Just a short question: usually I only edit my pictures in CameraRaw (exposure, white balance, that kind of stuff), but I've been playing with some Photoshop actions lately and I would really like to learn more, but there a way too many tutorials on the web and so I thought I'd ask you guys:
What is the one Photoshop trick you can not live without??
I have PSE 6, and have just recently been learnng more about it beyond presets in it already. I still love the levels and contrast adjustments. I love high contrast photos!
just one flore??? not possible haha. depending on what type of photo, ie portrait or other, hmm i guess my number one would be the clone tool, for all sorts of reasons, dirt, wrinkles (haha), weird shadows even etc etc. also, the nudge tool, noise reduction, clarity, saturation, or de-saturation lol, etc etc. i love them ALL sooooooo much hahaha ;))
My most used technique is the use of the levels (brightness, contrast, etc.) to adjust the shadow/light exposure. I like to play with my floral/fauna photos. For fun, I like to use the special effects, such as glowing edges and neon glow.
I cannot live without my levels. I can adjust my white balance and lighten/darken my photos just right. I also create my own actions to make my editing experience a bit quicker.
My favorite CS5 feature is Content Aware. Have a pesky tree branch or shadow you want to get rid of? That's the tool to use...amazing results with very little effort!
@jinximages If I can bug you with yet another question, what are some examples of the times you use those? I know you said you'll use the high pass filter to separate shadows on hair. Any other tips? :)
Unsharp Mask is generally the one to use when you need to enhance fine detail. Eyelashes, hair etc, where you can already see the detail but it doesn't look "sharp". If its a bit mushy, use unsharp mask.
If you have soft gradients, like a large expanse of sky, or if you have noise in your image, unsharp mask (USM) will destroy your image. That's when you use High Pass Filter (HPF).
Generally you'll actually need both methods in a photo, and you'll use layer masks to assign where each method is used (particularly USM). USM also tends to desaturate your image a bit if you use too much of it, and HPF can help to bring that back under control.
A really great article, if you want more depth, is here: http://www.qondio.com/sharpening-photos-unsharp-mask-vs-high-pass-sharpening
I am a levels girl too :)
And thanks @jinximages - I am a big fan of using USM, but haven't experimented with the HPF yet, so am pleased to learn something new - thanks for sharing :)
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I allways slide that up,with my RAW,it`s allways the first thing I do in PS,when editing.
And I have a trick for enhancing depth of field that I read a tutorial on about a couple months ago
Unsharp Mask is generally the one to use when you need to enhance fine detail. Eyelashes, hair etc, where you can already see the detail but it doesn't look "sharp". If its a bit mushy, use unsharp mask.
If you have soft gradients, like a large expanse of sky, or if you have noise in your image, unsharp mask (USM) will destroy your image. That's when you use High Pass Filter (HPF).
Generally you'll actually need both methods in a photo, and you'll use layer masks to assign where each method is used (particularly USM). USM also tends to desaturate your image a bit if you use too much of it, and HPF can help to bring that back under control.
A really great article, if you want more depth, is here: http://www.qondio.com/sharpening-photos-unsharp-mask-vs-high-pass-sharpening
And thanks @jinximages - I am a big fan of using USM, but haven't experimented with the HPF yet, so am pleased to learn something new - thanks for sharing :)