Recent Photoshop Articles

10 Powerful Features of Photoshop Photographers Need to Know

Photoshop is an amazing tool that most photographers find themselves using on a daily basis. It has countless features, and with the new Photoshop CC, more are added with each update. As a beginner to the program, it can get a little overwhelming on where to start learning all of the complex elements. In this, video you will see 10 of the features you need to know.

Does Photoshop and Your Scanner Stop You From Copying Money?

I've always heard that Adobe Photoshop will not allow you to import pictures of U.S. currency because you could potentially be using the software to "copy money." Today I ran across a video that also claims that all current copy machines will not copy currency due to a hidden pattern on the bills. I decided to put this to the test.

How To Photograph And Light Real Estate At Dusk On A Budget

Last year we teamed up with Mike Kelley to produce the 7+ hour tutorial: How To Photograph Real Estate, Architecture and Interiors. We were fearful that Mike's fancy equipment would be discouraging to new photographers so we asked Mike if he could create a signature image with much cheaper gear. Mike shot an incredible, world class image with the original Canon Rebel and kit lens and only a few accessories.

Dramatic Beauty Portrait Tutorial Part 1: Complete Lighting Setup and Gear List

This is Part 1 in what will be an 8 part series for a dramatic beauty portrait. In the series of tutorials, we will go through everything from the gear used, to the lighting setups, and all the way through the complete retouching process. In Part 1, I will breakdown my gear list used for the shoot and I will thoroughly go through my lighting setup. In this video tutorial not only will you see the gear and setup, but also a behind the scenes look as me and my team go through hair, makeup, and shooting. The complete series of videos will be available here on Fstoppers and on my YouTube Channel.

Learn How to Create Proper Shadows in Photoshop

If you ever do any sort of composite work, chances are that you'll need to add shadows. They're one of the biggest aspects of making a composite image convincing, and yet, they're also very subtle and tricky to pull off. Phlearn is here with a great tutorial to get you started.

How To Automatically Blur Backgrounds in Adobe Photoshop With Neural Filters

If you're somebody who hates heavy-handed post-production, you might want to keep scrolling. For those of you who are happy to do whatever they can to get the image they want, here is an example of Adobe Photoshop's new beta Neural Filters in which the background of an image can be blurred.

Film and Photoshop: The Story of a $900,000 Stock Photo

It's a photo so ubiquitous that if you type "iceberg photo" into Google, it's the first two image results. And the sixth. And the tenth. Ralph Clevenger's iconic photo of an iceberg's tip peeking out from the water while the substantial body of it remains below has graced countless publications, from full-page magazine advertisements commissioned by major corporations to the ever-famous "Imagination" motivational poster. It's a photo that is so famous that it's been copied, stolen, manipulated, parodied, and imitated an innumerable number of times over its nearly twenty-year existence. It's even made rounds on the internet as a hoax that Snopes picked up.

Is Photoshop Bad For Business? (NSFW)

The use of Photoshop by companies is changing and it’s indicative of a much deeper trend. Earlier his year, American Eagle stopped retouching the models in their 'Aerie' lingerie shoots. They claim that the 9% sales increase last quarter is directly related to this position. This is an unprecedented commercial statement, and has wide implications for photographers, videographers and post production specialists everywhere.

How to Copy the Color Grading of a Painting to Your Photos

One of the most recognizable aspects of any visual artist's style is their color grading, and it is a fantastic way to really level up your own work. If there is a painting, movie, photo, or some other visual piece that you really love the color grading of, this fantastic video tutorial will show you how to copy it directly to one of your own photos using Photoshop.

The Difference Between Curves and Levels in Photoshop

Photoshop has a huge array of tools and features, and many of them have some degree of overlap between each other. Two of the most fundamental and powerful tools you have at your disposal in the program are Curves and Levels, and this excellent video tutorial will show you the difference between them and how you can use them for editing your images.

Bite-Size PS Tutorials: Creating Even Colors in Your Images

One of the most obvious telltale signs of an unprofessional commercial or product image is color. The most famous and readily cited issue is color grading, but it's not the only problem and the uniformity of color is often neglected. That is, the even color of the object or two objects' colors truly matching. As always, I will couch my method in the sentiment that it may not be the optimal technique, but it works very well for me.

8 Ways to Adjust Color in Lightroom and ACR: Compared and Contrasted

One of the things that I enjoy about Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw is that there is often more than one way to perform the same task. Perhaps the most flexible of these ways are all the different methods you can use to adjust for colors and tones.

The Ultimate Guide to the Dodge & Burn Technique – Part 2: Setting Up For A Good Start

This is the second part of The Ultimate Guide to the Dodge & Burn Technique. Check out Part 1, where I covered the fundamentals of light and shadow rendering in painting.

So, now that we understand that the shadows and highlights are what makes our 2-dimensional pictures appear to have more volume and dimensions, let's move on to the technical side of the Dodge & Burn implementation in retouching.

One Habit Photographers Should Get Into: Shooting Backplates

It doesn't matter what kind of photography you do, shooting photo backplates each and every time you go out and take pictures is one of the best habits you can get yourself into. Not only does it save many hours in postproduction, it will also help open up a world of creative possibilities to you as a photographer.

Think You're Getting All The Resolution out of Your Sensor?

It seems each recent camera announcement has brought a higher megapixel count — including Sony's latest 60mp+ release. But whether you're shooting on 24mp APS-C, 50mp full frame, or 100mp medium format, you might not be getting all the resolution you paid for. Check out this list for 3 clarity-robbing problems and their fixes.

How to Expertly Color Grade Images by Mastering Luminance Masks

One of the most versatile and powerful secrets of Photoshop is the luminance mask. Similar to a channel mask that allows you to select very precise parts of your image based on color, the luminance mask allows you to select parts of your image based on tonal range. Using Photoshop to select those tonal ranges for you, you can quickly and effortlessly make very specific color and contrast adjustments to color grade like a pro.

Get Perfect Color Correction Every Time With Curves

The Curves adjustment panel is probably one of Adobe Photoshop's most frequently used tools, right alongside Levels. But did you know that there is a tried and tested way to quickly get perfectly color-corrected images every single time? Knowing this basic technique will save you hours of time and effort when learning how to color correct your images in Photoshop.

Calibration: What It Is, Why You Should Do It, and How It's Done

Why is my print dark? Why are the colors off? I believe we all found ourselves asking these questions inside our head (or worse, yelling at our photo printer!) during our first steps into our journey in photography. Monitor calibration is the solution, bad settings and bad color reproduction by the monitor are the culprit. Grab a cup of coffee or your favorite energy drink and read on, I'll tell you everything about it, what you have to do, what you gain, how it's done, and what you need to correctly calibrate your monitors.

Instagram Image Sizes for 2018: Download These Free Templates

Thanks to Instagram's incessant commitment to regularly changing various features on the photo-sharing app, it's more than understandable that you may not know the current image specifications for the platform. After a quick Google search brought up a host of conflicting answers, I decided to do some tests of my own and create several free Photoshop templates to make all our lives much easier.

How to Set Up Your Mac So You Can Work Most Efficiently

If you're like me, a computer that isn't snappy and intuitive is extremely annoying to you. For those of us that spend hours each day using them for work, changing a few small settings and knowing the right shortcuts can really add up, both in time saved and user experience. Phlearn is here with a great video to get your Mac running correctly.

This Photoshop Technique Will Blow Your Mind

In a recent article, I showed you how to create mist and atmosphere in Lightroom using a clever combination of masks, contrast, and dehaze. It worked great for woodland photos yet involved some manual masking. Today, I show you an even simpler technique for adding atmosphere in Photoshop.

How to Convert Low-Res Logos to Sharp, High-Res Images

Have you ever needed to use a logo or image that just isn't high enough resolution or doesn't have clean enough edges to use? Here's how to quickly and easily convert a low-resolution image to a more useable high-resolution image in Photoshop.

Synaesthesia: How Jaime Ibarra Color Grades His Images to Hear With Light

With the brand new Fstoppers website, everyone can now upload a portfolio to a profile for the world to comment and rate your photos. After just a couple of days from launch Jaime Ibarra's photos exploded onto the front page, with a whole series of popular photos and with good reason. His photos are a beautiful combination of emotion, concept and color that you cant help but be stunned.

How to Quickly and Easily Remove People From a Crowded Photo Automatically Using Photoshop

There are a ton of beautiful tourist spots out there begging to be photographed, but the problem is that unless you are extremely lucky, you will likely have to deal with people in the shot. You could take a bunch of photographs as people move around and then painstakingly mask in different parts of the image, or you could try this neat method that lets Photoshop take care of it automatically in just a few seconds, as this helpful video tutorial shows.

7 Lesser-Known Tips for Working With Layers in Photoshop

Perhaps no Photoshop feature is more fundamental to taking full advantage of the application than layers. Without them, there would be no way to edit an image without destructively altering the original, nor would it be possible to go back to adjust edits after you initially create them. This excellent video tutorial will show you seven lesser-known tips for working with layers to help you take your edits in Photoshop even further.

The Best Way to Sharpen Images in Photoshop

Making sure your images are sharp is a necessity for every photographer. Getting your focus right in camera is of course key but there is always room for improvement in post. Like most things in Photoshop, there are multiple ways to sharpen an image, but my absolute favorite is the High Pass filter. Colin Smith of photoshopCAFE explains exactly how it works and why it's the best way to sharpen your images.

Lesser-Known Tips for Editing Photos in Photoshop and Lightroom

Photoshop and Lightroom are tremendously complex and intricate applications, and there are many different ways to accomplish any specific task. If you are always looking for new ways to improve and expand your workflow, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features some lesser-known tips and techniques for working in both Photoshop and Lightroom.

Adobe's Lightroom Coffee Break Gives Quick, One-Minute Tutorials for Some Tips You Might Not Know

Adobe launched a new YouTube series through their Lightroom channel to give Lightroom users some extra tips on features they may not have come across yet. While some highlighted features such as viewing masking for the sharpening tool are a little better known, others are more tucked away and might come as a surprise, like this feature that allows you to update the overall effect of a local adjustment with multiple sliders in effect.

Speed up Your Retouching with Six Easy Tips

In dealing with bigger paid jobs lately, I've had to find ways to refine my retouching workflow. I used to do most of my skin cleaning by dodging and burning problem areas. It then had to be color-corrected of course. Negative dodge and burn gives you excellent results when mastered, but it eats up a lot of time. For some clients or projects, justifying 1-3 hours of postproduction per image is simply not possible. Being confronted more and more with this real-world issue, I have taken the time to look into my workflow and see how I could spend less time in front of my computer. Here are some of the things I have changed as well as a few tips I could give anyone facing similar issues.

How to Use Frequency Separation in Photoshop

Frequency separation tends to have a bit of a controversial reputation, but when used carefully, it can be a great technique for specific retouching situations. This excellent video will show you how you can use frequency separation for retouching in Photoshop.

Bring Your Subject out of the Shadows With This Technique

Have you ever captured an image you thought could have been spectacular if not for a stray shadow that rendered it unusable? Don't erase that file just yet. You may be able to recover the detail out of those shadows using this helpful Photoshop technique.

5 Secrets for Perfect Edge Selection in Adobe Photoshop

If you've ever had to make complex selections in Adobe Photoshop, you know how frustrating it can be. Well, in this video, learn five tips for ensuring you get it exactly right with the easiest method possible.

How to Create Seamless Cinemagraphs Using Photoshop

Cinemagraphs may not be new but they seem to be popping up more and more as mobile media plays a larger roll in content creation. There are lots of ways to make them using various software and even a few dedicated mobile apps. However, if you want to make one with just a video clip and Photoshop, YouTuber Peter McKinnon's latest video makes it quick and simple.

Want to Go Viral? Here's How to Retouch a Portrait Like That Internet Sensation

Unless you've been completely off Internet for the past 24 hours, you'll have already seen the amazingly unique retouching skills of a portrait photographer in Missouri. While there is speculation on whether this is real or some kind of publicity stunt, one thing is clear: the photos are hilarious. Someone was bound to create a how-to at some stage, and thankfully, one of our favorite YouTube Photoshop wizards, Antti Karppinen, was quick on the draw. Pun intended.

How to Remove Glare on Glasses Using Photoshop

Millions of people wear glasses, and that can be a real difficulty for portrait photographers, as they tend to pick up a fair amount of glare that can distract from or entirely obscure the most important part of a portrait, the eyes. Removing such glare can be a bit tricky both on set or in post, but this excellent video tutorial will show you the technique a Photoshop pro uses to get rid of it and restore the subject's eyes.

The Difference Between Vibrance and Saturation in Photoshop

Photoshop is a powerful program full of hundreds of functions, many of which seem to behave very similarly, but definitely have distinct purposes that make them more or less appropriate than related tools depending on the situation. This video examines one of the most common cases, vibrance vs. saturation, and how you should use each in your editing.

How to Use Luminosity Masks for Landscape and Cityscape Image Editing

Luminosity masks are a fantastic way to make precise selections based on luminance values (hence the name). As with all things Photoshop, there are multiple ways to achieve the same result. I find using channel selections to be the easiest way to manually create my masks. I realize I'm probably preaching to the choir, but for those yet to join in on the singing, I hope you find this information useful as you continue to build your editing tool set.

A Unique Way to Convert Images to Black and White

Science tells us there are somewhere north of 13.1 billion ways to convert an image to black and white. It's time to add another method to your arsenal, but this one is pretty cool. Here's how to use Channel Calculations to convert a color image to black and white in Photoshop.

Photoshops New Next-Level Retouching Tool

With their latest updates to Lightroom and Photoshop, Adobe has shown that they are serious about extending their software with AI capabilities. I was already impressed by the new Noise Reduction in Lightroom. And as Nick Page shows in this video, Photoshop also has a new, impressive AI feature.

An Advanced Color Toning Technique

Color toning is one of those final steps that can really make your photos both pop and add a very personal stylistic touch. This awesome video will show you an advanced color toning technique using Photoshop.

Secret White Balance Trick for Photoshop

There are many ways to adjust white balance. From adjusting it in camera, using a grey card, or adjusting it in post, it really depends on the situation you are in and your personal preference. Personally, I always shoot RAW and keep the white balance setting on my camera on auto almost all of the time. This way, I don’t have to fiddle with it in camera and the camera gets it right most of the time. If by some chance the camera does get it wrong, I will take it off the auto setting and find the setting that works best for the light that I am it, but still knowing that because I am shooting RAW, I can always make the adjustments in Lightroom or camera RAW.