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The color modes and color models of digital imaging seem to be a bit of an enigma to those first experiencing Photoshop. The diversity of color modes can be so overwhelming that novice users many times avoid these features without realizing the impact color modes can have on the end results of the image.

Color modes determine the color model that should be used to display and print digital pictures. Anyone serious about professional quality digital imaging should learn about the color modes and models and how to apply them in Photoshop. Certain color modes are best for particular applications and so on. Most good Photoshop tutorials and training aids will teach user how and when to use which color modes for the best results depending on the particular project.

Before you even begin working with the color modes in Photoshop it is a good idea to have a basic understanding of what the color modes are and why there are different models.

Several different color modes are used to display digital images. Here is a brief overview of the main basic color modes you will come across when working with digital images.

RGB

RGB stands for Red Green and Blue. Colors in RGB color mode are generated using a combination of these three primary colors. You basically have three color channels to work with in RGB mode with the ability to adjust the intensity of each channel to produce different degrees of colors. Combine all three of the colors to create white.

CMYK

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. RGB produces colors by mixing them together, while CMYK in effect creates color by subtracting varying degrees of each color. For example, to produce white, all colors would be reduced to zero.

Understanding how color modes work will produce a better result and improve your digital imaging skills. Monitors use RGB color while printers use CMYK color. This can sometimes create a variance in what is displayed on the PC monitor and what is printed on paper. Software is now available to be installed that will calibrate you color monitor and your printer so that what you see on your monitor is the same as what will be printed.

The spot healing brush made its debut in Photoshop Elements 3, but now an enhanced version of it is available in Photoshop CS2. The spot healing tool is different from the existing patch and healing tools in that it does not require you to make a selection or define a source point before using it.

RESOLUTION. The “Auto” resolution button on the right of your Image Size dialog box will resize your image to small, medium and larger sizes. Under “Document Size” in your Image Size box, you’ll see a place to enter the desired resolution. For the Web, normal resolutions will be 72 pixels per inch. For print work, the resolution should be at least 300 ppi. When you increase the resolution, you increase the image size, and may need to resize it, but the resolution will stay the same. COLOR CASTS. Go into your Image > Adjustments menu and try using the automatic presets there: Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, Auto Color and/or Variations. This last option is especially fast and flexible, offering fine-tuning for shadows, midtones and highlights as well as saturation.

Strike a balance The Gradient Editor automatically places a midpoint between each colour stop to create a smooth linear blend between colours. You can tweak the effect of this blend by moving the midpoint to offset the mix between the colours. Using this technique you can create tight, dramatic blends between colours instead of gradual ones. The opacity stops run along the top of the preview bar. A black opacity stop indicates 100% solid, a white opacity stop indicates that that part of the gradient is 100% transparent and grey stops indicate values in between.

Become the king of the keyboard by discovering more new shortcuts. Taking advantages of keyboard shortcuts to rapidly access tools in the toolbox. Locating Keyboard Shortcuts. Photoshop is more than happy to give up its secrets A good place to start hunting down keyboard shortcuts is within the Photoshop interface itself. Open the main menu, and take look at a few of the commands. Next to each one you’ll find the relevant keyboard shortcut listed if one is available. Another comprehensive list of shortcuts can be found in the Photoshop Help files. Killer keyboard shortcuts Mac users should treat the [Alt] key as the [Option] key and the [Control] key as the [Command] key

Photoshop offers blending options unsurpassed in the design industry in your “Layer Style” dialog box, you will first find “General Blending” options, which are often enough for any task. Experiment with the Blend Modes and their opacity to see just how incredibly flexible the normal Blending Options can be. To find your advanced blending options in Photoshop, double-click a layer or click the “Add a Layer Style” icon at the bottom left of your Layers palette, and then choose “Blending Options.” Your “Layer Style” dialog box will appear. At the bottom of the Layer Style box, you will find, under “Advanced Blending,” something called the “Blend If” tool. What is the Photoshop “Blend If” tool, exactly? Blend If is a “smart” blending tool. You can use it to blend images or create a more transparent image with almost infinite precision. This one tool is so flexible and handy it behooves any serios Photoshop designer to learn to use it, and use it well.

Like Adobe Remix, the hosted Photoshop service is set to be free and marketed as an entry-level version of Adobe’s more sophisticated image-editing tools, including Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Chizen envisions revenue from the Photoshop service coming from online advertising. “That is new (for Adobe). It’s something we are sensitive to because we are watching folks like Google do it in different categories, and we want to make sure that we are there before they are, in areas of our franchises,” Chizen said. Chizen described the introduction of Adobe Remix and the forthcoming hosted Photoshop as part of a larger move toward integrating hosted services into the company’s product mix.

Inside bothe the Levels and the Curves dialog boxes, click “Options” and you will find another important dialog box called “Auto Color Correction Options.” This box allows you to not only correct the photo’s tone and set specific clipping percentages, but you can also set your color values for shadows, midtones and highlights. Experiment inside your Auto Color Correction Options dialog box to enhance monochromatic contrast, enhance per channel contrast, find dark and light colors and snap neutral midtones. Often an image comes out with an overall color cast, which is usually not desirable. To remove a color cast, use your Image > Adjustments > Auto Color functions. Inside the same Imagae menu, you’ll find the Hue/Saturation and Desaturate functions. Use these to enhance colors or fine-tune the saturation of an image by reducing color (desaturating).

Want to get rid of that nasty shine that you get taking pictures? Well now you can, follow these easy steps: Let’s start with a great, overlooked trick. After opening the image, open the same image again in a new window. In Photoshop, choose Window ->Arrange -> New Window. In Elements choose View->New Window. This allows you to view one window zoomed in for detail work and the other window at 100% so you can judge the effects. Using the magnifying glass tool draw a box around the area of shine. Make the box big enough to also show a fair amount of un-shiny skin. Select the Clone tool. At the top of the page select Mode: Darken and use the slider to set Opacity at 50%.Using the Clone Tool, select an area of un-shiny skin by putting the circle over the area and holding down the Alt button while left-clicking the mouse. To best match skin tone try to select the area of skin closest to the shine. Quick tip, to easily resize the Clone Tool circle simply use the bracket keys, [ and ] - much easier than moving your cursor back and forth between the photo and the Size slider. Now simply click on the shiny area and watch the magic happen. You’ll have to experiment a little for best effect, and for larger areas be sure to resample the un-shiny skin frequently. In the zoomed-in image the effect might look too obvious, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the 100% image to track your progress. Notice the difference on the tip of the nose, the cheek, and above his eye.

This is where professional level CMS’s and entry level ones differ. At this point with the entry level you will scan in the printed target and the CMS will actually use the before generated scanner profile to correct the scan, so it can the correct your printed target. A professional level CMS will have a separate hardware device designed specifically for reading printed media targets. I would recommend using Relative Colorimetric as your Rendering Intent when doing the Convert to Profile step and when printing with Print with Preview out of Photoshop. Rendering intents control how the profile is applied to either the scanner or printed image. Relative Colorimetric has proven to be the best in my testing. Read the documentation that came with your CMS in order to learn more about the other available rendering intents.

News photographers routinely process images using Adobe Photoshop software. But there has been a basic premise in the world of photojournalism that what was allowed in making prints in the pre-digital days of darkrooms is all that is acceptable today. Back in the days of the darkroom, we used very basic tools to develop prints. In black and white printing, the contrast of a picture was controlled by a paper’s grade. The higher the number of the paper, the higher the contrast. In the wire agency darkooms I’ve worked in, we typically used grades 3,4 and 5. We allowed “dodge and burn” to lighten or darken areas. A dodge tool was made by taping a small piece of cardboard the size of a quarter onto a paper clip. A burn tool was a piece of cardboard the size of an 810 sheet of paper with a hole in the center.

A shortcut for changing brush sizes while using this tool is to press the left bracket [ to decrease brush size, and the right bracket ] to choose a larger brush. Shift-right-clicking on your document while using this tool will open its Range menu next to your cursor. Note that these tools cannot be used on 1 bit Bitmap mode, or Indexed color mode images. The keyboard shortcut for the dodge tool is the letter O. You can cycle through the dodge, burn, and sponge tools by holding down the Shift key while pressing the shortcut letter.

Occasionally you have a photo with something that you don’t really want in it. Well now you can remove it with the spot healing tool. This tool will allow you to easily remove unwanted objects inside your photo. With the spot healing tool, you simply click on or drag across the flaw you want to remove and it disappears. The retouched area is blended into the surroundings seamlessly - most of the time anyway. It takes a little practice getting a feel for how brush size and healing work together, but most of the time it does an impressive job.

The Dodge tool can also be used to whiten the whites of the eyes, and, in general for anything you want to lighten. Used with discretion, it’s quite a handy tool. In Photoshop, there are always a number of methods to accomplish the same thing. Another way to whiten teeth would be the following: Select the teet with your Lasso tool icon, (second down on the left in your Tools). Then click on Image in your Menu, Adjustments, and Curves. Make sure the Channel box says RGB. Then, with your mouse, pick up the top right-hand corner of the box and drag the line over to the left. You will be able to watch the whitening process as you go. You can use the Curves tool to change color on any given selection, too.

Tons of people are using photoshop, but what aren’t they using it for and should? Restoring Old Photographs. Have a look through that old family photo album - the really old one from up in Grandma’s attic. Inside there are probably a few photos from way back when that haven’t stood the test of time so well. They’ve got cracks and tears that really spoil their appearance. Scan them into Photoshop, and then set to work with the Clone Stamp, Healing Brush, and Patch tools. The Healing Brush in particular is a great tool for this purpose as it samples data from one part of the picture and blends it in with what’s already there. Correcting Mistakes. We’ve all done it: Had an attack of “finger over the lens syndrome,” or got too close with the flash, so our subjects suffer from “red eye” and look like extras from a horror movie. Use the crop tool to salvage something usable from your obscured photo, and the enlarge wizard to blow it up to a reasonable size. For “red eye” and “pet eye,” use the eyedropper tool to sample color from around the iris, and a brush to paint away the red.

Ever wanted to do abstract art? Well with computers it can be quite simple. Start by creating a new file with black as background color. Select gradient tool. Select radial mode as gradient style. Create a new layer and apply the gradient. Apply another gradient several times as shown below. Change the layer mode to “Color Dodge”. Repeat the above steps again to create more disco loops. Create duplicate of both disco layers and merge the duplicate layers. From “Filter” menu select “Distort>>Wave”. Press Ctrl+U to open hue/saturation window. Change the layer mode to “Screen”. There you have it creating disco balls with photoshop.

Okay, start out with a picture of a speaker. Now, select the base speaker on the bottom. Now, while you have that selected press Ctrl-c and make a new layer above that then press Ctrl-f and you will have your selection on a new layer, now you need to duplicate that layer two times by pressing Ctrl-j two times, once you have done that select your first duplicated layer (the one right above your original) and name that one Side, do the same for the one above it except name that one Up.Now select the Side layer and apply Filter> Blur> Motion blur and these settings Angle: 0 Distance: 15px Do the same for the Up layer except apply these settings Angle: 90 Distance 15px Now, to switch to imageready you will need push this button at the bottom of this panel in photoshop. Now, in imageready we will open up the animation panel, to do that you need to go into Window> Animation, the animation panel will now be shown. Okay, in the animation panel select the first frame, and at the bottom of the thumbnail you will see a thing like this 0 sec. then a little black arrow pointing down, click once one the 0 sec. dropdown menu, then you will see some stuff like: No delay, o.1, o.2 etc. Select the 0.1 seconds button. Now, in the animation panel push the new frame button, it looks just like the button in your layer panel. You will see it has copied the first frame, now select the second frame and change the speed to: 0.2After you have done that (make sure your on the second frame in the animation panel) hide layer: base speaker and show layers: up and side. Now, hit play on the animation panel to watch your animation.

The basics of photoshop are extremely important to photoshop itself. Photoshop comes with a number of Auto correction features that can fix most common problems. Unless I am 100% happy with images I run most images through these to see if they can be improved. Open an image in Photoshop and then go to Image > Adjustments. You will see three Auto correction options: Auto levels The Auto Levels command automatically adjusts the black point and white point in an image. Basically this increases the contrast of the image in proportion to the colour channels in the picture. Auto contrast This automatically adjusts the contrast without looking at the colour channels Auto color This searches the images and corrects common colour issues. It identifies shadows midtones and highlights, neutralising midtones and cliping shadows and highlights. It can have the effect of washing an image out but generally it does a good job You can see in the following example that good results can be achieved using these tools.Fine tuning: The Auto-correction tools also allow you to fine tune what they have done. Once you have completed the auto-correction you can add an adjustment layer. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer. You can choose to target many different aspects of the image. Which one(s) you choose to use will depend on the image has come out. Many other options Photoshop offers you hundereds of ways to improve the quality of images. Unless I’m doing some artworking I normally find that the Auto correction tools and a few adjustment layers will do the trick. If not you can explore the many options available under Image > Adjustments. The options are too many to list here but they are worth exploring!

When using your brushes it is essential to organize your them: The Preset Manager: Go the brushes palette on the left and click on the tab that says brushes. Click the small black arrow that appear when you click the brushes tab. A menu will appear with the option “preset manager”. Or go to “edit” > preset manager. When you click that option the preset manager will appear. Here you can organize your brushes. You can load several sets into the pallet, rename the brushes to something you will easily remember and create your own sets of various brushes. You can also delete brushes. Not only can you organize your brushes in the preset manager but also your swatches, gradients, styles, patterns, contours, custom shapes and tools.

Do you want to recolor this white rose into a red one. It is quite easy, start by opening the image you want to recolor. Then choose the color you would want on your image. I took a dark red color. After that you choose a hard 70px or so brush. Make a new layer and choose linear burn as the blending mode. Leave opacity at 100%. Start brushing but leave the small details for now… Now choose a small 10px or so hard brush and start brushing details. Still not perfect though. Let’s use a little blur by going to Filters > Blur > Blur more around 3 times to fix the hard edges.After that add some noise. Go to Filter > Noise > Add noise and do 2,50% Gaussian with Monochromatic noise checked.

Adding cool effects to photos is quite amusing. A fun one is to split apart a picture like a puzzle. First find an image of Guitar. Then open the saved picture in photoshop. We are going to split the image.Go to Views>Rullers.Or simply press CTRL+R.Then using the Rectangular Marquee Tool. Press Ctrl+J to copy and paste the selected part in a new layer. Repeat these steps until all the parts of guitar is selected.Try drawing different rectangles because we want to add this puzzle effect. Select a layer and choose the blending options. Again apply the stroke effect as needed. Now right click the layer you applied the effects and select Copy layer style. Go to next layer and right click on the layer and choose paste layer style. Paste the layer style to remaining layers. Click Ctrl+T and transform each layer. With some Gradient Effect you can get a better effect.

Ever wondered how to create an oil painting effect to a picture, well heres how: Click on Filter > Distort > Glass and apply the following settings to your photograph. Distortion — 2 Smoothness — 5 Texture — Canvas Scaling: — 75% Next, click on Filter > Artistic > Paint Daubs and apply the following settings to your photograph. Brush Size — 2 Sharpness — 4 Brush Type — Simple Go to Filter > Brush Strokes > Angled Strokes and apply the following settings to your photograph. Direction Balance — 18 Stroke Length — 4 Sharpness — 2 In this last step, you want to click on Filter > Texture > Texturizer and apply the following settings to your photograph. This creates the appearance that your painting was done on canvas. To do this, we’re going to go: Texture — Canvas Scaling — 65% Relief — 6 Light Direction — Top Right. Since every photograph is different, you can slightly tweak the Photoshop filter settings above to suit your photograph or taste.

1. First, create a new image 2×2px and using the Pencil Tool (set to 1px), draw image as you can see it below. Try to Zoom In ( View -> Zoom In ) to do it easier. Define your pattern ( Edit -> Define Pattern ) and close the image 2. Open two images. One you want to hide and the other you want to hide first in. In my example, I took to hide recycle logo in Leonardo da Vinci portrait. 3. Create a new image the same size as your other two images and paste both your images onto it. The two images should be on two separate layers. Move the cover image layer above the hidden image layer. Create a new layer and move it above the hidden image layer but below the cover image. Fill ( Edit -> Fill ) this layer with the pattern you made in Step 1. Change the Blending Mode of this layer to “Exclusion”. 4. Change the Blending Mode of this layer to “Exclusion”. 5. Click on the image you want to hide on the Layer palette, and invert the colors, by going “Image -> Adjustments -> Invert (or press Ctrl-I)” 6. Change to opacity of the cover image to change how well you can see the hidden image (Recycle logo), I used 70% opacity.First, create a new image, 200×200 pixels and fill the background with white. Create a new layer [Shft+Ctrl+N]. Then; use the Rectangular/Elliptical Marquee Tools [M] to create any shape you want. Now we need to select our shape. Do it by holding Ctrl and clicking on this layer with the left button of your mouse. The next step is to add layer mask to our shape. Click on button, this will add layer mask. Then, deselect the layer [Ctrl+D]. On the top toolbar, go to Filter| Blur | Gaussian Blur… The window with options will open; select the value of the Radius that will make your shape smooth. I used 4.0. To make our job easier, we need to make our layer mask visible. Do it by holding Alt and clicking on the layer mask with the left button of your mouse. Now, we need to adjust levels of our image. To do it go to Image | Adjust | Levels… The window with options will open and you will see 3 triangles. Use your mouse to drag all of them to the center and you will notice that your shape will start to look smooth. Play around with different triangle positions to get the result you want.

A useful tool in photoshop basics is how to clone. Cloning can be important when you want to know how to take something off of one picture and putting it onto another. When you are cloning you can do anything you want to. You can put someone in a different place, create a “clone of them” Anything you do is quite simple, here is a step by step tutorial on how to do it. 1.Click CLONE TOOL in toolbar 2.Click right click and set HARDNESS to 40. 3.Click what you want clone and hold. Hold mouse and press ALT. 4.Hold and move mouse where you want clone.

Using photoshop you can create some pretty awesome effects with pictures alone. Here is a step by step guide to show you how to blend and create a smooth waterfall. With your image open in Photoshop, grab your Lasso tool from the Tools palette: Select the Lasso tool from the Tools palette.You can also press the letter L on your keyboard to quickly select it.Then, with the Lasso tool selected, drag a selection around your waterfall. It doesn’t have to be surgically precise, but try not to stray too far from the edges of the waterfall: Use the Lasso tool to drag a selection around the waterfall.If you need help with making selections, check out our tutorial Unlock The Full Power Of Basic Selections. Copy the Selection Onto Its Own Layer. With the waterfall selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Windows) / Command+J (Mac) to copy it onto its own layer above the Background layer. You won’t see anything happen in the Document Window, but if you look in the Layers palette, you’ll see the waterfall on a new layer: Press “Ctrl+J” (Windows) / “Command+J” (Mac) to copy the waterfall onto a new layer.Step 3: Apply The Motion Blur Filter To The New Layer With our waterfall now copied to its own layer, we can create our “silky smooth” effect by applying the “Motion Blur” filter to it. To do that, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, select Blur, and then select Motion Blur. This brings up the Motion Blur dialog box:mPhotoshop’s “Motion Blur” dialog box. Adjust the Angle of the blur so it matches the angle at which the water is falling. In most cases, this would be 90, since water would normally fall straight down. In my case, since the water is rushing so quickly over the edge, it’s actually falling at a bit of an angle, so I’ve set my blur angle to -77. The easiest way to match your blur angle to the water is to click inside the Angle value box and then increase or decrease the value one degree at a time using the up or down arrow keys on your keyboard, which is what I’ve done. Once you’ve set the correct angle, drag the Distance slider at the bottom until your waterfall looks nice and silky. I’ve dragged mine to a value of 73 pixels, which gives me a nice effect. The image after applying Motion Blur.

While you are running though photos you may find one that you absolutely hate because of the acne, well there is a way to cure that by touching up your photo. First open your photo which you want to cure the acne on. Next, click on your “Healing Brush Tool” and set your brush to the size of 5px for this tutorial. When selecting your brush size, set your “Hardness” to 100% and your “Spacing” to 25%. Now press Alt+Click The Mouse over a non-blemished area and then clicked over the blemished area to replace it. To clear up areas where two distinct colors of acne are near, set your “Hardness” to 66% so you can blend the areas more naturally. Next, click on Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Saturation to balance the colors. I increased the Hue slider by 12 points to even out the reddish blemishes.

The photo retouching technique liquefying, can take a while especially if it is a image. It doesn’t help your computer isn’t powerful. I’ve found a great way to improve the operations. If we will work not with the whole image but with the part of it the processing can be done more quickly. 1. Select the area for further retouching but rectangle tool: 2. Copy the area: ctrl+c 3. Create a new document and paste the area with the combinations of hotkeys: ctrl+n, ctrl+v 4. Open ‘Liquefy’ filter menu: 5. Make the changes. Click ‘Ok’ 6. Select corrected area: ctrl+a 7. Copy corrected area: ctrl+c 8. Go back to the original document 9. Paste the corrected area into original document (you may wish to place it on a new layer):

While texturing you can add cool looking scan lines to your picture. This is easy enough: Open Photoshop and click on File > New and set the width to 1 pixel, the height to 3 pixels and set the “Contents” section to “Transparent” for this tutorial. You will have to click on View > Zoom In a few times so you can see the palette.Now, right click on the “Brush Tool” and select the “Pencil Tool” and at the top of the screen set your “Brush ” to 1px, your “Mode” to normal and your “Opacity” to 100 percent. Take your “Pencil Tool” and click in the center of your new palette so the top and bottom third are still transparent. Go to Edit > Define Pattern and save your new image as a scan line pattern like the example below. Next, open any photo you want to add scan lines to. Click on the “Rectangular Marquee Tool” and drag it over the photo. Now right click on the photo and click on “Fill” and set your properties to the image below. The “Custom Pattern” will be the one you just created. You can set your “Blending” options to what appears best for your photo.

Learn how to create a mac clock. Now we will have to create the shiny look. Please add noise both to your glare and your base as it will look more official compared to the Dashboard Clock. Now we have to create the clock it self so take out your Eliptical Tool and draw in a circle on top of your glare layer and fill it in with black. Now add the border around the black circle with the hex indicated below. Now we have to create the glare so if you want to get more detailed view, you can just follow my way. Place the original clock design near yours and draw a white circle inside the black circle about 1 or 2 pixels apart. After that grab your eraser tool and set the opacity to 75% and slowlu brush from the top until you get something like mine. I also added a small tiny border around the glare just to make it look a little nicer. Now we have to add all the digits inside. I personally liked how Arial Narrow looked on it so i added that font although i think Mac’s designer used some other font that i am not familiar with or maybe just missed. Create a white circle in the center of the digits. Following that draw another red circle inside the white’s circle center. Now by the alignment of the arrows on the clock, use your white circle as the base and grab your pen tool to draw out one of the arrows. Just by connecting to one side of the base of the circle and extending towards the numbered digit and then following back to the opposite base of the circle, you can easily acheive those fancy arrows. Repeat the steps again to create the short arrow as well. Now place the long arrow layer underneath the white and red circle layer. Following by going to the Settings of the circle and adding a drapshadow of about 75% opacity with the color filling of black. After you have done that, grab your line tool and set th weight to 2px and draw a line from the red circle to the selected digit on the seconds. Now your basically done, just grab your text tool and add the State and the AM/PM indicator on top. If your curious about the colors, you can just take the hex of the original design. Your final result should look like this: