PhotoShop for Video Tips and Tricks

by Lee Rickwood

I.
Creating an Image for Video Use

Select >File, >New.

Choose from among several presets, including DV, DV, NTSC or PAL video formats. Also make note of color
profile and Pixel Aspect Ratio drop down menus for (square) standard definition 4 x 3 and (non-square)
widescreen 16 x 9 imagery. By default, non-square pixel documents open with the Pixel Aspect Ratio
Correction enabled. This scales and previews the image as it will appear on a video monitor.

(Using the new templates in Photoshop CS is great; it's just about the easiest way imaginable to make sure
imported imagery will be video-friendly.

But wait...what about that warning message that pops up each time? Well, that Adobe saying that anything
copied to or created using the selected file template will be rendered into non-square pixels, and optimized for
video. Just click OK; it's a background function.

II.
Legalize It!
Always use Photoshop's NTSC Filter (in 6.x and CS versions ) to "legalize" colors for TV. This helps avoid color-
related image artifacts, such as highly saturated reds and blues.

Select >Filters >Video>NSTC Colors.

III.
Tips for Viewing Pixel Aspect Ratios:
To turn off scaling correction and see the image as it appears on a square pixel monitor, like a computer, click
>View, > Pixel Aspect Ratio Correction. With a non-square pixel image open, and with the Pixel Aspect Ratio
Correction on, select >Window, >Arrange, >New Window (type in name of document). Once that new window is
active, choose >View, >Pixel Aspect Ratio Correction to turn the correction off; toggle between the two
windows.

IV.
Creating Graphics for DV/D1.
DV footage is made up of rectangular (non-square) pixels. Computer generated images are made of square
pixels. In almost every situation, that holds true, and it can cause problems. DV has a 4 x 3 frame aspect ratio, a
0.9:1 pixel aspect ratio, and a screen resolution of either 720 x 480 (NTSC) or 720 x 576 (PAL). D1 (another
video format a.k.a. CCIR-601 or ITU-R 601 ) is a non-square pixel aspect ratio. D1 has a screen resolution of
either 720 x 486 (NTSC) or 720 x 576 (PAL), and a .9:1 pixel aspect ratio. DV and D1 images are composed of
rectangular (non-square) pixels, not the square pixels for most Mac OS and Windows systems. Graphics
applications usually create square pixel files, so most graphics imported into a D1 or DV project have a square
pixel aspect ratio. When importing an image created by a square-pixel graphics program into a video editing
program, the square pixels are scaled to the non-square pixels for video encoding. This scaling results in a
distorted image.

Photoshop (now as CS) supports non-square pixels. It offers video presets to choose from when creating a new
document. Photoshop CS also now previews work in different pixel aspect ratios on command.

Video Presets in Photoshop CS

(shows associated pixel aspect ratio)

Photoshop CS preset file sizes for video Pixel aspect ratio

NTSC DV 720x480 (with guides) D1/DV NTSC ( .9)

NTSC DV Widescreen 720x480
(with guides) D1/DV NTSC Widescreen (1.2)
NTSC D1 720 x 486 (with guides) D1/DV NTSC (0.9)
NTSC D1 Square Pix 720 x 540
(with guides) Square
PAL D1/DV 720 x 576 (with guides) D1/DV PAL (1.066)
PAL D1/DV Square Pix 768 x 576
(with guides) Square
PAL D1/DV Widescreen720 x 576
(with guides) D1/DV PAL Widescreen (1.42)
HDTV1280 x 720 (with guides) Square
HDTV1920 x 1080 (with guides) Square

V.
Scale To Fit
When you have to put an image into a video preset canvas that is larger than the preset canvas, press Ctrl T
(Windows) or Cmd T (Mac) for Free Transform; the picture can be scaled to fit, and the necessary square to
non-square conversion happens in the background.

VI.
Safe Title/Safe Action Guides

Some say our television standard, NTSC, stands for Never Twice the Same Color - it can also easily mean
Never Twice the Same Composition!

It's a frustrating fact: no one can truly guarantee just how a program will look on someone's TV set - the color
may be different, and even the overall display area can change from set to set. To the rescue comes title
guides, showing the area on a TV screen inside which titles and text will safely appear in most cases; about
80% of overall screen size is OK. For on-screen action, about 90% of the screen is safe to use in most cases. In
Photoshop version 7.x and earlier, broadcast TV safe title or safe action guides were not featured. So good
work-arounds and tips to make your own became popular. Among the DIY approaches, here's one for creating
safe action and safe title overlays:

Choose >File >New >Presets for safe TV action and title guide lines. Text should always fall inside the text
(innermost) box; critical on-screen action should be inside the action (outermost) box, but imagery should
always extend from edge to edge on the screen (or canvas).

Tip:

To hide the guides, hit Control H (Windows) or Command H; hit the keys again to turn the guides back on.

VII.
Scanning Tips
- Bringing flat art images into Photoshop for Video Use Whenever possible, start with a good quality image, and
scan it two or four or more times larger than necessary (larger than the target resolution). For example, a
corporate logo or other such art should be scanned at 300 dpi. Older photographs, or smaller, grainer images,
should be scanned at 600 dpi or higher.

Of course, these settings are way beyond what video really needs - 72 dpi. The extra pixels will be useful when
adjusting sizes, adding motion, creating new backgrounds or transparencies, and when applying other special
effects.

VIII.
Using Logos
All logos should have an alpha channel for keying over video. If necessary, you can add a alpha key channel to
logos or images without a default by picking the logo out from its background.

When the background is white, this can be a straightforward process to isolate the image, but even with Luma
key capability, the final result may not be that good, even after tweaking it with Threshold and Cutoff controls

A great alternate approach is to replace the white with green; the green screen key capability in Adobe
Premiere Pro is really good; it will read anything green as a zero value element.
Create a new path layer with the Pen tool around the logo itself, copy it and take it over onto a plain
background.

With a good green color preset in the Picker, use the Paint Bucket to fill the white background. It's a crude tool,
but using the Zoom Tool/magnifier, Fill, Spray or Paint tools can be used to get rid of all the white.

Then, in Premiere Pro (or other editing application with good green screen chromakey capabilities), open a
new title, and import your graphic into the Title Designer. Select >Insert logo.

In the Effects control screen, select >Green Screen Effect, and use the Threshold and Cutoff commands to fine
tune; you can also select >Smooth and set it to High for best results.

IX.
Extracting Elements from an Image
A very popular technique for video these days makes still photographs come alive on screen, showing a
foreground subject moving against a static background. Adding small touches, like smoke rising from a
cigarette, supports the deception and brings a realistic sense of motion to static images destined for video use.

Here's one approach:

Use the Path Tool or Pen Tool to create an outline and select the figure in the foreground.

The Feather setting in the Select menu can be used to apply a softer edge.

Once the figure is cut from the background, paste it into a new foreground layer (a blank space in the
background will be left, where the foreground element used to be.) In the layers palette, turn off the foreground
element visibility and select the background layer. Use Photoshop's Cloning Brush or Healing Brush, clone the
background image into the edges of the blank area. When you move the foreground element in After Effects, for
example, the background will appear complete and the cut will not show.

The Extract features is another approach:

Extract is very handy when you need remove a subject that's surrounded other elements or textures, like a
person standing in front of plants in the background, or even alongside people. Basically, a border is dragged-
and-dropped around the selected element in an image; the area to be extracted is then filled.

To use Extract Image:

1. Open an image.
2. Select >Image >Extract (>Filter >Extract in CS) and a working dialog box will appear. 3. Select the pen (Edge
Highlighter Tool) to draw around and highlight a border on the object to be extracted. 4. Use the bucket tool to
fill the area that you want to keep. 5. Click preview and tweak the options to get the best results. Preview
extracted images against backgrounds of different colors. Either the fill or the background can be highlighted by
making choices in drop-down menu next to Show. 6. Click OK and the chosen image will be isolated.
7. Clean up the edges of the subject with the History Brush or the regular eraser. Experiment with brush size,
border sharpness and the preview mode; even the tiniest detail, like a strand of hair or a leaf on a tree, can be
included in or excluded from an image. An eraser and touch-up tool are also available.

X.
Cutting Through the Background:
Whenever you want to cut or remove part of a comp background, one in which the background is a default
color, just name it anything other than "Background" (the default name Photoshop applies)!

Simply double click in the Layers palette; a dialog box for naming the "new Layer' will appear.

Once it is renamed, any cuts or deletions to a selected area will become transparent to the background.

This is very handy for putting simple text or logos over video; or when creating masks and traveling mattes.

XI.

Images Get A Level Playing Field

Another important enhancement tool that you should use with every photo you plan on bringing to video is
"levels." Levels are the image adjustment tools in Photoshop that allow you to control the white, grays and
blacks.

Depending on the monitor you use, and the color space settings applied to your work, you may want to limit or
otherwise control the display from Photoshop.

Select >Image >Adjust >Levels (or >Layer >New Adjustment Layer) to control and adjust the black and white
levels in your image output.

The default Output is usually 0 and 255, as indicated by dialog boxes and two draggable triangles. Most
monitors will display images destined for TV more accurately with settings of 16 and 235.

Click on the preview box to quickly and easily see the overall corrections and adjustments.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to see exactly what pixels are being used for white and black adjustments. If so,
hold down the Alt key (on a PC; the Option key on Macs) to show image threshold as you drag the slider back
and forth. The image will be re-mapped in high contrast to help the differentiation.