Archive for the ‘ Adobe Photoshop ’ Category

Adobe Photoshop: Resetting Defaults (on the Options Bar and Beyond)

by Barb Binder

Photoshop uses a “sticky state” for the Options Bar. This is good if you have favorite settings that you use all the time, and bad if you randomly pick options and then forget about them. As a longtime Photoshop ACI (Adobe Certified Instructor), I learned quickly that I can waste precious class time troubleshooting my students’ projects if I don’t take the time to reset defaults between lessons. I don’t mean to say that in a production environment you need to reset defaults several times a day, but if you are struggling with misbehaving tools, this one’s for you.

The Options Bar

Adobe Photoshop: The Options Bar
The Options Bar is the horizontal bar that runs underneath the Menu Bar in Photoshop. You can turn it on and off through the Windows menu, so if you don’t see it on your screen, you definitely want to turn it on. The job of the Options Bar is to set the options of the tool you are about to use. For example, if I want to make a rectangular marquee selection, I would pick the Rectangular Marquee tool and then pick my options (feather, anti-alias, fixed aspect ratio) before I use the tool. Selections from the Options Bar only affect the next use of the tool, they can’t be used to modify the existing selection, for example.

To reset the Options Bar:

  1. Pick any tool from the Toolbox (I have the Move tool selected in my example):
    Adobe Photoshop: The Move Tool
  2. Right-click (Mac: Control+click) the picture of the tool at the far left of the Options Bar to access the reset tool menu:
    Adobe Photoshop: Right-click the picture of the selected tool
  3. Reset this tool or all tools to restore the system defaults:
    Adobe Photoshop: The reset tools menu
  4. Pick OK.
    Adobe Photoshop: Reset all tools to default settings
  5. The tools return to their default settings.

Restoring System Preferences

With the information above, you now have the skills to manually reset the Options Bar defaults for one or all tools. Sometimes, though, you just want to start over with the system defaults that ship with Photoshop. For example, I usually have my students reset their defaults before class, so that I know exactly what their settings are and can keep the troubleshooting time to a minimum. Here’s how:

  1. Save and close all Photoshop documents.
  2. Close Photoshop.This is the hard part:
    1. Windows: set up the fingers on one hand to hover over Control and Shift and Alt.
    2. Mac: set up the fingers on one hand to hover over Command and Control and Shift and Alt
  3. Use the mouse to double click the Photoshop icon and then IMMEDIATELY press down on keys listed above.
  4. You can let go of the mouse, but keep the keys down until you get this message:
  5. Adobe Photoshop: Delete the Adobe Photoshop settings file

  6. Click Yes and Photoshop will reopen using the original system defaults.
  7. Don’t worry about deleting the Settings file. Photoshop will recreate it the next time you exit the program.

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Adobe Photoshop: Get Rid of the Dust!

By Michael Meyer, Professional Photographer & Former Photoshop Student

Ah, dust, the bane of negatives and slides. How do you get rid of all the dust on an image after scanning one of your favorite old negatives, slides or prints? The “Dust and Scratches” filter can be very helpful, but I have great a little trick that I use every time I access this filter.

Take a look at the image of the clouds and moon: you’ll notice that there is quite a bit of dust in the image. Let’s start with the traditional use of the Dust & Scratches filter:

  1. Open up an image of your own with dust or scratches.
    Adobe Photoshop: Original image with dust and scratches
  2. Choose Filter > Noise > Dust & Scratches
    Adobe Photoshop: The Dust & Scratches Filter
  3. Adjust the sliders for Radius and Threshold until the dust is gone. Good, except that by the time the dust is all gone, I’m betting that there are other areas in the image that are either gone (like the moon) or very soft now (like the new cloud edges).
    Adobe Photoshop: Where's the moon?
  4. Let’s click Cancel and try this again.

On a small or low resolution image, the filter probably runs quickly. If you are trying to clean up a large, high resolution file (think 40, 50 megabytes, or more) the image will take a lot longer to process. So, how do you make it run a lot faster and not affect the entire image in a negative way? (Get it? Negative?)

What I like to do is use the Lasso tool to make a quick selection around a dusty section of the image.and then open the filter again. Adjust the sliders until the dust is gone but you can still see the grain or noise, as it’s now called, in the image. For the moon and clouds image, I’m using Radius=5 and Threshold=30. You don’t want to take it too far: if the grain disappears you’ll be able to tell where the selection was. When you are satisfied, click OK.
Adobe Photoshop: Lasso a dusty area
Adobe Photoshop: Spot corrections with the Dust & Scratches filter

Next, quickly draw another selection around some more dust and don’t worry if your selections look like a three year old did it. Mine always do. Now, here’s the quick part of this trick. Don’t go back up to the Filter menu, simply press “Control + F” and Photoshop will automatically apply the last filter used with the same settings.

By the way, those settings will change for almost every image you work on unless they are similar in grain structure and pixel dimension, so you will have to experiment a little. Hot Tip…Always be wary with recipes or formulas in Photoshop. They are usually only a good starting point. There are too many variables for settings to always work on every image.

Continue making selections until you have gone over the entire image. It can be a bit painful to go over the image this way, but the results will be better than doing the entire image at once. Also, you might only have a small section with dust to do and a couple selections will finish the job for you.

Good luck, and keep pushing those pixels.

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Adobe Photoshop: Using a Mask on an Adjustment Layer

By Michael Meyer, Professional Photographer & Former Photoshop Student

This is a technique that’s a little bit advanced but, once you get the hang of it you’ll want to use it a lot because of its flexibility and power.

Here’s the “before” shot of a nice storm rolling in at the beach. (I love storms at the beach, by the way.)

Adobe Photoshop: Before and After

I wanted to add some contrast and darken the clouds to better accent the impending doom, but I don’t want to make any permanent changes to the image. The best way to add non-destructive edits (that can be removed or modified later) is to add an adjustment layer that floats over the original image. Let’s give it a shot:

  1. Open up the image you wish to modify.
  2. Click on the Background Layer in the Layers panel.
    Adobe Photoshop: The Layers Panel
  3. Select Layers > New Adjustment Layer > Curves. You can give the new adjustment layer a descriptive name, or just accept the default name as shown below. Click OK.
    Adobe Photoshop: Adding a new Adjustment layer
  4. Take a close look at the panels on the right of your screen (and shown below). You‘ll see the new Curves adjustment layer in the Layers panel, and the Curves Adjustment panel opens up on top.
    Adobe Photoshop: Before the curves adjustment
  5. A quick way to adjust the overall contrast in an image is to raise the highlights and lower the shadows into a classic “S” curve. Remember, the steeper the curve, the higher the contrast.
    Adobe Photoshop: After the curves adjustment

The bad news is that by the time the clouds and sky look good, the beach and parts of the water are now way too dark.

Adobe Photoshop: the beach is way too dark

The good news? It’s a very easy fix. Take a second look at our new adjustment layer.
Adobe Photoshop: Curves Adjustment Layer

See that white rectangle on the right? That’s a mask. The white color indicates that our adjustment affects the entire image underneath. If we add a little black paint to the mask we can selectively control where our adjustment is applied. Here we go:

  1. Select the Brush tool from the Toolbox.
    Adobe Photoshop: The Brush tool
  2. Select a large, soft brush from the Options Bar. (Remember that you can tap the [ and ] brackets to easily make any brush larger or smaller.
    Adobe Photoshop: Pick a large, soft brush
  3. Press the letter “D” on the keyboard to reset the default foreground and background colors.
    Adobe Photoshop: Reset to the default colors
  4. Click on the mask icon on the Adjustment Layer in the Layers panel.
    Adobe Photoshop: the Curves adjustment layer
  5. Start painting over the beach. The black paint isn’t showing up on the image, it’s showing up on the mask. Memorize this: black hides, white reveals. As you continue to paint black on the mask, you are hiding the Curves Adjustment on the image.
    Adobe Photoshop: Painting with black to hide the curves adjustment
  6. If you go too far with the black, just tap the “X” key on the keyboard to switch white to the foreground and paint some white back in. In this example, I painted on all of the beach and the left part of the water to brighten those areas up.
    Adobe Photoshop: Swap the colors so that white is on top
  7. If you want to see a full-size view of the mask, hold the Alt/Opt key as you click on the mask. You can paint on the mask in this view, if you like, in case you missed a corner. To restore the image, just hold the Alt/Opt key as you click on the mask one more time.
    Adobe Photoshop: Full-size view of the mask
  8. Voila! Much more dramatic, don’t you think?
    Adobe Photoshop: Before and After

This is a very simple example of painting on a mask, but you can work with multiple adjustment layers and paint on the various masks to limit your adjustment to certain areas. Try doing that with an enlarger in the darkroom. Let me tell you, it would take a considerably larger amount of time.

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Adobe Photoshop: A Really “Cool” Type Effect (Literally)

By Mike Meyer, Former Photoshop Student

Let’s say you are making a holiday card and you want to add a little snow to your text for a wintery feeling.
Adobe Photoshop: Snowy text.

  1. Open an existing image or create a new document and type in some text.
  2. Highlight the text and set your typeface, style, size and color in the Options bar. (I’m choosing a cool color to convey that chilly feeling.)
    Adobe Photoshop
  3. With the Type layer selected, choose Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadow. You can play with the Drop Shadow structure (opacity, angle, distance, spread and size) until you achieve the effect you are looking for, but don’t choose OK yet.
    Adobe Photoshop: Set Drop Shadow attributes.
  4. Click the words “Bevel & Emboss” in the style category list on the left. Pick your favorite style and/or structure settings and now you can click OK.
    Adobe Photoshop: Set Bevel and Emboss attributes.
  5. Create a new layer for the snow with Layer > New > Layer. I called mine “The Snow”. Make sure it is on top of the Type layer in the Layers panel.
    Adobe Photoshop: Add a new layer over the Type layer.
  6. Press the letter D on the keyboard to reset the default colors, and then press X to reverse the colors so that White is the foreground color.
    Adobe Photoshop: Set white as the foreground color.
  7. Select the Brush tool from the Toolbox, and pick the following options from the Options bar: Brush: Dry Brush Tip Light Flow; Opacity: 70%; Flow: 60%.
    Adobe Photoshop: Select the Brush options.
  8. Open the Brushes panel with Window > Brushes and make the following changes to soften the look of the snow:
    1. In the Scattering category list on the left, change the Scatter slider to about 400%.
      Adobe Photoshop: Scatter options in the Brushes panel.
    2. In the Dual Brush category, select the Sampled Tip 60 Brush.
      Adobe Photoshop: Add the Dual Brush setting.
  9. To add the snow press your mouse button down and drag over the letters. Don’t worry about the snow overlapping the background.
    Adobe Photoshop: Adding the snow.
  10. Add a little depth to the snow by adding a Bevel and Emboss layer style (Layer > Layer Style > Bevel and Emboss).
    Adobe Photoshop: Add Bevel and Emboss to the snow.
  11. Wow! The snow looks great over the text, but it’s a bit messy in the background. Let’s clip the snow to the Type layer:
    1. Select “The Snow” layer.
    2. Layer > Create Clipping Mask (the arrow to the left of The Snow layer indicates that the pixels on the top layer are clipped to the lower layer).
      Adobe Photoshop: The arrow in front of the layer thumbnail indicates a clipping group.

Brrrr. Just looking at it makes me feel cold.

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Adobe Photoshop: Fill Opacity

By Barb Binder

Are you getting great photos out of Photoshop, but your type looks flat and boring? Here’s a quick technique that looks difficult to create, but isn’t.

  1. Open a favorite photo.
    Adobe Photoshop: Open a image.
  2. Grab the Type tool, pick a contrasting color and click on the page to add a caption over your photo.
    Adobe Photoshop: Add some text.
  3. With your new Type Layer selected, choose Layer > Layer Style > Drop Shadow, and while you are still in the dialog box, click on the check mark for  Bevel and Emboss before choosing OK. 
    Adobe Photoshop: Add some Layer Styles.
  4. Try reducing the Layer Opacity to 20% (that’s the slider in the top right corner of the Layers panel). Are you changing the Fill Color of your type, or the Drop Shadow and Bevel Emboss Layer Styles, or both?  
    Adobe Photoshop: Reducing the opacity on a layer reduces the opacity of everything on that layer. 
  5. If you said “both”, you are correct. Drag the Layer Opacity Slider back to 100%.
  6. Now, try the same thing with the the Fill Opacity slider (that’s the slider in the under the Opacity slider in the top right corner of the Layers panel). Can you see how you are reducing the fill color of your type, but not the impact of the Layer Styles?
    Adobe Photoshop: Adjusting the Fill Opacity only reduces the file, but has no impact on the Layer Styles.
  7. Drag Fill Opacity all the way to 0%. What a quick and easy way to define type that accentuates your background image! You can even move the type around with the Move tool, and decide where it looks best.
    Adobe Photoshop: Type with no fill, only Layer Styles.

By the way, it seems to me that just about all of my advanced Photoshop students walk in the door understanding what the opacity slider does, but only a handful of them—and I’ve been delivering Photoshop training since v 2.5—can tell me what the fill opacity slider does before we talk about it. By keystroking your way through this tutorial, you are now ahead of the curve.

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Adobe Bridge: Contact Sheets for your CD/DVD Cases

By Barb Binder

How frustrating it is to sort through a stack of photo CDs, each with a written label like the CD on the left? Wouldn’t it be cool to make a contact sheet that fits in the front of your CD case (also known as a jewelcase booklet), to make the searching process much more visual? Especially if it was a quick and painless process?

Which one do you like better? Scrawling text on a CD or slipping a contact sheet into the CD/DVD case?

I think so!  Here’s how…

  1. Open Adobe Bridge CS4*.
  2. Navigate to the folder that contains the images you have put on the CD.
  3. Choose Window > Workspace > Output. The Output panel should appear at the right of the Output Workspace. If you don’t see it, choose Window > Workspace > Reset Workspace.

    The Output Workspace.

    The Output Workspace.

  4. Using the Control key (Mac: Command key), select as many key images from the folder as you like. I picked 25.
  5. Click the PDF button in the top of the Output tab and change the Template to 4*5 Contact Sheet. Click the Refresh Preview button to see how your contact sheet looks so far. Cool, but rather large to fit in the jewelcase booklet.  

    The Output tab

    The Output tab.

  6. Click the Document tab to open it. Change the Page Preset to Custom, and enter a Width and Height of 4.75 inches. You can also pick a resolution and background color here. To see the results, click the Refresh Preview button (in the Output tab) again.

    The Document tab

    The Document tab.

  7. Click the Layout tab to open it. Set the Image placement (I choose Across First, by Row) and the number of Columns and Rows. (I choose 5 x 5). Check the Use Auto-Spacing checkbox. Click the Refresh Preview button again.

    The Layout tab

    The Layout tab.

  8. Optionally, open Header and Footer tabs and enter some descriptive text. (Because I choose black as my background color, I need to change the text color to white.) Refresh Preview to see your changes. 

    The Footer tab

    The Footer tab.

  9. When you are satisfied with the preview, scroll all the way to the bottom of the Panel to find the output options. Check View PDF after Save and click the Save button. 

    The Output options

    The Output options.

  10. As long as you have Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader installed, your completed contact sheet will open on your screen.

    The completed contact sheet.

    The completed contact sheet.

  11. Print it, trim it, and slide into the front of your jewelcase booklet. Nice!

* This contact sheet feature has been part of Bridge for years. In Bridge CS3 and earlier, select the key images and choose Tools > Photoshop > Contact Sheet II. From there, the process is very similar.

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Adobe Photoshop: Working with Spot Color Channels

By Barb Binder

Let’s face it, most of us set type over our Photoshop images using a page layout program (i.e., Adobe InDesign) or an illustration program (i.e., Adobe Illustrator). This allows us to easily define and use a spot color, and has the added benefits of crisp edges on the type, allows knock out of the underlying image and the type will be fully editable. But what if you want to create a spot color in Photoshop and apply it to the type or other graphic elements? Can you do it? Sure, but it’s a bit confusing. Let’s see if I can help.

Let’s start with some basic concepts. Spot colors, stored in Color Libraries in Photoshop, are pre-mixed inks that are used in addition to, or instead of, CMYK inks. We typically use spot colors when we need to be sure that we are getting the same color every time (i.e., a corporate color) or to print a color that is outside the CMYK gamut. Spot color is intended for images that will be printed to film, not for images printed on desktop printers or for electronic distribution.

 

Define a Spot Color Channel

First you need to define one, or more, spot colors in your Photoshop document.

  1. Window menu > Channels.
  2. Pick New Spot Channel from the panel pop-up menu in the top right corner.
  3. Click the color box to open the Color Picker.
    Adobe Photoshop
  4. Select the Color Libraries button.
    Adobe Photoshop
  5. Pick your custom color system from the Book list. In my example, I choose PANTONE solid coated. Type in your color name, quickly because there is no text box for the number in the dialog box! I typed 152.
    Adobe Photoshop
  6. When you see your color appear, click OK.
    Adobe Photoshop
  7. Change the Solidity to 100%, click OK. (Solidity lets you simulate on‑screen the density of the printed spot color but has no effect on the printed separations. A value of 100% simulates an ink that completely covers the inks beneath (such as a metallic ink); 0% simulates a transparent ink that completely reveals the inks beneath (such as a clear varnish).).
  8. Your spot color channel is added to the Channels panel—don’t worry that it just looks white!

Applying Spot Color

Because spot colors print on top of a fully composited image, you may need to remove the base color so that it doesn’t show through a semi-transparent spot-ink color when printing. We’ll handle that with a cut and paste sequence as we apply the color.

  1. Tap the letter D on the keyboard to reset the default colors to Black and White.
  2. Select the area where you would like to use a spot color. In my example, I selected a border around the image. Make sure you are on the same layer as the selected pixels, in my case, that’s the Background layer.
    Adobe Photoshop
  3. Select the composite channel in the Channels panel. (If you are working in RGB, click the letters RGB in channels panel. For CMYK, click the letters CYMK; for grayscale, click the word Gray.)
    Adobe Photoshop
  4. Choose Edit > Cut to cut the selected pixels to the clipboard.
  5. Select the Pantone 152 channel in the Channels panel.
    Adobe Photoshop
  6. Choose Edit > Paste to paste the selected pixels into the spot color channel.
    Adobe Photoshop
  7. Ah ha! Now you know this is working.

Applying Solid and Screened Areas of your Spot Color

If you just need a color block, like the one above, you can also apply your spot by simply filling an area with black, while your color channel is active. Solid black will give you 100% opacity of your spot. Less than 100% black will give you a tint.

  1. Tap the letter D on the keyboard to reset the default colors to Black and White.
  2. Make a selection (mine is a wave).
  3. Click on the Composite channel in the Channels panel. (See step 3 above.)
  4. Press Backspace or Delete to remove the pixels within the selection.
    Adobe Photoshop
  5. Select the Pantone 152 channel in the Channels panel.
  6. Press ALT+Backspace (Mac: Option+Delete) to fill the selection. Because the spot color channel is active, the result is 100% of the spot color.
    Adobe Photoshop
  7. Pick Edit > Undo so that we can try adding a tint.
  8. Use the Color panel to define a 50% black foreground color.
    Adobe Photoshop
  9. Press ALT+Backspace (Mac: Option+Delete) to fill the selection. There’s your tint: filling with 50% black on the spot color channel results in a 50% tint of the spot.
    Adobe Photoshop

Applying your Spot Color to Text

I know we are almost into 2010, and that Photoshop has had editable type layers for years, so you may need to read the next sentence two or three times to fully comprehend it. Spot color channel text is uneditable. Really. So type carefully. Proof carefully. Or go work in Illustrator or InDesign. If you chose to apply spot color to type in Photoshop, you are going to need to use a type mask if you want to apply a spot color to text.

  1. Press the letter D on the keyboard to reset the default colors to Black and White.
  2. Select the Type tool and click where you want to add text. A red mask appears over the artwork, and you have a blinking insertion point cursor.
    Adobe Photoshop
  3. In the Options bar, set your typeface, style and size.
    Adobe Photoshop
  4. Type in your text. (I added a warp to match the wave shape.)
  5. Move the Type tool off the text to gain temporary access to the Move tool. Drag to position the text. Don’t actually switch to the Move tool, or you will commit the Type edits.
    Adobe Photoshop
  6. When you deselect, it’s done, so make sure you are satisfied before you tap Ctrl D (Mac: Cmd D) to drop your selection.
    Adobe Photoshop

Printing your Spot Colors

My best advice on any printing issues is to talk with your commerical printer or print service provider. They can tell you exactly what you need to do to output the job. If you are looking for a good online resource, check out Corey Barker’s excellent post on Planet Photoshop: http://www.planetphotoshop.com/working-with-spot-color-channels.html.

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Adobe Photoshop: Restoring Detail in those Fading Images

By Barb Binder

Try this (incredibly) simple technique to restore detail on an old photo:

  1. Open the image in Photoshop: 

    Scan a favorite old photo and open in Photoshop

    Scan a favorite old photo and open it in Photoshop.

  2. Open the Layers panel by selecting Window > Layers.
  3. Right click (Control click on Mac) the Background layer in the Layers panel and select Duplicate Layer.
  4. With Background copy selected, choose Multiply from the Blending mode menu in the top left corner of the Layers panel:

    Choose Multiply from the blending modes list on the top row of the Layers panel.

    Choose Multiply from the blending modes list on the top row of the Layers panel.

  5. Multiply blends the pixels on the two layers, darkening the dark pixels and leaving the white ones alone. If the results are too dark, dial back the Opacity slider (same row as the Blending mode menu) on the top layer. If the shadows aren’t dark enough, duplicate the Background copy layer and repeat!

    Same image after applying Multiply to the duplicate layer

    Same image after applying Multiply to the duplicate layer.

Is there more than can be done to improve this image? Sure, but not bad for 60 seconds worth of work!

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Adobe Photoshop CS4: Crop and Straighten

By Barb Binder

Are you digitizing your paper photographs to preserve them for the future? If not, you should be thinking about it, because our priceless paper photographs are fading and yellowing even as you read this article. Here’s a quick tip on scanning multiple images into Photoshop:

  1. Place several of your photos on your scanning bed at one time (make sure they don’t overlap)Adobe Photoshop: Crop and Straighten: Images on a scanner
  2. Choose File > Import and choose your scanner from the list
  3. Follow your scanner’s instructions to scan the photos into Photoshop
  4. Once you are back in Photoshop, choose File > Automate > Crop and Straighten, and let the software create separate image files from the one multiple-image scan!Adobe Photoshop: Images straightened with Crop and Straighten

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Adobe Photoshop: Combining Two Photos for a Perfect Image

By Barb Binder

Have you ever taken a rapid series of group shots, but can’t find a single image where every single person is looking at the camera, eyes open and smiling? If you are looking for a quick way to combine two mediocre portraits into one perfect portrait, try the Auto-Align Layers in Adobe Photoshop CS3 and CS4.

Take a look at the two images below. The one on top is better of the boy, but the girl has her eyes closed. In the second picture she looks better, but he’s got one eye closed.

There are many ways to combine these two pictures using Photoshop, but the single most efficient technique is to combine both images into one file, each on their own layer. Then, using the Auto-Align Layers command you can let Photoshop line up both images with each other, and then just use a mask to punch through to the underlying image.

 
Adobe Phtoshop: Photo Sample 1
 
Adobe Phtoshop: Photo Sample 2

Let’s give it a try…

  1. Open Adobe Photoshop CS3.
  2. Open up two images you would like to combine.
  3. Using the Move tool, Shift + drag one image into the other file. (Using the Shift key as you drag centers the incoming layer in the new window.)
  4. Double-click each layer thumbnail on the layers palette and give each layer a unique name.
  5. Drag the thumbnails up or down, so that the top layer is the better image, but the bottom layer has a better expression on one or more of the subjects.
    Select both layers by clicking on one and then shift-clicking the other.

    Adobe Phtoshop: Select both layers by clicking on one and then Shift+clicking the other

  6. Choose Edit > Auto-Align Layers, and set Projection to Auto. (This allows Photoshop to align two rapid sequence photos, making it easy to remove the goofy expressions from the top layer and expose the better expression from the bottom layer).
  7. Intro. level PhotoShop users may opt to use the Eraser tool to carefully erase the girl’s face from the top layer, but for the Intermediate to Advanced user, a Layer Mask is a much better solution because it is non-destructive. To use the Layer Mask, select the top layer, and choose Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All.

    Adobe Phtoshop: Layer Mask

  8. Press the letter D on the keyboard to reset your color chips to Black and White.

    Adobe Phtoshop: Color chips to Black and White

  9. Use the Brush tool with a soft brush to paint away to the underlying layer, exposing the image underneath.

    Adobe Phtoshop: Brush tool with a soft brush to paint away to the underlying layer

  10. If you remove too much of the top layer, just press the letter X on the keyboard to switch your colors so that White is on top, and paint back in pixels from the top layer.
  11. When everything is perfect, flatten the layers and you have created a fabulous portrait out of two mediocre ones.

    Adobe Phtoshop: The perfected image

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