Hot Tips for Photoshop Pt.3 | DIE Week 4 - Post 1

Following the hot tips series, here are 7 more tips for Photoshop to help you keep your workflow fresh. These tips come from the Photoshop User Magazine (October 2021 Edition) by KelbyOne

QUICK OVERLAY EFFECTS TO BLEND IMAGES BETTER - by Corey Barker

If you're doing a quick composite and need to color grade the subject to fit the tone of the scene, this handy trick is for you. Start with Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the subject layer, then remove all the color by pressing Shift-Command-U (PC: Shift-Ctrl-U). Change the layer blend mode of the duplicate to Soft Light (other modes may work better, Soft Light is a good starting point though). Next press Command-u (Ctrl-U) to open Hue/Saturation. Check on Colorize and adjust the Hue until the subject matches the overall color of the scene. Then adjust the Saturation. This not only changes the color grading but also adds more contrast to the original image.

Blending Modes in Photoshop

CUSTOMIZE TEXT BY CONVERTING TO SHAPES - by Corey Barker

Text formatting features can be used in a variety of ways, sometimes you may want to customize type beyond the capability of those features. Start with using the Type tool (T) to create your text object and format it the way you wish. Then, having the Type tool still active, right-click directly on the layer and choose Convert to Shape (check your spelling because this will make the text uneditable). Once converted, the letters turn into vector shapes and you can manipulate them like any other shape using the Pen tools (P) or the Direct Selection tool.

Difference between a raster text and a vector one.

TRIMMING IMAGES WITH EXCESS PIXELS - by Corey Barker

If you ever tried manually cropping an image to remove the excess or transparent areas, so that way there are no extra pixels around the image or object, there's an easier way to crop based on the layer content. Go under the Image menu, choose Trim, and you'll be presented with some options. Depending on the image content, Based On lets you determine if you wish to crop away transparent or solid pixels. Trim Away allows to crop specific sides. When done, click OK, and you'll get a pixel-perfect crop. This tip comes in handy when preparing images for web or print.

Trim in the Image menu

USE POSTERIZE AS A GUIDE FOR COLOR GRADING - by Mark Heaps

If you want to color grade an image, using adjustment layers (Selective Color or Color Balance) is easier than more advanced techniques with controllers such as Curves. Know that the adjustment layers mentioned split the image into three tonal frequencies: shadows, midtones, and highlights. You can see where exactly these three things are so you can have a visual of where your color grading will be applied. Apply a Black & White adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Black & White) on the image to desaturate it to shades of gray only. Next, add a Posterize adjustment layer, set it to 3 Levels in the Properties panel (Window>Properties). This will set the image to only three shades of gray. Finally, you'll be able to see the existing division and how the color grading will be mapped.

Posterize

SAVE YOUR CUSTOMIZED BRUSHES IN PHOTOSHOP - by Victoria Pavlov

Brushes can be used to paint or when we're masking, and retouching. You can save a custom brush and not spend time applying the same style settings to a brush repeatedly. You can create your design using the Pen tool, after you customize your brush (color, size, etc.), click on the Create New Brush icon (+) at the bottom of the Brushes panel (Window>Brushes). When the New Brush dialog appears, rename the brush, specify the settings you want to be saved, and click OK. From now on, you'll have your personalized brush in the Brush Preset Picker in the Options Bar and the Brushes panel.

Brush panel

COLOR AWARE VS. OBJECT AWARE IN SELECT AND MASK - by Victoria Pavlov

One of the most common tasks in Photoshop is making selections. Machine learning can make the selection process much easier. Select and Mask (Select>Select and Mask) makes working on the selection from start to finish a pleasant task. In the Properties panel in the Select and Mask workspace, there are two options for Refine Mode:

• Color Aware: you can use this mode for simple or contrasting backgrounds.
• Object Aware: this mode can be used for hair or fur on complex backgrounds.

Select and Mask tool

CREATE ACTIONS; IT'S NOT DIFFICULT - by Fernando Santos

Did you know you can record step by step how you do certain things in Photoshop? That way, you can apply, for example, the same effect to various images without doing every step over and over again. Open the Actions panel (Window>Actions), click the Create New Set icon (folder) at the bottom of the panel, give it a name, and click OK. Now click the Create New Action icon (+) at the bottom of the panel to open the New Action dialog. Name the action, select the set in which you want it to appear, and click the Record button to start recording. You should start with something easy, something you often do, that has a few steps and then grow from there.

Actions panel