Results tagged “Photoshop” from Missing Manuals Blog

The following tips are from the book Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual, by Lesa Snider King

1. Quick black-and-white with color tint. Photoshop lets you easily convert a color image to black-and-white without harming the original image. First, create a Black & White Adjustment layer by clicking the half-black/half-white circle at the bottom of your Layers panel, and then choose Black & White. Tweak the various sliders in the resulting Adjustments panel for maximum contrast, and then add a color overlay by clicking the Tint checkbox at the top of the panel. Photoshop assumes you want to give your image a brown (sepia) tint. To use another color, click the little brown color swatch to the right of the Tint checkbox and pick a new color from the resulting Color Picker.

2. Partial color effect. To really draw viewer's eyes to the focal point of your image, make the focal point colored and the rest of the image black-and-white. By using the layer mask that tags along with each Adjustment layer, you can hide the effect of a Black & White Adjustment layer and bring back the original color. (Think of a layer mask as digital masking tape.) To create this effect, add an Adjustment layer by clicking the half-black/half-white circle at the bottom of the Layers palette, and then choose Black & White. Tweak the sliders for maximum contrast, and then, on the Layers panel, click once to select the Adjustment layer's mask (the white thumbnail to the right of the layer thumbnail). Press B to grab the Brush tool and, at the bottom of Tools panel, set the foreground color chip to black. (In the realm of the layer mask, painting with black conceals and painting with white reveals.) Next, mouse over to your document and use the Brush tool to paint over any area you want to bring back its original color. If you bring back too much color, press X to flip-flop your color chips so you're painting with white, and then paint that area to make it black and white again.

3. Portrait popper. You can make Photoshop add a soft, darkened edge around any photo in seconds...if you know which filter to reach for. Choose Filter > Distort > Lens Correction, then grab the Vignette slider and drag it all the way to the left. To darken the edge color even more, grab the Midpoint slider and drag it slightly to the left. Click OK and you're finished!

4. Background swap. If you want to add a colorful background to a photo that has a white background, don't waste time creating a selection to delete the background or hide it with a layer mask. Instead, swap backgrounds with the flick of a layer blend mode (blend modes change the way color on one layer interacts with the color on other layers). Simply place the colorful background at the top of your layers stack and use the pop-up menu at the top of the Layers panel to change that layer's blend mode to Darken. Like magic, wherever the two layers intersect, only the darkest colors will remain. If necessary, you can use a layer mask to hide parts of the new background, as shown here.

5. Quick color boost. Photoshop CS4 gives you a quick new way to make the colors in your image pop without harming the original image. It's called the Vibrance Adjustment layer, and you can find it on the right side of your screen in the new Adjustments panel (or by clicking the half black/half white circle at the bottom of your Layers panel). Once you've created the Vibrance Adjustment layer, drag the Vibrance slider all the way to the right, and it intensifies the colors in your image. Happily, it has less of an effect on bright colors (because they're already highly saturated) than on lighter tones, yet it leaves skin tones relatively unchanged.

We've been busy at Missing Manuals, working on several upgrades. While we're still in the middle of that, we have begun using Twitter. You can follow us at http://twitter.com/missingmanuals, but you should know that we're also following many of you.

Every day, more and more people are posting feature requests for what they'd like to see their products and software contain and do. We've collected some of them and plan to periodically showcase them in this space. If you'd like to make us aware of features you'd like to see, feel free to post in our comments section or tweet @missingmanuals or #mmfeature and we'll be sure to add you to the list of candidates.

I love my iPhone, but ...

People love their iPhones, that much we already knew. But they would love them even more if they had a few enhancements.

Flash - @DogHouse is one of many who asked out loud for iPhone to support Flash, which it currently does not: "Shoot! The debate is starting and I'm not home. Glad I'm recording it. I wish iPhone supported Flash, then I could watch on myspace." Similar requests were made by @wuperruper, @adamengst, @twittem, @DrJohnnySpin and @jessejanderson.

Apps - There are a wide variety of Apps requests as well, including Google Analytics (@joshmishell), green apps (@mylifebynorules) and the ability of the iPhone to "detect how hard you tap, for a velocity-sensitive musical instrument app " (@mike3k).

@dmetzcher hopes the YouTube app can become just "Web video" in order to "support Viddler and others."

Apple's App Store has gained just as much attention as the apps themselves and @ericsuh hopes they loosen up the reigns a bit in the future, saying "I really wish the iPhone App Store had more shareware, especially since the user experience is such an important criterion."

@Javadog, meantime, is looking for a "'serious' iPhone app comparison site. Like, which one of the dozen ambient sound apps is better and why."

Etc. At least two Twitterers (@feliciaday and
@cupcakey88) are waiting to be able to play World of Warcraft in their iPhone, three requested keyboards for it (@lionchild, @kcnickerson, and @cherp) while @tdhurst had might night be available for a couple editions: "I very much wish my iPhone had a breathalyzer."

Roundup

Below are more iPhone requests, as well as hopes for Excel, Facebook, iPhoto, iPod, iTunes, Leopard, Outlook, Photoshop, Typepad, Windows Vista, and Visual Studio:

"i wish there was a google analytics app for iphone." - @joshmishell

"Wish the iPhone map app could sync my custom maps with google" - @marcusramberg

"I detest safari on iPhone/ipod touch's auto-refresh feature. With a passion. Wish I could turn it off." - @sarahintampa

"What is the first thing you say to a friend who just got an iPhone? for me "don't believe the battery meter" Wish it was something different" - @ianfinity

"@fteter iPhone is great just wish I could sync with my work calendar" - @timdexter

"Really wish iPhone would learn words that weren't in it's dictionary. It always thinks words I use are typos and auto corrects them. Rea ..." - @CompanyConvos

"I know this sounds backwards, but I wish there was someway to remotely control my iPhone's iPod via iTunes / my Mac." - @tollie

"I really wish I could easily listen to podcast on my iPhone without using iTunes or another feed reader. Come on Apple, loosen up! Sheesh." - @thepete

"I wish iTunes would show me what percent of my iPhone backup time was for each application. Someone adding an hour to my backup == DELETED!" - @joshlewis

"I wish the iPhone would save my iTunes store password. I hate continuously entering it in." - @kittygutz

"The Great iPhone wish list Having used the iPhone for about a month there’s a few things that I fin.. http://tinyurl.com/3w6637 @vkoser

"I wish I could get a lesser plan on my iPhone. 450 minutes? I used 33 this month, and my bill is coming up next week." - @kniob

"Kinda wish I could use iPhone remote to control the iPod in my glovebox" - @kitchen

"Just did a restore on an iPod shuffle. That took about 2 seconds. Wish an iPhone restore was that fast!" - @jphil301

"Wish there was an on-screen indicator that silent mode was on on my iPhone..missed some called 'cause I had forgotten to turn the ringer on." - @erlingmork

"I wish every app on the iPhone could do wide screen. Seems like safari is the only app" - @brendonvh

"i wish seesmic made a Qik style application on iPhone or something similar, cmon Loic!!!" - @alexiaco

"I wish there a mobile skype that runs on BB or iPhone that only uses your data connection" - @Shadowz

"@fraserspeirs also wish iPhone had programable text shortcuts, on my BlackBerry I coded things like "zzt" to add a "thanks" email signature" - @extraspecial

"I really wish the iPhone had a system-wide snippet insertion method. For example, typing my email address to log into every website sucks." - @fraserspeirs

"@jiparker I wish I could schedule recording stuff on TiVo via my iphone..:)" - @umaparker

"I wish I could delete tweets on the iPhone!" - @bhays81

"I wish I could type in landscape mode on the iPhone." - @freitag

"@indieradiochatt Damn I wish my iPhone had WMA streaming support for one more reason." - @ZicklePop

"Trying to decide if the iPhone is for me, already have an iPod, wish the iTouch had GPS." - @GaffR

Excel

"I wish Excel 2008 would spell check as I typed." - @TwisterMc

Facebook / Social Networking sites

"adding people's photos and additional details to my address book from facebook. i wish there was a contact export feature." - @naterkane

"One of the things I like about LinkedIn is that you can always see what "non-registered users" see. I wish all SM sites had that feature." - @gahlord

iPhoto

"iPhoto ’09 wish list • Perspective correction. </list> @ahruman

"It's my daughter's turn with the sharing bucket, so I'm building a collage for her to share. Wish iPhoto did this or that I knew PS better." - @cozthegrov

"Moving older photos out of iPhoto library onto an external drive to free up laptop drive space. Wish there was a better way." - @RandomDude

iPod

"I wish my iPod touch had copy/paste capabilities :(" - @_Darryl

"I wish ipod had a longer charging cable. Hospital bed isn't close enough to a socket to use while plugged in :(" - @wowpoetry

"i wish the iPod had a delete option for songs and a reverse sync with the album - my collection would've been a lot cleaner that ways." - @prsn

"Since I bought my iPod Touch, I've found myself using my MacBook less. Portable internet is just so cool! Wish it could display Flash, tho." - @grace2design

"I wish iPod touch could use the location feature, or at least let me SET my location. Otherwise it's a nice iTunes remote." - @Yourbrokenoven

"dear apple, next ipod wish - bluetooth, with waterproof around ear headphones." - @samirb

"It sucks being in traffic by yourself. I wish my ipod could talk to me. :(" - @ohhayitssarah

"Two things I wish the iPod touch had. 1.) iChat. 2.) A microphone. Skype any one?" - @Xela501

"I wish Loopt worked on my iPod Touch ... :(" - @laughinglizard

"I wish my ipod was synced with my brain and i would play the songs i think of. Get on it steve jobs." - @shannnon

"Wish I could script my iPod to open Wi-Fi, update Mail, Twitter and one web page. All scheduled daily, before I depart for my morning train." - @aidenkenny

iTunes

"really wish iTunes had a folder watch feature" - @shuag

"is impressed with iTunes' new "Genius" feature. Wish it included tracks beyond my library, but helpful in remembering good music I have." - @sethjames

"Really diggin' iTunes' Genius feature, but I really wish I could designate start, ending, and unlimited through- points. THAT would be nice." - @greghuntoon

"I really wish iTunes would add a Pandora client as part of their Radio feature." - @BrentN

Leopard

"in leopard i wish there was a way to hide other app windows for a *space*" - @bryanl

"Man, I really wish Leopard's finder had Drop Stacks like Path Finder." - @epilnivek

"I wish leopard's Quick Look showed all file types correctly. Don't get em wrong, I LOVE quick look, but some files just don't show up right." - @Heartagram

Outlook

"I wish outlook had an obvious "delete calnedar entries earlier than..." feature" - @MrGuilt

Photoshop

"I wish there was a way to transfer Photoshop between OS's. Offer it for download and let owners transfer like they do their licence..." - @chrisgaunt

"Wish Adobe had a small bundle with just Photoshop and Illustrator. I don't need the other crap." - @dustinwilson

"Me "I wish there was a version of Photoshop without all the filters and wizards." Dan "Yeah, like a professional version."@thebigreason

"So the new Photoshop will have a Rotate Canvas feature. I wish the new Illustrator has it as well. If not, I'll to buy a Cintiq." - @BrianDenham

"The one feature I wish Photoshop Elements had is the ability to change the space between characters." - @nestep

Typepad

"@DowntownWoman I wish Typepad had "auto-save" feature. I've had that happen to me too. And I cursed in front of my kids too. ; )" - @ParentopiaDevra

Windows Vista

"Really wish WIndows Vista could REMEMBER my dual screen configuration." - @Finja

Visual Studio

"I wish there was a zoom feature in Visual Studio's designer view. The only way I know how to do it is to lower my resolution. Bad hack." - @wusher

Photoshop CS3 RAW and Lightroom Adventure author Mikkel Aaland wants a digital camera that fully utilizes GPS capabilities and also is smart enough to apply better meta data to his photographs.

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