things, yet so many of us get so caught up in our normal

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she was doing things in ways completely opposite from conven-

Beyond these tried-and-true self questions, there are some questions (listed below) that can help improve your place in the market, and the relationship you have with your customers. These questions are a two-way street: Giving you information you can use to help your business; and reaching your customers

from each wedding as soon as possible—usually within 24 hours.

liked—and they were doing it on their honeymoon! The result was that brides were building wedding albums far larger and more expensive than any prebuilt album the photographer had ever done before. Sure, she can still provide the traditional album-building service for those who want it; but most of her customers don’t. The way it is now, her brides do a big part of the work for her, and they buy lots of images. There’s another sales method that’s popular these days among photographers across the country: using a big projector. Presentations consist of clients on a comfortable couch, reviewing their images in a slide show run by the photographer, or by an expert salesperson from his or her staff. This method definitely has benefits and can be especially impressive when presented properly, for example: If you were hired to take portraits or family photos, you might also take some reference shots of the family’s livingroom (because you had asked about the intent of the images you’d be shooting before you took them). Then you could use Photoshop to render what the finished images would look like on a large canvas on the livingroom wall. Seeing the finished prints as they’ll look when hanging on the wall is a powerful selling tool, and it invariably pushes people to buy

in even more effective ways than your best marketing messages.

larger prints.

HOW WOULD CUSTOMERS PREFER TO REVIEW THEIR IMAGES PRIOR TO BUYING THEM?

about the final use of the images.

As working professionals, we have an idea about how we want to get images we create to our customers. Maybe we’ve been

But this really works well only when you ask questions up front

DO YOUR CUSTOMERS WANT DIGITAL VERSIONS OF IMAGES?

delivering prints in a specific way for years, but there might be

When asked about digital files, the knee-jerk reaction most

a better way to do things. Last year, I reported on a young lady

photographers have is that they have zero interest in providing

who was an incredible success at wedding photography, and

them. When using film, they never gave out the old negatives,

› ›

the small business and freelance coach

THIS REALLY WORKS WELL ONLY WHEN YOU ASK QUESTIONS UP FRONT ABOUT THE FINAL USE OF THE IMAGES. so why would they now provide digital files? Not only is that

Drop in a survey question that states, “The additional product

closed-minded, there’s no valid reason to withhold digital files.

I wish XYZ sold is ________ because I’d buy that right away!”

If someone wants to reproduce an image you shot and sold or

The cool thing about this answer is that sometimes you actually

delivered, it can easily be done. Scanners are available almost

do have that product or service available and you can make a

everywhere, and any halfway decent, 12-megapixel, point-and-

quick sale. Otherwise, you might add the product or service to

shoot camera can capture a printworthy shot of a photo hang-

your offerings and open new markets to existing clients.

ing on any wall. The only thing you’ll do by holding back digital files from your customers is annoy them.

Besides sending a message that you care what your customers think and value their opinions, you also open the door for yet

The key here is to first ask your customers if they want digital

another reason to go back to those customers (even the ones

files from you. If you’re providing them, you can charge for

who didn’t bother responding to the survey) with a follow-up

them—maybe not a lot, but something. Here’s an example: Last

email that might say something like this: “Wow! Thanks! We

year my son had school pictures taken and 5x7 prints were less

learned so much from our customers and we’re thrilled to offer

than $20, but a digital JPEG with reprint rights from the photog-

the brand-new products and services that you asked for.” Then

rapher was $79. We bought a few prints of different poses in a

tell everyone about all the cool new things you sell. It will make

package, and we bought our favorite pose as a digital file. Our

you seem responsive and engaged, while giving you yet another

son was then able to use the digital file in his Facebook profile.

chance to get in front of customers with a selling opportunity.

Think about this: Would your customers like to have a rather small digital version of your image(s) for their social media use?

GETTING SERIOUS SURVEY PARTICIPATION

Would it be worth giving this away for free as a part of any pur-

There are dozens of survey companies and online forms, some of

chased package, just to help promote yourself. You could give

which are free and others cost a little. But here’s an easy way to

away a Facebook-friendly shot as long as it has your company’s

motivate people to complete a short survey: Offer a free session

Web address on it (in a very tasteful, subtle way). We call that

valued at $1,000, and $500 worth of prints, to one random survey

free advertising.

respondent. In addition, every survey respondent receives a $50 coupon toward any of your company’s services. The coupon has

SURVEY YOUR CUSTOMERS

a $50 value for them; however, you can easily make that back by

Besides these strategic questions for specific circumstances, there

simply getting that customer to walk through your doors again.

last time you surveyed your customers? By asking current (or for-

ANALYZING THE RESULTS

mer) customers for a little help in understanding why they chose

Once you get feedback from your survey, start looking at deliver-

you for their photography, design project, etc., you get in front of

ing products or services that customers say they want, and change

them with a soft sales pitch.

your business offerings to reflect their demands. Asking questions

Your survey should include things such as, “Which service

can help you to see where you aren’t communicating well about

is XYZ Photography best at delivering?” Then list your primary

existing services; understand how your customers see you and why

services, leaving space for “Other.” This tells every survey taker

they value you so you can push that in your marketing; and it can

about all the services you provide, and invariably cause some

reveal holes in your offerings that you can easily fill.

customers to discover a product or service they didn’t even know you provided.

One last thing that you may not want to hear from customers are things they don’t want. You may be all excited about some-

Then ask what they think you should talk about in your mar-

thing you produce or do that takes a lot of time and resources—

keting. If you regularly get feedback that, “Your photo sessions

such as a slide show with musical accompaniment on your site

were really fun and you made me laugh,” but you emphasize

so customers can review their images with music playing—but

quick delivery, maybe you need to change things.

your customers just don’t care. So stop doing it! Q


are groups of questions that can do even more. When was the

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PRODUCT REVIEWS EXPOSURE 5 Emulsion Emulator for Photoshop Review by Daniel M. East

After thoroughly enjoying previous versions of Exposure (giving version 4 a 5-star review), I had high hopes for Exposure 5 to take emulsion emulation to places that actual film types might not have imagined. This incredible hybrid of past, present, and futuristic analog film effects has come a long way from its first release. Most notably, insofar as new features are concerned, Alien Skin has given its vintage-retro-loving plug-in a new, darker user interface and preset browser. Navigating is faster, and performance improvement isn’t solely dependent on your hardware, making this a noticeable upgrade for fans of previous versions. While Exposure was always great at reproducing favorite film emulsions and effects, version 5 provides more control and precision to create a richer, more dynamic look. Another noticeable improvement is in the appearance of the printed output, particularly when the plug-in is used for advertisements or posters. Exposure 5 presents something that the trendy effects seen in social media images will never achieve compared to Alien Skin’s classic creative consistency with the best analog films in photographic history. This is comprehensive analog-film

emulation for the professional photographer and graphic artist that will appeal to independent designers or more advanced consumers, as well. No matter whether you want a retro look, grungy effects, or just to re-create a vintage environment for your images, Exposure 5 is professional-grade power that can help you work less to achieve stunningly high-quality output. When a creative plug-in starts with its prior versions having stellar reviews, the bar is set fairly high for the next incarnation. In this case, Alien Skin’s Exposure 5 clears the hurdle. ■ Company: Alien Skin Software

Price: $149

Web: www.alienskin.com

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Hot: New textures; new effects; better performance Not:

ACTUAL MULTIPLE MONITORS Windows Solution for Multiple Displays


Review by Bruce Bicknell

102

Flexibility and real estate are essential for my animation and graphics workflow, and I’ve always used multiple displays, but the toolbars, menus, and other items that I needed on the second monitor were a bit cumbersome. I’ve tried many products to solve this dilemma, but nothing ever really captured what was needed—until now. The Actual Multiple Monitors name really does describe what it is and what it does! As I dived into this review, I was surprised to find many robust features. First, the program offers the most-requested functionality of having a taskbar on each monitor. This allows you to have your Start button, toolbars, lists, and many other items available at your command. Next, I found the Window Location feature very helpful as it lets you assign a monitor for each application. Now, I can have my graphics programs open on my main monitor while my Office programs (email, Word, etc.) open on the second monitor—where I always drag them anyway! It doesn’t sound like much, but it sure helps my workflow (and frustration). Another nice feature in Actual Multiple Monitors is a set of custom Hotkeys to help professionals make their workflow more efficient. As with anything new, these may take time to get used to, but well worth it once you do. There are many

other noteworthy features, such as Window Snapping, Desktop Mirroring, and the Divider; but you’ll need to check those out on your own, as I could go on for two pages and my editor won’t let me. Actual Multiple Monitors is the program I’ve been waiting for to alleviate my frustrations when working with a dual-monitor setup. The functionality is there, the price is right, and it will improve your workflow. ■ Company: Actual Tools

Price: $24.95

Web: www.actualtools.com

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Hot: Commands on each screen; Hotkeys; Desktop Divider Not:

DXO VIEWPOINT 2 Unique and Effective Perspective Correction Review by Erik Vlietinck

ViewPoint 2 uses the company’s lens database to correct an image. It installs as a standalone app or an Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture plug-in. Lens distortion, which is the first panel in the sidebar, is corrected automatically, based on DxO’s database. The Perspective tool corrects vertical, horizontal, 4-point, and 8-point distortions. You can find the first three in other apps, as well (Capture One Pro 7, for example, has an identical perspective-correction tool); however, the 8-point correction feature in ViewPoint 2 is unique and offers dramatic improvements in perspective correction. The 8-point perspective correction allows you to place the correction lines on different planes. This enables correction of photos with complex vanishing points, or when the elements that need fixing aren’t all at the same distance from where the photo was shot. The next feature on my list is Volume Deformation, which is quite successful at correcting organic forms at the edge of the frame. This tool can also correct distortions after a perspective fix.

ViewPoint 2 also comes with a Horizon Straightening tool and a Crop tool. I found it best to leave the Crop tool in Auto mode, which will do a good job of cropping only as much as really needed. If you want to change aspect ratio, however, you can crop manually. DxO ViewPoint 2 fixes perspective problems, lens distortion, tilted horizons, and deformed elements at the edges of the frame. The most important reason to upgrade to the new version, however, is the 8-point perspective repair option. ■ Company: DxO Labs

Price: $79

Web: www.dxo.com

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Hot: 8-point perspective correction; lens-distortion correction Not:

BRIANNA GRAHAM ACTIONS Four Collections to Set You Free As a longtime admirer of acclaimed portrait photographer Brianna Graham, I’ve often marveled at her gorgeous postprocessing styles and wished I knew what her Photoshop secret sauce was. I even called her once and asked her straight out, “Brianna, what’s the secret? Your postprocessing is insanely good! Any plans to sell actions so the rest of us can try and look as good?” She replied, “No dice.” Alas, I’d have to toil in Photoshop a bit longer without Brianna’s help. But finally, my prayers and the prayers of countless other Brianna Graham fans have been answered with the recent release of four Brianna Graham Action Collections for Photoshop: Perfect Workflow, Urban Collection, Artistic Collection, and Vintage Collection. The four collections are sold separately or in bundles, and each is designed to work together as a suite—providing a complete workflow solution—or separately as standalone components. They don’t disappoint! Perfect Workflow is the foundation of the collection and quickly tackles with ease all of the important, time-consuming postprocessing tasks, such as retouching, color correcting, warming, and sharpening.

Once the housekeeping is done, the real fun begins with the Urban, Artistic, and Vintage Collections. Whether it’s toning, textures, vintage looks, or a vast array of completely editable, layer mask-based styles, enhancements, and effects, these three collections give users endless creative options. Brianna’s step-by-step video tutorials, available free online, offer a valuable resource for instruction and inspiration. They clearly demonstrate how flexible, easy, fast, and powerful these creative tools are. ■ Company: Brianna Graham Actions


Web: http://briannagraham.com/actionswp

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Hot: Speed; flexibility; layer mask based; create unique looks Not:


Review by Michael Corsentino

103

reviews

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MICHAEL CORSENTINO

FLORABELLA COLLECTION Photoshop Actions Review by Michael Corsentino

When it comes to investing in Photoshop actions, I have three criteria: First, they have to do something substantially different than actions I already use; second, they need to allow me to customize their looks; and third, the actions should work synergistically, building on one another as part of a complete workflow solution. The Florabella Collection meets each of these demands, and then some. In this collection, Tennessee-based photographer Shana Rae Rosengarten has created a family of Photoshop action sets covering each aspect of the photographic postprocess: workflow, retouching, black-and-white effects, creative toning, textures, haze overlays, and more. These actions are gorgeous, highly flexible, powerful, and packed with options, yet they’re intuitive and easy to use, each with a fully customizable layer stack. Consequently, they’ve gained a large and loyal user base (myself included). With eight action collections to choose from—Color & Light, Colorplay, Deluxe B/W, Classic Workflow, Retouch & Makeover, Spring Collection, Luxe II, and Muse (the latest)—there’s something

Before

After

for everyone. One of my personal favorites is Classic Film from the Classic Workflow Collection—but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Add to that Florabella’s textures, overlays, papers, frames, and templates, and you have all your bases covered. Shana continues to release new collections on a regular basis, each as good as the last, or better. In addition, Florabella’s bundles and frequent specials make it easy to build your library over time. For those hungry for more knowledge, Shana’s free video tutorials guide users step by step through the best practices and creative applications. ■ Company: Florabella Collection


Web: www.florabellacollection.com

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Hot: Flexible; intuitive; fully editable layer stack Not:

SMOOTH SKINS 2 Retouching Actions for Photoshop


Review by Daniel M. East

104

Improving upon an already outstanding set of Photoshop actions is a task that requires developers to somehow outdo themselves for their customers; however, when they respond to their end users, the results lead them to smooth sailing in the often rough seas of the creative professional products. Once again, Digital Heavens cruises past the competition with their effortless set of skin-retouching action sets that take users on a gorgeous ride. In the original version of Smooth Skins (reviewed in 2011), the actions allowed even the grittiest of portraits to be refined. It was done in such a way that your results could go from natural to supernatural to action-figure skin surfaces with a wave of your brush, but Smooth Skins 2 has a much broader group of options. In this version, you can adjust environment simulations that take your subject from the beach to studio to “cartoon” in less time, and with more presets. There are now more textures, facial feature-specific enhancements (for eyes, teeth, and lips), and skin tones from beach tans to glamour image. Of course, there’s no loss of incremental adjustment, and all of this is nondestructive, so you can add as much or as little as you wish in your image.

Like the previous version, it’s fun to try each of the presets (again, because it’s nondestructive) to find and fine-tune the look you want. If the subject is too smooth for you (or not smooth enough), you can revert to your original, and keep going forward. As always, Digital Heavens offers excellent tutorial and example videos to help you set sail toward some incredible-looking portraiture. ■ Company: Digital Heavens

Price: £39.95

Web: www.digitalheavens.co.uk

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Hot: Fast; photorealistic; nondestructive; 8-bit and 16-bit support (PC) Not:

N A T I O N A L

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Visit photoshopuser.com/promos for special offers for your friends and YOU too! Adobe, the Adobe logo, Photoshop and Lightroom are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated.

reviews

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PHOTOGENIC ION Portable Power on the Go Review by Michael Corsentino Battery power for on-location shooting just got a whole lot lighter and less expensive with the recent introduction of the Photogenic ION battery. No more gas generators; bulky, old-fashioned inverters; or tons of extension cords! The ION’s lithium-ion pure sine wave inverter converts DC battery power to AC power, and it’s been engineered from the ground up to handle the demands of today’s sophisticated, digital-flash electronics on Photogenic Professional Lighting and many other AC-based flash systems. Weighing in at just 3.5 lbs, with a compact 7.5x4.4x3.3" footprint, the ION is perfect for on-the-go lighting. With its solid-built quality, the ION tackles the rigors of location shooting with ease. The dual, three-prong AC outlets on the ION allow you to operate two studio flash units, or a strobe and another piece of equipment, on location at the same time. Another welcome feature is a standard USB port: Imagine how great that will be for charging your cell phone so it isn’t dead after a long day of shooting. The ION’s LED power indicator provides valuable charge-level feedback and its quick-change battery is easy to replace in seconds with a fully charged spare (additional batteries are $145).

When it comes to performance, the ION is no slouch either, delivering quick recycle times and an impressive 1000+ flash pops—depending on the make, model, and power output setting of your lights. It’s compatible with most monolights and comes with a three-year warranty. All in all, the Photogenic ION has an enviable feature set at a reasonable price point. ■

Company: Photogenic Professional Lighting

Price: $399

Web: www.photogenic.com

Rating: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Hot: Lightweight; compact; portable; affordable Not:

TOPAZ RESTYLE Photoshop Plug-in for Photographic Effects


Review by Daniel M. East

106

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BOOK REVIEWS peter bauer

108

› ›

DIGITAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY FOR DUMMIES

DYNAMIC POSING GUIDE:

By Amber Murphy

By Craig Stidham and Jeanne Harris

Primarily aimed at those looking to get started in wedding

The authors begin the discussion of how to pose a model by

Modern Techniques for Digital Photographers

photography, the author leads you through the entire process.

breaking down the human body into specific regions, and

You’ll find discussions of equipment selection and preparation,

explaining why certain parts of the body need to be displayed

basic photographic concepts, prewedding consultation with

in certain ways for the best effect. The second chapter looks

the couple, planning ahead (well before the actual wedding

at basic rules of posing, including how to appropriately pin

day), how to capture the emotion of the wedding day itself,

clothing to emphasize not only the subject’s figure, but also to

key images that must be captured, and various photographic

ensure that the clothing itself hangs properly. Additional chap-

styles for weddings. In addition, the book covers: postwed-

ters cover how to overcome specific challenges when working

ding image download, backup, and storage; basic culling and

with seated models and models posing on the ground, as well

editing of the images; and ways to deliver the final products to

as camera angles, appropriate equipment (and how to travel

the couple. “Part IV: Building Your Portfolio and Business” may

with that equipment), and when and how to break the basic

be just as important for a beginning wedding photographer

rules of posing. The final chapter presents how seven individual

as the tips about the must-have photos, lighting, posing, and

images were staged and captured. While the information in

putting together albums and DVDs. There’s not a lot of image

this book is directed toward fashion photographers, it can

retouching info here, but this book’s cousin, my own Photo-

also be valuable for those shooting seniors and producing

shop for Dummies, would be a fabulous companion volume.

stock photos.

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Pages: 304

Website: www.wiley.com Price: $29.99

Pages: 197

Website: www.wiley.com Rating: X X X X

Price: $34.99

Rating: X X X X

PHOTOGRAPHY & PHOTOSHOP

d e pa rt m e n t

› ›

PHOTOSHOP TIPS

COLIN SMITH

Summer is officially over and it’s fall. It’s time to get into some

matically choose Camera Raw for conversions instead of Merge

mean tips and tricks by the fire. Here are some tips that I rustled

to HDR Pro. Choose Photoshop (PC: Edit)>Preferences>File

up for you to make your cold evenings a bit warmer.

Handling and turn on Use Adobe Camera Raw to Convert Documents from 32 Bit to 16/8 Bit. When you open your file

CLOSE MULTIPLE TABS

and choose Image>Mode>8 or 16 Bits/Channel, Camera Raw

Sometimes it happens quickly, and sometimes it takes a while,

will be the tool of choice for making your conversions instead of

but eventually, it will happen to you: you’ll have a ton of

the HDR Toning dialog.

documents open in Photoshop that all need to be closed. You could go through the process of clicking the little “x” icon at

“CONTROL”-AWARE SCALE

the top of each of the tabs until they’re all closed, but that’s

Content-Aware Scale is an amazing tool that allows you to

a lot of clicking! Try this: Option-click (PC: Alt-click) on one of

scale an image vertically or horizontally. What’s different about

the “x” icons. All the tabs will now close one after the other.

this tool is that important parts of the image can keep their

If a document is unsaved, you’ll have the option to save or

shape while other parts with unimportant detail get squished

disregard changes.

or stretched. This is useful for things like changing the shape of a photograph to fit within a spread of a page. Usually,

VIDEO QUALITY BUTTON

Photoshop does a good job of analyzing the photograph auto-

Photoshop CC has the ability to play back video with a surpris-

matically and squishing or stretching the right bits. By using an

ing amount of efficiency. There are times when the video is too large to play back smoothly. You have the option to play the video and allow it to load into RAM and then, when it’s loaded, play it again for a smooth playback. There’s another option, and that is to change the playback resolution to a smaller amount. Click the Set Playback Options icon (gear) in the Timeline panel and lower the Resolution. By doing this, you’re lowering the quality of the preview only and it allows a smoother playback of the video frames. This doesn’t change the quality of the actual video that you’re editing, as it will play


back perfectly when it’s rendered.

110

RAW TONE MAPPING

When working with 32-bit images (HDR), the process of compressing the appearance of the photograph into a usable 16- or 8-bit file is called tone mapping. This is where the photo gets its flavor. Perhaps you want a stylized-looking image, or maybe you prefer a more realistic-looking photograph. Camera Raw is an excellent tool for tone mapping because it’s supported in Photoshop CC. There’s an option in Preferences that will auto-

alpha channel, you can tell Photoshop what parts to protect. Press the Q key to enter Quick Mask mode. Choose the Brush tool (B) and with a soft black brush, paint over the areas that you want to keep. Press the Q key again to turn the mask into a selection. Choose Select>Save Selection, give it a name, and click OK. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. Select the Move tool (V) and choose Edit>Content Aware Scale (make sure you’re not working on the Background layer). In the Options Bar, click the Protect drop-down menu and choose your alpha channel. When you scale, you’ll see your area protected. If you see the

› ›

p h oto s h o p t i p s

opposite behavior, open the Channels panel (Window>Channels)

under the Kind drop-down menu. When you’re done, click the

and click on your alpha channel. Press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to

switch icon at the far right to toggle off the filter and show all

invert the channel, then click on the RGB channel. Try the Content-

the layers again.

Aware Scale again and it will work as expected. RESET YOUR TOOLS SAVING WORKSPACES

Sometimes when you start getting down some deep Photoshop

There are a lot of panels in Photoshop and they all do differ-

rabbit holes, you can do some really weird things to your tool

ent things; however, you may not want to do those things, or

settings. Here’s a quick-and-easy way to reset your tools to their

not right now. You probably know that you can drag panels

default behavior. When a tool is selected, you’ll see its icon in the

around and organize them into different groups. You close the

top-left corner. If you Right-click the icon, you’ll see an option

ones you don’t need and open the ones you do. This can get

to Reset Tool. Click it to reset that particular tool. If you want to

time-consuming and cumbersome to do over and over again.

reset all your tools, choose the Reset All Tools option.

The best thing to do is to set up some custom workspaces that you can reuse. The first step is to set up your workspace the

PANO WITH A GOPRO

way you like it. Choose Window>Workspace>New Workspace,

Have you ever tried to merge photographs into a seamless

or choose it from the drop-down menu at the far right of the

panorama? It works well most of the time. Where it gets tricky is

Options Bar. Name your workspace, decide if you want to include

when you’re using an extreme wide-angle lens, such as a fisheye

custom Keyboard Shortcuts and Menus, and click Save. Now, you

or a GoPro camera. The trick is to get rid of the lens distortion

can recall this workspace whenever you need it from the tops of

first. In this case, I have a five-image panorama taken from a DJI

the same menus you just used above.

Phantom Quadcopter with a GoPro Hero 3 camera attached. Open the images in Photoshop and choose Filter>Lens Correc-

LOTS OF LAYERS

tion. Under the Auto Correction Tab, choose your camera and

If you use a lot of layers, there’s a very useful tool for you to

lens from the options in Search Criteria (GoPro is an option in

find particular working layers quickly. Layer filters were intro-

Photoshop CC and CS6). Once you’ve corrected the lens distor-

duced in Photoshop CS6, and for some reason, not that many

tion, save the corrected files. Now you can easily merge the pho-

people seem to be using them. The layer filters are a series of

tographs together. Choose File>Automate>Photomerge, click the

five icons at the top of the Layers panel. If you click an icon, it

Auto option in the Layout section, and click the Add Open Files

will hide all the layers in the Layers panel, except for those that

button. Photoshop will now merge the selected photographs into

match the criteria. The layers themselves aren’t hidden in the

a seamless panorama. Q

image; only in the Layers panel. You can filter layers by Pixels, Adjustment Layers, Type, Shape Layers, and Smart Objects. Of course, you can have more than one criteria selected at a time. This makes it fast to find the layers that you’re looking for without having to scroll endlessly. It also helps when you want


to group similar layers together. There are also more options

ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH

111

Photoshop December 2013

I N D E X

O F

A D V E R T I S E R S

For advertising information, please contact Kevin Agren, V.P. Sales, at 813-433-2370. email: [email protected] 1&1 Internet Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20–21 www.1and1.com

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4 Over, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 www.4over.com

Interfit Photographic Limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 www.interfitphotographic.com

[A]

[K]

Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tours. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 http://kelbytraininglive.com

Kelby Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107, 109 http://kelbytraining.com

Alien Skin Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC www.alienskin.com

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Bay Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32–33, 114 www.bayphoto.com

Black Magic Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 www.blackmagicdesign.com/us

[N] National Association of Photoshop Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 http://photoshopuser.com/promos

Really Right Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 www.reallyrightstuff.com

[S] Spider Holster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 www.spiderholster.com

Squarespace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC www.squarespace.com

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CamRanger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 www.camranger.com

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ExpoImaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.expoimaging.com

[I] I.T. Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 www.itsupplies.com

[V] Vanguard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 www.vanguardworld.com

[W] Wacom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 www.wacom.com

[P] Westcott. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 www.fjwestcott.com Peachpit Publishing Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 www.peachpit.com

[X] Photobacks, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 www.photobacks.com

[E]

Tamron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 www.tamron.com

[O] onOne Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 www.ononesoftware.com

[C]


Manfrotto Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 www.manfrottodistribution.us

[R]

Mpix. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14–15 www.mpix.com

[B]

112

[M]

Professional Sports Photography Workflow. . . . . . . 114 http://kelbytraining.com

X-Rite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 www.xrite.com

Photoshop World Conference & Expo . . . . . . . . . . . 117 http://photoshopworld.com

[Z]

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Zenfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 www.zenfolio.com

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) . . . 116 www.ppa.com

Zoo Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 www.zooprinting.com

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› ›

PHOTOSHOP Q&A

What are the Mac and Mac LCD anti-aliasing options in the Type menu used for?


What’s the difference between the Adaptive Wide Angle and Lens Correction filters in Photoshop? Lens Correction (found under the Filter menu) is a feature that’s built into Photoshop to correct common problems that you have with lenses. We’re talking about vignetting, distortion, chromatic aberration—things like that. It covers many types of lenses, wide and small. When it encounters a wide-angle lens, something like a 14–24mm lens, the filter will do some distortion correction but not really straighten an image out completely. Adaptive Wide Angle (also found under the Filter menu) focuses on one thing—really wide angles. Not only does it read the lens information to attempt to correct the distortion in your image, but it also gives you a Constraint tool to draw a line along an area you believe should be straight, and it then distorts the image to follow that line. It doesn’t focus on vignetting and chromatic aberration.

118

I see that there’s a Remote Connections option under the Edit menu. What is that used for? In an effort to take the Photoshop experience further, Adobe designed a set of tools that allows users to take control of the program remotely using apps on tablets and smartphones. To do this, you’ll need two things: access to a network connection to get to Photoshop, and a secure way of doing so. When you select this option, you’ll be taken to the Plug-Ins section of the Preferences dialog. The Remote Connection settings let you name this connection and set up a password so that others won’t be able to access it maliciously. Two apps that were made to take advantage of this technology were Adobe Nav and Adobe Color Lava, both can be found on iTunes. I’m doing a lot of detail work on a graphic. What’s the best way for me to quickly zoom in and out to see my progress? I recommend two ways of doing this. First, with the document open, go to Window>Arrange>New Window for [filename]. This will create what looks like a duplicate document window. In fact, this is the same document that can be zoomed to a completely

RAFAEL “RC” CONCEPCION

There may be times when you’re designing a project in Photoshop CC and you’d like the type in the design to mimic what it would look like if it appeared in a Web browser. Simply choose either Mac or Mac LCD (PC: Windows or Windows LCD) under Type>Anti-Alias. This will create semitransparent/ shaded pixels around the text that will give it a crisper look, mimicking what you’d see in the browser.

different size. Separate the two windows, and one can stay really zoomed in while the other one shows the overall progress. (I made a NAPP video showing this at the http://members.photoshopuser.com/ article/zooming-into-documents.) The second option is to use the Bird’s Eye view in Photoshop. Once you’re zoomed into a document, press-and-hold the letter H to temporarily activate the Hand tool. Click-and-hold anywhere on the document, and it will immediately zoom out to a full view of the image. A white rectangle will appear around your cursor. Move this to a different area of the image and release the mouse button. It will zoom into that area at the zoom percentage you were originally using.

RAFAEL “RC” CONCEPCION

d e pa rt m e n t

The Color Picker is set to a weird color. What happened here? Chances are you inadvertently clicked on one of the radio buttons in the Color Picker. By default, the H (or Hue) radio button is selected. When H is selected, the color ramp (the thin vertical bar in the middle of the dialog) shows all of the hues that you can choose from, and the big box to the left is dedicated to shade. If you click on any other radio button, let’s say the S (or Saturation) button, the ramp will change. In the case of S, it will show shades of the currently selected color, representing the saturation of that color, and the big box on the left will look completely different. Just click on the H radio button and it will go back to normal. Q

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Photoshop User December 2013

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