Digital Art I
Photoshop Tutorial 1
This tutorial gives very basic (quick) techniques for improving an image by...
• Processing a proprietary camera raw image and saving your adjustments.
• Adjust White balance
• Making basic corrections to a photograph such as removing red eye, noise and
accentuating shadow and highlights.
NOTE: Always work on a copy of the original image! This is to insure that the
original is left untouched in case you mess up!
Since the lab is a public area, students will change the preference settings in specific
applications. You will restore the preferences for Photoshop to the “default” settings.
In order to do this, do the following:
1) Hold down the Command + Option+ Shift keys and click on the Photoshop
icon in the dock.
2) Click Open.
3) Click Yes to reset the preferences.
4) Go into the File menu and select Browse In Bridge to Launch Adobe
Bridge. Navigate through the computer to find the image you will be working
on (that you downloaded from the class website).
5) Using the icons at the top left of the screen (above the favorites tab) navigate
through the computer to find the document titled tutorial_1_ image1.crw,
and double click to open it.
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Camera Raw Dialog Box
The Camera Raw dialog box displays a large preview of the image you’ve opened, a
histogram in the upper right hand corner, as well as a preview option and tools that
allow editing to an image prior to committing them to document.
Adjusting white balance
Most digital cameras to day have the capability to adjust the white balance of a scene
prior to taking a photo. Sometimes this step is either overlooked or doesn’t apply
because of how rapidly lighting conditions may change when capturing images.
White balance reflects the lighting conditions under which an image was captured, and
is comprised of two components:
Temperature: Determines the level of “coolness” or “warmness” of an image.
Tint: Indicates a magenta or green color cast to an image.
1) If the Basic panel isn’t appearing on the right side of the dialog box,
click the Basic button
to open it.
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2) By default, As Shot is selected in the White Balance menu.
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QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
This indicates the White Balance settings that were in your camera at the
tie the image was taken.
3) Select Cloudy from the White Balance menu. The temperature and
tint adjusts, but hasn’t been corrected completely because there’s still a
blue cast.
4) Select the White Balance tool
at the top of the Camera Raw dialog
box. Using the tool, select an area of the photo that should be either
pure white (clouds). If you click again in a different area of the clouds,
notice how the color will shift.
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5) Click on the clouds directly left of the steeple.
6) Move the Tint slider to -22 to intensify the greens.
Making tonal adjustments
You can also adjust the exposure, brightness, contrast and saturation in the
image.
Exposure: Defines the white point or lightest point of an image.
Contrast: Moving slider to the right lightens the affected areas of an image;
left darkens.
Highlights/Shadows: Increase detail in these respective areas.
Blacks: Sets the darkest point in the image.
Clarity: Adds depth to an image by increasing local contrast in the midtones.
Saturation: Adjusts the saturation of all colors equally.
Vibrance: Can bring back saturation to areas that are undersaturated with
effecting areas like skin tones.
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Be sure to stop and look at the image as you progressively input the following
values so you can see how it adjusts:
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The Camera Raw Histogram will display the red, green, and blue channels of
the selected image and update it accordingly as you adjust the settings.
Sharpening
Sharpening an image will adjust the contrast of the edge details and creates
the illusion of a more focused photo. The Sharpening functions are accessed
through the Detail Panel.
1) Double-click the Zoom tool to zoom-in 100%.
2) Use the Hand tool to pan the image to see the cross at the top of the
mission tower.
3) Click the Detail tab (located in the Image adjustments tab area) to
open the Detail panel.
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Amount Slider: Determines how much sharpening Camera Raw applies.
Typically you will want to over sharpen the image first and then adjust it after
you’ve set the other sliders.
Radius Slider: Determines the pixel area Camera Raw analyzes as it sharpens
the image.
Detail Slider: Determines how much detail you’ll see. Typically you’ll want to
keep the Detail setting relatively low.
Masking Slider: Determines which parts of the image Camera Raw sharpens.
For a high setting, it sharpens only those parts of the image with strong edges.
Input the following settings to the below in the Detail Panel:
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
When finished, click on the Save Image…button
4) Select .jpg for the File Extension.
5) When the file is finished saving, click the Done button, close the window
and quit out of Adobe Bridge.
6) You should now see a new document named tutorial_1_image1.JPG
in the directory where the original camera raw document is.
Applying advanced color correction
The tonal range of an image represents the amount of contrast, or detail. This
is determines by the image’s distribution of pixels, ranging from the darkest
(black) to the lightest (white). The Levels adjustment layer will be used to fine
tune the tonal range.
1) In Photoshop navigate through the computer to find and open the file
named tutorial_1_ image2.psd
2) Go into the File menu and select Save As… and rename the document:
tutorial_1_ image2_final.psd
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3) Go into the Adjustments Panel (above the Layers Panel) and click on
the Levels icon. An Adjustment layer is created along with a Histogram.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Histogram
The Black (left) triangle represents the shadows; the White (right) represents
the highlights; the Gray triangle (middle) represents the midtones, or gamma.
A normally exposed photo has an ideal histogram which shows a black point at
the beginning of the data; white point at the end, and a middle portion that
has fairly uniform peaks and valleys which represents the midtones.
1) Click on the Calculate a more accurate histogram button (to the left
under the eyedroppers). The histogram should shift. You now want to
set the black point within the histogram to the beginning of the data.
2) Put your mouse on the Black triangle in the histogram and drag it to
the right to where the data starts. (This is where the darkest colors
begin). As you drag the first Input Levels value changes along with the
image.
3) Now move the Gray triangle to the left to slightly lighten the midtones;
your target value should be 1.18
Healing Brush to remove skin imperfections
Both the Healing Brush and Spot Healing Brush will correct blemishes,
unwanted hair etc. from the face.
1) In the Layers Panel select the Background layer. Choose Duplicate
Layer in the dropdown menu (top-right side of panel) from the Layers
panel menu. Name the new layer Corrections and click OK.
2) Zoom into the area under the model’s right eye (with still being able to
see the right–side of the nose; top of mouth).
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3) Select the Spot Healing Brush Tool. At the very top of the work area,
Options bar will appear for this tool. Input the following settings in the Options
Bar:
Brush Size: 7 px
Mode: Normal
Type: Content-Aware
4) You should see a single strand of hair on the model’s face. Use the Spot
Healing Brush to take out the hair.
With Content Aware selected in the Options Bar, the brush replaces the
hair with skin that is similar to that around it.
5) Paint over fine lines around the eyes and mouth., and any blemishes.
Try not to make the model’s face too perfect—you want to preserve
some character to her face!
You’ll now remove the darker makeup smudges under the eyes.
1) Select the Healing Brush (under the Spot Healing Brush). Adjust the
brush to 19 pixels and a hardness of 50%.
2) Take a sampling-source by holding down the Option key and clicking
with the mouse under her eye, but below the area to be retouched.
Release the Option key when done.
3) Use the mouse to brush beneath her eyes to remove the dark makeup.
You should be changing the color.
SAVE YOUR WORK!
Dodge and Sponge tool for image enhancements
The Dodge tool will be used to lighten the color under the eyes, and then
the Sponge tool will be used to lighten the eyes themselves.
1) With the Corrections layer still active, select the Dodge tool.
2) In the Options bar, change the brush size to 65 px and the Exposure
to 30%. Make sure Midtones is selected in the Range menu.
3) Brush the Dodge tool over the shadows under the eyes to lighten
them.
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4) Select the Sponge tool (hidden under the Dodge tool). In the Options
bar, make sure Vibrance is selected, and then input the following
settings:
Brush Size: 35px
Brush Hardness: 0%
Mode: Saturate
Flow: 50%
5) Move the Sponge tool over the irises in the eyes to increase their
saturation.
6) Select the Dodge tool again, and select Shadows from the Range
menu in the Options bar.
7) Use the Dodge tool to lighten the shadow area above the eyes and the
areas around the irises to bring out the color.
Adjusting skin tones
You can select a color range that targets skin tones so that it’s easier to adjust
the levels and color tone of skin without affecting the entire image. The skin
tone color range selects other areas of the image with similar color, but if
you’re making slight adjustments, this is usually acceptable.
1) Choose Select>Color Range.
2) In the Color Range dialog box, choose Skin Tones from the Select
menu. The Preview shows that much of the image has been selected.
3) Select Detect Faces.
4) The Preview in the selection changes to show the face, hair highlight
and lighter areas of the background are slected.
5) Decrease the Fuzziness slider to 28, click OK.
6) Click the Curves icon in the Adjustments Panel.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
7) A Curves adjustment layer is now added above the Corrections layer.
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8) Click the middle of the graph, and pull the curve slightly up. The
selected areas lighten. The adjustment affects more of the image than
the skin tones, but the effect blends well and is subtle.
Applying surface blur
To even out the photo, you’ll apply a surface blur.
1) Select the Corrections layer, and choose Layer>Duplicate Layer.
Name the layer Surface Blur and click OK in the Duplicate layer dialog
box.
2) Select and physically move the Surface Blur layer between the
Curves 1 and Levels 1 layers in the Layers panel.
3) With the Surface Blur layer selected, choose Filter>Blur>Surface
Blur.
4) In the Surface Blur dialog box, leave the Radius at 5 pixels, and
move the Threshold to 10 levels. Click OK.
The Surface Blur filter has left the model looking a little glassy. You’ll
reduce its effect by reducing its opacity.
5) With the Surface Blur layer selected, change the Opacity to 30% in
the Layers panel.
Now, you sharpen the areas more around the face. Using the Eraser tool.
6) Select the Eraser tool. In the Options bar, select a midsized brush
between 10 and 50 pixels, with 10% hardness. Set the opacity to
90%.
7) Brush over ONLY the eyes, eyebrows, the defining lines of the nose
and teeth. This erases part of the blurred layer to let the sharper layer
blow shoe through.
8) Zoom out to see the entire image.
9) Increase the brush size to 400 pixels and then lightly sweep across the
background, shirt, and hair to bring back those areas to full sharpness.
Only the model’s face should have the surface blur remaining.
SAVE YOUR WORK, and close this document.
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Adjusting shadows and highlights
To bring out detail in the dark or light areas of an image, you can use the
Shadows/Highlights command. This feature works best when the subject of the
image is silhouetted against a strong backlighting or is washed out due to a
camera flash being too close. You can also use this feature to pull details from
the shadows in an image that is otherwise well-lit.
1) Go into the File menu and select Browse in Bridge…
2) Navigate through the computer to find the following document:
tutorial_1_image3.psd. When the image appears in the right hand
side of Bridge, double-click it to open it within Photoshop.
3) Choose Image>Adjustments>Shadows/Highlight. Photoshop
automatically applies default settings to the image, lightening the
background. You’ll customize the settings to bring out more detail in
both the shadows and highlights to enhance the sunset.
4) In the Shadows/Highlights dialog box, select Show More Options to
expand the dialog box. Input the following:
ShadowsAmount: 50%
Tonal Width: 50%
Radius: 38 px.
HighlightsAmount: 14%
Tonal Width: 46%
Radius: 43px.
AdjustmentDrag the Color Corrections slider to +5, set the Midtone Contrast
slider to +22, and leave the Black Clip and White Clip settings at
their defaults.
Click OK.
SAVE YOUR WORK!
Correcting red eye
This happens in a dark room when the retina of a subject’s eye is reflected
by a camera’s flash.
1) Select the Zoom tool and make sure the Scrubby Zoom is deselected in
the Options bar. Drag a marquee around the girl’s eyes to zoom in on
them.
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2) Select the Red Eye tool hidden under the Healing Brush tool.
3) In the Options bar, leave Pupil Size set to 50%, but change Darken
Amount to 74%. The Darken Amount specifies how dark the pupil should
be.
4) Click on the red area in the girl’s left eye. The red refection disappears.
5) Click on the red area in the girl’s right eye to remove that reflection as
well. Double-click the Zoom tool to zoom out to 100%.
SAVE YOUR WORK!
Reducing noise
Extraneous pixels that aren’t apart of the image detail are called noise. Noise
can occur when using a high ISO/ASA setting on a digital camera, from
underexposure, or from shooting in darkness with a long shutter speed.
Scanned images can also have noise that results from the scanning sensor
(CCD) or from a grain pattern in scanned film negatives.
There are two types of noise:
Luminance: Grayscale data that makes an image look grainy or patchy
Color noise: Appears as colored artifacts in an image.
The Reduce Noise filter can address both types in individual channels while
preserving edge detail.
1) Zoom into the center of girl’s face about 300%. You can see noise
occurring on her cheeks and the tip of her nose resulting in an uneven
skin tone.
2) Choose Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise.
3) In the Reduce Noise dialog box, do the following:
Strength: 8
Preserve Details: 30%
Reduce Color Noise: 80%
Sharpen Details: 30%
4) Click the Preview check-box a few times to toggle between your edits on
the original photos to see the changes. Click OK when done.
SAVE YOUR WORK!
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