Dave Cross 33page Creativity Bonus Material PDF
Dave Cross 33page Creativity Bonus Material PDF
Dave Cross 33page Creativity Bonus Material PDF
Photoshop Creativity
For 25 years, Dave Cross has been helping photographers
and creative professionals get the most out of their Adobe
Yes, as photographers one of our aims should
software. Since1987, Dave has taught Photoshop, Illustra-
tor and InDesign to thousands of users around the world.
be to “get it right in the camera”. But on the
He has a Bachelor of Education, is an Adobe Certified other hands, you could be leaving on the table
Instructor in Photoshop CS6 and is a Certified Technical a lot of creative opportunities. This class is all
Trainer. Dave has taught for Adobe, at Photoshop World, about the creative side of Photoshop: how to
the Texas School of Photography, the Santa Fe Workshops, take your images from ordinary to extraordi-
Imaging USA and at numerous corporate locations. Dave nary. How to create artwork with your photos
has written many articles and several books, co-hosted that “average craigslist photographer” could
Photoshop User TV and has appeared in many DVDs and never do.
online courses for Kelby Training, creativeLIVE and udemy.
com. He runs Dave Cross Workshops in his own studio/ We’ll look at:
workshop space in Tampa, FL. 1. How working non-destructively can help
you to be more creative,
Over the last 13 years, Dave has taught Photoshop in
2. How to create and use Brushes
every state in the United States, throughout Canada and in
3. All kinds of finishing touches you can add
Europe, consistently earning rave reviews. Dave is well-
known for his engaging style, his humor and his ability to
to your photos
make complex topics easy to understand. In 2009 Dave 4. Compositing, quickly and easily
was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. 5. Shooting with Photoshop in mind to
create unusual portraits
6. How to Create and Edit video in
Photoshop
Working Non-Destructively
Layers
If you looked up non-destructive in the Photoshop dictionary (if such
a thing existed), you’d probably find an image of the Layers pan-
el. Working with layers was the “original” non-destructive method,
introduced way back in Photoshop 3. (Old timers will remember the
“fun” of building artwork in the first versions of
Photoshop, working only on the background
canvas).
Layers and their friends (Layer Masks, Adjustment Layers, and Smart
Filters) are the building blocks of the non-destructive workflow.
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Layer Masks – notes –
Although it’s initially a somewhat challenging concept to grasp, for
many people using Layer Masks is their first step into the world of
working non-destructively. A Layer Mask allows you to hide a portion
of a layer – and the key here is hiding rather than deleting. If you use
the Eraser tool on a layer, the pixels that you erase are deleted. Gone.
Once you’ve saved and closed the document, there is no way to get
the pixels back if you change your mind.
You can add paint to a mask in various ways such as painting with a
brush or making a selection and filling it with the appropriate shade
of gray. It’s also possible to start with a selection and then add a
mask: the mask will be automatically created from the selection.
In this example I made an oval selection with the Marquee tool and
then click on the Add a mask button at the bottom of the Layer pan-
el. This was the result.
The same masking concept applies to Smart Filters: you can hide the
effects of a filter by painting on a mask. (More on that later)
Adjustment Layers
If you apply a command such as Levels or Curves – or anything found
under Image>Adjustments – directly to a layer, the results are per-
manent. Even if you duplicate the Background layer and work on the
copy, the Image>Adjustments commands cannot be edited later. “There’s no OK button in an
Instead, use Adjustment layers since they are by nature completely Adjustment Layer dialog – you
editable. just leave the setting the way you
want...for now”
You can access the Adjustment layers from the bottom of the Layers
panel or from the Adjustments panel. (Note: In CS6 the Adjustments
is just a “picker” where you choose the type of adjustment: you edit
the setting in the Properties panel).
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By default an Adjustment Layer affects all layers below, but you can – notes –
change that behavior by clipping the Adjustment to the layer imme-
diately below. This can be done either by clicking on the first button
at the bottom of the Properties panel (after choosing
the Adjustment Layer), or by holding down Option (PC:
Alt) and clicking on the line between the Adjustment
layer and the layer below. This way the Adjustment will
affect only the layer immediately below.
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Needless to say, there are other ways to create a vignette, but I use – notes –
this method because I can:
1. Change the darkness amount by returning to the
Curves and dragging the point
2. Use Free Transform and the Move tool to change
the size and position of the shape on the mask
3. Use the Feather slider in Properties to alter the
softness of the edge
4. Drag the Adjustment layer onto another document
and quickly and easily tweak the settings
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– notes –
This is (or should be) a very common way to take ad-
vantage of Adjustment layers: make an over-adjust-
ment so it’s easier to see what you’re doing as you paint
on the mas, and then lower the settings back down.
STEP ONE: Create a new document that’s 8 x 10 at 240 ppi (or what-
ever size and resolution you need).
STEP THREE:
To put in a photo for print-
ing, double-click on the
Smart Object to open a
document with the con-
tents of the Smart Object.
Drag in the photo you want
to use and scale it to fit.
STEP FOUR: Add a layer and do any retouching with the Spot Healing
tool, Clone Stamp etc.
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– notes –
STEP FIVE: Save the document and return to your master document.
The photo will appear, with the filter applied, ready to print.
STEP SIX: After printing, return to the contents, delete the photo and
bring in the next one.
Permission to Experiment
First we need to make sure that we’re giving ourselves the opportu-
nity to be creative by allowing ourselves to experiment. Watching
many Photoshop users over the years it seems that many people are
reluctant to try new features or experiment with settings because…
well I don’t actually know why.
Try different settings and see what happens. Turn the Preview off and
on to compare the results.
Remember, you can always click Cancel if things start getting out of
hand. And, you can reset everything back to the default setting by
holding down Option (PC: Alt) to turn the Cancel button into the Re-
set (to default settings) button. (Even if you click OK, you can always
undo)
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Here’s an example of experimenting with the Apply Image com- – notes –
mand:
Smart Filters
Before Smart Filters we would often duplicate a layer
before applying a filter, so that we had a backup plan.
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You can: – notes –
1. Double-click to edit the filter settings
step three: in a new document, unlock the Hint: Try to make an even
Background layer and add a Pattern Over- number of “stripes”
lay layer style. Use the Scale slider to make
the pattern as small as you want.
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– notes –
Chances are, you will never have to create this exact shape… but if
you do, you’re welcome :) The point of this exercise is to look at ways
that allow you to explore lots of different options.
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Break the Rules – notes –
For as long as I can remember, there’s been a “rule” about using
Channel Mixer: make sure all three channels add up to 100%. A few
versions of Photoshop ago they even added a Total to help us “do the
math” and end up at 100%.
The way we should probably think of that rule is “if you want a good
starting point to convert to a Black and White, start with the three
channels adding up to 100%”
We are often given rules and guidelines to help us out but unfor-
tunately, many people seem to see these as unbreakable rules. My
philosophy has always been to ask questions such as “but what hap-
pens if I break this rule”, “what does this do?” and “I wonder what will
happen if I try the opposite of the recommended values?”
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– notes –
The Creativity Unleashers
Here’s my list of techniques and Photoshop functions that I use in
an effort to give me the most flexibility and therefore the ability to
experiment and be creative:
Layer Masks
Adjustment Layers
Bend Modes
Blend If Sliders
Smart Objects
Camera Raw Smart Objects
Smart Filters
Layer Styles
Define your own Brushes
Apply Image
Calculations
Opacity
Fill Opacity
Knockout
Photoshop can create a brush out of anything you can select, but the
first thing that’s important to know is that the brush can only be one
color. In other words, you could create a brush from a photograph,
but when you use the brush it’s a grayscale brush that uses the cur-
rent foreground color.
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Here’s a simple example of making your own brush, to create a signa- – notes –
ture you can easily add to your photos.
STEP ONE: Sign a piece of white paper and take a photo of it.
STEP TWO: Open the photo and make sure that the background is
white and your signature is black. A simple way to do this is to use
the Levels command: use the white eyedropper to click on the back-
ground and the black eyedropper to click on your signature.
STEP THREE: From the Edit menu choose Define Brush Preset. Name
the brush (if you wish) and click OK.
Now to use your signature brush, add a new layer, choose your
Foreground color and click once. (If the brush is too large, use the left
bracket key to decrease the size).
Where this starts to get really interesting is when you realize that you
can create brushes from just about anything. For example, I have cre-
ated brushes from photos of writing on an old map, feathers, stone
and smoke (among other things). I also had interesting results when
I hand-printed on paper some very small words and photographed
them. When I enlarged the photo it created a very interesting grungy,
worn text effect that I could apply as a brush.
For the most part you’ll want to aim for “pure” white background and
black artwork to define a brush that has a fully transparent back-
ground.
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wanted. Using a black brush in Overlay mode I was able to remove – notes –
most of the gray, after which I inverted the image again and defined
a brush.
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Smoke Brushes – notes –
Here’s a summary of the photo shoot I did in class to create our
smoke brushes:
A black background, a couple of lights (I found that constant lighting
worked well for this) and a simple smoke machine.
Position the lights so the smoke will be mostly backlit and shoot
away! I used the Interval Timer Shooting option to take a photo every
5 seconds. That way I could step away from my camera and “play
with” the smoke in an effort to create interesting patterns.
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After opening the image in Photoshop I used the Invert – notes –
command since we need black for our brush and white
and the background.
So once we have these brushes, how do we use them? The sky really
is the limit here, but here’s a few ideas…
You can also change either the hardness of the brush edge or its
opacity using a similar shortcut:
Mac: Hold down Control+Option and drag up or down
Hold down Control+Alt+Right Mouse and drag up or down
By default this affects the Hardness of the brush edge. If you want
this mouse movement to vary the Opacity, go to the General Pref-
erences and uncheck “Vary Round Brush Hardness based on HUD
vertical movement”. (Note: with brushes you have defined, you can
only affect the opacity of the brush with this mouse shortcut).
To quickly change the opacity of your brush, tap the first number of
the opacity you want: e.g. 2 for 20%, 6 for 60% etc.
Tap 0 to put the brush opacity back to 100%.
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– notes –
Here’s another example that takes a slightly different approach –
while still using brushes I created earlier. It appears to have a lot of
steps, but once you’ve done this a couple of times you can achieve
this look quite quickly.
STEP TWO: Add a new layer below and fill it with a color
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There are a number of interesting benefits to using this method: – notes –
1. Painting on a Layer Mask means you can always change your
mind if you don’t like the results
2. You could apply this affect to a Camera Raw Smart Object so you
could continue to tweak the image
3. You can copy the Layer Mask to another image and build on the
effect (instead of starting from scratch each time)
Finishing Touches
Photo Texture
It can be very effective to use a photo as an overlaid texture. Many
different types of photos will work to as an overlay and you can add
to the texture using the Clone Stamp tool. Instead of simply cloning
parts of the photo, use the Clone Source panel to change
the way the Clone tool works; use the Rotation field to flip
or angle the area you’re cloning so you create some varia-
tions to the patterns.
To give yourself more options, add a new layer and use the
Use All Layers option to put the results of the cloning on
this layer.
Hint: for even more flexibility, keep the extra cloning layer(s) and
create a Smart Object. Place the SO into the photo and change the
blend mode. Now if you want to change the position of a crack,
double-click to edit the SO, move the cloned layer and save to have
the texture update.
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Edge Effect – notes –
Here we’ll use a Smart Object to add an effect to the edge of a photo.
As with all of our effects, there are many options based on the filters
you use.
.
step one: First we need to unlock the Background layer. Hold down
Option (PC: Alt) and double-click on the Background layer (this will
automatically name it Layer 0). (You can skip this step if you start
with a Camera Raw Smart Object).
step two: Hold down Command (PC: Ctrl) and click on the new layer
button to add a layer below your photo.
step three: Using the Marquee tool, make a selection that leaves a
slight border. With the bottom layer active, fill the selection with any
color.
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– notes –
choose a displacement map. Choose just about any file you want: in
this example I used a Camera Raw Smart Object that was saved as a
PSD file. When you click Open, the filter will be applied to the bottom
layer which in turn will create an edge effect on the photo.
To get a better idea of how the finished effect will look, you can add a
new layer at the very bottom of the stack and fill it with white.
NOTE: Since the layer that’s clipping the photo is a Smart Object
you can double-click on the Smart Filter to edit the settings and/or
choose a different texture. If it’s not already a Camera Raw Smart Ob-
ject, you can also turn the top photo layer into a Smart Object. This
way you can easily apply the edge effect to another photo by Con-
trol-clicking (PC: Right clicking) on the layer and choosing Replace
Contents.
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step five: First try clicking on Smart Radius and mov- – notes –
ing the Radius slider way over to the right.
HDR Toning
Photoshop CS5 introduced a new adjustment that can be used to
create some interesting –and wild – effects: HDR Toning. The only
challenge is that it only works on a flattened document, but thanks
to Actions (and an idea from Matt Kloskowski) we can at least be able
to apply the results somewhat selectively.
step one: before recording the Action, you must have a document
open (you don’t want to record “open the document”)
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– notes –
step three: from the Image menu choose Adjustment>HDR Toning.
Pick a setting from the preset menu (in the Action we’ll make this an
interactive step, so the setting is not that important right now). Click
OK.
step four: Select All (Command-C (PC: Ctrl-A)) and Copy (Command-C
(PC: Ctrl-C)).
step five: from the Edit menu, choose Step Backwards twice, until
your image looks the way it originally did.
Compositing
Before Photoshop CS5, compositing was a potentially time-consum-
ing proposition, but now you can create a composite quickly and
easily…if you give yourself every opportunity to make it easier.
The Shoot
Start with a plan: if you already have a good idea of the background
photo you’re going to use, you can shoot the portrait with that in
mind. Pick an angle and set up your lights to it will better match the
background. Shoot your subject on a white or gray background, and
it doesn’t matter if you can see softboxes and light stands.
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– notes –
Backgrounds
You can find all kinds of backgrounds, from ones specifically de-
signed for compositing to stock photos that will also work. Of course
you can (and should) capture cool backgrounds for future use, any
time you see them. I have an ever-growing collection of backgrounds
from alleyways to old buildings to sports fields that I’ve captured
whenever I have my camera in hand.
The Process
I’m going to recommend using Raw format for both the background
and the subject, for one main reason: it’ll give us the chance to take
advantage of Camera Raw Smart Objects to help make a better selec-
tion and mask.
If there was a way to make this next statement bold, underlining and
flashing in red, I would. That’s how important a step this is.
STEP ONE: Use File>Place to import the subject onto the background
– do this first.
STEP TWO: Resize the subject to fit and press Enter. This
will create a Camera Raw Smart Object.
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– notes –
STEP FIVE: Once you have a selection of the body, arms
and legs, go to the Options Bar and click Refine Edge.
In the fine Edge dialog change the view to On Layers.
Now you’ll be able to see your selection in the context
of the background.
Since our two layers are copies of the same Camera Raw
Smart Object, you can double-click on either one to re-
turn to Camera Raw. If previously changed the settings
to help make the selection, you can now change the
settings back and when you click OK, both copies will
update. And remember, our background layer is also a
Camera Raw Smart Object, so you can always change its
settings too.
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– notes –
There’s another reason I suggest (insist?) that you import the subject
before starting to make you selection and mask. If you looked at just
the mask of her hair, without the context of the background, you
might be tempted to paint on the mask to “improve it”. Now, it’s quite Hint: Give yourself another run at
possible that you might need to – but it’s important to look at the getting a better edge – after you
result on the new background before making that decision. have a Layer Mask – by using Mask
Edge. It’s found in the Properties
If you do need to reveal some more hair (e.g. the mask is light gray panel and has the same controls
and you want it to be white), use your Brush tool with an important as Refine Edge, but is applied to a
setting: change the Blend mode of the Brush to Overlay and lower mask rather than a selection.
the opacity. Now you can paint over light gray areas and make them
whiter, without affect the backed (masked areas). Even then, I would
do this by painting on the mask while viewing the subject (not the
mask).
Believability
Unless you’re going for a fantasy, it-doesn’t-have-to-look-believable
image, one of the things that helps to sell the effect is making sure
that lighting, coloring and shadows match. Here’s a simple method
for changing the lighting on the subject to better match the environ-
ment.
STEP THREE: Press the clipping button so that the adjustment layer
only affects the subject, not the background layer.
STEP FIVE: When you’re finished, use the Properties panel to adjust
the curves so it’s not quite so dark.
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– notes –
(Of course you could use the same concept to add a brightening
adjustment layer or apply a Photo Filter/coloring layer to portions of
an image.)
Shadows
One of the more challenging aspects of compositing is adding
realistic shadows – if the image calls for a shadow. That’s one reason
why many composites are done from the waist up, so shadows are a
non-issue. If you do need to add a shadow then I suggest you look at
the original studio shot to see if there are any shadows you can use
as a reference. If so, temporarily hide the layer mask, add a layer and
paint an approximation of the shadow.
STEP ONE: Add a new layer above your extracted (masked) layer.
STEP TWO: Use the Eyedropper to sample the color that the fringe
should be (beside the fringe).
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The Trick to Realistic Hair – notes –
No matter how good a job you do with Refine Edge and Mask Edge,
you may find that the edges around hair still don’t look quite as good
as you’d like. Here’s a really simple trick to finish things off.
If you want to change the color tone of a photo you’d add a Photo
Filter Adjustment Layer. Same thing with video.
To put one photo above another you’d change the order of the layers
Same thing with video clips. And so on.
You don;t even have to have video footage to create some video –
here are two examples.
Timelape Video
Take a series of single images, one every few seconds. You can use a
tripod or not, and use the interval timer option to automatically take
a series of photos.
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– notes –
Use the popup menu (the small filmstrip) to Add Media.
Navigate to your folder of images and select them all. All the images
will be imported and will appear side-by-side in the Timelime.
Use the popup menu in the Timeline panel and choose Convert
Frames>Convert to Frame Animation. Click on the first frame, hold
down the Shift key and click on the last frame. With all the frames
selected, click on any of the timings under a frame to popup a menu
and change the delay to .1 seconds.
Press the play button to see a preview of the video – it may look a lit-
tle choppy at first, but when you export it the video will be smoother.
To export the video, go to File>Export>Render Video.
Slide Show
To create a video slide show made up of
single images we’ll import them into a
document and apply settings such as tran-
sitions and movement.
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Create a new document and use the Import media – notes –
command to load in all your photos. Depending on
their size you may need to scale down your photos –on
the other hand you may want to keep them large so
you can scale them in the slide show.
Using Free Transform, move to the end of the text clip and move the
text block so it’s off the top of the document. Press Enter and a sec-
ond keyframe will appear –and the text will scroll.
Editing Video
Basic video editing is done by importing clips, positioning them on
the Timeline, changing the length of the clips and adding transitions.
Use the Import Media command to add more clips to the Timeline.
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Sometimes it’s easier to create the effect you want by – notes –
putting clips on separate tracks, so you can overlap
their in and out points. To do this, click and drag the
clip in the Layers panel so it is out of the Video Group.
Here I add a text layer above the Video Group and positioned it
above a photo in the Timeline. Then I made a selection and added a
Layer Mask. It is very important to unlink the mask from
the layer.
After positioning the text “behind” the mask, on the Timeline I used
the Transform option to add a keyframe. Then I moved to later in the
same text clip and (as before) used Free Transform to reposition the
text.
When the video plays, the text “appears” from behind the person.
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– notes –
Remember, you can do many typical Photoshop operations to video,
including adding Adjustment Layers, Transforming, adding Smart
Filters and more.
Once you’re finished editing your video you need to Render it. Go to
File>Export>Render Video.
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