JulyAugust 2016 Photoshop Magazine

T H E A D O B E P H O T O S H O P H O W - T 0 M A G A Z I N E j u ly / a u g u s t 2 0 1 6
DYNAMIC Using actions in Photoshop will

give your retouching projects a
With Typekit, you have access to
thousands of fonts in Photoshop
BEGINNERS
RANGE huge productivity boost to satisfy all your creative needs WORKSHOP
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
taking
stock
overcome creative challenges
by skillfully using stock assets
Visit our website at kelbyone.com

This is a life choice. You choose to live creatively. You decide that any minute could be the
moment that you capture and turn into something greater. Then you keep your camera
at the ready and your designs in your head. Because if you only get one shot at something,
youre going to take it for all its worth. Fuel your creativity.
Easy training from the best in Photoshop, Lightroom & Photography kelbyone.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS July/August 2016
FEATURE
64 Taking Stock
Now that you can access Adobe Stock images
directly in Adobe Creative Cloud apps, its
easier than ever to create amazing images and
designs. Jess Ramirez, of the very popular
Photoshop Training Channel on YouTube, shows
how both photographers and designers can be
more creative and get more out of every stock
Images: Adobe Stock; Layout: Jessica Maldonado
image they use. Not only that, he gives us ways

to create better images that we can sell our-
selves on Adobe Stock.
Jess Ramirez
Departments How-To
From the Editor
006 020 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Logo Effect
Contributing Writers
009 028 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
Create a Dragon-Fisted Fighter
About Photoshop User Magazine

010 034 BEGINNERS WORKSHOP
How Typekit Works
KelbyOne Community
012 050 PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
Advanced Masking Workflow
Exposed: Industry News

016 054 PHOTOSHOP TIPS
Boost Your Productivity and Creativity
Photoshop User Quiz

109 056 DESIGN MAKEOVER
Website Management
From the Advice Desk

112 060 INDESIGN TIPS
Advance and Enhance Your InDesign Skills
074 PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS

The Long and Short of Focal Length
DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
Whenever you see this symbol at the end of an article, it means All lighting diagrams courtesy of Sylights
there are either downloadable practice files or additional content
for KelbyOne members at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. Click this symbol below to access the Table of Contents.
KELBYONE.COM
Lightroom Magazine
0 81 LIGHTROOM WORKSHOP
Adding Contrast (& How to Use the Tone Curve)
088 UNDER THE LOUPE

Save Time with Auto Import
092 MAXIMUM WORKFLOW

Perfectly Clear Complete
1 00 LIGHTROOM Q&A
102 LIGHTROOM TIPS & TRICKS
Scott Kelby
Using Actions while
DYNAMIC
RANGE 45 Retouching Portraits
Retouching images can take up a lot of your time in
Photoshop. Kristina Sherk is a big believer in using
actions to significantly reduce the amount of time she
spends in Photoshop. She shows us how to create an
action that she uses to help retouch eyes faster than
you can read this.
Kristina Sherk
Kristina Sherk
Reviews
104

Platypod Pro Max
105 Broncolor Siros 800 L and 400 L Monolights

Chroma Mask
106 Sekonic LITEMASTER PRO L-478DR-U-EL

Lexar Professional microSDHC/microSDXC Cards
107 MOTA Wireless Charger for GoPro

Fundy Designer v7
108
Photoshop Book Reviews
A FEW WORDS FROM SCOTT KELBY
From the Editor

getting on track
At the end of this week, were all heading out to Las Vegas for the Photoshop World 2016 Conference. This is such an
exciting time for our entire staff because we dont use a management company to run the event. We bring nearly our entire
KelbyOne staff to work the show and meet the people we do it all for. Its such an energizing, fun, thrilling week from start
to finish, so I hope I get a chance to shake your hand in person and thank you for coming to spend a few days with us.
Last issue I mentioned that we were getting ready to release a new feature on the KelbyOne members site designed to
help you start learning a particular topic. Well, Im happy to announce that our Learning Tracks are up and running, and
theyre already a huge hit with our members. There are 40 different tracks you can choose from, including landscape, wed-
ding, drone, and travel photography; Photoshop and Lightroom beginners and advanced techniques; how to use your
camera; lighting; hot-shoe flash; copyright and model releasesand the list goes on and on. Each Learning Track leads you,
in order, through a solid, handpicked curriculum so you can get really proficient on your chosen topic really fast. You can
then branch out into all the other courses (we now have more than 600 full-length courses) and really take things up a big
notch. Were very excited about bringing you these new Learning Tracks, and we hope youll give them a try.
Another thing Im excited about is the amount of Photoshop and Lightroom training weve been releasing these past few
months. This was spurred by reaching out to you, our members, in an email poll and asking you exactly what you wanted
to learn next. Then in a separate poll, we asked you to break down exactly which type of classes you wanted. I said that
whatever you chose as your #1 most-requested topic, wed create that class next, and thats exactly what we did. That class
has already been released, and its my Adobe Photoshop CC In-Depth: Compositing and Masking Hair Made Easy class.
The numbers were so strong on that topic that we wanted to create another class, as well, so we had Corey Barker record a
class on Advanced Compositing Techniques, which will be released shortly.
Were also staying right on top of all the latest Photoshop techniques and developments. On the day Photoshop CC
2015.5 was released, we not only had video tutorials ready, but we also did another KelbyOne members-only Webcast with
a live Q&A about all the new features. We followed that up with a new class from me on how to make the most of the
new CC 2015.5 features, and thats already online and ready for you to dig right in. By next issue, well have a bunch of new
stuff designed to make your KelbyOne membership more valuable than ever, and of course by then well have lots of new
classes, new features, more discounts, and more of the stuff you told us you want next, and were having a ball delivering it.
Here in the mag, the cover story is by Jess Ramirez and its on Adobe Stock, which is now actually integrated right into
Photoshop. Jess shows how easy it is to access Adobe Stock; how you can use comp images in your designs; and then
how after you find the right images and license them, Photoshop will replace the comp images in your documents with the
licensed images (how cool is that!). He also discuses how both designers and photographers can find and use the best stock
images, as well as creating better photos and vector graphics that you can sell yourself on Adobe Stock.
In the Beginners Workshop, Lesa Snider shows us everything we need to know about using Typekit. In Dynamic
Range, Kristina Sherk teaches us how to create an action that will help us retouch eyes in a matter of seconds no matter
p h ot o s h o p u s e r j u ly / a u g u st 2 0 1 6
what color the eyes are. In Photoshop Proving Ground, Scott Valentine demonstrates how putting a mask on its own
layer allows you to use every single Photoshop tool at your disposal to create better masks. Also in this issue, were including
a special video from me (that debuts first here in the mag) on how to get rid of those nasty glows and halos that sometimes
appear in HDR images. I show the exact technique I use to keep them tamed (its on page 12). Well, Ive gotta runwe have
lots to do this week before we leave for Photoshop World. Hope I see you there!
All my best,
Scott Kelby
KelbyOne President & CEO
006 Editor & Publisher, Photoshop User
Focal length: 85mm
Exposure: F/2.2
1/60sec
The Power of Great Portraits

is in Your Hands
Make a closer connection with your subject.
Introducing the Tamron SP 85mm F/1.8 lens
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www.tamron-usa.com
The official publication of KelbyOne
JULY/AUGUST 2016 Volume 19 Number 6
EDITORIAL:
Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief
Chris Main, Managing Editor
Kim Doty, Associate Editor
Contributing Writers
Kevin Ames Steve Baczewski Corey Barker Peter Bauer
Larry Becker Dave Clayton Michael Corsentino Sen Duggan
Sean McCormack Kirk Nelson Jess Ramirez Kristina Sherk
Colin Smith Lesa Snider Rob Sylvan Scott Valentine
Erik Vlietinck Jake Widman
GRAPHICS:
Jessica Maldonado, Art Director
Margie Rosenstein, Senior Graphic Designer
Angela Naymick, Graphic Designer
MARKETING:
Kleber Stephenson Lindell Stover
WEB:
Adam Frick Brandon Nourse Yojance Rabelo Aaron Westgate
PUBLISHING:
Scott Kelby, Publisher
Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P.
Jean A. Kendra, Business Manager
ADVERTISING:
Jeanne Jilleba, Advertising Coordinator 800-738-8513 ext. 152
HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:

U.S. Mail: 118 Douglas Road East Oldsmar, FL 34677-2922
Voice: 813-433-5000 Fax: 813-433-5015
Customer Service: info@kelbymediagroup.com
Letters to the Editor: letters@photoshopuser.com
Letters to the Lightroom Editor: lightroom@photoshopuser.com
Advice Desk: http://kelbyone.com/my-account/helpdesk
COLOPHON:
Photoshop User was produced using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 and
Adobe InDesign CC 2015. Roboto was used for headlines and subheads.
Frutiger LT Std for text.
This seal indicates that all content provided herein is produced by KelbyOne, LLC
and follows the most stringent standards for educational resources. KelbyOne is
the premier source for instructional books, DVDs, online classes, and live seminars for
creative professionals.
All contents COPYRIGHT 2016 KelbyOne, LLC. All rights reserved. Any use of the
contents of this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly
prohibited. Photoshop User is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way with
Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom,
and Photoshop are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks mentioned belong to
| fuel for creativity their respective owners. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be the
representative views of the publisher. ISSN 2470-7031 (online)
PHOTOSHOPS MOST WANTED
Contributing
Writers
KEVIN AMES
is a commercial photographer who writes and teaches too. Read about his KIRK NELSON
take on photography at photofocus.com, and see his work and learn more about is a professional graphics artist in the Washington, D.C., area. He has a B.A. from George Mason
him on kevinamesphotography.com. University and is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop. Kirks career has touched on a broad
range of subjects in the design field from logo design to animation. He can be reached here.
STEVE BACZEWSKI
is a freelance writer, professional photographer, graphic designer, and JESS RAMIREZ
consultant. He also teaches classes in traditional and digital fine arts photography. is an Adobe Community Professional, speaker, and author for the Adobe Creative
His company, Sore Tooth Productions, is based in Albany, California Cloud Blog. Jess is best known as the founder of the Photoshop Training Channel,
one of the most popular Photoshop YouTube channels in the world.
COREY BARKER
is an award-winning designer and illustrator. A featured instructor at the Photoshop KRISTINA SHERK
World Conference and an Adobe MAX Master Instructor, he has produced numerous considers herself a software translator for those who dont speak Photoshop and
training titles for KelbyOne. Look for his new book Photoshop Tricks for Designers. Lightroom. While majoring in digital art at Elon University, she received four years
of uninterrupted Photoshop training and grew to love the software.
PETER BAUER
is an Adobe Certified Expert that does computer graphics consulting for a select COLIN SMITH
group of corporate clients. His latest book is Photoshop CC for Dummies. He was is an award-winning digital artist, photographer, and lecturer who has authored
inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2010. 18 books and has created a series of training videos. Colin is also the founder of
the online resource PhotoshopCAFE.com and president of Software-Cinema.com.
LARRY BECKER
is an author, trainer, speaker, and tech aficionado. He is the founder and lead trainer at LESA SNIDER
LarryBecker.tv, where they teach small businesses and entrepreneurs how to create their is the author of Adobe Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC for Photographers: Classroom in a
own professional-looking videos in-house without hiring a video production team. Book (2016), Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual, several eBooks, and more than 40 video
courses. She also writes a weekly column for Macworld. For more info, visit PhotoLesa.com.
DAVE CLAYTON
is a KelbyOne instructor, designer, and creative specialist with more than 30 years of ROB SYLVAN
experience. He specializes in creating branding projects and logos and has been pub- is the Lightroom Advice Desk Specialist for KelbyOne, on staff at the Digital Photo
lished by Peachpit and KelbyOne. Hes also an Adobe Influencer and ACA in InDesign. Workshops, and the author of Lightroom 5: Streamlining Your Digital Photography
Process. You can learn more at www.lightroomers.com.
MICHAEL CORSENTINO
is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer, Photoshop and Lightroom SCOTT VALENTINE
expert, author, columnist for Shutter Magazine and Resource Magazine, and speaker is an Adobe Community Professional and Photoshop author. His latest book
and international workshop leader. Learn more at www.michaelcorsentino.com. is The Hidden Power of Adjustment Layers (Adobe Press). Keep up with him
at scoxel.com.
SEN DUGGAN
is the co-author of Photoshop Masking & Compositing, Real World Digital ERIK VLIETINCK
Photography, and The Creative Digital Darkroom. He leads workshops on digital founded IT Enquirer in 1999 (http://it-enquirer.com). A J.D. by education, Erik
photography, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Learn more at SeanDuggan.com. has been a freelance technology editor for more than 20 years. He has written
for Macworld, Computer Arts, Windows NT Magazine, and many others.
SEAN McCORMACK
is the author of Essential Development: 20 Great Techniques for Lightroom 5. JAKE WIDMAN
Based in Galway, Ireland, he shoots subjects from musicians, models, and is a writer and editor who lives in San Francisco. Hes been covering the intersection
actors to landscapes and architecture. Learn more at http://lightroom-blog.com. of computers and graphic design for about 25 years nowsince back when it was
k e l b yo n e . c o m
called desktop publishing and Photoshop was just a piece of scanning software.
009
ABOUT PHOTOSHOP USER
Photoshop User
Magazine
Photoshop User magazine is the official publication of
KelbyOne. As a KelbyOne member, you automatically
receive Photoshop User ten times a year. Each issue
Images: Adobe Stock/Composite: Jess Ramirez

features in-depth Photoshop, Lightroom, and photo
graphy tutorials written by the most talented designers,
photographers, and leading authors in the industry.
About KelbyOne
KELBYONE MEMBER DISCOUNTS
is the worlds leading resource for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Save anywhere from 23 times your membership cost by using
and photography training, news, and education. Founded in 1998 as our many industry-related discounts.
the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), KelbyOne
has evolved from NAPP and KelbyTraining to create a singular hub for
creative people to learn, grow, and inspire. From photographers to graphic
designers, beginners to professionals, KelbyOne is open to everyone. TECH SUPPORT
Fast, friendly Photoshop, Lightroom, and photo gear help; equipment
Theres no faster, easier, and more affordable way to get really good at advice; and more from certified experts at the KelbyOne Advice Desk.
Photoshop and photography. You can join for only $19.99 per month or
$199 U.S. for a full year of training. To learn more, visit www.kelbyone.com.
MEMBER COMMUNITY
KelbyOne members range from beginners to pros and love to lend each
Member Benefits other a hand. Together, we have built the friendliest, most knowledgeable
Photoshop and photography community on the Web.
PHOTOSHOP USER MAGAZINE

Ten issues of the best Photoshop and Lightroom tutorial-based NEWS & REVIEWS
magazine in the industry. Unbiased coverage on the latest equipment, plug-ins, and programs
in the marketplace.
MEMBERS-ONLY WEBSITE
Our extensive website features time- and money-saving content.
MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER
ONLINE CLASSES & EDUCATION The KelbyOne Newsletter is your monthly connection to everything
Thousands of Photoshop, Lightroom, and photography tutorials, KelbyOne. Its produced exclusively for members to keep you informed
full online classes, and quick-tip videos. of everything new in the industry and at KelbyOne headquarters.
010 FIND KELBYONE MEMBERSHIP DETAILS AT kelbyone.com or call 800-201-7323 MondayFriday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST.
KelbyOne Community
Inspiration, information, and member musings to fuel your creative think tank
By Chris Main and Dave Clayton
Exclusive Video from Scott Kelby:

Removing Halos from HDR Images
Just before we published this issue, Scott Kelby recorded
the video on the right showing a quick-and-easy way to
remove unsightly halos from HDR images. Initially, youll
only be able to view this video in the online version of
Photoshop User magazine. Eventually this video will be
online, but if you want to watch it before then, you have
to be on this page that youre reading right now. So click
the play button to check it out, and keep an eye out for
more exclusive videos in upcoming issues!
Adobe Photoshop 2015.5 Is Here

and We Have You Covered
As you probably already know, Adobe released a
major update to the Creative Cloud on June 21, which
included the Photoshop 2015.5 update. Within hours
of that announcement, Scott Kelby presented a live
Q&A members-only webcast to answer all of your ques-
tions about the new update. But that wasnt enough.
We also had Adobes own Terry White cohost an exclu-
sive members-only webcast on July 6 to answer even
more of your questions, and to take us even deeper
into Photoshop 2015.5. If you missed those webcasts, dont worry; we archive all of our members-only webcast on the
KelbyOne site. Click here to find them. Scott also covered the new release on his blog, which included several videos
showing all the major new features. Click the play button to the left to watch the video on his favorite new feature.
But that still wasnt enough! Scott also released a 55-minute course called Getting Up to Speed Fast with Photoshop
CC 2015.5 on KelbyOne. Its all part of our mission to bring you the latest and greatest training as quickly as possible.
KelbyOne Class Tracks

to Get You Up and Running Fast
When you go to KelbyOne to watch a course or two, do
p h ot o s h o p u s e r j u ly / a u g u st 2 0 16
you often struggle trying to decide which class to watch

first? Well, were here to help. Weve added a new fea-
ture to the site called Tracks. Just click on the Tracks
link in the left-side navigation, and youll be presented
with 40 different tracks from which you can choose.
From wedding and fashion photography to retouching
and compositing, its all there. These tracks will get you
up and running fast in your field of interest, and when
youre done, youll be ready to explore our entire library
of courses to take your skills and knowledge to places
you never imagined. Or, you could just pick another
012 track and expand your skill set. Its completely up to you.
KelbyOne ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> DAVE LORD
MEMBER SINCE 2014
KelbyOne ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> JAN NILSSON

MEMBER SINCE 2008
KelbyOne ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> KelbyOne ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> K AREN WORTLEY
PETER TREADWAY > MEMBER SINCE 2014 MEMBER SINCE 2015
KelbyOne ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> JOHN ASHTON

MEMBER SINCE 2010
KelbyOne Community
Whos Who is when retouching and design came to life. When things dont
in the KelbyOne Community go well, it doesnt mean that I have to stop and wait for things to
get better. Get out there, learn something, and network. I like the
Amanda Glasspell is an award-winning portrait and lifestyle photog- competition, as its inspired me to get better.
rapher and digital retoucher based in Manchester, England, offer-
ing both onsite and remote retouching. Amandas photography is What inspires you and whats your ultimate aim in life?
her passion, and she takes great pride in capturing the moment, I have to say movie posters. Every time I look at one in the shop
along with peoples emotions that will be treasured with a smile. I tell myself, One day my artwork will be there! I could do the
photography, retouching, and design the whole thing. Now Im
Are you a photographer first or a designer? on my way to making it happen.
Id say that Im a photographer first then a retoucher/designer,
mainly because I see things that most people dont even notice. We hear youre coming to your first-ever Photoshop
It could be due to my hearing loss that I use my eyes more. Then World. What made you want to come?
I became better at Photo- Wow, this is going to be an amazing experience. Not only is it
shop. With this, I was my first Photoshop World but also my first time visiting America. I
able to create and turn dont really know what to expect apart from what Ive heard from
my imagination into life, the members and instructors that its going to be a mad, mad,
like the Viking composite mad week, and Im going to come away with lots of useful tips. I
I did of myself. I did some attended the Photography Show in the UK and was disappointed
research on Viking history, that there werent enough Photoshop seminars, so I visited purely
what they wear and their to network. I told myself that if I want to change something in my
environment. It took me life I have to do something about it myself; sometimes you just
three months to prepare have to make a leap of faith. I may be going alone but I know that
this project with a full- Ill make some friends at Photoshop World. Its gonna be wicked!
time job on the side. Its
amazing how imagination Which instructors are you most looking forward to seeing?
and Photoshop can bring Definitely Corey Barker, the wizard of Photoshop 3D; Dave
it to life. I have to admit Clayton for his down-to-earth InDesign teaching; and Glyn Dewis
that I do look like a mean for his amazing keeping-it-simple-stupid (KISS) methods. It does
Scottish Viking warrior. work! Scott Kelbyneeds no explaining really! Terry White, Frank
Doorhof, Matt Kloskowski and many more to name a few. No
How did your journey begin with KelbyOne? doubt Ill come away with many more!
I have to go back to when I was watching Adobe Live on my laptop
and Glyn Dewis came on. I was amazed by his way of teaching
and how he makes it so simple in Photoshop. I decided to follow
his work and attend his workshops. Then I met Dave Clayton,
KelbyOnes UK Evangelist. After chatting with Glyn and Dave, they
both championed KelbyOne. I did some research and saw so many
great artists and teachers all in one place. How fantastic is that? Its
like a book Ive just opened with the light shining so bright in my
eyes, wowing me with its information. I wanted to learn it all, and
I still do. So here I am: a proud and happy member of KelbyOne.
How do you think youve changed with KelbyOne?

I became more confident in myself and in my work; however, Im still
learning. I usually watch KelbyOne videos during my lunch break to What message would you give to anyone who hasnt
keep the creative juices going. My best experience was when Scott joined KelbyOne yet?
Kelby came to visit London for his Shoot Like a Pro tour. It was amaz- Just joindont even think about it. Become a creative Jedi!
ing to finally meet him after watching his training, reading his books, Seriously though, you can learn so much, whether its photogra-
and seeing him on The Grid. You know, sometimes people may be phy, Photoshop, video, or design. Expand your skills. Who knows,
really good at something and may not realize they could be great at you may discover a missing piece of the jigsaw that youve been
k e l byo n e . c o m
something else unless they try. This is what KelbyOne does to help looking for!
me expand my mind and learn as much as possible.
Thanks, Amanda, for spending a few moments with us and inspir-
Photography and design has changed so much over the past ing us to become better and to try something new! To learn more
few years. What for you is the best thing about it? about Amanda, visit her website at amandaglasspell.com, as well
When my photography went quiet due to the recession, I took this as on Facebook and Twitter.
opportunity to go back to college to learn graphic design, and this 015
Exp sed: Industry News
The latest news about photography gear, software, and services
By Chris Main
Adobe Releases
Photoshop CC 2015.5
On June 21, Adobe announced
major updates to their Creative
Cloud tools, including Photoshop
and Adobe Stock. Starting with
this update, Adobe has prom-
ised to increase the performance
of Photoshop over the next few
releases. In this 2015.5 release,
for example, the font menu is up
to 4x faster and Content-Aware
Fill is up to 3x faster.
Its time to say farewell to the
Refine Mask dialog, as Adobe has introduced a selection of your font list and an on-canvas menu for selecting
and masking space (Select>Select and Mask). The idea alternate glyphs.
is to minimize clicks, mouse movements, and interface Creative Cloud Libraries have also been improved.
clutter. Most of the Refine Mask settings now appear Now when you share a Library, you can make it read-only
in the Properties panel, and theres a new View Mode so assets cant be changed by others. Licensed Adobe
option called Onion Skin with a Transparency slider to Stock assets now have a badge for easy identification,
make it easier to see the edges and quality of the selec- and if you have a large monitor, Photoshop will present
tion. Youll also find a simplified Toolbox in this space you with a larger Libraries panel for easier browsing. Col-
that includes the Quick Selection tool, Lasso tool, Brush ors can be saved into panels, plus styles can be dragged
tool, and a new-and-improved Refine Edge Brush tool. directly from the panel and applied to a document.
The next major feature is that Content-Aware Fill Artboards have also been updated. You can now
has been added to the Crop tool. Now when you duplicate a layer or layer group and copy it into selected
rotate or expand the canvas, Photoshop will fill in any artboards, as well as easily change artboard backgrounds
missing gaps. and view transparency within artboards. And finally, you
Retouchers will rejoice with the new Face-Aware can share patterns from the Capture CC app directly
Liquify feature. Without making a selection, you can eas- with Photoshop.
ily change the eyes, mouth, nose, and shape of a persons As for Adobe Stock, new features include the ability
face by simply moving sliders. You can change everything to open images from the Adobe Stock website directly
from the size to the height to the width of each of into Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. You can also
these features. license images from the Layers panel or via an on-canvas
Designers will be excited about the new Match contextual menu.
Font (Type>Match Font) capability. Photoshop can use One thing you might want to know is that Photoshop
machine learning to analyze a picture that has some 2015.5 is a full version update, so youll need to reinstall
text in it to detect which font is used in the photo and any plug-ins. For more info on that, plus to learn how to
then match it to similar fonts licensed on your com- keep the previous version of Photoshop on your system if
puter or fonts on Typekit. Other font improvements you so desire, click here. To learn about all the new fea-
016 include viewing fonts by family to reduce the length tures added to other Creative Cloud apps, click here.
e x p o s e d: i n d u st ry n e w s
Adobe Updates
Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw
A couple of weeks before the Creative Cloud update draw the vertical and horizontal lines on the image
(see opposite page), Adobe announced the availability to help Upright perform its magic. New camera sup-
of Lightroom CC 2015.6, Lightroom 6.6, and Adobe port includes the Canon Power-Shot G7 X Mark II,
Camera Raw 9.6. These updates provide additional cam- the Leica M-D (Type 262), the Nikon COOLPIX B700,
era RAW support, lens support, and bug fixes. Creative and the Panasonic DMC-GX85 (DMC-GX80/DMC-GX7
Cloud members will also enjoy a new Guided Upright Mark II). Additional updates include smart preview sup-
feature in Lightroom CC and ACR. Upright was intro- port for Merge to Panorama and HDR, and a Pending
duced in an earlier version to help users straighten Sync Activity section in the Lightroom Mobile tab in the
images, fix horizons, and reduce or eliminate keystone Preferences. This feature helps to identify any issues
effects in buildings. The new Guided Upright feature related to image sync across the Lightroom family of
allows users to provide hints in images that dont have products. For more information and a list of the new lens
prominent vertical and horizontal lines. You simply profiles supported in Lightroom, click here.
Original Upright Guided Upright
New WD Pro Series Designed

to Simplify the Creative Professionals Workflow
Western Digital Corporation has introduced My Passport devices. Its also compatible with Adobes Creative Cloud
Wireless Pro Wi-Fi mobile storage and My Cloud Pro for mobile photo and video editing, as well as Plex Media
Series network attached storage (NAS). The My Passport Server, which is capable of playing up to four streams of
Wireless Pro Wi-Fi lets you leave the laptop behind when content while on the go.
on a shoot. Using the direct Wi-Fi connection, you can When its time for editing or studio work, the My
automatically back up files from compatible cameras, Cloud Pro Series NAS device offers up to 32 TB of stor-
as well as save, edit, and transfer work seamlessly from age, and is optimized to import from cameras/memory
up to eight other devices connected to the drive. It also card readers and other USB storage with a simple one-
includes a built-in SD card touch backup button. This fast, high-capacity drive also
reader and a USB 3 port features a hardware accelerated video processor, which
for faster transfers. With means it can ingest, edit, store, and stream content to
capacities up to 3 TB, the My and from popular formats, including 4K video.

Passport Wireless Pro also My Passport Wireless Pro storage has an MSRP
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tery pack that can be used $399.99 and go up to $1,649.99, depending on con-
to charge phones and other figuration and capacity. Click here for more info. 017
e x p o s e d: i n d u st ry n e w s
Phottix Introduces
the Spartan Beauty Dish
Phottix has released a new on-location light modifier
called the Spartan Beauty Dish. Using eight flexible
rods, this collapsible beauty dish is easy to set up, and
its made from high-grade materials with a white inte-
rior that produces soft, even light. Included in the kit
are a metal beauty dish disk, baffle, front diffuser,
and fabric grid. Simply replace the metal diffuser with
the internal baffle to quickly convert it into a tradi-
tional octa softbox. Add the outer diffuser to soften
the light even more and the grid to control the direc-
tion of the light, and you have a versatile tool for
capturing beautiful images anywhere you go. The 20"
version is $120, and the 28" version is $145. Click here
for more information.
Impression 2
Turns Your Photos into Art
Topaz recently announced Impression 2, their standalone
and plug-in application for converting images into art.
New features include spot, color, luminosity, and brush
masks; a larger Brush Browser that displays three rows
instead of two; larger stroke previews; control over how
many brush strokes it uses; and you can watch Impres-
sion as it paints your image. Undo/redo has also been
added, along with 22 new blend modes for applying
effects. Click here for more info.
New LED Panels

from Limelite by Bowens
Manfrotto Distribution, Inc. announced Mosaic2 LED Panels from
Limelite by Bowens. Available in Daylight (5600K) and Bi-Color
(3000K5000K), Mosaic2 uses 576 high-fidelity LEDs, dimmable

from 1000%, to create 1x1 panels that are extremely powerful
(up to 4,000 Lux@1m) and significantly more color accurate than
previous models. The new panels are designed for photo, video,
and broadcast work, both in studio and on location (with optional
battery mounting accessories). These metal-bodied panels, which
weigh in at just three pounds, can be controlled remotely via an
external DMX mixer, and multiple panels can be linked and used
as a single panel. The Mosaic2 Daylight LED Panel is listed at
$839.99 and the Mosaic2 Bi-Color LED Panel at $999.99.
018
#KelbyOneBooks
Ever feel like youve hit a wall in Photoshop ?

This books your tool to break through!
NEW from Scott Kelby, the

worlds #1 best-selling author
of photography technique books,
and Editor and Publisher of
Photoshop User magazine.
HOW TO
Down the agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. logo effect
&Dirty
BY COREY BARKER
In this project, well explore the title treatment for the Agents of
Tricks
S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show. Well build this effect using a base texture,
simple shapes, and layer styles. While the final result looks 3D,
its achieved entirely using 2D methods.

DOWN AND DIRTY TRICKS
Step One: First, open the texture image that will

serve as the base for the overall design. If youre a
KelbyOne member, you can download the texture
were using here, or feel free to experiment with
one of your own. Just make sure it has a similar look
to this one. Once its open, go to the Edit menu and
choose Define Pattern to save the texture in Photo-
shop. Name it when prompted and click OK.
[KelbyOne members may download the files
used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/maga-
PhotoArtTextures.com
zine. All files are for personal use only.]
Step Two: Create a new document (File>New)

thats 1,455x800 pixels at 100 ppi. Press Command-I
(PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the background to black, switch
to the Move tool (V), and then drag the open tex- Step One
ture file into this new document. Add the Shift key
when dragging so the texture lands centered in the
new document. Once the texture is in place, set
the layer Opacity to 75% in the Layers panel. Press
Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R) to show the rulers, click on
the vertical ruler on the left, drag out a guide, and
place it in the center of the canvas. It should snap in
Step Three
place. If it doesnt, make sure theres a checkmark
next to Snap under the View menu.
Step Three: Go to the Toolbox, click-and-hold on

the shape tools, and choose the Ellipse tool from
the flyout menu. In the Options Bar, set the tool
mode drop-down menu to Shape, then click on the
Fill color swatch and choose a dark gray. Leave the
Stroke color set to No Color.
Step Four: Hold down the Shift key and draw out a
circle in the middle of the canvas at the size shown
here. It will automatically create a shape layer in the
Layers panel. Once you have the circle drawn, press Step Four
the letter A to switch to the Path Selection tool (the
black arrow), and click-and-drag inside the ellipse
to position it so the top and bottom control points
align with the guide. Just like the guide, it should
snap into place.
Step Five: With the circle still active (if its not, click
on it with the Path Selection tool), press Command-C
(PC: Ctrl-C) then Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste

a copy of the shape in place. Press Command-T (PC:
Ctrl-T) to activate Free Transform. Hold down Shift-
Option (PC: Shift-Alt), click on a corner point, and
drag inward to scale the duplicate circle down just a
little. Press Enter to commit the transformation. 021
Step Five
HOW TO
Step Six: Were still in the same shape layer, and

we want to knock this duplicate smaller shape out
of the bigger shape, so go to the Options Bar, click
on the Path Operations icon (it looks like two over-
lapping squares), and choose Subtract Front Shape.
This will create a ring shape.
Step Six
Step Seven: With the shape layer still active, click

on the Add a Layer Style icon (x) at the bottom of
the Layers panel and choose Bevel & Emboss. Use
these settings shown here. Dont click OK yet.
Step Eight: Click on the words Pattern Overlay

in the list of Styles on the left. Click on the Pattern
thumbnail to open the Pattern Picker and locate the
pattern we defined in Step One. It should be at the
end of the list. Leave the other settings as they are.
Dont click OK yet.
Step Nine: Activate Gradient Overlay in the list

of Styles. Click on the Gradient preview strip and
choose the standard Black, White gradient preset. Step Seven Step Eight
Click OK to close the Gradient Editor. Then, use the
settings shown here. Dont click OK yet.
Step 10: Finally, Activate Drop Shadow in the list of

Styles, and again use the settings shown here. Note
that in this case we turned off the Use Global Light
setting. You can click OK when done to apply the

layer styles.
Step 11: Now lets add the custom shape logo

element thats also part of the downloads for this
project. Once its downloaded, choose the Custom
Step Nine Step 10
Shape tool (nested under the Rectangle tool [U]
in the Toolbox). Then, in the Options Bar, click on
the Shape thumbnail preview to open the Custom
Shape Picker. Click on the gear icon at the top right
and choose Load Shapes from the menu. Locate the
022 Shield Shape.csh file, and click Open.
Step 11
Step 12: Click on the horizontal ruler and drag a

guide to the center. Go back to the Custom Shape
Picker and select the new shape. Draw the shape
starting at the point where the guides intersect
while holding Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt). Shift will
maintain proportions and Option (PC: Alt) will draw
the shape from the center outward. But if you hold
Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt) before you start dragging
out the shape, the new shape will combine with the
existing shape layer, which we dont want. So, click-
and-hold on the center first, then press-and-hold
Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt) and drag out the shape Step 12
to create a new shape layer. Leave a small gap

between this shape and the outer ring.
Step 13: In the Layers panel, hold down the Option

(PC: Alt) key, click on the x icon to the right of the
Ellipse 1 (outer ring) layer, drag it to the new shape
layer, and release to copy-and-paste the layer style.
Step 14: Now click on the outer ring layer (Ellipse 1)

in the Layers panel to make it active and then dupli-
cate it by pressing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J). Drag this
layer copy (Ellipse 1 copy) above the custom shape
layer in the layers stack. Then, activate Free Trans-
Step 13
form (Command-T [PC: Ctrl-T]), hold down Shift-
Option (PC: Shift-Alt) again, and scale down this ring
shape so it fits just inside the outer ring area. Press
Enter when done.
Step 15: Click on the original ring shape layer

(Ellipse 1) in the Layers panel to make it active
and, with the Path Selection tool (black arrow),
click on the outer edge of the ring to select the
outside path. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to
copy the selected shape to a new shape layer
(Ellipse 1 copy 2). It will be a solid circle and it will
also bring all the layer styles along with it, though
Step 14
we do need to modify those styles.
Step 16: Position this circle shape layer below all

the other layers but just above the background tex-
ture (Layer 1) in the layer stack. Double-click the x
icon to the right of its name to open the Layer Style
dialog. Activate Texture just below Bevel & Emboss
in the list of Styles. Click on the Pattern thumbnail
preview to open the Pattern Picker and locate the

Woven Wide preset. If you dont see it, load the Pat-
terns preset group in the Pattern Pickers flyout menu
(gear icon), and click Append in the resulting dialog.
Once applied, set the Scale to 10% and the Depth to
20%. Also, check Invert. Dont click OK yet. 023
Step 15 Step 16
HOW TO
Step 17: Click on Bevel & Emboss in the list of Styles

and set the Highlight Mode Opacity to 10% and
the Shadow Mode Opacity to 75%. Select Gradi-
ent Overlay in the list of Styles, set the Blend Mode
to Overlay, and lower the Opacity to 50%. Then,
choose Pattern Overlay and drop the Opacity to
75%. Finally, go to the Drop Shadow settings and
bump up the Opacity to 60% and the Size to 20
px. Click on the image and drag the shadow down
manually to give the illusion of a long shadow being
cast on the background texture. Click OK to apply
the layer styles.
Step 17
Step 18: Now were ready for the text. Here

weve spoofed the original title with AGENTS OF
W.E.I.R.D. set in a font called Eurostile Extended
Bold. Once the text is set at the top of the layer stack
using the Type tool (T), add the same layer styles that
are applied to the rings and custom shape layers. As
before, just Option-drag (PC: Alt-drag) the x icon
from one of those layers to the text layer. Once the
styles are applied, go into the Layer Style dialog and
choose Pattern Overlay. Drop the Opacity to 75%,
and then manually drag the pattern in the image
until the lighter areas of the Pattern Overlay make
the letters stand out more. Click OK.
Step 18
Step 19: Make a duplicate of this text layer by press-

ing Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J), then click on the origi-
nal text layer below to make it active. Right-click on
the original text layers name and choose Convert to
024 Shape in the menu.
Step 19
Step 20: With the paths of the text shape layer

selected and the Path Selection tool active, go to the
Options Bar and set the Stroke color to black and the
size to 10 px. Then, click on the Stroke Type drop-
down menu to the right to open the Stroke Options,
click on the Align setting, and choose the bottom
option, which aligns the stroke to the outside of the
path. The layer style will immediately take effect on
the stroke, which frames the text quite nicely. The
only other adjustment we made was to increase the
Size of the Bevel & Emboss layer style to 5 px.
Step 20
Adobe Stock/papa
Step 21: Now for some final touches. First, we have
a dust particle image from Adobe Stock (also avail-
able in the downloads). Remove the color by press-
ing Shift-Command-U (PC: Shift-Ctrl-U), then use
the Move tool to drag it to the main image. Position
it at the top of the layer stack, set the layer blend
mode to Screen, and drop the Opacity to 40%. Use
Free Transform to resize and reposition as needed.
We set it to the left of the logo. Click the Add Layer
Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the
Layers panel, switch to the Gradient tool (G), and
press X until the Foreground color is black. Click on
the gradient thumbnail in the Options Bar to open
the Gradient Editor, select the Foreground to Trans-
parent preset, and click OK. Select the Radial Gradi-
ent icon in the Options Bar, and then draw gradients
to mask out the dust particles from the center area
of the logo.
Step 21
Adobe Stock/Alexander Marushin
Step 22: Next, we have another image from Adobe

Stock, but this time its smoke. Well add this the
same way we added the dust particles but on the

other side of the logo. You can see here that, after
we positioned it on the right, we added a layer mask
with some radial gradients to mask it off the logo.
Again, set the blend mode to Screen, but this time
set the Opacity to 55%. 025
Step 22
HOW TO
Step 23: Create a new blank layer at the top of the

layer stack. Grab the Rectangular Marquee tool (M),
hold down the Shift key, and starting at the top edge
of the document just beyond the left edge of the
logo, drag a square the full height of the canvas. Go
under the Filter menu to Render and choose Fibers.
Use the default settings and click OK. Deselect the
shape by clicking outside the selection. Go to the
Layers panel and click the Lock Transparent Pixels
icon (checkerboard) next to the word Lock. Step 23
Step 24: Go to the Filter menu to Blur and choose

Motion Blur. Set the Angle to 90 and the Distance
to 500 Pixels. Click OK.
Step 24
Step 25: Grab the Gradient tool with it still set to

the Foreground to Transparent preset, choose the
Linear Gradient icon in the Options Bar, and then
set the tool blend Mode to Overlay. Press D to set
black as the Foreground color, and then start at the
bottom of the fibers layer and drag the gradient up.
This will have more of a contrasting fade as the gra-
dient has a various effect on the tones rather than
just laying over it. Do it two or three times if needed.
You can also add gradients coming in from each
side if you want.
Step 25
Step 26: Change the layer blend mode of the fiber

layer to Screen and drop the layer Opacity to around
60%. Then, go under the Edit menu to Transform
and choose Distort. Push the top corners closer
together toward the center and pull the bottom cor-
ners further apart. This gives the illusion of a light
source above the logo. Click-and-drag inside the
bounding box if you need to reposition the light.
026 Press Enter when done.
Step 26
Step 27: Now just run a simple 3-pixel Gaussian

Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur) to smooth out the
light a bit more. Then, add a layer mask and fade
out the bottom area of the light beams using the
Gradient tool with the same settings that you used
in Step 25, except change the tool Mode in the
Options Bar back to Normal.
Step 28: Click on the background texture layer

(Layer 1) in the Layers panel to make it active, Step 28
and add a Gradient Overlay layer style using the
settings shown here. Manually position the center
of the Gradient Overlay in the upper area of the
finished logo. This will darken the background
texture, which helps the illusion that the light is
illuminating the logo.
Step 29: Lastly, click on the topmost layer in the

Layers panel (the light layer or Layer 4). Click on the
Create New Adjustment Layer icon (half-black, half-
white circle) and choose Hue/Saturation. In the Prop-
erties panel, check on Colorize and set the Hue to
228, the Saturation to 25, and the Lightness to 20.
Set the adjustment layer blend mode to Soft Light
and then drop the layer Opacity to 50%. This will
add a unifying color grade for a finished look. Step 29
027
Final
HOW TO
Down create a dragon-fisted fighter
&Dirty
BY KIRK NELSON
One of the features Adobe has included in recent upgrades to Photoshop CC

is the Flame filter. Many users may have passed over this feature due to
Tricks
the highly specific situations that would require it. But with a bit of explora-
tion and some creative application of stock images, blend modes, and layer
masks, this filter can be quite useful in crafting a high-energy image with a lot
of visual impact. In this tutorial, we make use of some excellent Adobe Stock
images and the Flame filter to create this striking dragon-fisted fighter!
Step One: Open the fighter image and create a

new layer with Layer>New>Layer, or with Shift-
Command-N (PC: Shift-Ctrl-N). Name the new layer
Fire1, and click OK. Then, use the Pen tool (P) set
to Path in the Options Bar to draw out several paths
wrapping around the extended fist and forearm
of the fighter as shown here. (Tip: After you draw
one path, Command-click [PC: Ctrl-click] away from
that path to deselect it before beginning another so
Adobe Stock/Africa Studio

you can create several sub-paths all on a single path
layer.) After your paths are created, double-click on
the Work Path in the Paths panel (Window>Paths),
rename it Fire1, and click OK. (If youre a Kel-
byOne member, you can download this image with
the paths already drawn. Once you have the image
open in Photoshop, just click on the Fire1 path in the Step One
Paths panel to make it active.)
[KelbyOne members may download the files
used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/
magazine. All files are for personal use only.]
Step Two: Go to Filter>Render>Flame. The goal is

to get long tendrils of flame that wrap around the
fist and arm. Feel free to experiment with the fire
settings, but we recommend starting with these. In
the Basic tab, set the Flame Type to 1. One Flame
Along Path, the Width to 54 (if youre using the low-
res practice file, set the Width to 24), and the Quality
to High (Slow). In the Advanced tab, set Turbulent
to 24, Jag to 23, Opacity to 32, Flame Lines (Com-
plexity) to 19, Flame Bottom Alignment to 29, Flame
Style to 1. Normal, Flame Shape to 5. Pointing, and
check the Randomize Shapes option box. Click OK,
Step Two
and then in the Paths panel, click below the Fire1
path to deactivate it.
Step Three: Back in the Layers panel, convert

the Fire1 layer to a smart object with Layer>Smart
Objects>Convert to Smart Object. Then, go to
Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation. Check the
Colorize option and set the Hue to 241, Saturation
to 68, and the Lightness to 2. Click OK. The smart

object keeps these edits live so you can readjust
them if you want to change the color later on. Set
the layers blend mode near the top left of the
Layers panel to Linear Dodge (Add) to intensify
the flame effect. 029
Step Three
HOW TO
Step Four: Add the Doodle Dragon stock image

through File>Place Embedded. Use the bounding
box to scale and rotate the dragon image into posi-
tion so the dragons head aligns with the fighters
fist. Hold the Shift key when dragging corner points
to maintain proportion, and press Enter to commit
the transformation.
Doodle Dragon: Adobe Stock/Dvarg

Step Four
Step Five: Go to Image>Adjustments>Invert,
or use Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I), to change the
dragons lines from black to white. Then, go to
Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur and use a Radius of 2 pix-
els to soften the lines (set the Radius to around 0.5
pixels for the practice file).
Step Six: Use the Lasso tool (L) to draw a loose

selection around the head of the dragon. Go to
Step Five
Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal Selection to hide the rest
of the dragons form with the mask. Press X until the
Foreground color is set to black, and use the Brush
tool (B) with a Soft Round tip at 50% Opacity in the
Options Bar to paint on the mask and gently fade
out the horns and neck along the fighters arm. (Tip:
Use the Bracket keys on your keyboard to quickly
change your brush size as you paint on the mask.)
Set the Brush tool to 100% Opacity in the Options
Bar to paint away the dragons tongue. Step Six
Step Seven: Create another new layer named

Fire2. Use the Pen tool again to draw out a few
additional paths that are larger, longer, and more
sweeping than the previous set, as shown here.
When placing paths along the upper arm, roughly
follow the curves of the dragons horns. Tip: Use the
Paths panel to manage the path layers and ensure
that all the sub-paths are on a single layer. When
you draw the paths in this step, it should create a
new Work Path in the Paths panel. Rename that
path Fire2. (If youre using the practice file, click
030 on Fire2 in the Paths panel.)
Step Seven
Step Eight: Use the Filter>Render>Flame feature

again. The filter should retain the same settings as
the last time, so you dont need to adjust anything
unless you want to, of course! After the flames ren-
der out, convert this layer to a smart object with
Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to Smart Object and
set the blend mode to Screen. Copy the Hue/Satura-
tion adjustment from the Fire1 layer to this one by
holding down the Option (PC: Alt) key and dragging
the Hue/Saturation filter from the Fire1 thumbnail
onto the Fire2 thumbnail in the Layers panel. (Tip:
Click the down-facing arrow at the far right of the
Fire2 layer to reveal the layer effects on that layer.)
Click below the Fire2 path in the Paths panel to Step Eight
deactivate the paths.
Step Nine: Click on the background or Layer 0 to

make it the active layer and grab the Quick Selec-
tion tool (W). Disable the Sample All Layers option in
the Options Bar and create a selection of the fight-
ers fist and forearm to just past the elbow. Press
Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy this selection to a
new layer. Double-click the new layers name and
rename it to Fist.
Step Nine
Step 10: Drag the Fist layer to the top of the layer
stack and change the blend mode to Linear Dodge
(Add). Then, go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Satu-
ration and enable the Colorize option. Set the Hue
to 241, Saturation to 68, and the Lightness to 2,
and click OK. This will give the fist a bright-blue hue
that allows it to be clearly seen even through the fire
and dragon.
Step 10
Step 11: Use the Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a

square) at the base of the Layers panel to create a
mask for the Fist layer. Grab the Gradient tool (G);
click on the gradient preview thumbnail in the
Options Bar to open the Gradient Editor; select the

Black, White gradient preset; and click OK. Click on
the Radial Gradient icon in the Options Bar. Start
near the fighters elbow and drag the gradient past
his fist. This should fade out the blue-colored
fist layer. 031
Step 11
HOW TO
Step 12: Convert the Layer 0 background layer into

a smart object, and go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter.
In the Basic tab, increase the Clarity to +80 and
decrease the Saturation to 31. Then switch over
to the Effects tab (x), set the Post Crop Vignett-
ing Amount to 57, and click OK. This will give the
background a darker appearance that makes the
effect stand out even more.
Step 13: In order for the effect to appear realistic, Step 12

there should be a pale-blue light shining onto the
fighters face and body and the wall. Create this
with Filter>Render>Lighting Effects. Near the top
of the Properties panel, set the drop-down menu to
Point. Position this point light near the fighters fist,
and click-and-drag the outer green ring to increase
its size as shown here. Click on the Color swatch, set
it to a pale blue (R: 146, G: 146, B: 247), and click
OK to close the Color Picker. Set the Intensity to 62,
Exposure to 11, Gloss to 41, Metallic to 93, and
Ambience to 41. Click OK in the Options Bar.
Step 13
Step 14: Click on the Doodle Dragon layer to make

it active, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate
it, and position the duplicate layer just above the
Layer 0 background layer. Use Edit>Transform Scale
to scale it up to about 110% using the Width and
Height fields in the Options Bar. Press Enter to com-
mit the transformation. Remove the Gaussian Blur
smart filter on this layer by dragging that item to
the Delete Layer icon (trash can) in the Layers panel.
Then, go to Filter>Blur>Motion Blur and use an
angle of 0 and a Distance of 103 pixels (set the Dis- Step 14
tance to around 26 pixels for the practice file). Click
OK. Reduce the layers Opacity to 24%, and use the
Move tool (V) to drag it slightly to the right of the
original Doodle Dragon layer.
Step 15: Add a new layer above the Layer 0 back-

ground layer and name it Blue Glow. Click on the
Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the
Toolbox, set it to a light blue (#5455c6), and click
OK to close the Color Picker. Switch to the Gradi-
ent tool, and set the gradient preset to Foreground
to Transparent and Radial shape. Start a gradient at
the fighters wrist and drag past his shoulder. Set
the layers blend mode to Soft Light to complete the
032 glow effect.
Step 15
Step 16: Add another new layer above the Blue

Glow layer called Dragon Accents and set the
layers blend mode to Multiply. Grab the Brush tool
and set the Foreground color to a darker blue color
(#121338). Using the Soft Round brush tip and
reducing the brush Opacity to 50%, gently paint in
some darker areas behind the dragons eye, nostril,
and brow. This small detail gives the sense of depth
and solidity to the reptilian apparition.
Crafting high-impact visual effects is easier than

ever in Photoshop with the inclusion of features
such as the Flame filter. By assembling some cre-
ative stock resources and careful use of blend Step 16
modes and layer masks, its not hard to create fun
and dynamic effects.
033
Final
HOW TO
Beginners' Workshop LESA SNIDER

how typekit works
One of the most under-utilized perks of a Creative Cloud subscription is access to Typekit, an online
service Adobe acquired in 2011 that lets you access fonts for use on your computer and on websites.
In this column, youll learn exactly how Typekit works and how you can access Typekit fonts in Photoshop.
Lets start by discussing why you should care about Typekit

and what you get. Typekit is a collection of fonts in both
print and Web format that you can download and use in
your print and electronic documents, as well as websites.
This is exciting for designers because the same font can be
used across print and online marketing materials for brand-
ing consistency. Its exciting for everyone else because more
fonts mean more fun!
While photographers may not set tons of text, Type-
kit fonts are useful if you design your own business cards,
direct-mail pieces, sports-style templates, fine-art style
prints, photo books, opening/closing screens in a video or
slide-show project, and so on.
Typekit includes fonts from 60 or so foundries (remem-
ber, type used to be made of metal). Any kind of Creative
Cloud subscription (even a single-app subscription) includes Typekit fonts with anyoneever. Because the font files are
Typekits Portfolio Plan, which lets you use up to 100 fonts stored invisibly on your hard drive (weird but true), you sim-
at a time. Unfortunately, each style or weight within a font ply cant get at them, and neither can your font-management
family counts as a separate font (for example, Futura Semi- program. That said, if you need to share a Photoshop docu-
bold and Futura Heavy count as two fonts), so the actual ment that includes a Typekit sync font, the other person can
number of font families you can use concurrently may be open and print the document, but she cant edit the text
considerably smaller. And because Typekit is part of the Cre- without encountering a font-substitution message. But if she
ative Cloud, you have access to all of its fonts from any com- has a standalone Typekit account of her own (or she has a
puter that has Creative Cloud apps installedsimply log in Creative Cloud subscription), she can download those fonts
with your Adobe ID and the fonts are available to you. from Typekit and then edit the text. If, for whatever reason,
Typekit fonts come in two flavors: Sync fonts and Web you stop paying for your Creative Cloud subscription, the
fonts. Sync fonts (previously called desktop use fonts) fonts stop working.
behave almost the same as other fonts installed on your Web fonts are stored on Adobes servers and delivered
computer. They live on your hard drive and you can use to Web browsers when visitors access the webpage. You can
them in any program that supports a font menu (even non- use them with any website-creation tool, including Adobe
Adobe ones), you can embed them into PDFs, convert their Dreamweaver, Muse, WordPress, and so on. Theres a limit
characters to paths in Photoshop or Illustrator, and so on. of 500,000 page views for each domain where the fonts are
You cant, however, use a font-management program to used, so if your website goes viral, you have to upgrade to
enable or disable them, nor can you include Typekit fonts a paid Typekit plan, which starts at $50$100 per year for
when packaging an InDesign document to have it printed 1,000,000 page views. And, like Typekits sync fonts, if you
elsewhere (the workaround is to send the printer a PDF with stop paying for your Creative Cloud subscription, Adobe
the font embedded into it). In other words, you cant share wont serve the Web fonts to your server so they no
034
BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP
longer appear on your website (at which point

your site substitutes a standard serif or sans-serif
font instead).
Not all Typekit sync fonts are available as Web
fonts, but many are. Keep this in mind if your
goal is to use the same font in print as you do on
Glass: Adobe Stock/fotografiedk; Castle: Adobe Stock/Arndale

the Web.
HOW TO ACCESS &

USE TYPEKIT FONTS
Below are the steps for adding Typekit fonts from
within Photoshop, though the process is (roughly)
the same in other Creative Cloud apps. You cant
download new Typekit fonts from inside Lightroom,
but any Typekit fonts you download appear in Light-
rooms font menus too (though without the cute
green Typekit icon). Step One
Step One: Create or open a document and press T

to activate the Type tool. In the Options Bar, click the
down-facing arrow next to the font family field and,
from the panel that opens, click the green Typekit
icon at the upper right.
Step Two: Your Web browser springs open to the

Typekit website, which offers several ways to find
fonts. (If this is your first time visiting the site, you
may see a welcome screen instead.) The buttons on
the right let you filter your search by these param-
eters: Browse Mode (the Default or Japanese font
sets and filters), Classification (Serif, Script, Deco-
rative, and so on), Availability (Web and/or desktop
use), Recommendations (Paragraphs or Headings),
Properties (Weight, Width, and so on), and Lan-
guage Support. Click any filters button to apply it Step Two
(it turns green); click it again to turn it off. In this
example, the Slab Serif, Web, Sync, Headings, and
Weight filters are turned on.
Step Three: To see the font in use, click anywhere

atop the thumbnail and a page opens showing the
font used in a variety of weights and styles in sen-
tence form. The Specimens tab on the same page

displays the font in sentence and paragraph form at
various point sizes. The Type Tester tab (shown here)
lets you enter your own text; you can change styles
and point size, too.
Step Three 035
HOW TO
Step Four: To return to the thumbnail grid of

results, click your browsers back button. When you
find a font (or 20!) that you like, click the tiny heart
at the thumbnails upper right to mark it as a Favorite
(the heart turns red). To view your Favorites later on,
click My Favorites at the upper left.
Step Five: To download and use the font, point

your cursor at the fonts thumbnail and, in the
green menu that appears, click Use fonts. The
resulting panel has two tabs: Sync and Web. Sync
lets you pick which weights and styles (Regular, Step Four
Italic, Bold, and so on) to install on your computer.
(You dont have to install them all; remember each
style counts against your 100 fonts.) Turn on the
checkboxes for the options you want and then
click Sync Selected Fonts. Step Five
Step Six: The next screen reminds you that,

in order to download the fonts, you need to
have the Creative Cloud app running and font
syncing turned on (shown here at left). If you
havent turned on font syncing, click the Launch
the Creative Cloud Application button, and the
apps Fonts panel opens; follow the onscreen
instructions to turn on font syncing. You can
also turn on font syncing in the Creative Cloud
apps Preferences (shown here at top right). To
access the Preferences, click on the gear icon at
the top right. If youve already turned on font Step Six
syncing and you click Launch the Creative Cloud

Application, youll see all the fonts youve down-
loaded (shown here at bottom right). As you can
see, you can also add fonts from Typekit using
the Creative Cloud app. When you do, those

fonts are available to all Creative Cloud apps.
Step Seven: Either way, the new fonts instantly

appear in Photoshops font family menu (complete
with the green Typekit badge)you dont even
have to restart Photoshop. To see only your Type-
kit fonts, click the Typekit icon to the right of the
Filter field. To use the font in your document,
click and then enter some text.
036 Step Seven
BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP
Step Eight: Back in your browser, click the Web

tab to use Typekit fonts on a website, and then
click Create a New Kit. A kit is a collection of fonts
designed for online use, along with the code that
instructs Typekit to display those fonts when some-
one visits your site.
Step Nine: In the screen that appears, name the kit

something meaningful (its for your own use) and
Step Eight
enter the domains on which you want to use the
fonts (you can add up to 10 domains to a single kit).
Step 10: Click Continue and Typekit creates the kit

and displays a few lines of JavaScript code for you
to copy-and-paste near the top of the <head> tag
in your websites CSS or HTML code. When a per-
son visits your website, the JavaScript tells Typekit
to deliver your fonts to that persons Web browser Step Nine
(this is also how Adobe counts your page views).
Step 11: Click Continue again and you trium-

phantly arrive at the final options screen, where
you can pick which font weights and styles to
include (each weight or style increases the size of
the font file that Typekit delivers to your viewers
Web browser), as well as which languages you
want to support. The Default option includes
characters for English, Spanish, Italian, and Por-
tuguese; to support any other language, choose
All Characters (doing so significantly increases Step 10
the size of the font file that Typekit serves to
visitors). Click Publish and Typekit adds the kit to
the domains you entered. After making all these
choices (whew!), you can use the fonts in your kit
when designing webpages in Adobe Muse, Adobe
Edge, Dreamweaver, or any other website-creation
tooleven WordPress.
Just before this issue was published, Adobe released

Photoshop CC 2015.5 with two additional ways to
download Typekit fonts. Now when you click Show
Similar Fonts (two squiggly lines) in the font family
menu, Photoshop also shows Typekit fonts. Click the

cloud icon next to a Typekit font and it will automati-
cally download. Theres also a new Match Font fea-
ture that woks in a similar way. Until next time, may
the creative force be with you all!
Step 11 037
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DYNAMIC RANGE
Dynamic Range KRISTINA SHERK

using actions while retouching portraits
If anyone reading this has attended or watched any of my classes, you know that I believe in working
smarter, not harder, when it comes to Photoshop. Thats why I believe wholeheartedly in actions and what
they can do to send your retouching into hyperdrive! Incorporating actions into your portrait workflow can
make your retouching so much quicker.Actions not only do things faster and with less work from you, but
they can also create an outline so that you dont get sidetracked, thus keeping you productive.
If youve never heard of actions before, theyre actually little the drop-down menu, which will put a checkmark next to
recordings of the steps that you take in Photoshop. You it. This means the window is now visible within Photoshop.
can use an action to do something as simple as creating Youll see a few buttons at the bottom of the Actions
a new layer, or as detailed as creating an entire portrait- panel. To the left of the Trash icon is the Create New Action
retouching outline, all by clicking only one button. (Ill be icon (it looks just like the Create a New Layer icon thats
giving some free actions at the end of this article too, so be in the Layers panel). Clicking this icon will always be your
sure to keep reading!) first step when creating an action. Once youve named your
For those of you who are aware of actions, I hope youre action and it shows up in the actions list, youre ready to
using them in your workflow. You may feel like actions are start recording.
a one-trick pony, but the true beauty of actions lies in when
we create ones that can be customized while theyre playing.
Immediately, this opens a whole new world when it comes
to actions, making them even more valuable to your every-
day retouching. Well learn how to do this in this article.
BEST PRACTICES
Before we jump in with both feet to explore actions, lets
talk about some of the best practices while creating them.
Actions dont respond well to freehand brushstrokes or
drag-and-drop movements, so those wont be recorded
by your action and will mess it up. When Im creating an
action, I try not to use a tablet pen (or mouse); I only use my
trackpad. This seems to prevent me from mistakenly mak-
ing movements that may not be recorded by the action.
Also, dont click-and-drag your layers to rearrange them in
your Layers panel. Again, the action wont record this move.
Instead, select the layer you want to relocate by clicking on
it once in the Layers panel, and then use the following key-
board shortcuts to move it in the layer stack: Command-Left
Bracket (PC: Ctrl-Left Bracket) to move your selected layer
down, and Command-Right Bracket (PC: Ctrl-Right Bracket)
to move it up.
THE ACTIONS PANEL

If you cant locate the Actions panel in Photoshop, simply
click on Window at the top, and then click on Actions in
045
HOW TO
CREATE A SIMPLE ACTION action that will make our clients eyes look amazing in his/
Lets start by creating a simple action. In this action, youll her portrait, but were going to create it in a very smart way,
create a black layer mask on whatever pixel-based layer which will let us use this same action no matter what color
(non-adjustment layer) is highlighted in your Layers panel. the clients eyes are in the current image (and every future
image on which we run this action). But to be able to do
Step One: With your document open, and the requisite that, we need to instruct the action to ask for input from the
layer selected, click the Create New Action icon at the bot- action user. Photoshop isnt smart enough to know what
tom of the Actions panel. Lets name this action Add Black color our clients eyes are, so we need to give it a little help.
Mask in the New Action dialog and house it in the Default Lets get started.
Actions Set. Click Record to start recording.
Step One: As before, well start by clicking the Create New
Action icon at the bottom of the Actions panel. Lets name
this action Amazing Eyes and click the Record button.
Step Two: With your portrait image open, click on the

Create a New Layer icon, double-click the new layers name
in the Layers panel, and label it Eye Color. Next, go to the
flyout menu located in the upper right of the Actions panel
Step Two: Without clicking on any of the layers in the Lay- and choose Insert Stop.
ers panel, hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key and click the In the Message section
Add Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the of the Record Stop
Layers panel. This will automatically create a black mask over dialog, write yourself a
whichever layer was selected in your Layers panel. little note, something
like, Fill next area with
Step Three: Back in the Actions panel, click the Stop Re- exaggerated version of
cording icon (square). Congratulations, youve created your subjects eye color.
first action! Check on Allow Con-
tinue at the bottom of
Step Four: Look at your Layers panel and youll see the black this dialog and click OK.
mask that you created. To test your action to see if it works,
youll first need to delete this layer mask: Simply click-and- Step Three: Go back
drag the black mask layer thumbnail to the Delete Layer icon to the same flyout
(trash can) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and then click menu and choose In
the Delete (not Apply) button in the resulting dialog. sert Menu Item. With
the Insert Menu Item
Step Five: Now that youre back to the beginning, you can dialog open onscreen,
test your action. Go to the Actions panel, click on the Add go to the Edit menu
Black Mask action, and click the Play Selection icon at the and choose Fill. The
bottom of the Actions panel. This should automatically cre- Fill dialog wont actu-
ate a black layer mask on the layer that was active when the ally open, but youll
action was told to start playing. In one quick step, you were see that menu item ap-
able to create a black mask on the current layer that you pear in the Insert Menu
were working on. Item dialog. Click OK in
the Insert Menu Item
LETS GET ADVANCED dialog to close it. This
Lets move on to the advanced section of this article where means that when you play the action, it will pause at this
the true beauty of actions lies. Were going to create an point so you can choose the correct eye colorno matter
046
DYNAMIC RANGE
what color eyes your client has. This makes this action more Step Seven: For this next section, Photoshop will need a
valuable because now you can use it on a client with blue little help from you again, so lets insert another Stop by
eyes one day, and on a client with brown eyes the next. clicking the flyout menu located in the upper right of the
Actions panel and choosing Insert Stop.
Step Four: Heres where it gets trickyso please pay atten-
tion. Press the Stop Recording icon at the bottom of your Step Eight: Write yourself another note in the Message sec-
Actions panel. Now, click on your Eye Color layer in the tion. Heres what my note looks like: Photoshop needs a
Layers panel to make sure its active, and then actually fill it little more help from you! In the bottom section of the Layer
with color using the Edit>Fill command. This part should not Style dialog (coming up in the next screen), youll see the
be recorded in the action. Once the layer is filled with color, Blend If sliders. On the Underlying Layer bar, drag the black
you can start recording your action again, so click the Begin arrow to the right until you begin to see the dimension
Recording icon (circle) at the bottom of the Actions panel. effect on some of your clients iris, but not all of it. Then,
hold down the Option (PC: Alt) key and click on the same
Step Five: Make sure your Eye Color layer is still active and black arrow to split it down the middle. Pull the right portion
press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate it. Double-click of the arrow to the right about 20, and pull the left portion
this new layers name and rename it Dimension. Press of the same arrow to the left about 20, widening the space
Command-U (PC: Ctrl-U) to bring up the Hue/Saturation dia- between the two sides of the black arrow. After you enter
log, and set the Saturation to 100 to desaturate the layer. you message, click the Allow Continue checkbox, and then
click OK.
Step Six: Click back on your Eye Color layer and change its
Layer blend mode (near the top left of the layers panel) from Step Nine: Next, go up to the same flyout menu and choose
Normal to Overlay. Then decrease the Opacity of your Eye Insert Menu Item. With the Insert Menu Item dialog open
Color layer to 40%. Next, click on the Dimension layer and onscreen, go to the Layer menu at the top and choose Layer
change its blend mode to Color Dodge. Style>Blending Options. Then click OK in your Insert Menu
047
HOW TO
Item dialog. Now youll need to stop recording your action both layer effects under a black mask. You can now stop
again, so that you dont actually record the Blend If slider your recording at the bottom of the Actions panel. Finally,
settings that youre about to input. Note: Remember, you youre finished with the action!
want this action to work on all eye colors and lightness/
darkness values. This is complicated; but it will be worth
it in the end.
Step Ten: Press the Stop Recording icon at the bottom of

your Actions panel and then double-click the empty space
to the right of the Dimension layers name in the Layers
panel to open the Blending Options in the Layer Style dialog.
Adjust the Blend If Underlying Layer black arrow slider just as
the note instructs in Step Eight above. This part should not
be recorded in the action. Once youve changed the sliders
and clicked OK in the Layer Style dialog, then you can keep
recording your action, so click the Begin Recording icon at
the bottom of the Actions panel.
Step Thirteen: To reveal the effect, just paint over the sub-
jects eyes with the Brush tool (B) set to white (press X until
the Foreground color is white) and 0% Hardness. If the
effect is too strong, simply click on the Amazing Eyes folder in
your Layers panel and decrease the Opacity. Now you can
play your Amazing Eyes action on any image, follow the
prompts to pick your eye color and Blend If settings, and
simply paint on the mask and lower the Opacity to create
amazing eyes.
Step Eleven: Were almost finished. Great job so far! Now,

well create a layer group using the Create a New Group
icon (folder) at the bottom of the Layers panel, and name
it Amazing Eyes. Click on the Dimension layer and press
Command-Right Bracket (PC: Ctrl-Right Bracket) to move
the layer into the layer group. Then do the same thing for
the Eye Color layer.
Step Twelve: Lastly, click on the Amazing Eyes layer group

folder, hold down Option (PC: Alt), and click the Add Layer
Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. This will hide
048
DYNAMIC RANGE
THE FINAL LOOK

To the left, youll see three close-up versions of the same
image: the original eye color, the eyes with the Amazing
Eyes effect at 100% Opacity, and the eyes with the Amazing
Eyes effect at 29% Opacity, which I thought looked good.
Original eye color
If you take the time to really learn more than just the
basics of actions, they can become an exceptionally power-
ful part of your retouching workflow. I know the second
action above was a long and advanced one to learn, so
for those beginners out there, Ive included the Awesome
Eyes action as part of this issues downloads! Just click on
Amazing Eyes effect at 100% Opacity
the Tutorial Files link for this issue found here. And if youd
like more free, awesome actions and presets, check out
SharkPixel!
Amazing Eyes effect at 29% Opacity
Before After 049
ALL IMAGES BY KRISTINA SHERK

HOW TO
Photoshop Proving Ground SCOTT VALENTINE

advanced masking workflow
Some of the most popular Photoshop tutorials involve selections and masking. There are entire books
dedicated to this topic, some written by your favorite authors. (I got my start with masking by watching
Katrin Eismann teach at Photoshop World.) Most of these books focus on photographic masking, and
go from manual, painted selections to using image information with a few tweaks from adjustments and
filters, which is incredibly powerful. Lets look at how to isolate your mask for robust, detailed editing.
In the end, youll have a seriously flexible way to work with complex masks using nearly everything
Photoshop has to offer.
layer, simply hold Option (PC: Alt) and click on the layer mask
Dancer: Adobe Stock/Alexander Y; Watercolor Background: Adobe Stock/donatas1205

you want to editthat shows your mask on the canvas as
a grayscale image. Press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select
all and Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to copy the mask. Create
a blank layer, then paste into that layer with Command-V
(PC: Ctrl-V). Double-click the new layers name and rename
it Working Mask.
PUT THE MASK ON ITS OWN LAYER Now, a mask isnt very useful if you cant see the image
Youre no doubt familiar with many selection techniques, youre working with, so heres the secret sauce: Put the new
but no single one is complete and perfect for every situation. Working Mask into a layer group (drag the Working Mask
When you find that you need extra oomph and cant get layer down to the Folder icon at the bottom of the Layers
Refine Edge to cooperate, or you cant paint the changes panel) and then Shift-click the original layer mask to turn
you want directly, it might be time to put your mask on its it off. Change the name of the group to Working Mask as
own layer for detailed work. To get your mask onto its own well. Finally, change the blend mode of the group itself to
050
BEGINNERS' WORKSHOP
Multiply. This causes anything white to become

effectively transparent, and everything else is
just black so you can see your subject in isola-
tion. Turn off everything else except the Working
Mask group and your single-image layer so you
can work on it in isolation. You can now add
adjustment layers, convert the Working Mask
layer to a smart object, and add other filters as
you like within that group.
Note: This specific approach is best for mask-
ing objects to be composited with other image
elements, for example replacing a background.
All other layers in your document should be
turned off to avoid confusion or distraction.
When youre done editing your mask, set
the group blend mode back to Pass Through,
then create a blank layer above the Working
Mask group. With the blank layer selected, press
Command-Option-Shift-E (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E)
to Stamp/Merge a flat copy of the mask to the
blank layer, and finish by copying-and-pasting
the new flattened mask back to your image
layers mask (youll have to Option-click [PC:
Alt-click] the mask thumbnail as you did before
to show the image layer mask before pasting;
Option-click [PC: Alt-click] to reveal the image
again). Turn off the Working Mask group and
the flat merged mask layer, and youre done!
Is this a lot of work? You better believe it. Is
it worth the effort? Oh, my, yes! Therell be a
point when you just cant seem to get the results
you want by working on a mask traditionally, or
you need to be able to see the mask while youre
working on it. And sometimes youll need to
make multiple versions of your mask with slight
variations. If you do a lot of illustrations or spe-
cial effects, it can really help to work with your
potential mask directly rather than guessing at
whats happening by applying adjustments and
filters directly to a layer mask.
By promoting your mask to a real layer, you
can use virtually every tool Photoshop has: filters,
adjustments, blend modes, plug-ins, whatever.

And the results dont have to be just for tradi-
tional photography uses. Lets try out a couple of
basic adjustments so you can get a feel for how
this actually works.
051
HOW TO
CRITTER EXPERIMENT
Scott Valentine
Remember that my goal for you is to build solid
foundations by tearing away context and bias so
you can see whats happening in the details. In
this case, that means splitting off selections
from the topic and focusing only on manipulat-
ing masks. To that end, I have built a little crea-
ture outline that will let us see whats going on
with various mask operations without worrying
to see the effect on an image.
[KelbyOne members may download the file
used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/
magazine. All files are for personal use only.]
Open the file sjv_Critter_Mask.psd, then
expand the Model group in the Layers panel.
Youll see Ive set you up with the Critter basic
shape in a smart object, which has all the basic
features we want to look at: inside and outside
curves, sharp points, and straight lines. Theres
also a 10-px Gaussian Blur set as a smart filter
on the Critter that should be turned off for
the moment.
Turn on the Gaussian Blur filter by clicking
to the left of the name so its Eye icon appears.
The Critter is unsurprisingly blurred. Turn on
the Curves adjustment layer. Notice the blur is
slightly less? Finally, turn on the Levels adjust-
ment layer. Boom! Were back to a smooth
edge! But waitwhats different?
Notice all the sharp corners are softer, and
the little triangle nose is gone completely.
Now turn off the Gaussian Blur smart filter and
the original edges are back. Weve taken advan-
tage of the fact that Levels and Curves ignore
pure black and white, except where theres a
transition. By giving the Critter a little blur, Lev-
els and Curves have something to work with. If

you have a mask thats slightly rough, you can
apply a blur then smooth things out with Lev-
els and Curves. You can even change the size of
the mask itself along with the overall amount of
smoothing by using more or less blur and tweak-
ing the adjustments. Turn the Gaussian Blur filter
back on.
Double-click on the Levels adjustment layer
thumbnail to make it active and to show the
Properties panel. Notice the three triangle sliders
052
PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
are grouped in the middle below the histogram.

Move all of them to the left (one at a time, keep-
ing the basic relationship between them) and
the mask gets bigger. Moving them to the right
makes the mask smaller. Tip: Toggle the Outline
layer on and off in the practice file to compare
your changes with the original shapes outline.
Click on the Curves adjustment to see the
small S-shaped curve. Try moving those points
around; what happens when you invert the
curve? What if you really bend the curve and
invert it?
EVERYTHING GOES
As you tinker, turn off the various piecessmart
filter, Levels, or Curvesand check the results.
This will let you see how they interact. More
importantly, it will give you a feel for the tradeoffs
when making your own masks. Smoothing too
much may lose important details, so youll have
to work on a selection of your mask rather than
all of it at once. You can do this by adding more
adjustment layers and using their masks to target
specific elements. And you can combine multiple
masks together using the Stamp/Merge tech-
nique above.
Of course you can use any of Photoshops
tools that dont directly use color to work on
your mask. Some filters, such as Add Noise or
Render Clouds, dont work as smart filters, so
youll have to either forego the conversion to
a smart object, or open the smart object to use
those filters. To keep your original, just make a
copy of the original layer and do your work on
the duplicate. That way you can use destructive
techniques and still have a place to which to
get back.
Dont forget that you can also use classic
tools such as Dodge and Burn (O) for cleaning up
edges, the Smudge tool (nested under the Blur
tool in the Toolbox) for pushing little bits around,
the Blur or Sharpen tool for specific edges, etc.
By now it should be clear that you can treat your

masks like grayscale images by putting them into
regular layers. The possibilities really are endless
here, so get to masking!
053
HOW TO
Photoshop Tips COLIN SMITH

boost your productivity and creativity
I have a saying when it comes to Photoshop: If you have to do the same thing more than once, youre
probably doing it wrong. Do you know that feeling when you discover a better way of doing something in
Photoshop? For example, youve done some things one at a time and manually for ages, and then find a
way to do it thats so quick you almost want to weep. I hope you discover one of those little gems in this
issues column. Happy weeping.
ARROWHEADS another benefit to smart filters: You can apply different

Photoshop can do so much more than just editing photos; blend modes to them. Once youve applied a filter, double-
its a great tool for creating charts, diagrams, and different click the double-slider icon to the right of the filters name in
types of graphics. Did you know that you can create arrows the Layers panel. A Blending Options dialog will open where
in Photoshop? When you select the Line tool (nested under you can change the blend mode and Opacity. Just think of
the Rectangle tool [U] in the Toolbox), click the little gear the possibilities.
icon at the top in the Options Bar. Youll see a drop-down
dialog that says Arrowheads. You can choose Start, End,
or both. Now when you draw with the Line tool, an arrow-
head will appear on your line. You can also save this as a
tool preset so arrows are just a click away. To save it as a tool
preset, click on the down-facing arrow next to the icon of
the current tool at the far left of the Options Bar. In the Tool
Preset Picker that appears, click on the gear icon at the top
right and select New Tool Preset.
STACKING FILTERS IN PHOTOSHOP

Many moons ago, there were all kinds of filters listed under
the Filter menu in Photoshop. Then one day, they all disap-
peared. Or did they? What happened was that a lot of the
filters were clustered together in a single tool called the Filter
Gallery. It was a stroke of genius really. When you launch

Filter Gallery (Filter>Filter Gallery), youll see the old familiar
(to some) sets of filters, such as Artistic, Stylize, etc., grouped
in folders to the right of the image preview. You can select
your filter from these different folders and make adjustments
SMART MODES with previews. If you click on the page icon at the bottom
As you probably already know, an alternative to applying right of the Filter Gallery dialog, you can add more than one
filters directly to photos is to use smart filters. To do that, filter and stack them on top of each other. Each time you add
Right-click on a layers name and choose Convert to Smart a new filter layer, it duplicates the currently active filter layer
Object; now when you apply a filter to a smart object, it at the top of the stack. Just change the settings, or click on a
becomes a smart filter and can be edited at any time. Heres different filter in one of the folders to change it to that filter.
054
P H O T O S H O P T I PS
As a bonus tip, you can drag these filter layers to change checking. You didnt? Well, it does and you can find it under
their stacking order. (Note: If for some reason you really Edit>Check Spelling. You might have missed it if you were
miss having all of these filters appear in the Filter menu, go looking under the Type menu. Theres also a Find and Replace
to Photoshop [PC: Edit] >Preferences>Plug-Ins, and turn Text option under the Edit menu, where you can change
on Show All Filter Gallery Groups and Name.) words, individual characters, or the case of characters.
VIEWING YOUR DOCUMENT FLOATING COLOR SWATCH

Here are a couple quick-fire tips: Double-click the Zoom When youre using the Eyedropper tool (I), you can use it to
tool (the magnifying glass) in the Toolbox to quickly view change the Foreground color right inside your Photoshop
your image at 100% or actual size. This is the preferred size document. Its a great tool for matching or picking comple-
for working with sharpening and noise reduction. Double- mentary colors and setting them as the Foreground color.
click the Hand tool (H) in the Toolbox to fit the entire image If you hold down Control-Option-Command and click-and-
onscreen. Dont you hate it when youre working on an hold in the image (PC: Ctrl-Alt-Right-click-and-hold), a float-
image and realize that you missed a bit because it wasnt ing Color Picker will appear right under your cursor where
visible onscreen? Never again. you can select any color. Oh yeah, this works with the Brush
tool too. Super useful!
CONVERTING IMAGES
Do you have a ton of images that you need to convert? Per-
haps you have PNG screenshots that you want to convert
to JPEGs for uploading to your website? (Yes, PNG-24s are
way bigger than JPEGs, unless theyre line art or flat color.)
You could open and save each image, or you could create
an action and run it in batch mode. Instead, try using the
Image Processor (File>Scripts>Image Processor). Here you
can access a tool that will save your images to a different
format, compress them, and change their sizes. You can
even run actions on the images that youre converting and
add copyright info. This is a big timesaver and one I use a lot!
PREVIEW TEXT
Did you know that you can preview different fonts for your
text right in your document? Click on your text layer in the FILLING THE PIXELS, NOT THE TRANSPARENCY
Layers panel to make it active. Choose the Type tool (T), and What if you have a layer that has both pixels and transpar-
pull down the font menu in the Options Bar. The text onscreen ency and you want to fill the pixels with a new color while
will change to reflect whatever font youre hovering your cur- protecting the transparent areas? You could make a selection
sor over in the menu. This is really useful, but more often than around the pixels by holding down the Command (PC: Ctrl)
not, the font menu will cover a part or all of the text that key and clicking on the layer thumbnail in the Layers panel to
youre trying to preview in your document. A better way is load it as a selection. Now when you fill with a color it only fills
to use the Character panel (Window>Character). The panel the selected areas. Another way is to lock the transparency
can be positioned anywhere onscreen, even on a second of the layer. You know, that little checkerboard icon to the
monitor, to get it out of your way. Now, scroll through the right of the word Lock near the top of the Layers panel.
font list in this detachable panel. Oh, look! It also activates Ill wait while you check; its the one you probably never use.
this same preview, but now its out of your way. Or you could try this instead: When you fill with the Fore-
ground color using the keyboard shortcut Option-Delete (PC:
SPELLCHECK Alt-Backspace), or the Background color using Command-
This is another one of those tiny, fast tips. Did you know that Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace), add the Shift key. Adding the
Photoshop has a spellchecker? You did? Thats great, just Shift key will lock the transparency so you dont fill it.
055
ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH

COLUMN
DesignMakeover JAKE WIDMAN CLIENT

ScottMadden Management Consultants
www.scottmadden.com
website management
before
ScottMadden, with offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Raleigh, North
Carolina, and Westborough, Massachusetts, is a general man-
agement consulting firm with four main practice areas: energy,
clean technology and sustainability, grid transformation, and cor-
porate and shared services. We started in 1983 focusing on the
energy industry, and then expanded into our other practice areas,
explains senior marketing specialist Mary Tew. The company offers
an array of services ranging from strategic planning through imple-
mentation to improving operations. The firms clients come from
higher education, government, entertainment, and more.
ScottMadden put up its first website in the 90s and a more
robust site in 2009, according to Titi Ellis, the companys market-
ing strategist. The site serves as the firms calling card to poten-
tial clients: the traffic comes from about 40% organic search and
30% paid, says Tew, plus a lot of referral traffic. It contains a lot of
contentmuch more than most companies in the management
consulting field, says Ellis.
By this past spring, however, the site was no longer represent-
ing ScottMadden the way the company wanted. The last redesign
had been seven years ago, and seven years in Web time is a lot of
time, Ellis adds. The amount of content, already large, had contin-
ued to increase since the last site refresh, and it wasnt as accessible
as it could be. We wanted to make sure that people were able to
get to that content and see the thought leadership pieces weve
Original website put so much energy into producing, Ellis continues. We also
wanted to make sure that when people came to the site, it was
The amount of content, clear that we have several practice areas. We were an energy con-
already large, had continued sulting firm to start with, and the old design reflected that focus,
so the other services were not as prominent. To satisfy these con-
to increase since the last cerns, and to keep the site fresh, ScottMadden embarked on a site
site refresh, and it wasnt as makeover that culminated in a launch this past April.
p h ot o s h o p u s e r j u ly / A u g u s t 2 0 16
accessible as it could be.
makeover submissions
Were looking for product packaging or labels, print advertisements, websites, and magazine covers that are currently in the marketplace for
future design makeovers. So if you or someone you know has a design that youd like us to consider making over, or if youre a designer and
youd like to be considered for a future Design Makeover, send us an email at letters@photoshopuser.com. (Note: This is purely a design
exercise and the designers do not work directly with the client, create functioning websites, etc.)
We also cover real-world makeovers in this column, so let us know if you recently had a branding makeover or if you did a branding
makeover for a client that youd like us to consider.
056
DESIGN MAKEOVER
CLIENT
www.scottmadden.com
the project
A major driver of the site makeover was that we wanted people
to know as soon as they came to the site who ScottMadden
is and what we can do for them, says Ellis. Our site is more
for branding than for lead generation. The old site still looked
good, but the company was hearing more and more from
potential buyers and from representatives in the field working
on business development that potential clients didnt pick up
on the corporate shared services aspect of the business. That
was the first indication that we needed to do something, says
Ellis. Theyd been hearing this feedback for a while, but it really
started to ramp up in 2014 and 2015.
ScottMadden began looking into revamping the website in
late fall 2014. In early 2015, they started researching vendors
and soon selected the design and marketing firm Atlantic BT,
also located in Raleigh. The referral came through a third party
who worked with both, according to the project manager for
Atlantic BT, Andrea Osborn.
Original website Tori Pratt, senior digital marketing strategist at Atlantic BT,
explains that the redesign started with interviewing ScottMadden
users, well before any actual design decisions were made. We
interviewed eight sample users, some of them people who actu-
The old site still looked good,

ally were evaluating them to become a client and some current
clients, Pratt says. We got a lot of feedback saying that Scott-
but the company was hearing Maddens Web presence didnt match what working with them
more and morethat potential was actually like. Clients didnt feel that the website showcased
the knowledge and expertise that are present in their interac-
clients didnt pick up on the tions with ScottMadden and in the quality of the companys
corporate shared services work. People were overwhelmed by the amount of information
on the homepage and had difficulty identifying who ScottMadden
aspect of the business. was and what they did, Pratt continues.
about the client

ScottMaddens tagline is Smart. Focused. Done Right. The companys self-description says those words serve as a reminder to every employee of the firms high
standards and the expectations of their clients. It is this results-oriented focus that has earned us the trust and confidence of our clients and helped expand our
business beyond the energy industry, the statement continues.
The company prides itself on consistently delivering an exceptional consulting experience that addresses the unique challenges of each client. To achieve that,
ScottMadden works with its clients in small, hands-on consulting teams, relying on active collaboration to facilitate an open exchange of ideas.
The company vows to hold ourselves to high standards through a belief that client success is the best measure of our own success. Meet with ScottMadden,
and meet the future with confidence.
057
DESIGN MAKEOVER
DESIGNER
Atlantic BT
www.atlanticbt.com
the process
Titi Ellis recalls the extensive interview process as well. We went
through a substantial amount of discovery that included user inter-
views as well as meetings with our stakeholders and brainstorming
Insight Library - ScottMadden V2.1
on the goals we had for the site. In response to what was gleaned
from the meetings and interviews, Atlantic BT produced a series of
Insights Library Insight - Gated Content
Desktop
1
Desktop wireframes depicting the taxonomy and navigation of the site. Those
2 Insights > Insights >
Insights
3
Insights
energy 56 results found for energy 8

led to further meetings in which the ScottMadden team would go
5 Trends in HR Analytics Rene Insights
through the wireframes and give feedback.

March 2012
Requires contact information
4 North Carolina Charges
7
Annual Fee for All-Electric
Innovative Ratemaking: Natural Resource Planning
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Multiyear Rate Plans
indidunt. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipicing elit, sed do eiusmod
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Energy Industry Update

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Clean Tech Minute February 2015 Report December 2010 White Paper March 2012
The approach we have for any site is to identify who the

adipicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor indidunt. Energy Industry Update
Minute
Strange Brew: Adapting to Changing Fundamentals Read More
Downsizing: Fairly, Legally,
Ethically, and Respectfully
Trends in Manning
Scott HR Analytics OurKreb
Tina View on Climate
Change Presentation
Report
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To access this content, please provide your email address and Webinar
users are and why they go to the site, explains Ricardo Cortes,
Case Study January 2014 White Paper March 2015 Video November 2013
we will send you the link to download the le. White Paper
Proactively Plan and ShapeEmail Address:

Coals Slow Burn DOE Loan Guarantee
Your Global Business Program
i Gated resources (indicated with Capabilities
Service
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General Management
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the users contact information Organizational Change
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UI designer at Atlantic BT. If you look at ScottMadden, users go

in order to proceed. Video November 2013 Article October 2011 White Paper April 2010 Change Management
case study report video webinar white paper organizational change shared services
Performance Improvement
technology services EEI Strategic Issues Survey An IT Value Creation Summer 2010 Performance Management
Framework
Shared Services
Technology Services
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there to read a lot. That meant that a big part of the redesign
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Vehicles Requires contact information White Paper April 2010 Energy Industry Update July 2010 Process Redesign
Presentation January 2014
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assuming the content would be siloed, says Pratt. But when we

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got into what the site currently contained and what they wanted
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it to contain, we realized that their practice areas and topics and

Presentation
EEI Strategic Issues Survey Setback for Demand Organizational Placement

Response in Organized and Governance of
Markets Sustainability
people are all really closely tied together, and that it wasnt going
Case Study Regulatory Minute Sustainability Minute
Proactively Plan and Shape Coals Slow Burn DOE Loan Guarantee
Your Global Business Program
Service
to work if we built it with silos.

Video Article White Paper
Not until the site organization and flow was established did
1 Standard navigation and header elements will 5 Filtering options will be displayed in a right 7 Detailed information about the gated resource
the actual visual design begin. We built a 1920-pixel canvas with

be determined in page design. This header is sidebar. When scanning a page, users often will be displayed in a modal. Providing a
a placeholder only. scan in an F pattern down the left side of description or abstract up-front will help the
the page. Placing the lters on the right will user determine whether the resource is of
draw the users attention to the available interest to him/her before requiring the user
2 Breadcrumbs will show the user where they
insights rst. to provide personal information.
are within the site navigation and provide an
alternate means of navigation via
1175 pixels of living page, and we established a 12-column grid,

backtracking. 6 Filter options will be categorized and 8 The user may cancel the request and return
organized in accordions, which will expand to to the full insight library via the x icon at the
3 Search results will be summarized and will display all options underneath. Accordions top.
include the term(s) used and the number of allow the user to expand the option(s) they
results found. are interested in exploring without
overwhelming them with all available options.
4 Insights will be displayed on a tile, which
will include enough information that the user
can judge whether they are interested in
viewing the insight in more detail. Information
will include:
says Cortes. That way, when you move from desktop to mobile,
Title
everything syncs with the same parameters, and the responsive-

Date published
Summary statement
Resource type (icon and label)
Indicator if the resource is gated
Note: iconography (e.g., resource type, gated

resources) will be created custom during the
visual design. Icons used here are
placeholders only.
ness of the whole site is never compromised.
ScottMadden chose to go with Google fonts for the layouts
and expressed a preference for sans serif. They really liked Mont-
serrat, says Cortes, but we decided that wasnt suitable for
body copy. We used that for the H1 through H3 titles, and for
the body copy were using Open Sans. The text was all carefully
leaded to provide enough breathing space that it would be easy
for readers to digest the content.
p h ot o s h o p u s e r j u ly / A u g u s t 2 0 16
In response to what was

gleaned from the meetings
and interviews, Atlantic
BT produced a series
of wireframes depicting
Wireframes
the taxonomy and
navigation of the site.
058
DESIGN MAKEOVER
DESIGNER
Atlantic BT
www.atlanticbt.com
the results
After all the brainstorming and wireframe work, there wasnt a
lot of back-and-forth about the actual visual design. ScottMadden
already had branding guidelines, and they informed Atlantic BTs
design decisions. It started with a brand standard that they had
already established, so we had a good foundation to work with
when it came to fresh design, says Osborn.
Moreover, our design process, from discovery into design,
really tries to get a lot of the visual and content elements solidified
before we go into design, explains Pratt. We aim to produce
one mockup that hits the nail on the head the first time. We try
not to produce the visuals until were as close to final as possible.
The new site was launched in April of this year. It hasnt been
long enough to really acquire metrics on how well its performing,
but ScottMadden had about a month of data at the time of this
writing. That initial data shows that traffic has at least held steady,
and the company is getting a lot of positive feedback from clients
and staff.
We dont hear that people dont know who we are any
more, says Ellis. I think that the look and feel fits our brand and
tone. You can clearly see our search capabilities and the various
ways you can browse the content.
For its part, Atlantic BT is satisfied as well. The end result was a
really good collaboration on both ends, says Cortes. Pratt agrees:
Looking back on what we ended up creating, and on what we
learned from our surveys with the users at the very beginning,
I think we achieved a lot of our goals for the way people perceive
ScottMadden. The result is a lot better at communicating what
they do and their expertise.
Final website
about the designers

Atlantic BT was founded in 1998, when the Internet was an upstart technology, according to the company site. Over the past 18 years, Atlantic BT has
helped more than 1,000 clients achieve their digital potential.
That wording points to the way the company positions itself. Weve been called a Web design firm, a technology consultancy, and a marketing agency,
reads its About Us page. All these labels are true, but its only by bringing them together that you grasp who we are: digital problem solvers.
The firms vision is to serve clients with solutions that continue to work for years into the future. To accomplish this, we empower our employees with
autonomy, mastery, and purpose. This means striking the right balance between work and play, treating everyone at Atlantic BT as a trusted family member.
The companys ultimate goal is to inspire themselves, their clients, and their community toward a better and smarter future.
059
HOW TO
InDesign Tips DAVE CLAYTON

advance and enhance your indesign skills
This issue were going to look at some tips on working with objects, color options, grids and guides, and
print templates, and then well finish up with a couple of fun InDesign Easter eggs!
MAKE MULTIPLE OBJECTS THE SAME SIZE click any of the yellow diamonds to cycle through the styles.
This is a cool trick when you quickly want to make all the If you only want to change one corner at a time, hold down
images or objects in a document the same size, especially Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt) and click-and-drag the yellow
when you resized one and forgot to resize the others at the diamond in the corner that you want to change (or click to
same time. First, after youve set the height and width of the cycle through the styles).
first object using the Selection tool (V), select the remaining
objects, and choose Object>Transform Again>Transform THE EFFECTS PANELJUST LIKE PHOTOSHOP!
Sequence Again Individually. All of the selected objects will Theres a special panel in InDesign that youll like if you
resize to the same dimensions. use blend modes in Photoshop; its called the Effects panel
(Window>Effects). In the drop-down menu at the top left
HIDING OBJECTS of the panel, youll find most of the same blend modes that
To hide a selected object or objects without having to jump are available in Photoshop. This is especially useful if youd
into the Layers panel, just press Command-3 (PC: Ctrl-3). like to blend text over a photo. Here we have an example
To make them appear again, press Command-Option-3
ADOBE STOCK/BENJAMINJK
(PC: Ctrl-Alt-3).
ROUNDED CORNER EFFECTS

To create a rounded corner effect, click on a frame with the
Selection tool (V) to select it, then click the yellow square
that appears near the top right of the frame to activate
Live Corners. Yellow diamonds will appear in each corner
of the frame. Click-and-drag any of these yellow diamonds
to increase/decrease the rounded corner effect. If you click-
and-hold for a second or two before you start dragging, with four versions of the word Photography, each with a
youll get a live preview of the corners changing. If you want different blend mode to show how it reacts with the image
a different corner style, just hold down Option (PC: Alt), then below: (from top to bottom) Multiply, Hard Light, Differ-
ence, and Normal. You can play around with different blend
modes to get the best effect depending on the color of your
text and the image youve used. You can also apply other
effects (such as Drop Shadows, Inner and Outer Glows, and
Bevel and Emboss) from the Effects panel either by click-
ing the flyout menu at the top right of the panel and going
under the Effects option, or double-clicking on the object in
the Effects panel to open the Effects dialog.
COLOR IN INDESIGN: QUICK TIPS

To quickly swap the stroke and fill colors of an object with-
out going to the Tools panel, just select the object or objects
with the Selection tool (V), hold down Shift, then press X,
060 and the two colors will swap.
I N D E S I G N T I PS
If you want to quickly reset the stroke and fill to their Guides. In the dialog that appears, tick the Preview check-
defaults of no fill and a black stroke, just select the object box so you can see what youre creating. Depending on your
and press D on the keyboard. project, choose how many rows and columns you think you
If you create a shape and apply a color, and then create an need. Because we created 6 columns when we created the
additional shape and want to apply the same color, just hit the document, well set Columns to 6 and Rows to 5 in this
Comma key on your keyboard and it will make it the same. example. Before you click okay, look at the two choices for
If you use the Type on a Path tool (Shift-T) to add type Fit Guides To: Margins or Page. By checking Margins, the
inside a shape, and you want to quickly jump between the guides line up with the margins, but they dont line up if you
two in the Swatches panel to change their colors, just press check Page. Because this will be a document for print, I want
J on the keyboard and it will jump back and forth between to work within my margins and this is how my columns are
the color of the text and the color of the shape. set up. You can still place content to the edge of the page;
just ensure you allow for the page bleed with images.
SAVING TIME WITH PRINT TEMPLATES
One of the things I get asked a lot is what size documents INDESIGN EASTER EGGS
are needed for business cards, letterheads, compliment slips, Do you want to create a rainbow stroke on an object? Who
and flyers. You could Google these to find your answers but wouldnt? Pull up the Stroke panel (Window>Stroke) and
many online print companies supply free templates. MOO select Stroke Styles from the flyout menu at the top right.
Inc, for example, offers InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop From the Stroke Styles panel that appears, click the New
templates to help you create your artwork for all of their button. Name the new style Rainbow, select Stripe in the
products. Just follow their instructions on how to use them. Type drop-down menu, and click OK. Now click OK on the
You can always ask your preferred online printer or local Stroke Styles dialog. The Rainbow stripe will now appear
print company if they have templates of their own. at the bottom of the Type drop-down menu in the Stroke
panel or Control panel. You can do the same with Rasta
GUIDES IN INDESIGN: QUICK TIPS for a red, yellow, and green stripe.
Command-Option-G (PC: Ctrl-Alt-G) selects all the guides This extra tip is for the Dash stroke option, and one that
on a page or spread. Kaylee Greer is going to love. Just follow the same steps as
If you want to draw both a horizontal and vertical guide above, but this time select Dash as the Type and name it
at the same time, just Command-drag (PC: Ctrl-drag) from Woofinstant dog paw stroke! Try the same with Feet
where the rulers intersect at the top left of the document for footprints.
window. If the rulers arent visible, press Command-R (PC:
Ctrl-R) to make them appear and the same shortcut to hide
them again.
If youre dragging out a vertical guide but quickly want
to change it to a horizontal guide (or vice versa), just press-
and-hold the Option (PC: Alt) key and it switches between
the two.
If you want to delete all the guides, just Right-click in
either ruler and choose Delete All Guides on Spread.
CREATING CUSTOM GRIDS

When setting up a new document, more often than not we
use grids and guides to assist us with laying out objects on
the page. It makes for a more structured and tidier layout. One last little extra tip: If you want to quickly preview all the
I prefer to set up my grid before placing any content. Lets different types of strokes that you can apply to an object in
take a look at how to do that. your document, select the object, hover your cursor over the
Create a new document (File>New>Document) with an Type drop-down menu in either the Stroke panel or Con-
A4 Page Size, 6 Columns, 5 mm Gutters, and a 3 mm Bleed trol panel, and then use the scroll wheel on your mouse to
all the way around. Click OK. Next, go to Layout>Create quickly apply all of the different strokes. 061
NEXT TOUR STOPS IN 2016
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Kevin Newsome
A Look at Using, Creating, and Selling Stock Imagery
By Jess Ramirez
064
Stock images are an essential
tool for creative professionals.
Many of the challenges we face
as creatives can quickly and easily
be overcome by using stock assets in
our projects. Whether youre a designer
mocking up a website, or a photographer
replacing a background, stock images can

help you complete your projects without
having to spend the time and money on
a custom photo shoot. 065

Back in 2014 Adobe took the first step in making the This composite isnt your typical project because all of
process of finding stock images quicker and easier by acquir- the images that were used are from Adobe Stock, but this
ing Fotolia, a world-leading image bank hosting more than project did give me the opportunity to push the Libraries
50 million assets. Soon after the acquisition, Adobe quickly panel and Adobe Stock to their limits.
integrated Fotolia into the Creative Cloud as Adobe Stock. Through the Libraries panel in Photoshop, I searched
This game-changing addition to the Creative Cloud for assets as I needed them, and downloaded quite a few
instantly revolutionized the workflow of many artists by low-resolution watermarked versions. In total, I download
adding a built-in stock library directly into Photoshop, 76 image previews, but only ended up licensing eight
where you can search, browse, and license images without of them since I knew exactly which images would work
ever leaving the app! This integration makes Adobe Stock for my project. Using this workflow allowed me to spend
far more efficient than competing services such as iStock- less time searching and downloading images, and more
photo or Shutterstock, where you have to take many more time compositing.
time-consuming steps to find and download your images.
Adobe Stock
Having a Creative Cloud account isnt necessary to
download and use Adobe Stock assets; all you need is
an Adobe ID, which can be created for free at accounts
.adobe.com. Then, you can search and download images
directly to your computer from the Adobe Stock website.
Without a Creative Cloud account, however, you wont
be able to take advantage of the Libraries panel feature
in Photoshop. In this article well discuss how you can get
the most out of Adobe Stock, and how you too can start
contributing your content and get paid for it!
HOW TO USE ADOBE STOCK

WITH ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
The biggest difference between Adobe Stock and its
competitors is that Adobe Stock directly integrates with
Photoshop (and several other Adobe applications). Best
of all, this integration allows you to download free low-
resolution watermarked versions of the images before
you actually have to license them. Once you license
an image, Photoshop will automatically update the
watermarked file with the high-resolution version, and
all nondestructive edits will be applied to the licensed
version. This is a huge time and money saver, because
now you only need to spend money on the images that
you know will work for your project. You also dont have
to spend time saving the images to your computer and

importing them into Photoshop.
I recently created a personal project, used in the open-
ing spread of this article, after watching the movie The Jun-
gle Book using only Photoshop and Adobe Stock images.
I wanted to create something like what Id seen on the big
screen. Of course, I couldnt just go out to the jungle and
start shooting images for my project, but I could use Adobe
Stock to bring my idea to life.
066
CREATIVE CLOUD LIBRARIES icon to the right will save the watermarked preview image
Before you can start using and taking full advantage of to your library.
Adobe Stock, you first have to understand what Libraries
are and how they work. Creative Cloud Libraries allows
you to create, categorize, share, and store assets such as
brushes, color swatches, text styles, vector images, and
Adobe Stock images in one easily accessible place.
In Photoshop, you can access the Libraries panel by
going to Window>Libraries. Then in the drop-down menu
at the top left of the panel, select Create New Library and
enter a name for it. Anything that you add to this library
will be accessible to you from any desktop or mobile app
that supports Libraries, as long as you log in with the same
Adobe ID. These libraries support Adobe Stock, and you
can save your image previews directly to them.
Although you could stay in this panel and find all your
assets through it, sometimes its best to use the Adobe
Stock website if youre looking to download multiple pre-
view images from the same search results. With the Libraries
panel, once you click to either download a preview or
Now that you know about the Creative Cloud Libraries license an image, the panel will exit out of the search, forc-
and Adobe Stock, the next step is to learn how to search ing you to repeat the search if you want to download more
and download previews into Photoshop. images from those same search results. Through the Adobe
Stock website, you can download as many preview images
SEARCHING AND BROWSING as you like without having to restart the search.
FOR IMAGES ON ADOBE STOCK To search on the Adobe Stock website head over to
You can search for stock images on Adobe Stock in two stock.adobe.com, or from Photoshop go to File>Search
ways: at the Adobe Stock website , or in the Libraries panel Adobe Stock. On the homepage, you can start your search
inside Photoshop. by entering a keyword in the search bar.
The Libraries panel not only shows you the libraries and
assets that you have on your Creative Cloud account but it
also allows you to search for stock assets by entering any
search term in the Adobe Stock search bar; for example,
you can search for the keyword Jungle.

Youll then see the results of your query right inside the
panel. You can hover over any image to reveal two icons.
Clicking on the icon to the left will license and save the
high-resolution image into your library, while clicking on the
067
Adobe Stock
From the search results page, you can browse and find
images that you think will work for your project.
When you hover over an image in the search results,
youll see three icons. The first one from the left allows you
to license the image immediately and download it to a
Creative Cloud library. The middle icon allows you to save
a watermarked preview to a Creative Cloud library. Click-
ing on the icon at the right will create a new search for
similar images.
If you have a Creative Cloud account you can use the

Open In feature to open the preview directly in Photoshop,
InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere, or After Effects. In this exam-
ple, I will save the preview in a library called Jungle Book.
Hover your cursor over the middle icon and click on the Once you save a preview, either through the Libraries
down-pointing arrow to the right of the Library label to panel or through the Adobe Stock website, you can head
open a display that will give you several options to save the back to Photoshop and open your Libraries panel and find
preview. If you dont have the Creative Cloud you can select the library where you saved your preview. You can then
Download under Save to Device to save the file directly to click-and-drag the watermarked preview image from the
your computer. You can then open the preview in Photo- Libraries panel directly onto your canvas. You can also
shop as you would open any other image. double-click it to open it.
068
If you decide that the image is appropriate for your you visit. One way of avoiding this issue is to skip over the
project, you can license it by Right-clicking on the thumb images that are found on the first page of the search results
nail in the Libraries panel and choosing License Image. when you sort by popularity since those images are likely to
Once the image is licensed, all linked instances of the file have been used in many other projects.
are automatically updated to the high-resolution versions When selecting stock illustrations, always search for and
without the watermark. This update will also include all download vector files, ideally vectors that include Adobe
nondestructive adjustments made to the layer. Illustrator files, which will make it easier for you to edit
parts of the illustration if needed. You can filter your search
results to show only vector files. Click the sliders icon to the
right of the Search field on the search bar in Adobe Stock,
make sure Images is selected at the top, and then click Vec-
tors under Sub-category followed by the Update button.
If youre working on a user interface for a website or

mobile device, download stock elements that are part of
a kit, or set, that includes multiple designs so that the
individual pieces you use throughout your design will
match in look and style.
Adobe Stock/Kaikoro
GETTING MORE OUT OF ADOBE STOCK
Now that you know how to search and download Adobe
Stock assets into Photoshop, lets talk about how you can
better utilize those assets in your projects.
How Designers Can Get More Out of Adobe Stock

When working on a design project, you may need to use
several design elements such as textures, photos, illustra-
tions, and icons. Many times the budget and time isnt How Photographers Can Get More Out of Adobe Stock
there for you to create them all yourself, and thats where As a photographer, you may only think of Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock comes in. as a place to find vector graphics to help you with your
When searching for photos to use in your design, marketing materials, but it can actually be a great tool to
remember that you may not always find the perfect fit, but help improve your photos. I recently traveled to the Mayan
you can sometimes make an image work with your design Pyramids of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City. One panorama
by making edits to it, such as changing the background or that I shot during this trip was a photo that I loved, but that
changing the color of objects in the photo. day the sky was plain and gloomy.
The uniqueness and style of the photo that you use I knew that adding a more interesting, but non-
is really important as well. Avoid using images that have distracting sky would enhance the image as a whole. Using
been used by many other designers. You dont want to Adobe Stock, I searched for sky clouds panorama and
use a photo that can be found on every other website that quickly found an image that matched my scene perfectly.
069
Jess Ramirez
Adobe Stock/science photo

With a few color and brightness adjustments I was able Once your content has been uploaded and approved,
to match the color of the original sky, and the stock image your images will become available on both the Fotolia
fit right in. It added more interest and detail to the photo and Adobe Stock websites. Youll be paid any time one
without overtaking or disrupting the original shot. of your images is licensed. The payout is 33% of the cost
When working on your photos, look for elements that of the image, which gets you $3.30 on a photo thats
are missing from your shot. Are there any small details that sold on demand, and about $1 for a photo licensed to
you can add that will make huge improvements to your a user under an annual plan. (Source: fotolia.com/Info
image? If so, take a look at Adobe Stock, and Im sure /Contributors/Royalties.)
youll find what you need. If youre not familiar with com- As with every other creative field, theres an immense
positing or combining images, then you should check out amount of competition between Adobe Stock contributors,
the courses on compositing from Glyn Dewis and Joel and your work needs to be high quality and really stand out
Grimes, both on KelbyOne.com. in order to make significant sales. The key is to remember
that youre always selling to another creative, who is look-
SELLING YOUR WORK ing for a solution to a creative problem. Your goal is to solve
THROUGH STOCK that problem.
Whether youre a photographer or designer, you can In the next few sections, youll learn how photogra-
quickly start selling your images through Adobe Stock, phers can create better stock images that will sell to design-
making your work available to the worlds largest creative ers, and how designers can create better stock images that
community. The process of becoming a contributor is quite will sell to photographers.
easy; all you need to do is set up your account and submit
your content to the Fotolia.com website. Your content HOW DESIGNERS CAN
must meet the strict quality standards, of course, but the CREATE BETTER STOCK IMAGES
setup and upload process is very simple. Click here for If you decide to sell your graphics and vectors on Adobe
more information on creating an account. Stock and you want to be successful, you have to think
about what types of images will sell commercially and how
designers and photographers will use them.
070
Create Sets of Graphics
Adobe Stock/VIGE.co
For designers, a kit, or set, of graphics files tends to sell
better. If a photographer is creating a marketing piece, hell
want to use a set of graphics that have a similar style and
design to keep things cohesive.
Think about how you can provide solutions to photog-
raphers. Consider creating a complete set of brochures or
flyers that they could use and customize for their business.
The important thing is to offer many solutions for the
problems that they face.
Adobe Stock/Vjom
Adobe Stock/123levit
Adobe Stock/jackie
Another current popular design style is the Low Poly

style, which is a design created by using simple geometric
shapes to create angular, minimalist graphics.
Adobe Stock/haller
Design Graphics that Use
Popular Trends and Styles
When you create your
Adobe Stock/drakulita05
graphics, think about the

Adobe Stock/shuruev
design styles that are popu-

lar right now. Photogra-
phers looking for graphics
to include in their projects
dont want to use those
90s glossy pill buttons, so
avoid creating these old
clichs at all costs!
Instead, focus on creating designs with a style

thats trendy and popular now. Currently, that would be
Flat Design: a minimalistic design approach that removes Dont just copy currents trends, though; mix them with
unnecessary clutter, and features clean, sharp edges, with your own style and make something unique that people
bright colors and a two-dimensional style. will love.
071
HOW PHOTOGRAPHERS CAN
Adobe Stock/Andrey Popov

CREATE BETTER STOCK IMAGES
There are so many paths that you can take to be a success-
ful stock photographer, but no matter which path you take,
one thing is certainyour final image is not the final image.
Whether youre photographing people, city scapes, or
isolated objects, something you need to keep in mind is that
the photos you sell will always be part of a larger project,
which may include text, logos, and other design elements.
When taking photos for stock photography, dont just
shoot things that you think might sell, photograph what
you enjoy, what youre passionate about. If you dont enjoy
shooting the images, then its probably not worth the time,
and that disinterest will definitely show in your final images.
If youre not sure where to start, pick a niche that inter-
ests you, and create a lot of content in that area. You might
be surprised and stumble onto something thats in high
demand with little or no competition. No matter where you
decide to start, here are a few tips that will help you stand
out from the crowd and create better stock images.
The Importance of a Good Background

The background is one of the most important elements of
a stock photo. It helps you provide the setting of the scene
and set the overall feel of the image. Generally speaking,
Adobe Stock/kuznetsov_konsta
072
Adobe Stock/Alen-D
Adobe Stock/mocker_bat
When shooting photos with backgrounds that
aren t a solid color, the relationship between the
focal point and the negative space becomes really
important. The key is to keep the background
from overpowering the focal point.
there are two types of backgrounds that you can have by capturing multiple and varied images of the same subject
when dealing with stock photos: An isolated background, that can meet the widest range of needs.
which is a plain solid color (usually white); and the original Shoot both horizontal and portrait views. Shoot low
background from where the photo was shot. angles, high angles, close-ups, and wide angles. Shoot any-
When shooting photos with backgrounds that arent thing a potential artist might use, and think of the wide
a solid color, the relationship between the focal point and range of needs of different buyers.
the negative space becomes really important. The key is to
keep the background from overpowering the focal point. FINAL THOUGHTS
In the examples above, the image on the bottom really I hope that you enjoyed this overview of Adobe Stock!
doesnt have a great background and it uses negative If you havent tried using it in one of your projects, then give
space very poorly. Can you imagine a logo or text around it a shot. At least try the free watermarked previews and see
that image? As a designer youd be more likely to choose how using stock content can enhance your work.
the image on the top. To learn more about Adobe Stock, you can visit adobe
Notice how that top image contains no unnecessary or stock.com or visit their FAQ page.
disrupting background elements. The background helps
isolate the subject, while not distracting from her. Theres Jess Ramirez is a digital graphics expert, speaker, and
also great use of negative space, leaving plenty of room for educator specializing in Adobe Photoshop. Hes an
logos and text. Adobe Community Professional, and
a content creator for the Adobe
Create a Series of PhotosDont Do One-Offs Creative Cloud Blog. Jess is best
As a designer, I can tell you that theres nothing worse than known as the founder of the Photo-
finding a photo that would be perfect only if it were in a shop Training Channel, one of the
different orientation or different angle. Make sure that you most popular Photoshop YouTube
dont ever cause that pain for a designer, and maximize channels in the world.
every opportunity when youre shooting for stock images
073
PHOTOGRAPHERS TALK ABOUT
THE FOCAL LENGTH OF THEIR LENSES,
BUT WHAT IS FOCAL LENGTH AND
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? THIS MONTHS
PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS ANSWERS
THESE TWO QUESTIONS AND EXAMINES
THEIR RAMIFICATIONS. HOWEVER,
BEFORE JUMPING INTO THOSE ANSWERS,
LETS BEGIN BY DEFINING THE TERM
FOCAL LENGTH.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ADOBE STOCK

PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS
FOCAL LENGTH DEFINED

Focal length is the distance measured in mil-
limeters from the optical center (also known
as the center nodal point) of the lens to the
sensor when the lens is focused at infinity.
Lets break this definition down:

Opticalcenter or center nodal point is
the place in a lens where the light inverts
the image.

Infinityis the point where the optical
center is closest to the sensor while pro-
ducing a sharp image of a distant subject.
NORMAL FOCAL LENGTH & THE CAMERAS FORMAT

The normal focal length is specific to the
cameras sensor or film size. Its the measure-
ment in millimeters of the diagonal of the
cameras sensor or film.
Normal lens focal lengths rarely exactly
match the diagonal measurement of the
sensor. This is one place where closies do
count. The chart below right shows format
sizes, diagonals, and the nearest normal lens Format Dimensions Diagonal (mm) Normal Lens (mm)
for common digital and film formats.
APS C 15.1 x22.7 27.3 28 or 30
THE NORMAL LENS DIVIDING LINE Full Frame (35mm film) 24 x36 43.3 50 or 55
Knowing the normal lens for a camera is
6 x4.5cm 56x42 71.8 75
important. The normal focal length is the

one between wide-angle and telephoto 6 x 6cm film 56x 56 79.2 80
lenses. Any focal length shorter than the
normal focal length is considered a wide- 4x 5" sheet film 93x 118 150.2 150
angle. Focal lengths longer than normal
8 x10" sheet film 194x 245 312.5 300
are telephoto. 075
PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS
FORMAT MATTERS
The normal lens for an APS C sensor camera
is 28mm. Normal on a full-frame is 50mm.
The 50mm on an APS C camera is a tele-
photo while the APS C normal (28mm) on
a full frame is a wide-angle. Normal on an
8x10 view camera is 300mm. On a full-
frame DSLR, that lens is a telephoto with a
6x magnification.
FOCAL LENGTH & DEPTH OF FIELD

As focal length shortens, the apparent depth
of field increases. The APS C sports a shorter
focal length normal lens. These cameras
have inherently more depth of field than
the full frames because shorter focal lengths
do equivalent work of larger formats. This
makes them great for weddings and photo-
journalistic work. More of a scene is in focus
at larger apertures. The downside is difficulty
in throwing backgrounds out of focus.
A 24mm lens at f/22 will give acceptable
sharpness from about 2' to infinity. A 28mm
normal lens on an APS C camera has almost
that much depth of field too.
The opposite is also true: The longer the
focal length, the less the apparent depth of
field. Notice that I use the word apparent.
Depth of field is a function of the circle of
confusion created by the size of the aperture
in a lens. The smaller the apertures the more
depth of field is created. Wide-angle lenses
are physically much smaller than telephoto
lenses. It goes to reason that their apertures
are physically smaller as well. Since depth of
field is a function of the actual diameter of
the aperture of a lens, a deeper discussion of

it is not appropriate here.
FORMAT & FOCAL LENGTH

Lets look at a photograph made on a 4x5"
large-format on film compared to a full-
frame sensor on 35mm film. A 90mm lens
on the 4x5 is a wide-angle. On the full
frame, its a telephoto. This photograph
I made of Atlantas Westin Peachtree Plaza
with a Sinar 4x5 camera with a 90mm lens
076 shows the entire building, the sky, and the
PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS
horizon. A 90mm lens on a 35mm camera

delivers exactly the same subject size for 36 x 24
the area it covers as shown by the 35mm
frame overlay.
That shot on a frame of 35mm film or 22.5 x 15
a full-frame DSLR shows only a small section
of the entire image that the large-format 4x5
camera recorded. The bottom line is that a
90mm lens is a 90mm lens no matter what
format it covers.
CROP FACTOR:
BUSTING THE MAGNIFICATION MYTH
At the dawn of the DSLR, the only sensors
that could be economically manufactured
were the APS C size. They were smaller than
the standard 35mm (24x36mm) format.
The camera manufacturers marketed these
cameras by telling the world the focal length
was magnified. For APS C sensors, the
magnification factor was 1.5. That means
that a 100mm lens would have the effect of
a 150mm lens. The truth was (and still is) that
the APS C sensor produced a cropped ver-
sion of the image that could be realized with
a full-frame camera. Remember, the focal
length of a given lens and therefore its mag-
nification is the same no matter what format
camera its on.
This photograph of a cross-country skier
(top right) in Alaska was made with a Canon
EOS 5D Mark II and 1740mm f/4 lens at ISO
100, 1/200, and f/13. The full frame reveals
the curve of ledge and the triangle of blue
sky that the APS C sensor crops out.
PERSPECTIVE & FOCAL LENGTH

There are two types of perspective distortion:
extension and compression. Extension dis-
tortion is also called wide-angle distortion;
compression distortion is known as tele
photo distortion.
Wide-angle distortion: Every photogra-
pher who has moved in close on a person

with a wide-angle lens has experienced
extension distortion. The face becomes
super big while the body shrinks the far-
ther away it is from the lens. 077
PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS
Extreme wide-angle lenses (top-right)

push scenes away from the camera.
Telephoto distortion: Long lenses
compress subjects. The result looks
like someone has smashed everything
onto the background. Compare this
photograph of the escalators made
with a 400mm telephoto to the pre-
vious wide-angle version made with
a 14mm.
A receding line of objects appears
to stack on top of each other. A row of
tombstones photographed at a small
aperture on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II
and Sigma 120300mm f/2.8 lens with a
Sigma 2x teleconverter at ISO 100, 1/20,
f/18, and a 600mm focal length demon-
strate compression distortion.
ONE LAST SECRET

The focal length of the human eye is about
22mm-ish. The ish is because the retina
that forms the image from light coming
through the eye is curved. Its angle of view
is about 53. Normal lenses, interestingly,
mimic the angle of view of human vision.
The photograph of the escalators in the
San Diego Convention Center (bottom right)
shows how it looks to our eyes. Consider
what the extreme focal lengths did to the
same scene photographed from exactly the
same place.
Lenses today are better than anytime in the

history of photography. Lenses with the
shortest and longest focal lengths, unfortu-
nately, are quite costly. Theres a solution to

being able to use these lenses: rent them for
a project. Owning a 600mm lens or a fisheye
makes little sense of the cents they cost com-
pared to the price of renting them. Imagine a
project, then Google lens rentals. Any focal
length you can imagine for the major DSLR
brandsCanon, Nikon, or Sonyis available
to satisfy your creative explorations.
078
ALL IMAGES BY KEVIN AMES EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

LIGHTROOM
THE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP LIGHTROOM HOW-TO MAGAZINE
MAGAZINE
ISSUE 22
ADDING CONTRAST
(AND HOW TO USE TONE CURVE)
LIGHTROOM
WORKSHOP
UNDER THE LOUPE TIPS & TRICKS

Add new photos to Lightroom with Auto Importthis Understanding how to transfer and manage your camera
often-overlooked asset is surprisingly efficient. p86 phone images using Lightroom Mobile. p100
PHOTO BY SCOTT KELBY
81 88 92 100 102 &
Tips Tricks BY SEN DUGGAN
Rob Sylvan
Scott Kelby
Questions Answers
BY SCOTT KELBY &
Maximum Workflow
perfectly clear complete
BY SEAN McCORMACK
Sean McCormack
Under the L oupe
save time with auto import
B Y R O B S Y LVA N
lightroom magazine contents

Rob Sylvan
Lightroom Workshop
adding contrast (& how to use the tone curve)
BY SCOTT KELBY
Scott Kelby
lightroom magazine
Lightroom adding contrast (& how to

use the tone curve)
Workshop BY SCOTT KELBY
If I had to point to the biggest problem I see in

most peoples images (we get hundreds sent to
us each month for Blind Photo Critiques on our
weekly photography talk show, The Grid), its not
white balance or exposure problems, its that their
images look flat (they lack contrast, big time). Its
the single biggest problem, and yet its about the
easiest to fix (or it can be a bit complex, depend-
ing on how far you want to take this). Ill cover both
Excerpted from The Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom CC Book for Digital Photographers methods here (the simple and the advanced):
lightroom magazine
step one: Heres our flat, lifeless image.

Before we actually apply any contrast (which
makes the brightest parts of the image
brighter and the darkest parts darker), heres
why contrast is so important: when you
add contrast, it (a) makes the colors more
vibrant, (b) expands the tonal range, and
(c) makes the image appear sharper and
crisper. Thats a lot for just one slider, but
thats how powerful it is (in my opinion,
perhaps the most underrated slider in Light-
SCOTT KELBY
room). Now, for those of you coming from
a much earlier version of Lightroom, the
Contrast slider used to have so little effect
that we really didnt use it at allwe had
to use the Tone Curve to create a decent
amount of contrast. But, Adobe fixed the
math behind it back in Light room 4, and
now its awesome.
step two: Here, all I did was drag the

Contrast slider to the right, and look at the
difference. It now has all the things I men-
tioned above: the colors are more vibrant,
the tonal range is greater, and the whole
image looks sharper and snappier. This is
such an important tweak, especially if you
shoot in RAW mode, which turns off any
contrast settings in your camera (the ones
that are applied when you shoot in JPEG
mode), so RAW images look less contrasty
right out of the camera. Adding that miss-
ing contrast back in is pretty important and,

its just one slider. By the way, I never drag it
to the left to reduce contrastI only drag it
to the right to increase it.
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lightroom magazine
step three: Now, theres a more ad-

vanced method of adding contrast using the
Tone Curve panel (this is what we used to
do before Adobe fixed the Contrast slider.
But, before we get into it, I just want to
let you know up front that I no longer use
this method myselfthe effect of the new
Contrast slider is all I need for my own im-
age editingbut I wanted to include it
here for anyone who wants to learn it). If
you scroll down past the Basic panel, youll
SCOTT KELBY
find the Tone Curve panel (shown here).
Look in the bottom of the panel, and youll
see that Point Curve is set to Linear (shown
circled here in red), which just means the
curve is flattheres no contrast applied to
the image yet (unless, of course, you already
used the Contrast slider, but in this case
I didntthe Contrast slider in the Basic
panel is set to zero).
step four: The fastest and easiest way

to apply contrast here is just to choose one
of the presets from the Point Curve pop-up
menu. For example, choose Strong Contrast
and look at the difference in your photo.
Look how much more contrasty the photo
now looksthe shadow areas are stronger
and the highlights are brighter, and all you
had to do was choose this from a pop-up
menu. If you look at the curve, you can now
see a slight bend in it, almost like its form-
ing a slight S shape. Youll also see adjust-
ment points added to the curve. The bump
upward at the top third of the line increases
the highlights, and the slight dip downward
at the bottom increases the shadows. (Note:
If you see sliders beneath your curve graph,
youre not quite in the right section of this
panel, and you wont see these points on

your curve. To get to the right section, click
on the Point Curve button to the right of the
Point Curve pop-up menu to hide the sliders
and see the points.)
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lightroom magazine
step five: If you think the Strong Contrast

preset isnt strong enough, you can edit this
curve yourself, but its helpful to know this
rule: the steeper you make that S-curve, the
stronger the contrast. So, to make it steeper
(and the image more contrasty), youd move
the point near the top of the curve (the high-
lights) upward and the bottom of the curve
(the darks and shadows) downward. To
move your top point higher, move your cur-
sor over the point, and a two-headed arrow
appears. Click-and-drag it upward (shown
here) and the image gets more contrast in
the highlights. Do the same at the bottom to
increase the contrast in the shadows. By the
way, if you start with the Linear curve, youll
have to add your own points: Click about
of the way up to add a highlights point, then
drag it upward. Click about of the way up
the curve to add a shadows point, and drag
down until you have a steep S-curve and lots
more contrast (as seen here).
step six: Theres another way to add

contrast, or stack more contrast on top of
what youve already done, and that is by
using the other section of the Tone Curve
panel. To get to this, click on the little Point
Curve button (shown circled here) to reveal
the curve sliders. These sliders adjust the
curve for you, and each represents part of
the curvedragging to the right increases
the steepness of that tonal area and drag-
ging to the left flattens out the tone curve
in that area. The Highlights slider moves
the top-right part of the curve and affects

the very brightest parts of the image. The
Lights slider affects the next brightest area
(the -tones). The Darks slider controls the
midtone shadow areas (the -tones). And,
the Shadows slider controls the very darkest
parts of the image. As you move a slider,
youll see the curve change. Note: If you cre-
ated an S-curve for contrast earlier, moving
these sliders adds more contrast on top of
what youve already done.
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lightroom magazine
step seven: Besides using the sliders,

you can also use the Targeted Adjustment
tool (or TAT, for short). The TAT is that little
round target-looking icon in the top-left cor-
ner of the Tone Curve panel (shown circled
here in red). It lets you click-and-drag (up or
down) directly on your image and adjusts
the curve for the part youre clicking on. The
crosshair part is actually where the tool is
located (as shown on the right)the target
with the triangles is there just to remind you
which way to drag the tool, which (as you
can see from the triangles) is up and down.
step eight: You can have even more

control over how the curve works by using
the three Range slider knobs that appear at
the bottom of the curve graph. They let you
choose where the black, white, and mid-
point ranges are that the tone curve adjusts
(you determine whats a shadow, whats a
midtone, and whats a highlight by where
you place them). For example, the Range
slider knob on the left (circled here in red)
divides the shadows and darksthe area
that appears to the left of it will be affect
ed by the Shadows slider. If you want to
expand the Shadows sliders range, click-
and-drag that left Range slider knob to the
right (as shown here). Now, your Shadows
slider adjustments affect a larger range of
your photo. The middle Range slider knob
covers the midtonesclicking-and-dragging
it to the right decreases the space between
the midtone and highlight areas. So, your
Lights slider now controls less of a range,

and your Darks slider controls more of a
range. To reset any of these sliders to their
default position, just double-click directly on
the one you want to reset.
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lightroom magazine
step nine: Another thing youll want to

know is how to reset your tone curve and
start over from scratchjust double-click
directly on the word Region and it resets all
four sliders to 0. Also, to see a before/after
of just the contrast youve added with the
Tone Curve panel, toggle the Tone Curve
adjustments off/on using the little switch
on the left side of the panel header (shown
circled here). Just click it on or off.
tip: adding mega-contrast

If you did apply some Contrast in the Basic
panel, using the Tone Curve actually adds
more contrast on top of that contrast, so
you get mega-contrast, when needed.
step 10: As we finish this off, heres a

before/after with our original image and
after adding a nice bit of contrast. Adding
contrast is important and is a powerful way
to give your images some life.
086
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Under save time with auto import
the
B Y R O B S Y LVA N
Lightrooms Auto Import function is an often-overlooked
Loupe
asset with a lot of potential for increasing your efficiency
and providing an alternative means for automatically adding
new photos to your Lightroom catalog.
lightroom magazine
The Auto Import function has been around since the begin- computer and have it appear in Lightroom (YMMV) using an
ning, and was originally the only way to shoot tethered. Eyefi card. Its wonderful not to have a cable attached to the
Now that Lightroom has a built-in Tethered Capture feature, camera, though.
Auto Import has faded from the limelight. There is, however, The fundamental operation of the Auto Import function is
more to Auto Import than just shooting tethered, and as very simple. You choose (or create) an empty folder on your
useful as Lightrooms built-in tethering can be to your work- hard drive and you tell Lightroom to watch that folder and
flow, it still doesnt support all of the cameras being used automatically import any photos that get saved into it. Lets
out there today (you can find a complete list of supported walk through an example setup to help bring this home.
cameras here). Do you ever scan film or negatives? Do you
use some kind of wireless file transfer to copy your photos to step one: Go to File>Auto Import>Auto Import Settings
your computer (like an Eyefi card or similar)? Do you ever to launch the Auto Import Settings dialog.
create images in other programs and would like an easy way
to automatically import them into Lightroom? Well, you
guessed it! Auto Import can help in each case.
If you want to use the Auto Import function to shoot
tethered then youll need an alternative way to transfer the
images to a designated folder on your hard drive while you
shoot (check with your camera manufacturer to see if they
provide some kind of camera control software). I regularly
hear from people who want to shoot tethered, but who use
cameras that dont have software for transferring images to
a computer while shooting. Another option in those cases is
wireless transfer from your camera to your computer using
an Eyefi or similar Wi-Fi memory card, or maybe you have
a camera that has built-in Wi-Fi functionality. An Eyefi card
wirelessly transfers the images from your camera to a folder
on your computer (check out eyefi.com for all the details).
step two: In the Watched Folder section, click the Choose

button and select an existing folder, or create a new folder,
to serve as the location into which new images will be saved.
In my example, using the Eyefi Center software, I created a
folder named Watched in my Pictures folder as the loca-
tion to put all photos transferred from my Eyefi card.
A word of advice on wireless: Its not nearly as fast as

shooting tethered via a cable, and its not a great substitute

for tethered capture if youre using a camera that supports
tethering, but it does open up possibilities when tethering
isnt an option. On average, it took between 2030 seconds
to wirelessly transfer a 30-MB RAW image from camera to
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lightroom magazine
Note: The watched folder is actually a temporary location. step eight: Configure Initial Previews. This allows you to
During the Auto Import function, Lightroom will move each determine the rendering of previews after the photo has
imported photo into a different destination folder (see next been imported. I find it helpful to set this to 1:1 because I
step) of your choosing. Its critical that this folder start out usually want to check focus in this type of shooting scenario,
completely empty, and that you dont create any subfolders and you need to do that at 1:1.
within it; otherwise the Auto Import wont work.
step three: Choose a Destination folder. Lightroom has

to move each photo out of the watched folder as part of its
normal operation, so you need to choose a folder to serve as
the new destination. I created a folder called TempTransfer
within the parent folder on my main drive for this purpose.
After import, I can easily find the new images, process them,
and move them into my regular organizational structure.
step nine: Check the Enable Auto Import box at the top,
and click OK. Youre ready to go!
Note: There isnt an option to convert to DNG using Auto

Import, but you can always convert to DNG after import via
the Library>Convert Photo to DNG menu.
From this point on, as long as Lightroom is open, when

a photo appears in the watched folder it will be moved
to the destination folder, added to the catalog, and have
any settings applied to it that you configured in the Auto
step four: Choose a File Naming option.
Import Settings dialog. A real nice feature of Auto Import
is that the newest photo automatically becomes the active
step five (optional): Apply a Develop preset, if desired.
image in Lightroom, so when shooting tethered this way,
Heres a bonus tip: You may not want to do this when you I select either the destination folder in the Folders panel or
first configure the Auto Import, but if youre shooting in a the Current/Previous Import collection in the Catalog panel,
controlled environment (studio, office, spare bedroom, etc.), press E to go to Loupe view, and then I can easily see each
you could consider taking your first photo under the lighting new photo as its imported. Ill use my sad dog wearing his
setup youre using, bring that photo into Develop, set the cone of solitude (poor guy will never be a father!) as a
white balance and any other setting you know you want to subject and take some photos using the Eyefi card to show
apply to the rest of the photos from that shoot, then save it in action (see the image at the top of the next page).
those settings as a Develop preset. Then, you can update the Notice that, with Previous Import selected, I can see the
configuration of the Auto Import dialog to include that new photos appear after theyve been transferred, and I can also
preset. Now, all the rest of your photos from that shoot will see them starting to appear in the TempTransfer folder in
automatically be imported and have these develop settings the Folders panel. I dont want to keep those photos in that
applied at the same time. temporary folder, so heres how I easily move them to a new
(more permanent) location:
step six (optional): Choose your Metadata preset.
step one: Press G to switch to Grid view, then press Com-
step seven (optional): Add any Keywords you want mand-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select all photos.
applied to all photos from this shoot. I prefer to leave it blank
and keyword after the shoot. step two: Right-click the parent folder where you want
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this new folder to be created, and choose Create Folder

Inside from the contextual menu that appears. Enter a name
for the folder in the Create Folder dialog that appears, and
since we already selected all of the photos we want to move,
check the Include Selected Photos box, then click Create. In
that one move, Lightroom will create a new folder within
the parent folder I selected and move all selected photos
into that folder.
Now that I have that watched folder created and Light-

rooms Auto Import configured and enabled, I can use my

scanner software to save photos into that folder, have my
Eyefi card wirelessly save photos to that folder, or just plain
ol drag-and-drop photos into that folder, and in each case
Lightroom will do the rest. Pretty cool!
091
ALL IMAGES BY ROB SYLVAN

Maximum perfectly clear complete
Workflow
BY SEAN McCORMACK
Athentech has been going from strength to

strength with Perfectly Clear since our last look
at them here in the magazine two years ago.
As well as having a great plug-in, Athentechs un-
derlying technology is used in loads of commer-
cial printing houses, plus they have dedicated
mobile apps. As a Lightroom plug-in, it gives you
access to fast batch processing, applying preset-
based automatic corrections to your image. You
can even modify the presets and create your own
unique looks. These personal presets can then be
batch-applied to save you even more time.
lightroom magazine
Auto corrections could easily strike fear into

your heart if youre basing them on Light-
rooms Auto button, which is a bit hit-or-miss,
but Perfectly Clear is in a different league.
Its suited to a broad range of images, so as
well as a rundown on the controls, well run
both a landscape and a portrait through it.
Download the fully functioning trial and lets
get going.
installing and running

The Athentech Perfectly Clear Complete
installer now adds both the Lightroom and
Photoshop plug-in to your system, as well as
including the Perfect Eyes and Perfect Expo-
sure options in the plug-in. To install, run the
DMG or EXE file and restart Lightroom.
Perfectly Clear Complete will be avail-
able in the Photo>Edit In menu (or via the
Right-click>Edit In menu). As with all plug-ins
that generate a file before editing, you can
choose what format file is used: TIFF or JPEG
(PSD isnt supported).
For large batches of images, its better to
use the Export plug-in version rather than
using the Edit In option. At the top of the
Export menu, choose Perfectly Clear Com-
plete in the Export To drop-down menu.
In the screen capture shown here, the first
drop-down menu next to Use Preset has
only one option: System Presets. As you cre-
ate your own sets of presets, you get more
options. In the right drop-down menu are
the presets that are available in the System
Presets, which well see shortly in the main
interface. Speaking of the interface, you can

opt to hide it completely in batch mode via
the Hide Perfectly Clear Window checkbox.
Choose a preset to apply to all the exported
images and click Export.
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lightroom magazine
the layout
The main interface is pretty basic, most of which is taken up by the image-
preview area on the left, with the Presets and Adjust panels on the right, and a
few tools scattered around the image. Lets look at it in more detail.
1. Image preview with preview tools: There are several split views, which
well look at separately in just a moment.
2. The Presets and Adjust panels: Here you can opt to use available presets,
or tweak the currently selected preset.
3. The presets: There are actually three of these panels, accessed by clicking
the arrows to either side of the Perfectly Clear Complete box. This tog-
gles through the Perfect Exposure and the Perfect Eyes presets. At the
bottom of this section is a drop-down menu containing all the presets.
4. The presets manager: Here you can Create, Modify, or Remove presets.
5. The zoom slider: This sets the size of the preview. Some of the settings,
such as Sharpening, need to be previewed at 100%. In the Lightroom
version, theres also an image navigation section where you can move
between the current batch of images if you opened more than one image.
6. The Help section: Here you can watch tutorials or open the manual.
7. Save and Cancel buttons: Click Save to return the modified images to
Lightroom and close. Press Cancel to abort the program. The rendered
file with no settings will remain in Lightroom.
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lightroom magazine
previews
The preview in the main image area is an
after view; click-and-hold on the image to
get a before view. To see the before and
after, select one of the options at the top
right of the image. For this image, Ive select-
ed the Landscapes preset in the Presets panel
and the Double View preview icon, which
shows both the before and after side by
side. To change to a top/bottom view, click
the H/V (Horizontal/Vertical) view button that
appears to the right of the preview icons.
Theres also an overlay Split View, which
shows the image with a moveable white bar
that you can drag back and forth to see the
difference the preset is making. One side of
the bar shows the before, and the other side
shows the after. Again, the H/V button alter-
nates the preview. In this case, the white bar
switches orientation.
presets
With the number of presets available, itd
be hard to show all of them, so lets just go
through the basic set.
D
etails: Adds high-definition contrast
to the image, which brings detail to
shadows and highlights, as well as
working on skin tone. To me, it looks
mildly tone-mapped.
V
ivid: Adds contrast to give more pop
to the image.
B
eautify: This applies a selection of
settings from the Adjust menu, specifi-
cally the Portrait and Eyes section.
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lightroom magazine
B
eautify+: The same as Beautify, but with
more corrections and higher settings.
Fix Dark: Fixes underexposed images.
F ix Noise: Applies noise removal to clean up

the image.
Fix Tint: Applies a white balance correction.
L andscapes: Weve seen this above, but it

creates vibrance and depth in landscapes.
Perfect Exposure and Perfect Eyes presets: As you

can probably guess from the name, these presets
either do a range of exposure or eye corrections.
Just give them a try to see what they do.
Before
Beautify
096 Beautify+
lightroom magazine
adjust
The presets hint at the underlying power of this
plug-in, but the Adjust panel is the nitty-gritty
heart of Perfectly Clear. Ive looked at a lot of
plug-ins here in the Maximum Workflow col-
umn, and while Ive never seen a bad plug-in,
nothing has impressed me more than what can
be done in such a small amount of settings, espe-
cially bearing in mind that we dont have to refine
a mask or tell the plug-in where the face is.
If you hover over the name of any control, a
tool tip will appear explaining what that control
does. At the top of the panel is an Opacity slider
that allows you to fade the overall effect of all
the settings on the original image. Heres a quick
look at each of the sections in the Adjust panel:
Tone: Exposure allows a change of brightness of

the image. Use the slider or the Low, Medium,
or High options. Depth changes the contrast
level. Choose an amount on the slider and then
select either High Contrast or High Definition. To
brighten just the skin, or add depth to the image,
use the Skin & Depth Bias slider and buttons.
Color: Vibrancy brings saturation back to colors

with less saturation in order to balance the satu-
ration and richness of the colors in the image.
Fidelity remaps colors to what the eye normally
sees, versus what a sensor records. Choose from
Standard or Vivid. Tint Correction allows you to
change the image white balance.
Clarity: Sharpening increases the detail in the

image. You do need to view this at 100% because
it does more than youd expect. Noise removes
noise based on a menu of profiles. Choose from
Default, Portrait, Night Scene, Camera Phone, or
Strongest. Below the menu is a message that indi-
cates the amount of noise detected.
Portrait: The Portrait section is fabulous for quick

beauty retouches. Perfectly Smooth smooths
skin out while retaining all facial features. Skin
Tone removes redness from the skin, and Teeth
Whitening lightens the teeth. Face Slimming
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lightroom magazine
pushes the cheeks and mouth in but leaves the

eye area intact. It can appear fake at high levels
and seems to introduce some gray into the lips
when overdone, so go for smaller amounts. Blemish
Removal removes spots and lines, but leaves the facial
features alone. Shine Removal reduces the specular
highlights and glare from the skin. Light Diffusion
adds a warm glow to the image, which also reduces
the contrast.
Eyes: This section has a great selection of tools to

improve the eyes and the area around them. Auto
Red-Eye removes the pupil redness caused by light
reflecting in the retina of the subject. Eye Enhance
brightens and adds depth to just the eyes. Eye Enlarge
increases the size of the eyes, but is a little Manga-
like at high levels, so be subtle. Dark Circles lightens
the area directly under the eyes. The final option adds
a new catchlight to the eyes; choose from Umbrella,
Ringlight, Softbox, Beauty Dish, or Outdoors. One
thing to note is that Eyes works best with the face
straight on to camera.
managing presets
Below Adjust is the Preset manager. Click Create to
make a new Preset. Click Modify after editing a preset
to update it, or even just replace text in the Descrip-
tion area. Click Remove to delete the Preset. Any new
preset you create appears in the drop-down menu in
Presets, and in the Export preset options.
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lightroom magazine
batch
Weve mentioned the two methods of batch process-
ing: either send a few images directly to the plug-in
via Edit In, or use the Export plug-in. You can then edit
each image using the image navigation at the bottom
right of the preview image.
its perfectly clear

that the additions to Perfectly Clear make it a usable
batch editor for jobs that need to be done quickly
but dont need the personal touch. For wedding and
baby photographers, the new tools will shave hours
off editing.
Before After 099
ALL IMAGES BY SEAN McCORMACK

lightroom magazine
Questions Answers &

SCOTT KELBY
I have a printing question: Is there an easier or plug-in from the Preset pop-up menu (in this case, I chose
faster way to put my image right where I want Macphuns Intensify plug-init does high-contrast tonal
it on the page, without dragging the Cell sliders effects), and then close the Preferences dialog. Now, any-
around? There has to be an easier way, right? time you want to take an image over to that plug-in, just
Right! In the Print module, up in the Layout Style panel at press Option-Command-E (PC: Alt-Ctrl-E) and it will open
the top, click on Custom Package, then scroll down to the in that plug-in.
Cells panel and click on any of the Add to Package buttons
(lets say, for the sake of this example, you clicked on 5x7;
but it doesnt matter which one you click on). This adds a
5x7 cell to the page, but youll notice its selected and has
resize handles active on all sides. Just grab one of those
resize handles, make the frame whatever size you want,
and drag it right where you want it. Once its in the shape
and position you desire, drag-and-drop an image from the
Filmstrip up into that container, and youre done.
I downloaded a preset from the Web, but Im

not sure how to install it. Is it complicated?
Thankfully, its really easy. Go to the Presets panel in the
Develop module, scroll down to User Presets, and Right-
click. A pop-up menu will appear where you can choose
Import. Navigate to your preset and click the Import button.
That preset will now appear in that User Presets section.
I use a set of plug-ins with Lightroom quite
a bit and was wondering if theres a way to

assign the plug-in to a keyboard shortcut so
I dont have to go digging through the menus
every time I want to take an image over to
the plug-in?
Well, kinda. Depending on the plug-in, you could assign it
as an Additional External Editor, which already has a built-in
keyboard shortcut, so you could do that. Heres how: Go
to Lightrooms Preferences under the Lightroom menu (PC:
Edit), and click on the External Editing tab up top. Then
100 go to the Additional External Editor section, choose your
lightroom magazine
Im coming to Lightroom as a longtime Photo- I like the White Balance Selector tool but its
shop user. Is there a way to set your white and tedious using it because when I click it on my
black points in Lightroom like there is in Photo- image, it immediately returns back to its home
shop using Curves or Levels? base in the Basic panel. If the first time I clicked
You bet! In fact, you can have Lightroom do it automatically wasnt the perfect spot, I have to go get it again
for you. In the Basic panel, just hold down the Shift key and to click somewhere else. Is there a way to have
then double-click on the little slider nub for the Whites to it not snap back to the Basic panel?
set the white point, then double-click on the little slider nub There sure is. You can turn this feature off by first get-
for the Blacks and it auto-sets your Black point, too. ting the White Balance Selector tool, then going to the
Toolbar at the bottom of the preview window just below
I like using the Library modules Quick Develop your image (if you dont see the Toolbar, press the letter
panel, but every time I need to crop my image, T on your keyboard). Youll see a checkbox turned on for
I wind up having to jump over to the Develop Auto Dismiss, which is the feature that dismisses the tool
module anyway. Do you think Adobe will ever immediately after you click it in your image. To turn that
add the ability to crop in Quick Develop? off (I sure would by the way), turn off the Auto Dismiss
Well, while its not the Crop tool itself, theres a way to checkbox. Now you can click to your hearts content and
apply the standard crop ratios that come with Lightroom, the tool will stay active the entire time. When youre done
and even enter a custom ratio, from right within the Quick with the tool, click in the circle where it lives in the Basic
Develop panel. Just click the little black flippy triangle panel to put it back.
(more technically known as the disclosure triangle) just to
the right of the Saved Preset pop-up menu at the top of the When I go to the Lens Corrections panel and
Quick Develop panel, and youll see two new fields appear: turn on Enable Profile Corrections, absolutely
one for Crop Ratio, and one for Treatment. Click-and-hold nothing happens. Why is that?
on Crop Ratio and a pop-up list of choices will appear. You Its just because, for whatever reason, Lightroom cant
can apply a crop ratio (even a custom one) from right there. figure out what make and model of lens you used when
you took the image, which is odd, because Lightroom
reads the EXIF data from your camera thats embedded
into your image no problemyou see it all listed in the
Metadata panel, including the make and model of your
camera and lens. Go figure. Anyway, all you have to do to
remedy Lightrooms memory lapse is to tell it the make of
your camera lens in the Profile tab of the Lens Corrections
panel, and suddenly it wakes from its temporary amnesia
and finds the model of your lens, and usually the exact lens
profile to fix your lens problem (well, at least to fix most
of it). Give that a try next time, and unless you used some
exotic lens, youll most likely be all set.
ALL IMAGES BY SCOTT KELBY 101

lightroom magazine
TipsTricks &
SEN DUGGAN
In this article, well take a look at some useful tips for mobile device. Ill return to this topic with some workflow
using Lightroom Mobile to automatically add your cam- suggestions toward the end of this article.
era phone images into your Lightroom catalog on your
computer. Lightroom Mobile can do a lot more than that, specify a destination folder
of course, but for this article, our focus will be on under- for lightroom mobile images
standing how to manage the images you shoot with your In the desktop version of Lightroom, theres a very
phone so theyre seamlessly transferred to your comput- important Preferences setting that controls the down-
ers hard drive and your Lightroom catalog. load location for the mobile images. You can find the
Preferences in the Lightroom menu (PC: Edit menu).
transferring phone images Click on the Lightroom Mobile tab, and then in the
via lightroom mobile Location section of the dialog, you can designate a
If you have the Creative Cloud version of Lightroom, you specific folder for the images that Lightroom Mobile
can transfer your camera phone images into your Light- will transfer via Wi-Fi.
room catalog via Wi-Fi with the Lightroom Mobile app. This is very important if you want the location of the
The app is free and is available for both iOS and Android. transferred images to make sense in relation to where the
You can use it without a Creative Cloud subscription for rest of your photos are stored. If you dont specify a folder,
enhancing images on your phone or tablet device, but if Lightroom will place them in a folder with a really long and
you want to take advantage of the full integration with meaningless name thats hidden in a Mobile Downloads.
your Lightroom catalog on your desktop computer, then lrdata file in the Lightroom folder inside the Pictures folder
you do need to be signed up for Creative Cloud (the Pho- (PC: My Pictures folder). Trust me on this: You dont want
tography Plan, which includes the latest versions of Light- Lightroom to organize your camera phone images this way!
room CC, Photoshop CC, the Adobe mobile apps, and an In addition to choosing a folder for the images that
Adobe Portfolio website, costs $9.99 a month). will be transferred from Lightroom Mobile, you can also
To get started, you simply have to turn on Lightroom choose a folder naming scheme for the subfolders that
Mobile syncing in your Lightroom catalog on your com- will be created based on the capture date of the photos.
puter. To do this, mouse over the identity plate on the The choices here are the same as what you can choose for
upper-left side of the interface (this will show Lightroom date-named subfolders in the Lightroom Import dialog.
CC if you havent customized it to show your name or I typically like to create a folder for my iPhone images
logo), click the small white triangle that appears, and turn thats within the same folder as the rest of my image fold-
on Sync with Lightroom Mobile. ers. Having the subfolders created based on the date the
image was captured makes it easy for me to reorganize
them later once the original images have transferred to

my primary image archive hard drive. You might also
choose to organize images that are centered around spe-
cific projects instead of using date-named subfolders.
setting up lightroom mobile

on your phone
Of course, you do need to have the Lightroom Mobile app
Important Note: Lightroom Mobile can only sync with installed on your phone or tablet device. Once this is done,
one catalog at a time. Changing the catalog with which youll have to sign in using your Creative Cloud ID in order
its synced will remove all images and data from the cur- to activate the other half of the sync relationship with your
rent catalog thats synced with Lightroom Mobile on your Lightroom catalog on your computer.
102
lightroom magazine
When you log in to Lightroom Mobile on your phone camera app you use, will automatically be added to the
for the first time, the app will create a collection called collection, and synced back to your Lightroom catalog.
Lightroom Photos. If you tap the three dots next to this,
you can choose to add images that are already on your to auto add or not to auto add
phones camera roll. In the Add Photos screen, tap indi- Auto Add can be very useful, or it may be a mixed bless-
vidual thumbnails, or drag across several thumbnails to se- ing. It all depends on how many images you shoot, and
lect them (images with the LR logo on them are already in how many of them are keepers that you want to add to
this collection). Then tap the blue bar at the bottom of the your Lightroom catalog. For instance, when I park in the
screen to add the images to Lightroom Photos. long-term lot at the airport, I always take a shot of the
section sign so I can easily find my car when I return. Or
sometimes Ill take a photo of a home-repair project so
I can get the right replacement part at the hardware store.
I really dont need images like that in my Lightroom cata-
log. So, depending how you shoot, what you shoot, and
the ratio of good shots to random images you dont really
need, it may make more sense to leave Auto Add turned
off, and just use the Add Photos option to add only the
images you really want in your Lightroom catalog.
removing and deleting images

Removing an image from Lightroom Photos on the mobile
device will remove it from that collection, as well as from
any synced collection its a part of. The image will still be
in your phones camera roll, however, as well as in the
download folder on your hard drive (assuming that it has
had time to transfer over Wi-Fi).
Removing an image from a synced collection will re-
If you use the Lightroom Mobile camera, any shots you move it from that collection on both the mobile device and
take with it will be automatically added to the Lightroom the corresponding collection in your Lightroom catalog
Photos collection. Photos taken with other camera apps on the computer, but it will remain in Lightroom Photos,
will not be added automatically to this collection, but they and on your phones camera roll. It will also remain in the
can be added later using the method described above. download folder on the hard drive that you specified in
This collection will appear on the Lightroom Mobile app the Lightroom Mobile Preferences.
only; it wont show up as a collection in your Lightroom
catalog on your computer. The files in it, however, will mobile-specific catalog
be automatically transferred to your Lightroom catalog, vs. your main catalog
and to the hard-drive folder you specified in the Mobile As mentioned earlier, Lightroom Mobile can only sync to
Preferences, when youre connected to Wi-Fi. The Light- one catalog at a time. If you only use a single catalog for
room Mobile app must be running on your phone, and all your images, then this isnt an issue, but its impor-
Lightroom needs to be open on your computer, for any tant to keep in mind if you routinely use a different trip-
file transfer or synchronization to happen. specific catalog for travel. I choose to maintain a separate
mobile travel catalog on a small external drive I connect
creating a synced collection on the phone to my laptop. This makes the most sense for me based
In the Lightroom Mobile app on the phone, tap the plus on my travel schedule. Occasionally Ill merge this catalog
symbol (upper right) to add a new collection that will sync with my main catalog to consolidate the images from the
with the Lightroom catalog thats connected to Lightroom mobile downloads folder thats populated by Lightroom
Mobile. Open the collection menu by tapping the three Mobile. Understanding how the file transfer and syncing
dots. You can either choose which photos are added to in Lightroom Mobile is working under the hood will help
this synced collection, or you can turn on Enable Auto Add, you decide on the best way to use it with your own mobile
and any image you shoot with your phone, no matter what photography workflow.
103
ALL IMAGES BY SAN DUGGAN

Product Reviews
Platypod Pro Max
Versatile Mini Camera Mount for Large Cameras
Review by Larry Becker
A few years ago when I saw the Platypod Pro at a trade show
demo, I was impressed by the clever design for this little,
but remarkable, rugged camera mount. Now theres a new
model called the Platypod Pro Max, and its ready for heavy-
duty assignments.
In the world of small, professional camera supports, the
Platypod Pro has earned the respect of pros for travel use,
because of its compact size and thoughtful, versatile design.
Its essentially an aircraft-grade aluminum plate with machined Assuming your ballhead is securely mounted on your Max
holes and special screw mounts for attaching a ballhead. It plate and you need to use a tripod, you dont have to remove
also comes with threaded feet that are spiked on one end and the ballhead. You just use the threaded mounting hole and
rubber-tipped on the other. Those threaded feet are screws spin the plate onto the mounting screw of your tripod. The
that allow you to precisely adjust how long each foot will be, 3/8" bolt for attaching your professional tripod ballhead
and the included, finger-friendly nut allows you to lock the is titanium and, rather than a lab test with a digital torque
exact position of each foot. wrench, I tested it like an end user, cranking by hand as tightly
One of the great things about the Platypod Pro is the small, as I could on my RRS ballhead, and it felt rock solid. I didnt do
flat, form factor so it fits in slim pockets (I can put it in the back any official measured lab tests, but the Platypod website tells
pocket of my jeans) for easy travel. The new Platypod Pro Max us that it has been tested to over 300 lbs. of torque. I have no
is physically larger and less able to fit in those smaller pockets, problem trusting my gear on this platform!
so I appreciate that the new design includes a pair of 2" slots Our review unit came with a nice letter from the Platypod
intended for camera straps and pole mounting. Pro folks inviting constructive criticism; but in using the Max
The original Platypod Pro came with three threaded, plate and looking for ways it could be improved, I couldnt
spiked/rubber-tipped feet, and the Pro version comes with come up with a thing. If you like the idea of a truly solid,
four redesigned feet. The rubber-tipped ends are now flat, so amazingly low-profile platform for your favorite ballhead, or if
setting your Platypod Pro Max on a flat surface seems even you ever need to screw your ballhead securely to a wall, you
more stable. The larger form factor and additional foot means should look into the Platypod Pro. And if youre using a larger
that a rig like my Canon EOS 6D, with a 70200 f/2.8 lens, full-frame rig with some big glass, the Platypod Pro Max is just
isnt pushing the weight or stability limits. what you need.

With the original Platypod Pro, you carried the spiked The new Platypod Pro Max was officially introduced and
feet separately from the plate, but now theres a special box available via their Kickstarter campaign beginning June 1,
thats solidly affixed to the plate; however, its removable if with delivery for early buyers projected for some time in
you want. That box has little magnets to hold all four feet August, followed by retail store availability projected for
in place until you need them. Along with graphically pleas- late fall.
ing logos and lines, the plate has laser-etched graphics beside
each of the various holes and slots, so you know which holes
Company: Platypod Pro, LLC Price: Est. Street price $99
can be used for the threaded feet and which are intended for
Rating:
mounting the plate to a wall or board with wood screws. (Yes,
Hot: Clever design; quality materials; built-in instructional icons
you could use drywall or sheet-metal screws for attaching the
Not:
104 plate to other surfaces as well.)
GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR
Broncolor Siros 800 L & 400 L

Compact, Battery-Operated Monolight
Review by Michael Corsentino
Swiss-based lighting manufacturer broncolor has turned up

the heat with the introduction of their new Siros 800 L, the Wireless remote control is easy and reliable using the bron-
most powerful battery-operated, compact strobe available Control app via smartphone or tablet. The app establishes its
on the market today. Also introduced is a less-powerful little own Wi-Fi network and differentiates between lights/groups
brother, the Siros 400 L. using color-coded symbols that are easy to discern under any
Capitalizing on the feature set and success of their mains- lighting conditions.
powered Siros line of compact monoblock strobes, broncolor Inclusion of a 25-watt LED, 3200 K modeling light provides
is now providing photographers with an equally robust bat- a low-consumption constant light source thats powerful
tery-operated, highly portable tool for location work, as well enough to get the job done without unnecessarily draining
as studio applications. The L in its name stands for its state- precious battery power. The modeling lights 3200 K color
of-the-art lithium-ion battery power source, noteworthy for temperature means pairing the Siros 800 L and 400 L with
the 220 flashes its able to deliver at full power. You read that their mains-powered Siros cousins is also easy.
right, 220, 800Ws pops at full power. Now thats impressive! For some, the lack of TTL may be an issue; however, it
The Siros 800 L and 400 L lithium-ion batteries can be fully shouldnt be. Theres nothing more predictable, consistent,
recharged in just 70 minutesimpressive given the number and straightforward than manual.
of pops possible with one charge. Incorporating the same
Company: Bron Elektronik AG Price: 800 L: $2,395; 400 L: $2,095
ECTC technology thats made their Move packs a hit, the
Rating:
Siros 800 L and 400 L deliver lightning-fast flash durations
Hot: Li-ion battery; 70-min recharge; 220 full-power pops; compact
of 1/19,000 (t0.5) along with guaranteed color-temperature
Not: Lack of TTL may be objectionable for some
stability across the entire power range.
Chroma Mask getting rid of color spillage is another matter. Some of my hair
remained bluish after adjusting the Color Correction knob
Cutting out Objects While Youre Shooting slightly. Cranking up the numbers turned it green.
Review by Erik Vlietinck
What sets Chroma Mask apart from everything else Ive
Hundreds of tutorials have been written on how to cut out a seen is the ability to set a watch folder and apply the entire
subject from a background in Photoshop, but Picture Instru- masking workflow applied to your prototype image to all
ments claims you can do a better job with Chroma Mask. of the subsequent images you shoot. This saves a lot of time.
The app automates much of the process and adds a unique Chroma Masks trick is to save your settingsincluding the
feature: mask as you shoot. paintingto a file for later use. All it has to do when youre
Chroma Mask requires a blue, green, or red backdrop. shooting photos in an identical setup is to apply the settings
Blue and green are to be used when shooting people. Mask- to the images your camera drops when shooting tethered, or
ing is always the most difficult when it involves hair, fur, etc. which you save to the watch folder. The automation goes as
Much to my surprise, Chroma Mask was exceptionally good far as offering an output option that will automatically add
at masking my gray hair. transparent space to fit the final background, if you cropped
To ensure none of the background stays behind and you the foreground image tightly.
dont have to painstakingly erase the lot, you can crop the
Company: Picture Instruments Price: $189
foreground image. To manipulate the opacity of the masks
Rating:
boundary elements, you get two handles on a histogram.
Hot: Auto-recognition; defines subsequent masks perfectly; saves time
If playing with those doesnt do the job, you can brush-paint
Not: Unusual interface; some UI elements awkward; color spillage
the half-masked areas to full opacity. So far so good, but 105
REVIEWS
Sekonic LITEMASTER PRO L-478DR-U-EL

Wireless Light Meter for Elinchrom EL Skyport
Hey, Elinchrom fans, if youre a handheld meter geek like I am, You can control up
your wait for a wireless meter with a modern digital inter- to four groups of lights,
face and tons of killer features that work with your Skyport- either individually or
enabled Elinchrom strobes is finally over! together, and you can
Sekonics new LITEMASTER PRO L-478DR-U-EL Light quickly see exactly what
Meter has a built-in Skyport radio and a touchscreen inter- the power is for each of
face designed to assure virtually no workflow interruptions. your lights/groups at all
Grabbing a meter reading is as simple as pushing the meter- times. Power for each
reading button and watching the flash wirelessly trigger light/group, or all of the
no wires, no waiting, no fuss. lights together, can be
Way more than your average flash meter, the new L-478DR- increased or decreased
U-EL is part of an eco system created through an impressive wirelessly in 1/10-stop increments using the touchscreens
and well-implemented partnership between industry leaders plus or minus buttons.
Elinchrom, Sekonic, and Phottix. With a built-in feature set Additional amenities include full control of modeling lights,
that dovetails seamlessly with Elinchroms new EL-Skyport Plus easy access to frequency, channel, and speed mode settings,
HS wireless controller (developed with Phottix), you get not with an interface that lets you know exactly what youre
only a powerful handheld meter but also a complete control doing. This ones a winner; I recommend it!
center in the palm of your hand for your Elinchrom strobes.
The L-478DR-U-EL meter has been designed from the Company: Sekonic Pricing: $399
ground up to function as a multipurpose device allowing not
Rating:
only wireless meter readings (a first for Elinchrom users using
Hot: Wireless control of Skyport-enabled Elinchrom strobes
Sekonic meters), but also as a handheld control center for any
Not: Optional spot meter attachment only available in 5 model
of your Skyport-enabled Elinchrom strobes.
L exar Professional 1000x & 1800x

microSDHC/microSDXC UHS-II Cards
The Fastest, Most Reliable Memory Cards
In the 4K video era, memory cards should be blazingly fast, a good idea of how resilient the Lexar cards are with respect
but even more so: dependable. The Lexar Professional micro- to a hostile environment. I have lost other brand cards from
SDHC UHS-II 1000x and 1800x are both extremely fast and overheating, but both of these Lexar cards hummed along
they wont break that quickly. fine. I expected little else as I have Lexar cards that I pur-
I first ran a couple of speed tests and then recorded 4K/30fps chased five years ago, all of which are still working without
video with a GoPro in its housing for five hours continuously a glitch. Theres no reason why these new cards would be
each day for a period of four days. The method isnt scientific, any different.
but it should at least give an idea of these cards durability. For 4K recording, the microSDHC 1000x will do; however,
The cards are claimed to have read speeds of 150MB/sec if you plan to use cameras that record 4K to high-bit-rate
and 270MB/sec, and write speeds of 45MB/sec and 250MB/ codecs like ProRes, you can probably save money by going
sec respectively. (Note: The 128-GB 1800x card is rated at a with an 1800x. Its fast enough to accommodate the higher
write speed of 100MB/sec.) The claims for the Lexar 1000x transfer rates that these cameras need.
were spot on. The higher rated 1800x was about 5% slower Both cards come in sizes from 32128 GB.
than claimed. The Lexar Professional 1000x microSD cards Company: Lexar by Micron Price: $31.99$273.99
have completed the Works with GoPro verification process,
Rating:
which is a testament to their ability to sustain high speeds.
Hot: Speed; reliability
At 4K/30fps in its waterproof housing, I knew the GoPro
Not: 1800x cards are expensive
106 would get really hot after half an hour or so. That gave me
GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR
MOTA Wireless Charger for GoPro

Enabling Continuous Recording
The MOTA Wireless Charger for GoPro is a nicely designed,

glossy black-and-white charging station with a battery inside
that can hold and charge a case-mounted GoPro, as well as
an extra GoPro battery and a USB device.
The charger works with a HERO3/3+/4 on the principle
of inductive charging. It comes with a wireless receiver
and a micro-USB to USB charging cable. No USB-to-power
adapter is delivered with the unit. The receiver connects to
the GoPros USB interface and wraps around the base of the
device. Its metal parts are enclosed by a thin sheet of plastic The wireless power transmission was quite good. Even
to allow the GoPro to be kept inside its mounting case while when I removed the GoPro from the MOTA base, the charg-
charging. The receiver looked flimsy to me, but the mini- ing process kept going until I was about half an inch away
USB interface swivels to prevent it from breaking when you from the attachment recess. All in all, youll be able to shoot
pull it out. The MOTA is resistant to light rain, so it can be for about five to six hours with the GoPro mounted on top of
used outdoors. the MOTA. Of course, mounting the camera on the charger
Charging the MOTA Wireless Charger from empty to fully rules out action filming. To compensate, you can simultane-
charged took more than six hours. I could then place my ously charge another GoPro and a spare battery.
HERO3+ or 4 in the chargers slot. The slot is only meant to
grab the GoPro housings feetwhere you fix the actual Company: MOTA Price: $139.99
buckleand optimally position the wireless receiver. Once
Rating:
mounted and active, the MOTA will charge the GoPro from
Hot: Battery stamina; charges three devices simultaneously; design
displaying one battery block to fully charged in less than
Not: Not waterproof; receiver not designed for frequent removal
an hour.
Fundy Designer v7
If absolute control is your thing, Designer v7 has you
covered: Application tags for Main Image, Cover Photo,
Panorama, and its ability to group images into sets destined
Professional Auto Album Design Software for automated layout, all speed the custom design process
into a whiz-bang affair. After the initial design is complete,
The clever minds at Fundy Software are back with a you can adjust individual layouts and spread order to your
slick new version of their award-winning album design hearts content. The Quick Design Picker in Designer v7 puts
software, Fundy Designer v7. This version is a beauti- a dizzying array of 150 new template-free layout options at
fully implemented evolution and a true game changer, your fingertips, giving photographers and designers millions
incorporating three revolutionary core technologies: a of possible combinations.
first-of-its-kind professional-grade, intelligent, auto- When your album is complete, you can either export your
design tool; a completely revamped, redesigned, image design or send it to many of the industrys top album manu-
browser that can recognize image tags and star ratings facturers directly from within Fundy Designer v7. This makes
via Adobe Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, and Bridge; and designing and printing albums easy no matter what album
150 new template-free layout options via the new Quick company youre using. Time is money and nobody wants to
Design Picker. spend his life designing albums. Fundy Designer v7 gets you
Its no joke when I tell you that, with Fundy Design v7, you back where you want to be, behind your camera!
can import all of your event images, click the Auto Design
button, and have a complete album layout in a matter of Company: Fundy Software Pricing: Suite: $499.00; Album Builder: $299
seconds! If youre like me, its this first rough draft that takes
Rating:
the most time. Designer v7 does all that work for you, and
Hot: Auto design tool; image browser; 150 new template-free layouts
does it amazingly well. Layouts are stylish, classic, and
Not: Improved Text tool doesnt support center and right-aligned text
contemporaryno stale templates here. 107
BOO K RE V I E WS P E T E R B A U E R
Photoshop: Absolute Beginners Guide to Mastering Picture Perfect Lighting: An Innovative Lighting
Photoshop and Creating World Class Photos System for Photographing People
By Andrew Mckinnon By Roberto Valenzuela
The first one-third of this book is devoted to basic Photo- Much of the information about light and lighting here can be
shop tools and the interface. The author provides short and found in a variety of other books; however, when was the last
succinct explanations and covers the bases well. The other time you read something similar to this? It is counterintuitive
two-thirds are devoted to various Photoshop tips and tricks, to keep your camera settings locked and find the light that
as well as some of Photoshops more complex features, fits those settings. Common practice would be to go any-
including high-dynamic range (HDR) imaging and video. The where and change the camera settings to get the exposure
tips are generally very useful and will help speed your work right, regardless of the quality of the light. But what about
in Photoshop. Keep in mind, however, that this book is for that beautiful background that would require you to adjust
beginnersif you have decent knowledge of the program, your aperture, shutter speed, or ISO? Forget about itits
theres not much here for you. But for beginners (or perhaps not the background youre shooting, its the person. Find a
classrooms), this is a very good choice. It would also be a valu- location where the lighting is most flattering for your client
able gift to someone very new to Photoshop. (Note: At the and appropriate for the selected camera settings. (Dont
time of review, the Kindle edition was incomplete. Amazon worry about those settings, the author provides his, um,
assures me that will be fixed ASAP. If the Kindle isnt longer suggestions in a couple of locations.)
than 122 pages, dont purchase it.)
Publisher: CreateSpace Pages: 232 (paperback) Publisher: Rocky Nook Pages: 340 (paperback)
Price: $15.95 (paperback); $2.99 (Kindle) Price: $49.95 (paperback); $39.99 (eBook); $23.49 (Kindle)
Rating: Rating:
108
photoshop user J U LY / A U G U S T 2016
POP QUIZ!
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D E PA R T M E N T
From the Advice Desk PETER BAUER

answers to photoshop & gear-related questions
I have a basic layout that I like to use with multiple clients. Of course, the content has to change from client
to client, but I dont like spending time re-creating the basic layout from scratch each time. Is there some
way that I can use a single template with multiple clients, personalized for their own business?Mary
To: Mary
From: KelbyOne Advice Desk
Smart objects and layers are two ways to simplify your size) or linking to the file from which the smart object
workload. You can create a template that contains every- is created. Linking keeps the file size of the working
thing that doesnt change from client to client, perhaps document smaller, but once linked, you shouldnt move
such things as a background image, copyright information, or rename the file from which the smart object was
and borders. Make sure that this working document is the created. In addition, if you send out the working docu-
size and resolution at which youll typically use it. ment to anyone else, youll need to include copies of all
When creating the original working document, you the linked files.
can use guides and the grid (View>Show>Grid) to ensure Its even possible to have all of the client layouts in a
precise placement of not only the elements youre already single document, simply showing and hiding layers and/
creating, but also for the client-specific content to be or smart objects for each project. When you add a new
added later. Guides can be dragged from the rulers, which client, you can add new layers or smart objects for their
you can show/hide with Command-R (PC: Ctrl-R) or, for individual content. To make things even easier, put all of
exact placement, create Guides with the View>New Guide the content (layers) for each client in a separate layer group
command. The Position field in the New Guide dialog uses (naming the group for the client perhaps). To create a layer
the unit of measure specified in the programs Preferences; group, click on the folder icon at the bottom of the Lay-
however, if, for example, the unit of measure is pixels and ers panel and drag your layers into the group folder. Then,
you want to add a guide at a precise location using a dif- with a single click on the Eye icon to the left of the folder
ferent unit of measure, simply specify it in the Position field. in the Layers panel, you can show/hide all of the content
(Follow the numeric value with the appropriate abbrevia- of the folder. Now with two clicks you can switch between
tion: in for inches, px for pixels, % for percent, and clients: one to hide the current folder, one to show the
cm for centimeters.) next folder.
Create each of the client-specific elements as separate If you use this one-file-fits-all approach, make sure to
Photoshop documents, including any images, logos, text make a copy every time that you add a new clients con-
elements, etc. These elements can be added to the work- tent to your working document. Remember that putting
ing document by using copy-and-paste to create a new all of your eggs in one basket can lead to disaster if the file
layer in the working document or added as smart objects becomes corrupted or unreadable, so make copies. And,
with Photoshops File>Place command. Position the smart of course, youll want to store each clients content in a
object, resize as necessary by Shift-dragging a cor- separate folder on your hard drive for both organizational
ner, then press the Enter key. You have the option of and access purposes. (Andneedless to say, but Ill say it
embedding the placed file, which creates a copy of it anywaydont forget to make copies of those folders too
right in the working document (and increases the file and store them away somewhere safe.)
KelbyOne Member
ADVICE DESK
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Photoshop and Lightroom questions answered by our Advice Desk experts. Not only that, you can get photo and computer
gear help and advice, as well. What are you waiting for? Visit the Advice Desk section under My Account on the KelbyOne
112 member site today!
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JulyAugust 2016 Photoshop Magazine

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JulyAugust 2016 Photoshop Magazine

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

T H E A D O B E P H O T O S H O P H O W - T 0 M A G A Z I N E j u ly / a u g u s t 2 0 1 6

DYNAMIC Using actions in Photoshop will

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

Visit our website at kelbyone.com

image they use. Not only that, he gives us ways

About Photoshop User Magazine

Exposed: Industry News

Photoshop User Quiz

From the Advice Desk

074 PHOTOGRAPHY SECRETS

088 UNDER THE LOUPE

092 MAXIMUM WORKFLOW

105 Broncolor Siros 800 L and 400 L Monolights

106 Sekonic LITEMASTER PRO L-478DR-U-EL

107 MOTA Wireless Charger for GoPro

From the Editor

The Power of Great Portraits

SP 85mm F/1.8 Di VC USD (Model F016)

Di: For APS-C format and full-frame DSLR cameras

JULY/AUGUST 2016 Volume 19 Number 6

HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:

Images: Adobe Stock/Composite: Jess Ramirez

PHOTOSHOP USER MAGAZINE

Exclusive Video from Scott Kelby:

Adobe Photoshop 2015.5 Is Here

KelbyOne Class Tracks

you often struggle trying to decide which class to watch

KelbyOne ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> JAN NILSSON

KelbyOne ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> JOHN ASHTON

How do you think youve changed with KelbyOne?

Original Upright Guided Upright

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capacities up to 3 TB, the My and from popular formats, including 4K video.

New LED Panels

(3000K5000K), Mosaic2 uses 576 high-fidelity LEDs, dimmable

Ever feel like youve hit a wall in Photoshop ?

This books your tool to break through!

NEW from Scott Kelby, the

Down the agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. logo effect

its achieved entirely using 2D methods.

Step One: First, open the texture image that will

Step Two: Create a new document (File>New)

Step Three: Go to the Toolbox, click-and-hold on

(PC: Ctrl-C) then Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste

Step Six: Were still in the same shape layer, and

Step Seven: With the shape layer still active, click

Step Eight: Click on the words Pattern Overlay

Step Nine: Activate Gradient Overlay in the list

Step 10: Finally, Activate Drop Shadow in the list of

setting. You can click OK when done to apply the

Step 11: Now lets add the custom shape logo

Step 12: Click on the horizontal ruler and drag a

to create a new shape layer. Leave a small gap

Step 13: In the Layers panel, hold down the Option

Step 14: Now click on the outer ring layer (Ellipse 1)

Step 15: Click on the original ring shape layer

Step 16: Position this circle shape layer below all

preview to open the Pattern Picker and locate the

Step 17: Click on Bevel & Emboss in the list of Styles

Step 18: Now were ready for the text. Here

Step 19: Make a duplicate of this text layer by press-

Step 20: With the paths of the text shape layer

Step 22: Next, we have another image from Adobe

same way we added the dust particles but on the