PHOTOSHOP VIDEO STUDIES

FILE/INFO

-Plenty of info on the picture, but more importantly, YOU CAN ADD COPYRIGHT HERE, author and
contact details. Enter copyright symbol by pressing alt and 0169 on the keypad. Down on the drop
down menu on the IMPORT tab, click on EXPORT and you can save your info and copyright
template!

BRIDGE

BRIDGE is a DAM program – digital asset manager.

To enter, go file/browse in bridge.

Change the backdrop color do darker so that it does not compete with the images.

Go through preferences and familiarize yourself with the interface and layout.

CS4 – SPACE = full screen preview

STAR RATIN: CTRL + 1,2,3,4,5,0 or just click on the dots below the picture. Give one star to
any picture you are considering working with later and improve the rating as you move towards
the final product.

Batch rename.

Keyword all pictures creating own categories and subcategories. Create smart collections using
keywords and the search function.

‘Group as stack’ – groups images together in a card-like stack.

View/review mode – nice spin-around view of selected pics if more than 4 and compare mode if
4 and less. Click inside the pictures to get loops and CTRL click to drag around multiple loops.

Slideshow – press H to see slideshow options such as assigning rating etc.

Create your own workspace and save it. Use pre-set ones to start with and adjust them as
required. You can always revert to the original ones. Use drag and drop to rearrange.

Press TAB to hide everything but the pictures.

SETTING PREFERENCES

1) Cancel ‘export clipboard’

2) Untick ‘use shift key for tool switch’
3) Cs4 – open images as tabs – rather than separate windows
4) Darken the background board color a bit so that it does not compete with the image
5) Disable ‘version cue’ under file handling
 6) Maximize PSD and PSB compatibility –NEVER – unless you use other applications such
as lightroom.
7) Scratch disks are used when photoshop needs more memory in addition to RAM. Put
your non-boot drive first.
8) Performance: Enable openGL drawind should be ticked
9) Cursors: use crosshair
10) Rulers: USE PIXELS, nor cm or inches!
11) SETTINGS/COLOR SETTINGS – use the best CS workflow file (lynda.com cs4 one on
one), that will adjust the settings: RGB is changed to AdobeRGB (sRGB is very low end),
intent is changed to PERCEPTUAL – great for photography. Same needs to be done in
BRIDGE.
12) Create own keyboard shortcuts
13) Create your workspace and save it

-The sequence of making changes to a picture is important, every change must build on the
previous one and the order matters. FOLLOW THE STEPS HERE (tb: see’professional
order of adjusting pics’). That is how professionals do it.

-Traditionally, brightness and contrast tool is considered an image destroyer, but with CS4 it
has improved.

-All adjustments under Image menu adjust the actual pixels of the actual image. Use layers
to avoid this.

-REMEMBER- in photoshop IT IS VERY TEMPTING TO OVERCOMPENSATE.

-When saving a JPEG, select BASELINE OPTIMIZED!

You make a change to a picture overall, but some area got affected negatively. Use
history brush to bring that area to a previous state.

BLENDING ELEMENTS/PICTURES – use MATCH COLOR command to match their colours.

For nice SMOOTH SELECTION such as sky, use large FEATHER such as 120 pixels.

New in CS3 – quick selection tool – just gives a brush – paint and the brush will look for edges
to make a selection. To make it more precise, use AUTO ENHANC tickbox at the top.

When you make a selection, the edges can be really harsh. To fix, start by selecting, then press
Q for quick mask, then go to channels and turn off all channels but the quickmask channel,
which is a black and white representation of what is selected and what is not. Fix any clear
mistakes by painting with black/white color to select/deselect. Then, for very precise selection,
use REFINE EDGE function – SELECT/REFINE EDGE. Select the preview typr – on black, on
white, etc. HERE: Feather function softens the edges and blurs them. SMOOTH smoothens all
rough edges, makes rough lines straight – a bit unrealistic. RADIUS is like feather but more
sensitive to the actual edges – contour sensitive softening. Soften the edges and then
CONTRACT/EXPAND contracts the selection into itself or expands it. If there is an edge that is
prominent and unwanted, contract.

CS4 – NEW DODGE TOOL

-always use zero hardness with dodge tool

-ALWAYS have PROTECT TONES ticked – otherwise you will have oldfashioned dodge tool.

-Start with midtones, then highlight shadows

-Then use history brush if overdone

-New dodge tool increases saturation, burn tool decreases it. Adjust this with SPONGE tool.

-To fix YELLOW TEETH, brush over teeth with DESATURATING SPONGE TOOL, 30%.

To recolorize a color – select brush, select representative color by alt clicking on it, change
blend mode to color. You can also paint with HUE only (blending mode to HUE), so that
saturation is unaffected.

RED EYES: When fixing, be careful not to create different shadow circles inside the pupil – it
should be uniformly black. If using the red eye tool, experiment by setting the pupil size at the
top-left.

HEALING BRUSH – is the best brush in photoshop. Cloning is good but does not blend as well.

SPOT HEALING BRUSH is useless – it automatically selects SOURCE.

HEALING BRUSH works like clone stamp but creates a blend from the old and new for a
seamless link. Edit/fade healing brush – enables to set opacity on the last brush stroke.

PATCH TOOL covers the selected area with a BLEND of new and old one – just like the healing
brush, but here you select an area, not paint. Very useful.

Have the overlay option on (cs4) – preview inside the cursor.

To CLONE FLIPPED parts, go to the CLONE SOURCE and change width or height – for
horizontal or vertical flip to MINUS 100%.

If portrait, blur the blue channel to make it soft.

To select an area of selected area, hold SHIFT and ALT as selecting within the selected area.
To enlarge one object within a picture, you can use SPHERIZE filter. Select the object with
eliptical selection, not along the edges, you can leave plenty of space. Then increase size with
the filter, then use brush around the edges to put the rest to the original state.