The Adobe Photoshop CS5 Book for Digital Photographers part 7 doc

Here’s what the photo shown here looks like with no added contrast in the Point curve notice that the pop-up menu above the curve is set to Linear, which is a flat, unadjusted curve.. St

Step Three:

If you have to drag the Fill Light slider quite a bit to the right (as I did here), you’re going to run into a little problem

in that your deeper shadows might start

to look a bit washed out So when I have

to push things as far as I did here, I gener-ally drag the Blacks slider over to the right just a little to bring back some of the richness and color saturation in the deep shadow areas Now, there is a difference

if you’re working with RAW or JPEG/TIFF images With RAW images, the default setting for the Blacks will be 5, and gen-erally all you’ll need to do is move them over to 7 or 8 (as shown here) However,

on JPEG or TIFF images, your default is 0, and I tend to drag them a little farther Of course, every image is different, but ei-ther way, you shouldn’t have to move the Blacks slider too far (just remember—the farther you move your Fill Light slider to the right, the more you’ll have to com-pensate by adding more Blacks)

Step Four:

Here’s a before/after with only two edits applied to this photo: (1) I dragged the Fill Light slider over to 50, and (2) I dragged the Blacks slider to 8

TIP: Multiple Undos

This is one of those little hidden features that not many users know about, but Camera Raw has its own built-in mul-tiple undo feature To use it, just press

Command-Option-Z (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Z)

and it undoes your edits (including moving sliders) one by one Also, unlike Photoshop’s History undos it’s not just limited to 20 undos

Before: The subject is

in the shadows

After: Using Fill Light and adding Blacks

When it comes to adding contrast to a photo, I pretty much avoid the Contrast slider in Camera Raw’s Basic panel as much as possible, because it’s too broad and too lame So, when it comes to creating contrast, try the Tone Curve instead, and you’ll never go back to that one broad and lame slider that is too broad and too lame

Step One:

After you’ve done all your exposure

and tone adjustments in the Basic panel,

skip the Con trast slider and click on the

Tone Curve icon (it’s the second icon from

the left) There are two different types

of curves available here: the Point curve,

and the Para metric curve We’ll start

with the Point curve, so click on the Point

tab at the top of the panel Here’s what

the photo shown here looks like with no

added contrast in the Point curve (notice

that the pop-up menu above the curve is

set to Linear, which is a flat, unadjusted

curve) Note: If you shoot in RAW, by

default the curve will be set to Medium

Contrast (since your camera didn’t add

any contrast) If you shoot in JPEG, it’ll be

set to Linear, which means no contrast

has been added (since it’s a JPEG, your

camera already added it See the top of

page 26 for more on this)

Step Two:

If you want more contrast, choose Strong

Contrast from the Curve pop-up menu

(as shown here), and you can see how

much more contrast this photo now has,

compared with Step One The difference

is the Strong Contrast settings create a

much steeper curve, and the steeper the

curve, the more contrast it creates

Adjusting Contrast

Using Curves

Step Three:

If you’re familiar with Photoshop’s Curves

and want to create your own custom

curve, start by choosing any one of the

preset curves, then either click-and-drag

the adjustment points on the curve

or use the Arrow keys to move them

(I think it’s easier to click on a point,

then use the Up and Down Arrow keys

on your keyboard to move that part of

the curve up or down) If you’d prefer to

start from scratch, choose Linear from

the Curve pop-up menu, which gives you

a flat curve To add adjustment points,

just click along the curve To remove a

point, just click-and-drag it right off

the curve (drag it off quickly, like you’re

pulling off a Band-Aid)

Step Four:

If you create a curve that you’d like to

be able to apply again to other photos,

you can save this curve as a preset To

do that, click on the Presets icon (the

second icon from the right) at the top

of the Panel area to bring up the Presets

panel Next, click on the New Preset icon

(which looks just like Photo shop’s Create

a New Layer icon) at the bottom of the

panel This brings up the New Preset

dialog (shown here) If you just want to

save this curve setting, from the Subset

pop-up menu near the top, choose

Point Curve, and it turns off the

check-boxes for all the other settings available

as presets, and leaves only the Point Curve

checkbox turned on (as shown here) Give

your preset a name (I named mine “Super

Contrast Curve”) and click OK

Step Five:

If you’re not comfortable with adjusting

the Point curve, try the Parametric curve,

which lets you craft your curve using

sliders that adjust the curve for you Click

on the Parametric tab, and you’ll see four

sliders, which control the four different

areas of the curve, but before you start

“sliding,” know that the adjustments you

make here are added to anything you

did in the Point Curve tab (if you did

anything there first)

Step Six:

The Highlights slider controls the

high-lights area of the curve (the top of the

curve), and dragging it to the right arcs

the curve upward, making the highlights

brighter Right below that is the Lights

slider, which covers the next lower range

of tones (the area between the midtones

and the highlights) Dragging this slider

to the right makes this part of the curve

steeper, and increases the upper

mid-tones The Darks and Shadows sliders

do pretty much the same thing for the

lower midtones and deep shadow areas

But remember, dragging to the right

opens up those areas, so to create

con-trast, you’d drag both of those to the left

instead Here, to create some real punchy

contrast, I dragged both the Highlights

and Lights sliders to the right, and the

Darks and Shadows sliders to the left

Step Seven:

Another advantage of the Parametric curve

is that you can use the region divider

con-trols (under the curve) to choose how wide

a range each of the four sliders covers So,

if you move the far-right region divider to

the right (shown here), it expands the area

controlled by the Lights slider Now the

High lights slider has less impact, flattening

the upper part of the curve, so the contrast

is decreased If I drag that same region

divider control back to the left instead, it

expands the High lights slider’s area, which

steepens the curve and increases contrast

Step Eight:

If all of this makes you a bit squeamish,

have I got a tool for you: it’s called the

Targeted Adjustment tool (or TAT for

short) and you’ll find it up in the toolbar

at the top of the window (it’s the fifth

tool from the left, shown circled here)

Just move the tool over the part of the

image you want to adjust, then drag

upward to lighten that area, or

down-ward to darken it (this just moves the

part of the curve that represents that

part of the image) A lot of photographers

love the TAT, so make sure you give it a

try, because it makes getting that one

area you want brighter (or darker) easier

Now, there is one caveat (I’ve been waiting

to use that word for a while), and that is:

it doesn’t just adjust that one area of

your photo—it adjusts the curve itself

So, depending on the image, other areas

may get lighter/darker, too, so just keep

an eye on that while you’re adjusting

In the example shown here, I clicked and

dragged upward to brighten up that

shadowy area, and the curve adjusted

to make that happen automatically

Step One:

The Crop tool (C) is the sixth tool from

the left in the toolbar By default, it pretty

much works like Photoshop’s Crop tool

(you click-and-drag it out around the area

you want to keep), but it does offer some

features that Photo shop doesn’t—like

access to a list of preset cropping ratios

To get them, click-and-hold on the Crop

tool and a pop-up menu will appear (as

shown here) The Normal setting gives you

the standard drag-it-where-you-want-it

cropping How ever, if you choose one of

the cropping presets, then your cropping is

constrained to a specific ratio For example,

choose the 2 to 3 ratio, click-and-drag it

out, and you’ll see that it keeps the same

as-pect ratio as your original uncropped photo

Step Two:

Here’s the 2-to-3-ratio cropping border

dragged out over my image The area to

be cropped away appears dimmed, and

the clear area inside the border is how

your final cropped photo will appear

If you want to see the cropped version

before you leave Camera Raw, just switch

to another tool in the toolbar (Note: If you

draw a set size cropping border and want

to switch orientation, click on the

bottom-right corner and drag down and to the left

to switch from wide to tall, or up and to

the right to switch from tall to wide.)

There’s a distinct advantage to cropping your photo here in Camera Raw, rather than in Photoshop CS5 itself, and that is you can return to Camera Raw later and bring back the uncropped version of the image This even holds true for JPEG and TIFF photos, as long as you haven’t overwritten the original JPEG or TIFF file

To avoid overwriting, when you save the JPEG or TIFF in Photoshop, just change the filename (that way the original stays intact) With RAW images, you don’t have to worry about that, because it doesn’t let you overwrite the original

Cropping and

Straightening

Step Three:

If you reopen your cropped photo again

in Camera Raw, you’ll see the cropped

version To bring back the cropping

bor-der, just click on the Crop tool To remove

the cropping altogether, press the Esc or

Delete (PC: Backspace) key on your

key-board (or choose Clear Crop from the

Crop tool’s pop-up menu) If you want

your photo cropped to an exact size (like

8x10", 13x19", etc.), choose Custom from

the Crop tool’s pop-up menu to bring up

the dialog you see here You can choose

to crop by inches, pixels, or centimeters

Step Four:

Here, we’re going to create a custom crop

so our photo winds up being exactly

8x10", so choose Inches from the Crop

pop-up menu, then type in your custom

size Click OK, click-and-drag out the

cropping border, and the area inside it

will be exactly 8x10" Click on any other

tool in the toolbar or press Return (PC:

Enter), and you’ll see the final cropped

8x10" image (as seen here) If you click

the Open Image button, the image is

cropped to your specs and opened in

Photo shop If, instead, you click the Done

button, Camera Raw closes and your

photo is untouched, but it keeps your

cropping border in place for the future

TIP: Seeing Image Size

The size of your photo (and other

infor-mation) is displayed under the preview

area of Camera Raw (in blue underlined

text that looks like a Web link) When

you drag out a cropping border, the size

info for the photo automatically updates

to display the dimensions of the currently

selected crop area

Step Five:

If you save a cropped JPEG or TIFF

photo out of Camera Raw (by clicking

the Done button), the only way to bring

back those cropped areas is to reopen

the photo in Camera Raw However, if

you click the Save Image button and you

choose Photo shop from the Format

pop-up menu (as shown), a new option will

appear called Preserve Cropped Pixels

If you turn on that checkbox before you

click Save, when you open this cropped

photo in Photoshop, it will appear to

be cropped, but the photo will be on

a separate layer (not flattened on the

Background layer) So the cropped area

is still there—it just extends off the

visible image area You can bring that

cropped area back by

clicking-and-drag-ging your photo within the image area

(try it—use the Move tool [V] to

click-and-drag your photo to the right or left

and you’ll see what I mean)

Step Six:

If you have a number of similar photos

you need to crop the same way, you’re

going to love this: First, select all the

photos you want to crop in Camera Raw

(either in Mini Bridge or on your

com-puter), then open them all in Camera

Raw When you open multiple photos,

they appear in a vertical filmstrip along

the left side of Camera Raw (as shown

here) Click on the Select All button (it’s

above the filmstrip) and then crop the

currently selected photo as you’d like

As you apply your cropping, look at the

filmstrip and you’ll see all the thumbnails

update with their new cropping

instruc-tions A tiny Crop icon will also appear in

the bottom-left corner of each

thumb-nail, letting you know that these photos

have been cropped in Camera Raw

Step Seven:

Another form of cropping is actually

straightening your photos using the

Straighten tool It’s a close cousin of

the Crop tool because what it does is

essentially rotates your cropping border,

so when you open the photo, it’s straight

In the Camera Raw toolbar, choose the

Straighten tool (it’s immediately to the

right of the Crop tool, and shown circled

here in red) Now, click-and-drag it along

the horizon line in your photo (as shown

here) When you release the mouse

button, a cropping border appears and

that border is automatically rotated to

the exact amount needed to straighten

the photo (as shown in Step Eight)

Step Eight:

You won’t actually see the straightened

photo until you switch tools, press

Return (PC: Enter), or open the photo

in Photoshop (which means, if you click

Save Image or Done, Camera Raw closes,

and the straightening information is

saved along with the file So if you open

this file again in Camera Raw, you’ll see

the straightened version, and you won’t

really know it was ever crooked) If you

click Open Image instead, the

straight-ened photo opens in Photoshop Again,

if this is a RAW photo (or if it’s a JPEG or

TIFF and you clicked the Done button),

you can always return to Camera Raw

and remove this cropping border to get

the original uncropped photo back

TIP: Canceling Your Straightening

If you want to cancel your straightening,

just press the Esc key on your keyboard,

and the straightening border will go away

Skipping the Camera Raw

Window Altogether

If you’ve already applied a set of tweaks

to a RAW photo, you probably don’t

need the Camera Raw editing window

opening every time you open the file

So, just press-and-hold the Shift key

when you double-click on the RAW file

in Mini Bridge, and the image will open

in Photoshop, with the last set of edits

already applied, skipping the Camera

Raw window altogether If you didn’t

apply any tweaks in Camera Raw, it just

opens with the Camera Raw defaults

applied Either way, it’s a big time saver

Rate Your Images in Camera Raw

You don’t have to be in Mini Bridge to

add or change star ratings If you’ve got

multiple images open, you can do it right

in Camera Raw Just press Command-1,

-2, -3 (PC: Ctrl-1, -2, -3), and so on, to

add star ratings (up to five stars) You can

also just click directly on the five little

dots that appear below the thumbnails

in the filmstrip on the left

Seeing a True Before/After

The weird thing about the way Camera Raw handles previews is it does them on

a panel-by-panel basis, so if you make

a bunch of changes in the Basic panel, then switch to the Detail panel, and makes changes there, when you turn off the Preview checkbox (on the top right

of the Preview area), it doesn’t give you a real before/after It just gives you a before/

after of the panel you’re in right now, which doesn’t give you a true before/after

of your image editing To get a real be-fore/after of all your edits in Camera Raw, click on the Presets icon (the second icon from the right at the top of the Panel area) or the Snapshots icon (the far right icon), and now when you toggle on/off the Preview checkbox, it shows you the real before/after

Don’t Get Fooled by the Default Button

If you’ve edited your image in Camera Raw, and then you decide you want to start over, clicking the Default button

in the Basic panel (it’s to the left of the Auto button) won’t return your image

to how it looked when you opened

it Instead, to get back to the original way your image looked when you first opened it in Camera Raw, go to the Camera Raw flyout menu and choose

Camera Raw Defaults You can also

press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and the Cancel button will change to a Reset button

Cool Raw Retouching Trick

There’s a pretty common retouching technique in Photoshop for reducing hot spots (shiny areas on a subject’s face), which uses the Healing Brush to com-pletely remove the hot spot, then under the Edit menu, choosing Fade Healing Brush, and lowering the Opacity there

A little hint of the hot spot comes back,

so it looks more like a highlight than a shine (it actually works really well) You can do something similar in Camera Raw when using the Spot Removal tool (set to Heal) by removing the hot spot (or freckle, or wrinkle) and then using the Opacity slider in the Spot Removal options panel

Photoshop Killer Tips