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Your Quick Guide to Understanding Photoshop Adjustment Layers

09 Dec

The post Your Quick Guide to Understanding Photoshop Adjustment Layers appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

photoshop adjustment layers a quick guide

Adjustment layers are one of the most essential aspects of editing images in Photoshop. They let you apply rich, detailed edits to your photos that go well beyond what you can accomplish in other programs.

Now, adjustment layers can be a bit difficult to understand if you’re used to a more streamlined application like Lightroom, Apple Photos, or Luminar. But with a bit of practice, you can easily master Photoshop adjustment layers and take your photo editing to the next level!

Photoshop adjustment layers magnolia seed — Nikon D7100 | 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/500s | f/2.8 | ISO 250

What are Photoshop adjustment layers?

When you open a picture in Photoshop, you can’t just start dragging sliders to change its appearance. Before you can do much of anything, you need to start with layers, which serve as the bedrock of everything that makes Photoshop so powerful.

Photoshop adjustment layers leaf — Nikon D7100 | 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/250s | f/2.8 | ISO 450

To help visualize the concept of adjustment layers, think about a physical picture sitting on your desk. If you wanted to give the picture a green tint, you could simply drape a sheet of green cellophane over it.

That’s exactly how adjustment layers work in Photoshop: They let you change the visual properties of your image without destroying the underlying file. You can add as many adjustment layers as you want and use them to change things like white balance, exposure, hue/saturation, and over a dozen other properties.

In other words:

Photoshop adjustment layers are like stacking sheets of digital cellophane on top of your images. Each layer can be controlled individually and combined with layer masks to apply edits to specific parts of your images. All of this might seem needlessly complicated compared to the simplicity of other programs, but once you get the hang of Photoshop adjustment layers, you’ll never want to go back.

Photoshop adjustment layers dandelion — Nikon D7100 | 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1/2000s | f/2.8 | ISO 100

Another way to think about Photoshop adjustment layers is by comparing them to panels in the Develop module of Lightroom.

However, the Develop panels only offer a handful of adjustments that you can use. Photoshop lets you stack as many layers as you need – even multiple layers of the same type of adjustment – so you can tweak your images as much as you could possibly want. There is a bit of a learning curve, but the results are well worth the effort.

How to add an adjustment layer

The first step when working with adjustment layers is to load an image into Photoshop. Then click on the Adjustments panel, which is usually located above the Layers panel.

(If you don’t see the Adjustments panel, go to the Window menu and choose Adjustments.)

Photoshop adjustment layers — Load an image into Photoshop and then click the Adjustments panel.

The Adjustment panel offers sixteen adjustments to choose from, and sorting through all of these can be overwhelming (especially if you’re used to the simple, straightforward editing parameters available in Lightroom).

Photoshop adjustments — Each one of these icons is a specific type of adjustment. Hover your cursor over each one to see a brief description.

Some of these adjustments are similar to what you might find in Lightroom, such as Brightness/Contrast and Color Balance. But using the adjustments is much different from working in Lightroom and, in some ways, more complicated. Fortunately, that also means you can get much better results.

To see how this process works, I’ve included an image (below) that clearly needs some editing. Thankfully, Photoshop adjustment layers are here to help!

Photoshop adjustment layers Minnesota — Fujifilm X100F | 23mm | 1/4000s | f/8 | ISO 200

I’ll start by adding a Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer, which is a simple matter of just clicking the Brightness/Contrast icon in the Adjustments panel. Immediately, two sliders appear, which you can use to make the picture brighter or darker and to add or remove contrast.

Brightness/Contrast editing parameters — After clicking an adjustment layer icon, the available editing parameters show up for you to start working with.

A few seconds later, my picture is much improved, thanks to a brightness boost. However, there is still a lot of work left to do.

One other thing happens when you click an adjustment layer icon that you might not notice but is critically important:

The Layers panel will create a layer specifically for that adjustment.

adjustment layers — Clicking an adjustment icon automatically adds a new layer to your image with the selected adjustment as its title.

This new layer, along with all the icons associated with it, is what gives an adjustment so much flexibility. In Lightroom, you can enable and disable individual panels in the Develop module, but you don’t have this level of control over your adjustments.

Note the different icons in the short screen capture above:

Indicates layer visibility: Click this to hide or show the adjustment.
Layer thumbnail: Double-click this to show the editing parameters (sliders, eyedroppers, etc.) for the adjustment layer.
Indicates layer mask is linked to layer: Click this to unlink the adjustment layer mask from the adjustment. If you’re new to adjustment layers, you can just ignore this altogether.
Layer mask thumbnail: This is a very tiny preview of the layer mask that is created by default when you click on a new adjustment layer icon. Click this to show the editing parameters of the mask.

While my picture of the Minnesota sign is better than when I started, it still needs a lot of improvement. The next thing I want to do is set the white balance, but this option is missing from the Adjustments panel.

Instead, you have to use the Curves adjustment, then click the gray point eyedropper. Next, click a neutral or slightly gray portion of your image to counteract any color casts. Note that this process essentially replicates the White Balance function of Lightroom.

One thing you might notice is that the Curves options in Photoshop are much more comprehensive than the Curves options in Lightroom. This should give you an indication of how much more flexibility you have with adjustment layers. You can use Curves to do everything you would do in Lightroom, along with much, much more.

The final operation to fix this image involves a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Click on the Hue/Saturation icon to bring up a panel that looks like this:

The key to this panel is the hand icon in the top-left. Click it, then click on a part of your image that you would like to saturate or de-saturate.

In this case, I want to start with the grass below the sign. Clicking and dragging to the right makes it much greener, and gives a sense of vibrance that is sorely missing from the original.

This is a good start, but I need to fix the sky, and that is where a layer-based approach really starts to come in handy.

Instead of editing the sky with the adjustment layer I just created, I can add a new adjustment layer and use that for the sky. This allows me to control my Hue/Saturation edits for individual parts of the image, instead of having just one Hue/Saturation adjustment layer that affects the entire scene.

Minnesota statue with boosted sky colors — The sky colors are now improved. These edits are applied using a layer separate from the grass edits, and thus can be controlled independently.

While the resulting picture is much better than the original, there is still some tweaking that needs to be done for it to truly feel finished.

Adjustment layer masks, explained

Eagle-eyed observers might notice something amiss with the picture above:

The Minnesota sign now has a purple tint to it.

Never fear, adjustment layers are here! Click the white rectangle next to a layer name to edit its mask:

You see, by painting black onto a layer’s mask, you prevent that area of the photo from being affected by the adjustment. So if you don’t want the sign to be affected by the Hue/Saturation adjustment layer, simply paint black over the portion of the mask that covers the sign!

Here’s how it works:

First, select the Brush tool (press B or click the Brush icon in the left-hand toolbar).

Make sure your foreground color is white and your background color is black (to do this quickly, just hit D).

Now it’s time to actually paint the mask. Press the X key to switch between white (revealing) and black (hiding), and the [ and ] keys to increase or decrease the size of the brush.

For tricky shapes like the sign, you can use the Magic Wand tool to select the shape. Then, with the shape still selected, use the Brush tool to mask (remove) the adjustment from that portion of the image.

A closer inspection of the Layers panel now shows a black silhouette over the portion that has been masked out of the top Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. I have also renamed the top two layers so as to accurately describe the type of effect they have on the image.

(Double-click a layer name to rename it, and press Enter when you finish typing.)

Nondestructive editing

One mistake some beginners make when editing images in Photoshop is applying adjustments directly to the original photo. This can be done using the Image>Adjustments menu, which gives you common editing options such as Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, and more. Unlike adjustment layers, these edits are not easy to work with, nor are they easy to alter once they have been implemented.

Photoshop adjustment layers, on the other hand, are nondestructive. You can tweak and change layers after they have been implemented, and you can easily delete them. That’s why layer adjustments are much more flexible than edits applied directly to an image.

You can perform all manner of custom tweaks and changes to adjustment layers, such as:

Showing/hiding a layer by clicking the eye icon
Editing the adjustment by clicking the light/dark circle icon
Adjusting the opacity of a layer
Changing the blend mode, which adjusts how the layer interacts with layers below it
Adjusting the order of the layers by clicking and dragging
Locking a layer to prevent further changes by clicking the lock icon

Photoshop adjustment layers open up new editing possibilities that simply cannot be achieved in Lightroom. For example, the image of a leaf from the beginning of this article can be altered with a selective color adjustment in a matter of seconds. All I need to do is add a Black & White adjustment layer. I can then select the leaf with the Magic Wand tool and paint over the selection on the layer mask.

leaf in color with black and white background — Adding a selective color black and white effect took about four seconds.

Photoshop adjustment layers: conclusion

If you have a Creative Cloud Photography subscription, you can use Photoshop in addition to Lightroom at no extra charge. Now, if the sheer level of options and buttons in Photoshop makes you want to run to the comfort and safety of Lightroom, I get it. I have been there, too, and I still have that feeling from time to time.

However, learning to use Photoshop adjustment layers is one of the first steps in understanding how powerful and flexible Photoshop can be. If you have not yet tried working with layers, take a moment to test them out. See what layers can do for you.

You might be surprised at how easy it is!

The post Your Quick Guide to Understanding Photoshop Adjustment Layers appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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How to Create a Watermark with the Pen Tool in Photoshop

02 Dec

The post How to Create a Watermark with the Pen Tool in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Did you know that you can create a watermark with the Pen tool? Watermarking images is one of those issues that sparks strong feelings; some people love it and others hate it.

I think the success of a watermark is a matter of knowing when to use it and how to make it.

This article will show you how to create a watermark – using only the Pen tool in Photoshop!

Watermark your images using the pen tool in Photoshop

What is a watermark?

A watermark is a digital “signature” that you add to your photographs. It doesn’t have to be a literal signature, though – you can use a logo, your name, or just the copyright symbol.

The purpose of the watermark is either to protect your work or to advertise yourself. But you’ll want to make sure that your watermark isn’t too distracting. Otherwise, you are defeating the point of showing your work online.

What is the Photoshop Pen tool?

The Pen tool is one of the most useful features in Photoshop, yet it’s very underused because it’s mostly associated with making selections.

Since there are many selection tools that have easier learning curves, a lot of people don’t really get to know the Pen tool’s full potential.

While the Pen tool is in fact a very precise tool for making selections, the biggest advantage of the Pen tool is that you can work with paths. From a path, you can make vector masks, strokes, shapes, and even fonts.

Why should you create a watermark with the Pen tool?

There are different ways of creating a watermark in Photoshop. I believe that using Pen tool is the most efficient.

For one, a watermark created with the Pen tool will be vector art. You can enlarge it or shrink it many times and never lose quality.

That way, you can use it for all your needs. Also, paths remain editable for you to come back to and modify any time you want.

Shapes in Photoshop are also vector-based. But with the Pen tool, you have full creative freedom. You can draw anything you want and convert it into a shape or use it to trace a brushstroke.

As you can see, you can combine a series of elements and techniques that will allow you to create the perfect watermark. In the following guide, I’ll be showing you how to do it.

Let’s get started!

How to create a watermark with the Pen tool

To quickly create a watermark, just follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Open a new document

Open Adobe Photoshop and create a new document. The size and resolution are not important because you’ll be working with vectors, so you can always scale it later.

The only thing that you need to remember is to set the Background Contents option as Transparent.

Step 2: Make a sketch

This step is optional, but I find it very helpful. What I like to do is add a new layer (though it’s important that it’s transparent).

Turn a sketch into a watermark using the pen tool

With the Brush tool set to a bright color, I start by drawing how I want my watermark to look at the end.

Unless you are a very gifted designer, the drawing won’t look very good. This is what always happens to me, and it’s one of the reasons why using the Pen tool is better than using the Brush tool to ultimately create your watermark.

In any case, doing a rough sketch will give you an idea of the size and proportion of the elements you want to include.

Step 3: Trace a path

I’m going to add a black layer to make the work more visible for you. You can do this, too, if it helps you, but remember to delete it at the end.

Grab the Pen tool from the toolbox on the left or activate it with its keyboard shortcut (the “P” key).

At the top of the screen, you’ll see how the options change. Make sure your Pen tool is set to Path. Then just click to add the first anchor point.

Create a watermark using the pen tool in Photoshop — You can move the anchor points to modify the path by holding the Ctrl/Cmd key. You can also adjust the handles by holding the Alt/Option key.

Continue creating anchor points, following the shape that you’d like to create. To curve the path, just drag the anchor point until the handles appear. You can use the handles to adjust the curvature.

If this is your first time using the Pen tool, you can check out this guide. Don’t worry if it doesn’t come out perfect on the first try.

Paths are always editable, so you can correct any mistakes. You can make the entire design in a single path, or make separate ones.

Step 4: Stroke the path

Open the Brush tool and choose the settings that you want for the design that you’re creating. This includes the color, the size, the hardness, and the shape of the brush.

Then open the Paths panel. If it’s not active, you can access it from the menu: Windows > Paths.

Now, right-click on your working path and choose Stroke Path from the menu. Make sure you select Brush in the Tool dropdown menu, then hit OK. This will apply the settings that you have set on your Brush tool.

If you’re not happy with the result, just hit Undo and change the settings on your brush until you’re satisfied.

Disable or lower the opacity of the sketch layer for better visibility.

Step 5: Make shapes

Create shapes using the Pen tool in Photoshop

Sometimes, instead of strokes, you need to make shapes. For that, grab the Pen tool and change it from Path to Shape in the Options bar.

Here, you can change the fill or the stroke as you need. It is also possible to create complex designs with a single path by combining or intersecting multiple shapes. This can also be set up in the Options bar.

Step 6: Convert strokes to shapes

If you go to the Layers panel, you’ll notice that the paths you converted to strokes are now rasterized. This means they are using pixels instead of vectors.

To change that, go back to the Paths panel and click on the corresponding path. Then activate the Pen tool and choose Shape:

how to create a watermark with the Pen tool in Photoshop select make shape

Step 7: Merge shapes and save

Once you’re done, delete all the rasterized layers, including the one with the sketch and the black background.

If you want, you can save a .PSD copy with all the layers before moving on.

Then select all the shapes, right-click, and choose Merge Shapes.

Then save your document as a .PNG, which will preserve transparency. This is important because other formats will fill the background with white.

Step 8: Watermark your photos

Open any image you want to watermark. Then go to File>Place Embedded. If you’re using Photoshop CS6, it will be called Place.

This will open a browser window. Choose your watermark file and click OK. This will open your watermark in Photoshop.

Resize it and position it to your liking. You can also reduce the opacity if you think the watermark is too distracting.

And that’s it! Remember that you can save this step as a Photoshop action to automate the watermarking process.

Other ways to create a watermark in Photoshop

I hope you enjoyed using the Pen tool to create watermarks. However, this is not the only way to do it. If you want to try different methods, check out any of these amazing tutorials:

How to Create Your Own Watermark using a Custom Shape in Photoshop
How to Automate Your Watermarking
How to Watermark Your Images Using Lightroom and Photoshop CC
How to Create Custom Brushes in Photoshop and use them for watermarking

The post How to Create a Watermark with the Pen Tool in Photoshop appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

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How to Use Photoshop to Add Lightning to Your Stormy Photographs

18 Nov

The post How to Use Photoshop to Add Lightning to Your Stormy Photographs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Did you know you can use Photoshop to add lightning bolts to your images?

use photoshop to add lightning before and after

Thunderstorms are a great photographic subject, and bolts of lightning can add drama to your photos. Unfortunately, they don’t necessarily occur when you want them.

And you can’t always base your photoshoots around natural events. That’s when post-processing comes to your aid.

How to use Photoshop to add lightning

Have you ever seen a thunderstorm and wished it had happened the day before when you were out doing an urbex photoshoot? Or have you ever you looked at one of your photos and thought that a thunderstorm would have added the perfect ambiance?

Unless you’re a professional that specializes in this kind of photography and purposely chases storms, you’ll rarely have a thunderstorm when you’re in the right location with the proper equipment.

And even if you are in the right place at the right time, it’s not always easy to photograph lightning.

Not to worry.

Because there are several different ways to use Photoshop to add lightning – and create the perfect thunderstorm in your photos.

how to use photoshop to add lightning Intro

In this tutorial, I’ll show you two ways of adding lightning to your images. The first way is by making a composite. The second way is to create a lightning bolt inside Photoshop.

So choose the one that’s better for you, and let’s get started.

Use Photoshop to add lightning via compositing

This technique is very easy to do, but you must already have a lightning photograph on hand.

Step 1: Choose and open your images

Use Photoshop to composite a thunderstorm

First, you need to choose the two images that you’re going to use. One of them will be the background where the lightning bolt is going to be added.

This method will work best if the image has a moody sky. You can always place a bolt of lightning into a clear blue sky, but an already-moody sky will look more realistic and have more drama. So pick an image with lots of clouds and contrast.

The second image is the one with the lightning bolt in it. If you’ve photographed thunderstorms in the past, then you can use one of those images. If not, you can always get a lightning bolt from a free stock photography website.

Open both images in Photoshop. Then drag the lightning photo onto the new background; this will automatically paste it into a new layer.

Alternatively, you can use the commands Edit>Copy and Edit>Paste.

Step 2: Use Photoshop’s blending modes to add lightning

Your new layer should be covering the background, so you need to blend both layers together and integrate the lightning bolt.

I prefer to keep the original color, but you can also make your lightning image black and white and then make it darker to make the blending easier.

Whether you decide to leave the lightning in color or change it to black and white, you need to change the blend mode. You can do this by opening the drop-down menu in the Layers panel and selecting your desired mode.

For my example, Overlay is the most appropriate. And it can be a good starting point for you, too, but feel free to experiment with other options.

Step 3: Fine-tune your composite

use Photoshop blending modes to add lightning

Move and adjust the lightning bolt until it’s positioned the way you want it in the background image. Once everything is in place, you need to do some advanced blending in the Layer Style dialog box.

To open the Layer Style box, just double-click on the layer next to its name. Don’t click on the thumbnail or the name itself, because those are different tools. A pop-up window will appear; that’s the Layer Style box. At the bottom, you’ll find the Blend If option.

Here, you need to move the sliders to the right. Start with the top slider (which controls the current layer). Hold Alt while you drag to split the slider and create a more gradual effect. Then, if necessary, do the same with the slider on the underlying layer. Once the lightning looks integrated into the photo, you can click OK to close the dialog box.

You can now add a layer mask to further fine-tune the effect. The source of the lightning is always lighter than the rest of the sky, so you might need to add a gradient to create that effect.

You can also color black any residual elements that didn’t disappear via the Blend If settings.

That’s it! Your composite is now ready. You can add other filters or do some more editing to finalize your picture.

How to use Photoshop to add (and create) lightning bolts

For this method, you only need to have a background image. Again, the choice is yours, but a cloudy day or dramatic scenery will help create more impact.

Step 1: Create a lightning bolt

Open the background image in Photoshop and create an empty new layer at the top of the layer stack.

To fill it, grab the Gradient tool, set it to Linear Gradient, and drag the tool across the canvas. Make sure that your gradient goes from black to white. These choices can be found in the Options bar at the top of the screen.

With the same layer selected, go to Filter>Render>Difference Clouds. There are no settings (or previews) for this kind of filter; it just generates a pattern using random values.

Now invert it by going to Image>Adjustments>Invert. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl/Cmd + I.

Then go to Image>Adjustments>Levels. In the pop-up window, you’ll find a histogram with a slider (this is the Levels adjustment). Drag it to the right until the background is all black and only white lines are visible. You’ll notice that some of these white lines resemble lightning bolts.

Pick a “lightning bolt” and start painting with black to cover the other lines using the Brush tool. Keep going until you leave only a line that looks like lightning. The size and shape are up to you; there’s no specific formula.

If you only want to add that lightning bolt, then just adjust the blend mode of the layer and position it where you want it (see the composite technique explained in the first part of this article).

If you’d like to add several lightning bolts or one lightning bolt with a more complex shape and multiple branches, then I recommend you make a brush.

Step 2: Make a custom brush

To create a brush, you have to select the lightning bolt you just made. To do that, you can use any selection tool that is comfortable for you. In this case, I’d recommend using Color Range.

Once you’ve selected your lightning bolt, click on Edit>Define Brush Preset and give it a name. To make the lightning more dynamic, you can adjust the settings and make it change size and direction.

Now you have a lightning bolt brush that you can use in any photograph without having to create one again and again. At this point, you can hide or delete the lightning layer.

Step 3: Add lightning bolts in Photoshop

Create a new empty layer on top of the background. That way, you can have the lightning bolts in a separate layer to edit and modify them as required.

Start painting one or more lightning bolts until you’re satisfied with the thunderstorm effect.

Step 4: Fine-tune the effect

You can add a layer mask to integrate the lightning using a gradient to make it look more natural.

You can also add a Solid Color layer above the lightning layer. You can then use the Blend If tool to color only the lightning bolts.

Your thunderstorm is ready now! However, you can continue to post-process the final image if you want to give it a specific look. Black and white usually works very well for these type of images, so give that a try.

How to use Photoshop to add lightning: conclusion

I hope this article helped you see how easy it is to use Photoshop to add lightning.

Feel free to share tips and your own amazing images in the comments section below!

The post How to Use Photoshop to Add Lightning to Your Stormy Photographs appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

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Adobe releases Photoshop beta for Apple Silicon and Windows ARM

18 Nov

As new M1-equipped Macs arrive to early adopters this week, Adobe has released a beta ARM version of Photoshop. The beta allows owners of the Microsoft Surface Pro X and M1-powered Macs to run Photoshop natively. The current public release version of Photoshop runs emulated on both Windows and macOS.

Looking at the beta version of Photoshop for Apple Silicon, there are missing features, but Adobe states that many core features are fully operational. The beta will only run on Apple hardware using the M1 chip, so the M1-equipped MacBook Air, 13″ MacBook Pro and Mac mini.

M1-equipped 13″ MacBook Pro. Image credit: Apple

There are a variety of known issues, the full list of them can be found here. As Adobe states, many features are not yet available, including Camera RAW, Select Sky/Sky Replacement, Content Aware Fill/Scale/Move, Auto-Blend Layers, Photomerge, Spot Healing Brush and much more. Further, some included features have bugs, including opening hundreds of files, performing object selection, certain upscaling methods and more. For additional details, refer here.

For the Windows ARM beta, many of the same issues persist. To use this beta, you must have a Surface Pro X with at least 8GB of RAM and be running Windows 10 build 19041.488. Specific to the Windows ARM version, users must install the Microsoft OpenCL and OpenGL Compatibility Pack in order to take advantage of OpenCL- and OpenGL-related functions, of which there are many inside of Photoshop.

Microsoft Surface Pro X. Image credit: Microsoft

Despite the missing features and known issues, Adobe says, ‘We are excited to announce the first Beta release of Photoshop running natively on Apple Silicon Hardware and Windows ARM devices.’ Adobe also promises that more features will be added in short order. Since the software is in beta, it’s not officially supported yet, but Adobe wants users to try it and provide feedback. You can post issues not listed in the ‘Known Issues’ sections found in the above links by visiting the Photoshop (Beta) forum.

To reiterate, the current beta version is not quite ready to act as your daily Photoshop application, nor does it fully showcase what the new Windows ARM and Apple M1 architectures are capable of when it comes to running Adobe Photoshop. In fact, the beta has been released exclusively for early feedback. Nonetheless, the beta represents a critical and important step in the development process and paves the way for what we all expect to be very fast, efficient versions of Adobe Photoshop. Early reports from users of the new Apple M1 machines showcase remarkable performance and benchmarks, and there’s ample reason to expect Adobe will be able to extract that power in its software.

(Via The Verge)

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Using Lightroom vs Photoshop: A Quick Reference Comparison

21 Oct

One of the most common questions we get from photographers that are just starting out is about photo editing software and which one they should use. Most people have heard of Adobe and its Photoshop and Lightroom software but are confused to what the differences between them are and exactly which one they should be using. Let’s take an in Continue Reading

The post Using Lightroom vs Photoshop: A Quick Reference Comparison appeared first on Photodoto.

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Adobe gives Photoshop 2021 even more Sensei AI power, brings livestreaming to Photoshop for iPad

20 Oct

As part of Adobe MAX 2020, which is virtual (and free to attend) this year, Adobe has announced the latest updates to the Adobe Photoshop family. Artificial intelligence and Adobe Sensei play a major role in today’s updates, which are now available for all subscribers.

Adobe Photoshop 2021

Adobe calls Photoshop 2021, also known as version 22.0, the ‘world’s most advanced AI application for creatives,’ so let’s see what’s new. The primary new features are Neural Filters, Sky Replacement, improved Refine Edge Selections and the all-new Discover panel.

The Neural Filters workspace is a ‘complete reimagination of filters and image manipulation inside Photoshop.’ The first version includes a large set of filters, some of which are still in a beta state. Adobe wants to get as many of them into the hands of users for testing. The Neural Filters workspace offers users access to non-destructive filters including Skin Smoothing, Smart Portrait and more. Smart Portrait allows you to transform a portrait subject along parameters such as age, expression, pose and more. AI analyzes the portrait to allow you to change aspects of your subject’s features, such as changing the direction of the subject’s head, gaze and the intensity of their smile. As you can see below, you can even adjust the direction of light in an image.

In this image, the light direction slider within Adobe’s new Neural Filters was moved from left to right. As Adobe’s Pam Clark notes, finishing touches can be easily applied within Photoshop. Image credit: Adobe

In addition to making AI-powered adjustments to portraits, Neural Filters also includes features to help repair damaged images, including Photo Restoration, Dust and Scratches, Noise Reduction, Face Cleanup, JPEG Artifacts Restoration and even a Neural Filter for colorizing a black and white image, a task which takes a considerable amount of skill and time to perform manually. You can learn more about how Neural Filters works and how they can be used in your workflow by visiting Adobe’s dedicated webpage.

Adobe’s new Sky Replacement feature includes numerous user controls when changing the sky, such as brightness and temperature. You can see the new workspace by enlarging this image. Image credit: Adobe

Moving on to Sky Replacement. Using the power of AI, Photoshop can analyze your image to detect what areas of your image are foreground versus sky and then perform masking and blending in order to realistically change the sky in your image. You can select from Photoshop’s database of skies or add your own. There are creative controls as well, including the ability to zoom in and select a portion of the sky and move the sky around the scene. Today’s Photoshop release includes around 25 sky presets. You can learn more about Sky Replacement in this article and by watching the video below.

It seems every major release of Photoshop includes substantive improvements to making selections in your images and the latest release is no different. Adobe Sensei is powering a pair of new features in the Select and Mask workspace: Refine Hair and Object Aware Refine Mode.

Making selections of hair has long been challenging, but Sensei now allows you to leverage its power to refine a selection incorporating hair in a single click. Similarly, Object Aware Refine Mode uses the power of AI to make even more precise, informed selections of portions of your image. Consider the example image below of a selection of the hair in the lion’s mane. It’s an impressive selection that was performed in only a few seconds.

Image credit: Adobe

Photoshop’s new Discover panel includes a brand-new learn and search experience. Within Photoshop, you can quickly access an expanded library of educational content, new step-by-step tutorials, and a vastly improved search functionality. AI makes context-aware recommendations based on your work, including tips and tutorials. There are new one-click Quick Actions that allow you to instantly perform certain tasks when you’re in a rush or teach you how to do the task for yourself step by step.

Photoshop 2021 includes an all-new Discover panel. Image credit: Adobe

Photoshop also includes Pattern Preview and shape creation features. Pattern Preview is a special view mode that allows you to view how your document would look as a pattern. Creating and adjusting shapes on the fly is now easier. There’s a new tool to create triangles and on-canvas controls to resize and adjust shapes.

Pattern preview is new to Photoshop 2021. Image credit: Adobe

Further improvements include enhancements to the Properties Panels and major revisions to how you access plug-ins within Photoshop. There’s a new plugins marketplace within the application where you’ll find curated collections in addition to the wide array of plugins and integrations on offer for Photoshop. Adobe has also integrated UXP to Photoshop. UXP is its new extensibility platform for building plugins.

This plugin architecture results in improved reliability and performance for plugins. There are already plugins built on UXP available in Photoshop. These include plugins to connect Photoshop with apps and services such as Dropbox, Trello and Slack. Plus, there are image editing plugins from photographers such as Tony Kuyper, Greg Benz and Davide Barranca.

It’s now easier to find plugins in Photoshop. Plus, plugins built on the UXP platform will be even more stable and faster. Image credit: Adobe

On the topic of connectedness, when working on a cloud document inside Photoshop, versions are now automatically created, allowing you to look back or revert to prior states. Within Photoshop, it’s now possible to view, revert, open, save as and rename save states within the version history. Cloud documents are also now available offline.

When working on cloud documents, you can now access a file’s version history. Image credit: Adobe

For the full breakdown of everything new in version 22.0 of Photoshop on desktop, click here. Now, there have also been specific new functions added to Photoshop on iPad.

Photoshop for iPad

When using Photoshop on iPad, you can now change the dimensions, resolution and sampling of a PSD file, matching what you can do with a PSD file on the desktop version of Photoshop. You can learn more about this function by clicking here.

It’s now possible to live stream from within Photoshop on iPad. You can use the tablet’s built-in camera and mic to communicate with viewers as well. Image credit: Adobe

Within Photoshop on iPad, users can now start a live stream via the Export menu. You can use the iPad’s built-in camera to interact with members of Adobe Behance. Live streams are sent to Behance automatically and Adobe will be moderating and posting selected recordings in the gallery on Behance and within the Photoshop on iPad app directly. There is also a new Behance Gallery within the app. This lets you view the work of others, watch live streams (including recordings), browse through Behance projects and share your own work. You can learn more by clicking here: Live streaming and gallery.

As you can see, there’s a lot new in Photoshop. You can learn more about all the new features and find links to additional information by reading this Adobe blog post.

This Friday, October 23, Terry White will be hosting a live stream at 11:00 AM ET in which he discusses all the new features of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for photographers. You can learn more about this live stream and set a reminder by clicking here. If you’d like to take part in Adobe MAX 2020, alongside more than 500,000 other registrants, you can sign up for different live events right here. There are a ton of great guests scheduled to appear this week, including celebrities such as Conan O’Brien, Chelsea Handler and Zendaya. Over the next three days, there are over 350 sessions, labs and creativity workshops, so be sure to check them out, it’s completely free to attend.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Adobe announces Photoshop and Premiere Elements 2021

08 Oct

Adobe has announced Photoshop Elements 2021 and Premiere Elements 2021. The applications are designed to provide powerful tools in a simple, easy-to-use interface. Adobe’s Sensei AI technology is also prevalent throughout both apps, delivering features such as adding motion to static images, fine-tuning the position of a person’s face, improving low-light video quality and more.

Looking first at Photoshop Elements 2021, there are quite a few new features. In addition to being able to transform a static image into moving photos with 2D and 3D motion using only a single click, users will be able to fine-tune face tilt and add quotes or personalized messages to images with templates.

In Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021, you can leverage the power of Adobe Sensei to fine-tune the tilt of a person’s face. Image credit: Adobe

Further, the existing Guided Edits feature has been updated with new edits, bringing the available total up to 58. When using a Guided Edit, the Photoshop Elements guides you step-by-step through different common editing situations and allows you to learn how to get the desired results. New Guided Edits include customized duotone effects; AI-powered landscape photo enhancement (including sky replacement, haze removal and object removal); and step-by-step help for moving, scaling and duplicating objects.

One of three new Guided Edits, Duotone allows you to apply custom two-color presets to your photos. Image credit: Adobe

In Adobe Premiere Elements 2021, users will be treated to GPU accelerated performance, resulting in faster high-quality playback of effects and improved performance when cropping video.

In addition to improved performance, there is a new Select Object feature. This allows you to select a specific object or area in your video and apply an effect that tracks across the entire video. If you want to add music to your videos, Adobe has added an additional 21 new music tracks you can select.

Adobe Premiere Elements 2021 includes GPU accelerated performance, promising faster editing and effect previews. Image credit: Adobe

In addition to the new Guided Edits for Photoshop Elements 2021, Premiere Elements 2021 includes a pair of new Guided Edits: Double Exposure and Animated Matte Overlays.

In both Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, users will be able to set up automatic back-up for their entire catalog structure, including albums, keyword tags, people, places, events and more. For a full breakdown of what’s new in Photoshop Elements 2021 and Premiere Elements 2021, click here.

In Premiere Elements 2021, you will be able to add a double exposure effect to your videos. Image credit: Adobe

Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements 2021 will each be available in the fourth quarter of this year for $ 99 USD, or you can purchase a bundle of the two applications for $ 149. Existing owners can upgrade individual apps for $ 79.99 or the two-app bundle for $ 119.99.

In order to run the apps on Windows, you must use Microsoft Windows 10 version 1903 or later. On Mac, macOS 10.14, 10.15 and macOS 11 are supported. For both Windows and macOS, Adobe recommends 8GB of RAM for editing photos, 16GB for editing Full HD video and 32GB or more for editing 4K video.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How To Save PNG in Photoshop (If Its Not Letting You)

02 Oct

You’ve got your creation exactly how you want it and now it’s time to save it. You want to save it as a PNG. However, when you go to save it, PNG does not appear in the list of file type options that you can choose. What do you do? Shaking your fist at your computer in frustration will do Continue Reading

The post How To Save PNG in Photoshop (If Its Not Letting You) appeared first on Photodoto.

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Adobe’s teases a new Sensei-powered Sky Replacement tool coming soon to Photoshop

21 Sep

Today, Adobe published a sneak peek video of its latest Sensei-powered feature coming soon to Photoshop, Sky Replacement.

Similar to the AI-powered sky replacement feature found in Skylum’s Luminar 4 editing program, Adobe’s new feature uses its Sensei AI to determine the foreground from the sky in an image and automatically masks the sky overlay to blend in seamlessly. While Photoshop will offer its own selection of presets, it’s also possible to import your own image of the sky.

Note how even the small details at the top of the structure are preserved and properly masked.

In addition to automatically masking out the sky, the Sky Replacement feature will also automatically tone the foreground of the image based on the color temperature of the sky being shown in the frame. As you can see around the two-minute mark of the above video, using a cooler part of the sunset in an image will result in a cooler foreground while using the warmer part of the sunset will give the foreground a warm, orange glow.

In addition to the automatic adjustments, there are also multiple parameters you can tweak yourself to ensure the sky looks exactly how you’d like. When you’re happy with the results, Photoshop will automatically create new layers for the masks and adjustments so you can further refine the image as you see fit.

Adobe doesn’t specify when we can expect to see this new feature in Photoshop.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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5 Reasons to Get Photoshop Express on Your Phone

02 Sep

The post 5 Reasons to Get Photoshop Express on Your Phone appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

Adobe has developed many Photoshop apps, but none are as popular as the desktop version (Photoshop CC). That said, maybe it’s time for this to change, at least for one of Adobe’s apps: Photoshop Express.

In this article, I’ll tell you five reasons why I recommend you give Photoshop Express a try.

Adobe decided to introduce three different apps to cover the full range of editing that Photoshop can offer: Photoshop Fix, Photoshop Mix, and Photoshop Express. In this article, I’m going to talk about Photoshop Express, and why I believe it’s worth downloading.

1. It’s free

Unlike the desktop version of Photoshop, you don’t need a Creative Cloud subscription in order to use Photoshop Express.

You can download the app for free, and you’ll get access to all the features and updates.

You do have to create an Adobe account, though (one that also allows you to use a limited version of Lightroom Mobile).

2. It’s social

A very important thing for a photo editing app is the social aspect. You want to snap and share photos with ease.

Adobe took this into account when designing the cropping tool. With Photoshop Express, you can crop your images using the array of predetermined sizes for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Etsy, and most other major social networks.

For example: When cropping for Facebook, you can choose from the Page Cover, the Event Cover, the Profile Cover, the Profile, or the Ad.

Photoshop Express Social Media Crop Sizes

Of course, you can then share your photo directly from the app. From there, you can also add a watermark, send the image to Creative Cloud if you are a subscriber, send the image to a printer, and more.

3. You control size and compression

Unlike many other editing apps, Photoshop Express lets you choose the size and quality of your file before saving or sharing it.

You can set a default JPEG Quality and a default Image Size in the Preferences of the app. To set this up, tap on the menu (in the top-left corner). Then go to Preferences and then Save Options.

You can also change size and quality in the final stage of your saving or sharing process. Before you choose the destination of your image, click on the settings below the thumbnail (so you can modify them).

4. You can work with RAW files

A RAW file is like a digital negative. It saves the information from the shot prior to processing; that way, you have much more to work with when you’re editing, and the quality will be superior.

Of course, this means that the file size will be bigger, so keep an eye on your storage space. If you have a camera, you probably know that each brand has its own RAW files. For example, Canon uses CRW/CR2/CR3, while Nikon uses NEF/NRW. A standard and open-source RAW format is a DNG file, which is what you get if you shoot using Lightroom Mobile.

Post processing RAW Files in Photoshop Express — On the left, you can see how a RAW file is clearly marked in the gallery. That one was shot using the camera from Lightroom Mobile. On the right, you see the post-processed version of that file (edited using Photoshop Express).

5. You can do all your post-processing

Last but not least, the editing capabilities of Photoshop Express are top-notch. After all, the app was created by a company that has been leading the post-processing market for decades.

That said, Photoshop Express won’t reach the level of editing that you can do with the desktop version of Photoshop. That’s why there are three apps.

However, if you consider that Photoshop Express is free and won’t take up all your phone storage space, it’s actually very good.

Photoshop Express post production — Snapshot made with a Redmi Note 8, later post-processed in Photoshop Express.

Also, Photoshop Express includes many presets for looks, effects, stickers, frames, etc. That way, you can do some serious post-processing, or you can just create fun posts for your social media feed.

Conclusion

With so many editing apps on the market, it’s difficult to make a choice; sometimes you end up downloading a different app for each purpose.

However, Photoshop Express has proven to be an all-purpose and well-rounded app.

And if you have an iPhone, you’ll get some additional features.

Share in the comments if you decide to try Photoshop Express, and let me know what you think.

The post 5 Reasons to Get Photoshop Express on Your Phone appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Ana Mireles.

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