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Photopea online image editor is a free Photoshop clone with advanced tools

09 Nov

Programmer Ivan Kutskir of the Czech Republic has created an online-based Photoshop clone called Photopea. The web app was created solely by Kutskir in his free time during college, according to a Reddit AMA the developer held on Wednesday. Photopea features a Photoshop-like interface and is supported by advertisements.

The Photoshop clone offers a wide variety of image editing tools, including advanced features like spot healing, a clone stamp healing brush, and a patch tool. The software supports layers, masks, smart objects, layer styles, filters, vector shapes and masks, and more. A full rundown of Photopea’s tools is available on the app’s website, as well as tutorials for select basic activities.

Photopea took more than 7,000 hours of work, according to Kutskir’s Reddit post. The web app had 1.5 million visitors in October and offers a premium subscription for customers who want to support the product. Free usage includes PSD importing and exporting, as well as access to the editing tools. The premium version includes those features, eliminates the advertisements, and helps support the developer.

A single-user premium subscription is $ 9/month or $ 20 for 90 days. The developer also offers team and distributor options. Photopea joins other free photo editing programs, including the web app Pixlr Editor and desktop application GIMP.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease

03 Nov

Ever wondered what Lomography is?

Have you seen Lomo images and wanted to know how to do it? Do you know what Lomo photography is but don’t want to go back to film or buy more cameras?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on to learn about Lomo, and how to achieve a hassle-free, totally digital image like it.

What is Lomo?

You’ve probably heard of this term or its more colloquial name Lomography. It became very trendy over the last decade, and there are even workshops, contests and more dedicated to it.

It refers to a style of photography made with a particular brand of camera from Austria called Lomo. Thus, the name of the technique comes from the camera brand. Different models create a different kind of image.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 1

What is Lomography?

Regardless of the model of camera, the make is mostly plastic including the lens.

Sometimes they have light leaks and allow very little control over the settings. Therefore, the results are fun and unpredictable. While technically they have photographic ‘flaws,’ it creates a particular style that created an entire visual culture around it – Lomography.

How to Mimic the Lomo Effect in Photoshop

As I’ve explained, Lomo photography can be unpredictable, and also includes different models of camera that create a different kind of photograph. Therefore there’s no specific set of rules.

I’ll mention some of the most common and characteristic effects of the Lomo cameras and how to achieve them using Photoshop. These are not set in stone. The fun part about real Lomo or digital Lomo effect is that you can be as creative as you want.

1. Vignette

Most of the images created with a Lomo camera, especially if made with long exposures, have a vignette.

To create a Lomo image in Photoshop, you need to duplicate the background layer by dragging the existing one to the bottom into the New Layer button, or by going to Menu-> Layer-> Duplicate Layer.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 2

Next, go to Filter-> Lens Correction (If you don’t immediately see it in your version of Photoshop, go inside ‘Distort’ to find it). In the ‘Custom’ tab, move the slider called ‘Vignette.’ Once satisfied, apply the filter.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 3

Duplicate this ‘Vignette’ layer. Go to Menu -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur. I’ll set it to 3 pixels, but this is entirely up to you.

Now use the ‘Eraser’ tool. Start to delete the center and slowly widen your moves towards the outside. We do this process because the edges are not super sharp in Lomo photography, due to the lenses often being made of plastic.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 4

2. Grain

Since Lomo cameras use film, you can give the illusion of analog photography by adding a little grain to the image. To do this, select the first Vignette layer and go to Menu -> Filter -> Filter Gallery- > Artistic -> Film Grain.

Again, the quantity is for you to decide as it’s an authors choice and not an exact recipe to follow. I’ll do 4 with an intensity of 3.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 5

3. Color Saturation

Finally, Lomo’s characteristic colors are overly saturated. To achieve this, while there are many ways in Photoshop, I like to do it channel by channel with the ‘Curves’ tool. Firstly, add an adjustment layer.

To do this, click on the button at the bottom of the Layer panel with the circle symbol, and choose ‘Curves’ from its pop-up menu. You can move around the settings in each channel separately by opening the ‘Preset’ drop-down menu as per the picture below:

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 6

You may continue adding some adjustment layers to keep modifying the effect. I added a ‘Gradient Map’ with an ‘Overlay’ blending mode. I also added a ‘Vibrance’ and ‘Saturation’ layer where I pushed the vibrancy up a bit more. Experiment until you are satisfied with your adjustments.

Remember that you can double-click any adjustment layer to open its properties and move the settings as many times as you want.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 7

Once your adjusts are set, go to Layer -> Flatten Image which will compact all the layers you created into one. If however, you’d like to keep your layered file first, save a copy of it before you flatten. Once your image is flattened, go to Menu -> Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask and apply it to your image.

Be careful not to exaggerate this because it will enhance the film grain from before. Just move the sliders while keeping an eye on the preview window.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 8

That’s it! Take a look at the before and after images below.

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 9

Before

How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease 10

After

Try out this technique for yourself, and show us what you come up with in the comments section below.

The post How to Mimic Lomography in Photoshop with Ease appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia

31 Oct

As you advance with your photography, you may want to edit your photographs with more precise control. In this article, I discuss how to use Lumenzia Luminosity Masking Panel to easily edit sections of your image using Luminosity Masks in Adobe Photoshop.

These masks allow you to control different aspects of your image without affecting others. You can manually create these luminosity masks, or you can use a product such as Lumenzia to make them for you automatically, as well as applying many commonly used adjustment layers in Adobe Photoshop.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 2

Hoar Frost on a River Stone after Using Luminosity Masks

Lumenzia is a luminosity masking panel that is an add-on application that works within Adobe Photoshop. It allows you to quickly create and efficiently use a wide range of luminosity masks for your image editing. To understand how Lumenzia works, because it is a little technical, you need to understand how Photoshop layers work.

Lumenzia, in its most basic terms, is used within Adobe Photoshop to allow you to manipulate images with layer masks. For this article, all the references and images are for Lumenzia V6.0. Lumenzia appears as a panel within Photoshop.

Lumenzia Panel

Luminosity Masks

Luminosity masks, also known as Luminescence masks, are a way of making advanced selections in Photoshop based on luminosity values. This method is particularly useful for images with a high dynamic range.

For example, let’s say we are looking at the hoar frost ice ball image. It is a bright object on a dark background, where the exposure is likely to have been selected for the darker areas rather than the ice ball, making the ice ball more gray than white. The image is uneven because the white section (the ice ball) is underexposed. We could make a second exposure, this time exposing to account for the ice ball and then smoothly blend the area of the ice into the darker background.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 4

Underexposed Original Hoar Frost Ice Ball

There are many ways to make selections in Photoshop, but in this particular example, Luminosity Masks would allow us to select the over-exposed area because it targets luminosity values (i.e., the brightness of an area), and smoothly blend in the darker exposure. The image below shows the luminosity histogram for this image.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 5

Ice ball histogram

Luminosity masks are incredibly powerful because you can manipulate specific parts of your image. As with all masks, the key to remember is that white reveals and black conceals. There are multiple uses for these types of masks including fine-tuning images, highlight recovery, HDR images, black and white imagery, and general masking uses.

Lumenzia is an add-on product for Photoshop CC that allows for the automation of using Luminosity Masks. The limits of what you use this tool for is related to your imagination and how far you want to manipulate images.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 6

Bonavista Harbour at Night – High Dynamic Range

What is a Luminosity Mask?

In general, there are two fundamental characteristics of the data contained in the photographic information in digital form: Chromatic (color, hue, and tint) and Luminosity (brightness). Luminosity masks focus on using the brightness of the information contained in the image data to allow you to manipulate portions of the image selectively.

There are some other great articles on dPS regarding Luminosity Masks. This being a fairly advanced concept, understanding how layers work in Photoshop is vital, or you may not understand much of this article.

Why use Luminosity Masks?

In times past and to this day, many photographers use techniques such as a white seamless background behind a portrait subject to allow for the background to be changed in post-production. Some other photographers use color to allow the background to replaced.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 7

Cute Puppy on White Seamless Background

The distinction between the two backgrounds is that the white background has different luminosity levels, making it easier to mask out the background manually. Colored backgrounds can create problems due to the color of the clothing worn and color from the background affecting the edges of the subject in the foreground. The lighting on the subject can also affect this. The colored background is a chromatic mask rather than a luminosity mask. Luminosity masks are used to solve this issue.

Again, layer masks always work on the premise that white reveals and black conceals.

Let’s look at three masks for the Ice Ball image:

‘Lights’ (L2) Mask (just from the high end)
‘Mid-tone’ Mask (just from the middle)
‘Darks’ mask (just from the darker end)

It’s the same image using the different masks. By using these masks, you can modify the image in those specific areas. The white areas are the selected areas of the histogram and the further you get from the selection, the darker the mask is. For the ‘Highlights,’ only the light values are white. For the ‘Mid-tone’ selection, only the mid-range values are white, making the highlights dark as well as the dark range. Finally, the ‘Darks’ selection shows the dark range in white.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 8

Lights 2 Mask

Mids 2 Mask

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 9

Darks 2 Mask

How do you create Luminosity masks?

There are three ways to create luminosity masks. Firstly, you could create your own (time-consuming) and then automate this process. Secondly, you could purchase Lightroom or Photoshop presets that have someone else create an automated process for you. The third way is an add-in product that works within Photoshop. Lumenzia is an add-in product that works well.

There are two issues with the first two methods of generating Luminosity Masks; the time it takes to set up and automate them and the size of the files that have them applied with layer masks. Using presets or actions to generate Layer Masks can significantly increase the size of the files within Photoshop because each layer is effectively an image. This process takes up hard drive space and can place extra processing power on your computer.

Lumenzia uses Vector Masks instead of Layer Masks to rapidly create the Luminosity Masks. It allows for the rapid manipulation of images and discarding of masks is easy. All while keeping the image size smaller and more flexible.

How does Lumenzia work?

Lumenzia is an exciting product on its own as it allows you to efficiently control and automate many tasks related to Luminosity Masks. It integrates into Photoshop CC as a panel with simple button commands – many of which have instructions as you hover over them.

It is a powerful tool, and while the initial concepts are simple, the learning curve for using the product efficiently may be steep for some. Luckily, there are also integrated video tutorials that are launched from within Photoshop directly from the panel (you require an internet connection for these to function). The purpose of this review is to give you a bit of an overview of how it works so you can see if it’s right for you.

The Lumenzia Panel

The majority of the panel shows the selections of the luminosity ranges you need – once you understand how to select the various luminosity levels. To illustrate, consider a standard histogram for an image.

The RGB histogram shows the distribution of all the luminosity levels from pure black on the far left and pure white on the far right. The Lumenzia panel is divided up into sections. The top portion of the panel is the luminosity mask selection and preview area that allows you to see what you have selected.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 10

Selection Portion of Lumenzia Panel

This top section divides up the luminosity ranges based on the ranges you are looking to use. Visually, the buttons give you a clear idea of the luminosity range that the buttons select. The buttons can be combined and inverted.

Once you press a selected range, a temporary selection appears and the layer buttons show.

Look at the luminosity histogram and notice the buttons visually show (on the same horizontal line) an approximate distribution of the luminescence values being selected.

The line of numbers (0-10), just above the bottom, is the zone values that Ansel Adams made famous as part of his processing technique.

Once you select a range, a preview appears with a set of orange tabs. These are just temporary to show you how the mask looks.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 12

Orange Preview Tabs

The second section is the ‘Apply Panel.’ This panel allows you to use the mask on a common set of adjustment layer commands within Photoshop, such as curves, levels, contrast, brightness, HSL, and selective color. It applies the masks you have selected by creating an adjustment layer with the layer controls set up from the mask. The properties of the adjustment layer can then be modified.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 13

Lumenzia Apply Panel

The third section is the ‘Refine Panel’ for refining the mask you have selected. It allows you to group and combine your selections as well as work with edge refinement. This section of the Lumenzia panel is suited for more advanced users.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 14

Refine Panel

Conclusion

Once you get familiar with Lumenzia, creating adjustment layers that work on your images with precision is fantastic. The online tutorials provide a wide array of examples of how to control all aspects of your images. The panels mentioned come with the full add-in program ($ 39.99 US), but there is also a basic free panel that helps you get a feel for how it works. The Lumenzia website can be found here.

Using Lumenzia to control your images can help you produce dynamic results for your images. Happy processing!

Have you tried Lumenzia? What results have you had with it? Please share with us in the comments below.

Making Photoshop Luminosity Masks Easy with Lumenzia 15

Wansford Bridge

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How to Customize and Use the Photoshop Gradient Tool

21 Oct

Despite its straightforward name, the gradient tool is incredibly flexible. You can customize practically every settings, and use it in many different ways.

In this article I’ll show you how to use it to its full potential.

The Gradient tool shares the same toolbar space as the Paint Bucket tool, so you may not see it at first glance. Click and hold the Paint Bucket tool to reveal the fly-out menu, then select the Gradient tool.

You use the Gradient tool to make a smooth transition between multiple colors. And one of the first things you can customize is the colors you want to transition between.

With the Gradient tool active, you’ll see a sample on the left-hand side of the options bar. Clicking the small arrow next to it will reveal the gradient picker that includes a number of preset gradients. And clicking the gear icon to the right of that will bring up the settings menu where you can:

load more presets
add new presets
customize the display window.

If none of the presets suit your needs, you can customize a new gradient by double-clicking the sample to bring up the Gradient Editor window. Here you’ll see a bar with the current gradient, along with a set of sliders you can use to create the gradient you want. The top sliders control the opacity, while the bottom sliders control the color. If you need more colors, simply click on the gradient where you’d like them to go.

As well as choosing the colors, you can also choose the start and end points of your gradient.

Next to the sample you’ll see five icons representing the five different types of gradients you can apply: Linear, Radial, Angle, Reflected and Diamond.

The Linear gradient will gradually transition your colors in a straight line from the start point to the end point.

The Radial gradient radiates out from the start point in the shape of a circle.

The Angle gradient will transition clockwise in the direction of the angle created by the line uniting the start and end points.

The Reflected gradient creates a mirror effect using the start point as the center.

Finally the Diamond gradient radiates out from the start point in the shape of a diamond.

Next to the gradient icons are two dropdown menus. The first lets you set the bending mode (how your gradient will affect whatever’s below it). The second reveals a slider that lets you control the gradient’s opacity.

Finally, you have three checkboxes:

Reverse, which reverses the color order of your gradient
Dither, which will make the transition smoother
Transparency, which will apply the opacity from the gradient.

In this example, the top half has the transparency option checked while the bottom half does not:

So now you know how the Gradient tool works and how to customize it. Now let me show you how you can use it to give your images a trendy look.

First, choose the photo you want to modify. While there’s no right or wrong here, some photos are a better fit for this kind of effect than others. (e.g. something that looks vintage, or an artsy portrait).

Next, make it black and white by applying the Black & White adjustment layer.

Next, add a new layer on top of this adjustment layer you just added by either selecting Layer -> New Layer from the menu or by clicking the New Layer button at the bottom of the layers panel.

Now, create your gradient in this layer, choosing whatever colors and angles you prefer.

Finally, set the Blending Mode to Screen.

The Gradient tool gives you endless possibilities for adding effects to your photos. Start experimenting, and have fun.

The post How to Customize and Use the Photoshop Gradient Tool appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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A fully-featured Photoshop is finally coming to the iPad

15 Oct

Earlier this year, Adobe Chief Product Officer, Scott Belsky, acknowledged Adobe was working on a full version of Adobe Photoshop for iPad. Today, we were given a glimpse into the fruits of its labor, with Adobe previewing Photoshop CC on iPad on stage at Adobe MAX 2018 in Los Angeles.

While much of the underlying code remains the same as its desktop counterpart, Adobe Photoshop CC on iPad is redesigned to be used on mobile devices, with a cleaner interface and buttons large enough to be tapped with a finger or stylus. Adobe Photoshop CC on iPad will also seamlessly sync with the desktop version of Photoshop CC via Creative Cloud so you can start on a project on one device and finish it up on another.

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To achieve this, Adobe had to create an updated version of its PSD file format it calls Cloud PSDs. In Adobe’s own words, “when we ship Photoshop on the iPad, [Cloud PSDs] will also run and automatically show up on your desktop…Suddenly, you’ll have this cloud-powered roundtrip experience akin to a Google Docs experience, where literally the source of truth of your Photoshop creation is in the cloud.” Gone are the days of having to figure out how to export files in a compatible format and send them to various devices.

The Verge was granted exclusive access to Photoshop for iPad and has created a wonderful first-look at what you can expect from it.

Adobe Photoshop CC on iPad won’t arrive until 2019. In the meantime, you can sign up for a chance to be included on the beta version on Adobe’s website.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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TourBox is a portable controller that speeds up Photoshop and Lightroom photo editing

13 Oct

A new Kickstarter campaign is seeking funding for TourBox, a controller designed for image processing software, including Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. The device features a knob, wheel, scroller, and multiple buttons, and is designed for use alongside a tablet or mouse.

TourBox’s controls are said to be precisely calibrated for ideal speed, accuracy, and acceleration, each button customizable for the creation of personal presets. With this controller, users are able to rapidly adjust brush size, hardness, flow, and opacity, as well as perform actions like zooming in and out and dragging an image.

The controller has a small, portable plug-and-play design that enables photographers to work on their content while away from the office. The device is compatible with both Windows and macOS.

The team behind TourBox is seeking funding on Kickstarter, where the campaign has exceeded its funding goal with more than a month remaining. Backers are offered the Early Bird TourBox for pledges of at least $ 89 USD. Shipping to backers is estimated to start in December 2018.

Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to do Focus Stacking in Photoshop for a Seemingly Infinite Depth of Field

02 Oct

Whenever you do macro or close-up photography you usually have to choose very carefully what you want to keep in focus. This can also happen when you want to shoot a landscape and you want to include an element close to you but you end up with a blurry background.

So it seems that doesn’t matter if you go big or small you always have to make compromises regarding the depth of field. However, there is a post-production way around it, stay with me and I’ll show you how to do focus stacking!

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field

First, what is depth of field?

Depth of field, commonly referred to as DoF, refers to the distance between the first and last object that appears in focus or sharp within an image. It covers the space in front of and behind the focal plane, in other words where you put your focus.

How broad this space or distance is can be determined by different factors: the aperture, the focal length of your lens and the physical distance between the camera and the subject.

Even if you have these three factors to move around in order to expand your depth of field, there are certain conditions that just won’t allow you to get as much DoF as you need. This is where Photoshop comes in, when you need to achieve an impossible or seemingly infinite depth of field.

While this is a post-production process, you need to consider and get it at the shooting stage as it’s not something you can achieve by fixing your photo later. You need to prepare several photos that you’ll stack together in order to create one fully focused image.

So basically what you need to do is shoot the image with different parts in focus. Everything else needs to remain the same, this means the same framing and settings and you ONLY adjust your focus in each shot.

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field - source images

A few tricks for shooting images for focus stacking

For best results in the post-production, it’s better to have good material to work with so I recommend using a tripod so that the framing is exactly the same in each image.
Adjust the focus manually and in order (like from closest to farthest) so that you don’t lose track and have a shot where every area of the photo wasn’t sharp at some point during the shooting. Think of it as bracketing the focus.
The more photos you take the better so that Photoshop will have enough information to form your final image.

Getting Started

Okay once you’re back at home base, download your photos to the computer. The first thing you need to do is open them all into the same file in Photoshop. You can do this by going to Menu > File > Scripts > Load Files into Stacks.

In the pop-up window, set it to use Files and then with the Browse button choose the set of photos you took. Check off the option “Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images”, especially if you didn’t use a tripod. But even if you did it’s useful to keep it checked to compensate for the focus breathing which is the change in scale when you re-adjusted the focus for each photo.

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field - load images into a stack

Once you have them all, just click Open and Photoshop will load them in the same file, each on a separate layer. The filenames will become the name of each of the layers.

Note: If you forgot to check the Attempt to Automatically Align Source Images in the step before, you can always do this by selecting the layers and going to Menu > Edit > Auto-Align.

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field - layers

Blending the layers

Now, select all of your layers. You can do this by clicking on the first one, then holding Shift+Click and click on the last layer. That way everything in between will get selected too. Now go to Menu > Auto-Blend Layers. A pop-up window will appear, check the “Stack Images” option and leave the Seamless Tones and Colors checked as well.

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field - auto blend

From there Photoshop will do all the work so you just have to be patient.

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field

I recommend that you zoom in and check the edges as you can find some problem areas that may require you to copy paste from the original files for fine-tuning, like this:

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field

Once Photoshop has your image pasted together, you can go to Menu > Layer > Flatten Image to compress all the layers into one. Finally, make any adjustments you need to the exposure or contrast to get your final result.

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field

This is the best way of doing focus stacking in Photoshop. However, if you find yourself outside the studio, without a tripod and unprepared, you can still give it a go. Just try to stay as steady as possible or you won’t achieve the required result.

For example, I took two photos, one where the small sculpture of the head in the foreground was focused and one where the background was focused. It was done without a tripod or any care about it leaving all for Photoshop to fix and as you can see it wasn’t able to align them.

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field

However, in these examples, I also used only two pictures and no tripod but I was very careful and did my best not to move at all except for my two fingers turning the focusing ring. Of course, it’s impossible to actually do that but it was good enough for Photoshop to do an acceptable result on my images.

So it’s not ideal but it can be done, never prevent yourself from trying!

Focus Stacking for an Infinite Depth of Field

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How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

25 Sep

Hailing from Russia, I give you…the Helios and its swirly bokeh.

How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop - Helios lens

Image by Markus Spiske

I know, it’s kind of an ugly duckling right? At the very least, Helios lenses are certainly not the shining example of classical grace and beauty that the company’s bestowed name might conjure forth. Instead, the true charm and appeal of these vintage lenses comes from what’s on the inside.

Due to their optical nature, Helios lenses can produce wonderfully swirly bokeh and backgrounds when shot at wide apertures.

How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop - image shot with Helios lens

Image by Mike Newton made with a Helios lens.

If you don’t happen to have a Helios lying around (they’re actually quite cheap) then I hope you will consider learning how easy you can simulate that swirly bokeh of this nifty little lens. You can do it right inside of Photoshop – here’s how.

What Kind of Images Work Best?

The charm of the Helios lens comes from separating the subject from the background with style. This means that just like any other time you want to blur out a background, the further you can place your subject from the objects behind it the more blurred the background will become.

The same is true for images you choose to simulate the “Helios effect” in Photoshop. Look for images with isolated subjects that can be easily separated from the background. This is the example we’ll be using for the demonstration.

How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop - example image for tutorial

Not only do swirly backgrounds complement images like these more so than others, but having easily identifiable borders between your subject and the background will make things much easier on you during the processing.

How to Create the Helios Effect

The key player in this edit will be a hidden little tool, or rather a filter, buried inside of the Blur Gallery portion of the Filter menu bar at the top of the window. You will use the Spin Blur Filter to give you that dreamy understated swirly bokeh background for which Helios lenses are so favored.

After you’ve got your image opened in Photoshop it’s time to begin the effect.

Duplicate the Layer

Make a duplicate copy of the background layer by using the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+J. Feel free to rename the duplicate layer as I’ve done here to help you keep track in case you’re working with more layers.

spin blur layer - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

Next, go up to menu bar you looked at earlier and go to Filter > Blur Gallery > Spin Blur… This will open up the blur gallery and it is here where you’ll do the actual blurring.

spin blur in the menu - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

You’ll notice quite a few options here in the spin blur gallery; the most important of which is the Blur Angle slider.

blur angle slider - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

This is how you will control the amount of simulated blur in your image. Think of the blur angle as the control for the degree of swirl in the background. Before you decide on how much blur you want to introduce to your image you first need to decide where you want the blur effect to be applied. Do this by adjusting the size and shape of the blur filter itself.

Adjust the Size and Feather Amount of the Filter

You can click and drag the outside of the filter to control its size and shape. How close the blur comes to the edges of the filter is controlled by the four larger dots shown here:

spin blur adjustment dots - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

Think of these dots as the way you dictate the feathering of the spin blur effect as it approaches the edges of the filter. Drag the filter out to just past each corner of the frame and then adjust the feathering accordingly.

Feel free to experiment with placing the center point of the filter at different locations within your image.

spin blur filter in action - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

Select the Blur Amount

As I’ve said, the largest variable you can control when applying your swirly bokeh background is the angle of the blur, which essentially dictates the amount of perceived spin blur. In most cases, a very small amount of blur angle works best, say maybe 2-4%.

Keep in mind that the true swirly bokeh from the Helios lens is generally subtle so keep the background blur in your simulated images somewhat subdued. Here’s our image with 4% blur angle applied.

4% blur applied - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

Keep in mind that the final determination of the amount of blur will be decided just a little later in the process by using the layer opacity. So it’s a better idea to add in a little too much blur than not enough at this point in your processing.

Also, keep in mind that you can also increase or decrease the amount of blur angle using the control wheel located at the very center of the filter. Once your blur is applied, click “OK” at the top of the screen.

NOTE: If you convert the layer into a Smart Object before applying the Spin Blur filter, the settings can be adjusted at any time as it will be a non-destructive edit.

Final Blur Adjustments Using Layer Masks and Opacity

Now that you’re back to the main editing window in Photoshop you can finish up your Helios-style blur effect by using layer masks and opacity to customize the blur.

Adjust the opacity of the spin blur layer by using the layer opacity slider until the effect reaches the desired amount you like for your particular image. In this case, I’ve set the opacity to a modest 70%.

layer at 70% opacity - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

Next, we’ll want to make sure the subject of the photo is free from the blur effect. To do this, add a layer mask to the spin blur layer.

add a layer mask - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

Then use the Brush tool to remove the blurring effect from the areas where it’s not needed. And viola! Your freshly minted Helios swirly bokeh simulation is complete!

final image butterfly and flowers - How to Simulate a Swirly Bokeh in Photoshop

Final Thoughts on Simulating Helios Bokeh

Acquiring an actual Helios lens is a surprisingly easy and budget-friendly method for adding a little uniqueness to your photography. Still, if you choose not to get a lens of your own, you can simulate the look of that classic Helios swirl by using the methods shown in this article.

Here are a few points to remember if you want to give the Photoshop Helios method a try:

Choose a photo with a subject that is relatively isolated on its focal plane.
Images with busy backgrounds work best.
A blur angle of 2-4% is adequate for most photos.
Center the blur around the main subject but don’t be afraid to move it elsewhere!
Control the final blur amount using the layer opacity slider and layer masks.

Simulating the swirly blurred backgrounds of the Helios is easy and quick in Photoshop using the spin blur filter.

Here are a few more examples of images which have been given the Helios effect using the techniques shown here.

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How to Create Custom Brushes in Photoshop

08 Sep

The Brush Tool in Photoshop is one of the most versatile and it can be used for many applications. It already comes with many useful brushes preloaded into the program and you can find even more online. But sometimes you just need to be more creative and have full control. Don’t you think?

Not to worry, another great thing about Photoshop is that you can create your own custom brushes. Let me show you how.

What is a Brush?

First things first, what exactly is a brush? It’s a tool used to draw strokes. You can find it in the toolbox or you can activate it by using its hotkey: B.

This tool is very flexible because you can adjust its shape, size, opacity and lots of other specs from the Presets panel. That multiplies the options far beyond the first array of choices that you see on the first menu.

Create custom Brushes Photoshop Tutorial Tool Options Presets

None the less, there are times that you need something you just can’t find pre-installed. For example, you can turn your signature or your logo into a brush, it doesn’t get more personal than that right? In just a few steps you can achieve this.

Make a Signature Brush

Open the image that contains your signature or logo, this can come from a scanned paper, for example, or the JPG version of a logo designed in a different program. Now that you have that opened, activate the Marquee tool to select the image. Just click and drag the selection around it and make sure you’re not grabbing anything else from the image.

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

Then go to Menu > Edit > Define Brush Preset and a new window will pop up where you can name your brush. Type any name you want, preferably something that will help you identify it later, and click OK.

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

Note: In the Brush Name window you’ll see a thumbnail with the preview of your brush, you’ll notice that the color (if it had any) is lost, that’s because brushes are grayscale, so it won’t register the colors of the original. You can, of course, apply any color when you use it though.

Now you have your new signature brush. Whenever you want to use it, just select the brush tool then open the drop-down menu from the options bar. You can also pick it from the Brush Presets panel which you can reach from the Window menu in case it’s not already opened.

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

Using the Custom Brush

You may be wondering why you need to turn it into a brush instead of just placing it as an image. This is because it gives you access to all the settings and controls of the brush tool. Just open the Brush panel and you’ll be able to change from color to size to spacing – anything you need for you to create patterns, watermarks and more!

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

That’s just how easy you can turn any image into a custom brush. But how about creating one from scratch?

Create a New Custom Brush

First, open a white canvas and draw the shape you want to turn into a brush. To do this you can use any of the Shape tools or even other Brushes. For example, I’ll make a simple sparkle. For that, I just need four lines using the Line tool and a round brush with very soft edges in the center so that it has a glow effect.

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

Remember that color is not registered so it doesn’t matter which colors are you using to draw your shape. Just know that anything in white won’t be part of the brush as it will translate as transparent. Now to turn it into a brush just follow the steps that you did before. Menu> Edit > Define Brush Preset. Click name it.

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

Now your custom brush is done, grab it from the menu like any other brush. It’s very easy to create but its use can be as elaborate as you need since it has a lot of possibilities. Let me give you some tips to make the most of it.

Tips and Tricks

You can quickly access some of your brush’s most used properties like size, hardness and opacity from the Options Bar or get a lot more control if you open the brush panel. Regardless of whether you created the brush or it came with Photoshop, you can adjust its presets in the brush panel.

A quick overview of the presets I find more useful:

Brush tip: Apart from the size and hardness that you can also find in the Options Bar, here you can also adjust the roundness and angle of the brush.

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

Scattering: this is as straightforward as the name suggests. With this option, you can place the brush more randomly, thus, scattering it.

How to Create a Custom Brushes in Photoshop

You can also change the blending mode of the brush in the drop-down menu. This changes the way the brush stroke interacts with the object directly below, which could be an image or a previous brush stroke. However, I prefer to leave it as Normal and put the new brush strokes on their own layer and then alter the layer’s blending mode, that way I can always come back and change it later if need be.

Opacity and Flow: Both of these refer to the amount of paint that you are applying. However, with opacity, it won’t add more paint if you pass over the same area many times unless you release the click and start again. While flow will keep adding paint regardless.

Over to You

I hope you found the tutorial useful and give your creativity a go with some custom brushes of your own!

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How to Make Image-Filled Shapes in Photoshop

28 Aug

Photoshop may not be primarily a graphics program but it still comes with very useful tools for that kind of work. For example, making image-filled shapes.

It doesn’t matter if you’re doing some professional job like web design for your business or something personal like a birthday card, you’ll often need to constrain your photo to fit within a specific shape. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to do that with just a few clicks.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Intro1

Create a Shape

First, you need your shape. You can easily create one with the Shape tool from the toolbox. You can click and hold to display the menu with your choices. In this first menu, you’ll have some basic shapes like rectangle, ellipse, line, polygon and a customize shape tool.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Shape Tool

If you choose the custom shape you’ll have a second menu with all your possibilities for that. You can access it in the options bar at the top. If you don’t see many choices, just click on the bracket on the right and click All from the menu that will open; this will load all the preset shapes. If you download any new shapes from the Internet you’ll also found them in this menu.

Image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Custom Shape

To draw the shape you chose on a blank canvas, just click and drag until it reaches the size you want, then let go. Whenever you draw a shape on your canvas you can choose to use Fill and Stroke from the options bar. In this case, the filling will be your photo, so set the Fill as black so that your image will be constrained to the shape that you chose.

Here’s how you can do it:

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Draw Shape

Add Your Image

Now that you have your shape you need to bring in the image to fill it. Go to Menu > File > Place. This will open a browser window so you can choose the file from your computer. Choose the one you want and click OK. This photo will be imported into your project as a new layer.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Place Image

Clipping Mask

Now you just have to go to Menu > Layer > Create Clipping Mask. This can also be achieved by clicking Alt + Ctrl (PC) or Cmd (Mac) + G at the same time.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Clipping Mask

Note: If you were following my steps exactly then the image was placed as a layer at the top. However, if you are working with a complex project with many layers or if you followed the instructions in a different order this might not be the case.

If that happens, then you do need to take an extra step. Just drag and position the image layer on top of the shape layer in the Layers panel for the Clipping Mask to work as you want.

As a result, you’ll only see the photo through the shape and the best part is that the process is non-destructive. In other words, you did not cut out your photo, the rest of it is just hidden underneath which gives you two advantages.

First, you can reposition your photo to best fit the shape. If you click on the Move tool from the Toolbox you can just click and drag the image so that it gets placed in the best possible way. You can also use any of the transformation tools to resize or rotate it until you are happy with the result.

Second, you can work on the shape as well without worrying about damaging your photo or showing any empty canvas because the photo is complete and untouched underneath.

image-filled shapes Photoshop tutorial Free Transform

Extra tip

You can do as many image-filled shapes as you want in the same canvas, as they will just be stacked as additional layers. For example, you can add text to your project.

To do that, instead of using the Shape Tool go to the Type tool and select a font type broad enough to make the effect noticeable. Then repeat the process of placing an image (it can be a different photo than the one you used for the shape) and creating a clipping mask.

image-filled text Photoshop tutorial

And again, since the image is intact underneath, you can come back and edit the text anytime you want. Have fun!

image-filled text Photoshop tutorial edit type

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