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Download: Adjusting Perspective with Photoshop

March 28, 2011 By 3 Comments
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We were discussing Dr. Roach's ebook yesterday. By "we", I mean a motley group of photoshop users of varying degrees of experience , expertise and interest. It became very clear early on that the name of the book is deceiving. Yes, it is an introduction to Photoshop and all its possibilities. (And I do mean all) Yet, we think it would be better described as the most complete introduction to advanced techniques for beginners. Some of you may roll your eyes at this section, the squaring of images … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photography, Photoshop, Tutorials, Workflow Tagged With: distort, guidelines, horizon line, perspective

Photoshop CS4 Retouching: Curves, Levels & Exposure.

March 21, 2011 By 1 Comment
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In reality, most images can be fixed with curves, levels, and exposure, and perhaps sharpening. 90% of post-production image editing will use these tools. This section is devoted to revisiting the most fundamental of photoshop tools in depth. Virtually every image benefits by some adjustment. Whether you decide to begin each adjustment with curves because i said it's most often used for beginnings, or whether you decide to go with levels first will be something that will develop as a matter of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photoshop, Tutorials Tagged With: adjustments, brightness, contrast, curves, dynamic range, Exposure, levels, photoshop cs4, tonal range

Photoshop CS4 : Image Editing- Adjustment WIth Curves

March 16, 2011 By 5 Comments
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Adjusting the tonal range of an image can be accomplished one of two ways: Levels (which provides only three anchor points for control: black, white, and midpoint) Curves (which allows for the use of up to 16 anchor points within the tonal range curve allowing for an increased control over the resulting tonal range)   Adobe Photoshop CS4: An Introduction by Dr. Michael N. Roach is now for sale as a PDF Price: $4.99 Sample Pages: There are still a lot of people … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photoshop, Tutorials Tagged With: adjustments, brightness, contrast, curves, dynamic range, photoshop cs4, tonal range

Photoshop CS4 : Intro to Color Settings, Menus, Tools, Healing Brushes

March 14, 2011 By 8 Comments
healing-brush

This section of Dr. Roach's Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Beginners focuses on best practices when starting a project plus a guided tour through the menus and tools. You might think that this information is not useful to you but I have to admit that, even after 10 years of using Photoshop, I am learning something every time I prepared these sections for upload. Up until I read this section, I've never take the time to adjust my color settings until the end of the project when I am ready to output to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photoshop, Tutorials Tagged With: brush, clone tool, Crop Tool, healing tool, lasso, magic wand, marquee tool, move tool, photoshop cs4, polygon, red-eye, selection tool, slice tool

Download: Dr. Roach’s Photoshop CS4 for Beginners

February 16, 2011 By 2 Comments
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Update: Now that CS5 version has been released as an app, we are no longer offering this pdf for free However, Adobe Photoshop CS4: An Introduction by Dr. Michael N. Roach is now for sale as a PDF Price: $4.99 Sample Pages: There are still a lot of people using Photoshop CS4 even though Photoshop CS5, and now Photoshop CS5.5, has been out for some time. We were contacted by a few students who are still in need of this information so, in the spirit of sharing, this series … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photoshop, Tutorials Tagged With: ebook, michael roach, photoshop, photoshop book, photoshop lessons, settings, toolbar

Dr. Roach’s Guide to Photoshop CS4 For Beginners: Preferences

February 9, 2011 By 9 Comments
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There are still a lot of people using Photoshop CS4 even though Photoshop CS5 has been out for some time. In the spirit of sharing, this series of downloadable lecture notes for CS4 is placed online for those who may need some help with the basics of the program. Much of the basics remain unchanged in CS5 and I believe that the original tutorial will prove useful for many of the steps of the revised Photoshop CS5, but there are minor differences sometimes. Originally, these notes were part of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Photoshop, Tutorials Tagged With: cs4, photoshop, tutorial

Review: ART TEXT v2.2.2 by Belight Software

July 28, 2010 By 1 Comment
Review: Art Text v2.2.2 by Belight Software

Editor's Note:  Wouldn't you know? Just as we released this article, a newer 2.3 version with a vector editor has been released. Dr. Roach will review it at a later date. Back in April, 2009 I last reviewed BeLight's ART TEXT and found it a useful headline and logo designing tool, but time passes and the new 2.2.2 version appeared as a review copy (from BeLightsoft. Com)on my desk with a new, revamped look and a greater ease of usage. … [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Reviews, Software, Tutorials, Workflow Tagged With: Adobe, apple, art text, banners, belight, brochures, business cards, buttons, flyers, Graphics, headings, icons, logos, mac, postcards, presentations, Software, text, text editing, text work, type styler, typestyler, website, website decoration, website design

Lighting On A Budget – Pt. 2

September 22, 2009 By 1 Comment

My 6-light CFL fixture worked well in the studio, but I wanted more light and the option to add a light modifier.  I decided to move up to 3” PVC and install eight lamp sockets around the outside of the pipe. We're going to call this fixture a SPIDER, you'll see why in just a moment. Here is my original collection of parts. A 3” clean-out plug serves as a hub for the sockets.  My original idea was to attach the clean out plug to a 3” bushing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Gadgets, Hardware, Photography, Tutorials Tagged With: budegt lighting, budget lighting, cfl, compact flourescent lightbulb, green photo studio, lighting kit, OCTOBOX, Photography, still photographer, studio lights, studio photographer, Troubleshooting

Topaz Labs DeNoise: Another Winning Photoshop Plugin

June 1, 2009 By 3 Comments

UPDATE: Dr. Roach reviews the latest release of DeNoise here A few weeks back I wrote about TopazLabs application TopazAdjust3, and I liked it so well that it obviously influenced me to take a look at its sister (brother?) application DeNoise.  Topaz Labs makes applications for both still and video imaging, and it is the digital still imaging area that have my interest because Photoshop from Adobe is the center of my workflow and I like things that plug-in to Photoshop.  … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Photography, Photoshop, Reviews, Tutorials Tagged With: apple, art, image enhancement, mac, photoshop, plugin, Topaz Labs

Illustrator CS4: Gradient Reflection & Glossy Surface

March 4, 2009 By 13 Comments

Making transparent gradients in Illustrator have become much easier with the new Gradient Annotator, a new tool in Adobe's Illustrator CS4. It is now possible to define the opacity if individual color stops in a gradient, revealing underlying objects and colors, and creating multiple layered compositions. The process of creating these gradients have become exact- set the gradient angle, position and dimensions while previewing the effect directly on your artboard. Here, David Turton has created … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Graphics, Illustrator, Software, Tutorials Tagged With: apple, bowling ball

Pixelmator: The Manual

February 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

There are some basic functions I wanted to cover before exploring Pixelmator as a tool for Photographers. I intended to publish an introduction to the gradient palette today. However, before moving forward, I thought I would give the Pixelmator User's Manual a read. All the basic features are documented, the information easily accessible and very well organized. Most of the tools are self-explanatory so I didn't feel the need to read the 1st chapter: The Working Environment. Chapter 2: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Graphics, Photography, Software, Tutorials Tagged With: apple, Graphics, mac, photoshop alternative, Pixelmator

Pixelmator: Creating a Clipping Mask

January 28, 2009 By 2 Comments

Not to be confused with a quick mask, a clipping mask is in fact a series of layers; the dynamic between the base layer and the layers above it define the image that will be revealed. Various combinations of opacity and blending can result in extraordinary composite images. The advantage of this method is simple: edit the base layer and you edit the shape of the composite image. The Basics 1. Create or choose your base layer.  By default, any new layer is called … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured, Graphics, Software, Tutorials Tagged With: adobe photoshop, apple, clipping mask, composite images, mac, Pixelmator
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