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It is this photography ‘purest’ to whom I appeal (this time) - the ones that still like using film every now and then. Most photographers have Digital SLRs (DSLR - “et moi aussi”). I know you can create this effect with Photoshop, after the fact; but having creative control over this special effect makes it exciting because you execute this photo miracle at the precise moment you push the shutter button. Ghosting. This is what this special effect is called; accomplished by using your SLR’s multiple exposure feature, but with a simple twist to ensure proper film exposure. The procedure detailed in this article is different from the instructions in your SLR manual.

you must understand that this only works for 8 bit per channel images - those that can be put into layers but it could function also on 16 bit per channel pictures with Optipix plug-in that allows direct selection of dark or light edges. If you are not sure about which edge halo to use, there are general rules regarding such: 1. On light background tones, light edges don’t show up well and vice versa on dark ones. 2. The halo should lie on the background, not on the foreground. This technique helps the feature stand out without having to change its brightness values. Sometimes the following rules are in conflict. It is necessary, then, to try several combinations to decide which is best. You can try both edges, light edges only, dark edges only. You can experiment since different regions of your image may call for different answers.

Now you may want to add a Brightness/Contrast layer. This will help get rid of any extra grain or lines that are unwanted. I used a very subtle Brightness/Contrast layer, because I didnt want it to get too bright or too contrasted. So just experiment with it until you find a nice amount. Now that we have added our Brightness/Contrast, we are ready to start making it a brush. So first I want you to desaturate it. After desaturating our fractal we want to invert it. So invert your fractal. Now that we have inverted we are going to go to Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast. 1. Every fractal is different and will require different settings. 2. I want you to experiment so your learning and not just copying down numbers. Now that we added the Brightness/Contrast we are almost done with making our brush! All we have to do now is hit Ctrl - A and go to Edit > Define Brush Preset. Name the brush what ever you want, and try it out!

You may be looking at a photo you took on your last vacation of the crystal blue waters on the ocean, but all Photoshop sees is a gray ocean. Did you manage to snap a picture of a rainbow arching across the sky after a summer evening storm? Photoshop sees it as a beautiful assortment of shades of gray. And that famous pot of gold at the end of it? To Photoshop, it’s a big ol’ pot of gray. Don’t feel sorry for Photoshop though. It’s perfectly happy in its colorless world. In fact, the only reason it shows us our images in color at all is because we as human beings expect to see them in color. We wouldn’t know what to think if everything was appearing in black and white. But not Photoshop. To it, life just couldn’t be sweeter than in black, white and gray.

Creating actions is fun and easy. All you have to have is a bunch of pictures and then record them all together, start by clicking on Record and the button below will turn red. Any action you perform in Photoshop will be recorded. With the Record mode on, start editing your photo. In our case, lets resize the image. Choose Image -> Image Size, enter 450 for width (or any other sizes), click Ok. Click on the record button to turn the Record mode off. Testing the action Now that you have an action recorded, lets open up another image that needs to be resize. This time, we’ll just hit the shortcut key Shift F2, or clicking on the Play selection button. You should be able to resize in just one click. To exercise the usage of Photoshop Actions, you can try recording more complex actions. Mastering actions will help you perform alot of routine Photoshop tasks in shorter time. Have fun.

New features in Photoshop CS2 make it easier to composite images in multiple layers. In earlier versions it was necessary to select a required layer in the Layers palette. But now it’s possible to select multiple layers by using a marquee tool. The Show Transform Controls feature allows objects to be reshaped faster than ever before, and it works across multiple layers. Smart Guides is another innovation that makes it easier to align objects, even if they’re on different layers. People who learn on their own sometimes discover the best way to do things, but usually they discover the wrong way to do things, which causes recurring frustration and limits their ability to go on learning new things. The time and money you invest today in your Photoshop training will reward you in ways that you can’t even begin to imagine.

Gradient maps can help your coloring on Photo manipulations a lot. They can be used to help blend things in and to make the colors in things the same. So you should have the same picture from the section Textures open. Okay now looking at you textures picture. You might think. My textures dont really blend in well with my face. So I am going to show you how to blend those in better using gradient maps. So I want you to decide what you want your face to look like (mainly color wise). So to make my textures blend in more I start off by going to Image> Adjustments> Gradient Map. Since I want a green picture I am going to pick a green/yellow gradient map. Then I am going to set it on soft light. After I put the opacity down a bit. Then I added a black and white gradient map. I did this because I wanted to make the picture a bit darker. I left the black and white gradient map on normal and set it on around 50% opacity. It will get rid of a bit of the color but thats what the green and yellow gradient maps were for (they were to add color so it didnt look really bland when we added the black and white one). Here is my picture after adding gradient maps.