Digital Camera World » Photoshop Tutorials

Camera Raw sharpening tools: how to restore fine detail and keep noise at bay

jmeyer — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:00:40 +0000

In our latest Raw Tuesday series post on editing raw format images we explain a simple technique for using the Adobe Camera Raw sharpening tools. Find out how to preserve fine detail in your raw files while banishing noise.

By shooting in your camera’s raw quality format you have much more tonal and colour information to work with, which enables you to produce better-looking results in your final image.

In our raw start image there are some very delicate midtone details such as the incense sticks and ash that we’d like to subtly sharpen, but this runs the risk of adding more noise to the shot’s soft bokeh. Fortunately, Adobe Camera Raw has some handy additional sliders that will help you to reveal midtone texture and detail while masking out the unwanted noise.

Here, we’ll also show you ways to preview which areas are being sharpened, so that you can get a balance between revealing detail and losing noise.

How to use the Adobe Camera Raw sharpening tools

Zoom in
Go to File>Open and go to your start image. It will open in the Adobe Camera Raw editor. To sharpen, grab the Zoom tool and right click. Choose 100%. Much of the shot is deliberately soft due to a shallow depth of field. Use the Hand tool to view the foreground incense stick.

Adjust Amount
Click on the Detail tab. Drop the sliders to 0 and drag Amount to 91 to increase the contrast around the edges. Increase the spread of the edge contrast change by setting Radius to 2.0. Click the Preview box to compare the before-and-after versions.

Restore detail
The change is very subtle. To reveal more of the delicate texture on the ash and incense sticks, drag Detail to 45. If you Alt-click as you drag this slider you’ll see a greyscale preview. The darker areas will become sharper and the grey areas will remain unsharpened.

Mask out noise
To prevent the soft background bokeh (and its picture noise) from being sharpened, Alt-click as you drag the Masking slider. Now only the lighter areas in the preview will become sharpened, leading to less noise. A value of 65 produces a good compromise.

Focus Stacking: how to extend depth of field when shooting close up

jmeyer — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:00:59 +0000

Shooting anything up close requires incredible patience and extreme precision. If your close-up photography isn’t sharp then you’re not only wasting pictures, but you’ve wasted hours of your time. In this in-depth tutorial we’ll show you how to use one of the most amazing Photoshop effects macro and close-up photographers can use: focus stacking.

Below we’ll show you step-by-step how to extend depth of field when shooting close-up by shifting your point of focus in multiple images, which you’ll later stitch together so you can produce images that are sharp throughout the frame.

One of the best things about close-up photography is the wonderful softness that results from working with such a shallow depth of field.

Even at the smallest apertures the plane of focus will stretch to a couple of centimetres at most, and anything outside this range will fall off into beautiful bokeh.

At times, however, this can be a problem –especially if you’d like a completely sharp subject. Stopping down the aperture will increase depth of field, but sometimes this simply isn’t enough to achieve sharpness across the subject from front to back.

The solution: fix the camera to a tripod and shoot several frames, each with a small shift in focus, then use Photoshop to combine the sharp areas to create a single pin-sharp image.

We’ll begin with a series of shots of a flower, captured with tiny incremental shifts in focus. We’ll make global adjustments to all the images at once in Camera Raw, then combine the sharp parts using the Auto-Blend command in Photoshop CS.

Macro subjects usually look best against clean uncluttered backgrounds, but this isn’t always easy to achieve when searching for the best angle.

We’ll neaten up our finished flower by creating a new colour co-ordinated background, then use the Clone tool to remove a few messy areas. Finally, we’ll utilise the High Pass filter for a great sharpening technique that works wonders on edges.

How to create a focus stacking effect: steps 1-2

01 Open in Camera Raw
Copy your start files into a folder on your hard drive, then open Adobe Bridge and go to the folder. Highlight the first image, then hold Shift and click the last one to select them all. Right-click over them and choose Open in Adobe Camera Raw to open the whole batch.

02 Remove the sensor mark
Click Select All at the top left. Now any changes will affect all the images. First let’s deal with the sensor mark on the left. Grab the Spot Removal tool from the Tools palette, set Type to Heal and Opacity to 100%, then drag a small circle over the mark to remove it.

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Adobe Lightroom tutorial: 6 fundamental Develop module edits for your raw files

jmeyer — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:00:43 +0000

Adobe Lightroom has quietly become one of the best photo editing software options for photographers thanks to its easy-to-use interface and extensive range of tools and controls. In our latest Raw Tuesday post, our Adobe Lightroom tutorial shows you how to use Lightroom’s Develop module for perfect edits.

Lightroom 4 is far more than just an image organiser. Its Develop module houses a set of tonal controls that at least match, and arguably surpass Photoshop stalwarts like Levels and Curves.

These tools enable you make a range of useful edits – from basic tonal tweaks to more creative effects. If you’re used to Photoshop’s Camera Raw plugin you’ll find a near-identical set of controls on the right of the Develop Module’s interface.

Whether you want to make basic exposure tweaks, correct lens distortion, crop in tighter or remove spots, the Develop Module is the place to begin.

And because Lightroom allows you to make these changes non-destructively to raw files, you can work on your images while retaining the highest possible quality.

In this tutorial we’ll start by making a few fundamental tweaks to exposure and tone in the Basic Panel, which is the best place to begin editing your raw files. We’ll go on to use targeted tools to lighten eyes and darken the corners.

One of the main reasons to work in Lightroom is that every single edit you make is completely reversible and editable at any time. So not only can you undo or tweak anything at any stage, you also have the freedom to try out different effects and treatments.

The Develop Module isn’t just essential for basic enhancements, it also lets you take your images in interesting and unexpected directions.

6 fundamental edits for raw files in the Adobe Lightroom Develop module

01 Make Basic Tweaks
Open Lightroom and click the Library Module, then hit the Import button and import develop_before.dng. Next, click Develop. Go to the Basic Panel on the right of the interface and use the sliders to improve the tones. Set Exposure +0.35, Contrast +7, Highlights +20, Shadows +49, Whites +18, Blacks -7, Vibrance +29.

02 Curves and vignette
Scroll down the set of controls on the right until you come to the Tone Curve. Either drag the line, or input these settings to create an S-shaped curve line: Highlights +15, Lights +5, Darks -9, Shadows -17. Next scroll down to the Effects Panel and set Post crop vignette, Style: Highlight Priority, Amount -20.

03 Crop in tighter
Go to the tools below the histogram and click the Crop tool. Now scroll up to the top of the right-hand settings to find the Crop options. Click the Lock icon to lock the aspect ratio, then crop in to the top and right. Next, click the Adjustment Brush and hit Z to zoom in to the eyes.

04 Paint in adjustments
Check Show Selected Mask Overlay, then set Brush size to 14 in the settings on the right. Click over Iris to set a pin, then paint over both irises. Hold Alt and paint to erase if you need to. Hide mask overlay, go to settings and input Exposure +0.94, Contrast +51, Clarity +48, Saturation +51 to boost the iris.

05 Reveal highlight details
Click New at the top right of the screen, then click on the bright white flower to set another pin. Paint a new mask over the flower, as well as some of the brighter parts along the arm, then set Highlights -26 to reveal more of the detail in those areas. Next you need to grab the Graduated Filter tool.

06 Remove the flower
Drag in from the edges to create several gradients, each with Clarity set to -71, to create a soft blur around the edges. Grab the Spot Removal tool. Set Spot Edit: Heal, Size 79 then zoom in to the flower under the arm. Click over the flower and drag to the left to remove it.

Photoshop CC: the 10 most important features in Adobe’s new software

jmeyer — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:01:11 +0000

The next version of Photoshop has been announced – dubbed Photoshop CC – and its pricing model is already causing some controversy. However you look at it, Creative Cloud and Photoshop CC is here to stay. So here are the 10 most important features this new Adobe software has to offer.

Words and images by Steve Caplin

A new version of Photoshop is always cause for celebration, as users look forward to new features and enhanced workflows. This time, the usual 18-month to 2-year cycle has been cut to just a year, as Adobe feels pressured to deliver more frequent updates to its Creative Cloud members – and it shows.

There are few major new tools in Photoshop CC, although there are some useful new ways of working.

The biggest fuss has been caused by Adobe’s branding of this version not as CS7, but as Photoshop CC, which is their way of moving all users away from outright purchase and onto a monthly subscription model.

The Photoshop community has been up in arms about the cost implications – although, as we see it, it can work out to be a very cost-effective way to get Photoshop. See the Subscriptions Info panel at the end of this feature for details on how the costs pan out.

Click below to watch our in-depth video discussing these 10 important features in Photoshop CC; alternatively, scroll through this post to read about each Photoshop CC feature individually.

Photoshop CC Key Features: 1. Shake Reduction

The “deblur” filter, which caused so much fuss when it was leaked, is now included in Photoshop CC – to an extent.

Given the right starting image, it can go a long way towards reducing a very particular kind of blur: but it doesn’t like noisy images, or motion blur.

It works by tracing ghosting and calculating the blur path.

You can set up multiple blur paths for different regions, and even draw your own; Photoshop will blend all the regions together smoothly.

3D Anaglyphs: using Photoshop effects to create a sense of depth

jmeyer — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:00:11 +0000

If you’re looking for creative photography ideas to try and get more from your images, making 3D anaglyphs is a really fun technique to learn. In this tutorial we’ll show you a simple way of using Photoshop effects to create the illusion of depth in your images.

3D graphic effects work by giving each eye a slightly different perspective of a scene, creating the illusion of depth. With 3D anaglyph images, the two perspectives are in different colours (usually red and cyan, as these two colours are chromatically opposite).

This is why classic 3D glasses have different-coloured lenses, as these restrict what each eye sees.

3D films are shot with two lenses side by side, one for each eye, but you can achieve a similar illusion using a single image.

Our before image

Different ‘depth planes’ can be created by dividing the image into separate elements, creating red and blue layers of each, then controlling the amount and direction the red and blue layers are shifted.

Moving the red left and the blue right will make the area appear further away, while red right, blue left will make it appear closer.

It’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds, and the results are instantly gratifying. So grab a pair of 3D glasses and let’s get started…

How to make 3D anaglyphs

01 Select the hand
Open original start image, then hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy the background layer. Grab the Quick Selection tool and paint over the hand and sleeve on the left to select it (hold Alt to subtract if the tool goes wrong). Click the Refine Edge button and set Smooth 15, Feather 2, Contract/Expand +100.

02 Clone around edges
Hit Cmd/Ctrl+J to copy the hand to a new layer. Highlight the middle layer and grab the Clone tool. Repeatedly Alt-click to sample the background, then paint with the tool to create a crude edge that extends the background walls and ceiling so that they overlap the edges of the hand.

03 Make the blue layer
Double-click the layer name and call it Red, then hit Cmd/Ctrl+J and call the copy Blue. With the Blue layer highlighted, go to Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Levels. Click the Channel dropdown and pick Red, then go to the Output Levels slider. Drag the right-hand point to the left, then hit OK.

04 Make the red layer
Hide the Blue layer and highlight the Red layer. Go to Levels again and this time choose Green from the Channel dropdown. Once again drag the Output slider right point all the way to the left. Next select Channel: Blue and again drag the slider across so your image is completely red.

05 Blend and nudge
Reveal and highlight the Blue layer, then click the Blend Mode dropdown in the Layers Panel and choose Screen. Hit Escape, then grab the Move tool. Press Shift + ► twice to nudge the Blue layer 20px to the right. Highlight the Red layer and press Shift + ◄ twice to nudge it 20px to the left.

06 Add graphics
Reveal and highlight the hand layer, then go to File>Place. Next, we navigated to the ’3D’ logo file and hit Place, then did the same for the png file of the 3D glasses icon. We then used the Move tool to position the graphics and add text.

Finally, put on a pair of 3D glasses and check out the effect!

Family photo ideas: make a striking family portrait from individual faces in profile

jmeyer — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:01:42 +0000

Many photographers struggle for great family photo ideas, but some of the best family portrait photography is that which relies on the old adage that less is more. In this quick and easy tutorial we’ll show you how to make one of our favourite family photo ideas – shooting individual family members in profile and combining them on the computer into one striking family portrait.

At once simple yet instantly recognisable, side-on profiles have been a popular record of a person’s likeness since long before the invention of the camera.

From the silhouetted keepsakes of 18th century lovers, to the royal visage adorning every coin in your pocket, profiled portraits have been ubiquitous for centuries.

One reason for this may be because they show off a person’s unique features in such a clearly defined shape, which also makes for a fascinating family portrait.

Here we’ll show you how to shoot a series of dramatically lit profiles of an entire family – one person at a time – then stitch the individual portraits to create a family photo that not only looks stylish, but also delivers an interesting study of the similarities and differences between each face.

If you’re planning on shooting your own, we’ve got a host of useful tips that will show you how to set up, light and shoot your family in profile.

Once shot, you’ll find a step-by-step guide that shows you exactly how to put your images together in Photoshop. This is much easier than you might think.

All we need to do is use the Lighten Blend Mode so that the lighter parts on each layer show through, then tidy up with a little painting. As the images are mostly black, this makes combining the faces a quick, painless task.

If you prefer to watch, there’s a video among this month’s files that guides you through both the camera skills and Photoshop technique involved in creating an elegant family portrait that will be cherished for years to come.

Family Photo Ideas – step-by-step how to shoot your striking family portrait (1-3)

01 Use a black background
Begin by putting up a black background. Black velvet is best because it’s completely non-reflective. If you don’t have one, you can improvise with some other common material.

It’s crucial that the background remains as dark as possible, so watch out for light  spilling onto it from your flash or lamp. If there is any spillage, reposition the light or place something between the light and background to block the light from reaching it.

02 Set up a light source
You’ll need a strong light source to create your dramatic profiles. We’ve used an Elinchrom home studio flash head here, fitted with a small softbox to diffuse the light.

If you don’t have a flash head, you could use a flashgun fitted with a diffuser as long as you can trigger it wirelessly or via a cable. Alternatively, a strong lamp will work, but you’ll need to increase your camera’s ISO and adjust exposure to allow for weaker light.

03 Position the light
Set up your light source off to one side and slightly behind where your subjects will be. The positioning, height and angle of the light is vital, because the aim is to light the edge of the person’s profile while keeping the rest of the face fairly dark.

Directing the light straight at the person will result in harsh light, while swinging it more in the direction of the camera will ‘feather’ the light and give softer results. Take a few test shots to determine the right angle.

PAGE 1: Family Photo Ideas – step-by-step how to shoot your striking family portrait (1-3)
PAGE 2: Family Photo Ideas – step-by-step how to shoot your striking family portrait (4-6)
PAGE 3: Family Photo Ideas – step-by-step how to combine your images into one portrait (1-4)
PAGE 4: Family Photo Ideas – step-by-step how to combine your images into one portrait (5-8)

Conquer Underexposure: how to rescue shadow detail and how to deal with noise

jmeyer — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:01:20 +0000

In our latest Raw Tuesday series post we show you how to beat underexposure. Our in-depth Photoshop tutorial shows you how to rescue shadow detail missing from the darker areas of your picture and how to deal with ensuing noise.

Have you ever wondered what the point of shooting in raw actually is? If so, this is the tutorial for you. A raw file is a complete record of all the data your camera has captured.

While JPEGs take up far less room and offer greater flexibility in the digital world, raw format files are the only choice for anyone who wants the best possible quality. Sometimes the level of detail you can squeeze out of a seemingly dud exposure is quite astonishing.

Take our scene here. Captured at the end of the day with the light fading and the foreground in shadow, there wasn’t a hope of recording a balanced exposure.

Our before image

Of course, in situations like this you could use a graduated filter to balance things out – restricting the light from the sky – but if you don’t have one to hand then it’s near impossible to get a pleasing exposure in a single frame.

Another option is to shoot two exposures – one for the sky, the other for the land – and then combine them later. But this isn’t always possible, especially if, for example, the bridge you’ve set up your tripod on is about to be overrun by ramblers!

But there’s no need to admit defeat. It’s surprising how much detail you can recover in Adobe Camera Raw. Here, we’ll show you how to tease out this detail using Camera Raw’s powerful tonal sliders. Inevitably, this leads to an increase in noise. We’ll combat this with the plug-in’s excellent noise reduction commands.

How to beat underexposure and rescue shadow detail – steps 1-3

01 Open the image in Camera Raw
Open Adobe Bridge, then go to your start image. Right-click the thumbnail and go to Open in Camera Raw. You don’t have to have Photoshop open, as Bridge is capable of hosting Adobe Camera Raw too (which means you’re not locked out of Photoshop when using Adobe Camera Raw).

02 Lighten the shadows
Go to the Shadows slider in the Basics panel and drag it to +67 to reveal detail in the land. Drag highlights to -57 to bring back detail in the sky. In older versions of Adobe Camera Raw, you can get similar results with the Fill Light and Recovery sliders. Set Temperature to 7600.

03 Check for clipped pixels
Hold down the Alt key while dragging the Blacks and White sliders. Drag Blacks to +23, then set Whites to -38 to add a little more definition to the clouds. Next, set Contrast to -36 and Vibrance to +32. Boost midtone contrast by setting Clarity to +28.

PAGE 1: How to beat underexposure and rescue shadow detail – steps 1-3
PAGE 2: How to beat underexposure and rescue shadow detail – steps 4-6
PAGE 3: How to beat underexposure and rescue shadow detail – steps 7-9
PAGE 4: How to beat underexposure and rescue shadow detail – steps 10-12
PAGE 5: How to beat underexposure and rescue shadow detail – steps 13-15
PAGE 6: How to beat underexposure and rescue shadow detail – steps 16-18

Blown highlights: how to rescue blown skies using simple Photoshop effects

jmeyer — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:01:22 +0000

Are blown highlights spoiling your landscape photography? Find out in this tutorial how you can use simple Photoshop effects like a Gradient Fill adjustment layer to get more balanced exposures.

When shooting landscapes, you can overcome the difference in light levels between a bright sky and darker terrain to produce an evenly exposed shot by using a graduated neutral density filter – also called an ND grad filter. If you don’t have one of these, don’t worry – you can reproduce the effect in Photoshop Elements.

The key to an effective ND grad in Photoshop Elements is to use selections, layers and gradients. The gradient will be on a separate layer, so you can easily adjust exposure to restore colours and details that are missing from an over-exposed sky.

In this Photoshop tutorial you’ll learn how to isolate the sky using selection tools, and how to apply a Gradient Fill adjustment layer to this selection. This will help darken the over-exposed sky at the top of the shot while blending it seamlessly with the shot’s correctly exposed clouds lower down.

Our before image

You’ll also learn how to tint the gradient so that it contains the same colours as the clouds. This combination of subtly blended tones and colours will make the edited sky look natural.

As well as tweaking the sky’s colours and tone, we’ll show you how to make selective tonal adjustments to other parts of the shot to bring out texture and detail. We’ll also use layer masks to prevent the lighthouse from being altered by the gradient layer, and gently tweak its mid-tones with the Burn tool to make it look less flat.

How to rescue blown highlights in your landscape photography – steps 1-3

01 Adjust the mid-tones
Open your start image with the blown highlights. Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and choose Levels. Drag the grey Midtone input slider right to 0.70. This darkens the photo’s mid-tones, revealing more colour and texture in the over-exposed sky.

02 Select the sky
The sky adjustment works well, but the land is now too dark. We need to restrict the adjustment to the sky. Select the Magic Wand and set the Tolerance to 41. Keep Contiguous ticked. Hold down Shift and click the sky repeatedly until it’s all selected. Don’t worry if you include bits of lighthouse at this stage.

03 Fill the selection
To select the land choose Select>Inverse. Now click the white layer mask and choose Edit>Fill Selection. In the Fill Layer window set the Use drop-down menu to Black and click OK. The sky will remain in its adjusted state while the land gets restored to its original exposure.

PAGE 1: How to rescue blown highlights in your landscape photography – steps 1-3
PAGE 2 How to rescue blown highlights in your landscape photography – steps 4-6
PAGE 3 How to rescue blown highlights in your landscape photography – steps 7-9
PAGE 4: How to rescue blown highlights in your landscape photography – steps 10-12
PAGE 5: How to rescue blown highlights in your landscape photography – steps 13-15
PAGE 6: How to rescue blown highlights in your landscape photography – steps 16-18

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Raw Processing Tips: 7 ways the Basic Panel can kick-start your photo editing

jmeyer — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:01:41 +0000

In our latest Raw Tuesday post on raw processing we take a closer look at the Basic Panel in Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom and explain why it’s the best place to begin your photo editing.

As more and more DSLR owners are realising, raw format is the best capture format for photographers who want maximum quality and control.

Raw format files don’t go through any in-camera processing and therefore contain a complete record of all the information your camera records, while JPEGs (the other format option) are processed in-camera, with any unused information discarded.

As a result, raw files often look a little flat straight out of camera when compared to JPEGs, as you may have noticed if you’ve been shooting in Raw+JPEG mode.

Our before image

Because of this, once you’ve downloaded your raw files, you’ll usually want to make a few changes to improve the tones. The best place to begin making these improvements is Photoshop’s Basic Panel.

Available in both Photoshop’s Camera Raw plug-in and Lightroom’s Develop Module, the Basic panel houses 11 sliders that allow you to make simple yet powerful edits: setting White Balance, fixing exposure issues, rescuing details, adjusting contrast and tweaking colour. Find out how to get the basics right with these seven pro tips.

Raw Processing Tips: 01 White Balance

Open your start image and correct the White Balance. The drop-down list of presets is a useful starting point.

The Temperature slider is measured in Kelvin. Drag it left for cooler tones and right to add warmth.

Use Tint to correct magenta or green colour casts. Alternatively, grab the White Balance tool and click over a neutral point.

Here we’ve set Temperature 6900, Tint +10.

PAGE 1: Raw Processing Tips – 01 White Balance
PAGE 2: Raw Processing Tips - 02 Exposure
PAGE 3: Raw Processing Tips - 03 Whites and Blacks
PAGE 4: Raw Processing Tips - 04 Highlights and Shadows
PAGE 5: Raw Processing Tips - 05 Saturation and Vibrance
PAGE 6: Raw Processing Tips - 06 Contrast and Clarity
PAGE 7: Raw Processing Tips - 07 Previews

Lightroom Library: a common sense way of organizing your photos

jmeyer — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 00:00:31 +0000

Whether you’ve just started using Adobe Lightroom or you’re an experienced hand, knowing how to organize your photos sensibly is a must. In this quick guide we show you a common-sense way of setting up your Lightroom library.

For those of us used to a standard folder-based image library, Lightroom 4’s approach to image organisation requires a shift in mentality.

At its core, the Adobe Lightroom Library is simply a database that assigns and remembers things about your image – where it is on your hard drive, which keywords and ratings are assigned, if any tonal adjustments have been made and so on.

It’s perfectly suited to the demands of image libraries that can run into the thousands.

However fastidiously you organise your images, problems arise with standard folder-based libraries when one image can be classified in several ways.

Say, for example, you have a shot of a classic car taken during a wedding. Should it go in a wedding folder, a classic car folder, or both?

Lightroom offers a solution: you can create collections for each category that an image falls under without having to move the file around or create memory-crippling duplicates on your hard drive. It does for images what playlists do for music.

Building a Lightroom library begins with the import. This may seem laborious at first, but it quickly pays off when you begin to reap the rewards of an organised library.

A few tweaks during the import can save you hours in the long run. Here, we’ll start at the very beginning: plugging a memory card into your card reader and using Lightroom’s Import command to assign copyright data and keywords.

We’ll go on to flag favourite shots, make quick tonal tweaks, and finally export images as JPEGs. Learn these key skills and you’ll be well on the way to having the kind of organised image library you’ve always wanted.

Making a Lightroom Library: 01 Stick in your memory card

Open Lightroom 4, then stick your memory card into your card reader (if you’re using our files, copy them to your hard drive, then go to the Library Module, hit Import and use the Source panel to find them).

Either hit Check All or manually check the files you want. Check Copy as DNG at the top middle.

PAGE 1: Making a Lightroom Library – 01 Stick in your memory card
PAGE 2: Making a Lightroom Library – 02 Choose Import options
PAGE 3: Making a Lightroom Library – 03 Pick your favourites
PAGE 4: Making a Lightroom Library – 04 Make a collection
PAGE 5: Making a Lightroom Library – 05 Quick tonal tweaks
PAGE 6: Making a Lightroom Library – 06 Export the files