Photoshop User 2018 02

T H E A D O B E® P H O T O S H O P ® “ H O W -T 0 ” M A G A Z I N E › › february 201 8
Retouching When retouching portraits, try

adjustment layers before reaching
Photoshop’s Symmetry Painting
technology preview has hidden
Proving
Magic for the Clone Stamp or Healing tools secrets that will blow your mind Ground

Brian Rodgers Jr. | KelbyOne Member
IT’S TIME TO
STOP THE
DESTRUCTION
A nondestructive workflow
is not only about flexibility,
it’s also about accuracy,
efficiency, and creativity
Watch What’s Trending on the
KelbyOne Channel!
Photo Tip Friday: Rick Sammon “Wildlife Photography”
Photo Tip Friday: Moose Peterson Photo Tip Friday: Kalebra Kelby
“New Camera” “Opening Your iPhone Camera Quickly”
Scott Kelby “Photoshop Fake Studio Lighting Trick”
Lightroom Tips | Photoshop Tutorials | Photography Tips

“Photo Tip Friday” Quick Tips | Online Class Trailers | Full Episodes of The Grid
[ P H O T O S H O P U S E R • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 18 • V O L 2 1 • N O 2 ]
CONTENTS
Background: Adobe Stock; Images: Dave Cross; Layout: Jessica Maldonado

[070] STOP THE DESTRUCTION By Dave Cross
A nondestructive workflow is key to the success of every photographer and designer. Clients change
FEATURE
their minds all the time, so it’s important to be able to quickly and efficiently change files that you’ve
already edited. If you’ve used destructive methods, such as erase and delete, you’re probably look-
ing at a lot of sleepless nights making changes to keep those clients happy. But did you know that
a nondestructive workflow can also greatly increase your accuracy when making edits, as well as
boost your creativity? Well, you will once you read Dave Cross’s article. So turn to this issue’s cover
story, and stop being destructive!
©Adobe Stock
Kirk Nelson
[024] [036]
HOW TO
DEPARTMENTS
[007]
A NOTE FROM SCOTT
[024] DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
[009] Silhouette Design with Vintage Texture Effects
CONTRIBUTORS
[036] DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
How to Create a Miniature Scene
[010]
BENEFIT SPOTLIGHT
[046] BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
Changing Colors with Adjustment Layers
[012]
KELBYONE COMMUNITY [050] RETOUCHING MAGIC
Nondestructive Editing for the Portrait Photographer
[020]
HEARD ON THE TWEET [080] DESIGNING WITH PHOTOSHOP
Eighteen Photoshop Tips for 2018
[022]
NEW ONLINE TRAINING
[102]
COLUMNS
FROM THE HELP DESK
[054] PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
Tech Preview:Symmetry Painting
[084] DESIGN MAKEOVER

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT Spirited Branding
Whenever you see this symbol at the
end of an article, it means there are either
downloadable practice files or additional [088] PRODUCT REVIEWS
content for KelbyOne members at Get the Scoop on the Latest Gear
http://kelbyone.com/magazine.
Whenever you see this button Discuss this Issue at
the end of an article, click it to go to the
[098] BOOK REVIEWS
Online Community to ask questions or
Reviews of Photoshop and Photography Books
make comments about this issue.
Click this symbol in the nav bar at the top [100] PHOTOSHOP TIPS
of the online reader to access the Contents. Boost Your Productivity and Creativity
Scott Valentine
Kristina Sherk
[050] [054]
KelbyOne Members
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› › FROM THE EDITOR
> A Note from Scott
THERE’S A NEW PHOTOSHOP IN TOWN

Since our last issue, Adobe released an update to Photo-
shop CC, and while Adobe releasing updates has become
a pretty regular thing for CC users, one of the features in
this update is really significant because I feel that not only
does it fall under the category of what we often refer to
as “Photoshop magic,” it also heralds in a new era for the
future development of Photoshop features.
The new feature I’m talking about is “Select Subject,”
where you literally click one button and, through the use of
artificial intelligence and machine learning, Photoshop rec-
ognizes the subject and puts a selection around it (or even
“them”) for you. I just can’t get over how well it works, and
how consistently it works. The cool thing is that, because your conference, and your chance to meet, hang out with,
it uses machine learning, it will only get better and better and learn from the same instructors you learn from online.
over time, as it recognizes more and more objects. I hope you can make it May 31–June 2, 2018.
We were lucky enough to have Stephen Nielson, We’re still hard at work on getting our Certification
Adobe’s Group Product Manager for Photoshop, and Program up and running, and we’re working behind the
Meredith Payne Stotzner, Product Manager for Photo- scenes on making your online learning experience even
shop & Digital Imaging; Technology Transfer at Adobe, better—more to share on that soon. Lastly, our online
as my guests on The Grid (KelbyOne’s live weekly pho- Community is just exploding with growth, with more
tography talk show). We really got to dig in to what all and more members taking part from all over the world.
this means, and what it means for where Photoshop is Each course is now released with its own discussion
headed. It’s really mind-blowing stuff (plus, they took forum where you can interact with other students and
questions live from our viewers, which was awesome). the instructor, but beyond that, it’s a vibrant community
It’s such a great episode, and Stephen and Meredith of more than 13,000 of our members who are there to
were so fun and informative. I hope you’ll take a moment answer questions, help each other, and share ideas and
to check it out (episodes are archived exclusively for opinions. If you’re not taking advantage of this friendly,
KelbyOne Pro members). You can find it under Webcasts helpful area, I encourage you to stop by and post a ques-
in the Learn category on your member Dashboard (it was tion. You’ll be surprised at how many members are there
the January 24th episode). I think you’ll really like it. to help with whatever you’re looking for or struggling with.
Here at KelbyOne HQ we’re getting all psyched for This is a unique place in this day and age, and we’re so
the big Photoshop World Conference (produced by proud and excited to see what a welcoming, helpful, fun
KelbyOne for KelbyOne members) coming up in Orlando, place it has become, thanks to the awesome community
Florida. This year it’s at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Con- members and leaders.
vention Center, which is where the staff and instructors are Thanks so much for being a KelbyOne member and for
all staying. If you want to grab a room there as well, at our reading the magazine!
special discount rate for attendees, they’re going quickly,
so go get one now at photoshopworld.com/travel. All my best,
I’m also happy to note that for the first time ever,
family/children/newborn photographer Tracy Sweeney will
> K ELBY ON E . CO M
be teaching at the conference, and we just announced

that digital artist Victoria Pavlov will be joining the instruc- Scott Kelby
tor dream team as well. We have lots of fun classes, KelbyOne President & CEO
events, and parties planned for the conference. This is Editor & Publisher, Photoshop User
[ 7 ]
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 18 • V O L 2 1 • N O 2
AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
EDITORIAL:
Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief
Chris Main, Managing Editor
Kim Doty, Associate Editor
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:
Corey Barker • Peter Bauer • Dave Clayton • Michael Corsentino
Dave Cross • Kirk Nelson • Kristina Sherk • Colin Smith • Lesa Snider
Scott Valentine • Erik Vlietinck • Jake Widman
GRAPHICS:
Jessica Maldonado, Art Director
Margie Rosenstein, Senior Graphic Designer
Angela Naymick, Senior Web/Graphic Designer
MARKETING:
Jacque Johnson • Rachel Scott • Kleber Stephenson
John Warwick • Melissa White
WEB:
Adam Frick • Curt Husting • Yojance Rabelo • Aaron Westgate
PUBLISHING:
Scott Kelby, Publisher
Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P.
Jean A. Kendra, Business Manager
ADVERTISING:
Jeanne Jilleba, Advertising Coordinator 800-201-7323 ext. 152
HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:

U.S. Mail: 118 Douglas Road East • Oldsmar, FL 34677-2922
Voice: 813-433-5000 • Fax: 813-433-5015 Each issue we feature cover art
Customer Service: [email protected] by a KelbyOne member!
Letters to the Editor: [email protected]
Help Desk: http://kelbyone.com/my-account/helpdesk This issue’s cover is by Brian Rodgers Jr., an Addy Award-winning commercial
photographer and digital artist based out of South Bend, Indiana. He’s the founder
and owner of Digital Art That Rocks and specializes in product and architectural
COLOPHON: photography with an emphasis on the postproduction process. Brian has crafted
Photoshop User was produced using Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 commercial imagery for global companies and small businesses alike through his
and Adobe InDesign CC 2018. Korolev was used for headlines and relentless work ethic, creative vision, and technical proﬁciency. His rock & roll roots
subheads. Frutiger LT Std for text. run deep. Learn more about Brian on page 17.
All contents ©COPYRIGHT 2018 KelbyOne, LLC. 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 2470-7031 (online)
DAVECROSS
has been helping people get the most out of their Adobe software for
more than 30 years. He has a bachelor of education degree, is an Adobe
Certified Instructor, and is in the Photoshop Hall of Fame. Dave has
written many articles and books, co-hosted Photoshop User TV and has
appeared in many DVDs and online courses for KelbyOne, CreativeLive, and
Photoshop.
CONTRIBUTORS
COREYBARKER COLINSMITH
is an award-winning designer and illustrator. A featured instructor is an award-winning digital artist, photographer, and lecturer
at the Photoshop World Conference and an Adobe MAX Master who has authored 19 books and has created a series of training
Instructor, he has produced numerous training titles for KelbyOne. videos. Colin is also the founder of the online resource
Look for his latest book Photoshop Tricks for Designers. PhotoshopCAFE.com and president of Software-Cinema.com.
PETERBAUER LESASNIDER
is an Adobe Certified Expert that does computer graphics con- is the author of Adobe Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC for
sulting for a select group of corporate clients. His latest book is Photographers: Classroom in a Book (2016), Photoshop CC: The
Photoshop CC for Dummies. He was inducted into the Photoshop Missing Manual, TheSkinnyBooks.com eBooks, more than 40
Hall of Fame in 2010. video courses, and the “Creaticity” column for Macworld.
DAVECLAYTON SCOTTVALENTINE
is a UK-based graphic designer, creative specialist, and KelbyOne/ blends his education in physics with his love for art, bringing a
Photoshop World instructor with more than 30 years of experience. unique voice to teaching through experimentation. His Hidden
Specializing in all things design and marketing, Dave is also an Power books (Adobe Press) are used in colleges across the US,
Adobe Influencer and Training Manager at Astute Graphics. and he’s a longtime member of Adobe’s prerelease team.
MICHAELCORSENTINO ERIKVLIETNICK
is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer, founded IT Enquirer in 1999. A J.D. by education, Erik has been
Photoshop and Lightroom expert, author, columnist for Shutter a freelance technology editor for more than 22 years. He has
Magazine and Resource Magazine, and speaker and international written for Macworld, Computer Arts, and many others. He also
workshop leader. Learn more at www.michaelcorsentino.com. contributes to UK-based Red Shark News and Red Shark Sound.
KIRKNELSON JAKEWIDMAN
is a professional graphics artist in the Washington, D.C., area. He is a writer and editor who lives in San Francisco. He’s been
has a B.A. from George Mason University and is an Adobe Certified covering the intersection of computers and graphic design for
Expert in Photoshop. Kirk’s career has touched on a broad range of about 25 years now—since back when it was called “desktop
subjects from logo design to animation. He can be reached here. publishing” and Photoshop was just a piece of scanning software.
KRISTINASHERK
is a high-end retoucher based in D.C. and has worked for clients
such as Time Inc. and Hasselblad. She loves “translating” Photoshop
for people and has written for Shutter Magazine, as well as authored
KelbyOne courses and PhotoshopCAFE’s Fashion Retouching DVD.
[ 09 ]
> Benefit Spotlight
ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE DISCOUNTS

ON YOUR MEMBERS-ONLY DISCOUNTS PAGE?
Did you even know these discounts existed? If not, stop KelbyOne. We negotiate special deals just for our mem-
what you’re doing right now and explore how much bers. Some members have even saved enough money
money you could be saving on everything from camera through our discount program to make their cost of mem-
gear to office supplies. We have special discounts from bership practically free.
B&H, Apple, Mpix, Triple Scoop Music, Tether Tools, and So what are you waiting for? Log in now to see how
> PHOTOSHOP USER > F E B R U A RY 2018
many more—even discounts on hotels and rental cars. much you can save, especially if you’re about to invest in
That’s the power of being part of an organization such as some new camera gear or Photoshop plug-ins. n
Discuss this Issue

[ 10 ]
HANDS UP IF YOU WANT TO LOVE YOUR FLASH
HANDS DOWN,
THIS IS THE BOOK
THAT WILL
GET YOU THERE
Standing in front of a room packed with 360 photographers at his seminar, Scott asked for a show of hands:
“How many of you own some kind of an off-camera flash? A Nikon, Canon, Yongnuo, etc.?” About 340 hands went up.
“Okay, I have one more question, but before you raise your hand, I want you to really think about your answer.
Let’s see a show of hands—how many of you love using your off-camera flash?” Out of those 360 people, just four
people raised their hands. He was stunned. That’s why this book was created—to help you finally fall in love with
your flash—and the best news is, it’s way easier than you’d think. It’s time to fall truly head-over-heels in love with
your flash, so you can start creating the type of images with your flash that you’ve always dreamed of.
| KELBYONE.COM | #KELBYONEBOOKS
SARAHFREEMAN & DAVECLAYTON
> KelbyOne Community
Inspiration, information, and member musings to fuel your creativity
Tracy Sweeney of Elan Studio we get introduced to these new updates, but then they
Just Visited KelbyOne joined Scott Kelby on The Grid to talk about the update and
We were so excited to have Tracy Sweeney, family and answer questions from our viewers!
commercial photographer, come visit us at KelbyOne this Here’s a quick list of all the new features: The Quick Selec-
past month. She visited us all the way from Bristol, Rhode tion and Magic Wand tools now have a Select Subject feature,
Island (a nice break from the cold for awhile). We can’t wait Select and Mask has been improved, better SVG Compatibility
to share what she has in store for you guys. with Adobe XD, support for Microsoft High-Density Monitors,
Coming up, you won’t want to miss Tracy’s Personal and Improved Surface Dial support. Make sure to watch
Side interview with Kalebra Kelby, as Kalebra dives deep Stephen and Meredith on The Grid to learn more!
into Tracy’s background and what inspires her. It’s easy to
see the passion she has for her family and her work. For
her next course, Tracy will take us on the business side of
photography to discuss the techniques she uses to help
gain repeat business.
And in case you can’t wait for her course, she shot a cou-
ple of live webcasts during her visit. Make sure you check
her out on the KelbyOne Pro Members’ Webcast where
she and Scott Kelby revealed their top five tips to get your
clients to buy your photos and boost your post-shoot sales.
Or watch The Grid, where she and Scott hosted a blind
photo critique and offered feedback on family photography
submitted by our members. The Countdown to
If you’d like to find out more about Tracy Sweeney and Photoshop World 2018 Is On!
see some of her gorgeous work, make sure to check out her We’re only three short months away from the biggest
Elan Studio website or search for more of her courses in creative conference in the world—Photoshop World! This
your Member Dashboard. three-day event is jam-packed with hands-on training, fun
events, and endless networking opportunities with like-
minded creative individuals and the best instructors in the
industry. You can attend a myriad of different design and
photography classes or learn something specific from one
of our six specialized learning tracks. Join us in Orlando May
31–June 2, 2018, and come be inspired!
Register before April 27, 2018, to save $100 ($200 for
KelbyOne members). We’ll see you there!
New Features in Photoshop 19.1

It’s always a special occasion when Adobe comes to
KelbyOne! Adobe Product Managers Stephen Nielson and
Meredith Payne Stotzner came to visit last month to intro-
duce us to some of the great new features available in the
recent 19.1 release of Adobe Photoshop! And not only did
[ 1 2 ]
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> DAVE DeBAEREMAEKER
MEMBER SINCE 2016
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> FABIAN STAMATE
MEMBER SINCE 2014
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> CHARLES LEVIE
MEMBER SINCE 2017
WHO’S WHO IN THE KELBYONE COMMUNITY >> BRIAN RODGERS JR.
MEMBER SINCE 2008
› › K E L BYO N E C O M M U N I TY
Who’s Who in the KelbyOne Community

Brian Rodgers Jr. is an Addy Award-winning commercial photographer and digital artist based out of
South Bend, Indiana. He’s the founder and owner of Digital Art That Rocks and specializes in product
and architectural photography. That’s his creation on the cover of this issue.
You’re no stranger to KelbyOne. When did you discover Your work is so vibrant. Why are you drawn to product
KelbyOne (NAPP), and what has kept you here? photography, and how do you plan your projects?
I remember picking up my first issues of Photoshop User I think what I love most about product photography, par-
magazine around 2006 at a local Barnes & Noble. After ticularly with hero shots, is that you get to slow down
graduating college, my wife Jill bought me Scott Kelby’s and really craft an image because you’re not “capturing
7-Point System book for Christmas. I learned more about a moment.” I love the challenge of bringing emotion and
Photoshop from that book than I ever did in any college mood into a product image. I’m drawn to creative concepts
class. From there I discovered NAPP and Kelby Train- with pristine execution.
ing. Kelby Media has really made learning fun. I can’t say Sometimes I come up with creative headlines or phrases
enough about the impact and value that KelbyOne and its out of nowhere. I’ll document them in Evernote and trans-
community of instructors has had on my education as a late these written words into visuals. My wife and I work
creative. Over the years, I’ve experienced periods of expo- really well together creatively as well, so we also bounce
nential creative growth by combining hours of practice ideas off each other. Jill has been my biggest supporter and
alongside inspiration from KelbyOne classes. helps keep me on my toes.
You now also teach photography and retouching. You’re also a great architectural photographer. Do
What do you enjoy most about teaching? you find the outdoors cleanses your palette after
While I really enjoy building the additional skills that teach- shooting all those close-up product shots?
ing provides, I’d probably say the most rewarding experi- I love architectural photography. It’s a nice change of pace
ence is when a student of mine has been inspired enough when a client calls me up and I have the opportunity to
to go out and create amazing work. It’s a really great get out and work on location. Getting out of my studio
feeling to know that you’ve impacted someone's life and sometimes is a necessity. My approach and mindset to
inspired them in some way. architectural photography is that I’m just shooting a much
larger product outside of a studio environment.
You’re also a musician. How do you compare the
two professions, and why do you think so many What gear do you use, and what advice do you
artists have a musical background? have for anyone interested in photogaphy?
I’ve been playing guitar for over 20 years. That I shoot with a Sony A7R II full-frame mirrorless camera with
instrument taught me so much about the virtues of Canon glass. The two lenses that I use for the majority of my
patience, discipline, and self-motivation, which are also product work are the Canon 24–105mm f/4L and a Canon
helpful in running a creative business. Music plays a 100mm macro f/2.8L lens. In terms of lighting, I have several
huge role in my personal life and in my business, Digital Paul C. Buff Einsteins and AlienBees around my studio.
Art That Rocks. To become good at something, it all comes down to the
I think many artists have a music background because time you put into learning your craft; you have to practice.
they really connect to one another. I see a lot of cor- Making great imagery is all about being creative and knowing
relations between guitar and photography. Develop- how to use your tools, not necessarily having the most
ing an image is very similar to developing your tone. expensive ones. Great gear doesn’t make a great artist.
When you’re recording music, guitar pedals and soft-
ware effects are similar to filters in Photoshop. In audio What’s next for you in 2018?
recording software, EQ is very similar to a histogram and In early 2018 I’m releasing a full-length tutorial on product
a Curves adjustment layer. The subtle nuances in the photography with Fstoppers. I also plan to continue pushing
lighting that crafts an image is similar to the order of my product and architecture portfolio even further, including
notes chosen in a piece of music. shooting more beverage and music/audio products. n [ 17 ]
GLYN DEWIS
“One of the things I love about Glyn
as an educator is that he takes his
audience beyond just the technical
PHOTOGRAPH LIKE A THIEF
PHOTOGRAPH LI KE A THI EF
nuts and bolts of photography and
emphasizes the creative side of
building an image. Too often we ABOUT THE AUTHOR
get stuck on f-stops and shutter
speeds and forget that there is more
to a successful photograph. In a
In this book, Glyn Dewis embraces the idea of “stealing” and recreating others’ work
in order to improve as an artist. By “stepping inside” others’ images, you can learn to I NSPIRATION GLYN DEWIS
way, Glyn is a coach, but instead of reverse engineer their creation, and then build an image that simultaneously pays
homage to that work yet is also an original creation itself. I DEAS
building muscles, he is motivating Glyn Dewis is a professional photographer,
you to build a body of images that Glyn begins by covering the process of “stealing ideas” and finding inspiration. He retoucher, and best-selling author based
REVERSE ENGINEERING
shares the gear he uses, as well as his retouching and post-processing workflow. In in Oxford, UK. He works for national and
represent you as an artist. A good a chapter on how to reverse engineer a photograph, Glyn discusses how to “read” an international clients ranging from the BBC,
LIGHTI NG
coach will always nurture you along image by looking at the catch lights, shadow positions, and the hardness or softness
Sky TV, FOX, and Air New Zealand to athletes,
of the shadows. This is a crucial skill to acquire if you want to recreate a specific look.
to get the best out of you. Glyn has PHOTOGRAPHY musicians, and other industry professionals.
this gift.” Glyn then works through a series of images—inspired by movies, books, history, and
a few legendary photographers—from the initial concept and influence to the final POST-PRODUCTION A Photoshop World Dream Team instructor,
result. For each image, he reverse engineers the shot to describe how it was created,
From the Foreword by then works through the gear he used, the lighting for the image, and the post- KelbyOne instructor, and Adobe influencer,
PHOTOSHOP
processing of the image. Glyn also presents at events around the world
Joel Grimes
covering all aspects of photography and post-
By working alongside Glyn (he makes all the files available for download), you too LIGHTROOM
production.
can learn to find inspiration all around you, discover how that work can influence you,
improve your photographic and post-processing skill set, and begin your own journey CAMERA RAW
to defining your unique style. See his work at www.glyndewis.com and find
his videos on his YouTube channel at
www.youtube.com/GlynDewis.
US $ 39.95 / CAN $ 49.95
ISBN: 978-1-68198-182-6
LEVEL: Intermediate / Advanced

CATEGORY: Digital Photography / Photoshop
COVER DESIGN: Dave Clayton
rockynook.com FOREWORD BY JOEL GRIMES
WHO’S WHO ON THE KELBYONE INSTRUCTOR TEAM >> DAVE CLAYTON

INSTRUCTOR SINCE 2016 | Top: Cover design by Dave; Middle left: Nick, Camilla, Dave, and Sebastian at Astute Graphics; Middle right: Photo project by Glyn Dewis
and Aaron Blaise; Bottom left: Dave recording a class at KelbyOne; Bottom right: He Shoots He Draws Podcast featuring Dave and Glyn
› › K E L BYO N E C O M M U N I TY
Who’s Who on the KelbyOne Instructor Team: Dave Clayton
Where are you from, and what kind of work do you do?
I was born in a little town in West London (Middlesex) called
[10]
Perivale, home of my most favorite building in the world, The Hoover
Building. As a kid I loved when my dad drove us past that building—
amazing design and architecture. That and the London Underground
RAPID-FIRE
fascinated me! Definitely a contributory factor to my love of design. QUESTIONS
I’ve lived in Southall, Middx, Croxley Green (just outside Watford),
Coalville, Leicestershire (home of Lastolite), and for the past 10 years
I’ve lived in Swindon with my wife and four children. DAVECLAYTON
It took a good few years for me to find a career in design. I went
1. Favorite movies
around working in engineering, admin for a print machine manufac-
Shawshank Redemption, Brother Bear (one

turer, sales for a quarry company, and sales in fenders (sadly not the
of my best friends, Aaron Blaise, directed it),
guitar type—these were boat bumpers). Eventually, I became a mar-
and Love Actually (because my Dad is in it)
keting manager at another quarry company and I was sold. I’ve been
in design and marketing ever since. I’m now the Training Manager 2. What can’t you live without?
for Astute Graphics, which makes professional plug-ins for Adobe My family.
Illustrator. My role is to introduce designers and design teams to our
3. Favorite type of music
plug-ins, and then design training solutions around that! I love it!
The Script, The Rolling Stones, Saint Motel,
Where do you look for inspiration? The Dirty Strangers, and my Dad’s album!
I love books! Seriously love them. I have a library of over 300 books
4. What do you do in your spare time?
of which 90% are design- or photography-related. I love the history
I consume design in the form of books and
of the subject. I also listen to a lot of design podcasts, such as Adven-
podcasts, plus our children’s activities.
tures in Design, Creative South, The Honest Designers Show, and
Master of One, because I learn so much about the industry and the 5. What’s your favorite place to travel?
designers themselves. Keep learning! The U.S.—any excuse to go and I’m there!
What do you enjoy most about teaching? 6. What are three things you always
I’ve amassed so much knowledge and experience over my many
take with you when you travel?
Field Notes, my phone, photo of my kids.
years that it gives me great satisfaction to help others. I’m very much
a “teach-a-man-to-fish” kind of guy. Sometimes people just need 7. What’s your favorite new app?
a nudge in the right direction. Seeing people “get it” and go on to Slack: I belong to some design Slack feeds.
produce great design makes me happy. My eight-year-old daughter
loves design; I’m teaching her illustrator and logo design. 8. What’s the best advice you’ve
ever received?
Do you have any work rituals? From my Dad: “If something is going
Other than listening to music or podcasts while I’m working, I tend wrong, stop and think why.”
to just make a note of all the objectives of my day in my Field Notes
9. Who would you recommend some—
book I carry with me. You always need a pencil and a notebook with
one to follow on social media?
you; the batteries never run out.
The two podcasts I cohost, @vectorge-
Are there any hardware or software tools nerians and @heshootshedraws, and
you just couldn’t live without? @astutegraphics.
I’m predominantly an Apple user; the ecosystem works for me—my 10. What’s the one thing you wish
phone is my mobile office. I love Adobe Creative Cloud. When I think somebody would ask you?
back to the days of cheaper alternatives, having CC now is just so I always wanted to be an astronaut, so “Do
satisfying and affordable. Plus, Astute Graphics plug-ins, of course! you want to fly into space?” n
[ 19 ]
> Heard on the Tweet
A Quick Glance at Some Highlights from our Twitter Feed
[ 2 0 ]
› › HEARD ON THE TWEET
Follow KelbyOne and Scott Kelby on Twitter!
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Here Are Your Late
Every week, we publish at least one new training c
Mastering the Natural

Light Portrait
Join professional photographer Scott Kelby as he teaches you how to shoot with natural light. You’ll walk through
an entire shoot from planning to postprocessing. Scott discusses his go-to lenses and camera settings to capture
his subjects in natural light, discusses a variety of different lighting scenarios, and offers tips on how to work with
and modify natural light.
How to Bring your Still Images to Life

Using Plotaverse
Join Trey Ratcliff as he teaches you how to add animation to your still photographs with Plotaverse.
Throughout the class Trey teaches you the ins and outs of using the software, inspires you with
mind-blowing examples, and walks you through ideas of where and how to use Plotaverse to get the most
[22 ] impact in your portfolio.
est Online Courses
course. Check out these brand-new courses below:
Breathtaking
Just OneBird Photography:
More Flash
Pro Settings and Techniques
Join Rick
Learn howSammon
to add onein Bosque delto
more flash Apache as he teaches
your portrait you how
lighting with ScotttoKelby!
master the arton
Building and
thecraft of bird photography.
foundation you gained
Rick shares plenty of tips on stopping action, capturing gesture, shooting at different
in Just One Flash, Scott teaches you the why, when, and how of adding a second flash to your times of day, composition
Speedlight
techniques, the gear
setup. Whether he uses,
you want and soseparation
to create much more. From birds
between youron the ground
subject to background,
and the birds in flight,add
Ricka covers
fill light,all
orthe
situations and scenarios you’re likely to encounter.
change the look of the background itself, you’ll be amazed at all the great things you can do with a second flash.
A Photographer’s Guide to Shooting Wedding Videos

Like a Pro
Join Justin Wojtczak as he teaches you how to plan, shoot, and edit wedding video. Justin goes though his
entire workflow, from prep to post, and demonstrates each step in his process. You can even follow along
with his postproduction workflow with the provided files in either Adobe Premiere or Photoshop. By the end
of the class you’ll feel confident in your ability to add this new income stream to your wedding business. [ 2 3 ]
COREYBARKER
SILHOUETTE DESIGN
WITH VINTAGE
TEXTURE EFFECTS
With the Winter Olympics upon us, and my overwhelming desire
to go skiing, I thought this month we’d design a vintage ski-
themed poster. We’ll play with a few cool layer tricks to achieve
a vintage silhouette effect, all the while keeping every element
on its own layer for maximum design flexibility.
[ 24 ]
› › DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
Step One: Start with an aged paper texture,
©Adobe Stock/Sharpshot
such as parchment or something similar. I found
this one on Adobe Stock. I like it because it’s vis-
ibly aged, and the stains show that it has seen
some use.
To obtain the stock images used in this exer-
cise so you can follow along, download the water-
marked previews from Adobe Stock directly to
your Libraries panel (Window>Libraries) by click-
ing on the links for the images below. When
the Adobe Stock web page opens, make sure
you’re logged in to your Adobe account, then
to the right of each image, you’ll see the option
to Save Preview to My Library (you can click on
My Library to select a different library or down-
load option). Click on the cloud-with-an-arrow
icon, and the preview image will automatically
be downloaded to your Libraries panel in Pho-
toshop. Simply double-click the image in the
Libraries panel to open it in Photoshop.
• Isolated old vintage folded torn paper
• Mountain landscape
• Saut ski extreme
• Launched colorful powder
Step Two: Go to the Toolbar and select the

Magic Wand tool (nested under the Quick Selec-
tion tool [W]). Set the Tolerance in the Options

Bar to 32. Click once in the white border area
around the background texture. Then, go under
the Select menu and choose Inverse. This will flip
the selection to the texture itself. [ 2 5 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Three: Press Command-J (PC:

Ctrl-J) to copy the selected area to
a new layer. Then go under the Edit
menu, to Transform, and choose
Rotate 180°.
Step Four: Press Command-T (PC:

Ctrl-T) to activate Free Transform, then
hold down Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt)
as you click-and-drag any of the cor-
ner handles. Scale the texture down
a little so the original texture on the
layer below creates a border between
the two layers as shown here. Press
Enter when done.
Step Five: Now press Command-I

(PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the colors, which
will result in a deep blue. Go under
the Image menu, to Adjustments, and
choose Levels. Drag the white high-
light slider to the left to lighten the
overall texture. Click OK when done.
[ 2 6 ]
Step Six: Double-click the layer in

the Layers panel to access the Blend-
ing Options in the Layer Style dialog.
Go to the Blend If section, hold down
the Option (PC: Alt) key, and click the
white slider below Underlying Layer to
split it, and then drag the left half of
the slider a little to the left to let some
of the texture highlights from the
layer below show through. Click OK.
©Adobe Stock/.shock
Step Seven: Now let’s process the

next photo, which is a mountain peak
that has the right slope and contrast
for what we need. Go to the Toolbar
and choose the Quick Selection tool
(W). Start in the area around the peak
on the left and work your way down
to add to the selection. Now we don’t
need the whole mountain selected,
just the peak area. Press Q to activate
Quick Mask mode so you can see if
you missed any areas in your selec-
tion. Press Q again to exit Quick Mask.
(Note: If the red overlay in Quick Mask
is outside of your selection, double-
click the Quick Mask icon [circle in a
square] near the bottom of the Tool-

bar, click on Color Indicates: Selected
Areas, and click OK.) Finally press
Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the
selected area to a new layer. [ 2 7 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Eight: Turn off the Background

layer below by clicking its Eye icon in
the Layers panel. Use the Crop tool (C)
to crop in tighter to the mountain peak
that we’ve extracted, and press Enter.
Remove the color of the extracted
layer by pressing Shift-Command-U
(PC: Shift-Ctrl-U). Boost the contrast
using Levels (Command-L [PC: Ctrl-L])
by dragging the shadow slider to the
right to around 80. Click OK.
Step Nine: Go under the Filter menu,

to Blur, and choose Surface Blur. Set
the Radius to 8 Pixels and the Thresh-
old to 13 Levels. Click OK. This will
smooth out the detail while maintain-
ing sharp edges.
Step 10: Go under the Image menu,

to Adjustments, and choose Thresh-
old to force the image to pure black
and pure white. Adjust the slider
below the histogram until the moun-
tain is mostly black with a little high-
light detail (in this example, we set the

Threshold Level to 202). Click OK.
[ 2 8 ]
Step 11: Now lock the transparency

of this layer by clicking the first icon
to the right of the word “Lock” in the
Layers panel. To simplify the graphic a
little more, go under the Filter menu,
to Blur, and choose Gaussian Blur. Set
the Radius to 3 Pixels and click OK.
Step 12: Once again, open Levels

(Command-L [PC: Ctrl-L]) and drag
the highlight slider to 196 and the
shadows slider to 175 to create hard
edges, resulting in simpler shapes.
Click OK when done.
Step 13: Now go into the Layers

panel, create a new blank layer, and
drag it below the extracted mountain
layer. Press D to set the Foreground
color to black, then press Option-
Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the
layer with black. This will make the
entire image black with just the white
highlight areas visible.
In the Channels panel (Window>
Channels), hold down the Com-
mand (PC: Ctrl) key as you click on
the RGB channel preview thumb-
nail. This will load just those white

areas as a selection.
[ 2 9 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 14: Turn off the black-filled layer

by clicking its Eye icon. Click on the
layer with the graphic shape to make
it active, and then turn off its lock
transparency icon that we turned on
in Step 11. With the selection active
on the white areas, just press Delete
(PC: Backspace) to remove the white
areas. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D)
to deselect. Use the Eraser tool (E) with
its Mode set to Brush in the Options
Bar to clear any small lines or excess
edge pixels.
Step 15: Lock the layer’s transpar-

ency again, and press Shift-Delete
(PC: Shift-Backspace) to open the Fill
dialog. Set the Contents drop-down
menu to Black, and click OK. This will
[ 3 0 ] make sure all the pixels are black.
Step 16: Using the Move tool (V),

drag-and-drop the mountain ele-
ment into the main design document.
Place it in the lower-left corner of the
composition, and use Free Transform
(Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T)] to scale
it if needed. Hold the Shift key to
maintain proportions, and press
Enter when it’s in place to commit
the transformation.
Step 17: Now let’s add the skier

©Adobe Stock/philippe Devanne
image. Here we have another Adobe

Stock image that was shot against a
solid blue sky, which is great because
the subject will be easier to extract.
With that in mind, go to the Toolbar,
choose the Lasso tool (L), and draw a
loose selection around the entire sub-
ject as shown here.
Step 18: Now choose the Magic

Wand tool and set the Tolerance in
the Options Bar to 20. Hold down the
Option (PC: Alt) key, and you’ll see a
minus sign appear next to the Magic
Wand cursor. Click on the sky area
between the edge of the selection
and the subject. This will remove the
selection from the sky and snap it to
the edge of the subject. Some areas
can get missed because of the Toler-

ance. Just continue to hold down the
Option (PC: Alt) key, and click on
those areas. Be sure to remove the sky
area between his arm and legs a well. [ 31 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 19: Click Select and Mask in

the Options Bar, and in the Properties
panel, set the Transparency to 100%
and the Edge Detection Radius to 1.
Finally, go to the Output Settings at
the bottom of the panel, and set the
Output To drop-down menu to New

Layer. Click OK.
Step 20: With the skier extracted, use

the Move tool to drag this layer into
the working design as we did with
the mountain. Position the subject in
the upper-right area of the image as
shown here. Again, use Free Trans-
[ 3 2 ] form if needed to adjust the scale.
Step 21: Now for the cool part: With

the skier layer active in the Layers
panel, Shift-click the mountain layer
so they’re both selected. Press Com-
mand-G (PC: Ctrl-G) to place those
two layers in their own layer group.
You can double-click the name of
the group folder and rename it as we
did here.
Step 22: Click on the original Back-

ground layer with the original texture,
and press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to
duplicate it. Position the duplicate tex-
ture layer at the top of the layer stack
above the layer group.
Step 23: Press Option-Command-G

(PC: Alt-Ctrl-G) to clip the duplicate
texture layer with the layer group
below. You’ll see the shapes of the
two subjects magically get cut out
of the blue texture, revealing the
original texture below them, even
though all the layers are still sepa-
rate and editable.
[ 3 3 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 24: Now let’s add an element
©Adobe Stock/showcake
to the skier so it looks as if he’s trail-
ing snow behind him from his jump.
Here we have a cool particle element
that will work great. Remember, it
will be a silhouetted effect, so we’re
only concerned with the shapes of
the particles.
In the Channels panel (Window>
Channels), hold down the Com-
mand (PC: Ctrl) key again as you
click on the Red channel, which
contains all the information as
represented by white on the Red
channel thumbnail.
Step 25: Back in the Layers panel,

create a new layer, and fill the selec-
tion with black. Press Command-D
[ 3 4 ] (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.
Step 26: Using the Move tool, drag

this last element over into the design
document, and then drag it into the
layer group with the mountain and
the skier, where it will take on the cut-
out effect. Activate Free Transform,
Right-click inside the bounding box,
and choose Flip Vertical. Then scale
and rotate it in position as shown
here. Press Enter when done.
Finally, as a finishing element, I added

a simple text block in the layer group
so it would reveal the same texture
effect. You can continue to add more
elements to the group and reposition-
ing and resizing them any you want
to create an interesting vintage silhou-
ette effect, while keeping all the ele-
ments on their own layers. n
[ 3 5 ]
KIRKNELSON
HOW TO CREATE A
MINIATURE SCENE
The images that capture our imagination are almost always a
result of depicting something unusual or downright impossible.
The curious nature of our minds is naturally drawn to things we
haven’t seen before, or may never be able to see. That’s part
of the fun of crafting a photo-illustration. To take an impossible
concept, like playing chess against a miniature person who is
no bigger than the pieces, and make that concept come to life.
In this tutorial we’ll composite two images to create a convincing
scene of a chess game against an impossible opponent!
[ 3 6 ]
Step One: Setting the scene for this proj-

ect involved setting up the chess set and rig-
ging up a pawn to be suspended by threads
over the board. The file ChessSet.jpg is the
result of that effort. Open the file, select the
Spot Healing Brush tool (J) with a narrow tip
(use the Bracket keys on your keyboard to
quickly change the size of your brush), and
paint out the black threads. Simply tracing
over the thread will do; if the result isn’t
what you expect, just undo and try it again.
Tip: Click once at the end of one of the
threads, then Shift-click the other end. The
Spot Healing Brush tool will draw a straight
line between the two clicks. [KelbyOne
members may download the files used in
this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/maga-
zine, or click here for a direct download. All
files are for personal use only.]
Step Two: Next, open the ModelwithBox

.jpg file. This is the image of the figure that
we’ll composite into the scene. Use the
Pen tool (P) set to Path in the Options Bar
to outline the figure. If you’re not confi-
dent with your use of the Pen tool, switch
over to the Paths panel (Window>Paths)
and select the path we’ve provided for you.
Then go to Layer>Vector Mask>Current
Path to mask out the figure using the path.
Step Three: Using the Move tool (V), drag

the figure over to the tab for the chess set
and when Photoshop switches to that file,
drop the figure into the scene. Use Edit>Free
Transform to scale down the figure into
place. Hold the Shift key to maintain pro-
portions. The idea is to have his hands at
about the middle of the pawn, and his feet
should match to the edges of the square
on the chessboard. Tip: After entering Free
Transform, press Command-0 (PC: Ctrl-0)
to zoom the document out so you can see
the edges of the bounding box.

Press Enter to commit the transforma-
tion. Double-click on the layer’s name in
the Layers panel, and rename it “Model
with Box.” [ 3 7 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Four: Press Command-J (PC:

Ctrl-J) to duplicate the model layer
and place it beneath the original
in the Layers panel. Set the layer
blending mode near the top left of
the Layers panel to Multiply so we
can use the natural shadow from
the source photo. Right-click on the
vector mask thumbnail in the Lay-
ers panel, and select Rasterize Vec-
tor Mask. Then use the Brush tool
(B) with a soft brush and paint on
the mask in white (press X until your
Foreground color is white) to reveal
the natural shadow areas beneath
his feet.
Step Five: The chess pieces are

glass and semi-transparent, so the
character’s left hand should be
barely visible on the other side of
the pawn. Fortunately, we thought
of that when taking the photos!
Open the LeftHand.jpg file, and use
the Quick Selection tool (W) to select
the hand. If the Quick Selection tool
selects any of the background, hold
the Option (PC: Alt) key and paint
to remove those areas from the
selection. Go to Edit>Copy, then
return to the main project and go to
Edit>Paste to deposit the hand as a
new layer beneath the model layer.
Free Transform the hand into
place; click-and-drag outside the
bounding box to rotate it. Press
Enter to commit the transformation.
If needed, adjust the vector mask
on the model layer to conceal the
seam. To do that, click on the vector

mask thumbnail to make it active,
select the Direct Selection tool (the
white arrow nested under the Path
Selection tool [A] in the Toolbar),
click on points on the path to make
them active, and then drag them
into place. Rename the hand layer
to “Hand.”
[ 3 8 ]
Step Six: Click on the Background

layer to make it the active layer and
use the Quick Selection tool to select
just the central portion of the pawn,
enough to cover the left hand. Press
Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the
selection to a new layer. Move this
layer over the Hand layer and reduce
the Opacity to 75%. Rename this
new layer “Glass Pawn.”
Step Seven: A large part of con-

vincing compositing is making
sure the focus and noise are con-
sistent throughout the piece. With
the Glass Pawn layer still active in
the Layers panel, Command-click
(PC: Ctrl-click) the Model with Box
layer at the top and the Hand layer
below so they’re all selected. Go to
Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to
Smart Object to combine all three
layers into a single layer. Then go
to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and
use a setting of 0.5 pixels. Click
OK. Follow this with Filter>Noise>
Add Noise and use a setting of
2.5 pixels, with Distribution set
to Uniform, and Monochromatic
turned off. Click OK.
[ 3 9 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Eight: Don’t feel constrained

to adjust only the character layer
to make the composite work. The
background could use a bit of
sharpening to help it fit better.
Duplicate the Background layer
and go to Filter>Other>High Pass.
Use a Radius of 10 Pixels and click
OK. Then change the layer’s blend-
ing mode to Overlay. This gives a
subtle sharpening effect to the
background.
Step Nine: The scene has multiple

light sources, so that will require
multiple cast shadows for the sub-
ject to appear realistic. Create a
new layer beneath the Model with
Box smart object layer, and name
it “Shadow.” Command-click
(PC: Ctrl-click) on the model layer
thumbnail to create a selection in
the model’s shape. Switch to the
Eyedropper tool (I), and click on
a dark-gray shadow area of one
of the chess pieces to sample that
color. Press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-
Backspace) to fill the selection with
that color. Use Free Transform to
squash the shadow down and skew

it out to the side at an angle. Tip:
Holding down the Command (PC:
Ctrl) key while using Free Transform
allows you to distort the transfor-
mation bounding box. Press Enter
to commit the transformation.
[ 40 ]
Step 10: Cancel the selection

with Select>Deselect, then go to
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, use a
blur Radius of 20 Pixels, and click
OK. Then set the shadow’s blend-
ing mode to Multiply and reduce
the Opacity to 50%. Repeat the
shadow creation process for a sec-
ond cast shadow from the bright
light in the background. This second
shadow should run down under the
model toward the foreground. Use
an Opacity of 70% for this Shadow
2 layer.
Step 11: The reflection is created in

a way similar to the shadows. Make
the Model with Box smart object
layer the active layer, and create
a selection from the model again.
Then press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J)
to copy those pixels to a new layer,
and name it “Reflection.” Move this
layer down beneath the model
layer, and reduce the Opacity
to 66%. Then enter Free Trans-
form, and drag the top-middle
point down below the bottom of
the image to flip the reflection
under the model. Go to Image>
Adjustments>Hue/Saturation, set
the Saturation to –39 and Light-
ness to –55, and click OK.
[ 4 1 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 12: The feet of the reflection

don’t align well with the model.
We’ll correct this with Edit>Puppet
Warp. Click to place a pin on the
foot where the reflection aligns,
then on the knee of that same leg,
then another at the bottom of his
shirt. These pins will anchor those
areas of the grid so they won’t
move. Place another pin on the
back foot and drag it up to meet
the model’s left foot. Continue
adding pins and crafting the reflec-
tion until it aligns with the model.
Click the checkmark in the Options
Bar when done.
Step 13: Blur the reflection with

Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, using a
Radius of 3 Pixels. Click on the Add
Layer Mask icon (circle in a square)
at the bottom of the Layers panel.
Switch to the Gradient tool (G); click
on the gradient preview thumbnail
in the Options Bar to open the Gra-
dient Editor; select the Black, White
preset; and click OK. In the Options
Bar, select the Linear Gradient icon,
and then draw a gradient on the
mask from below the bottom edge
of the document to the top of the
reflection to fade the reflection as it
gets further away from the model.
[ 4 2 ]
Step 14: The elevated pawn should

cast a shadow onto the model. Add
a new layer above the model, name
it “PawnShadow,” and clip it to
the model layer with Layer>Create
Clipping Mask. Set the layer’s blend-
ing mode to Multiply and grab the
Brush tool (B). Use a soft round tip
with the Brush Opacity reduced to
around 20% in the Options Bar.
Hold down the Option (PC: Alt)
key, and click to sample a dark color
from the pawn. Then gently paint in
the shadow on the head, neck, and
arm of the model.
Step 15: At this point, the com-

positing is complete and the scene
could be considered finished. But
the next few steps add some addi-
tional visual sweetness to the overall
piece and are completely optional.
Add a new layer at the top of the
layer stack, and call it “Dodge-
Burn.” Go to Edit>Fill, select 50%
Gray in the Contents drop-down
menu, and click OK. Set the blend-
ing mode to Overlay to render the
gray invisible. Use the Dodge tool
(O) with the Exposure set to 15% in
the Options Bar to create brighter
areas from the image highlights,
and the Burn tool (nested under
the Dodge tool) with the Exposure
set to 15% in the Options Bar to
create deeper shadows.
[ 43 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 16: Go to Layer>New Adjust-

ment Layer>Photo Filter. In the
Properties panel, set to the Filter
drop-down menu to Warming Filter
(85). Using the Gradient tool, add
a linear Black, White gradient on
the layer mask to fade the filter
from left to right. Then add another
Photo Filter set to the Cooling Filter
(80) and fade that filter from right
to left. This gives the great effect
of the two sides of the chess board
being opposite colors, and adds
visual tension to the scene.
[ 4 4 ]
Step 17: Hold down the Option (PC: Alt)

key and go to Layer>Merge Visible to cre-
ate a merged layer at the top of the layer
stack. Change this layer to a smart object
and go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter. In
the Basic tab, set the Exposure to +0.55,
Highlights to +43, Shadows to +3, Clarity
to +29, and Vibrance to +22. In the fx tab,
set the Dehaze to +13 and the Post Crop
Vignetting Amount to –22. Then click OK
and enjoy your scene of a miniature man
playing chess!
The starting images for this scene were

carefully shot to make this project work.
But the techniques can be used to com-
posite almost any set of images together.
The critical aspects of lighting, shadow,
focus, and noise are all key to crafting a
convincing composite. Take the lessons
from this tutorial and craft your own
impossible images. n
ALL IMAGES BY KIRK NELSON [ 45 ]

LESASNIDER
> BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
CHANGING COLORS WITH
ADJUSTMENT LAYERS
Solid Color and Hue/Saturation adjustment layers are incredibly useful for changing the color of an
object. The color change happens on a completely separate layer, plus you can experiment with other
colors simply by double-clicking the adjustment layer’s thumbnail. In this column, you’ll use one of
these handy layers to change lipstick color.
Step One: In Photoshop, choose File>Open and
©Adobe Stock/garneg
navigate to a photo. If you’re starting in Light-
room, select a photo in the Library module and
then choose Photo>Edit In>Adobe Photoshop CC
or press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E).
To obtain the stock image used in this exercise
so you can follow along, download the water-
marked preview from Adobe Stock directly to your
Libraries panel (Window>Libraries) by clicking on
the link for the image below. When the Adobe
Stock web page opens, make sure you’re logged
in to your Adobe account, then to the right of the
image, you’ll see the option to Save Preview to My
Library (you can click on My Library to select a dif-
ferent library or download option). Click on the
cloud-with-an-arrow icon, and the preview image
will automatically be downloaded to your Libraries
panel in Photoshop. Simply double-click the image
in the Libraries panel to open it in Photoshop.
• Perfect natural lip makeup
Zoom in by pressing Command-+ (PC: Ctrl-+),

and then Spacebar-click-and-drag to reposition
the photo so you can see the model’s lips.
Step Two: Grab the Quick Selection tool (circled)

by pressing W. Trot up to the Options Bar and turn
on Auto-Enhance. (If the photo you’re adjusting is
comprised of many layers, turn on Sample All Lay-
ers, too.) Because the Quick Selection tool makes
selections quickly, the edges can end up blocky
and imperfect. Turning on Auto-Enhance tells Pho-
toshop to take its time and think more carefully
about the selection it makes (if only this setting
[ 46 ] existed in real life!).
› › BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
Step Three: Use the Left Bracket

([) and Right Bracket (]) keys on your
keyboard to adjust the brush size
to around 50 pixels for the preview
version of this image, and then drag
across the largest part of the lips to
select them. Decrease your brush size
when you get close to the mouth
corners. As soon as you create an
initial selection with the Quick Selec-
tion tool, it automatically goes into
Add to Selection mode, so there’s no
need to use the Shift key to add to
your selection. If the model’s teeth or
skin end up in the selection, Option-
drag (PC: Alt-drag) across them with
a very small brush to subtract them
from the selection. Don’t worry
about feathering (softening) the
selection just yet!
Step Four
Tip: If the selection goes hay-
wire, you can start over by choosing
Select>Deselect.
Step Four: Click the half-black/

half-white icon at the bottom of
the Layers panel (circled here), and
choose Solid Color. Alternatively,
you can choose Layer>New Fill
Layer>Solid Color.
Step Five: In the Color Picker that

opens, use the vertical rainbow bar
to choose a range of colors, and then
click within the larger square at the
left to tell Photoshop how light or
dark you want the color to be. Click
OK when you’re finished. This fills
the selection with color and adds a
Color Fill layer to your Layers panel.
The Fill layer includes a layer mask
(circled) that’s white inside the area
you selected and black everywhere

else, which lets the new color show
only on the lips (in the realm of
layer masks, black conceals and
white reveals). [ 47 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Six: With the Fill layer active,

trot over to the Layers panel and
choose Soft Light from the blend
mode menu at the upper left (cir-
cled). This maneuver lets the texture
of the photo show through the color
change. Other blend modes to try
include Overlay and Color.
Step Seven: Double-click the Color

Fill layer mask (circled), and in the
Properties panel that opens, drag the
Feather slider (also circled) rightward
to around 5 pixels (use a larger num-
ber, say, 40 pixels, for a high-resolu-
tion photo). This method of feather-
ing is nondestructive; you can change
it at anytime, even after you save
and close the document! [For more
on nondestructive editing, check out
“Stop the Destruction” by Dave Cross
starting on page 70.—ED.]
Tip: If you need to clean up the
mask, click its thumbnail to acti-
vate it, and then use the Brush tool
(B) set to paint with either black or
white, depending on whether you
need to conceal or reveal more pix-
els, respectively.
Step Eight: To experiment with a

different lipstick color, double-click
the Color Fill layer’s thumbnail
(circled here) to reopen the Color
Picker. Pick a different color, and
then click OK.
[ 4 8 ]
› › BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
Step Nine: To tone down the new

color, lower the Opacity setting (cir-
cled) at the upper right of the Layers
panel (75% was used here).
As you can see, this technique works

well for changing the color of lipstick
to other colors that are similar in
brightness and saturation; however,
you can also use a Hue/Saturation
adjustment layer to change the color
of the selected pixels. The benefit of
this method is that you get sliders
for controlling Hue, Saturation, and
Lightness—if you’re trying to match
a specific color, you’ll likely need to
adjust all three. (In that case, you may
also want to add a new layer and fill
it with the exact color you want in
order to use it as a digital reference.)
STEP 10: To give this method a

spin, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click)
the Fill layer’s mask (circled) to load
it as a selection, click the half-black/
half-white circle at the bottom of the
Layers panel (also circled), and then
choose Hue/Saturation.
Step 11: Turn off the visibility Eye to

the left of the Color Fill layer in the
Layers panel and then adjust the slid-
ers in the Properties panel that opens
to produce the color you want.
Here’s a look at the original (far left)

and the two color changes.
Be sure to save your work by choos-

ing File>Save As and pick Photoshop
from the Format drop-down menu.
If you started in Lightroom, the Pho-
toshop document shows up in your
catalog (that is, as long as you kept

Lightroom open while you were in
Photoshop!). Until next time, may
the creative force be with you all. n
[ 49 ]
KRISTINASHERK
> Retouching Magic
NONDESTRUCTIVE EDITING FOR

THE PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER
When I first heard the term “nondestructive editing,” I thought it meant the use of smart objects. But
if you’re retouching portraits, which requires a lot of pixel-based manipulations, smart objects aren’t
really useful. So, what I’d like to talk about in this article is how I apply the concept of nondestructive
editing to my portrait retouching.
Two words: Adjustment layers. These little buggers are the key
to almost all of my retouching. Here’s my Photoshop mantra:
“Ninety percent of retouching can be done by changing the
color or the value (lightness/darkness) of a pixel.” That’s it.
I try not to use Liquify, and very little of the Clone Stamp and
Healing Brush. This is a very important statement, and I try
to live by it.
Why no Clone Stamp or Healing Brush? When you clone
or heal an area of your image, you’re changing the pixels from
their native form. This is destructive editing. And even worse,
if you make these changes on your Background layer, it’s more
destructive since you won’t ever be able to get that original
detail back. This is why the first step in retouching is always to
either duplicate the Background layer, or to create an empty
layer on top of it on which to do your retouching. (Just for the
record, all images will need a tiny bit of cloning and healing, but
just don’t rely on it too heavily. It shouldn’t be the first skill/tool
you pull out of your Photoshop tricks’ pouch.) Instead, ask your-
self, “Can what I’m trying to retouch be fixed by changing its
color or value?” Oftentimes, the answer is yes! Let’s get started.
REMOVING WRINKLES
In this image, the first thing I’d like to do is brighten the areas
under her eyes to lessen the wrinkles. Instead of immediately
pulling out my Clone Stamp tool, let’s see if we can get rid of
the under-eye wrinkles using an adjustment layer.
Step One: First, we’ll create a Color Balance adjustment

layer. You can add adjustment layers in three ways: (1) Click
on the half-black, half-white icon at the bottom of the Layers
panel; (2) go to the Layer>New Adjustment Layer menu; or
(3) click the appropriate icon in the Adjustments panel (Win
dow>Adjustments). Double-click the Color Balance layer’s name
in the Layers panel and rename it “Under Eyes.” Then, change
the layer’s blend mode from Normal to Screen near the top left
of the Layers panel.
[ 5 0 ]
› › RETOUCHING MAGIC
Step Two: Next, change the Under Eyes layer’s mask from white to black
by clicking on the mask thumbnail in the Layers panel and then pressing
Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I). This will hide the effect on the image. Now it’s time
to paint! Use your Brush tool (B) set to white (press X until your Foreground
color is white) to paint any areas under the eyes that need brightening.
My brush settings were 30% Opacity and 30% Flow in the Options Bar.
I used two types of brushes: a large, soft brush for bigger areas that
needed brightening, and then a tiny brush to paint right along the crevices
underneath the eye, brightening just those small, dark lines. (Use the Bracket
keys on your keyboard to quickly change the size of your brush.) Above,
you’ll see the original eye on the left, the mask that I painted in the middle,
and the after eye on the right.
Step Three: Quite an improvement,

right? Lastly, there’s a little bit of a yel-
lowish hue in the areas that we bright-
ened. In order to mitigate that, click on
the icon of the Color Balance adjustment
layer to reveal its settings in the Proper-
ties panel. With the Tone drop-down
menu set to Midtones, drag the Yellow/
Blue slider from 0 to +100.
Keep in mind that each skin tone is
different and will need different Color
Balance changes to match the surround-
ing skin. So when you’re trying this tech-
nique, trust your eye, and change all
three of the color sliders in the Proper-
ties panel to where you think the color
of the treated area best matches the
color of the surrounding skin.
Here’s the final product of the under-
eye lightening. It’s time to pat yourself

on the back: you removed under-eye
circles completely without using the
Clone Stamp or Healing Brush tool!
[ 51 ]
› › HOW TO
DARKENING EYEBROWS AND LASHES on the top, the preview of the mask in the middle, and the
Let’s continue riding this wave’s momentum by filling in the final eyes with the brows and lashes applied on the bottom.
brows and adding lashes to this image, using only a darken-
ing adjustment layer!
Step Four: Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and

change the blend mode from Normal to Multiply. Then let’s
name this layer “Brows and Lashes.” When using the Mul-
tiply blend mode to darken areas of an image, as a rule of
thumb, I like to decrease both the Saturation and Lightness
of the adjustment layer to –50 in the Properties panel.
MAKING CHANGES
So far, we’ve been able to do a lot to fix this image without
even touching any of the destructive tools, which is awesome
news because it means all of the pixels remain pristine and
untouched on our Background layer. And that’s the most
important thing about retouching nondestructively!
And here’s the cherry on top of editing nondestructively:
Let’s say you send this image to the client, and she writes
back saying she absolutely loves the shot, but would like her
eyelashes to stand out more. Because that change is on an
adjustment layer, we can easily go back into Photoshop and
quickly make the edit.
Step One: Simply click on your “Brows and Lashes” layer

and press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate it, which will
make the lashes look twice as dark. This is one of my favorite
things about adjustment layers—they’re compoundable. All
Step Five: Just as before, invert the mask to black to hide you have to do is duplicate them to get double the result!
the effect in the adjustment layer, and paint in white with
the Brush tool. Make sure the radius of the brush matches
the width of the model’s eyebrow hairs (probably between
a 1- and 3-pixel radius), and start to fill in areas of the eye-

brows. I had my brush set to 40% Opacity and 100% Flow.
We’ll finish by doing the same to the other eyebrow.
Next, we’ll add the lashes (my favorite part!). Let’s use
the same brush with a very small radius and paint using
100% Opacity and 100% Flow. Start along the lash line
and make sweeping brushstrokes moving away from the
eye. The resulting brushstrokes should look like lashes. In
the screen grab at the top right, you’ll see the original eyes
[ 5 2 ]
› › RETOUCHING MAGIC
Step Two: Since this also duplicated the work we did on

the brows, we’ll need to fix that since she didn’t ask for
her brows to be darker too. Click on the
layer mask thumbnail of the duplicated
Hue/Saturation layer to make it active,
and then use the Brush tool (B) to paint
with black over the brows (make sure
your brush is set to 100% Opacity and
100% Flow). This will remove the sec-
ond application of the Hue/Saturation
adjustment layer from the brows. If
you’d actually used a pixel layer to cre-
ate the lashes and fill in the brows, the
process of darkening the lashes would
have taken much longer!
Here’s the final before and after
zoomed into the face.
Not only were we able to achieve great results using non- can sometimes make the biggest difference. I think it defi-
destructive editing, but the retouching also looks realistic nitely did in this image! Here’s the final, full-frame before
and natural. It always amazes me how the smallest change and after. n
ALL IMAGES BY KRISTINA SHERK [ 5 3 ]

SCOTTVALENTINE
> Photoshop Proving Ground
TECH PREVIEW: SYMMETRY PAINTING

I love playing with new tools! Photoshop CC 2018 introduced Symmetry Painting as a Technology Preview,
and it’s been a total blast to play with. It allows you to use one or more paths to define a symmetry
boundary—whatever you paint or draw on one side appears on the other side, as if the path were a
mirror. Once you try it, my guess is you’ll get lost playing and creating, just like I did.
Because this feature is a technology preview, you must the Butterfly icon in the Options Bar. This is a drop-down
be using the latest version of Photoshop CC 2018, and menu with several options.
you’ll have to enable it in Most of these should
the Preferences: Photoshop be pretty clear; the sym-
CC (PC: Edit)>Preferences> metry modes create a
Technology Previews. Check path that acts like a mir-
the box labeled “Enable ror along the length of the

Paint Symmetry.” Fortu- path. Many painting and
nately, it won’t require you 3D applications have some-
to relaunch the application, thing similar. What’s unique
so click OK to close the dia- to Photoshop is being able
log, and then press B to load to use curved paths, includ-
the Brush tool. With a new ing paths you define yourself.
document open and a blank With a curved path, you can
layer to paint on, check out achieve some very unusual
[ 5 4 ]
› › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
distortions, something you can’t easily do with standard extreme the curve, or the further away you are, means you
copy/paste/transform techniques. may not intuitively predict the location or shape of a given
stroke’s symmetric reflection. Working closer to the path
yields more easily predicted results.
NOW LET’S GET PAINTING

After you activate the tech preview and choose the Brush
tool (B), you can choose any of the modes from the butterfly
drop-down. When you do, a path is
placed in the center of your canvas,
with transform controls already acti-
vated. You can move, rotate, and
scale the path as you like, then press
Enter to commit the change.
Since this is an actual path, you
can manipulate it either with the
Transform controls or by using the
Path tools. I like to use the Path
Selection and Direct Selection
tools (A) to tweak points as I work.
Straight lines painted on the right side of the Wavy path option
What’s really cool about this is you
can use a simple path on a single
In this example image above, I created straight, vertical layer and build up smaller designs
strokes on the right, and the results are on the left side of rather quickly. In this lettering
the symmetry path. You can see the mapped points (called example (below), I typed the char-
the “translation”) from right to left, showing the distortion acters in a basic font on one layer,
caused by finding the minimum distance across the curved then lowered the Opacity and used
path. There are a couple of interesting things about how Paint Symmetry on a higher layer.
Symmetry Painting works. First, while it can distort the For the A, I placed a single, straight
paint stroke you make, it doesn’t scale or distort the brush path along one edge and painted,
tip. This means you’ll paint with the same size brush no then moved the path to the next
matter what, which limits the ability to use a curved path edge, and so on. For the B, I added
to paint with a kind of perspective—you’ll have to stick a point to the path using the Pen
with Warp and Transform controls for that effect. tool (P) and made it a curve. The
Note: Remember that painting in Photoshop really C was created with a transformed
means laying down a series of marks, which you can see if Circle path, then a short straight
you increase the Spacing slider in the Brush Settings panel path for the bottom serif. The transform controls
on Wavy path
(Window>Brush Settings). Each mark has its own unique
position. Symmetry Painting works by reflecting the position
of each mark on the opposite side of the path, and not just
by copying pixels.
Second, the paths are not straight. See the kinks in what
seem like they should be smooth curves on the left? That has
to do with the way Photoshop finds the minimum perpen-
dicular distance from the painted point through the path.
If math isn’t your strong suit, just keep in mind that the more
[ 5 5 ]
› › COLUMN
THE HIDDEN MODES CREATING MULTIPLE PATHS

There are two “hidden” modes in Symmetry Painting: There’s another trick that I think is totally amazing, and was
Mandala and Radial. Radial creates copies evenly distrib- pointed out by Mike Shaw, Adobe Photoshop Senior Quality
uted and rotated around a circle, like numbers on a clock Engineer. You can copy/transform/paste the symmetry paths
face. Mandala does something similar, but also adds to create multiple simultaneous results. This is best done
another reflection that’s rotated. This image shows the with very small brushes, around 4 px or smaller. To do this,
results of making exactly one mark in the same spot, first start with something simple like a Vertical symmetry path,
using Radial, and then using Mandala (the brush mark is press Enter to commit it, then use the Path Selection tool
highlighted in blue for illustration; symmetry marks use the and click the path on the canvas again. Press Command-
same color with which you paint). Option-T (PC: Ctrl-Alt-T), transform the duplicated path, and
press Enter. To repeat this and create a new copy, now press
Shift-Option-Command-T (PC: Shift-Ctrl-Alt-T). Do this four
or five times and press Enter. Now when you paint, you’ll get
a result for each duplicated path!
Radial
Check out this example below from Mike.
Mike Shaww
Mandala
To enable these hidden modes, start by choosing New

Dual Axis from the Options Bar, and press Enter to com-
mit the path. Then open the Paths panel (Window>Paths)
and find the new path. Double-click the name of the path
and type in “Mandala Symmetry 6” or “Radial Symmetry 6.”
You can actually use any number from 1 to 12, which
changes the number of symmetry results you get. Even
better, you can do this at any time and the change will be
reflected as soon as you start painting again.
[ 5 6 ] Mike’s rose

› › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
And here’s a really complicated piece from Dave Richardson,

an Adobe Community Professional in the UK.
Dave Richardson
Dave’s flamingo
Both of these amazing images use multiple copied paths,

and in Dave’s case, creating building blocks and composit-
ing them together.
My first attempt was a lot simpler. I created some
brushes from tribal and floral ornaments I downloaded
from Adobe Stock, and used those as stamps with Radial
and Mandala symmetries. (The stock images I used were by
KatayaKataya and OnFocus.) To make clean stamps, set
the Spacing option in the Brush Settings panel to 1000%.
I also like to use a Wacom Intuos tablet so I can rotate the
brushes easily.
To get the fill texture, I painted with white on a black
layer, and placed a solid black layer beneath that. Then on
the painted layer, I added a layer mask and filled it with the
Clouds filter (Filter>Render>Clouds). From there, I experi-
mented with various pixelization and distortion filters, then

finished off with a Gradient Map above the painted layer,
using some Photographic Toning presets. You can click here
to watch a video on creating these various snowflakes.
[ 5 7 ]
› › COLUMN
SOME OTHER THINGS TO KNOW is persistent until you close the document, so you’ll
Here are a few things to keep in mind when working have to turn it off when you don’t want to use it.
with Symmetry Painting. • There are also some limitations, such as being lim-
• You can create and save many different symmetry ited to regular brushes only—no live brushes such as
paths in a given document, which allows you to con- mixer or erodible tips. That also means no smudging,
tinue working after closing and reopening a docu- gradients, selections, or additional paths; however,
ment, or to share a custom path to new documents. you can erase using symmetry.
• To activate a saved path, simply select it with the •
Also note that simple paths work best! Complex
Brush tool active, and then go to the Symmetry curves will break down quickly into chaos, and using
Painting drop-down and choose Selected Path. too many duplicate paths with large brushes will
• Transform a path while you’re working by pressing- seriously warm up your processor.
and-holding A to temporarily active the Direct Selec-
tion or Path Selection tool (depending on which tool
Remember that this is still a technology preview, so if
is currently visible in your Toolbar). Move the path
and when this feature becomes standard, it may look
where you want it, release the A key, and then con-
totally different. Until then, get in there and have fun
tinue painting (see the ABC example on page 55).
with it! Create richly illustrated photo borders, stand-
• Hide the symmetry path to make things easier while alone designs, or small elements like buttons and fabric
you’re painting. This option is under the Symmetry patterns for illustrations and compositing. And don’t
Painting icon in the Options Bar. forget about 3D textures! Share your creations on
• A
lso in the options is the ability to toggle symme- the KelbyOne Community forums and social media
try on and off. For a given document, this choice (#kelbyone, #pspg). n
[ 5 8 ] ALL IMAGES BY SCOTT VALENTINE EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

P
Photoshop World
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designers, and people from all over who use Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps come to leave the world behind
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about losing yourself in a flood of new ideas, new techniques, and new, faster, better ways to do things.
Photoshop World is jam-packed with hands-on training, fun events, networking, and opportunities to interact and
meet the best instructors in the photography and design community. With six specialized tracks each day and
over 100 classes and live shoots, we have the right training for you, regardless of your skill level. Photoshop
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World 2018 will be held in the Hyatt Regency Orlando, Convention Level from May 31 - June 2 . We
guarantee this is the most fun you’ll have learning, but don’t take our word for it. Visit photoshopworld.com
to see what our attendees have to say.
Three Days of Non-stop Photoshop,

Lightroom and Photography Training
Wed. May 30 th | In-Depth Workshops (separate registration & fee required),
Meet-Up, and First Time Attendees Orientation
Thurs. May 31st | Keynote, Classes, Portfolio Reviews, Partner Pavilion, Get Ready to Go Pro,
Dinner with a Stranger, and After-Hours Party
Fri. June 1st | Classes, Photo Shootout, Live Natural Light Shoots, Partner Pavilion,
Midnight Madness, and An Evening with Jeremy Cowart, and 10 Things Luminar Can Add to Your Lightroom/Photoshop Workflow
Sat. June 2nd | Classes, Guru Awards & Wrap-Up Ceremony
View all the Photoshop World 2018 highlights

at photoshopworld.com/events
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Instructors
Get Ready to Learn From the Best
We all know the difference a great teacher can make and that’s why only the world’s best instructors are invited
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tricks. Best of all, we’ve made sure to include time for you to interact with them after each class and at events.
Don’t miss out on your chance to meet your favorite photography/Photoshop/Lightroom instructor.
Scott Kelby Joe McNally Peter Hurley Jeremy Cowart Moose Peterson
Matt Kloskowski Roberto Valenzuela Glyn Dewis Dave Black Kalyee Greer
Tim Wallace Serge Ramelli Terry White Kristina Sherk Rob Sylvan
View all the Photoshop World 2018 instructors

at photoshopworld.com/instructors
Instructors, classes, and class materials may change without prior notice. Visit www.Photoshopworld.com for the latest schedule and information
After-Hours Party
Midnight Madness
Keynote Address
In-Depth Workshops
Guru Awards Live Natural Light Shoots

Customize Your Learning Experience
With six specialized tracks each day and over 100 classes and live shoots, we have the right training for you, regard-
less of your skill level. Create you own custom training experience by following one specific track each day or skipping
between multiple tracks. We have color-coded each track for easy identification so that you can spend more time
learning and less time roaming the halls.
IN-DEPTH WORKSHOPS (05.30.18) SCHEDULE
Come the day before the conference kicks off for our optional in-depth pre-conference workshops. These intensive
workshops provide a deep dive into the topics you want to learn most with small class sizes, live shoots, and hands-
on training. Pre-purchase is advised.
Photo Safari | Moose Peterson Characters on Location | Joe McNally
Photoshop Essentials for Beginners | Dave Cross Cityscape Retouching: A Live Shoot | Serge Ramelli
Photograph Like a Thief: From Concept to Print Train your Eye to SEE and CREATE
& Everything Between | Glyn Dewis Better Poses | Lindsay Adler
Building Your Portfolio | Stella Kramer Lightpainting | Dave Black
Pro Techniques for Lighting Automobiles! Overcoming The Challenges of Location Shoots
A Live Shoot | Tim Wallace Frank Doorhof
View the entire Photoshop World 2018 workshops' schedule

at photoshopworld.com/workshops
DAY 1 (05.31.18) SCHEDULE
Moose
Peterson
Modern Day Wildlife Photography | Photography
Rick
Sammon
Adding Impact to In-Camera Images | Photoshop Effects
12:00pm-1:00pm
Dave
Cross
Selections & Masks Demystified | Photoshop Essentials
Jesús
Ramirez
Mastering Photoshop Blending Modes | Graphic Design
Tim
Wallace
Stock Photography: How to Shoot It & Sell It | Business/Career
Matt
Luminosity Mask Basics in Lightroom & Photoshop | Lightroom
Kloskowski
Lindsay
Adler
High Impact Images: Create Photos that WOW | Photography
Glyn
Dewis
Photoshop Lighting Effects for Photographers | Photoshop Effects
4:00pm -5:00pm
Bryan O’Neal
Hughes
A Modern Photo Restoration | Photoshop Essentials
Dave
Cross
Intro to Illustrator | Graphic Design
Stella
Kramer
50 Things You Need to Know to Succeed, Part 1 | Business/Career
Scott
Kelby
Simplified Lightroom (Classic) Image Management System | Lightroom
Peter The Art Behind the Headshot–Top 10 Tips | Photography

Hurley
Matt Photo Styling with Photoshop Color Lookup Tables | Photoshop Effects
Kloskowski
5:15pm -6:15pm
Mark Digital Darkroom Essentials: Landscape | Photoshop Essentials

Heaps
Dave Getting Started with InDesign | Graphic Design

Clayton
Stella 50 Things You Need to Know to Succeed, Part 2 | Business/Career

Kramer
Julieanne Using Lightroom with Photoshop: When & Why? | Lightroom

Kost
Kim Griffen | PSW Guru Winner

Kaylee
Greer The Secrets to Creating the Best Dog Photos | Photography
Dave
Black SPORTS Action High Speed Sync FLASH | Lighting/Flash
8:00am- 9:00am
Mark
Heaps Digital Color & Tone Fundamentals | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Dave
Cross The Power of Using Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign Together | Graphic Design
Lindsay
Adler Plan, Shoot & Publish a Fashion Editorial | Motivation/Inspiration
Matt
Kloskowski Lightroom Mobile: Landscape & Travel Photographers | Lightroom
Peter
Hurley Top 10 Headshot Blunders | Photography
Lindsay
Adler Portraiture as a Work of Art: A Live Shoot | Lighting/Flash
9:15am -10:15am
Julieanne
Kost Advanced Photoshop Tips & Tricks | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Corey
Barker Improv Photoshop & Illustrator Hour | Graphic Design
Kaylee
Greer Live Your Dream Career! | Motivation/Inspiration
Serge
Ramelli Cityscape Master Class | Lightroom
Tracy Creative Newborns: Posing, Styling & Workflow | Photography

Sweeney
Frank Creating Magic with Less: A Live Shoot | Lighting/Flash

Doorhof
10:30am -11:30am
Lindsay Color Grading: For Mood & Impact | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Adler
Dave The Power of Photoshop Presets | Graphic Design

Cross
Tim ‘Dude Nobody Sees My Work’ | Motivation/Inspiration

Wallace
Rob Lightroom Mobile: Creating Your Own Looks | Lightroom

Sylvan
View the entire Photoshop World 2018 schedule

at photoshopworld.com/schedule
Sean Ferguson | PSW Guru Finalist
Dave
Black The Right Stuff: A Sports Shooters Guide | Photography
Glyn
Dewis Portrait Lighting is Easy, Trust Me! | Lighting/Flash
3:00pm -4:00pm
Kristina
Sherk The Art of Magazine—Quality Skin Retouching | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Scott
Kelby How to Design Really Effective Ads! | Graphic Design
Tracy
Sweeney The Joyful Photographer: Run a Successful Child Photography Business | Motivation/Inspiration
Serge
Ramelli Black & White: Today & Yesterday | Lightroom
Moose
Peterson
Landscape Photography: Beyond Sticks & Stumps | Photography
Dave
Black
Lightpainting: Fun in the Dark | Lighting/Flash
4:15pm -5:15pm
Jesús
Ramirez
Making Realistic Composites in Photoshop | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Terry
White
Create & Update Your Portfolio with Adobe CC | Graphic Design
Joe
McNally
A Year in the Life of a Photographer | Motivation/Inspiration
Kristina
Sherk
Everyday Portrait Retouching in Lightroom | Lightroom
Moose Airshows: Get Beyond the Crowd Shot | Photography

Peterson
Joe Mixing it Up with Radio TTL - Big & Small Flash Together | Lighting/Flash
McNally
5:30pm -6:30pm
Corey Retro Down & Dirty Tricks | Photoshop Advanced Techniques

Barker
Dave Get Inspired by Graphic Design | Graphic Design

Clayton
Julieanne Creative Practice: The Tortoise & The Hare | Motivation/Inspiration

Kost
Rob Lightroom’s Client Proofing & Sharing Online | Lightroom

Sylvan
Attend conference sessions in any track and move between them as you like. Instructors, classes, and class materials may change without prior notice.
Visit www.Photoshopworld.com for the latest schedule and information.
Glyn
Photoshop Power Hour | Photoshop for Photographers
Dewis
Corey
Creating 3D Composites in Photoshop | Photoshop Compositing
Barker
9:15am -10:15am
Moose
Luminar: Filling the Void of Nik | Software/Plug-ins
Peterson
Dave
Illustrator Tips & Tricks | Graphic Design
Cross
Justin
DSLR Video Basics | Video for Photographers
Wojtczak
Terry
Lightroom: Beyond Image Management | Lightroom
White
Rick
Sammon Tricks & Fixes to Make Photoshop Fun | Photoshop for Photographers
Glyn
Dewis Compositing: Don't Get Stuck, Get Creating! | Photoshop Compositing
10:30am -11:30am
Kristina
Sherk Batch Portrait Retouching with Perfectly Clear V3 & Lightroom | Software/Plug-ins
Dave
Clayton Ten Tips & Tricks for InDesign | Graphic Design
Justin
Wojtczak Increase Your Photography Sales with Video | Video for Photographers
Scott
Kelby Making Awesome Prints in Lightroom Classic | Lightroom
Don Clark | PSW Guru Winner
Glyn
Dewis A Complete Photographer's Guide to Photoshop | Photoshop for Photographers
Tim
Wallace Compositing Techniques | Photoshop Compositing
1:00pm -2:00pm
Matt
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If you’ve been around the Photoshop world for even
a short time, it’s likely that you’ve heard the term
“nondestructive,” as in “nondestructive workflow”
or “working nondestructively.” In principle,
this means to do things in a way where the
result isn’t permanent (a.k.a. destructive)
and can be edited later in various ways.
Some people tell me that they never

change their minds, and that’s why they
don’t worry about using these methods,
while others ask why they should bother
working this way. There are some very
important reasons to consider using
nondestructive techniques, well beyond
changing your mind. We’ll look at those
first, followed by some key techniques
for working nondestructively.
By Dave Cross
ACCURACY: LAYER ADJUSTMENTS
By using techniques such as adjustment layers or to the red color in the Properties panel, I deliberately
Camera Raw smart objects, you can take advantage of make a drastic adjustment, picking a setting such as this
their editability by deliberately overdoing an effect so over-the-top blue.
it’s easier to create a mask, and then pulling back the Once this adjustment is made—based on my initial
effect when you’re finished masking. This method is selection—I can now continue to tweak the mask to
great for compositing, selectively adjusting an image, make sure there are no red areas visible on the bridge
and much more. or in the water reflection. Using the Polygonal Lasso
Here’s a simple example, where I want to make a tool (press Shift-L until you see the Lasso tool with
subtle adjustment to the red of the covered bridge. straight lines and corners), I selected any remaining
red areas along the bridge and filled the mask with
white (press X until your Foreground color is white,
then press Option-Delete [PC: Alt-Backspace]). I used
a soft brush set to a slightly lower Opacity in the
Options Bar to paint in the water reflection.
A method that I see many people use is to add a

Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjust-
ment Layer>Hue/Saturation), make the adjustments
in the Properties panel, press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I)
to invert the mask to black to hide the effect on the
entire image, and paint on the mask with the Brush Once you’re satisfied with the mask, head back to
tool (B) set to white to indicate where they want the the Hue/Saturation controls in the Properties panel
effect to be visible. Trouble is, the change is so subtle and make the actual subtle change that you want.
that it becomes challenging to work with the mask.
Instead, think about “ending up” with the adjust-
ment you want. In this example, I started with a basic
selection of the red areas, without worrying too much
about accuracy. Then when I add the Hue/Saturation
adjustment layer, it automatically creates a mask based
on my selection. Now, instead of making a subtle change
I use this method all the time: Make a temporary

over-adjustment so that it’s really easy to make an
accurate mask, and then put the adjustment to its final
settings. This is so much easier than attempting to

paint on a mask when the subtle change you’re trying
to apply makes it hard to tell whether you have every-
thing masked or not.
[ 7 1 ]
ACCURACY: CAMERA RAW SMART OBJECTS
You can use a similar method with Camera Raw smart Here’s an example of how to take advantage of
objects. With the click of a checkbox you can create Camera Raw smart objects when compositing two files.
a link between Camera Raw and Photoshop. This I’ve shot a portrait of a soccer player, deliberately mak-
opens all kinds of interesting possibilities, with the ing it dramatically dark. I open it as a Camera Raw smart
ongoing ability to (in effect) apply Camera Raw set- object and drag it onto a background image, which is
tings within Photoshop. also a Camera Raw smart object. It’s going to be difficult
By default, the option to create Camera Raw smart to select and mask the player because it’s hard to see
objects is turned off, which means that when you fin- where his hair ends and the background begins.
ish applying settings in Camera Raw and click Open
Image, the file is opened in Photoshop with a standard
Background layer. There’s no further ability to work
with Camera Raw (I like to think of it as a one-way
street from Camera Raw to Photoshop). Although it’s
nice to start in Camera Raw and continue in Photoshop, After sizing the soccer player, I double-click on the
I’d much rather have a two-way street back and forth thumbnail to return to Camera Raw, where I make a
between Camera Raw and Photoshop. temporary over-adjustment with one goal in mind: to
To turn on the option to create Camera Raw smart make it easier to make the selection. After clicking OK, I
objects, you have to open a RAW file in Camera Raw, use standard selection techniques and add a layer mask.
then click on the Workflow Options (the “link” at the
bottom of the Camera Raw window), and in the result-
ing dialog, check Open in Photoshop as Smart Objects.
Imagine this option says, “From now on, open all RAW
files in Photoshop as Smart Objects” since this is a pref-
erence that will affect all RAW files.
Once the layer mask looks good, I double-click on

the Camera Raw smart object to return to Camera Raw
and adjust the photo the way I want. After clicking OK,
the photo updates. And since the photo of the soccer
field is also a Camera Raw smart object, I can tweak it
in Camera Raw as well.
[ 72 ]
One of my mantras when working with Photoshop and tweak the results. It’s much faster than starting
is always to think, “end up with…,” as in “I want to from scratch every time.
end up with a subtle change in the red bridge.” This For instance, say I want to add a vignette effect to
helps me to remember that it’s often much easier to a photo in a way that can easily be applied to other
overdo an adjustment at first to make my life easier, photos. Here are the steps I’d take to create the effect,
and then put the settings back at the end. with repurposing in mind.
CREATIVITY Step One: Add a Curves adjustment layer (Layer>New

I often hear people say that they’re reluctant to experi- Adjustment Layer>Curves), and in the Properties panel,
ment in Photoshop in case they make a mistake that drag down the top-right anchor point (circled here) to
they can’t get out of. My response, “Then don’t paint darken the photo.
yourself into a corner and feel like you can’t try things
and see what happens. Use nondestructive methods
such as smart filters and lots of layers to let you go
down a path of experimentation, knowing that you
can get back to square one without any worries.”
EFFICIENCY
Here’s an often-overlooked advantage of working
nondestructively: almost all these techniques can easily
be reused and repurposed. Just drag-and-drop a smart
filter or adjustment layer onto another layer or image
THE PROBLEM WITH

THE HISTORY PANEL Step Two: Using the Rectangular Marquee tool (M),
Some people rely on the History panel make a selection of the majority of the image. Press X
and/or History Brush as a means of changing until the Foreground color is black, and press Option-
their minds. There are a couple of problems Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with
with relying on the History panel: black on the mask. What this does is mask the effects
of the adjustment layer in the middle of the image,
1. H
istory is only active and available creating a dark frame around the outer edges. Press
while the document is open. Once Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect. The edge isn’t
you close the document, the next very soft yet, but we’ll fix that next.
time you open it, the history is gone.
2. H
istory is very linear: When you use
the Step Backward command (under
the Edit menu) you’re working your
way backward through History, one
step at a time. That makes it very
difficult to do things like edit a filter
that you did six steps ago.
That’s why I recommend that you don’t get

in the habit of using the History panel as
your main source for changing your mind
or experimenting.
[ 73 ]
Step Three: To create an editable soft edge on the FLEXIBILITY
mask, go to the Properties panel and click the second Yes, having the option to change your mind is impor-
icon at the top to switch to the Masks settings. Drag tant, but again, it’s not the only reason for working
the Feather slider to the right to make the edge softer, nondestructively. When people think of these tech-
and since there’s no OK button, you can go back and niques only as a way to ensure that they can change
edit this setting at any time. You can then click back their minds at any time, they’re missing out on some
on the first icon at the top of the Properties panel to great opportunities for productivity and creativity.
change the Curve settings to make the vignette lighter Having said that, the flexibility you gain using nonde-
or darker. structive techniques is definitely an important reason
to work in this way.
BONUS: REVERSE ENGINEERING

Have you ever achieved an end result that you loved—
in large part through experimentation and “playing,”
and then later you can’t remember how you did it? If
you’d built the document using nondestructive meth-
ods—layers, adjustment layers, smart objects, and
smart filters—you should be able to reverse-engineer
the image to figure out how you achieved that result.
This assumes that your document includes these edit-
able methods and that you saved a version of the file in
PSD format. And of course, you could repurpose adjust-
ments and filters that were applied nondestructively.
KEY TECHNIQUES
Step Four: To achieve the same look on another photo, ADJUSTMENT LAYERS
it’s as easy as drag-and-drop: Hold the Shift key and Whenever you decide to apply an adjustment in Photo-
drag the adjustment layer from the Layers panel to shop, you can do so using either the Image>Adjustments
another open photo. Adding the Shift key centers the menu, or Layer>New Adjustment Layer menu. The big-
adjustment layer in the new photo. It’s quite possible gest difference between the two methods is the OK
that the settings won’t be perfect, but it’s a simple button. Say what? Here’s the problem with OK buttons,
matter to edit any part of this effect. You can change using Levels as an example:
the Curves setting to make the edge lighter or darker,
adjust the Feather setting to change the softness of First, go to the Image>Adjustments menu to access
the edge, and you can use Free Transform (Command- the Levels command. After moving the triangles to
T [PC: Ctrl-T]) to alter the size of the shape on the mask. make an adjustment, you have to click OK to apply
the adjustment.
[ 74 ]
The problem here is, unless you undo the adjustment
right away, if you attempt to make further adjustments 1
(or correct a poor adjustment), the Levels dialog will
look like this.
2
Perhaps Adobe could make it a little more obvious
that it’s going to be extremely difficult to make any
further adjustment to this kind of histogram by making
the dialog look like this.
There are two other advantages of using adjustment
layers: they automatically come with a layer mask
(more on that next) and, as mentioned earlier, they can
easily be applied to other photos.
LAYER MASKS
In my opinion, there are two bad words when it comes
to working nondestructively: erase and delete. If you
erase or delete pixels, they’re gone, unless you undo
right away. A layer mask gives you the opportunity
to hide pixels instead of deleting them and, because
the pixels are hidden, they can always be shown again
Instead, choose Levels from the Create New Adjust- should you need them.
ment Layer icon (half-black, half-white circle) at the To compare the difference, we’ll start with a photo
bottom of the Layers panel (or using Layer>New and a type layer.
Adjustment Layer>Levels, or the Adjustments panel).
©Adobe Stock/Masson
There are two important differences (and advantages)

when using an adjustment layer:
1. Instead of a floating dialog that covers up part of

your image, the settings appear in the Properties
panel off to the side, typically above the Layers
panel. At the top right, I’ve made an adjustment,
but since I can’t click OK in the Properties panel,
I just leave things where they are.
2.
The adjustment layer appears above the Back-
ground layer in the Layers panel, and as long as

you save the file as a PSD you can always come In order to make it look like the type is behind the
back and edit the adjustment—the histogram camera, one option would be to rasterize the type
never updates. layer (Type>Rasterize Type Layer) and use the Eraser
[ 7 5 ]
tool (E) to delete the unwanted pixels and create the my Foreground color was black, and pressed Option-
effect you want. Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selection with
black, creating a result that looks pretty much the
same as the erased example.
But if you decide to do further edits, you can run

into problems. Here I tried to move the text up, but
because I erased some pixels, those pixels are gone.
The advantage of this method is that we can con-

tinue to edit both the mask and the type layer. By
default, the layer and the mask are linked together,
as indicated by the chain symbol between the two
thumbnails, which means that when you move the
layer, the mask moves with it. Much of the time that
makes sense, but sometimes you want the mask to
stay in place while you move the layer. In this case, it
wouldn’t make sense for the mask to move with the
text so, in order to move them independently, the link
The only option would be to start over again with needs to be turned off. Just click on the chain symbol
a new type layer, unless you had enough Step Back- to unlink the layer and its mask.
wards available. And of course, if you’d saved and
closed the document, the ability to Step Backward
would be unavailable.
So this method used two techniques that are very
destructive: rasterizing the type so it’s not editable, Now the text layer can be moved while the mask
and erasing pixels. stays put. And the type can still be edited.
Instead, let’s do this by using a layer mask. With the
type layer active in the Layers panel, click on the Add
Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of
the Layers panel, or go to Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal

All. The mask thumbnail appears beside the layer, ini-
tially filled with white.
When the mask is white, all the pixels on the layer
are visible. In order to hide portions of the layer, you
need to add black paint to the mask. You can do this
either by painting with the Brush tool (B), or by mak-
ing a selection and filling it with black. In this exam-
ple, I made a selection of the camera, pressed X until
[ 76 ]
THE ENEMIES OF A
NONDESTRUCTIVE WORKFLOW
• R
asterize turns editable info, such as text,
into uneditable pixels.
• Delete permanently removes pixels.
• Erase permanently removes pixels.
• Merge combines two or more layers into

one and removes your ability to edit or
change those layers independently.
• Flatten turns multiple layers into only

one layer, which is about as permanent After applying the filter as a smart filter, you can:
a change as you can make. Instead, save
a flattened copy, as well as a PSD to pre- 1. Double-click its name in the Layers panel to edit
serve all the layers. the filter settings.
2. Hide the effects of the filter by clicking off its

Eye icon.
When it comes to masks, many people like to say,
3. Drag to change the order of multiple filters.
“black conceals, white reveals.” Personally, I don’t worry
about the rhyming part and just think, “black hides, 4. Double-click on the Blending Options icon to the
white shows.” Oh, and any shade of gray between right of its name in the Layers panel to change
black and white can be considered as “kinda,” as in the blend mode and Opacity of the filter.
kinda hidden, kinda visible.
SMART FILTERS
Remember when we talked about making adjustments
and the disadvantage of the OK button? The same
thing applies with filters: using filters in the traditional
way (i.e., not smart filters), you have to click OK at
some point, making the results pretty permanent. Of
course, you could undo the filter right away, but what
happens if you’ve done eight more steps or closed the
document and then want to change the filter settings?
Some people suggest duplicating the Background
layer before applying a filter. Although that works
because it protects the original image, it still doesn’t
mean that you can edit the settings—or remind your- 5. Delete a filter by Right-clicking on the filter in
self later what settings you used. In contrast (as we’ll the Layers panel and choosing Delete Smart Filter.
see), a smart filter appears in the Layers panel, allow-
6. Paint on the Smart Filters mask to hide the effects
ing you to see and edit the settings.
of the filter in specific areas.
It’s simple to create a smart filter: you just have to
turn the layer into a smart object first. You can either
choose Filter>Convert for Smart Filters or Right-click
on the layer and choose Convert to Smart Object.

Apply one or more filters and they appear in the
Layers panel and can easily be edited, changed, or
removed completely.
[ 7 7 ]
SMART OBJECT INSTEAD OF STAMP VISIBLE
For many years, people have used a command that’s referred to as
Stamp Visible to make a new layer that combines all the existing
layers. The idea was to make a “flattened” layer to work on, while
preserving all the underlying layers. A problem occurs if you need to
make any changes to the underlying layers, because when you use
the Stamp Visible shortcut (Shift-Command-Option-E [PC: Shift-Ctrl-
Alt-E]), the new layer is created at that moment in time. This means
that if you update any of the underlying layers, the merged copy will
not update, as there’s no ongoing connection between the merged
layer and the original.
Instead, select all the layers in the Layers panel and use Layer>Smart
Objects>Convert to Smart Object. It looks like you’ve flattened the
image, but the small icon on the layer thumbnail indicates that this is a
smart object.
At any time, you can double-click on the smart object to edit the
original layers (the contents), and as soon as you save the contents file,
the smart object will update.
As long as you save the file as a PSD file, you’ll always should avoid it—is that you can no longer edit the text.
be able to see and edit the settings for the smart Fortunately, this very same warning dialog also has a
filter(s) in the document. button for converting the layer to a smart object.
Another advantage of smart filters is when you’re So convert the type layer(s) to a smart object and
working with text. Without smart filters, if you tried then apply the filter. In this example, a Filter>Blur>
to apply a filter to a type layer, you’d get a warning Motion Blur was applied and the filter Blending
dialog prompting you to rasterize the text. As we Options were used to lower the Opacity of the smart
saw, the problem with rasterizing—and why you filter. If you need to edit the text, double-click the
smart object thumbnail to open the text in a tempo-
rary document. Make your changes, and then save
and close the document.
The final piece of the puzzle

is to save your document in
PSD format. This will preserve
all the non destructive tech-
niques you’ve used including
layers, masks, adjustment
layers, type layers, smart
objects, and smart filters.
By preserving and using

nondestructive techniques,
you can improve your accu-
racy, creativity, efficiency,
and flexibility. n
[ 78 ] ALL PHOTOS BY DAVE CROSS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

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DAVECLAYTON
> Designing in Photoshop
EIGHTEEN PHOTOSHOP TIPS FOR 2018

Back in October 2017, Adobe announced the shiny new Adobe Photoshop CC 2018. In this issue, we’re
going to look at some little gems I’ve discovered since using the new version. I absolutely love Photo-
shop; there’s pretty much nothing I can’t do creatively in this app, and when I find new things, it just
makes being creative that much more fun! Sometimes it’s good to take stock of these tips and make
a note of them. The quicker you can move around Photoshop, the more creative you can be. So let’s
jump in and have a look at 18 of my favorite tips for 2018!
PEN TOOL #1
Whether you love or hate the Pen tool (P), it’s now easier to
make changes to its behavior in Photoshop. When you start
drawing a path around your subject (a robot in this exam-
ple), sometimes the path may be too thin against the object,
and you’d like the path to be a little thicker. Just go up to
the gear icon in the Options Bar and change the Thickness, checkbox, click OK, and you’re ready to dodge and burn to
and while you’re there, you can change the Color as well. your heart’s content on your new layer. You’ll see a gray
layer in your Layers panel, but the Soft Light mode renders
©Adobe Stock/charles taylor
it invisible in the document. Paint with black to burn, and

white to dodge.
DIRECT SELECTION TOOL

When you’re using the Direct Selection tool (nested under
the Path Selection tool [A] in the Toolbar) to manipulate a
path, you can easily add and delete anchor points from the
path without switching to the Add Anchor Point or Delete
Anchor Point tools in the Toolbar. Just Right-click on the
path for a contextual menu where you can add or delete an
anchor point depending on whether you clicked on the path
or an existing point, respectively.
DODGE & BURN QUICKIE

A popular dodge-and-burn technique is to add a new layer,
fill it with 50% gray, change its blend mode to Soft Light,
and then start dodging and burning with the Brush tool. We
can reduce those steps quite easily. Hold the Option (PC: Alt)
key when clicking on the Create a New Layer icon at the bot-
tom of the Layers panel. A New Layer dialog appears where
you can change your blend Mode to Soft Light (best for
dodge and burn), which reveals a checkbox to automatically
[ 8 0 ] Fill with Soft-Light-Neutral Color (50% Gray). Click on that
› › DESIGNING IN PHOTOSHOP
COLOR IN CC LIBRARIES LAYERS PANEL OPTIONS

In Photoshop, we have various options for changing the When you add any kind of effect to a layer, such as a layer
color of items on the page, including the Swatches and style or smart filter, the layer automatically expands in the
Color panels. But one thing I love about Creative Cloud is Layers panel to show the effect you just added. That’s okay if
the CC Libraries. Rather than create swatch libraries in the you only have a few layers, but what if you have a great big
Swatches panel, I often create a color library in a CC Libraries old stack? Well, you can turn the auto-expand feature off.
folder. And you can do this too! Just click the flyout menu at the top right of the Layers panel
From the drop-down menu at the top of the Libraries and choose Panel Options. At the bottom of the Layers Panel
panel (Window>Libraries), select Create a New Library. Give Options dialog, uncheck the option to Expand New Effects,
it a name and click Create. With the Eyedropper tool (I), click and click OK. If you want to see your effects stack, just click
on a color in your image to sample it as the Foreground the small arrow to the right of the fx label for layer styles or
color. Then, click on the small plus icon at the bottom left of double circle for smart filters.
the Libraries panel. Uncheck all of the options except Fore-
ground Color, and click Add. In this example, we clicked on
each color of the robot we wanted to add to the library,
clicked the plus icon, and then clicked Add. Once we have
our selection of colors, this becomes our swatch.
Why do this, you ask? Good question! Now when we
jump into InDesign or Illustrator we have access to those
colors from that library as well. Another bonus is that we
only have to have the type layer active in the Layers panel to
change the color of the text; we don’t have to select the text
with the Type tool to change its color, as with the Swatches
or Color panels.
In this project, we added some type, “Mr Robotic,” and
with the text layer active, we just clicked on one of the colors
in the Libraries panel to change the text. The same applies
for shapes. Just remember, some tips need some setting up SPRING-LOADED KEYS
first, but then you’re good to go! Oftentimes, when you’re working with a tool, you need to
jump temporarily to another tool. Say I’m doing some dodg-
©Adobe Stock/charles taylor
ing on my robot image, and I want to quickly rotate the

image to a better angle to continue. I just need to press-
and-hold the R key, and it jumps to the Rotate tool where I
can click-and-drag to rotate the canvas. When I release the
mouse button, and then the R key, it goes right back to the
Dodge tool. These are called “spring-loaded keys.” You can
use most tools’ regular keyboard shortcuts for this.
Bonus Tip: If you’ve used the Rotate tool and want to
quickly reset the image back to its original position, just click
the Reset View button in the Options Bar. You can also type in
a value in the Rotation Angle field to rotate to a specific angle.
[ 81 ]
› › HOW TO
SHAPES—DUPLICATE AND TRANSFORM hold the Option (PC: Alt), key it slows way down to 0.10%
If you want to make a complex shape from an existing increments. You only see the decimal points in certain cases;
shape, and if there’s any kind of repeat required, you don’t for example, changing the size of text.
want to be eyeballing it. Say we want to add a retro kind of
star shape to our robot image. First, we need to create the CAMERA RAW SHARPEN
basic shape we want to use to build the final shape, so grab You’ve probably seen lots of sharpening tips in Photoshop
the Ellipse tool (nested in the Shape tools [U] in the Toolbar), but here’s one I saw recently involving the Camera Raw Filter
make sure it’s set to Shape in the Options Bar, and select that I’ve started to use more. With your image in Photoshop,
the Foreground color you want the shape to be. Draw out go up to Filter>Camera Raw Filter and click on the tab with
a long, thin ellipse, and then switch to the Move tool (V). double triangles to switch to the Detail panel. We’ll zoom in
Press Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free Transform, and to 100% to see our little robot face up close.
in the Options Bar, rotate this shape by 10° and commit the Hold the Option (PC: Alt) key when dragging the
change by clicking the checkmark. Amount slider to make the image black-and-white so that
We want to repeat this shape to make our funky star, you can see the sharpening effect a lot better without the
which means it’s finger-twister time. Press Shift-Option- color getting in the way.
Command-T (PC: Shift-Alt-Ctrl-T). This will duplicate the Now you can do the same with Radius; this time the image
shape and repeat the 10° transformation. Keep pressing will turn gray, and you’ll only see the effect that the Radius is
that keyboard shortcut until you have your star. Bada bing, having on the edges of the image. The same will happen with
bada boom! Detail to ensure you don’t go too far on the detail. Finally,
with Masking, this shows the mask being created so you can
see what’s being sharpened and what’s not.
COPY THAT, ROGER

We just created a wonderful shape in the previous tip, but
it created multiple layers named “Ellipse 1 copy,” “Ellipse
1 copy 2,” “Ellipse 1 copy 3,” etc. Sometimes we may
not want the word “copy” in the duplicated layer’s name,
and we can stop this from happening. Click on the flyout
menu at the top right of the Layers panel, and choose Panel
Options. In the dialog, uncheck the Add “copy” to Copied
Layers and Groups, and shazam!, the word “copy” won’t
appear anymore; you’ll just have multiple layers with the SAVE A LAYER ADJUSTMENT PRESET
same name. Quite often when we’re working in Photoshop and we cre-
ate an adjustment layer, we may want to apply the same

SCRUBBY SLIDERS effect to a bunch of similar images by way of a preset. On
Sometimes when you’re working with a setting that uses our robot image, let’s make a new adjustment layer by going
scrubby sliders, it can be difficult to be accurate because the to the Adjustments panel (Window>Adjustments) and click-
value changes so quickly. Well here are two quick ways to ing on the Curves icon. In the Properties panel, we adjusted
control the speed when using scrubby sliders. (Just in case the Curve to get a nice vibrant look. When you’re happy
you don’t know, a scrubby slider is when you click-and-drag with the look, go to the flyout menu at the top right of the
on the name of a field to change its value.) Properties panel, select Save Curves Preset, name your pre-
When using a scrubby slider, hold down the Shift key set, and click OK (we named ours “hi-vibrance curve.”) Next
[ 8 2 ] to change the values even faster in 10% increments. If you time you add a Curves adjustment layer, you can select your
› › DESIGNING IN PHOTOSHOP
saved preset from the Preset drop-down menu. This works PREFERENCE TIPS
for about half of the available adjustment layers. These are just three little things I always set in my Prefer-
ences that I prefer when working in Photoshop.
1. Cursors: I like to turn on Show Crosshair in Brush
Tip so that when I’m painting along a specific place,
I can use the crosshair to be more accurate.
2. Tools: Zoom with Scroll Wheel—This won’t work
with everyone’s mouse (the Wacom Police are now
running around and screaming) but with my Apple
Magic Mouse, I like to use the scroll function to zoom
in and out of images.
3. Transparency & Gamut: This isn’t really a must-
have, just a tip to change something we all take as
BO-SELECTOR!
standard. When you have transparency in Photoshop,
This is one that always catches me out and I should know
it’s always represented by gray and white squares. But
better! While dragging out a selection with the Rectangu-
if you’re a colorful little person and don’t like dull gray,
lar or Elliptical Marquee tools, hold down the Spacebar and
you can change this. Just select one of the presets from
then you can move the selection around the screen. Release
the Grid Colors drop-down menu, or click on the color
the Spacebar to continue drawing your selection. I’ve forgot-
swatches to create your own custom colors.
ten this little trick more often than I care to admit, and gone
back to making a new selection. The same applies when
FETCH THAT FILE (MAC)
creating a shape: Hold the Spacebar down while drawing
When you have several files open in Photoshop and you
the shape to reposition it. Simple but smart, like myself. ;)
need to quickly know where one file is currently saved, you
don’t have to do anything more complicated than Right-
POINT TO PARAGRAPH TEXT AND BACK AGAIN
click on the image tab and choose Reveal in Finder, which
This is a tip I’ve covered before but it’s still a good one to
will open a Finder window, revealing its location.
remember when using type. When you add type to an
image, you usually click once with the Type tool and start
THAT BOTTOM THING
typing. If you add lots of text, at some point you’ll have to
This is something you’ve possibly never used or changed
press Return to move to the next line. But if you then reduce
before but actually can be quite useful. At the bottom left of
the font size, you’ll find that the formatting looks all funky
your Photoshop document, you’ll see two numbers, usually
and wrong, and then you start trying to fix all the Returns.
the zoom percentage and the file size. Did you know that
There’s an easier way.
you could change that second bit of info? By clicking the
You can change your type from point (where it just keeps
small arrow, you can choose from 12 different options!
going on the same line) to paragraph (where the type auto-
matically goes onto the next line based on the constraints
HEY, LOOK AT ME!
of the text bounding box), and vice versa. And it’s easy to
So, you’ve created an awesome image and you can’t wait
switch between the two. Just add some type to your image,
to share it with the world. Did you know you that you could
Right-click on the type layer in the Layers panel, and choose
do this straight from Photoshop? Just go up to File>Share,
either Convert to Point Text or Convert to Paragraph Text.
and you get a box with options such as Add to Lightroom
Photos, Mail, Messages, AirDrop, Notes, Twitter, Facebook,
ESCAPE THE TEXT!
Flickr, Add to Photos, and MySpace—actually that last one
Here’s another type tip: How many times do you create text
and then click on another tool to commit the text? You can
was a lie. ☺ I wonder if there’s a way of adding others.
Instagram would be nice but you can’t share to Instagram
also click the little checkmark in the Options Bar to commit,
natively from a computer—yet!

or another little tip is to use the Enter key (not the Return key).
But did you know that you could also use the Escape key? To And that’s your top 18 tips for this issue. Next issue, we’ll be
do this, you need to go into Photoshop CC (PC: Edit)> Prefer- back to designing some cool stuff! n
ences and choose Type. Turn on the option called Use ESC
Key to Commit Text, which does exactly what it says! [ 8 3 ]
JAKEWIDMAN
> Design Makeover
CLIENT
Dacia
Groupe Renault
spirited branding
[ before ] The car manufacturer Dacia, headquartered in Bucharest,
Romania, was founded in 1966 as a cooperative venture
between Romania and Renault. Its first vehicles rolled off
the line in 1968. In 1999, the company became part of
Renault; the umbrella corporation Groupe Renault was
formed in 2015. Dacias are currently sold in Western and
Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The brand has always been known primarily as a bud-
get option. “Before I came in,” says Karl Saffré, General
Manager, Design Group Identities at Groupe Renault’s
Design Department, “we only had one message, which
was price, price, price.” Saffré joined the company in 2016
after 17 years in various advertising, branding, and design
agencies. “The head of design brought me in and asked
me to create a new department to handle brand manage-
ment,” he says. “I’m in charge of the Groupe Renault cor-
porate brand, the premium Aline brand, the mass-market
Renault brand, and the low-cost Dacia brand.”
At the time, Dacia used Monotype’s Neo Tech font
in all of its marketing materials for both display and for
body text, but it didn’t fit the direction Saffré wanted to
take the brand. “It’s a very technical, edgy font,” recalls
Jérémie Hornus, cofounder of Paris-based type design
firm Black[Foundry], with something of a futuristic feel.
As a monoline sans serif font, it’s also difficult to read at
small, body-copy sizes. Finally, it’s not a proprietary type-
face—it isn’t unique to Dacia. For all these reasons, Saf-
fré contracted with Black[Foundry] to design a new font
that could be used for both Dacia’s marketing materials
and for the digital interface on all of Groupe Renault’s
cars. The result was the sans serif font Read (for Renault,
Pages from the original Dacia Duster brochure Alpine, Dacia). But to go with it, Saffré also wanted a dis-
> P H O T O S H O P U S E R > F E B R U A R Y 2 018
using the Neo Tech font

play face for Dacia’s marketing materials in particular.
makeover submissions
We’re looking for real-world makeovers for future installments of the “Design Makeover,” so let us know if you recently had a branding makeover or if you did
a branding makeover for a client that you’d like us to consider. We cover everything from product packaging or labels, print advertisements, websites, logos, and
magazine covers that are currently in the marketplace. So if you’d like to be considered, send us an email at [email protected].
[ 8 4 ]
› › DESIGN MAKEOVER
CLIENT
Dacia
Groupe Renault
[ the project ] When Saffré joined Groupe Renault and started thinking
about the needs of the Dacia brand, his first question was
what would be the future of a low-cost brand in what was
becoming a very competitive market in Europe. “We had
to find other messages than just low price,” he says. “I saw
the possibility of creating a new perception of the brand.”
In 2017, Dacia launched what Saffré calls an “iconic proj-
ect” in the new Duster SUV. “We redesigned it with more
perceived quality and a more attractive design, but without
changing the price.”
Saffré’s group was charged with creating a new per-
ception of the brand that would extend across all customer
touchpoints. “Today when we manage a brand, we do it
mostly in digital, and consumers don’t want to see a logo
on all those touchpoints,” he says. “But I need to make
sure the brand is apparent, and typography is a way to
do that.”
At that point, Black[Foundry] was already working on
the Read typeface that would be used for the human-
machine interface across the entire Groupe Renault line.
Saffré asked the type designers to also create a proprietary
font “starting from simplicity but with a big smile inside.”
“They said they wanted to bring the brand closer to
its customers,” recalls Hornus. “They wanted it to be
more accessible and feel more like a desirable, trusted
brand than like a discount brand.” They also wanted a
typeface that felt more human than the mechanical Neo
The new DaciaSpirit font Tech. The result was DaciaSpirit, a display face with four
script variations—Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, and Hebrew—
to accommodate the different languages used across
Dacia’s sales region.
about the client

Renault was established in 1899 and is the ninth largest automaker in the world. The Groupe Renault, the umbrella corporation formed in 2015, comprises five brands:
Renault, Dacia, Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine, and Lada, each with its own market position and geographic strategy. Renault is a global brand, Renault Samsung Motors
sells mainly in South Korea, Lada is the leader in the Russian market, and Alpine is a premium sports car brand.
Dacia was founded as a Romanian state-owned company based in Pitesti in 1966. There, it produced the Renault 8 (known as the Dacia 1100) and the Renault 12
(Dacia 1300) under license. Today, Dacias are sold in 44 countries throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. They have a reputation for being sturdy vehicles
at affordable prices. [ 8 5 ]
› › COLUMN
DESIGNER
Black[Foundry]
black-foundry.com
[ the process ] “The challenge was to respect the integrity of each writing
system but also to convey the same brand identity feel in
all of them,” says Hornus. “Native speakers must get the
same message, whatever the script. So the trick is to not
‘Latinize’ the other scripts while still harmonizing the entire
vocabulary of letter shapes.” For instance, the Arabic script
could not incorporate the Latin’s strict geometry without
becoming too ornamental and monumental.
Black[Foundry] worked on all four scripts simultane-
ously, with sketches going back and forth to keep the
sense of a family while accommodating the needs of each
script. The firm has a Russian designer in-house and relied
on expert native speakers for advice on the Arabic and
Left: Arabic; Right: Latin Hebrew variations.
The designers first experimented with humanist fonts in
the spirit of Gill Sans, but those were rejected as not being
modern enough. So they turned to geometric typefaces in
the Bauhaus tradition, such as Futura, based on circles and
squares. But while that geometric approach worked well
for the Latin and Cyrillic scripts, it wasn’t appropriate for
the more calligraphic Arabic. There, the counter (the open
space in the middle of a character) is a teardrop shape rather
than a circle. At the same time, the strokes of the Latin
characters vary subtly in width, reflecting the calligraphic
influence. Similarly, while the Latin script uses a round dot
over the i, the Arabic script had to have diamond-shaped
dots in order not to look comical.
There was also some back-and-forth with Dacia over
certain details, like the center of the lowercase w. In the
light version, it looks like two v’s crossing, but in the heavier
weights it’s an inverted triangle. “We thought it was an
interesting peculiarity of the design,” says Hornus, “but
they wanted to see something different. So we tried others,

Click the letter above to see a short movie on the but finally we stuck with the one we originally designed.”
evolution of the letter “y” to the DaciaSpirit font
[ 8 6 ]
› › DESIGN MAKEOVER
DESIGNER
Black[Foundry]
black-foundry.com
[ the result ] The new typeface started to be rolled out in the late fall
of 2017. “I think the result is quite successful,” says Hor-
nus. “DaciaSpirit has been quite well used by the agen-
cies making the ads.” For technical reasons, though,
the rollout will happen step-by-step, and even some
downloadable materials with 2018 dates are still in Neo
Tech. “It will be better with time—DaciaSpirit is meant
to be a display typeface and should be used together
with Read,” Hornus continues. “That will be a very good
combination. We’ve seen mockups of the new website,
and it’s looking quite good.”
Saffré is also pleased. At a recent auto show in Ger-
many, Groupe Renault invited about 50 people from the
Dacia community to a special event, and they were very
happy to see the brand renewal. “It was still their brand,”
he says, “the one they love, but also a very new brand.”
Internally, too, executives are confident in the brand’s
appeal. “Now it’s a rich brand universe,” Saffré says,
“and the typography is certainly the most important part
of our brand perception. So I’m quite happy.”
And like Hornus, he expects the benefits to continue
to grow with time. “We’ll see next year if people trans-
form the attractiveness of the brand into words,” he says.
about the designer

Black[Foundry], founded in 2014, was born out of the meeting of serial French entrepreneur and type designer Grégori Vincens with a London-raised type designer and font
engineer Jérémie Hornus. Today, Black[Foundry] is an international team of 12 talents, including type designers, font developers, art directors, software engineers, program-
mers, and project managers, all working from central Paris with connections around the globe
Being both type designers and engineers, the folks at Black[Foundry] have developed a series of tools and software to create, test, and manage their fonts effectively.
Those custom-built tools lie at the heart of their Type+Tech approach, and some of them are shared on GitHub.
Besides custom work, Black[Foundry] is also developing a catalog of well-engineered fonts for others to use in their own design projects. The typefaces will soon be avail-
able in several simple licenses for purchase directly on the firm’s website. n [ 8 7 ]
> Reviews
GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR
Rotolight
The NEO 2 is Rotolight’s disc-shaped, polycarbonate, all-in-one,
high-speed sync (HSS) flash and continuous on-camera LED light.
Unlike traditional on-camera flash, the NEO 2 has no recycle time.
NEO 2
It succeeds well as a continuous light; but using it as a flash requires
a different workflow than what you’re used to.
My test unit came with a modified Elinchrom Skyport transmit-
ter that communicates with the NEO 2’s built-in 2.4-Ghz HSS wire-
Switching Instantly from less flash receiver, a set of optional special effects filters for use
Continuous Light to Flash with the continuous light mode, a soft case, and a handle to hold
Review by Erik Vlietinck the NEO 2. The transmitter enables users to wirelessly control up to
10 lights in four groups at up to 656'. It’s compatible with all other
Elinchrom Skyport devices.
Company: Rotolight Ltd. The NEO 2 performs well in continuous light mode, capable
of throwing around 2000 lux at 3', at least when it’s set to a
Price: $399.98
color temperature of around 4000K. At lower or higher temper-
Rating: atures, the light dims between 5% and 10%. Two control knobs
let you set brightness and color temperature of the 50° light
Hot: Color accuracy; instant switching beam. The color temperature that’s shown on the LCD screen
between continuous and flash;
cinematic special effects with large red numerals is spot on. It ranges from 3100–6300K.
Rotolight paid special attention to the light’s skin-tone rendition,
Not: User guide; LED is still not as powerful resulting in a CRI of 98 for skin tone R15, a CRI of 96 overall, and
as traditional light sources
a TLCI value of 91.
In continuous light mode, you can play around with built-in spe-
cial effects such as strobe, lightning, fire, police, etc. For example,
if you’re shooting a crime scene, you can emulate the presence
[ 8 8 ]
› › REVIEWS
© Peter Muller
of a police car by putting a 712 Bedford blue filter in front of the
unit and selecting the Police effect that simulates an emergency
services light.
Before testing the NEO 2’s flash functionality, I realized that LED
light works differently from traditional flash. In fact, to use the NEO
“The soft shadows, without 2 without frustration, you should forget much of what you know
about speedlights and the power you can expect, in particular. The
a need for modifiers, is images I initially shot with my one NEO 2 looked underexposed,
because I kept positioning the light at a distance of one meter
one of LED’s benefits that or more and setting my camera at ISO 100. By positioning the
light closer to the subject and the camera at a higher ISO value,
you can easily achieve with I succeeded in exposing images correctly.
That is current LED technology for you: It will give a soft result;
one NEO 2, but if you aim at but luminous power is not yet its strength. The soft shadows,
getting an even exposure across without a need for modifiers, is one of LED’s benefits that you
can easily achieve with one NEO 2, but if you aim at getting an
a larger subject, you’ll have to even exposure across a larger subject, you’ll have to use at least
two or three NEOs.
use at least two or three NEOs.” That may look like an expensive proposition, but it will come
with other benefits. For example, the NEO 2 has a zero recycle
time and you can instantly switch to a very decent continuous
light for video and photography where flash may be considered

to be obtrusive. In addition, LEDs have a long lifespan and they
keep their color accuracy a lot longer than traditional studio lights
or flashes. n
[ 8 9 ]
REVIEWS › ›
Sprout
If your “system” for keeping your photography business organized
consists of sticky notes here, there, and everywhere, random scrib-
bles on the back of utility bills, and other highly effective methods
Studio (wink, wink), you may want to seriously consider Sprout Studio.
This powerful, yet easy-to-use, web-based system is the first
suite of tools designed to provide photographers with the all-in-
All-in-One Photography one solution they need to run a successful, organized, profitable
Management Software photography business.
Review by Michael Corsentino As anyone knows who owns a photography business (or any-
one who aspires to will soon find out), there’s a lot more to it than
just taking pictures. In fact, 80% of the business has nothing to
Company: Sprout Studio Inc.
do with your camera at all. The average week in any photogra-
Price: Starting at $17/month phy business includes emails to prospective and existing clients,
Rating:
sending out pricing guides, marketing the business, generating
and sending contracts, bookkeeping, online and in-person sales,

Hot: Integrated solution/tools for studio
admin, scheduling, client management, billing and invoicing…and
management; online galleries; album
proofing; in-person sales that’s all before noon! I’m kidding, but you get the point.
Sprout Studio is a purpose-built, completely integrated solution
Not:
that gives photographers all the tools they need for studio man-
agement, online galleries, album proofing, and the all-important
[ 9 0 ]
› › REVIEWS
in-person sales, all within one beautifully designed ecosystem.

Gone are the days when you need to seek out and pay for multiple
solutions, which may or may not play well together.
“Sprout Studio is a With Sprout Studio you can collect, organize, track, and book
purpose-built, completely prospective clients; generate and send electronic contracts;

streamline your workflow with automatic task reminders; create
integrated solution that online galleries for selling prints and products; host and send
gives photographers all the online album proofs to capture integrated client feedback; sell
more wall portraits using Sprout’s in-person sales tools; do your
tools they need for studio bookkeeping; and monitor the success of your business with
management, online galleries, reports and analytics.

The skeptic in me always looks askance at anyone or anything
album proofing, and the claiming to be able to do it all, and do it well. Sprout Studio is the
rare exception, and manages to exceed expectations by truly doing
all-important in-person sales, it all well, and packing a ton of highly valuable must-have features
all within one beautifully into one product, without making it overly complicated to use.
Start today with a 21-day free trial or sign up for one of the
designed ecosystem.“ Sprout Studio monthly plans: Lite $17; Basic $34; Pro $49; and
Studio $69. Also offered is additional storage at $10/month and
additional users/brands at $5 and $3/month, respectively. n
[ 91 ]
REVIEWS › ›
Luminar
Luminar 2018 for Mac and Windows has new correction filters
powered by artificial intelligence. It’s faster than the previous
2018
version, it has a dedicated RAW development module, and
in 2018 Skylum Software (new name for Macphun) plans
to release a DAM platform. The upgrade also incorporates
improved features and LUT support.
Faster and New Impressive Filters
Skylum states that Luminar 2018 has been re-built from
Review by Erik Vlietinck
the ground up for dramatic performance boosts, and Lumi-
nar 2018 does load faster than its predecessor. A great new
Company: Skylum Software

feature is LUT support. Lookup Table (LUT) adjustments can
(previously Macphun)
cater to camera/lens combination-based color corrections,
Price: $69 but they can also be used as a creative tool. Luminar 2018
recognizes Lightroom presets that have been converted
Rating:
into LUTs, but this requires the use of a pay-what-you-want
Hot: Adaptable interface; some filters are really,
really good; LUT support third-party tool.
With a free update in 2018—no exact timing yet—Skylum
Not: Noise reduction is only average
Software will add an image browser that supports sorting,
[ 9 2 ]
› › REVIEWS
rating, organizing, and backing up photos from within the app.

The new Luminar digital asset management platform will work
without a subscription and will integrate with any storage plat-
“After experimenting for form you choose (cloud or local).
a week with Luminar 2018, After experimenting for a week with Luminar 2018, I was
especially impressed by some of the new filters. The new RAW
I was especially impressed by
development module is much faster than the previous one,
some of the new filters. The new yet it’s a filter as well that lets you adjust Luminar’s default
RAW development module is de-mosaicing settings.

In contrast with filters like Sun Rays, Luminar’s Denoise is still
much faster than the previous average, though, which is a bit hard to understand in view of
one, yet it’s a filter as well that the intelligence that comes with other filters. Nevertheless, and
lets you adjust Luminar’s default apart from that one filter, Luminar 2018 is one serious RAW
image editor with unique features that make it instantly and
de-mosaicing settings.” intuitively usable by any photographer, regardless of whether
serious amateur or professional. Even Adobe’s Lightroom plug-
ins will work with Luminar 2018! n
[ 9 3 ]
REVIEWS › ›
Crucial
The latest SSD that Crucial recently released comes with Micron’s
new 64-layer NAND memory. It’s the MX500 and, in a number
of tests, it’s the fastest SSD currently available.
MX500 SSD
Crucial sent me the 500-GB version. The theoretical maxi-
mum performance you may expect from this new MX-series
disk is a 560-MB/sec sequential read and 512-MB/sec write
throughput. The drive comes with some software, such as Stor-
age Executive and Acronis True Image backup software, neither
The Fastest in the Land (Currently)
of which are macOS compatible.
Review by Erik Vlietinck I took the MX500 and tested it first with the AJA System
Test and Blackmagic Design’s Speed Test. With a 1-GB load, the
MX500 wrote data at up to 470 MB/sec, and read it at a speed
of 510 MB/sec. It seems, however, the bigger the files you try
Company: Micron Technology, Inc.
to write and read, the higher the throughput: with 4-GB files,
throughput was almost as high as the theoretical maximum.
Price: $134.99 (500 GB); $259.99 (1 TB);
$499.99 (2 TB) Crucial has equipped the MX500 with a new controller,
and it’s much better than previous models at stacking com-
Rating: mands and even reordering them to streamline performance.
This means that the MX500 on its own—not even in a RAID
Hot: Speed; metal enclosure setup—is capable of sustaining the throughput that you need
to capture a 4K/60-fps movie in ProRes 444. That one requires

Not:
some 371 MB/sec of sustained throughput.
If you plan on using the new SSD as a video medium, it’s per-
haps good to know that the MX500 hasn’t yet been rated or
certified by any of the recorder manufacturers. If its predecessor,
the MX300, is anything to go by, that won’t take long to happen.
Crucial packs its SSDs in a rugged metal enclosure, which with-
stands abuse much better than, for example, SanDisk’s plastic cases.
And, if you’re going to use the MX500 to offload and store images
quickly, there’s a 2-TB version for a very competitive price. n
[ 9 4 ]
› › REVIEWS
DeltaWalker
DeltaWalker Oro is the most complete and powerful version
of DeltaWalker, an application that allows you to compare
and sync files and folders. It’s used by anyone from scientists,
2.3
programmers, lawyers, and journalists to photographers. The
interface hasn’t changed much since I reviewed it 10 or so years
ago. It’s still the most intuitive way to compare folder and file
contents; however, as far as I can remember, DeltaWalker didn’t
support synchronization a decade ago and I’m pretty sure it
Compares & Finds Differences in Files
didn’t support image formats.
Review by Erik Vlietinck DeltaWalker is incredibly powerful and fast with text-based
files, even when it has to go through hundreds or thousands
of files. It will also let you edit files in place; for example, to
ensure two text files have identical content, or merge them.
Company: Deltopia Inc.
You don’t have to do this for the whole file, either; you can do
this difference by difference.
Price: $89.95 (Oro); $59.95 (Pro)
When it comes to images, the list of supported formats is fairly
Rating: limited and RAW formats aren’t supported. Comparing images
file-by-file lets you analyze them side-by-side and includes zoom-
Hot: Fast; great with text-based files; ing in on the image and setting a threshold to see only the changes
image-comparison flexibility beyond it. But to be really useful, DeltaWalker should support
image-specific metadata, such as EXIF and IPTC.
Not: No support for EXIF or IPTC metadata;
can’t set editor-file associations and When you have a lot of images, DeltaWalker will let you
choose between these instantly see which are identical on the file level, etc. and which
have been added in one location and not in another. Buttons are
also available to select only changed, added, deleted, or differing
files; but again, none of these operations takes into account any of
the embedded or associated metadata.
DeltaWalker has a number of other features as well, including
the ability to launch editors from within the app by setting up a
combination of a file type and extension. n
[ 9 5 ]
REVIEWS › ›
©Jen Rozenbaum
StickyAlbums 3
The lifeblood of any photography business is happy clients and
a continuous influx of new customers. Outstanding customer
service and savvy marketing that gets your images in front of as
many eyeballs as possible are the keys to success! StickyAlbums 3
Customizable Marketing Tool
to Create/Share Image Galleries is the killer app that helps easily achieve both.
Review by Michael Corsentino StickyAlbums 3, a suite of highly customizable web-based
tools, helps photographers market their business in a variety of
game-changing ways. This clever app allows photographers
Company: StickyAlbums, Inc.
to create and share image galleries and beautiful new pricing
Price: $299/year or $29/month guides (just added) with clients or prospective clients in what
functions as a self-contained smart phone app compatible with
Rating:
both iOS and Android operating systems. You can even use an
Hot: Beautifully designed online pricing guide image from a client’s photo session for the app icon (clients
templates; customizable; fully integrated
with social media sites love seeing themselves as an icon!). The galleries also look great
on any web browser.

Not: No integrated product sales engine to
work in concert with pricing guides Rather than a proofing tool, StickyAlbums 3 gives photogra
phers a way to use their best images to create awesome word
of mouth. The applications are endless; you can easily create a
portfolio of images and pricing for each area of your business—
weddings, portraits, seniors, editorial, fashion, and corporate—
to send to prospective clients. Sharing a gallery of the best images
[ 9 6 ]
› › REVIEWS
after a shoot along with pricing for wall portraits, albums, etc., is
quick, highly effective, and easy with StickyAlbums 3. The best
part is clients or prospects can then share the galleries you’ve sent
“This clever app allows them with the tap of a finger. Watch your images go viral!
StickyAlbums 3 lets you choose the cover image for the
photographers to create gallery, use your branding colors and logo, and tailor its fea-
and share image galleries and tures to suit your workflow. You decide whether to include
a pricing guide, embed a full-screen slide show, create a
beautiful new pricing guides clickable email-me or call-me button, use a custom URL,
(just added) with clients or etc. Suffice it to say that every aspect is customizable. Sticky-
Albums 3 is also fully integrated with popular social media
prospective clients in…a sites, making it easy for recipients to share images with col-
self-contained smart phone app leagues, friends, and family, another awesome opportunity
for viral marketing!
compatible with both iOS and As a special bonus, StickyAlbums 3 now includes templates for
beautifully designed and customizable online pricing guides that
Android operating systems.”
can be included with a gallery as a clickable link. Far superior to
paper or PDFs, these slick-looking templates provide placeholders
for product images, can be updated instantly, and you can see
if they’ve actually been viewed. Remember, you only sell what

you show! n
[ 9 7 ]
R E V I EWS › ›
Photocommunication
Across Media: Beginning
Photography for Professionals
in Mass Media
As a textbook, this is a decent choice for photojournalism classes.
Edited by Ross F. Collins & Keith Greenwood
It has nine chapters from a half-dozen contributors. Some of
Review by Peter Bauer
the material is redundant (exposure is explained multiple times,
using the same concepts and, in places, different labels). You’ll
Publisher: Focal Press

find that it also uses some non-conventional terminology, start-
ing with the title. “Photocommunication,” as explained in the
Pages: 219
Introduction, is simply another way to say “photojournalism.”
Price: $54.95 (paperback and eBook) And a “photo communicator” is a “photo journalist.” In one
Rating: chapter, the process of moving photos from the camera or its
card to a hard drive or other storage device is called “injesting,”

rather than the more common terms “downloading” and
“importing.” If you do use this book as the basis for a college or
high school class on photojournalism, I suggest that you make
sure to also use the more common terms so that your students
are prepared for future studies and research. n
[ 9 8 ]
› › R E V I EWS
The Adobe Photoshop

Lightroom Classic CC Book:
Plus an Introduction to the New
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC
Across Desktop, Web, and Mobile
The subtitle for this book is “Plus an Introduction to the New
By Martin Evening
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC Across Desktop, Web, And
Review by Peter Bauer
Mobile,” and that particular chapter runs 117 pages (Kindle
edition) with 54 figures. It covers a lot of material; however, the
Publisher: Adobe Press

majority of the book is applicable to both the Classic and CC
versions of Lightroom. It’s designed primarily for new Lightroom
Pages: 752 (paperback) with associated website
users (or those interested in using the program). If you’re new
Price: $59.99 (paperback); $47.99 (eBook) to Lightroom, start with Chapter One (actually, start with the
Rating: Introduction). If you’re already using Lightroom, page through

the Table of Contents or the Index, find those parts of the pro-
gram that you don’t already use or want to work with more
efficiently, and jump to those sections. One thing that may be
most interesting for some readers is how the author discusses
the background of features—how they came to be and how

they’ve evolved over time. n
[ 9 9 ]
COLINSMITH
> Photoshop Tips
BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY & CREATIVITY
Hey, everyone! This time around I’ve decided to give you a handful of those “super-useful” tips. These
are those little Swiss Army knife tips: just the tip you need for the task you’re doing. I hope you enjoy
them and find them as useful as a Swiss Army knife is to a boy scout.
SELECT SUBJECT UNLOCK BACKGROUND LAYER

Adobe has just dropped a really, really cool feature into the There are a many things that you can do with regular layers
latest Photoshop update. You can now make selections that you can’t do with a Background layer, e.g., apply layer
with just a single click, and I’m not talking about the Magic styles. In order to do all those cool things to a Background
Wand tool. Choose the Quick Selection tool (W), and then layer, you have to first convert it to a regular layer. Every-
look up in the Options Bar and you’ll see a button that says one has their own special way of doing this, but relatively
“Select Subject.” Adobe has machine learning AI (artificial recently, with a thing called JDI (Just Do It), Adobe made it
intelligence) called “Sensei” that can “recognize” subjects really easy to convert a Background layer to a regular layer.
in photos, and it knows if the subject is a person, tree, cat, If you look at the Background layer in the Layers panel,
car, etc. Click the Select Subject button and Photoshop will you’ll see a padlock icon. Click it and the Background layer
analyze the photo and add a selection around the subject. instantly becomes a regular layer.
This selection isn’t always perfect, but it’s a great starting
place for you to refine with Select and Mask.
COMBINE IMAGES
A very popular task in Photoshop is something that Light- COPY LAYER STYLES ACROSS DOCUMENTS
room can’t do: combining different photos into a single Let’s say that you’ve created an awesome layer style—
image. We love to do this when we make composites and maybe it’s a leopard-skin texture with a double pink and
collages. Way back, Adobe introduced the Application white stroke, baked into a golden bevel. Okay, maybe some-
Frame mode (Window>Application Frame), and suddenly thing not quite so loud, but you’re working on a series of
people found it difficult to do this somewhat simple task. images, such as posters or flyers, and you want to use the
The good news is that it’s still simple; you just need a little same layer style on another image. You don’t have to repro-
knowhow and coordination. For the sake of this tip, we’ll duce it; you can easily copy it between open documents in
call the image you want to move the source, and the image Photoshop. In the Layers panel, Right-click on the layer with
where you want source to land, the destination. the layer style, and choose Copy Layer Style from the menu
With the Move tool (V) active, click-and-hold inside that appears. Go to your other document in Photoshop,
the source image, drag to the tab of the destination Right-click on your destination layer, and choose Paste
image at the top of the Application Frame—what? You let Layer Style. Amazingly, Photoshop lets you copy these layer
go already? No, it didn’t work because you let go. Don’t styles across different documents.
let go until I tell you! This is where most everyone fails.
As I said, drag to the tab of the destination image, and FIND STOCK IMAGES WITHIN PHOTOSHOP
wait for it to pop open. Now (don’t let go of the mouse Did you know that you can find stock photos to work with
button yet) move your cursor into the middle of the directly in Photoshop? You can find photos of almost any-
destination image. Now and only now, release your thing (and some useful vectors and textures too). Make sure
mouse button, and you’ve successfully combined the your Libraries panel (Window>Libraries) is open. Look at
images. Sorry to labor the “don’t let go” part, but I’ve the top of the panel and you’ll see a magnifying glass with
seen so many people tear their hair out with frustration the words “Search Adobe Stock.” Type in the keywords
because they released the mouse button too soon while for the photo you need, and you’ll see lots of photos
performing this task. appear in the Libraries panel. When you see one you like,
[ 100 ]
› › PHOTOSHOP TIPS
hover your cursor over the SAMPLING COLORS FROM PHOTOS
Adobe Stock
preview and click the little When you’re choosing colors for type or decorative ele-
cloud icon that appears. ments in a design, it’s a nice touch to use a color that’s fea-
The photo will now be tured in the photograph. It’s really easy to grab any color
added to your library. It’s from a photo. Here’s how: With your type or design element
a lower-resolution image selected, click on the Foreground color swatch near the bot-
with a watermark, but it’s tom of Photoshop’s Toolbar. It will pop open the Color Picker,
big enough with which to and when you move your cursor over the image, you’ll see
play around. it change to an Eyedropper. Just click on your desired color
You can now open this in the image, and it becomes your active Foreground color,
image in Photoshop by dou- ready for you to use. Click OK to close the Color Picker.
ble-clicking it, or dragging Bonus Tip: You can also save this color to your Libraries
it into an open document. panel by clicking the plus icon at the bottom of the panel,
Play around with it, cut it choosing Foreground Color from the options that appear,
out, filter it, whatever you and clicking Add.
like. Once you find the exact
image that you want to use MAKE CLEANER SELECTIONS
in your project, you can When making selections, the Select and Mask workspace is
license it by Right-clicking the go-to tool to refine the edges to make them look clean
it in the Libraries panel and and sharp. There’s a little trick that I use every time, which
following the directions. gives me way better edges. You have to be able to visual-
When you license it, the low-res version will automatically ize the edges to get the best settings. Do you see the Show
be replaced by the high-res version without the watermark. Edge (J) checkbox near the top right of the Properties panel?
Turn that on, and then move the Radius slider until the edges
REPLICATE YOUR TEXT are nice and thin. Now, turn off Show Edges and you’ll see a
Choosing the exact font and size for a project is an art and marked improvement over the selection. You’re now work-
a test of patience. Once you’ve dialed in the perfect type, ing from a much better foundation when you make your
wouldn’t you like to be able to use it again in a differ- other adjustments in Select and Mask. n
ent composition? Here’s how you can grab the typography
from another document.
Say you’ve styled your text the way you want, now go
to Window>Paragraph Styles. Click the Create New Para-
graph Style icon at the bottom of the panel (it looks like a
piece of paper with the corner folded over). A new style will
appear in the panel. You can double-click the style to edit
and rename it. Then just Save and Close your document.
Okay, here’s the cool tip. You’re working in another
document and you want to use the style you created above.
Click on the flyout menu at the top right of the Paragraph
Styles panel and choose Load Paragraph Styles. Browse and
choose the PSD where you created the style. When you
click open, the PSD doesn’t open, rather all the styles from
that document appear in your Paragraph Styles panel and
can be applied to your current text in a single click.
[ 101 ]
ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH EXCEPT WHERE NOTED
PETERBAUER
> From the Help Desk
ANSWERS TO PHOTOSHOP AND GEAR-RELATED QUESTIONS
I’m not a big fan of Bridge’s default layout. How can I customize it to best
suit my workflow?—Wally
The first step in setting up Bridge is to evaluate your work- of the Content panel to the left and you’ll make the Preview
flow. Do you regularly look at the Metadata panel or are panel wider. Use the slider below the Preview (or in the default
there only a few things in the panel that you need to see, layout, below the Metadata panel) to resize the thumbnails
such as file size and dimensions. (In Adobe Bridge CC 2018 in the Content panel. Keep in mind that if you make the
[PC: Edit]>Preferences, click on Thumbnails, and you can thumbnails too small, filenames and some of the metadata
elect to show virtually anything from an image’s metadata below get truncated.
beneath the thumbnail in the Content panel.) Do you send Once you have the panels visible, nested, and resized to
your images to Adobe Stock or Adobe Portfolio from Bridge? suit your workflow, go to Bridge’s Window menu and select
If not, you can hide the Publish panel by deselecting it in the command Workspace>New Workspace. You’ll be able to
Bridge’s Window menu. (All panels are shown and hidden name the new workspace (mine is creatively named “Pete”).
through the Window menu.) How about Favorites, Keywords, You can create different Bridge layouts for different tasks. You
and Collections? If you don’t use them, hide those panels, too. might, for example, want one layout for organizing images in
Once you have the panels visible that you need and the various folders and a different layout for proofing images. Not
others hidden, you can re-arrange and resize the panels you a problem! Save the layout you just created, then re-arrange
do use. Panels can be grouped by dragging the panel tab on as desired for the other workflow and save that workspace
top of another panel. In the default “Essentials” layout, you with a different name. And notice that Bridge automatically
can see that Favorites and Folders are nested in the upper assigns an F key to each layout.
left, and Filter and Collections are nested below. This is great My primary Bridge workspace has a full-length column
for those panels that you sometimes use, but don’t need to the left for the Folders and nested Metadata panels.
to see all of the time. You could, for example, nest Meta- (I use lots of subfolders, so the column needs to be very
data with Folders and have Folders in front. When you want long and perhaps a bit wider than you might need.) The
to check an image’s metadata, click on that tab to bring it rest of the width of the Bridge window is evenly split
to the front. between the Content and the Preview panels. My thumb-
One of the things that just about every Bridge user wants nails are set to the smallest size that doesn’t truncate the
is a larger Preview panel to better see detail in a selected filename or visible metadata, enabling me to see as many
image. Resize panels by dragging their sides or bottom thumbnails as possible. The large Preview window is espe-
edges. Hide or nest elsewhere the Metadata and Keywords cially useful when I have more than one image selected in
panels, and the Preview is twice as tall. Drag the right edge the Content panel. n
[ 102 ]
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T H E A D O B E® P H O T O S H O P ® “ H O W -T 0 ” M A G A Z I N E › › february 201 8

Retouching When retouching portraits, try

Brian Rodgers Jr. | KelbyOne Member

Photo Tip Friday: Rick Sammon “Wildlife Photography”

Scott Kelby “Photoshop Fake Studio Lighting Trick”

Lightroom Tips | Photoshop Tutorials | Photography Tips

Background: Adobe Stock; Images: Dave Cross; Layout: Jessica Maldonado

[084] DESIGN MAKEOVER

Log on to KelbyOne’s website:

420 Ninth Ave, NYC

> A Note from Scott

THERE’S A NEW PHOTOSHOP IN TOWN

be teaching at the conference, and we just announced

HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:

KelbyOne courses and PhotoshopCAFE’s Fashion Retouching DVD.

ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE DISCOUNTS

Discuss this Issue

New Features in Photoshop 19.1

Who’s Who in the KelbyOne Community

LEVEL: Intermediate / Advanced

WHO’S WHO ON THE KELBYONE INSTRUCTOR TEAM >> DAVE CLAYTON

Who’s Who on the KelbyOne Instructor Team: Dave Clayton

Follow KelbyOne and Scott Kelby on Twitter!

Mastering the Natural

How to Bring your Still Images to Life

A Photographer’s Guide to Shooting Wedding Videos

Step One: Start with an aged paper texture,

• Isolated old vintage folded torn paper

• Saut ski extreme

• Launched colorful powder

Step Two: Go to the Toolbar and select the

tion tool [W]). Set the Tolerance in the Options

Step Three: Press Command-J (PC:

Step Four: Press Command-T (PC:

Step Five: Now press Command-I

Step Six: Double-click the layer in

Step Seven: Now let’s process the

square] near the bottom of the Tool-

Step Eight: Turn off the Background

Step Nine: Go under the Filter menu,

Step 10: Go under the Image menu,

light detail (in this example, we set the

Step 11: Now lock the transparency

Step 12: Once again, open Levels

Step 13: Now go into the Layers

nail. This will load just those white

Step 14: Turn off the black-filled layer

Step 15: Lock the layer’s transpar-

Step 16: Using the Move tool (V),

Step 17: Now let’s add the skier

image. Here we have another Adobe

Step 18: Now choose the Magic

can get missed because of the Toler-

Step 19: Click Select and Mask in

Output To drop-down menu to New

Step 20: With the skier extracted, use

Step 21: Now for the cool part: With

Step 22: Click on the original Back-

Step 23: Press Option-Command-G

Step 24: Now let’s add an element

• Isolated old vintage folded torn paper

• Saut ski extreme

• Launched colorful powder

• Perfect natural lip makeup