P2Plife Forums: Eraserheads Photoshop Tips and Tricks - P2Plife Forums

How To Fix Overexposed Images

The easiest way to fix an overexposed photo is to open it in Photoshop and choose Image> Adjustments> Shadow/Highlight (CS-only. For pre-CS look below). You'll see an immediate change in your photo and it will probably be too extreme, but just use this setting as a starting point. Photoshop ships with defaults that are often way over the top. Just play with the Amount Slider and the Tonal Width Slider in both the Shadows and the Highlights until you find just the right balance. And that's it!




The above photo is overexposed. The photo suffers from some loss of detail and is just too bright. Below is the same photo after applying the Shadow/Highlight filter.



Fixing Overexposed Photos, Pre-CS — The Layer Sandwich Trick
If you don't have CS, then the following trick will help you achieve similar results.



Step 1 — New Layer
Open your photo and make a copy of the Background Layer by choosing Layer> Duplicate Layer, or by dragging it to the New Layer Icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

Step 2 — Change The Blend Mode
In the Layers palette change the Blend Mode of the new layer from Normal to Multiply. This will darken the photo uniformly.

Step 3 — Repeat
Now repeat the entire procedure again. Create a new layer, change the blend mode to multiply, and then take a look at the result. Continue doing this until you go from "it's almost perfect" to "it's ruined!"

Step 4 — Lower The Opacity
Now leave that last layer active even though it's taken you too far and lower the Opacity using the slider at the top right of the layers palette. This lowers the intensity of the effect. When you've found the right amount, you can flatten your image.

Step 5 — Flatten And Save
Choose Layer> Flatten or use the palette’s flyout menu and choose Flatten Image. That's it. Save your file (File> Save) and you're done.

Eraserheads, on Aug 19 2006, 05:08 AM, said:

thank you for that i need to fix some pics

Hehehe.... Glad to help.

Eraserheads, on Aug 19 2006, 01:08 PM, said:

be using that soon

How To Wrap Text Around An Object In Photoshop

If you want to take some text and wrap it around an object there are some complicated procedures using the Shear filter that will yield very precise results, but for most uses the following quick and easy technique will produce the desired effect.

To begin open your image and create a new layer by going Layer> New> Layer.




On this layer you will place the type by choosing a font and typing the words of the phrase you want to wrap. I've found that handwriting fonts work the best.

To select a font in Photoshop go Window> Character. In the palette you'll see a list of your installed fonts. Make sure to tweak the settings so that the spacing and size and color are all appropriate for the effect you want to achieve.

Bend That Text
Make sure that your text layer is active and then go Layer> Type> Warp Text.

Now you need to choose a transform option from the Style popup menu. Choose Arch and then click Horizontal.

The Arch Style's default is to bend from left to top to right, but we want to bend from left to bottom to right, so we need to move the Bend Slider toward the left until we reach a negative number.

I found -22 to be very close to the shape of the curve of the cup's lip, so that worked for me. Readjust the slider until you feel you've got it just right. And that's it! Click OK.



A Couple Of Little Tweaks
One thing that can help is to use the move tool (keyboard shortcut V) and very carefully move your type to reposition it in a more natural looking way. You might also find that you want to rotate the warped text. Go Edit> Transform> Rotate. You'll now see a bounding box. With your cursor outside of the bounding box, click and move your mouse to rotate the text. To accept the changes double-click inside the bounding box, or to cancel hit Esc. If you make a change but then decide against it, choose Edit> Undo.

Eraserheads, on Aug 22 2006, 02:18 AM, said:

thanks for the tip i will write my name and my gfs name on things now

Hahaha..... Really?

This post has been edited by Eraserheads: 23 August 2006 - 01:23 AM

Eraserheads, on Aug 23 2006, 01:22 AM, said:

yeap

Create A Sepia Tone Effect In Photoshop

I had no idea that my research into the definition and origins of Sepia would bring me face to face with a cephalopod. Yes, the word Sepia is Greek for cuttlefish (relatives of the squid), and Sepia is the reddish brown pigment derived from the ink sac of this ocean creature.

What Can Reddish Brown Do For You?
Achieving the Sepia Tone effect is pretty simple because Photoshop CS has a Sepia Tone setting in its collection of photo filters. Don't have CS yet? There's an alternative pre-CS method for you just a few steps down.




Let's Sepia Tone My Bullmastiff Friend 'True'
In CS start with your color photo and choose Image> Adjustments> Desaturate. This brings us to a grayscale version without having to convert, so we can still add some color. The next step is to apply Photoshop's pre-packaged Sepia photo filter. You do this by choosing Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Photo Filter.

This will bring up the New Layer dialogue box. Enter the following settings:
Color: None
Mode: Normal
Opacity: 100%
Choose OK.



Now you will see the Photo Filter dialogue box. Enter the following settings:
Filter: Sepia
Density: 50% (or experiment)
Preserve Luminosity: Selected.
Choose OK and you're done.

Now I'll show you a way to create a Sepia Tone effect which will give you much more control over your results. This is the workaround for those without PS CS.



Convert To Grayscale & Apply A Duotone
Start with your original, untouched photo. Choose Image> Mode> Grayscale. A dialogue box will appear that says "Discard color information?" The answer is yes, so click OK. Now we'll create our Sepia effect by applying a Duotone.

Choose Image> Mode> Duotone. This will bring up the Duotone Options dialog box. First make sure that Type: Duotone is selected.

We need to pick two different inks. Ink 1 will be EB8B23. Just click on the little color square and enter the number via the Color Picker. You must name your Inks so name this one SEPIA 1 (or whatever you wish). Repeat this for Ink 2. You may find that the Custom Color box that appears is set to Pantone. Simply click on the Picker Button on the right side and you'll get your original color picker. Enter 000000 for the black we want and SEPIA 2 for the name. Finish this step by clicking OK.

Go back to RGB mode now. Choose Image> Mode> RGB Color. Next we'll play with the saturation levels to make the effect more subtle. Choose Image> Adjustments> Hue/Saturation. Move the Saturation slider to the left, down to -40%. Done!

Eraserheads, on Aug 24 2006, 10:49 AM, said:

some nifty stuff there mate

Hehehe.... Yup quite indeed.

Eraserheads, on Aug 25 2006, 11:38 AM, said:

If I get time will have a play.

I think this is the most usefull thread on the board as of yet, atleast for me as I suck at graphic design thanks Eraserheads!

Thanks dude.

I See iPod People — The Photoshop Silhouette


If you're crazy about those iPod ads and want to make one yourself, it's actually pretty easy. The first thing you'll need is an image of someone that you can extract from the background without too much work.

Let's Start
To begin settle on the dimensions of your canvas and resize your original photo. Go Image> Image Size menu. Click on Resample Image and choose Bicubic Sharper from the drop-down menu. This is the best setting for making sure that an image doesn't blur. For the Dancing Basketball Player I resized so it would fit into a target canvas of 158 x 292.



Make Your Selection
Make sure to do some quick tests before starting the more precise and time-consuming selection work, because some images just don't look all that great when you convert them to a silhouette.

Use the Magic Wand to select your background, and Inverse it (Select> Inverse), then copy and paste this into a new canvas with your target background color to see how it looks. If it's promising, then go back and make the detailed selections that are necessary for this to look professional.

Improve Your Selection
If you have a good solid background to work with in your source photo you can select most of it easily by using the Magic Wand Tool. The next step is to blow up the canvas to 300% and start doing touch-ups with some Lasso Tool selections. Once you've got the background of the image selected just right, Inverse (Select> Inverse) so that you have the subject selected, and then Copy (Edit> Copy).

New Canvas With 3 Layers

Create a new canvas with 3 layers (Layer> New Layer x 3):
LAYER 3 - will be the silhouette cutout.
LAYER 2 - will be the color cutout.
LAYER 1 - will be the background color [#9369BF]

First fill your background layer with a solid color. Next paste your cutout selection into both Layer 2 and Layer 3. Now make sure Layer 3 (the top most layer) is active, and Command-click (PC: Control-click) to select your cutout. Set your foreground color to black, and use Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the selected cutout with the black. That's it. Save as a GIF. Now I'll explain why we have Layer 2.



A Perfectionist's Work Is Never Done
Your file should be fine just as it is, but the following adds a nice touch. Use the Eraser set to 15% opacity and try and reveal some of the underlying color image on Layer 2 by making a couple of passes on Layer 3. I did this to the arm and hand holding the basketball. Also add a very soft shadow near the feet. Almost all the iPod ads I've seen include this.

If you're Bono you'll also want some of your face to show through as well, which is what Apple did for the U2 TV spot.

Eraserheads, on Aug 29 2006, 10:33 AM, said:

well done many will be grabbing that one !!

Topic Pinned. Title changed to "Eraserheads Photoshop Tips and Tricks"

WarXchild, on Sep 1 2006, 08:09 AM, said:

good one WarXchild.

Wow.... many many thanks.

thnkx for the cool tips Eraserheads