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Useful Photoshop Tips And Tricks For Photo Retouching

By Dirk Metzmacher March 9th, 2011 Photoshop, Retouching, Techniques 95 Comments

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When it comes to designing in Photoshop, there is a myriad of ways one could use to achieve a certain result, especially when it comes to photo retouching. Designers use technique they are most confident as well as comfortable with, which is great because its always useful to peek into the workflow of our colleagues and learn new design approaches. We have had articles on cloning, compositing, masks and obscure Photoshop time-savers in the past. This article is different. Ill be covering some of the useful techniques and tricks which Ive learned from my experience. You may know some of them, but hopefully not all of them. All images used in this article were purchased and are used according to their licenses. The second part of this post will be published in 2 weeks. Here is a short overview of the techniques well be covering:

Naturally Increased Light Simulate Infrared Images Levels Color Look With An Adjustment Layer Controlling Mid-Tone Contrasts

Sunset Creating Smiles Colorful Water Drops Skin Color Matching Skin Tones Reducing Noise Retro Look With Curves Identifying Layers Conserving Resources Classy Sepia Look Precise Positioning Applying Layer Styles Multiple Times

Naturally Increased Light

The light of the sun creates texture. There are shadowy areas and spots where the sunlight can shine without interference. To control the intensity, you can draw more light onto a separate layer or increase already existing light. Create a new layer by going to Layer New Layer, or by pressing Shift + Control + N on Windows or Shift + Command + N on a Mac. Set the blending mode to Color Dodge and the opacity to about 15%.

Increase light on a separate layer. Then use the brush tool with a soft brush, and hold the Alt/Option key to pick up colors from the area that you want to brighten. Continue to brush in some light, picking up appropriate colors if the background changes. This way, you increase not only the light, but the saturation, which makes for more realistic results.

The blending mode Color Dodge creates realistic results.

Simulate Infrared Images

Open a photo in Camera Raw; you can do this either in Bridge, using the right mouse key and clicking Open in Camera Raw, or directly in Photoshop, by selecting File Open as Smart Object. Apply basic adjustments to optimize your image (for example, with the Recovery and Fill Light slides), then switch to the HSL/Grayscale tab. Check Convert to Grayscale, and set the Blues down to around -85. Set the Greens to +90 and the Yellows to +20. Trees and bushes should now shine in the typical white, and the sky should appear almost black. If you want to go on and simulate some grain, switch to the Effects tab, and enter 15 for the amount, 20 for size and 80 for roughness. You could also apply a Vignette. Here I used -30 for the amount, 40 for the midpoint and -35 for roundness.

Its almost like an infrared image.

Levels
When applying a Levels adjustment, you can set black and white points in order to decrease color tints, but where are the darkest and brightest spots in the image? Go to New Adjustment Layer Threshold to find those areas. This function is available under the Layer menu. Move the slider so far to the right that only a few white spots remain in the document. Use the Color Sampler tool and set down a point there. Move the slider to the left until only a few black spots remain, and set a second point down there. One could also find a neutral gray in the image by using a Threshold adjustment layer. Add a new blank layer between the original image and the threshold adjustment layer, and fill this layer with 50% gray. Go to Edit Fill or press Shift + F5, then select 50% Gray under Contents and click OK.

Here is the threshold adjustment layer at work. Change the blending mode of this layer to Difference. Select the Threshold adjustment layer again and move the slider all the way to the left. Slowly move the slider back to the right until black dots start to appear. These are the neutral gray areas in the image (if neutral grays are present). Add a Color Sampler spot. Now delete both the threshold adjustment layer and the 50% gray layer. Create a new adjustment layer, Levels. Use the first Eyedropper tool to click on the darkest area, then use the third Eyedropper on the brightest area.

Heres a before-and-after comparison. Now you can use the gray Eyedropper tool on the third Color Sampler spot. The color tint will be decreased. Color Sampler spots can be deleted by dragging them off the canvas with the Color Sampler tool.

Color Look With An Adjustment Layer

Go to the Layer menu, and then New Adjustment Layer Hue/Saturation, and set the blending mode to Soft Light and check Colorize. Use the Hue, Saturation and Lightness sliders to control the color: for a cool look, for example, set the hue at 210, the saturation at 50 and the lightness at 10; for a warm look, set the hue at 30, the saturation at 30 and the lightness at 5.

Here is Hue/Saturation and Color Fill. Alternatively, you could use several color layers. Create them from the layer palette with the New Fill/Adjustment Layer button. Choose a color, then set the blending mode to Vivid Light. Reduce the opacity to about 12%, and invert the layer mask with Control/Command + I. Paint in the colored light with a big brush and white color. This works especially well for the lighting in portraits that have a textured background.

Heres the Color Look with an Adjustment Layer.

Controlling Mid-Tone Contrasts

To increase detail in landscape shots, boost the mid-tone contrast. Copy the background layer with Control/Command + J, and then click on Filter Convert for Smart Filters in the menu. Then go to Filter Other High Pass and enter a radius of 3 pixels. Change the blending mode to Overlay and double-click the layer next to its name to open the Layer Style window.

Layer Style window: This Layer For the first gradient, This Layer, split the sliders by holding the Alt/Option key and trim the layer effect to the 50/100 and 150/200 ranges. As soon as you move the sliders, youll see where those numbers are. This increases contrast only for the mid-tones. Double-click the High Pass filter in the layer palette to bring the dialog box up again in order to adjust the radius to your liking.

Check out these mid-tone contrasts.

Sunset
A sunset, especially at sea, can be an amazing color spectacle. The hues will depend heavily on the weather, though but you can push them a bit with a gradient map. Click on the New Fill/Adjustment Layer button in the Layer palette and select Gradient Map from the list. Click on the gradient to open the Gradient Editor.

Gradient Map Click on the first color patch below the gradient, and change the color to red. Set the color patch on the opposite side to yellow, and click OK. Set the blending mode to Soft Light and reduce the opacity to about 50%. This will create a warm, almost golden sunset.

Observe the movement from a blue to a golden sunset.

Creating Smiles
Roughly select the area around the mouth with the Polygon Lasso tool. Go to Select Modify Feather, and enter a radius of 10 pixels. Confirm, then click on Layer New Layer via Copy (or press Control/Command + J), then Edit Puppet Warp. Photoshop will put a mesh over the entire layer in the shape of your previous selection.

Heres the mesh over the layer. You can control the size of the mesh with the Expansion value in the Options bar. Increase the density to More Points for increased precision. Press Control/Command + H to hide the mesh, then set the first pins to the corners of the mouth. Add more pins to distinctive spots of the mouth. By clicking and dragging the mesh, you can shape a nice smile.

Colorful Water Drops

Macro shots of water drops are appealing, and shapes can be further accentuated with discreet coloring. You could treat the bland surface with a linear gradient from #772222 (RGB 119, 34, 34) to #3333bb (RGB 51, 51, 187). If the photo is on a layer of its own, click on Layer Layer Style Gradient Overlay or double-click the layer next to its name.

Layer Style: Gradient Overlay Set the blend mode to Color, the opacity to 50%, the gradient to Foreground to background color and the angle to 90%. The gradient will be saved as a layer style, so you can come back at any time to adjust the values. Double-clicking the style name opens up the dialog window once more.

See the colorful drops with optimized colors.

Skin Color
If the skin is not quite perfect after retouching, it might be because of the general hue. You can control it by going to New Adjustment Layer Hue/Saturation. Click on the miniature mask, and press Control/Command + I to invert the mask.

Adjustment Layer: Hue/Saturation Using white color and a soft brush, paint over the skin areas so that only they get treated. For the adjustment, switch from Standard to Reds (found in the Hue drop-down menu of the Adjustment layer), and use the Hue, Saturation and Lightness sliders to adjust the skin color. Switch to Yellows and optimize the skin tone. Getting the colors exactly right depends very much on the image material. Rely on your common sense.

Optimized skin tones

Matching Skin Tones

A sunburn or a blush can disrupt a portrait, especially if there is a contrasting pale person nearby. Photoshop has a tool to correct that: Match Color offers control over skin tones. Open your image and use the Quick Selection tool to roughly select the red skin areas. You can hold down the Alt/Option key and subtract areas from the selection. Click on Select Modify Feather and enter a value of about 15 pixels. Use the Control/Command + J shortcut to copy the selection to a new layer.

Adjustments: Match Color Using the same technique, copy the non-reddened skin to a new layer. In the next step, youll have to differentiate between the source layer and the layer to edit, so rename these two layers meaningfully; all it takes is a double-click on the layer name. You could use the naming scheme shown here and call them Beautiful skin and Reddened skin. Activate the layer with the red skin, and select Image Adjustments Match Color from the menu. For Source, select the current document, and for Layer, select the one with the beautiful skin. Control the effect using the Luminance and Color Intensity sliders in the Image Options area. Once you confirm, you can control the effects strength with the Opacity slider.

Paler skin after Match Color

Reducing Noise
Noisy images are annoying. One way to reduce noise is through the channels. Copy the background layer by pressing Control/Command + J, switch to the Channels palette, and select the channel that shows the least noise. Drag that channel down to the New Channel icon (next to the trash can) and go to Stylize Find Edges. Then apply a Gaussian Blur with a radius of about 3 pixels.

Look at this copy of the red channel. Click on the new channels miniature icon while holding the Control/Command key to select the content. Activate the RGB channel (top-most), and switch back to the Layers palette. When the duplicated background is selected, click on the Add Layer Mask icon. Click on the Layer Miniature icon, and select Filter Blur Surface Blur from the menu. Play around with the Radius and Threshold sliders until the noise has been reduced as much as possible. Thanks to the mask you created, the contours are safe.

With and without noise

Retro Look With Curves

Go to Layer New Adjustment Layer Curves and switch from RGB to Reds. Then drag the line downwards a little for the shadows and upwards for the highlights, creating a slight S curve. Do the same for the Greens. For the Blues, drag the highlights down a little and the shadows up (for an inverted S shape). The shadows should now be slightly blue-ish, the highlights slightly yellow-ish.

Adjustment Layer: Curves Create a new layer with Shift + Control/Command + N, and fill it with #000066 (RGB 0, 0, 102). Set the blending mode to Exclusion. Now copy the background layer by clicking it and pressing Control/Command + J. Set the blending mode for this copy to Soft Light. To decrease the effect overall, activate the top-most layer and then click on the background copy while holding the Shift key, thereby selecting both layers. Alternatively, you can add them to a group with Control/Command + G. Reduce the layers (or groups) opacity. Note that in Photoshop versions prior to CS5, youll have to reduce the opacity for each layer individually.

Achieve a simple retro look in a few steps.

Identifying Layers
If youre ambitious with your collages, then youll be familiar with this problem: meaningful layer names are often neglected during the creative process. This can result in layer names like Layer 4 and Layer 5 Copy 2, which are not very helpful when you need to quickly identify the contents of a layer. Photoshop offers a number of solutions for our laziness. For example, you can click on the element you want to select by using the Move tool and holding the right mouse key; youll see which layer contents are below the tool. Photoshop will display a list in a drop-down menu, from which you can easily select the desired element.

Right click with the Move tool with the Move tool selected and, in most cases, youll select the corresponding layer of the element that your mouse is over (unless Photoshop cant distinguish between the multiple layers).
Control/Command + left-click

You could also Control/Command + left-click on a layers miniature icon to get a selection of the content of that layer. The marching ants will show you what is on that layer and where it is. Another option is to click on the Layer palettes Options icon, in the top-right corner, and select Layers Palette Options. From here you can adjust the size of the layers miniature preview and concentrate the miniatures content to the layers bounds, which should cut down on future guesswork when it comes to layer contents.

Layers Palette options

Conserving Resources
Plug-ins save time, but theyre a bit resource-hungry; at least, they lengthen Photoshops start-up time. Your plug-ins might have functionality that you rarely use, so deactivate them until you need them. To do so, create a new folder by going to Adobe Adobe Photoshop CS5 (or whatever your version) and name it something like Plugins_deactivated.

After disabling some plug-ins. Now move all of the extensions that you dont need for the moment. When you restart Photoshop now, those plug-ins wont load, so the program will start up quickly. Your RAM will be relieved. Because you neither deleted nor uninstalled the plug-ins, theyre available to use anytime. If you need them, just move them back to the plug-in folder.

Classy Sepia Look

The sepia look is an absolute classic. To enhance a black and white image with a classy sepia tone, follow these steps. Click on Layer New Adjustment Layer Photo Filter, and select the Sepia filter, with a density of 100%. Double-click the layer (not the layer name) to open up the Layer Style window. This will show the Blending options.

A view of the Layer Style window. At the bottom of the dialog box for the first gradient, move the white slider to the left while holding the Alt/Option key. This creates a smooth transition between adjusted and unadjusted areas. The sepia will now look elegant.

Subtle sepia

Precise Positioning
Im sure youve often been irritated by Photoshops tendency to position elements on its own, but the program is just trying to help you align an element that is on its own layer with the outer edge of the document or with the edge of another object. To your frustration, the layers content will jump to the edge, even though you wanted to leave a few pixels of space in between. You can temporarily deactivate the automatic snapping by holding the Control/Command key as you position.

A banner, close to the edge.

Applying Layer Styles Multiple Times

Usually, layer styles can be applied only once. For example, if you click on Layer Layer Style Drop Shadow, you cannot create a double drop shadow, one of which has an angle of 120, a distance of 2 pixels and a size of 2 pixels, and the other of which has an angle of 180, a distance of 12 pixels and a size of 12 pixels. Actually, it is possible! It just requires a little detour. Create the first drop shadow as you normally would. Then right-click on the layer and select Convert to Smart Object from the menu. This smart object can be assigned another drop shadow, and you can convert the smart object into yet another smart object. This way, you can easily add a third and fourth drop shadow. Alternatively, you could apply multiple strokes.

Three shadows in combination. By the way, to put one or even several styles onto their own layers at once, right-click on the FX symbol and select Create Layer from the list. Now you can apply filters to these styles, but they wont be editable anymore. Stay tuned The second part of this post will be published in 2 weeks. Please stay tuned and subscribe to our RSS-feed and join us on Facebook. Huge thanks to Carlos Lanenga for his valuable suggestions for this article. What kind of techniques would you prefer to see in articles on SmashingMag? Photoshop techniques Illustrator techniques Fireworks techniques Indesign techniques Flash techniques Other (see my comment) View Results Share ThisPolldaddy.com

(al) (ik) (vf) Tags:PhotoshopRetouchingTechniques Back to topShare on Twitter

Dirk Metzmacher Dirk Metzmacher is a professional Photoshop trainer and book author with over 10 years of experience. He is also the creative mind behind (Photoshop-Weblog), a blog about techniques, tutorials and resources related to Adobe Photoshop. Advertising

95 Comments Best Comments

1. 1

Jean Labelle
March 9th, 2011 4:44 am These are a great resource! Thank you for sharing. Reply +6 2. 2

Toby
March 9th, 2011 5:01 am Hi Dirk! Thank you for this great resource! Reply +1
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Dirk
March 9th, 2011 12:56 pm Youre welcome. Reply 0 3. 4

Abhi
March 9th, 2011 5:04 am Wow such a great tips I really like the tips Keep posting such a useful posts. Reply 0 4. 5

Rob
March 9th, 2011 5:08 am Wow great job on putting this together, these are sure to help in the future! Thanks a ton for all of this! Reply 0 5. 6

Steve Raglin
March 9th, 2011 5:12 am A variety of useful tips all offered with precise steps most helpful! Reply 0 6. 7

Christopher Bailey
March 9th, 2011 5:16 am Excellent tips! Thanks for sharing! Reply 0 7. 8

David Pexton
March 9th, 2011 5:31 am Sorry, am I the only one on here who thinks the example on how to create a smile post looks utterly terrible? Im a big believer of getting these things right in camera first. Reply +2 8. 9

Elrosa
March 9th, 2011 5:56 am Dont worry, David, Ive got the same feeling :-) the tip itself is OK, but the result looks a bit odd. Ive got the very same facial expression when someone tells me hey, smile for the camera!, but believe me, its not a smile. Its more like an evil grin (Im not photogenic and I dont like to be photographed). Reply +1 9. 10

Tomasz
March 9th, 2011 6:08 am I would like to see more 3D techniques and Flash techniques for programmers/designers (in that order =;])

Reply 0 10. 11

easwee
March 9th, 2011 6:25 am Applying Layer Styles Multiple Times tons of kisses for this! Reply +2 11. 12

Tuan
March 9th, 2011 6:44 am As usual, Smashing Magazine has created another wonderful post. Thank you for this very useful post. As someone who doesnt use PS everyday, this is very good to reference. Thank you! Reply +4 12. 13

Jessica
March 9th, 2011 7:02 am I love the noise reduction tip! thank you :)

Reply +1 13. 14

Bruce
March 9th, 2011 7:16 am Excellent post, and I see value in the techniques for those folks who use GIMP as well. Reply 0 14. 15

Dave
March 9th, 2011 7:40 am Multiple styles! Awesome! Now if I can just convince work to upgrade from CS :/ Reply 0 15. 16

Oliver Hutz
March 9th, 2011 7:44 am Dead straight great! Reply

+1 16. 17

Hannah
March 9th, 2011 7:45 am Overall good article and good tips. Is it just me, or do the reducing noise comparison pictures look exactly the same??? Reply 0
o

18

Dirk
March 9th, 2011 12:55 pm It is a subtle difference. Pay attention to the shade areas. Reply +1
o

19

mark
March 15th, 2011 8:03 am Yeah, I kind of thought the same thing. Was wondering if this was an Emporers New Clothes syndrome ;-)

Reply +1 17. 20

Liz
March 9th, 2011 8:13 am Some nice tips, but I think it could have done with some more before/after comparisons. And agreed with the noise one maybe could have been more zoomed to show the difference? Reply 0 18. 21

Jamie Solorio
March 9th, 2011 9:13 am Thank you so much for all the helpful tips, I cant wait to go through each and every one. And am looking forward to part two! Reply 0 19. 22

deborah
March 9th, 2011 9:43 am

Where was the beautiful boat picture taken ??? Reply 0

o

23

Dirk
March 9th, 2011 12:52 pm It was taken in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Reply +2 20. 24

Jay
March 9th, 2011 10:53 am There are a handful here I didnt even know about! Very useful, thanks for these :). Reply 0 21. 25

Dizzle
March 9th, 2011 11:56 am

Awesome post! Would like to see the before and after picture to see the full effect. Cant wait for #2 :P Reply +1 22. 26

Alessandro
March 9th, 2011 12:03 pm Great great great! I liked them all. Especially the tip of moving the plug-in in a newly created folder to save memory. Reply 0 23. 27

David
March 9th, 2011 12:52 pm The best article Smashing has had to date. My only want would have been before-andafter comparisons (perhaps some close-ups of specific effect areas) for all styles. Still an amazing article. Reply +5 24. 28

Roberto Riutort

March 9th, 2011 2:19 pm Great article! Anyway to prevent the layers folder opening/expanding when selecting a layer. Sometime I have a lots of layers and duplicates while in the design process. But when I click on a layer the folder will expand and highlight the layer. Nothing wrong with that, but I would like just to select/highlight the folder within the layer similar to Fireworks or Illustrator. Reply +1 25. 29

phenomenia
March 9th, 2011 2:23 pm Excellent post! I want more of that kind. Thanks for sharing. Reply 0 26. 30

Steffi - Web Courses Bangkok

March 9th, 2011 8:40 pm Awesome and very useful Reply 0 27. 31

Jose
March 9th, 2011 10:22 pm thanks Dirk! The results are great looking! Reply +2 28. 32

Nikita
March 9th, 2011 10:32 pm Hi Dirk, Thanks a lot for sharing such useful tips & tricks for photo retouching.. I am always in search of all these stuffs.I love theCreating Smiles section. It will be more helpful , if you tell us about how to make teeth more white and shiny and how to make them in a level? Reply +5 29. 33

Mahmoud
March 9th, 2011 11:50 pm Very very useful thanks a lot.. Reply

+1 30. 34

onearmfrog
March 10th, 2011 1:17 am Wow. Extremely useful! Thanks! Reply 0 31. 35

Gajes
March 10th, 2011 3:00 am Very useful tips. I am only missing the theory behind some of these techniques. Now I know how to apply and create effects, but I do not exactly understand why Photoshop renders the results like that. But a very useful set of resources in any case! Reply +1 32. 36

web3mantra
March 10th, 2011 3:17 am Thanks for sharing this post.I like this post.It contains great collections of useful photoshop tips and tricks for photo retouching.

Reply 0 33. 37

ptitgraig
March 10th, 2011 7:06 am Thanks so much for this post. Ive been looking for something like this for a while ! Great, God Bless you Reply +2 34. 38

megan
March 10th, 2011 1:51 pm love the tips many are useful! I would have liked to see more before and afters, though Reply -1 35. 39

Phillipe Calmet Williams

March 10th, 2011 7:48 pm These tips + tricks are great Thanks for sharing :D

Reply +1 36. 40

Bruce Galpin
March 10th, 2011 10:25 pm Awesome Id just been wondering how to touchup photos in Photoshop Now I know! Thanks Reply +2 37. 41

Besir Aliti
March 10th, 2011 11:00 pm Now, I really have to buy a good DC for practicing these wonderful shared tips and tricks for photo retouching :D Thanks Reply +2 38. 42

Rudi
March 10th, 2011 11:11 pm

Hi Dirk, great tips and tricks, please keep em coming! Maybe have some Lightroom tutorials as well? Reply +3 39. 43

CJ Spencer
March 11th, 2011 12:04 am Just when I think I know Photoshop fluently you give us this :) Great article guys! Reply +2 40. 44

BRIAN
March 11th, 2011 1:07 am great tips now i definately know better thanx. Reply +2 41. 45

Dianne
March 11th, 2011 3:13 am

The creating smiles is ingenious I have so many photos where one person is looking so grumpy the entire photo gets rejected. With a minimalist warp on eyebrows and mouth, the problem is solved. Thanks so much for the idea Dirk. Reply +2 42. 46

George T
March 11th, 2011 5:01 am Very nice and simple tutorials, but your noise reduction tutorial will totally kill sharpness so i dont recommend it applying it to over DSLR quality images Reply +1
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47

Dirk
March 11th, 2011 1:13 pm Pay attention to the quality of the mask. And always use Surface Blur, no other Blur. Then it should work. Reply +2 43. 48

cdshines

March 11th, 2011 5:25 am Any After Effects tutorials? In your unique style hi-quality, simple to understand and useful, please, if you can. Reply +2 44. 49

Pedro Matos
March 11th, 2011 8:59 am Amazing and really sharp tips. Reply +2 45. 50

Will Lockyear
March 11th, 2011 11:24 am SHHH stop giving away the secrets! everyone thinks im some sort of god because i can use a high pass filter and curves haha. it will ruin the fun if everyone can do it :) jk great tips man Reply +1 46. 51

National Juris
March 11th, 2011 1:45 pm Hi! I use photoshop on a weekly basis.the tips are awesome and not confusing like many book I have bought!! Reply 0 47. 52

kari
March 11th, 2011 3:51 pm Very impressive tutorial on many applications that can be put to great use in Photoshop!!!! Thank you Reply 0 48. 53

Lokesh
March 11th, 2011 8:06 pm Great tutorials, I will surely try them Reply 0 49. 54

Alex
March 11th, 2011 10:45 pm Well as a fellow photo retoucher its great to see good (non-destructive workflow) photoshop tuts on here! Thanks. Reply 0 50. 55

G.D.Abir
March 12th, 2011 3:55 am Great tips !!! U r so sexy !!! Reply +1
o

56

Dirk
March 12th, 2011 6:59 am Well, thank you! ;-) Reply +1 51. 57

Angga
March 12th, 2011 5:02 am I can say this post is easily my favorite post ! its easy, straight forward, with a nice effect too !! thanks a lot for the author who spend times writing this tutorial and share it with us ! Reply +2 52. 58

Jauhari
March 12th, 2011 7:31 am Awesome Photoshop Tricks ever seen. Reply +1 53. 59

Ross
March 12th, 2011 8:17 am Amazing tips. I do wish you had before and after though for the ones that needed it. Reply +1 54. 60

Justin Henriksen
March 13th, 2011 10:17 am Great to see the return of the photo techniques! Reply +1 55. 61

Kanchan Rai
March 13th, 2011 10:27 pm Thanks for the wonderful collection!! They are short, clear and very useful!! Im sure Ill be using a lot of them in the future!! Reply 0 56. 62

rob
March 13th, 2011 11:39 pm thanks for the post. however i think they are great but the explanation is very weak, i think step by step works better in this cases, i like a lof of them but i dont see the final image, or it is just not clear enough. Reply +3 57. 63

Vladislavs Judins
March 14th, 2011 2:16 am This is the must have in your bookmarks. Just remember that these are just examples of using tools, your creativity is the one that leads to excellent (and paid) results. Reply +2 58. 64

Maicon Sobczak
March 14th, 2011 2:53 am Wonderful article. Definitely improved my knowledges about Photoshop. More of that please. Reply +2 59. 65

jeremiah Selengia
March 14th, 2011 5:30 am Great article, came at the right time. It is great to see photoshop elements in use from other peoples perspectives. Looking forward to part two! Reply

+2 60. 66

Stephen Kistner
March 14th, 2011 5:01 pm Amazing!! I was wondering how to do some of these things Reply +1 61. 67

Onigiri
March 14th, 2011 11:08 pm Excellent! Very helpful, thank you very much :X Reply +1 62. 68

Deepa
March 15th, 2011 12:14 am Thanks for the amazing tips!! Just wondering is there any loss of image quality if we use the reducing noise filter or the smart blur filter for the noise reduction in images? Also if some tips on clearing backgounds in images especially around hair, trees could be a part of the next article:D

Reply +1 63. 69

Tofudisan
March 15th, 2011 5:06 am Theres some good tips. However only into the first one and Im wishing there were before/after photos so we can see the effect better. At least link off to the original photo before the effect was done? Without seeing the original how are we supposed to gauge the value of the tip? I know we can simple load a pic in Photoshop and try it but thats not my point. Reply 0 64. 70

Ken
March 15th, 2011 12:30 pm Superb. Highly enlightening! and I thought I knew it all 8-) Reply +3 65. 71

Alex Standiford
March 15th, 2011 7:39 pm

Wow. Thanks for posting these excellent tutorials. Theyre short, sweet, but oh so great. I have bookmarked this page for further reference. Reply +1 66. 72

wguerrero
March 19th, 2011 8:27 am Great Tutorial, Ill put in practice this techniques the next time!!! LOL looks like someone is playing with Vote Up and Vote Down buttons. Reply +2 67. 73

Vint Miller
March 22nd, 2011 7:49 am Great tips! My question regarding setting white and black point in levels is what values should go in eye droppers for shadows and highlights? Both for color and grayscale. I guess grayscale might depend on paper stock to account for dot gain? Or am I just missing something here? Thanks. Reply +1 68. 74

avkash
March 25th, 2011 4:32 am Nice Tuts Thanks 4 sharing Reply 0 69. 75

Requiem
March 28th, 2011 3:06 am All those tips are great and easy to use, great job ! Thanks to the author ! (does anyone knows where I can found the original photo of Retro Look With Curves ?) Reply +3 70. 76

Some guy
March 30th, 2011 9:17 am I wanna some After Effects tips. Reply 0

71. 77

Jeremy Darko
April 1st, 2011 4:46 pm Thanks for the insight. I actually have yet to use puppet warp. Ill experiment with it soon. Reply 0 72. 78

raj
April 10th, 2011 9:10 pm thanks.. a nise study.. Reply 0 73. 79

Katie@The Key To Taking Pictures

April 16th, 2011 2:10 pm What a great resource! Thanks for taking to time to post all this valuable information! Reply 0

74. 80

Jamie Solorio
May 4th, 2011 8:45 am Thank you so much for all these great tutorials! I checked out his blog, but it isnt in English.bummer for me! :) Seriously, great tutorials! Thanks again! :) Reply 0 75. 81

CSSFirework
May 6th, 2011 10:50 am Thank you so much! I really love this photo manipulation or photo retouching tutorial. I have to say these are the best photoshop tips and tricks for photo retouching that everyone know this one is useful and important in photoshop! Really recommend this post and i definitely have bookmarked your site :) Reply 0 76. 82

Caitlin R
May 9th, 2011 6:29 am Really awesome tips Helped a lot. Thanks Reply

0 77. 83

kissthee
May 10th, 2011 7:34 am Bravo! je laime beaucoup. Reply 0 78. 84

Brett Widmann
May 10th, 2011 7:19 pm These are some really cool tutorials to do some simple yet impressive effects. Thanks! Reply 0 79. 85

Anashaneefa
June 17th, 2011 1:31 am Great tips. Thanks Reply 0

80. 86

kpgrath
June 21st, 2011 4:56 am very very useful tips. Reply 0 81. 87

siamak
July 5th, 2011 12:34 pm awesome technique thank you Reply 0 82. 88

AShok
August 6th, 2011 2:18 pm Thanks for these tips, these tricks help me a lot in my professional life, Please tell me how could i use brushes in a professional way. I m waiting for your tips. Reply 0

83. 89

ELSON DE SANTANA
August 7th, 2011 3:51 pm brasil thanks muito bom velu mesmo vc me tirou do buraco negro abracos Reply 0 84. 90

laphotographer
August 14th, 2011 7:52 pm Interesting how Colorful Water Drops doesnt actually show how to make them. Just how to change the liner pattern, which is PS day 1. Other neat stuff on here but.. Reply 0 85. 91

Shilpa
September 27th, 2011 8:09 am Good one indeed

Reply 0 86. 92

Dionysia
October 2nd, 2011 4:18 am thank you for sharing ! this is so helpful me and all the pictures were beautiful ! keep posting yeahh ! especially about retro2 . I hope so ! thank you <3 Reply 0 87. 93

Sebas
October 17th, 2011 2:55 am Brilliant tips! So helpful Dirk, Thank you so much. Reply 0 88. 94

Phoenix Cox
October 21st, 2011 3:34 pm

Thanks for this! It was very helpful! I love when I can learn without taking a class since I am a busy woman with 3 kids!!! (: Reply 0 89. 95

Milan Soni
December 13th, 2011 4:05 am its owesom web and instruction for me about using photoshop originaly. thanx a lot Reply 0

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