Tweaking Digital Photos For The Web In 7 Easy Steps Using Photoshop CS2

HQ
Posted By
Heather Quick
Jul 10, 2009
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557
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IntroductionAdobe Photoshop CS2 is the industry-standard photo editing software. Many digital camera users may initially feel overwhelmed by the range and complexity of the features available in Photoshop. However, this checklist should help guide new Photoshop users to enhancing digital photos in 7 easy steps.
Step One – adjust exposureThe basic images produced by digital cameras are often enhanced by being brightened.
Menu: Image > Adjustments > LevelsKeyboard shortcut: Ctrl + L In the center of the levels window you will find a histogram showing the distribution of colours in your photo. There are also 3 small arrows underneath the histogram. Slide the middle of these 3 arrows to the left to brighten up your photo.
Step Two – add a warming filterIn the olden days of traditional SLR cameras, photographers used to travel around with camera bags full of an assortment of coloured filters.
Things have changed and now you can get the same effect as from using a filter simply by asking Photoshop to add a filter of any colour your like.
Menu: Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter
Step Three – remove imperfections with Spot Healing Brush Photoshop CS2 will quite happily remove dust specks and other imperfections from your photos.
Just select the Spot Healing Brush, adjust the size of the brush and click on that nasty blemish to make it vanish.
Keyboard shortcut: Press J
Step Four – sharpen lightlyPhotoshop can bring your photo into stronger focus by a tool called "sharpening". You will be able to see fine details more clearly after your photo has been sharpened. Be careful not to apply too much sharpening though, as this will distort the level of details if used too much.
Menu: Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen
Step Five – reduce noise"Noise" is similar to "interference" on your radio receiver. Fortunately, Photoshop can eliminate unwanted noise in your photo.
Menu: Filter > Noise > Reduce noise
Step Six – resize imageWith the ever increasing number of megapixels in the latest digital cameras, photo dimensions are soaring all the time. However, the size of most computer users’ monitors is fairly constant. If you do not resize your photos, people will have to use scroll bars to see all of it.
Resizing images down to a more manageable size such as 1024px width is easily achieved in Photoshop.
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Alt + I
Step Seven – save for web with a new namePhotoshop’s Save for Web function allows you to quickly select the right file format for your photos and the optimal level of compression.
It is very important to save your tweaked photo under a different name from the original, as otherwise you will overwrite the original photo and it will be lost forever.
If you save your tweaked photo under a different filename, the original photo will be retained so that you can make further changes in the future.
Keyboard shortcut: Alt + Shift + Ctrl + S
ConclusionAs you can see, this is a very practical and manageable introduction to some of the most commonly used and most useful functions in Adobe Photoshop CS2. The best way to gain mastery of Photoshop is to plunge right in and spend some time experimenting with its powerful suite of functions and tools. With a bit of practice, you could be Photoshopping like a pro in next to no time!

The Fastest Way To Master Photoshop: http://groups.google.com/group/lpsnow/

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

MR
Mike Russell
Jul 10, 2009
On Thu, 9 Jul 2009 21:53:52 -0700 (PDT), Heather Quick wrote:

IntroductionAdobe Photoshop CS2 is the industry-standard photo editing software

Just for the record, we’re up to CS4 now.

Mike Russell – http://www.curvemeister.com
B
bobert
Jul 11, 2009
In article ,
Mike Russell wrote:

On Thu, 9 Jul 2009 21:53:52 -0700 (PDT), Heather Quick wrote:
IntroductionAdobe Photoshop CS2 is the industry-standard photo editing software

Just for the record, we’re up to CS4 now.

Just for the record this reads like a bad copy/paste job from a web page. Looks like html that has all the tags removed.

Hey! It compiles. Ship it.

Bobert
In Central California

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

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