Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

More Flexible Lightroom to Photoshop editing

If you work in Lightroom, at some stage you’ll probably want to take an image to Photoshop for some additional processing. How you send it to Photoshop will have an impact on the options available to you. One option in Lightroom is to take an image to Photoshop as a Smart Object and that has some advantages. Here’s how to do it and why you might consider using this feature.

Open as a Smart Object

In Lightroom, when you’ve finished processing the image and you’re ready to head to Photoshop, right click the image and choose Edit in > Open as Smart Object in Photoshop (this is available if you’re using Photoshop CS5, CS4 or CS3 – Smart Objects weren’t available in earlier versions of Photoshop).

Photoshop will open with your image open on the screen. If you look at the Layers palette you’ll see the layer has an icon in the bottom right corner of its thumbnail. This tells you the image is a Smart Object.

If you want to make further adjustments to the image you don’t have to start over. Instead, double click the image thumbnail in the Layers palette and the image will open in Adobe Camera RAW (ACR). The processing options in ACR are the same as you have in Lightroom so you can change how the image is processed.

When you are done making changes, click Ok. The changes to the image will appear in the Smart Object back in Photoshop.

Double processing

The obvious advantage of opening an image in Photoshop as a Smart Object is being able to make changes to the image even after it has been brought into Photoshop and even after you have made changes to it – such as adding an Adjustment Layer, for example.

In addition you can use this feature to process an image in more than one way and to blend the two versions together. To do this, right click on the smart object layer and choose New Smart Object via Copy. This creates a copy of the smart object layer.

Double click on the thumbnail of this second Smart Object to open it in ACR and now process it a second time to bring out detail in another part of the image. In this case I adjusted to get a better sky. When you’re done click Ok to return to Photoshop.

The changes have been applied to only the second copy of the image and not the first so there is a different version of the image in each layer.

To blend the two layers together add a Layer Mask to the topmost layer – to do this, select the layer and click the Add Layer Mask icon at the foot of the Layers palette. Target the mask by clicking its thumbnail in the Layers palette and paint on the image with black to bring back detail in the layer below.

If any of the layers still needs fine tuning, return it to ACR to fix it.

Because the two versions of the image are on separate layers you can blend those two layers together using a blend mode or adjust the Opacity of the top layer.

When you are done, click Save to save the file, close it and return to Lightroom. Your edited version of the image will be saved in the same location as the original image and will appear in Lightroom too.

If you want to edit this image again at a later date and have the Smart Objects still in place, when you right click the image and choose Edit In > Adobe Photoshop CS5 (or CS4 or CS3), choose Edit Original.

Taking your images to Photoshop as Smart Objects gives you additional tools for working with your images in Photoshop – it’s a handy technique to add to your Lightroom/Photoshop toolkit.

Labels: Layers, Lightroom, Photoshop, round trip to Photoshop, Smart Object

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:00 amNo Comments links to this post

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Create a collage in Gimp

One task I perform regularly in Photoshop and Lightroom is to assemble multiple images on a single page for printing. I love displaying my photos, for example, as triptychs –which are three side by side images.

I’ve posted before on the process in Lightroom here (http://projectwoman.com/2009/07/creating-a-triptych-in-lightroom.html) and here (http://projectwoman.com/2009/10/how-to-select-and-compose-a-triptych-in-lightroom.html)and today I’ll show you how to do this in Gimp using a set of templates I have created for you and that you can download free.

These templates work with both Gimp and Photoshop and you can find them here: http://projectwoman.com/articles/45PhotoshopTemplates.html

Unzip the files and open the one to use in Gimp along with the images that you want to use. I’m using the Triptych.psd file.

Start by viewing the template you are using and, in the Layers palette select and discard the top three layers which include the instructions for using the template in Gimp and in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

Select the first of your images, choose Select > All and then select > Edit > Copy to copy the image to the clipboard.

In the template click on the layer marked A and choose Edit > Paste as > New Layer. This pastes the image from the clipboard into the layer immediately above layer A.

Click the Move tool (set it to Layer) and drag the image over the top of the shape on the right. If desired, click the Scale tool and scale the image to size it larger than the black rectangle.

Move the portion of the image that you’re most interested in seeing over the shape.

Now, to crop the image to size, click layer A, right click and choose Alpha to Selection.

Now select the Clipboard layer that you’ve been working on, choose Select > Invert and press Delete.

The image will be clipped to size using the template shape as a guide to the size. Choose Select > None before continuing.

Repeat this process for layers B and C – select and copy the image to use, click the layer you’re working with (B or C) and choose Edit > Paste As > New Layer.

Move the image into position and scale it if desired. When scaling, making sure to lock the width and height so that the image is scaled in proportion.

Right click the layer you’re working with – Layer B (or C) and choose Alpha To Selection. Click your newest clipboard layer and choose Select > Invert and then Delete.

When you are done you should have all 3 images in position.

This image has a background layer behind the pictures which currently shows white. If you prefer to add a solid color behind everything, delete this layer and add a new layer filled with your choice of color. Here I’ve added a new dark grey filled layer.

You can finish off the design with some text or simply save the resulting image.

These storyboard templates are a good place to start with your picture layouts. You can find similar templates elsewhere on the web so start with a search for “Free Photoshop Clipping Mask Templates” or “Free Storyboard templates”

Labels: Collage, download, free, gimp, Photoshop, template, triptych

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:00 amNo Comments links to this post

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

Ten best Photoshop shortcuts

Photoshop has a huge range of shortcut keys for speeding up your day. Here are my ten best shortcut keys that I suggest you add to your Photoshop toolkit:

Find the sizing handles

When you paste a layer or selection into a Photoshop image – if it is larger than the current image it can be difficult to find the sizing handles.

To find them, press Ctrl + T, then Ctrl + 0 (zero) or on the Mac – Command + T, Command + 0. This selects Transform and sizes the image inside the window so you can see the sizing handles.

Flatten layers but keep them too

Sometimes you need, for example, to flatten the layers in an image to sharpen the result but you don’t want to get rid of the layers either. Here’s how to have your cake and eat it too (or more accurately, flatten your layers and keep them too).

Add a new empty layer to the top of the layer stack, click in it and press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E (Command + Option + Shift +E on the Mac). This adds a flattened version of the image to the new layer but leaves the layers intact too.

Fill a layer

To fill an empty layer with the current foreground or background color use Alt + Delete or Option + Backspace on the Mac to fill the layer with the Foreground color or Ctrl + Delete or Command + Backspace on the Mac or to fill with the Background color.

Select a color from the image

When you’re working with a Photoshop brush and you want to sample a color from the image, instead of clicking the Eyedropper tool and then the Brush tool again, you can do it with a keystroke.

Hold the Alt the key (Option on the Mac) to switch temporarily to the Eyedropper tool and click to select a new foreground color. Let go the Alt/Option key to return to the brush.

Move a selection

Moving a selection is notoriously cumbersome without this keystroke: to move a selection while you are still drawing it, press and hold the Spacebar. Continue to hold the it while you move the selection and let it go when the selection is in the correct place.

Adjusting brush size

When you’re using a brush as an eraser, to paint with or in any tool that uses brushes, you can size the brush up or down using the [ and ] keys on the keyboard. In Photoshop CS5, you can hold the Alt key and the right mouse button (on the Mac use the Control + Option keys) and drag up to increase or decrease brush hardness and drag left and right to size the brush.

Scrubby sliders

Not technically a keystroke but a “must know” tool are scrubby sliders. In Photoshop CS3, and later, most options in most dialogs that can be adjusted using a slider can also be adjusted using a scrubby slider. Scrubby sliders appear as a hand with a pointing finger icon when you hold your mouse over the slider name. Drag on the name to adjust the slider value.

Zoom and Move with dialogs open

When a dialog such as the Layer Style dialog is open you can access the Zoom and Move tools by using Ctrl (Command on the Mac) to zoom in and Alt (Option on the Mac) to zoom out of the document. Use the spacebar to access the Hand tool to move the document around.

Hidden tools

Tools that share a tool palette position and a shortcut keystroke letter can be easily selected using the keystroke letter. So, for example, to access the Mixer Brush which shares a tool position with the Brush tool and if the Mixer Brush is hidden, press B to get the Brush tool. The press Shift + B until the Mixer Brush appears. In a similar way press M to get the Rectangular Marquee tool and Shift + M to get the Elliptical Marquee tool.

Precise and crosshair cursors

Finally, not so much a keyboard shortcut as something that can go horribly wrong - pressing the Caps Lock key switches the Brush cursor into precise mode. This is a small crosshair cursor and hides the actual size of the brush. To return to the regular normal or standard brush tip, press the Caps Lock key again.

If I were helping a new user learn Photoshop, these are ten keystrokes I’d be teaching them. Do you agree or what keystrokes do you think are the most important to learn in Photoshop?

Labels: cursors, fill layer, find the sizing handles, flatten layer, keystrokes, move, Photoshop, precise, select color, shortcut keys, tools, Zoom

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:00 amNo Comments links to this post

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Photoshop – 6 “must save” settings

One feature of Photoshop is its ability to store things like custom shapes, brushes and workspaces so you can use them again and again. Saving settings you use a lot in Photoshop will save you time in future when you need to repeat the process.

Here are six handy ways to speed up your work in Photoshop by saving custom settings:

Curves (and other) Dialog presets

One of my favorite fixes is one involving a curves adjustment in the LAB color space which I introduced in my blog post “Turn Ho-Hum Color into WOW! with Photoshop” http://www.digital-photography-school.com/turn-ho-hum-color-into-wow-with-photoshop. The fix involves taking an image to LAB color mode and then, on a duplicate of the background layer, applying a particular Curves adjustment. Once you’ve done this once, you can speed up the process next time by saving the Curves settings as a preset. To do this, click the down-pointing arrow icon to the right of the Presets list, choose Save Preset and type a name for the preset. Next time you need to apply the same adjustment all you need to do is to select the preset from the list in the Curves dialog to save yourself the effort of creating the curves manually.

As you work in Photoshop, look out for dialogs that offer the ability for you to save your settings as presets you can use anytime in future.

Image Vignette Layer Style

Another type of preset you can save to reuse is a layer style such as one that applies a vignette to an image. To configure this, convert the background layer of an image to a regular layer and choose Layer > Layer Style > Inner Glow. Configure an Inner Glow with settings such as Blend Mode: Multiply, Opacity: 50%, Noise: 0%, Color: Black or Dark Brown/Grey. Set the Technique to Softer, Source: Edge, Choke: 10%, Size: 250px (or to suit the image).

Click the New Style button and type a name for your style. Select both the Include Layer Effects and Include Layer Blending Options checkboxes and click Ok.

In future, you can apply this effect to an image by selecting Window > Styles to display the Styles Palette. Your new layer style will be the last one in the dialog and you can apply it to any image by clicking on it.

Saving the Presets themselves

Certain Brushes, Styles, Gradients, Shapes and Tool presets need to be saved to disk or your run the risk of losing them if, for example, you reinstall Photoshop, delete your preferences file or choose Replace instead of Append when adding presets to a panel.

To save these presets to disk as files, choose Edit > Preset Manager and select the type of feature to save, such as Styles if you have created a custom style. Select the style or styles that you want to save, click Save Set and give the style set a name.

Once they’re saved as file on disk, you can load them into Photoshop at any time in future using the Preset Manager dialog or the feature’s own flyout menu.

Save a record of your work

Sometimes what you want to save in Photoshop is not preferences or brushes but, instead, details of the work that you’ve been doing on your images. You can save details of the steps you have performed to individual files or to a log file by choosing Edit > Preferences > General and enable the History Log checkbox.

Select to save the Log Items to Metadata, Text File or Both. If you choose Text File, a dialog will open from which you can select the folder and text file name to save the information to. Select Sessions Only, Concise or Detailed – to learn more about these options check out this blog post: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-keep-a-log-of-your-work-in-photoshop. Click Ok and in future the work you do on all your files will be recorded and stored for you.

Save your Actions

When you create Photoshop Actions to speed up the work that you do in Photoshop, like Brush and Presets, these will be lost if you lose your Photoshop settings. To make sure that these are backed up to external files so that you can recover them if they are lost, view the Actions palette, select the group of actions that you want to back up and click the flyout menu. Select Save Actions and, when the dialog appears, save your actions in a file so you can load then into Photoshop at any time.

Save your Workspace

I like my Photoshop workspace to be a certain way so I use the workspace feature to store my preferred layout for the Photoshop window and Palettes. To see how to do this, arrange Photoshop the way you want it to look, including hiding any palettes you don’t want to see and showing those that you do. Choose Window > Workspace > Save Workspace (New Workspace in Photoshop 5) and give your workspace a name. Select whether to include Panel Locations, Keyboard Shortcuts and/or Menus.

In future, you can use your Photoshop workspace by choosing Window > Workspace and select your saved workspace. Unlike other preferences, workspaces are automatically saved as external files.

Labels: actions, brushes, dialog presets, History, Photoshop, save presets, styles, workspaces

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 9:00 amNo Comments links to this post

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Blow it Up with Alien Skin Blow Up 3

I’ve never used an upsizing or enlarging program before. Instead, when I need to enlarge an image, I perform the age old trick of increasing an image’s size by 110 percent multiple times in Photoshop to enlarge it. It seems to do a reasonable job of the enlarging process.

However, recently I was offered Alien Skin’s Blow Up 3 to test – since the folks at Alien Skin make some really cool applications I thought I’d give Blow Up 3 a try. I actually had an image that needed of blowing up for a magazine article. The image I had was a totally cool image but from a very old camera phone so it was a tiny 479 x 640 pixels in size. Not only was it very small but it had some very obvious jpg artifacts so when I enlarged it 300 percent it showed not only those artifacts at an enlarged size (the result was horrible) but the image also showed some distinct pixelization.

This was a perfect image to try out with Blow Up 3 – if I succeeded with the task the image would be acceptable quality for the magazine, if not, I needed to find something else.

Alien Skin Blow Up 3 with Lightroom

I had already installed Alien Skin Blow Up 3 for Lightroom, so running it is as simple as right clicking the image in Lightroom and choosing and choose Edit In > Blow Up 3. You get a choice of opening the image from Lightroom either as a copy with Lightroom adjustments, you can edit a copy or edit the original. You just select the option to use and click Edit and it opens automatically in Blow Up 3.

Blow Up 3 really couldn’t be easier to use. In fact I was a little confused at first because I kept looking for more options where there really weren’t any. I selected the Before/After option at the foot of the main screen so I could see the before version on the left and the after version on the right. I wanted to see as I worked just how effective the program would be. I then selected the Crop & Resize option and set it to Percent. I selected 300 percent for width and height and a resolution of 300 pixels per inch.

With the Before/After view on the screen, it was clear that the result would be a significant improvement for this image. The settings you can choose from include grain and sharpening. I checked out the grain slider. For this image, if I didn’t add grain, the jpg artifacts were still very apparent and they really detracted from the image because they were so visible. I opted to add a lot of grain to the image so I set the value to around 30 to soften and blend the artifacts.

I also checked out the Sharpen Edges setting to see how that would affect the image. For this image, I really didn’t want a lot of sharpening so I opted to set it to 40. This gave me some sharpening around the edges such as in her eyes but not really obvious haloing which the higher values produce.

Then, it is as simple as clicking Ok to blow up the image and be taken back to Lightroom where the blownup version appears in the same folder as the original so I found it alongside the original in the filmstrip.

From its original size the image is now nearly 1500 x 1900 pixels in size well suited to being used in a magazine and way more pleasing to look at than it was originally – sans artifacts. If you need to enlarge images significantly this application has the goods.

Labels: Alien Skin blow up 3, blowup, enlarge, Lightroom, Photoshop, resize, upsize

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 8:56 amNo Comments links to this post

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Color Correction in Photoshop

One of the most difficult things to do when you’re starting out in digital photography is to recognize and remove a color cast from an image. Not only do you need to work out that you’ve got a color cast, but you also need to find a means of fixing it.

One method of color correction is one that I learned from Photoshop gurus, Dan Margulis and Taz Tally – any errors in this process are mine and not theirs. The process relies on reading data from the image and then adjusting the numbers that the image provides. It’s a way to remove a color cast that is relatively simple and which involves reading and setting RGB values rather than making objective decisions about an image. I’ll show you how to do this using an image shot in the early morning and which is hazy, underexposed and which has very poor color.

Step 1
To get started, open an image that you think has a color cast. Choose Window > Info to display the Info palette. This gives you information about the pixels in your image and, if you’re working with a standard photo, you’ll have RGB mode displayed in the upper left corner of the dialog.

Step 2
To make the color correction I’ll use the Info palette to display information about the image. To do this I’ll need to make some color sample points on the image and I’ll do this using the Color Sampler tool which shares a toolbar position with the Eyedropper. Click the Color Sampler tool and, from the toolbar, select the 3 x 3 Average Sample. This is important as you’ll want to sample a larger area than just a single pixel.

Step 3
Now locate a place on the image which should be white or a light neutral gray in color. Click on it with the color sampler tool and you’ll see a marker appear on the image with the number 1 beside it. Make sure the point you select is one which should be white or light gray and don’t select an area of the image which is blown out such as a light spot.

Repeat the process, this time clicking on another point which should be either white, black or a neutral gray. This gives you a second sample point. You can continue and add a total of four markers if desired. Each should be placed in an area of the image which should be white, black or a neutral gray.

Step 4
Check back in the Info palette to read the color information for each of these points. For the lightest points you should see values of around 245 for the R, G and B channels. For the darkest points the value should be around 15 for each of the channels. For gray points you should have equivalent values of R, G and B, although they can be any value, they just need to be roughly the same for each.

Step 5
If your image has a color problem you’ll find that the numbers at each point are not within a range of 2 or 3 values of each other. To color correct the image what you’ll do is adjust the curves for each of these channels to bring them closer to each other. Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Curves and click Ok. You’ll be correcting individual channels so from the Channel dropdown list select Red and then Ctrl + Click on the first point that you marked in your image. This adds a small marker on the curve line which shows you where this point in the image appears on the curve.

Identify whether you need to increase or decrease the value at this point. To increase it, drag upwards and to decrease the value drag downwards. You’ll see that you’re not making subjective judgments here; you’re simply adjusting the curve to bring the numbers closer together and closer to the desirable value of 245 for a white point and 15 for a black one.

Step 6
Repeat this last step for all the sample points that you created on the image and then repeat it for the Green and Blue channels so that you end up with all the sample points containing values that are within 2 to 3 values of each other.

Step 7
When you’re done, click Ok to close the Curves dialog. You can now apply other fixes such as adding contrast to the image with a further Curves adjustment or use the new Brightness/Contrast tool in Photoshop CS3.

Using the Info palette combined with sample points on the image makes it easier to remove color casts by reading and adjusting numbers.

Labels: channels, color adjusment, color correction, colour correction, Photoshop

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 5:27 amNo Comments links to this post

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

30 Second Photoshop Background

$Photoshop fractured background effect 30 Second Photoshop Background$

Here’s a quick and easy way to make an interesting background in Photoshop that totally rocks.

Create a new image the size of your background and fill it with a color. Make a selection on either edge of the image – I made mine on the right – and fill it with your second color.

$Photoshop fractured background effect 1 30 Second Photoshop Background$

Now choose Filter > Stylize > Wind and select the Blast and the From the Right options and click Ok. When you do the filter will be applied to the image and the edge will begin to fracture.

$Photoshop fractured background effect 2 30 Second Photoshop Background$

Continue to apply the filter by pressing Ctrl + F (Command + F on the Mac) – this shortcut repeatedly reapplies the last filter you applied. Stop when you get the effect that you want.

You can stop here or you can go ahead and apply and additional filter to the image.

$Photoshop fractured background effect 3 30 Second Photoshop Background$

Filters such as Splatter, Patchwork, Glass, Torn Edges, Water Paper and Rough Pastels all give an interesting result.

Finally, I’ve been using some cool tree silhouette brushes lately and I’ve finished the design off with a simple tree brush stroke.

Labels: art, background, filter, free brushes, Photoshop, wind

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 11:44 amNo Comments links to this post

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

Photoshop – “repeat rotate with a copy” shortcut

This week I discovered a totally cool new keystroke combination which I just have to share. Here’s the back story…

I love making regular shapes from irregular ones. Think kaleidoscopes but not always made from images – sometimes I make the kaleidoscope shapes from other shapes. Shapes are the best kept secret in Photoshop because, unlike brushes, they can be scaled up or down to any size and they don’t lose their smoothness.

So, here’s how to make shapes from shapes and how to put my new keystroke to use:

Click the Custom Shape tool and select a shape to use – you can use anything – I’ve used an ornament. On the Tool Options bar, click the Shape Layer icon – it’s the first of the three at the far left of the bar.

Drag the shape onto the image. It will appear as a new layer. It doesn’t really matter what color your shape is right now.

Click the Move tool then choose Edit > Free Transform Path (or press Control + T), click to select the point around which the shape will rotate. You do this using the small indicator on the toolbar – you can choose any of the squares to get an interesting effect – each one will give a different result.

On the Tool Options bar set the Angle to something which is a factor of 360 – 10, 15, 30, 45, 60 and so on. I typically use 30. Press Enter to confirm the rotation.

So far you have created a shape and rotated it. Now for the fun stuff – it is time to use the new keystroke combination. With the shape layer selected press Control + Alt + Shift + T (Command + Option + Shift + T on the Mac). Press it a few times until you have duplicated the shape sufficient times to rotate around 360 degrees. The key combination Control + Alt + Shift + T (Command + Option + Shift + T on the Mac) repeats the most recent rotation with a new copy of the shape. Totally cool stuff.

If the final shape goes off the edge of the image you can automatically resize the canvas to include the shape by selecting Edit > Reveal All.

If you like the final shape you can make it a single shape – instead of multiples – by selecting the Path Selection tool and drag over all the shape so you have it selected. From the Tool Options bar select the Add to Shape Area icon and click the Combine button. This makes a single shape from all the combined shapes.

To save the shape so you can use it again in future – with it still selected, choose Edit > Define Custom Shape. Now your kaleidoscope shape is a shape you can use any time in Photoshop by selecting it from the Custom Shape collection.

Labels: custom shape, kaleidoscopes, Photoshop, Reveal All, rotate a copy

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 6:21 pm3 Comments links to this post

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Photoshop – How to fill a shape with a gradient

Tricky this one. There are three ways to create a shape in Photoshop and I’ve been working with shape layers so I can warp the result. So far so good. You select the Custom shape tool and then from the tool options you select the Shape Layer option and create your shape. You get a Fill layer with a vector mask showing the shape.

To change the color – double click the Fill layer thumbnail and choose another color. Again – so far so good.

To fill the shape with a gradient – yikes.. there is no obvious option. Here’s a hint – Layer styles! Click the shape layer so you have it selected, choose Layer > Layer Style > Gradient Overlay. Select the gradient to use or make your own custom gradient and click Ok.

Now you know…

Labels: custom shape, fill, gradient, layer style, Photoshop

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 5:15 pmNo Comments links to this post

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Replacing skies in Photoshop

Reader Michael P. recently sent me an image he’s been working with – his challenge was to replace the sky in the image. The problem was that in replacing the sky the image had ended up with a lot of halos around the edges making the sky replacement look less than believable.

Kindly Michael sent me some of the images he wanted to work on to explain how to fix them more realistically.

This is the building we’ll work with:

Here’s what I did:

Start by duplicating the background layer.

Drag the background layer from your sky image into your image – if you hold Shift as you do this it will be positioned in the middle of the image.

Move this layer so it is over the blown out sky.

Move the sky layer so it sits between the two image layers.

Select the topmost layer of the image, select the Add a Layer Style icon at the foot of the layer palette and select Blending Options.

In the Blend If area locate the This Layer bar and drag in from the right hand side of the bar. To split the adjuster in two, hold the Alt key as you drag one marker away from the other.

If you have a really blown out sky set the right side of the marker at 255 and the left side at a value that gives you a good blend effect for the sky – such as 248 or so.

Each image will require different settings.

Look at the result and see if the sky that you’ve brought in really suits the image.

Unfortunately I don’t think this sky works particularly well for this image and the image needs something a lot less dramatic.

Here is a sky from my own collection which I think will work better.

I dragged it into the image above the first sky layer but under the second image layer. The original Blend If adjustment settings work just fine with this sky so there is nothing more to do there.

However, there are still problems along the skyline. These can be easily fixed by lightening the sky which I think is still way too dark for this image.

Select the sky layer and choose Image > Adjustments > Levels. What I am looking for here is to lighten the sky so that it blends in more with the image and looks more like it belongs.

Having lightened the sky, you’ll can further blend it into the image by adjusting the opacity of the sky layer down a bit.

Because the original image is underneath the sky as well as on top of it the effect of reducing opacity is to blend the sky into the underlying image.

If you find some bleeding of the sky into the buildings you can add a mask to the sky layer by selecting that layer and click the Add Layer Mask icon at the foot of the layer palette.

Paint with black on the mask to remove any blue sky in lighter areas of the building.

Typically if you find that you’re getting distinct over-lapping of sky around the edges where the blown out sky meets buildings or other elements in the image, the problem will be that you’re trying too hard to replace the blown out sky with something that is too much sky for the image.

You’ll get a better result if you work with a much lighter but still interesting sky.

If you find that you have some very light elements in the original image that are showing white fringing over the blue sky you can avoid these by placing a portion of the sky with white clouds in it under these areas to minimize the obvious white edges.

Labels: Blend If, blownout skies, Layers, Photoshop, replace skies, skies

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posted by Helen Bradley @ 7:50 am2 Comments links to this post

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Wednesday, February 8th, 2012

Open as a Smart Object

Double processing

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

Find the sizing handles

Flatten layers but keep them too

Fill a layer

Select a color from the image

Move a selection

Adjusting brush size

Scrubby sliders

Zoom and Move with dialogs open

Hidden tools

Precise and crosshair cursors

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Curves (and other) Dialog presets

Image Vignette Layer Style

Saving the Presets themselves

Save a record of your work

Save your Actions

Save your Workspace

Friday, December 16th, 2011

Alien Skin Blow Up 3 with Lightroom

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Monday, February 21st, 2011