Photoshop 2018

T H E A D O B E® P H O T O S H O P ® “ H O W -T 0 ” M A G A Z I N E › › january 201 8
Down & Create customized 3D props

for your photographic images
Use the power of masks to
create the popular text-behind- Beginners’
Dirty Tricks in postproduction the-subject classic effect Workshop
MASTER THE
SECRETS OF WARP
How to keep your images
looking realistic when
you push and pull them
to the extreme
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
Steve Wallace | KelbyOne Member

Watch What’s Trending on the
KelbyOne Channel!
Scott Kelby “How to Know If You’re Using the Latest Version of Lightroom“
Photo Tip Friday: Justin Wojtczak Photo Tip Friday: Rick Sammon
“Show Up Early” “Wildlife Photography”
Scott Kelby “Photoshop Fake Studio Lighting Trick”
Lightroom Tips | Photoshop Tutorials | Photography Tips

“Photo Tip Friday” Quick Tips | Online Class Trailers | Full Episodes of The Grid
[ P H O T O S H O P U S E R • J A N U A R Y 2 0 18 • V O L 2 1 • N O 1 ]
CONTENTS
Images: Adobe Stock; Layout: Jessica Maldonado

[076] TRANSFORMATIONS, WARPS, AND LIQUIFY, OH MY! By Mark Heaps
There are a lot of powerful tools for warping your images in Photoshop, but as we all know, with great
FEATURE
power comes great responsibility. Transform Warp, Puppet Warp, and Liquify can turn and twist
your photographic subject into the perfect form, but push these tools too far, and suddenly your
masterpiece has become a caricature of itself. Adobe MAX Master, photographer, author, creative
director, and 2018 Photoshop World instructor, Mark Heaps shares all of his secrets for how you can
get the most out of these tools, all while maintaining realism in your images.
©Adobe Stock/Pavel Losevsky
Jungle: ©Adobe Stock/gi0572
[026] [038]
HOW TO
DEPARTMENTS
[007]
A NOTE FROM SCOTT
[026] DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
[009] Impossible Props Using Photoshop 3D
CONTRIBUTORS
[038] DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
Craft a Jungle-Themed Text Effect
[010]
BENEFIT SPOTLIGHT
[062] BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
Placing Text Behind an Object
[014]
KELBYONE COMMUNITY [066] DYNAMIC RANGE
Antelope Canyon: Day to Night
[022]
HEARD ON THE TWEET [088] DESIGNING WITH PHOTOSHOP
Grungy, Punk-Style Gig Poster
[024]
NEW ONLINE TRAINING
[114]
COLUMNS
FROM THE HELP DESK
[072] PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
Textures on Purpose!
[096] PHOTOSHOP TIPS

DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT Boost Your Productivity and Creativity
Whenever you see this symbol at the
end of an article, it means there are either
downloadable practice files or additional [098] DESIGN MAKEOVER
content for KelbyOne members at Tasty Website
http://kelbyone.com/magazine.
Whenever you see this button Discuss this Issue at
the end of an article, click it to go to the
[102] PRODUCT REVIEWS
Online Community to ask questions or
Get the Scoop on the Latest Gear
make comments about this issue.
Click this symbol in the nav bar at the top [112] BOOK REVIEWS
of the online reader to access the Contents. Reviews of Photoshop and Photography Books
©Adobe Stock/fotoslaz
David Williams
[062] [066]
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› › FROM THE EDITOR
> A Note from Scott
WHEN THE STUDENTS BECOME THE MASTERS

Welcome to 2018! It’s Photoshop World
Larry Grace
season! This is your conference—the confer-
ence designed for KelbyOne members (and
Photoshop User readers). It’s coming up May 31–
June 2 in Orlando, Florida, at the Hyatt Regency
Orlando Convention Center, and we want you
to be there. You’ll meet KelbyOne members
from all over the world, and spend three days
totally immersed in learning Photoshop, Light-
room, and whatever you’re into creatively.
I recommend booking your room at the Hyatt
now. We have special room rates negotiated for
our attendees, but it’s filling up faster than usual,
so snag your room today so you’re right there in
the middle of everything. Here’s a link to the travel page create her gorgeous style of flower photography. We’re
for Photoshop World. It’s going to be a mind-blowing, thrilled when things like this happen—when a member
friend-making, and lots-of-laughing-and-learning confer- makes the jump from student to teacher. So many people
ence, and you’ll totally love it. Plus, you’ll get to meet and have asked about Melanie’s work that we can’t wait to
mingle with the same KelbyOne instructors you learn from share her techniques and insights with our members all
online—it’s where the courses and the people behind them around the world. Look for her as my guest on The Grid
all come together. I hope you’ll join me there this year. on Wednesday, January 17, at 4 p.m. EST.
In a semi-related note, our feature story this issue Quick update on our certification program: We know
is from KelbyOne member Mark Heaps, and I’m excited from our recent survey that many of you are very inter-
to announce that Mark will be joining us as one of our ested in the certification program we’re developing
Photoshop World instructors this year. Mark is such an (thanks to the 2,400+ members who took the time to
incredibly talented artist and educator, and you can meet respond to our survey). I just wanted to let you know that
him in person at the conference, as well. we’re still hard at work developing the program, and that
The cover shot this issue is from another KelbyOne it won’t be long now (there are lots of moving parts and
member success story. That shot is from Steve Wallace, behind-the-scenes stuff).
the most recent winner of his own solo art show at “The We have much more to share as we head into 2018,
Gallery at KelbyOne.” His work and his interview at the but we’re so glad you’re here with us, and we’re very
Gallery were just off the charts, and we’re tickled to be excited about this year’s Photoshop World conference in
able to feature his incredible photography here on the Orlando—seeing members come together from all over,
cover of the mag. Now, depending on when you’re read- with so much in common and so much to learn from each
ing this, you might still have a day or two left to enter your other. It’s really something special, and I hope I’ll get to
work for consideration for your own gallery showing here see you there and say hi. Here’s to a kick-butt 2018!
at our headquarters in Florida. Go to the member web-
site and submit your images right away (the deadline for
entries is Monday, January 15, 2018). All my best,
You might remember Melanie Kern-Favilla who had
> K ELBY ON E . CO M
won the contest prior to Steve. She won the hearts of

many KelbyOne members from around the world with
her floral photography and interview at her gallery open- Scott Kelby
ing. Well, great news! Melanie will be back at our head- KelbyOne President & CEO
quarters this month taping her own course on how to Editor & Publisher, Photoshop User [7 ]
J A N U A R Y 2 0 18 • V O L 2 1 • N O 1
AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF
EDITORIAL:
Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief
Chris Main, Managing Editor
Kim Doty, Associate Editor
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:
Steve Baczewski • Corey Barker • Peter Bauer • Dave Clayton
Michael Corsentino • David Creamer • Kirk Nelson • Colin Smith
Lesa Snider • Scott Valentine • Erik Vlietinck • Jake Widman
Dave Williams
GRAPHICS:
Jessica Maldonado, Art Director
Margie Rosenstein, Senior Graphic Designer
Angela Naymick, Senior Web/Graphic Designer
MARKETING:
Jacque Johnson • Rachel Scott • Kleber Stephenson
John Warwick • Melissa White
WEB:
Adam Frick • Curt Husting • Yojance Rabelo • Aaron Westgate
PUBLISHING:
Scott Kelby, Publisher
Kalebra Kelby, Executive V.P.
Jean A. Kendra, Business Manager
ADVERTISING:
Jeanne Jilleba, Advertising Coordinator 800-201-7323 ext. 152
HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:

U.S. Mail: 118 Douglas Road East • Oldsmar, FL 34677-2922 Each issue we feature cover art
Voice: 813-433-5000 • Fax: 813-433-5015 by a KelbyOne member!
Customer Service: info@kelbyone.com
Letters to the Editor: letters@photoshopuser.com This issue’s cover is by Steve Wallace, who is an anesthesiologist, attorney, and
Help Desk: http://kelbyone.com/my-account/helpdesk photographer. His photographs have appeared in Popular Photography, Digital Photo
Pro, Photographic Magazine, and Photoshop User, as well as in ads, photographic
instructional books, NGO Web sites and on the cover of books. He was named as a
COLOPHON: “Pro of the Future” in Digital Photo Pro Magazine, April 2012. His words and photos
Photoshop User was produced using Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 appear in his photography blog on the Huffington Post, and his photography is cur-
and Adobe InDesign CC 2017. Korolev was used for headlines and rently a part of a traveling show of the Smithsonian Institute. He was also the recent
subheads. Frutiger LT Std for text. winner of a solo show in the Gallery at KelbyOne.
All contents ©COPYRIGHT 2018 KelbyOne, LLC. All rights reserved. Any use of the contents of this publication without the
written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Photoshop User is an independent journal, not affiliated in any way
with Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop are registered
trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks mentioned
belong to their respective owners. Some of the views expressed by contributors may not be the representative views of the
publisher. ISSN 2470-7031 (online)
MARKHEAPS
is @lifebypixels on all social media. He is an Adobe Community Professional,
instructor, author, photographer, and Executive Creative Director. He lives in
Austin, Texas, where he rides motorcycles and obsesses about food and
music. He’s been a featured speaker at Adobe MAX, SXSW, and many other
industry events. His clients include Apple, Google, Capital One, Coca-Cola,
VMware, Dell, and many others. He’s also the co-creator of Reactive Exposure.
CONTRIBUTORS
STEVEBACZEWSKI COLINSMITH
is a freelance writer, professional photographer, graphic designer, is an award-winning digital artist, photographer, and lecturer
and consultant. He also teaches classes in traditional and digital who has authored 19 books and has created a series of training
fine arts photography. His company, Sore Tooth Productions, is videos. Colin is also the founder of the online resource
based in Albany, California. PhotoshopCAFE.com and president of Software-Cinema.com.
COREYBARKER LESASNIDER
is an award-winning designer and illustrator. A featured instructor is the author of Adobe Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC for
at the Photoshop World Conference and an Adobe MAX Master Photographers: Classroom in a Book (2016), Photoshop CC: The
Instructor, he has produced numerous training titles for KelbyOne. Missing Manual, TheSkinnyBooks.com eBooks, more than 40
Look for his latest book Photoshop Tricks for Designers. video courses, and the “Creaticity” column for Macworld.
PETERBAUER SCOTTVALENTINE
is an Adobe Certified Expert that does computer graphics con- is a member of Adobe’s prerelease team, an Adobe Community
sulting for a select group of corporate clients. His latest book is Professional, and Photoshop author. His books include The
Photoshop CC for Dummies. He was inducted into the Photoshop Hidden Power of Adjustment Layers and The Hidden Power of Blend
Hall of Fame in 2010. Modes (both by Adobe Press). Keep up with him at scoxel.com.
DAVECLAYTON ERIKVLIETNICK
is a KelbyOne instructor, designer, and creative specialist with founded IT Enquirer in 1999. A J.D. by education, Erik has been
more than 30 years experience. He specializes in creating brand- a freelance technology editor for more than 22 years. He has
ing projects and logos and has been published by Peachpit and written for Macworld, Computer Arts, and many others. He also
KelbyOne. He’s also an Adobe Influencer and ACA in InDesign. contributes to UK-based Red Shark News and Red Shark Sound.
MICHAELCORSENTINO JAKEWIDMAN
is an award-winning wedding and portrait photographer, is a writer and editor who lives in San Francisco. He’s been
Photoshop and Lightroom expert, author, columnist for Shutter covering the intersection of computers and graphic design for
Magazine and Resource Magazine, and speaker and international about 25 years now—since back when it was called “desktop
workshop leader. Learn more at www.michaelcorsentino.com. publishing” and Photoshop was just a piece of scanning software.
DAVIDCREAMER DAVEWILLIAMS
is the owner of IDEAS Training, teaching everything from is a well-seasoned, UK-based travel photographer with interna-
Photoshop to FileMaker. He has more then 30 years of tionally published work and a passion for sharing his knowledge
publishing experience, 20 years of Web experience, and of Adobe software. Dave, who is known as Hybrid Dave, lives by
15 years of video experience. the mantra, “Lend me your eyes and I’ll show you what I see.”
KIRKNELSON
is a professional graphics artist in the Washington, D.C., area. He
has a B.A. from George Mason University and is an Adobe Certified

Expert in Photoshop. Kirk’s career has touched on a broad range of
subjects from logo design to animation. He can be reached here.
[09 ]
> Benefit Spotlight
THE KELBYONE COMMUNITY: WHERE MEMBERS

AND INSTRUCTORS HANG OUT
We launched the KelbyOne Community last year, and it topic that’s already been created for that course. And there’s a
has grown way beyond our wildest expectations with more good chance that someone has already answered your ques-
than 44,000 posts by 12,000+ members. This is the place tion. So don’t be shy; click that button and start discussin’.
where KelbyOne members go to make suggestions or ask We did the same thing for Photoshop User and
questions on everything from Photoshop and Lightroom to Lightroom Magazine, as well. See that little “Discuss this
> PHOTOSHOP USER > J A N U A RY 2018
photography and design to online classes and this very mag- Issue” button down there on the lower left of this page?
azine. Our amazing (and we mean amazing!) moderators, Just click it and you’ll be taken to the topic that’s already
instructors, and other members are in there every day ready been created for this issue. Have a question about a tuto-
to help. You’ll even see Scott Kelby zipping around from rial in the following pages? Just click the big orange but-
topic to topic helping out members. ton at the end of the tutorial, and ask away. Either the
To make it easy for you to ask questions about online author or managing editor (that’s me!) will give you a
courses, you’ll find a “Discuss this Course” button on every helping hand. Or if you just want to make a suggestion
course page. Just click that button, and you’ll be taken to the for improving the magazines, we’re listening. n
Discuss this Issue

[10 ]
Easy training from the best in Photoshop, Lightroom & Photography kelbyone.com
RACHELSCOTT & DAVECLAYTON
> KelbyOne Community
Inspiration, information, and member musings to fuel your creativity
We Hope You Enjoyed the 12 Days of Christmas! given and stories told. KelbyOne Pro members can watch the
It’s hard to believe that we’re already into a new year. archived webcast here. Don’t forget to submit your work for
(Where did 2017 go?) We can’t thank you enough for a chance to be featured in the next solo show!
choosing KelbyOne, and just in case you didn’t see our
emails during the holidays, we decided that the best way
to show our gratitude was to smother you with gifts.
That’s right—we gave you presents. Twelve days’ worth
of presents to be exact, exclusively for our KelbyOne Pro
members! Our 12 Days of Christmas began on Decem-
ber 14 with Scott Kelby’s Lightroom Landscape Presets
and continued until Christmas day when we unveiled the
last present. Some of these gifts have expiration dates,
so make sure you check your Toolkit today so you can
enjoy all the goods. (And don’t forget to check your
Toolkit year-round for the latest freebies!)
The Personal Side of Trey Ratcliff

Even if you haven’t heard the name Trey Ratcliff, there’s a
good chance you’ve seen his work. Trey is world-famous
for his HDR landscape photography—in fact, his Fourth on
Lake Austin photo was the first HDR photo to hang in the
Smithsonian. Talk about impressive!
But there’s more to the man than his amazing eye,
and Kalebra Kelby helps you see that with her intimate
one-on-one interview with Trey. Rather than strictly talk
The Gallery at KelbyOne: Steve Wallace shop, Kalebra asks Trey about his decision to move to
December 9, 2017, marked the day of our third solo gallery New Zealand, how he got into beekeeping, his thoughts
show. With so many amazing entries, choosing one artist to on society, and more.
be featured in the Gallery at KelbyOne is never easy, but this Start watching The Personal Side of Trey Ratcliff and
time around, we decided on Steve Wallace and his Myanmar get to know this phenomenal instructor more deeply!
work. The images are beautiful and tell a story of a world with
which few of us are familiar.
Steve’s work has a cinematic quality that transports you
to Myanmar and envelopes you with its magic. In fact, one
of his beautiful images graces the cover of this very issue,

and we interviewed Steve about his gallery experience on
page 19.
As for the exhibition itself, it started at 7:00 p.m. with a
wine and cheese reception where guests could view Steve’s
artwork, mingle, and talk with Steve one-on-one. Immedi-
ately following the reception, our gallery guests were invited
to join us in the KelbyOne Theater to participate in a Q&A
that was streamed live so viewers far and wide could learn
more about his work as well. There were lots of great answers
[14 ]
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> AMANDA HIEMSTRA
MEMBER SINCE 2014
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> NATHAN ROBBINS

MEMBER SINCE 2014
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> MARTY SPRAGUE
MEMBER SINCE 2014
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> ROBERT SIJKA (PRONOUNCED SHEE-KA)

MEMBER SINCE 2017
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> CLINTON FERRARA
MEMBER SINCE 2006
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> JOHN ASHTON (@ICKLEDOT ON INSTAGRAM)

MEMBER SINCE 2015
WHO’S WHO IN THE KELBYONE COMMUNITY >> STEVE WALLACE
MEMBER SINCE 2011
› › K E L BYO N E C O M M U N I TY
Who’s Who in the KelbyOne Community

Steve Wallace is an anesthesiologist, attorney, and photographer. His images have appeared in
magazines, ads, photographic instructional books, NGO Web sites, and on the cover of books. He
was also the recent winner of a solo show in the Gallery at KelbyOne.
First, congrats on being the third winner of the How much traveling do you do for your photography,
Gallery at KelbyOne? What made you enter the and what’s in your kit bag?
contest when you first heard about it? In general, I travel four times a year, and my trips are usually
When I first heard of the gallery contest, I thought I might three weeks. I travel extensively in Southeast Asia.
have a chance because the winner wouldn’t be based on I currently have two systems, Sony and Nikon. My Nikons
one shot; the Gallery at KelbyOne is based on a portfolio of are a D5 and D810; my Sonys are an Alpha a9 and Alpha
images. I instantly wanted to enter and I knew the set of a7R II. With either system, I use two lenses: a 17–35mm
photographs I wanted to send to KelbyOne. In addition, the f/2.8 zoom (16–35mm with the Sony) and a 70–200mm
prize for winning was awesome. My wife and I were flown f/2.8 zoom. I always carry two cameras using a BLACKRAPID
to Tampa, put up in a hotel, provided a rental car, taken out double camera strap. I have rain covers and that’s all that’s
to dinner, and then my images were shown at a wine and camera-related in my bag. I don’t carry a camera bag in the
cheese reception where I received a beautiful trophy and was field and don’t change lenses in the field. Carrying two cam-
interviewed on a feed that went out to the entire world. The eras is heavy but it allows me to be ready for almost any shot
evening was one of the best of my life. Moreover, my images I routinely look for.
were expertly printed and mounted by Bay Photo and will be
sent to me when they come down from the Gallery. How do you overcome the language barrier when
traveling and taking photos?
What advice would you give to KelbyOne members I almost always have a translator with me, but when I don’t,
who want to enter the next Gallery contest? a smile says the same thing in all languages. After the smile,
To win, you’ll need more than a few good shots. You need I point to the camera, and if the person nods their head yes,
a strong 20 to 25 images, and there must be continuity I take a picture and show them the LCD. After taking a few
between the images. You can’t have a bit of this and a bit pictures and showing the LCD, I can use hand signals to
of that. My photographs were all related to the country of move the person to better light or away from a distracting
Myanmar. Of the 25 images, you need at least a couple that background. If I visit the same area a second time, I look for
make people say, “Wow!” the same person and give them a copy of a picture I took of
them on the previous visit.
Your story is quite interesting. Can you tell us a bit
about your background? What’s next on your travel list?
I’ve worked as both a physician and an attorney. I live in the I’m going to Bangladesh to photograph an ethnic group that
high Sonoran desert near Tucson. I started using Photoshop has been in the news lately, the Rohingya. I’m also researching
in 1994 and bought my first digital camera that year. My a trip to East Java to photograph men who go down into
photographs have been seen in magazines, on book covers, smoldering volcanoes to extract large chunks of pure sulfur
and are currently a part of a traveling Smithsonian exhibit. and then lug the chunks 3,000' out of the volcano.
Why did you decide to join KelbyOne? Why should photographers join KelbyOne?
I was a Scott Kelby fan back before it was KelbyOne. I remem- I joined KelbyOne because it’s a place you can get instruction
ber watching PhotoshopUser TV somewhere around 10 or from the best photographers on earth. There are new
15 years ago. I joined KelbyOne the first year it was offered. instructional videos each week. The content evolves to stay
I keep coming back because it’s a great value. KelbyOne current with cameras and trends in photography. In addition,
members get the best online training, member discounts, when you join KelbyOne, you become a member of a close
special monthly member webcasts, Photoshop User and photography community. If you attend Photoshop World you
Lightroom Magazine, downloadable practice files, and more. can meet like-minded people and establish friends for life. n
[19 ]
WHO’S WHO ON THE KELBYONE INSTRUCTOR TEAM >> JUSTIN WOJTCZAK
INSTRUCTOR SINCE 2014
› › K E L BYO N E C O M M U N I TY
Who’s Who on the KelbyOne Instructor Team: Justin Wojtczak
Where are you from, and what kind of work do you do?
I was born and raised in the great state of Georgia in a little town
[10]
called Snellville, though it’s not so little anymore. My family owned 10
acres of land, and that’s where my love of photography came from.
Ever since I was kid, I’ve been drawn to sunrises and sunsets. But the
RAPID-FIRE
passion really took hold 12 years ago, when my family asked me to QUESTIONS
take some photographs for them. After that one family session, it was
like a snowball going down a mountain—people just kept asking for
family photos, and then asking me to do their weddings. As a result, JUSTINWOJTCZAK
I started shooting a lot of weddings, and at 375 Photography we classify
ourselves as commercial wedding photographers and videographers. 1. Favorite movies
Creating a complete experience is what keeps clients coming back 13 Hours, Zero Dark Thirty, Ghostbusters

for years and years. It’s why we became licensed drone operators, too.
Having that complete-experience mindset has opened other doors
2. Is there anything you can’t
live without?
beyond weddings. It has evolved into producing videos for local busi-
My girls! My amazing wife and two
nesses and organizations during the week, while continuing to shoot
beautiful daughters
weddings on the weekend.
3. Favorite type of music
Where do you look for inspiration? Everything from hard-core rock for
The first thing that comes to mind is light. I’m drawn to light! I can’t workouts to worship music
get enough of it. Whether it’s natural light, or light that we need to
create on a wedding day or for a project. The second is seeing other
4. What do you like to do in your
spare time?
photographers from around the globe and how they view their craft.
Running, business, and family—that’s it.
What do you enjoy most about teaching? 5. What’s your favorite place
Being able to share my passion, not just for photography, but for help- to travel?
ing students discover the power of video. This has been such a huge Kauai, Hawaii
income stream that we’ve discovered, and we believe every photogra-
6. What are three things you always
pher needs to add it to their list of services. At Photoshop World a few
take with you when you travel?
years ago, one of our students was scared to press the video button
Good headphones, my wife, and bible.
on her camera simply because she had no clue. We encouraged her to
press that button, and she discovered the power of video right there! 7. What’s your favorite new app?
The excitement on her face in that moment was priceless. Not sure what to recommend. Candy Crush?
8. What’s the best advice you’ve

Do you have any work rituals? ever received?
When it comes to weddings, we always upload on the way home so
From my Dad: “Chase your dream with
we can start our workflow right away, which also allows us to post a
reckless abandon.”
sneak peek for the client that same night. Clients lose their minds over
it because it’s an extra level of detail that shows we truly care about 9. Who would you recommend some—
and understand the importance of their day. one to follow on social media?
@picturebyab—love his use of light!

Are there any hardware or software tools 10. What’s the one thing you wish
you just couldn’t live without? somebody would ask you?
On the software side, we love Adobe CC. All of the apps work ”Do you want to travel the U.S. and fly your
together seamlessly, which saves us a tremendous amount of time drone for a project?” n
in postproduction. [21 ]
> Heard on the Tweet
A Quick Glance at Some Highlights from our Twitter Feed
[22 ]
› › HEARD ON THE TWEET
Follow KelbyOne and Scott Kelby on Twitter!
[23 ]
Your Latest On
Every week, we publish at least one new training c
Mastering Nikon Wireless Flash

Join Moose Peterson as he provides the foundation for how this new system works. He goes through the
components involved, demonstrates how to pair the flash with your camera, and then takes you step-by-step
through a variety of shooting scenarios, using single and multiple lights, in studio and in the field. Get a glimpse
of where this exciting technology is going, and learn how to get the most out of it now.
Learn Photoshop in One Hour

Join Scott Kelby as he teaches you the essentials to get up and running in Photoshop. Starting with a
lesson on how to view your photos, Scott moves on to the most commonly used tools, Levels adjustments,
using Camera Raw as a filter, making selections, removing distractions, understanding layers, and much
[24] more. There’s even a bonus lesson on extracting hair from a background.
nline Courses
course. Check out the brand-new offerings below:
Uncovering
Justthe
OneMagic
MoreofFlash
Yellowstone
and Grand Tetons
In this
Learn how to add oneclass,
moreRick
flashSammon
to your shares
portrait his favorite
lighting withlocations within
Scott Kelby! both parks
Building on theand teachesyou gained
foundation
you how to prepare for your trip. He offers tips for creating powerful compositions,
in Just One Flash, Scott teaches you the why, when, and how of adding a second flash to your Speedlight
setup. Whether overcoming
you want to exposure challenges,between
create separation how to shoot time-lapse
your subject andandthe HDR, and a host
background, addofa fill light, or
other tricks and techniques for landscape and wildlife photography.
change the look of the background itself, you’ll be amazed at all the great things you can do with a second flash.
Rick’s Top Tips for Taking

Incredible Travel Photos
Take a trip with Rick Sammon as he shares the essential tips for creating incredible photos! In this class
you’ll learn the importance of respecting your gear, how to always seek the strongest compositions, and
fundamental tips for stunning landscape, wildlife, people, low light photography, and more. Rick wraps up the
class with a look at the workflow he uses, and all along the way he shares lessons learned from the road. [25 ]
COREYBARKER
IMPOSSIBLE PROPS
USING PHOTOSHOP 3D
Sometimes you may get an outrageous idea for a photo shoot
but you just don’t have access to the props you need to capture
your vision. Why not create the props in Photoshop after the
fact? This can give you even more options. Here we’ll create a
3D prop and blend it in with a photo.
> PHOTOSHOP USER > J A N U A RY 2 0 1 8
[26 ]
› › DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
Step One: Begin by opening the main
©Adobe Stock/Pavel Losevsky

photo you want to use for this effect. You
can download a comp of the image we’re
using here (see instructions below) or you
can use your own image. You just want
to be sure the photo has a ground plane
and a posed subject on which to place and
position the 3D object around, like the
image we’re using here.
To obtain the stock image used in this
exercise so you can follow along, down-
load the watermarked preview from
Adobe Stock directly to your Libraries panel
(Window>Libraries) by clicking on the link
for the image below. When the Adobe
Stock webpage opens, make sure you’re
logged in to your Adobe account, then
to the right of the image, you’ll see the
option to Save Preview to My Library (you
can click on My Library to select a different
library or download option). Click on the
cloud-with-an-arrow icon, and the preview
image will automatically be downloaded
to your Libraries panel in Photoshop. Sim-
ply double-click the image in the Libraries
panel to open it in Photoshop.
• young woman is standing in

A
a ballet position
Step Two: Press D then X to set the Fore-

ground color to white. Select the Type tool
(T) in the Toolbar and click on the canvas to
set a text layer. In the Options Bar choose a
font and size for the text. Here we’re using
Futura Book at around 420 pts (due to the
resolution of the Adobe Stock comp image,
set the type to around 620 pts). If you’re
using a different image, just set the type
size to roughly the same size as your sub-
ject in the scene. Type the number or letter
you want to use; we typed the number 5
because it will work well with the subject’s
position. Once the text is set and scaled,

click the checkmark in the Options Bar to
commit the type, and choose the Move tool
(V) in the Toolbar and position the type as
shown here. [27 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Three: Right-click on the text layer’s name

in the Layers panel and choose Convert to Shape
in the contextual menu. This will convert the text
layer into a vector shape layer.
Step Four: Select the Path Selection tool (A) in

the Toolbar and then click the shape to select it.
Go to the Options Bar again, click on the Fill set-
ting, and choose none. Then click on the Stroke
setting, choose black, and set the stroke Width
to 15 px (use 10 px for the comp image).
Step Five: With the path still selected, go to the

3D menu and choose New 3D Extrusion from
Selected Path. (If Photoshop asks if you want to
switch to the 3D workspace, click Yes.) This will
create a hollowed-out extrusion based on the
stroke applied to the shape.
[28 ]
Step Six: Now make sure you have both the

3D and Properties panels open to edit the 3D
object (if they’re not already open, you can open
them from the Window menu). Select the main
3D text object in the 3D panel, which is the num-
ber 5 in this example. Then go to the Properties
panel and you’ll see the current Extrusion Depth
is around 890 px. Set the Extrusion Depth to
50 px to make the number thinner in terms of
depth (if you’re seeing inches instead of pixels,
set it to around 0.50 in).
Step Seven: At the top of the Properties panel,

click on the third tab from the left to access the
Cap settings. Go under the Bevel settings and set
the Width to 100%. This will create a cut angled
look on the front of the text, which will be critical
when we apply the reflection.
Step Eight: Go back to the 3D panel and click

on the 5 Extrusion Material layer. Near the top of

the Properties panel, click on the menu icon to
the right of the Diffuse thumbnail, and choose
Edit Texture.
[29 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Nine: When the document opens, press D

to set the Foreground color to black, then press
Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill it with
solid black. Close it and save the changes. This
will make the extrusion surface solid black.
Step 10: With the 5 Extrusion Material still

selected in the 3D panel, hold down the Shift
key, and click on the 5 Front Inflation Material.
You should now have the Front Inflation, Bevel,
and Extrusion layers all selected. Go to the Prop-
erties panel and set the Shine and Reflection to
100% and also set the Roughness to 10%.
[30 ]
Step 11: We’re going to use the original photo

as our Image-based Light in order to make the
number appear to actually be in the scene,
essentially creating an ambient light based on
the background. Click on the Background layer
in the Layers panel and then press Command-
A (PC: Ctrl-A) to select the entire image. Press
Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to copy the image to
the clipboard. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D)
to deselect.
Step 12: Reselect the 3D layer in the Layers

panel, go to the 3D panel, and select Environ-
ment. Now, go to the Properties panel, click the
icon to the right of the IBL preview thumbnail,
and choose New Texture. Set both the Width
and Height to 1000 pixels. Click OK. If the new
document doesn’t open, go back to the IBL
menu and choose Edit Texture.
[31 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 13: Press Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste

the copied image into the new document. Press
Command-T (PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform, hold
the Shift key, and resize the image in the docu-
ment as shown here. Place it in the scene so that
the majority of the tones and colors of the image
will be seen. Notice that we intentionally posi-
tioned the subject’s head out of view so as not
to create weird distortions on the object. Press
Enter to commit the transformation.
Step 14: Once the image is in place, close it, and

save the changes. You’ll now have a rough idea
of how the image looks reflecting on the object.
[32 ]
Step 15: With the Move tool (V) selected, go to

the Options Bars and choose the Orbit the 3D
Camera tool in the 3D Mode section. Make sure
the main text object is selected in the 3D panel,
then hover the tool over the 3D object and you’ll
see the axis widget. Place your cursor over the
red arrow until you see a yellow horizontal ring
(or line). Click-and-drag the yellow ring to the
right to slightly rotate the number to the left.
We want the number to appear as if it’s
sitting on the ground, so use the blue arrow
in the widget to pull the number forward a little
in the scene. Use the subject’s foot on the
ground to judge the placement of the number
on the ground.
You can also select Current View in the 3D
panel and use the various 3D tools in the Options
Bar to adjust the camera view to better place the
object in the scene. The goal is to position the
object in relation to the subject in an interesting
and believable way on the ground plane.
Step 16: With the IBL in place for now, let’s

adjust the other lighting in the scene. Go the 3D
panel and choose the Infinite Light 1 layer. You’ll
see a giant orb appear on the canvas; this is to
help you set the light direction. Just click-and-
drag to change the light and shadow direction.
Again, refer to the foot of the subject and use its
shadow as a guide to position the shadow for
the 3D object.
[33 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 17: Go to the Properties panel to modify

the light settings. Set the Intensity to around
105% and set the Shadow Softness to around
25%. This will match the fade of the real shad-
ows in the image.
Step 18: In the Layers panel, add a layer mask to

the 3D layer by clicking the Add Layer Mask icon
(circle in a square) at the bottom of the panel.
Also lower the layer Opacity to 50%.
[34 ]
Step 19: Now select the Brush tool (B) and

press X until the Foreground color is set to black.
Choose a basic round, soft brush. Starting with
the leg area, paint over the area of the number
over her left ankle. (You can see the edge bet-
ter with the lowered Opacity.) When done, this
will give the illusion that the bottom of the num-
ber is behind her leg. Proceed to do this else-
where in the image. Remember the idea is to
be unusual, so play around with revealing parts
in certain areas that will result in an impossible
prop around the subject, all the while keeping all
the elements on their own layer. When done, set
the layer Opacity back to 100%.
[35 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 20: You may now see a few areas where

you’d expect to see shadows on the subject if
this prop were really in the scene. So a quick trick
here is to create a new blank layer in the Layers
panel at the top of the layer stack. Press Shift-
Delete (PC: Shift-Backspace), to open the Fill
dialog, and choose 50% Gray in the Contents
drop-down menu. Click OK. Also change the
layer blend mode to Hard Light.
Step 21: Press Shift-O until the Burn tool (a

hand forming a circle) is selected in the Toolbar,
then go to the Options Bar and set the Range
to Midtones and the Exposure to 20%. Proceed
to paint in areas where more shadow is needed.
Use the Bracket keys on your keyboard to quickly
change the size of your brush. Here we’re add-
ing a shadow right where the beam is up against
the subject. Paint the same area multiple times
to build up the effect. This adds to the illusion
that the 3D object is near the subject.
[36 ]
Step 22: Finally, you just need to render the 3D number. the render. In this final example, we canceled the render,
Click on the 3D layer in the Layers panel to make it active, clicked on Environment in the 3D panel, and adjusted the IBL
then go under the 3D menu and choose Render 3D Layer to brighten the inner portions of the top of the number 5.
(near the bottom), or press Shift-Option-Command-R (PC:

Shift-Alt-Ctrl-R). Be sure to experiment with other shapes and subjects, as
You can always press Escape to cancel the render if you there are a number of ways to use this technique. What can
need to adjust the lighting or anything else, then just restart you do with it? n
[37 ]
KIRKNELSON
CRAFT A JUNGLE-
THEMED TEXT EFFECT
Did we really need a new Jumanji movie? The original is well
loved with a brilliant performance by the late Robin Williams.
But if you’ve seen it recently, you might agree that the effects
don’t really hold up all that well. We never got a sequel (and no,
Zathura doesn’t count!), so maybe it’s time to revisit the world
of the mysterious game with the jungle drums.
> P H O T O S H O P U S E R > J A N U A R Y 2018
[38 ]
Regardless of how you feel about the new movie,

the poster title treatments are well designed, and
that very distinctive, jungle-themed text effect
is something that we can accomplish in Photo-
shop without having to spend a decade dodging
predatory jungle cats! This tutorial uses two stock
images: a jungle background, and some scratch
marks. Both of these are available on Adobe Stock.
Step One: Create a new document (File>New)

in Photoshop using a Width of 1920 pixels and a
Height of 1080 pixels. Switch to the Type tool (T),
click in your document, add in a jungle-themed
word like “JUWANJI,” and click the checkmark in
the Options Bar to commit your text. If you want
to use the same font as seen here, go to Type>Add
Fonts from Typekit, search for Astoria, and then
sync the ExtraBoldCondensed version of the font.
Use a large point size of around 363 points. Then
go to Type>Convert to Shape to change the text
from editable type to a vector shape.
Step Two: Press Shift-A until the Direct Selection

tool (white arrow) is active in the Toolbar. In the
Options Bar, set the shape Fill color to a bright
yellow (#ffed54). Using the Direct Selection tool,
adjust the control points and the tangent handles
of the text shapes. The Js need to be made larger
and the ascenders of each letter should have a
subtle pointed serif at the top. The central portion
of the N should be curved, and that curve should
extend visually down to the descender of the sec-
ond J. The legs of the letter A should extend into
the letters to either side of it. You can Right-click
on the path and use the contextual menu to add
or remove points as needed. You can also mar-
quee around multiple points to move those points
at the same time, which is often easier than trying
to edit each individual point.
Working with the letter shapes like this can
be rewarding, but time-consuming. If you’re
short on time, we’ve included the shapes
already customized for you in a file called Jun-
gle Text Shape.psd.

[KelbyOne members may download the file
used in this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/
magazine. All files are for personal use only.]
[39 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Three: Double-click to the right of the

shape layer’s name in the Layers panel to open
the Layer Style dialog, and click on Gradient Over-
lay in the list of Styles on the left. Set the Blend
Mode to Multiply then click on the Gradient bar
to open the Gradient Editor. Set the gradient to
have four stops (click below the gradient ramp
to add stops). Click on the first color stop at the
far left, set its Location to 0%, click on the Color
swatch, set the color to #5e0302, and click OK
to close the Color Picker. Set the second stop at
34% and #b82325, the third at 81% and #ffce2b,
and the fourth at 100% and #f8cc69. Click OK
to close the Gradient Editor. Then add a Pattern
Overlay layer style. Click on the Pattern thumbnail
to open the Pattern Picker, click on the gear icon
at the top right, select the Texture Fill pattern set,
and click Append to load them into the pattern
list. Choose the Noise pattern and set the Opacity
to 75%. Click OK in the Layer Style dialog.
Step Four: Go to Filter>Convert for Smart Fil-

ters and then run the Filter Gallery from the Filter
menu. Open the Brush Strokes folder and select
the Spatter filter. Set the Spray Radius to 20 and
the Smoothness to 8 (see below). Then click OK
to apply the filter and close the Filter Gallery. This
gives the text a very dirty, grungy appearance.
[40 ]
Step Five: Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to

duplicate the JUWANJI layer and hide the
original layer by clicking its Eye icon in the
Layers panel. Rasterize the copy layer with
Layer>Rasterize>Layer. Go to 3D>New 3D
Extrusion from Selected Layer, and click Yes
when Photoshop asks if you want to switch to
the 3D workspace. The text shape is extruded
into a 3D block. In the Properties panel, set the
Extrusion depth to 2.75 inches (300 pixels).
Step Six: Switch to the Cap tab (third icon from

the left at the top of the Properties panel), click
on the Contour thumbnail to open the Contour
Editor, and select Gaussian in the Preset drop-
down menu. Click OK to close the Gradient
Editor, and set the Width to 15% and the
Angle to 45°.
[41 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Seven: In the 3D panel, select the JUWANJI

copy Extrusion Material. Back in the Properties
panel, click the document icon next to the Diffuse
color swatch and select Edit Texture. Photoshop
will open that texture document. Click on the
Foreground color swatch near the bottom of the
Toolbar, set it to a dull blue (#232e41), and click
OK to close the Color Picker. Set the Background
color to mid-level grey (#626a76), and go to
Filter>Render>Clouds. Close and save this file and
Photoshop will update the 3D model accordingly.
Step Eight: Click on the same document icon

next to Diffuse and choose Edit UV Properties.
Set the Tile U/X to 84 and click OK. This helps
keep the texture from stretching too much
around the sides of the letters.
[42 ]
Step Nine: In the 3D panel, select the JUWANJI

copy Front Inflation Material. Then look to the
Properties panel again, click on the folder icon to
the right of the Bump settings slider, and choose
New Texture. Set the texture Width and Height
to 1920x1080, respectively, and click OK. When
Photoshop creates and opens the texture file, it
also shows the UV overlay so you can see how
the texture gets applied.
Step 10: Now we’re going to use the stock

image of the scratch marks that we mentioned
earlier. To obtain the stock image so you can
follow along, download the watermarked pre-
view from Adobe Stock directly to your Libraries
panel (Window>Libraries) by clicking this link.
When the Adobe Stock webpage opens, make
sure you’re logged in to your Adobe account,
then to the right of the image, you’ll see the
option to Save Preview to My Library (you can
click on My Library to select a different library or
download option). Click on the cloud-with-an-
arrow icon, and the preview image will auto-
matically be downloaded to your Libraries panel
in Photoshop.
Step 11: Drag the stock image of the scratch

marks from the Libraries panel (Window>Libraries)
to the texture file, and press Enter. Use the Rect-
angular Marquee tool (M) to select one set of
scratches. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy
those pixels to a new layer. Press Command-T
(PC: Ctrl-T) for Free Transform to resize and posi-
tion the scratch on the letter overlays. Continue
selecting, copying, and placing scratch marks
as you like (remember to click on the original
scratch layer in the
Scratch Marks: ©Adobe Stock/r7cky
Layers panel each

time before you copy
the selected scratch
marks). When fin-
ished, drag the origi-
nal scratch layer with
all the scratches to
the Delete Layer icon

(trash can) at the
bottom of the Layers
panel, and save and
close the texture file. [43 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 12: Back in the 3D panel, click on the

JUWANJI copy Front Inflation Material again and
change the Bump setting to 4% in the Proper-
ties panel.
Step 13: Switch to the Light tab at the top of

the 3D panel (it’s the last icon in the group of
four), and select the Infinite Light 1. In the Prop-
erties panel, set the Intensity to 100% and the
Shadow Softness to 50%. Then use the Move
tool (V) to adjust the angle of the light to be
more overhead than it is by default.
[44 ]
Step 14: Switch to the Environment light in the

3D panel, and in the Ground Plane section of
the Properties panel, set the Opacity for both
Shadows and Reflections to 0%.
Step 15: Now click the Render icon at the bot-

tom of the Properties panel, or go to 3D>Render
3D Layer. This will likely take several minutes.
When it’s done, it’s a good idea to copy the
rendered pixels to a new layer by going to
Select>All and then pressing Command-J (PC:

Ctrl-J). Double-click the name of the new layer
in the Layers panel and rename it “Render.”
Hide the 3D layer by clicking its Eye icon.
[45 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 16: Switch back to the Essential work

space instead of the 3D workspace (Window>
Workspace>Essentials). Duplicate the Render
layer and clip the duplicate to the original by
going to Layer>Create Clipping Mask. Then go
to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur, enter a Radius of
1.5 pixels, and click OK. After applying the blur,
set the layer blend mode near the top left of the
Layers panel to Overlay and reduce the Opacity
to 75%.
Step 17: Go to Layer>New>Layer and in the

New Layer dialog, check the Use Previous Layer
to Create Clipping Mask option. Name the
layer “Light Effects,” and set the Mode to Linear
Dodge (Add). Click OK to create the layer. Then
switch to the Brush tool (B), click on the brush
preview thumbnail in the Options Bar to open
the Brush Preset Picker, and select one of the
Spatter brush tips. Click on the Foreground color
swatch, select a pale-yellow
paint color, and click OK.
In the Brush Settings panel
(Window>Brush Settings)
make sure Spacing is set

to 25%. Manually paint in
highlights along the top of
the letters. Use the Bracket
keys on your keyboard to
quickly change the size of
your brush as you paint.
[46 ]
Step 18: Do the same process for adding a

“Dark Effects” layer, except set the blend Mode
to Multiply. Then hold the Option (PC: Alt) key to
temporarily switch to the Eyedropper tool, and
click to sample a deep-brown color from the
distressed parts of the letters. Reduce the brush
Opacity in the Options Bar when painting on
the dark areas to gradually build up the grunge
effect of the paint strokes.
Step 19: Click here to download the comp of

the jungle background stock image. Drag it from
the Libraries panel, resize it so the vegetation
completely fills the frame, and press Enter. Place
it into the composition as a layer beneath the
jungle text. Then go to Filter>Blur Gallery>Field
Blur, use a Blur of 4 pixels, and click OK in the
Options Bar.
Jungle: ©Adobe Stock/gi0572
[47 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 20: Add a Curves

adjustment layer (Layer>New
Adjustment Layer>Curves)
and drag down the midpoint
of the curve deeply to darken
the jungle image. Then click
on the mask thumbnail for
the curves layer in the Lay-
ers panel to make that the
active element. Switch to the Gradient tool (G); click on the
gradient thumbnail preview in the Options Bar to open the
Gradient Editor; select the Black, White preset; and click OK.
Starting at the top of the document, draw a black to white
linear gradient to fade the Curves effect from the top of the
frame. Next, add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above the
Curves adjustment layer. Check the Colorize box, and set the
Hue to 101, Saturation to 33, and Lightness to –11.
Step 21: Add a new layer

above the adjustments lay-
ers and name it “Vignette.”
Use the Brush tool with
black paint and a very large
Soft Round tip. Reduce the

brush Opacity to 25% in the
Options Bar and then build
up the paint along the side
and bottom edges to create
a vignette effect. You can
also paint over any areas of
the background image that
appear too bright.
[48 ]
Step 22: Add in the tag line (shown in Step 25)

as separate text layers for each word so the text
is easier to position. The font we used here is
called Industry Ultra and is also available through
Typekit. Type the first word(s) using the same
yellow color we sampled from the main text
earlier. Then add a Bevel & Emboss layer style
(Layer>Layer Style>Bevel & Emboss) with the
Depth set to 292%, the Size set to 2 px, and
Soften at 0 px. In the Shading area, set the Angle
to 90°. Change the Opacity for both the High-
light Mode and Shadow Mode to 50%. Don’t
click OK yet.
Step 23: Click on Satin in the list of Styles on the

left of the Layer Style dialog. Change the Blend
Mode to Multiply, set the color to black, Opacity
to 50%, Angle to 90°, Distance to 12 px, and
the Size to 19 px. Turn off the Invert checkbox.
Don’t click OK yet.
Step 24: Add a Pattern Overlay layer style with

the Blend Mode set to Overlay, Opacity to 64%,
and use the same Noise pattern that we used in
the title text. Don’t click OK yet.
[49 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 25: Finally, add a Drop Shadow layer style

and set the Opacity to 100%, Angle to 138°,
Distance to 5 px, and Size to 8 px. Now you can
click OK to apply all the layer styles. Press Com-
mand-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the text layer, and
use the Type tool to change the type and resize
it as needed. Use the Move tool to position the
different type layers.
Step 26: Finish off the piece by adding in the

names of the stars and a reference to when the
movie opens. Then enjoy your jungle-themed
movie text effect!
Movie poster treatments are a great way to find

inspiration for exploring the possibilities of differ-
ent effects in Photoshop. This tutorial was spe-
cifically aimed at a jungle-themed effect, but the
techniques can easily be adapted to fit any other
theme. A bit of 3D work to serve as the founda-
tion, and some creative filtering, pattern overlays,
and layer styles, and you can accomplish almost
any effect you see on major blockbuster posters.
Or better yet, use this process as inspiration to
craft your own unique effects! n
[50 ]
P
Photoshop World
The Creative Conference for
People Just Like You!
It’s where an exciting mix of Photoshop users, Lightroom fanatics, photographers of all types, graphic
designers, and people from all over who use Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps come to leave the world behind
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about losing yourself in a flood of new ideas, new techniques, and new, faster, better ways to do things.
Photoshop World is jam-packed with hands-on training, fun events, networking, and opportunities to interact and
meet the best instructors in the photography and design community. With six specialized tracks each day and
over 100 classes and live shoots, we have the right training for you, regardless of your skill level. Photoshop
World 2018 will be held in the Hyatt Regency Orlando, Convention Level from May 31—June 2. We
guarantee this is the most fun you’ll have learning, but don’t take our word for it. Visit photoshopworld.com
to see what our attendees have to say.
Three Days of Non-stop Photoshop,

Lightroom and Photography Training
Wed. May 30 th | In-Depth Workshops (separate registration & fee required), Meet-Up,
and First Time Attendees Orientation
Thurs. May 31st | Keynote, Classes, Portfolio Reviews, Partner Pavilion, Get Ready to Go Pro,
Dinner with a Stranger, and After-Hours Party
Fri. June 1st | Classes, Photo Shootout, Live Natural Light Shoots, Partner Pavilion,
Midnight Madness, and An Evening with Jeremy Cowart
Sat. June 2nd | Classes, Guru Awards & Wrap-Up Ceremony
View all the Photoshop World 2018 highlights

at photoshopworld.com/events
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Photoshop, LIghtroom, Creative Cloud are all registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated.
Instructors
Get Ready to Learn From the Best
We all know the difference a great teacher can make and that’s why only the world’s best instructors are invited
to speak at Photoshop World. Our instructors take the stage to share the latest techniques, tips, and time saving
tricks. Best of all, we’ve made sure to include time for you to interact with them after each class and at events.
Don’t miss out on your chance to meet your favorite photography/Photoshop/Lightroom instructor.
Scott Kelby Joe McNally Peter Hurley Jeremy Cowart Moose Peterson
Matt Kloskowski Roberto Valenzuela Glyn Dewis Dave Black Kalyee Greer
Tim Wallace Serge Ramelli Terry White Kristina Sherk Rob Sylvan
View all the Photoshop World 2018 instructors

at photoshopworld.com/instructors
Instructors, classes, and class materials may change without prior notice. Visit www.photoshopworld.com for the latest schedule and information
After-Hours Party
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Keynote Address
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Come the day before the conference kicks off for our optional in-depth pre-conference workshops. These intensive
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View the entire Photoshop World 2018 workshops' schedule

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DAY 1 (05.31.18) SCHEDULE
Moose
Peterson
Modern Day Wildlife Photography | Photography
Rick
Sammon
Adding Impact to In-Camera Images | Photoshop Effects
12:00pm-1:00pm
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Cross
Selections & Masks Demystified | Photoshop Essentials
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Ramirez
Mastering Photoshop Blending Modes | Graphic Design
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Wallace
Stock Photography: How to Shoot It & Sell It | Business/Career
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Luminosity Mask Basics in Lightroom & Photoshop | Lightroom
Kloskowski
Lindsay
Adler
High Impact Images: Create Photos that WOW | Photography
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Dewis
Photoshop Lighting Effects for Photographers | Photoshop Effects
4:00pm -5:00pm
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Hughes
A Modern Photo Restoration | Photoshop Essentials
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Cross
Intro to Illustrator | Graphic Design
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Kramer
50 Things You Need to Know to Succeed, Part 1 | Business/Career
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Simplified Lightroom Image Management System | Lightroom
Peter The Art Behind the Headshot–Top 10 Tips | Photography

Hurley
Matt Photo Styling with Photoshop Color Lookup Tables | Photoshop Effects
Kloskowski
5:15pm -6:15pm
Mark Digital Darkroom Essentials: Landscape | Photoshop Essentials

Heaps
Dave Getting Started with InDesign | Graphic Design

Clayton
Stella 50 Things You Need to Know to Succeed, Part 2 | Business/Career

Kramer
Julieanne Using Lightroom with Photoshop: When & Why? | Lightroom

Kost
Kim Griffen | PSW Guru Winner

Kaylee
Greer The Secrets to Creating the Best Dog Photos | Photography
Dave
Black SPORTS Action High Speed Sync FLASH | Lighting/Flash
8:00am- 9:00am
Mark
Heaps Digital Color & Tone Fundamentals | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Dave
Cross The Power of Using Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign Together | Graphic Design
Lindsay
Adler Plan, Shoot & Publish a Fashion Editorial | Motivation/Inspiration
Matt
Kloskowski Lightroom Mobile: Landscape & Travel Photographers | Lightroom
Peter
Hurley Top 10 Headshot Blunders | Photography
Lindsay
Adler Portraiture as a Work of Art: A Live Shoot | Lighting/Flash
9:15am -10:15am
Julieanne
Kost Advanced Photoshop Tips & Tricks | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Corey
Barker Improv Photoshop & Illustrator Hour | Graphic Design
Kaylee
Greer Live Your Dream Career! | Motivation/Inspiration
Serge
Ramelli Cityscape Master Class | Lightroom
Tracy Creative Newborns: Posing, Styling & Workflow | Photography

Sweeney
Frank Creating Magic with Less: A Live Shoot | Lighting/Flash

Doorhof
10:30am -11:30am
Lindsay Color Grading: For Mood & Impact | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Adler
Dave The Power of Photoshop Presets | Graphic Design

Cross
Tim ‘Dude Nobody Sees My Work’ | Motivation/Inspiration

Wallace
Rob Lightroom Mobile: Creating Your Own Looks | Lightroom

Sylvan
View the entire Photoshop World 2018 schedule

at photoshopworld.com/schedule
Sean Ferguson | PSW Guru Finalist
Dave
Black The Right Stuff: A Sports Shooters Guide | Photography
Glyn
Dewis Portrait Lighting is Easy, Trust Me! | Lighting/Flash
3:00pm -4:00pm
Kristina
Sherk The Art of Magazine—Quality Skin Retouching | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Scott
Kelby How to Design Really Effective Ads! | Graphic Design
Tracy
Sweeney The Joyful Photographer: Run a Successful Child Photography Business | Motivation/Inspiration
Serge
Ramelli Black & White: Today & Yesterday | Lightroom
Moose
Peterson
Landscape Photography: Beyond Sticks & Stumps | Photography
Dave
Black
Lightpainting: Fun in the Dark | Lighting/Flash
4:15pm -5:15pm
Jesús
Ramirez
Making Realistic Composites in Photoshop | Photoshop Advanced Techniques
Terry
White
Create & Update Your Portfolio with Adobe CC | Graphic Design
Joe
McNally
A Year in the Life of a Photographer | Motivation/Inspiration
Kristina
Sherk
Everyday Portrait Retouching in Lightroom | Lightroom
Moose Airshows: Get Beyond the Crowd Shot | Photography

Peterson
Joe TBA | Lighting/Flash

McNally
5:30pm -6:30pm
Corey Retro Down & Dirty Tricks | Photoshop Advanced Techniques

Barker
Dave Get Inspired by Graphic Design | Graphic Design

Clayton
Julieanne Creative Practice: The Tortoise & The Hare | Motivation/Inspiration

Kost
Rob Lightroom’s Client Proofing & Sharing Online | Lightroom

Sylvan
Attend conference sessions in any track and move between them as you like. Instructors, classes, and class materials may change without prior notice.
Visit www.photoshopworld.com for the latest schedule and information.
Glyn
Photoshop Power Hour | Photoshop for Photographers
Dewis
Corey
Creating 3D Composites in Photoshop | Photoshop Compositing
Barker
9:15am -10:15am
Moose
Luminar: Filling the Void of Nik | Software/Plug-ins
Peterson
Dave
Illustrator Tips & Tricks | Graphic Design
Cross
h
Justin
DSLR Video Basics | Video for Photographers
Wojtczak
Terry
Lightroom: Beyond Image Management | Lightroom
White
Rick
Sammon Tricks & Fixes to Make Photoshop Fun | Photoshop for Photographers
Glyn
Dewis Compositing: Don't Get Stuck, Get Creating! | Photoshop Compositing
10:30am -11:30am
Terry
White How to Contribute to Adobe Stock & Make Money | Software/Plug-ins
Dave
Clayton Ten Tips & Tricks for InDesign | Graphic Design
Justin
Wojtczak Increase Your Photography Sales with Video | Video for Photographers
Scott
Kelby Making Awesome Prints in Lightroom | Lightroom
Don Clark | PSW Guru Winner
Glyn
Dewis A Complete Photographer's Guide to Photoshop | Photoshop for Photographers
Tim
Wallace Compositing Techniques | Photoshop Compositing
1:00pm -2:00pm
Matt
Kloskowski Start of Finish Workflow with On1 Photo Raw | Software/Plug-ins
Terry
White Intro to Adobe Muse CC | Graphic Design
Justin
Wojtczak DSLR Interviews: Creating an Impactful Story | Video for Photographers
Serge
Ramelli TBA | Lightroom
Images courtesy of Brad Moore, Rob Foldy, Nick Pedersen, Scott Kelby, Don Clark, Kevin Newsome, Kim Griifen and Scharad Lighbourne.
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LESASNIDER
> BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
PLACING TEXT BEHIND AN OBJECT
A great way to make text feel like it’s part of a photo is to tuck pieces of it behind an object in the
image. Magazines such as Rolling Stone use this trick all the time to hide a bit of text behind their
cover model’s head. This column teaches you how to use a layer mask to get it done.
Step One: In Photoshop, choose File>Open and navigate to a

photo. If you’re starting in Lightroom, select a photo in the Library
module and then choose Photo>Edit In>Adobe Photoshop CC, or
press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E). In this example, the left corner of the
photo was darkened using a Levels adjustment layer (Layer>New
Adjustment Layer>Levels) to make it easier to read the text we’re
going to place there.
To obtain the stock image used in this exercise so you can
follow along, download the watermarked preview from Adobe
Stock directly to your Libraries panel (Window>Libraries) by click-
ing on the link for the image below. When the Adobe Stock web-
page opens, make sure you’re logged in to your Adobe account,
©Adobe Stock/fotoslaz
then to the right of the image, you’ll see the option to Save Pre-
view to My Library (you can click on My Library to select a differ-
ent library or download option). Click on the cloud-with-an-arrow
icon, and the preview image will automatically be downloaded to
your Libraries panel in Photoshop. Simply double-click the image
in the Libraries panel to open it in Photoshop.
• The elephant family in forest
Step Two: Press T to grab the Type tool (circled) in the Toolbar.
Trot up to the Options Bar, pick a thick font, and enter a large size
(Impact Regular at 342 points was used here; you should use a
lower number for smaller images). Click within the document and
enter some text. To move the text around, slowly mouse away
from the text and when your cursor turns into the Move tool
cursor (circled here), drag the text wherever you’d like. (Note: If
you mouse too far away, the Move tool cursor will change to an
arrow.) Be sure part of the text overlaps the subject in your photo.
Step Three: To pick a text color that goes well with the image,
steal one from the photo itself. To do that, double-click the
word (or the type layer’s thumbnail in the Layers panel) to
highlight the text, cruise up to the Options Bar, and then click
the rectangular color swatch. When the Color Picker opens,
mouse over to the photo and click anywhere to snatch a color.
In this example, we chose a light blue from the sky at the
upper right (circled).
[62 ]
› › BEGINNERS’ WORKSHOP
Step Four: When your text is exactly as you

want it, click the checkmark in the Options Bar,
and then add a layer mask to the type layer
by clicking the circle-within-a-square icon at
the bottom of the Layers panel (circled). Pho-
toshop adds a white thumbnail (also circled)
next to the type layer’s thumbnail. In the realm
of the layer mask, black conceals and white
reveals. Since the mask is white, everything
on the type layer is visible. The light-colored
brackets around the corners of the mask let
you know it’s active, so the next thing you do
will happen to the mask and not the layer con-
tent. (One of the biggest mistakes folks make
when working with layer masks is not paying
attention to which thumbnail is active in the
Layers panel—the layer or the mask. It takes a
single click to activate either one.)
Step Five: Press B to grab the Brush tool (cir-

cled). Trot up to the Options Bar and open the
Brush Preset Picker by clicking the down-point-
ing triangle next to the brush preview (also cir-
cled). Pick a soft-edged brush that’s around 60
pixels (if you’re using the Adobe Stock comp
image, use a 20-pixel brush). Make sure Opac-
ity and Flow are set to 100%. Take a peek at
the color chips at the bottom of the Toolbar
(circled), press D to set them to their default
values of black and white, and then press X
until black hops on top (remember, in a layer
mask, black conceals). Now you’re ready to
start painting to hide parts of the letters.
Step Six: Zoom into your document by

pressing Command-+ repeatedly (PC: Ctrl-+).
Reposition the photo onscreen by pressing-
and-holding the Spacebar on your keyboard
while you click-and-drag. Paint the parts of the
text you want to hide (here that’s the V and
E). When you release the mouse button—you
don’t have to do all your painting with one
brushstroke—you’ll see black paint on the

layer mask in the Layers panel (circled). Don’t
worry about being extremely precise; you’ll
fine-tune the mask in the next step.
[63 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Seven: When you’re finished hiding the

majority of the letters, you’re ready to fine-
tune the mask. Press X to swap color chips so
white is on top. Reduce the brush size by tap-
ping the Left Bracket ([) on your keyboard (25
pixels was used here; use 5 pixels for the comp
image). Now paint across the areas where you
want to reveal the text (circled). Press X to
switch back to painting with black if you need
to hide some of the letters again. When you’re
working with a layer mask, you’ll do lots of
color-chip swapping (from black to white and
vice versa). Zoom in and reposition the photo
onscreen as necessary.
Tip: You can change your brush cursor’s

size and hardness by clicking-and-dragging,
which is handy when it comes to fine-tuning
layer masks. To resize your brush, Control-
Option-drag (PC: Alt-Right-click-drag) left to
decrease brush size or right to increase it. The
same keyboard shortcut also lets you change
brush hardness: Drag up to soften the brush
or down to harden it.
Step Eight: When you’re

finished, choose View>Fit on
Screen to check your handi-
work. Here’s the final result
after we added another line
of text to finish the piece.
That’s all there is to it! The

more you use layer masks,
the more natural this
stuff will feel. Be sure to
save your work by choos-
ing File>Save As and pick
Photoshop from the For-
mat menu. (If you started in

Lightroom, the Photo shop
document shows up in your
catalog.) Until next time,
may the creative force be
with you all! n
[64 ]
NEXT STOPS: SAN ANTONIO, TX | HOUSTON, TX
San Antonio | 02.22.18 • Houston, TX | 02.26.18
view more dates

DAVIDWILLIAMS
> Dynamic Range
ANTELOPE CANYON: DAY TO NIGHT

While I was stateside last year for Photoshop World 2017 in Orlando, I took the opportunity, as always,
to make the most of the trip. I had the pleasure of visiting Antelope Canyon in Arizona, and it was
great that the guide was throwing around photographic advice to everybody, having had so much
experience in the conditions of the canyons, but I wanted to make sure I got something different than
everybody else. With this tutorial, I’ll show you how I used two shots from that trip to create something
unique with Adobe Photoshop.
Let’s walk through how I turned a midday shot of Upper

Antelope Canyon into a middle of the night, moon-
glowing, Milky-Way-popping glance at the night sky.
Here’s where we’re starting: The canyon catches the

light and funnels it around, bouncing it off some of the
sandstone walls to be absorbed by others. The high-
lights and shadows are pretty cool, and the overexposed
sky that so often results from shots taken here due to
the high contrast, can be used to our advantage when
we get to the selection stage.
[KelbyOne members may download the files used in
this tutorial at http://kelbyone.com/magazine. All files Original
[66 ] are for personal use only.]

› › D Y NAM IC R A N G E
Step One: If you’re starting with a RAW file, first open your select Duplicate Layer, and click OK in the resulting dialog.
image into Adobe Camera Raw. If you’re using the prac- The new layer, entitled “Background copy,” will appear
tice files, open the Canyon.jpg image from the download above the original layer and will be the image on which we’ll
folder, and then go to Filter>Camera Raw Filter (or press work. Click the Eye icon next to the original Background
Shift-Command-A [PC: Shift-Ctrl-A]). We need to give the layer to hide it.
canyon walls the feel of a cool, dark night, so set your slid-
ers to reflect the blue, dull light of the moon by cranking
the Temperature slider all the way down to –50 (2850 if
you’re using a RAW file), then decrease the Highlights and
boost the Shadows to even out the tones. We’re taking out
the contrast because a nighttime shot should have pretty
even light in the canyon. To make sure you don’t lose too
much contrast in the midrange tones when you make these
adjustments, give the Clarity slider a little push, which will
also assist in retaining some of the detail. Once you’re happy
with the look, click OK (or Open Image) to return the image
to Adobe Photoshop.
Step Two: In order to protect the original image, we need

to duplicate the Background layer to give us a working ver-
sion. Right-click on the Background layer in the Layers panel, [67 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Three: This step is all about

finding the boundaries of the sky so
we can remove it and fill it in with
the night image. Using the Quick
Selection tool (W), paint over the sky
to select it; this should be nice and
easy with the high contrast between
the sky and canyon. One thing we
need to consider are the bright high-
lights catching the two overhanging
sections of rock at the top right of
the canyon. These areas won’t com-
plement our nighttime feel, so they
need to go too, which will also give
us more visible starry sky. Just include
them in the selection. If you select
areas that you don’t want selected,
press-and-hold the Option (PC: Alt)
key, and paint to remove those areas
from the selection. To check your
selection, you can enter Quick Mask
mode by pressing Q. This will place
a red overlay on the non-selected
areas. Press Q again to go back to
your selection.
Step Four: When you’re happy

with your selection, press Delete (PC:
Backspace) to remove the selected
sky, and then press Command-D
(PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.
Step Five: Now we can copy-and-

paste our starry night sky in as a new
layer. Open the Night Sky.jpg image,
press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to
Select All, and Command-C (PC: Ctrl-
C) to copy it. Switch to the canyon
image, and press Shift-Command-V
(PC: Shift-Ctrl-V) to paste the sky in
[68 ] the center of the document.
Step Six: Once it’s pasted in, we

need to resize it to fit the back-
ground image, so press Command-T
(PC: Ctrl-T) to enter Free Transform.
Step Seven: To keep the propor-

tions and to resize the night sky
layer from the center outward, hold
Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt) while
dragging out a corner point. Once
the night sky fills the image, press
Enter to commit the transformation.
We need to move the night sky layer
to the middle of the layer stack by
clicking-and-dragging it in the Layers
panel, which will leave the stars shin-
ing through the gap we removed in
the image. The edges will look highly
contrasted now, but we’ll tackle that
problem soon.
[69 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Eight: With our starry sky

now filling the image, we can use
Free Transform again to rotate and
move it so it better suits our image.
Click-and-drag inside the bound-
ing box to reposition the stars;
move outside the bounding box,
where the cursor will change to a
curved double-headed arrow, and
click-and-drag to rotate the stars.
We have a relatively small window
in comparison to the size of the
sky, so we can move the star layer
around quite freely to see where it
looks best. When you’ve found a
position with which you’re happy,
press the Enter key to exit the Free
Transform tool.
Step Nine: Now the sky is in place, we can better match the tones and colors in the
canyon to that of the sky for a more natural look and feel. With the top layer active,
open the Camera Raw Filter again. We can make simple changes to the layer to turn
this portion of the image from day to night. First, lower the Exposure in the Basic panel
to darken the overall image. Switch to the Adjustment Brush (K), lower the Exposure,
and then paint the brighter, higher areas of the canyon walls to better match the lower
sections of the canyon, which are darker. In the Basic panel, use the Temperature slider
[70 ] to add more blue into the canyon. Click OK.
Step 10: Now it’s time for our creative judgment to come Tip: When using the Burn tool, it’s a good idea to go
into play. We’re going to use the Burn tool (press Shift- gradual. Don’t set the Exposure slider at 100%, but keep it
O until you see the hand forming an O in the Toolbar) to low, and apply it gradually, going over areas several times to
darken areas of the canyon even more. In the Options Bar, build the effect.
select a medium-sized brush, set the Range to Highlights,
and the Exposure to around 75%. Paint the walls of the can-
yon to darken the areas that are still unrealistically bright,
bearing in mind that any light falling into the canyon would
be cast by the moon. Also brush over the bright areas along
the fringes of the rock where it meets the sky. This dulls
the highlights, creating a much more realistic seam than the
stark contrast that currently sits there.
Setting the Range to Midtones and Shadows and the Once you’re happy with what you’ve created, simply save
Exposure to around 45%, brush over darker areas to help your creation. From here, the only task is convincing your
make the composite image look as if you’d taken the photo friends that you were actually at Antelope Canyon during
at night, losing definition in the shaded areas where the the night with your awesome starry creation! n
light of the moon wouldn’t fall, yet retaining a crushed or
dull black look rather than having absolute black, giving
our image a much more pleasing look. This burn technique
comes down to using your eye and your judgment to know

when to stop, correcting any errors where you may have
gone too far.
ALL IMAGES BY DAVID WILLIAMS [71 ]

SCOTTVALENTINE
> Photoshop Proving Ground
TEXTURES ON PURPOSE!
Last issue, we looked at some of Photoshop’s pixel-pushing tools to create textures through serendipity,
just sort of following our noses as we plugged in various filters and values. This time around, let’s take
the opposite approach and try to reverse-engineer a popular texture effect. The goal of the previous
article was to get a feel for the general process and to build familiarity with the tools. Now that we have
some intuition about mixing effects, let’s direct that intuition into creating something planned.
The first thing to do is to break down the thing you want to color distributions, sometimes with harder edges; and folds
re-create into pieces with which you can work. Nearly all of and wrinkles that run various lengths. Orientation really only
us have some experience in reverse-engineering things; we comes into play for the wrinkles, which are kind of random,
do it when we see something we like and think about how but generally terminate at the edge of the paper and run
to get there from scratch. The most basic features I look for jaggedly but in one major direction at a time. There’s very
when trying to re-create a texture are: little indication of light direction on most of the sample. The
•S
tructure: What are the characteristic shapes in the color is roughly uniform, with tonal variations more than
texture? Are they dots, lines, squiggles, other small actual color differences.
repeating shapes? How many different kinds of struc-
tures are there?
• F requency: How big or small are the details compared
with the overall size of the image? Is there a mix of
sizes, and are the sizes specific to a given structure?
•O
rientation: Does each kind of structure have a pre-
ferred direction, maybe even a repeating pattern, or is
it random?
• L ighting: Is the texture uniformly bright across the
image? Is there some kind of vignetting or gradient
from bright to dark?
•C
olor: Is there a uniform color with small variations?
How does the color help identify the texture, or
doesn’t it matter? Which filters do we know that can handle each of these
elements? Well, the small grains look like noise, the chunky
Note: Remember that we’re not trying to exactly rep- tonal variations remind me of the Clouds filter, and the
licate the texture! We’re using the key characteristics to wrinkles look kind of like the edges you get with Difference
> P H O T O S H O P U S E R > J A N U A R Y 2 018
create our own texture in a guided way using fast, some- Clouds. There are a couple of ways to tackle the lighting,
what automated techniques. These textures are meant to be so we can save that for the end. And for simplicity, we can
applied to other images, not act as standalone photographs ignore the orientation and still get good results. Let’s do our
of actual textures. work on a 1000x1000 px square document in 8-bit depth.
BREAK IT DOWN Note: Scale is an issue with rendered filters! As you work
Let’s apply these terms to a crumpled parchment texture. on larger documents, you’ll have to choose whether or not
For structure and frequency, I see three main components: to transform the results. Don’t worry too much about arti-
small, fine grains with a slightly blobby look to them, more facts from scaling; when you blend the texture, many faults
[72 ] apparent in darker tones; broad, chunky, kind of random will be hidden!
› › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
Step One: In this case, the broad tonal variations seem

easiest to generate, so press D to set the default colors, add
a new blank layer, and run Filter>Render>Clouds on it.
Step Two: The transitions look too much like gradients,

so add a Posterize effect (Image>Adjustments>Posterize)
at 12 Levels. Click OK.
Step Three: We need to break this up a bit, so add another

blank layer on top and repeat the first two steps—running
the Clouds filter again creates a new random pattern.
Change the blend mode of the top layer to Overlay.
Clouds and Threshold on the mask
Note: If you don’t like the harsh edges that sometimes crop
up, you can run a small Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian
Blur) on the posterized cloud layers to smooth things out.
Step Six: This is really contrasty! Add a Curves adjustment

layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Curves), and in the Prop-
erties panel (Window>Properties), drag the control endpoints
close to the middle region (like a nearly flat horizontal line).
Step Four: You should get some crossed-up boundaries and

a general, chunky mess so the gradients aren’t so obvious.
But let’s throw more randomness in there. Click the Add
Layer Mask icon (circle in a square) at the bottom of the
Layers panel to add a mask to the top layer. Option-click
(PC: Alt-click) on the mask thumbnail to see the mask on
the canvas, which is currently white.
Step Five: Run Filter>Render>Clouds, and then Image>

Adjustments>Threshold. Adjust the Threshold slider how-

ever you like, aiming for about two-thirds of the canvas to
be white. You especially want rough edges, so play around a
bit. When you’re happy, press Enter, then click on the layer’s
thumbnail in the Layers panel to close the mask view. [73 ]
› › COLUMNS
Step Seven: For some color, we’ll add a Gradient Map Step 10: Change the blend mode of this noise layer to Over-
adjustment layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient lay. Reduce the uniformity by double-clicking on its layer
Map) to the top. We chose the Gold 1 preset from the Pho- thumbnail in the Layers panel to open the Blending Options
tographic Toning collection. To load the Photographic Ton- in the Layer Style dialog, and find the Blend If sliders near the
ing set, click on the gradient bar in the Properties panel to bottom. We want to remove some of the effect from high-
open the Gradient Editor. Click on the gear icon near the lighted areas, so go to Underlying Layer, hold the Option
top right of the dialog, select Photographic Toning in the (PC: Alt) key, click on the highlights slider on the right to split
menu, and then click OK in the resulting dialog. Choose the it in two, and then drag the left half of the triangle slider to
Gold 1 preset. We adjusted the color stops below the gradi- the left until you’re happy. Click OK. How cool is this?
ent bar in the Gradient Editor to get just a couple of small
highlights and a smoother, low-contrast field of color. Click
OK to close the Gradient Editor.
Step Eight: The base color variations are all set, so let’s add
the fine grains. Create a blank layer on top of your stack
and fill it with 50% gray (go to Edit>Fill, choose 50% Gray
in the Contents drop-down menu, and click OK). Go to
Filter>Noise>Add Noise and choose Gaussian, moving the
Amount slider to about 10%. Click OK. This gives us a pretty
uniform result, so let’s muddle things a bit. Step 11: Now for the finishing touch—the wrinkles! For
our parchment, we want it to look more crumpled than
Step Nine: On the same layer, choose Filter>Noise>Dust worn from folding, which means we’ll have just a little
and Scratches. Set the Radius to 2 Pixels and Threshold to lighting effect. Now this trick is pretty neat: create a blank
1 Levels. Click OK. layer at the top of your stack, and render Clouds again.
The result is kind Go back to Render and choose Difference Clouds on the
of blobby, no? same result. Press Control-Command-F (PC: Ctrl-Alt-F)
twice more—this shortcut reapplies the last filter with the
same settings, so you’re getting a total of three Differ-
ence Cloud operations.
Step 12: To get some nice, sharp folds and creases,

this layer needs a light, but we don’t want to bother
with normal lighting effects. Instead, use Filter>Stylize>
[74 ] Emboss. Set Angle to 90°, Height to 3, and Amount
› › PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUND
to 500 (max it out). Boom! Insta- Step 14: What you’re left with is a reasonable simulation of crumpled parchment,
crinkle! Click OK. which you can then blend with your favorite images.
©Adobe Stock/Gyula Gyukli

Step 13: Set this layer’s blend mode
to Soft Light and reduce its Opacity
to about 66%.
Custom texture applied to photo
SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER

The process we took here started by putting words to I want, and this is actually a fun process. After a few tries,
elements we can easily identify, then building the effect it really does get much easier.
by adding simple pieces to create complexity. But in the Of course, not everything has to be just filters, either.
end, it’s just a collection of simple pieces that we could There’s no reason we can’t blend other images in, or do
easily describe. some hand painting or drawing. Remember that you’re try-
I highly recommend working on a blank document ing to create something on purpose, to direct the skills you
the same size as the target image, then bringing over a already have into something new.
flattened version rather than the whole stack of layers.
If you want to work nondestructively with your textures, For homework, find a few examples of any texture you like
use groups and name them to keep organized just as you and break down the component features. Keep track of
would when retouching. what you do so you can repeat it! If you’re feeling particu-
Build a library of textures! The more you do this, the larly challenged, try re-creating more definite textures such
more familiar you’ll become with the tools involved, and the as camouflage or bricks—how would you describe the main
more likely you are to find other uses for the skills you’re characteristics? Which is more challenging?
developing. This is one of several projects I give myself just to As always, share your results on social media with #pspg,
keep the gears turning, and sometimes just to relax. and over at the KelbyOne forums! n
This may seem like a lot of work, and it does take some
trial and error. It’s really tempting to just go buy stock tex-
tures, and I admit I have quite a collection of my own;
however, there are times when I can’t find exactly what [75 ]
In this article we’ll be reviewing various ways to warp, distort, and transform pixels
to help improve your images or refine your concepts. The piece shown here is
an example of such a project, but first let’s review some of the fundamentals of
warping, transforming, and Liquify!
One of the best advantages we have in digital imaging we had cut out. This was amazing, fantastic even, and
vs. working in the old days of film is our ability to trans- we all had our tricks on best practices and ways to
form and manipulate the shape or form of a subject do it. If you were in a pinch and on a tight deadline,
in an image. This was a really challenging task in the you might be able to nudge an eyebrow, tweak some
analog days of editing, and nearly impossible to do in hair, or force a little smirk or smile on someone using
a way that was convincing or “real” looking. For years, the Smudge tool. The problem was in what it did with
we’ve been pushing the boundaries of these types of the pixels. Smudging gave us “soft” pixels, where it
edits in Photoshop. We started with cutting out parts would blend pixels together, so even though we got
of pictures, free-transforming parts of a subject, and the geometry we wanted, we lost detail and fidelity.
then clone-stamping in pixels to fill the gaps of areas Now we have three major ways of making these
sorts of edits: Transform Warp, Puppet Warp, and
Liquify. Depending on what you’re editing, each of
these serves its own purpose, but what’s clear is that
they all render their transformations while keeping
a very high degree of detail and clarity. We need to
remember, though, that these tools are still distortions
and transformations of two-dimensional pixel data.
You can’t turn a hand around and see the palm on
one side and the knuckles on the other. What we’re
really looking at is nudging, tweaking, and shifting

geometry within an image.
Let’s start by looking at some fundamentals for
each tool.
[77 ]
TRANSFORM WARP
©Adobe Stock/knlml
When you choose to use Edit>Trans
form>Warp, Photoshop gives you a
nine-part grid that has a series of
anchor points and Bézier curve
controls. For users familiar with the
Pen tool, or drawing in programs
such as Adobe Illustrator, this is very
intuitive. It allows you the ability to
make large warp edits to a shape.
Lots of production artists use this
to shape and distort large areas, or
shift the contour of a subject.
In this example, the fabric is a flat,
straight-on photo of the raw mate-
rial. By clicking anywhere within the
grid, you can push or pull the shape
into new forms; you can even twist it
around itself. When you’re trying to
give dimensional form to something
flat, however, it’s going to require
adding some shadows and highlights
to the form to make it convincing, so
we still have to use our understand-
ing of lighting, perspective, physics,
and more.
In the final warped version, there
are two separate layer types with
middle gray painted on them and
their blend mode set to either Color Before adding shadows and highlights
Dodge for highlights or Multiply for
the shadows. You can also use Color
Burn if you want the colors to satu-
rate within the shadow areas. The
layer Opacity is then adjusted for the
best appearance.
You can toggle back and forth
between the standard Free Trans-
form controls and the Warp Trans-
form grid by clicking the grid icon

with the curved double-headed
arrow in the top Options Bar. After adding shadows and highlights
For nondestructive editing, make
your layer a smart object (Layer>
Smart Objects >Convert to Smart
Object) before you begin making
any edits, and it will retain the trans-
form grid. After you’ve applied your
[78 ]
transformations and warping to a
smart object layer, the next time you
choose Transform>Warp from the
Edit menu, your edits and custom
grid will reappear.
This type of warping can be
really handy for shifting background
elements and shaping fog, smoke,
water, hair, etc. Or maybe you’re
trying to manipulate shadows onto
a surface that isn’t perfectly flat. It’s
worth remembering that all the tech-
niques included in this article can
be used together on smart object
layers to give even wider types of
warp control.
PUPPET WARP
Puppet Warp isn’t a new feature to Adobe
©Adobe Stock/sveta
products. In fact, it’s been around for years in
programs such as After Effects. You can access
it under the Edit>Puppet Warp menu option. It
was added to Photoshop in recent years, but it
has a very unique appearance and set of controls
that can sometimes confuse people. Instead of
working with a uniform grid over a subject, it
creates a polygonal mesh that’s a form of skele-
ton around the subject. The form it contours into
is dependent on what you’ve selected, or if you
have pixels isolated against a transparent area.
The theory of how this works is fairly simple:
The polygonal mesh is generated automatically,
and then you can click to place pins into the
mesh to either anchor and lock down those posi-
tions, or pull the pin to a new location, which
moves the pixels to which the mesh is connected.
In the Density drop-down menu in the Options
Bar, you have varying levels of mesh that can be
used for more or less finite control.
Here’s an example of the Density option
being changed from Fewer Points (right) to More
Points (next page). You can see the volume of

polygons in the mesh changes dramatically. All
of those connection points change the fidelity of
how you warp pixels.
[79 ]
More points don’t necessarily mean bet-
ter results. In some cases having fewer points
when warping a larger form can allow the
distortion to look more natural. But having
more points allows you to add many more
pins, much closer to one another, giving
you more finite control. So think of it like
this: If you were trying to change the direc-
tion someone was leaning in their portrait,
fewer points would give you more natural-
looking results, but if you were working up
close on a subject’s face, then having more
points gives you macro-level warping con-
trol to just tweak that smile, or move an
eyebrow up or down.
In this example, you can see that it’s
possible to over-push Puppet Warp and
make something look unrealistic. Having
only flat two-dimensional pixel information
means you’re merely stretching the visible
data you have. Aggressively pushing an
appearance can’t be done in one edit, but
if you work the warp focusing on smaller
edit regions, you’ll be more successful.
The rule of thumb here is making subtle
distortions to your subject area, because
anything stretched too far will look fake.
If you think about the actual mechanics
of how that skeleton in the hand would
move in real life, you can decide where to
position your pins to help the warp effect
look more believable.
Unchecking the Show Mesh box in the
Options Bar allows us to only work with
the pins and see more of the subject. This
is helpful to make sure you don’t end up
with strange little details or artifacts that
look unbelievable. We also have Expansion
set to 0 px, which means that there’s no
space around the pixels contained within
the polygonal mesh. By default, it’s set to

keep a 2 px margin around your subject’s
pixels, which can cause issues when you
overlap pins. In this example, it was impor-
tant to set Expansion to 0 so that when we
moved the second finger behind the first,
there wasn’t a transparent gap produced
between them.
[80 ]
By using More Points on the mesh in
this example, the edges of the finger still
look smooth and round. If I used Fewer
Points as the option for the mesh, the fin-
gertips begin looking poorly cut out with
many straight edges. These are some of
the artifacts you need to look for when
making these types of transformations.
If you find the appropriate mesh type
for your edit, in just a few seconds you
can have a very convincing transformation
of the original image form. This example
took a very short amount of time to Puppet
Warp, dodge and burn some shading into
the image, and Clone Stamp out some
artifacts between the knuckles.
Original Puppet Warped
I have to be honest; I love playing with Puppet Warp. is floating near a selected pin, which gives you a rotation
It’s really fun, and once you get the hang of using the controller allowing you to rotate nearby pixels around
pins, it becomes second nature. It’s worth mentioning that pin. This is different than pushing them to new
that sometimes moving a pin around won’t always get coordinates, but rather uses it like an anchor coordinate
you the positioning or shape you want. Also experiment between pins. It’s great for moving a subject’s leg or arm
with holding your Option (PC: Alt) key when your cursor in one movement.
[81 ]
PICKING THE RIGHT TOOL
©Adobe Stock/vladimirfloyd
Although editing with Puppet Warp is fun, it might

not always be the best tool. In this comparison,
take a look at the subject’s hair. The edit called
for making it look “more full” than what they
achieved in styling at the studio. No big deal, we’ll
“fix it in post.” But when we used Puppet Warp,
there were some indicators that made it clear that
it was being fixed in post.
Because Puppet Warp uses that polygonal
Original mesh, it’s going to map any warping to the lines
and forms of the mesh. So when something has
a clear edge that gets contoured to the mesh, we
can see that geometry in the edit. With enough
time, we could fix this problem with a finer mesh
and more points, but maybe this is a good oppor-
tunity to use Liquify!
THE LIQUIFY FILTER

Liquify was heaven-sent when it was first intro-
duced to Photoshop! Like with many new features,
Puppet Warped
many of us overused it and pushed it beyond being
tasteful. It was so much fun, it was hard to resist—
[82 ]
it was addictive making eyeballs big and shaping bodies in type of problem to watch out for. Because you’re using a
a way that made our subject’s love us. But, as with Drop round brush, it’s easy to start making your edits look like a
Shadows and Bevel and Embossing, we’ve learned that a series of scallops or notches when you use a brush that’s
little too much is usually way too much. Liquify, at a bare- too small. Because of the characteristics of Liquify, it’s easy
bones level, is similar to the Smudge tool, but it doesn’t to make edits that look too fluid, almost like an oil painting.
blend any of the pixel data. Instead, it treats the edited area It can take on a caricature-like appearance and feel hyper-
as a mesh that you’re distorting with a brush rather than stylized. At the bottom of the previous page you can see
pins as in Puppet Warp. that there’s a wavy-like effect that’s caused by trying to pull
As mentioned earlier, if you’re using this filter on a smart the hair into a larger form with a brush that’s too small.
object, all of your edits are nondestructive, which means So in this case where we want bigger hair, we need to
when you do push the transformations too far, you can use a much larger brush to pull out the forms. The prob-
come back later and reduce them to a more believable or lem with a larger brush is that it can be challenging to not
tasteful level. In the Puppet Warp example on the previous Liquify areas of the image that we don’t want to distort.
page, we saw some of those negative artifacts in the girl’s This is where the Freeze Mask tool (F) in Liquify becomes
hair caused by the mesh geometry. Liquify has an opposite extremely handy. It essentially masks out any areas of the
image you don’t want to Liquify, so

that when you’re making edits with
the Forward Warp tool (W), the fro-
zen areas are protected. Here you
can see that the face and body were
masked out with the Freeze Mask
tool, which allowed a very large
brush to be used with the Forward
Warp tool. It took only a few sec-
onds to change the hairstyle from
the original shoot into this much
bigger-bodied appearance that the

client preferred.
[83 ]
There are all sorts of amazing
©Adobe Stock/elnariz
things we can do with the Liquify
filter. The facial recognition technol-
ogy is especially helpful. Now that it
can recognize where the eyes, nose,
mouth, and face geometry are in the
image, it’s very fast to improve facial
symmetry or nudge a smile. We’ve
all had that image when the shot
was captured just as the eyelids were
lowering, or the smile was more of a
smirk. With these controls, you can
get realistic edits very quickly.
The key to this is that the con-
trols have been programmed with
Using the controls in the Face-Aware Liquify Properties panel
a mesh understanding of what hap-
pens to the face in specific muscle
groups; for example, when you edit
a smile, it’s not just the mouth that’s
changing shape, it also affects the
cheekbones, the jawline, and even
the eyes. So using this feature can
bring awareness to even seasoned
editors of how the human facial sys-
tem shifts when applying changed
expressions and the like.
You can either use the Face-
Aware controls in the Properties
panel on the right-hand side of the
filter dialog to make adjustments to
areas it auto detects, or you can use
the Face tool (A) in the tool strip on Using the Face tool
the left. With the Face tool active,
place your cursor over facial elements
such as the eyes or mouth, and vari-
ous controllers appear to allow you
to make manual adjustments to that
facial detail.
In this particular image, adjust-
ments were made for the size of the
subject’s left eye, her smile, eyebrow,

jawline, and more to help refine the
angle of the pose and improve the
perspective caused by this lens. In
this preview, you can see the Show
Mesh preview option was also
turned on. This is good to use when
you’re mixing the facial recognition
[84 ]
Liquify edits in conjunction with
the Forward Warp brush control,
because the mesh preview will also
be distorted, indicating which direc-
tions and angles you’ve edited any
facial details.
In addition to the Face-Aware
controls inside Liquify, we used
Puppet Warp to reposition the
head, shoulders, and body within
this photo.
Original Liquify: Face Aware
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Is there one warping or transforming technique to rule them • Moving everything in the frame is a great use
all? Like all questions relating to Photoshop, the answer is, for Edit>Transform>Warp.
“No, it depends.” What is the image? What are you trying
• oving finite little details and utilizing a skeleton
M
to do? What is the type of material, texture, pattern, or
or some base geometry is a great use for Puppet
appearance of the subject you’re warping? The important
Warp, especially if you need to pin parts down.
thing to remember is that you can mix and stack these tech-
niques onto the same object nondestructively and experi- • Painting your distortions and moving things that
ment to get the best results. I like to break it down into seem fluid and stretchable are perfect use cases
simple categories. for Liquify.
[85 ]
Below is a before and after project with some examples fabrics was distorted and warped to give us an interesting
of the types of distortions, warps, transformations, and shadow on the floor surface being cast by the spotlights
Liquify techniques used to make the final piece. Throughout above the subject.
this piece you can see some examples of where the source
image was modified to make it work for the final concept. By mixing these techniques, you can get some great results,
Each of these forms was modified before any toning, whether it’s illustrative or photo-realistic. It’s another set
color correction, or similar edits were done. Once the geom- of tools that enable you to make something better. So
etry and forms were all in the right position and shape, then next time you’re shooting or editing an image, look for
painting in some shadows on the body and fabrics helped those little opportunities to improve the geometry of your
connect the pieces and add depth. This is the same tech- subject or scene. You won’t regret it, and soon you’ll be
nique demonstrated in the first example of this article with looking at old projects and wondering how you can warp
the twisted blanket. Finally, a selection of the dancer and those images too. n
Source assets from Adobe Stock: Dancer: ©Adobe Stock/master1305; Smoke: ©Adobe Stock/Gun2becontinued;
Red Silk: ©Adobe Stock/Jag_cz; Braid: ©Adobe Stock/Grigoriy Lukyanov; Stage: ©Adobe Stock/rangizzz
Puppet Warping the ballerina to help shape the pose and Using Edit>Transform>Warp on the red silk and pulling the grid until the
exaggerate the motion fabric follows her body shape
[86 ]
Using Puppet Warp and Liquify on the braid of hair to give it Warping the smoke image to build depth into the scene
some motion-activated shape
Final Composite
[87 ]
DAVECLAYTON
> Designing in Photoshop
GRUNGY, PUNK-STYLE GIG POSTER

I was recently interviewed on a podcast and asked how I started in design. Well, I’m of an age (a.k.a.
old) where we didn’t have technology when I started; I had paper, scissors, and glue. I used to create
posters and artwork for my older brother’s band, as well as various bits and pieces for friends and
events. It was great fun at the time, but now we can replicate this style in Photoshop with some half-
tone effects, the right fonts, some rough brushwork, and textures. So let’s make a grungy, punk-style
gig poster and take a journey back to the olden punk rock days of the 80s!
Step One: First, we’ll create an A4 docu-

ment (File>New) in Photoshop at 300 ppi.
You can find the A4 preset by clicking the
Print option at the top of the New Docu-
ment dialog. This is the starting point for
our main image. Click Create.
Step Two: Next, we need to place our main

image. We used an image from Adobe Stock,
but all you need is a photo of a rock-style
guitarist. As this is a personal project, you can
probably find an image from one of the free
image sites. For this project, you can also
©Adobe Stock/Andrey Kiselev

use the low-res preview image from Adobe Stock. The
resolution isn’t too important, although the higher the
better, if printing a poster.
If you’re using your own image, go to File>Place
Embedded, navigate to your image, and click Place. This
will place the whole image with transform handles into the
A4 document we created. We’ll transform the image in the
next step.
To obtain the watermarked preview of the stock image
used in this exercise, click on the link for the image below.
When the Adobe Stock webpage opens, make sure you’re
logged in to your Adobe account, then to the right of the
image, you’ll see the option to Save Preview to My Library

(you can click on My Library to select a different library or
download option). Click on the cloud-with-an-arrow icon,
and the preview image will automatically be downloaded
to your Libraries panel (Window>Libraries) in Photoshop.
Simply click-and-drag the image from the Libraries panel
to the A4 document.
• guitarist
[88 ]
› › DESIGNING IN PHOTOSHOP
Step Three: We want the guitar to fill most of the docu- sliders to the right toward the white. Play around until you
ment, so we need to expand the image. The easiest way is to get the right effect in your own image.
hold Shift (PC: Shift) to resize proportionally as you drag one
of the corner points. Click-and-drag inside the bounding box
to reposition the image as shown here. Press Enter when
you’re happy with the placement of the image.
Step Five: Our aim is to convert the photo to the Bitmap

color mode, which will reduce the image to two colors: black
and white. If you select Image>Mode, you’ll see that the
Bitmap mode is unavailable. That’s because our image is cur-
rently in the RGB color space.
So first, go to Image>Mode>Grayscale, which will
result in an alert dialog telling you that changing the mode
will discard the adjustment layer, and asking if you want to
do this or flatten the image. Select Flatten. You’ll then see
another alert asking if you want to get rid of the image’s
color information. Click Discard. This will replace the RGB
Step Four: Our first “handmade” effect is to make the color information with grayscale values. Now when you
image look grungy to keep with the style we want. To do return to Image>Mode, you’ll see Bitmap is available. Go
this, we’ll use the halftone function in Photoshop. Before ahead and select it.
we add the halftone effect, add a Black & White adjustment
layer (Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Black & White). Click
OK in the resulting New Layer dialog.
Looking at the Properties panel (Window>Properties),
you may be wondering why there are color sliders for a
Black & White adjustment. The color sliders control the con-
trast and conversion of the color channels to grayscale; for
example, the guitar has a lot of red and orange, so to bring

up the detail in this area, drag the Reds slider to the right.
The jeans are dark blue, so to provide a bit more contrast
between them and the guitar, drag the Cyans and Blues
[89 ]
› › HOW TO
Step Six: When you select Bitmap as the image mode, Step Eight: Next you need to save this image in a safe place
the Bitmap dialog opens where you have a couple of as a Photoshop file (File>Save As). When you have given your half-
choices. The first is to decide what Resolution to use. tone image a name (we’ve labeled ours “Guitarist Halftone.psd”),
Though the golden rule is not to increase resolution, this and selected where to save it, click the Save button.
is one of those rare cases where increasing the resolu-
tion value won’t have a negative effect on the final result Step Nine: Create a brand-new A4 document in RGB color
if your original image was lower than 300 ppi. In the mode at 300 ppi. Go to File>Place Embedded, navigate to the
case of this image, however, we left the resolution at its halftone image you just saved, click Place, and press Enter to
original 300 ppi. Of course, the low-res comp file is even place this halftone image into the new document. Now we’re
lower than that. working in RGB mode again. We can (and should) convert to
The next choice is what Method to use for the conver- CMYK for printing, but for the sake of this tutorial, we’ll assume
sion. The Use drop-down menu has several choices, but we’re working on a poster to use on social media.
we want to create a Halftone Screen effect, so choose As we’re working from the base up, the next element to
that and click OK. This is going to turn the image into a add is a section of brick wall at the bottom of the poster so
collection of dots. we have a place to add our type. First, we need an image of
a brick wall; the easiest and cheapest way is to take a photo
of a brick wall. We got this image from pexels.com, as it’s
free for personal and commercial use. (It’s a great source
to get everyday items for projects like this.) Place your brick
image into the lower third of the new A4 document, and
just rotate the image around as shown here by clicking-and-
dragging outside the bounding box. Press Enter to commit
the transformation.
Wall: ©Pexels/Math
Step Seven: When you click OK in the Bitmap dialog,
a second, important dialog opens. The Frequency value
determines how many and the size of the dots. Choos-
ing the right Frequency can be trial and error, but we’ll
go with 15 Lines/Inch. The Angle value is how the dots
will line up on the image; for example, a value of 0° will
line up all of the dots in straight lines horizontally or ver-
tically. We’ll leave Angle at its default value of 45°.
The Shape drop-down menu determines what types
of dots to use. Choose Round for this tutorial, as that’s
the standard shape for halftone. (You could go for
Diamond, Ellipse, Line, Square, or bizarrely, a Cross!)
Click OK, and you’re now looking at your first “retro”
bitmap image, which will serve as our background.
[90 ]
Step 10: Go to Image>Adjustments>Black & White. Use Step 12: With the shape layer active in the Layers panel,
the color sliders in the Black and White dialog to add some Shift-click the wall layer so both layers are selected. Right-
nice contrast to the brick wall, and click OK. click on one of the layers and choose Convert to Smart
Object. Then change the Opacity to 90% near the top
right of the Layers panel, which allows some of the half-
tone to creep through. Rename the shape layer to “WALL
AND FRAME.”
Step 11: We have a hard edge at the top of the brick wall
but we’re going to roughen that up with a custom shape.
Press Shift-U until the Custom Shape tool is active in the
Toolbar. In the Options Bar, click the Shape preview thumb-
nail to open the Custom Shape Picker, and choose Frame
7—the wonky looking frame. Ensure the Tool Mode is set to
Shape and the Fill is set to black in the Options Bar. Draw out
the frame so that the top part of the frame is in line with the
top of the brick wall. You can press-and-hold the Spacebar Step 13: Now it’s time to add some grungy, punk poster-
while you’re drawing the shape to reposition it. style text. As I said at the beginning of this tutorial, I used
to cut the letters out of magazines and glue them on.
Now we could do just that by scanning all the letters into
Photoshop, and placing them one by one; but if we do
that, this tutorial would take up the entire magazine, so
we’ll use a font instead.
Using Typekit, which comes with your CC account, you
can go to Type>Add Fonts from Typekit, and search for
fonts to use for this poster. We went for CC Monster Mash,
so enter “Monster Mash” into the search field at the top of
the Typekit webpage, and then sync all the variations.
[91 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 14: Switch to the Type tool (T), and select the Worn Step 15: Next we want to add some band names, but we’ll
variation of the Monster Mash font. Press D then X to set use a different, punky font. Look at a lot of old punk posters
your Foreground color to white, and select the Center Text and you’ll see that they used multiple fonts to give them that
option in the Options Bar. Click in your document, and type rough-and-ready look. Let’s use Chinese Rocks from Typekit.
“PUNK ROCK REUNION,” pressing the Return (PC: Enter) key (Alternatively, you can choose any font from your own font
after the word “ROCK.” With your type cursor still inserted sources; just choose something that fits the design.)
in the text, hold the Command (PC: Ctrl) key to temporarily
place a bounding box around the text, and click-and-drag Step 16: We’ll create one type layer for the main band and
a corner point to resize it. Add the Shift key after you start a separate type layer for the support bands because we
dragging, to maintain the text’s proportions. Make it large want them to be different sizes and at different angles on
enough to fill the top of the poster (around 120 pts). While the poster. Type the main band name, “THE ADVENTURES
still holding the Command (PC: Ctrl) key, click-and-drag out- IN PUNK,” in white using the Chinese Rocks font. Resize,
side the bounding box to slightly rotate the text. Click-and- position, and rotate as desired. Select the bottom line of
drag inside the bounding box to reposition the text. Now, text with the Type tool, hold the Option (PC: Alt) key, and
click the checkmark in the Options Bar to commit the text. use the Up and Down Arrows on your keyboard to change
Click on the Add a Layer Style icon (fx) at the bot- the leading (space) between the two lines of text. Click the
tom of the Layers panel and select Drop Shadow. We’re checkmark in the Options Bar.
going to make it a hard shadow, so select Normal for the Click on the Add a Layer Style icon (fx) again, and
Blend Mode, 100% for Opacity, 120° for Angle, 30 px for choose Stroke. Set the Size to 10 px, the Position to
Distance, 40% for Spread, and 0 px for Size. Click OK. Outside, and the color to black. Now add another type
[92 ]
layer, type in the name of your support bands, and then Step 19: We have two more elements to add: first is an
size, position, rotate, and add a stroke to the type as we area on the brick wall to put the gig price. To do this, we’ll
did previously. use the Brush tool (B) set to one of the great new Kyle Web-
ster brushes available in Photoshop CC 2018. Create a new
Step 17: Next, we’ll add a white box behind the main band layer, select the Brush tool, and open the Brushes panel
name and a black box behind the supporting bands. Select (Window>Brushes).
the Pen tool (P) and in the Options Bar, set the Tool Mode Near the bottom of the panel, you’ll see a folder called
to Shape and the Fill to white. Click four times around the “Special Effects Brushes.” Expand that folder and select the
name of the main band to create a misshapen rectangle. Kyle’s Screentones 35 brush (or any rough type brush). In
Click on the starting point to close the shape. In the Layers the Brush Settings panel (Window>Brush Settings), change
panel, drag this layer below both band name type layers. the Brush Tip Shape to Kyle Drag Mixed Grays (174)—a
Create a new layer, and with the Pen tool still active, set rough marker pen kind of effect. Then just pretend you have
the Fill to black. Draw another misshapen rectangle around a marker pen and color in a small area in the bottom right to
the supporting bands. Then just drop the Opacity of each create a place to type the gig price on top.
shape layer to about 90% so that the halftone image just
sneaks through again.
Step 20: Type “COVER CHARGE $20” (as shown here)

using the Monster Mash Worn font set to black.
Step 18: We’ll go with one more font for the venue and gig
date. (Yeah, we’re breaking all the rules, but isn’t that what
punk is all about?) We can use a stencil type for this; there’s
one in Typekit called Korolev Military Stencil. Type the details
out on the brick wall and add the same hard drop shadow
again, but use a Distance of 10 px and Spread of 20% for
the smaller text. [93 ]
› › HOW TO
Step 21: Now that we have our punk-style poster, we

can add one final element: a photocopy texture effect.
You could print out your poster, place it on a copier, and
slightly open the lid to let some light in as you make cop-
ies to give it that grungy look, or your could add your own
texture in Photoshop.
We’re using a texture from the Photocopy Hate Machine
bundle, which is only $29 for a load of textures and brushes
from Retro Supply Co (we used RSCO-Photocopy037.tif
from the pack). You could also search for textures on Adobe
Stock, or create your own texture. [See “Photoshop Proving
Ground” in this issue.]
Once you have your photocopy effect texture image, just
place it, scale it to fill the document, and drag it to the top
of the layer stack in the Layers panel.
© Retro Supply Co
Step 22: In the Layers panel change the texture layer’s

blend mode to Multiply. If you want to add a bit more tex-
ture effect, just press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate
the layer, and go to Edit >Transform>Flip Horizontal (or
Vertical). You can then adjust the Opacity and play around
with the effect until you’re happy with it.
[94 ]
And there you have it, a rough, analog-style, handmade- and halftones. The worse it looks, the better! You can even
looking, punk-style poster. The best bit about all this is that add a new layer, fill it with a color, and choose Multiply to
you can experiment with all different types of images, fonts, make your poster stand out. n
[95 ]
COLINSMITH
> Photoshop Tips
BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY & CREATIVITY
Here we are in 2018 already, so I decided to give you 2,018 tips. Just kidding! But I’ve probably written
that many over the years, so grab your back issues of Photoshop User magazine and get your fill.
For the other 99.999% of you, who probably won’t do that, read on and enjoy!
CHANGING BLEND MODES QUICKLY shape tools (U). With the Brush tool (B) active, choose your
There are tons of layer blending modes in Photoshop—27 to desired brush, color, and size in the Options Bar. Click on
be precise. These blending modes make simple moves look the second icon (hollow circle) from the left at the bot-
like complex and advanced Photoshop work. The trick is tom of the Paths panel (Window>Paths), and your path will
knowing which one to use. You can read the manual and try be painted with your selected brush. Don’t like the result?
to understand the math, but trust me, there’s a much better Undo, change the brush settings, and try again. There’s no
and easier way: Just eyeball it. The problem? It takes a long preview, so it’s a little trial and error.
time to preview each mode using the drop-down menu in the
Layers panel. The solution? Read on! Choose the Move tool REAPPLY IMAGE ADJUSTMENTS
(V), select the layer that you want to blend in the Layers panel, WITH LAST SETTINGS
press-and-hold the Shift key, and tap the + (plus) key. Each Whenever you apply adjustments from the Image menu
time you press +, it will move forward to the next blending (e.g., Curves or Levels), you can make the settings “sticky,”
mode. Tap the – (minus) key to go in the opposite direction. as in the settings are the same the next time you open that
adjustment dialog. “Hang on,” I hear you say, “I know the
filter settings are sticky, but you’re wrong about adjustments.
They aren’t sticky.” Oh yes they are! You just need to know
how to recall them, so let’s go. Choose Image>Adjustments;
select, say, Curves; make your changes; and click OK to
apply the adjustment to the image. If you go to apply that
same adjustment again, the dialog is reset to its default set-
tings, but here’s the trick: Hold down the Option (PC: Alt)
key as you choose the adjustment, and the dialog will open
with the previous settings all dialed in for you.
SELECT LUMINOSITY (CHANNEL)

At some point in time, you may have heard the term “lumi-
nosity mask.” I’m not going to explain luminosity masks here,
as that would be a tutorial, not a tip. Instead, I’ll show you
the very foundation of luminosity masks, and that’s mak-
ing selections based on the luminosity (light and dark bits)
in an image. With a photo open, go to the Channels panel

(Window>Channels), and Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the
RGB channel at the top. All the light pixels in the image are
PATH TO BRUSHSTROKE now selected. If you want to select all the dark pixels, press
When you create a path in Photoshop, it’s really easy to turn Shift-Command-I (PC: Shift-Ctrl-I) to invert the selection.
it into a selection for super-precise masking, apply a stroke
to it, or really spruce it up with the brush you currently have ANIMATE 3D
selected. The secret to automatically adding a brushstroke You can do 3D in Photoshop. (Okay, I just wanted to get
to a path is simple. Make a path with either the Pen (P) or that out of the way, just in case you hadn’t heard.) Did you
[96 ]
› › PHOTOSHOP TIPS
know that you could also animate different properties of 3D another instance of the Stroke appears. Make changes to
in Photoshop, or the entire 3D image? Here’s how: Make the new stroke to get your double stroke. Rinse and repeat
sure the 3D layer is active in the Layers panel, and open the to add more “blades to your razor.”
Timeline panel (Window>Timeline). Click on Create Video
Timeline in the middle of the panel, and then on the very TOOL PRESETS
left, you can expand the options to reveal all the properties Tools are all the things that live in the small bar on the
that you can animate. Quite fascinating really. left side of Photoshop, which is called the, um, Toolbar.
Whenever you select a tool, a plethora of options appear in
FILL PATH WITH TEXT the Options Bar at the top of the interface, thanks to context-
Okay, so you know you can do a lot with a path, including sensitive menus. These were new around the time of, well,
flowing text along the stroke. You may not know, however, before iPhones. There are a lot of options, which can lead
that you can also fill a closed path with text. That means to a lot of clicking, which leads to a lot of complexity, which
you can make shapes out of blocks of text, and it’s easier leads to a lot of time. Here’s a tip to save you almost all of
than you think. Select one of the shape tools (U), choose those “lots of.” Once you’ve chosen the options you like for
Path in the drop-down menu near the left of the Options a tool, save it as a tool preset. At the very left of the Options
Bar, and drag out your shape. Choose the Type tool (T) Bar you’ll see the same tool you currently have selected in the
and move the cursor inside the shape until the square out-
line around the type cursor changes to a circle. Click inside
the shape and paste or type your text until the shape is
filled. Bonus Tip: Choose Type>Paste Lorem Ipsum to have
Photoshop generate some text for you.
Toolbar. Click on that tool icon, and a dialog will appear. This
is the Tool Preset Picker. On the right of the Tool Preset Picker,
click on the icon that looks like a “new layer” icon. Give it a
meaningful name and click OK to create your tool preset.
MASKING BRUSH IN ACR

Camera Raw is amazing and gets more amazing every day.
It’s become my go-to place for adjusting images. The local
adjustment tools, such as the Adjustment Brush and Gra-
DOUBLE STROKE dient Filter, are amazing for making adjustments exactly
Adding a stroke makes text stand out against a busy back- where you want. The geniuses at Adobe have found a way
ground. (A stroke is a fancy word for outline, by the way.) for them to work even better and that’s with luminosity and
So it stands to reason that if a stroke makes text stand out, color range masking. All that means is that you can now
then a double stroke will make it stand out doubly. What paint within the lines much better than before, thanks to the
about a triple or quadruple stroke? Truth is, we can add as latest Photoshop CC update. (Yes, you’ll need Photoshop
many strokes to text as a modern razor has blades. Let’s get CC to do this, or Lightroom Classic.) To activate this feature,
started. Make sure you have a layer active with something make your adjustment with one of the local adjustment
on it, and not a Background layer. Click the fx icon at the tools. At the bottom of the tool’s panel, you’ll see a drop-
bottom of the Layers panel, choose Stroke, and adjust the down menu for Range Mask. Choose Color to refine the
settings to suite your tastes. To the right of Stroke in the list selection based on differences in color, or choose Luminance
of Styles on the left, you’ll see a plus button. Click it and to create a mask based on differences of dark to light. n
[97 ]
ALL IMAGES BY COLIN SMITH
JAKEWIDMAN
> Design Makeover
CLIENT
50 Flavors of Sound
50flavorsofsound.com
tasty website
[ before ] Jena James is in the business of making sound. She pro-
duces custom “soundscapes” for her clients that involve
voices, thematic music, and complete scenes that combine
both. “If you think about it, everything we look at has
some kind of sound or music to work with the mood
they want for the audience,” she says. “That’s what I’m
doing with the business.” Unlike some sound services,
she doesn’t just offer the equivalent of sonic clip art—her
material is a custom creation for each client. “If you tell
me that you’re opening a yoga studio, we’ll talk about
what types of people you see yourself working with and
what kind of energy you want, and I could put some
soundscapes together for you.”
James is on the verge of officially launching the business,
which she has named 50 Flavors of Sound. She says that
music appeals to the senses just like scents and tastes do,
and she felt that the name would capture that idea.
Looking forward to the launch, she and her husband,
Bill Ataras, were aware that they’d need a website. “The
first thing people ask you is ‘what do you do,’ and then
they usually say ‘where can I go to find out more?’” Ataras
placed an ad on Craigslist, and Jeremy Richards of Live
Custom Design responded.
After chatting with Richards about technical issues
to make sure that he knew his stuff, Ataras sent him the
Request for Proposal (RFP) that he and James had prepared.
The RFP contained a description of the general look and
A page from section 4 of the original RFP feel they wanted the site to have, images and links that
illustrated the suggestions, specific design and interactivity
ideas for the home page, and more. Richards was impressed
at the detail in the document: “Most clients don’t bother
putting this much thought into it,” he says. He was puzzled
about some of the thematic choices, however, such as

references to cigar bars.
makeover submissions
We’re looking for real-world makeovers for future installments of the “Design Makeover,” so let us know if you recently had a branding makeover or if you did
a branding makeover for a client that you’d like us to consider. We cover everything from product packaging or labels, print advertisements, websites, logos, and
magazine covers that are currently in the marketplace. So if you’d like to be considered, send us an email at letters@photoshopuser.com.
[98 ]
› › DESIGN MAKEOVER
CLIENT
50 Flavors of Sound
50flavorsofsound.com
[ the project ] James’s original concept for her website, as expressed in

the RFP, was rooted in her love of old cigar bars. “I think
they’re really beautiful, and I like how they speak to a time
that doesn’t really exist now,” she says. “I originally wanted
a website that almost made people feel like they were sit-
ting in a room from the 1930s or 1940s, when the men
wore hats and the women wore seamed stockings.”
Richards, however, was worried that she was over-
compensating for the sexism she had encountered in the
industry, and that the hyper-masculine approach was a
way of hiding her identity. “What are we selling here?
We’re selling you,” he told her. “People who are going to
be hiring you just care about your creativity.”
After a bit of discussion, with Richards playing devil’s
advocate, “We found a middle ground,” says James. But
she still wanted to maintain the quiet, comfortable feeling
she associated with the cigar bars she loved. “I didn’t want
the color to be too bright, I wanted it to be kind of calm
and cool,” she says. “I wanted it to feel like you do when
you go to an old bookstore, where you can take your time
and walk around.”
The details were worked out in a series of phone calls.
“We’d plan our calls with Jeremy for 30 or 45 minutes,
and they’d go way over because we’d end up brainstorm-
The logo
ing,” says Ataras. “He helped us refine what we were
looking for.”
Richards felt he came away from those interactions with
a good understanding of how to achieve the couple’s goals.
“I found out the reasons behind her thinking, found out
about her industry, found out about the types of people
who’d be coming to the site, and found out where she
wants the business to go down the road,” he says. Figur-
ing out the factors like that is nine-tenths of his process,
he says, making it easy to nail the actual design.
about the client

Jena James developed a love of the theater at an early age. Her father was a writer and historian who helped his university’s theater group make sure they had historical
accuracy in their period productions. James would wander the sets, examine the props, and watch during rehearsals as the story came to life.
Those experiences left her with a lifelong passion for storytelling. In her business, whether she’s writing voiceovers, developing characters, or composing music, “I’m always
envisioning a story,” she says. And that’s what she wants to do for her clients: Tell their stories to their listeners and customers. “There is no ceiling to imagination,” she says.
“All one needs is an open mind and a desire to create and mold something new for an audience.”
[99 ]
› › COLUMN
DESIGNER
Jeremy Richards
livecustomdesign.com
[ the process ] With all the preliminary work done, the hands-on part
of the process didn’t take Richards very long. “It was
all together in my head,” he says. “I started the actual
design in the morning around 8:00 and was done by
about 11:30.”
He started by typing “50 Flavors of Sound” into Adobe
Illustrator. After experimenting with various fonts, he
finally settled on Natanael Gama’s Cinzel, a Google Web
font. (The navigation elements are in Times New Roman,
and the body text in Lukasz Dziedzic’s Lato.)
He spaced the letters out until the words looked “nice
and clean,” he says, and started placing them against vari-
ous backgrounds: white, gray, black, and some colors (see
previous page). He also started looking for objects repre-
senting sound that he could incorporate into the logo. He
found the image of a microphone, dropped it in place of
the O, and liked the result. With that in place, he added
tiny stars on either side of the large word and thin lines
on either side of the “.com” at the bottom to balance out
the whole thing. Then he made everything gold—inspired
by the brass and leather look James favored—and dropped
it on a black background. “I know she’s a big fan of old-
school classy,” he says. “I had gold and I had dark, and
I loved it.”
For the rest of the page, Richards alternated white
and dark sections, with the dark areas defined by photo-
graphs. He knew he wanted to have a studio microphone
stand out against the first photo, so that determined the
treatment he used for all of them. Working with stock
photos from Fotolia, he created a black background in
Photoshop and placed the photo on a layer over it. Then
he changed the photo to grayscale and manipulated the
layer’s opacity until he got the effect he wanted.
[100 ]
› › DESIGN MAKEOVER
DESIGNER
Jeremy Richards
livecustomdesign.com
[ the result ] After all the discussions about the business and James’s
preferences, Richards was confident that he’d managed
to capture the essence of her business and where she
was going. “When I did the grand reveal with them
[the clients], they were absolutely floored,” he says.
“They used phrases like ‘you’ve far exceeded anything
I expected,’ and ‘you captured it exactly.’” Richards
credits his process with the successful outcome: “The
reason it suits them is because of all the questions and
research,” he says.
James seconds that appraisal. “Jeremy did really
well,” she says. “I loved it. I loved the color. What he
came up with was really what I was looking for.”
She recognizes that it’s very different from what she
thought she wanted at the beginning. “Originally, I had
a concept of a family sitting around a television set, like
in My Three Sons and Leave it to Beaver, and the TV set
would have knobs that were interactive. But Jeremy was
worried that people might get a little turned off by the
concept, and I realized that, as an artist, I had to surren-
der a little bit.”
“I look at what he’s done now and I’m really happy with
it,” she continues. “It’s very smooth. At the end of the day,
that’s what I was looking for—a very smooth experience.”
about the designer

Jeremy Richards has been working for more than 17 years as a subcontractor for various ad agencies, marketing companies, Web design firms, tech startups, and other
businesses. His services include UI/UX work, application design, branding and rebranding, Web design and logos, and all sorts of conventional and digital marketing collateral.
And while he’s not a professional copywriter, almost all of the slogans and quotes he comes up with to fill in his designs wind up being used in the final product. “My passion
revolves around building sites and experiences that convert,” he says, “and it’s an added bonus that anything I do will also look sleek and professional.”
Richards is married with six grandchildren and lives in Chilliwack, British Columbia. He also loves music and works as a DJ at clubs and public events. “I always have
a zillion questions about everything I ever come into,” he says. n
[101 ]
> Reviews
GET THE SCOOP ON THE LATEST GEAR
©Stefano Gardel
Capture One
As a longtime Capture One Pro user, I can tell you from personal
experience that updates to Phase One’s best-in-class RAW image
editor are always worth it for increased performance and additional
Pro 11 camera support. Some rollouts, however, are more significant

than others: Capture One Pro 11 represents a significant update
in the major-feature-addition department, and that is Capture
Significantly Updated Image-Editing Software One Pro 11’s new, full embrace of a layered editing workflow.
Review by Michael Corsentino Layers have been re-engineered to improve the dynamics of
local adjustments. Being able to nondestructively edit RAW files
using a fully implemented and layer-centric toolset is not only
an exciting development, but also something that’s been on my
Company: Phase One
wish list for some time. In addition to the levels and color-balance
Price: Buy: $299; $120 (Upgrade) tools, presets and styles can now be applied to layers, and the
Subscribe: $20/mo or $180
prepaid annually (single-user) interaction between colors on stacked layers has been improved
to ensure more accurate color fidelity. Phase One has also added
Rating:
an Opacity slider to control the individual intensity of each adjust-
Hot: Fully implemented layers; adjustment layer ment layer. (This is huge!) Masking is now more powerful than
Opacity slider; annotations; performance
improvements ever with increased speed and responsiveness when drawing
masks. In addition, there are new options for adjusting your
Not:
[102 ]
› › REVIEWS
©Fritz Hansen
masks, such as Feather to soften mask edges and Refine sliders
to help finesse difficult subject matter like hair. A grayscale mask
mode has also been added, making it much easier to edit masks
as needed.
“Being able to Photographers who collaborate with other creatives, such as

retouchers and creative directors, will love Capture One Pro 11’s
nondestructively edit RAW new Annotation tool that enables you to draw and add hand-
written notes directly on your images in a variety of colors. These
files using a fully implemented can then be saved as a layer when exporting as a PSD file. Crops
and layer-centric toolset is not made in Capture One Pro 11 can now be handled in a variety
of new ways during export, ranging from respecting the crop,
only an exciting development, ignoring it, or choosing the new Crop to Path (PSD) option, so
but also something that’s been that the full uncropped image can be accessed later in Photo-
shop, if needed.
on my wish list for some time.” Capture One Pro 11 also brings with it the ability to save overlays
and watermarks as separate layers when exporting as PSD files.
Smoother, faster slider responsiveness, and an option to exclude
duplicate images when importing images are additional note
worthy improvements. n
[103 ]
REVIEWS › ›
BenQ 32"
Ben Q’s 32" 4K (3840x2160) PD3200U non-glare display is a
wonderful marriage of pixel density, large-screen real estate, and
4K Designer
a 10-bit color depth with IPS screen architecture. The results are
an image clarity that’s perfect for image editing.
It has a 16:9 aspect ratio; 1,000:1 native contrast ratio; and
Monitor PD3200U a maximum brightness of 350 cd/m2. It looks exactly like the
Ben Q SW320 I recently reviewed. On testing it, I achieved a
100% sRGB color space but only 79% of the Adobe RGB color
Impressive Inexpensive Display space prized by professionals for its larger color gamut. After
Review by Steve Baczewski
I finished testing the PD3200U and got down to making prints,
however, I was surprised by how good the color accuracy and
Company: BenQ Corporation
gamut is despite the lower Adobe RGB coverage. The screen
Price: $799
reveals lots of highlight and shadow detail and smooth color
Rating: gradients. The onscreen display (OSD) provides eight preset color
Hot: Comprehensive connectivity; modes but none achieved the accuracy I got by calibrating with
color accuracy; built-in SD card
a colorimeter.
reader; speakers
Not: No hood; simplified color adjustment
[104 ]
› › REVIEWS
The PD3200U is easily assembled. At 28 lbs. (with stand), it’s a

bit heavy, but its solid build is reassuring, and the design includes a
handle at the top of its vertical column for moving it around. The
large base and column provide a sturdy foundation that allows
“After I finished testing… and smooth screen adjustments for tilt, swivel, rise, and rotation from
landscape to portrait orientation.
got down to making prints, The dark grey bezel is 0.5" on three sides and 0.75" at the
however, I was surprised by bottom. In the lower-right corner is the five-button OSD con-
how good the color accuracy trol panel. Alternatively, BenQ provides a USB puck that lets
you efficiently navigate the OSD menus and program its pads.
and gamut is despite the In general, the menus are comprehensive; however, left out
lower Adobe RGB coverage.” is a set of sliders for adjusting individual colors. In its place is
a single slider for overall adjustment of hues that lacks pre-
cision. The IPS screen architecture provides viewing at acute
angles without any perceived loss of brightness or color. The
PD3200U is a solid performer. n
[105 ]
REVIEWS › ›
Mercury Elite
It’s small, it’s flat, and it’s fanless, and there are two 2.5" hard disks
or SSDs inside. It’s Otherworld Computing’s (OWC) Mercury Elite
Pro Dual Mini, which is a mouthful for a small unit that isn’t much
Pro Dual Mini

bigger than its two internal disks put next to each other. OWC sent
me an SSD version with 1 TB of space on its SSDs in RAID 1 mode
(priced at $597.99).
This OWC device offers USB 3.1 Gen 2 performance and can
be bus-powered. OWC installs its top-of-the-line SSDs inside the
Fast, Portable USB-C RAID Drive
SSD versions of the Mercury Elite Pro Dual Mini, so you get the
Review by Erik Vlietinck highest possible speed. OWC speaks of 800MB/sec throughput
rates, but on my old system, I didn’t get much further than about
600MB/sec. The HDD versions will offer up to 4 TB of storage
space, while the SSD versions will stop at 2 TB.
Company: Other World Computing, Inc. As with all OWC external disk drives, the Mercury Elite Pro
Dual Mini is made of aluminum with a nice, unobtrusive design.
Price: $89.75–$877.50
The unit’s back panel has a tiny On/Off switch, a RAID selector,
Rating: 4 a power-in port, and a USB-C port. Hooked up to my mid-2011
iMac, it worked splendidly with both the two SSDs and with two
Hot: Speed; self-installation possible; WD Scorpio drives I had lying around.
hardware RAID I wouldn’t recommend taking the Mercury Elite Pro Dual Mini
with you for shooting the great outdoors, but for anything else—
Not: Power switch too small; not rugged
from a warm and cozy library to the city streets—it would do
perfectly as an offload station.

This drive is also an efficient small companion to use as a Time
Machine on a Mac. For those of us who don’t need or want Time
Machine to run at its default interval, you can just plug in the
OWC Mini when you feel like it, hit the Backup Now button, and
unplug it when Time Machine has finished. n
[106 ]
› › REVIEWS
MixPre-6
Sound Devices is renowned for its range of professional sound-
mixing and -recording equipment for the movie and broadcast
markets. We had the opportunity to try out a more entry-level
Audio Recorder
MixPre-6, a recorder that can handle six input channels and four
output channels. It’s perfect for documentary makers and wed-
ding photographers who want to deliver the best sound to go
with their video.
MixPre recorders have Sound Devices’ Kashmir pre-amps on
Smooth Sound for Wedding Videos
board, which deliver a smooth, clear, brilliant, high-quality sound.
Review by Erik Vlietinck It’s one of the main reasons why anyone serious about sound qual-
ity should consider this recorder. From the MixPre-6 and higher,
you also get a full 192-kHz sample rate at a 24-bit depth.
The device can be triggered by a timecode capable camera,
Company: Sound Devices such as the Sony A7s and Panasonic GH4/GH5, and it adapts to
whatever environment you throw at it. I doubt if there’s any situ-
Price: $899
ation where the MixPre wouldn’t deliver.
Rating: 5 The device is surprisingly small and lightweight when powered
by its standard four AA cells. It has four (phantom-power-capable)
Hot: Pre-amps; audiophile headphone amps; XLR inputs, two channels that accept a mini-jack, a micro-HDMI
small size; adapts to any video equipment port for timecode recordings, and a USB port that also accepts
and recording environment
input, e.g. from a computer.
There are six isolated tracks on which to record. I first tested
Not:
the MixPre-6 with three microphones: two sE Electronics sE2200a
large-diaphragm condenser mics and a video mic. For all my
tests, I put the MixPre-6 in Advanced mode, but for beginners
it’s best to start in the stereo-only Basic mode. Advanced mode
gives you loads of control over your recordings, but can be a
little daunting at first.

The Kashmir pre-amps are really wonderful. They have a –130
dB noise floor, and the sound you get from them is very silky,
warm but not overdone, clear, detailed, and with just the right
amount of lows. n [107 ]
REVIEWS › ›
©Claire Delannoy
Before After
DxO
DxO acquired Nik Software’s assets, including U Point tech-
nology, integrated it with DxO Optics Pro, added a new repair
tool for good measure, and renamed its flagship RAW editor,
PhotoLab
DxO PhotoLab. The result is a photo editor that’s more feature-
complete than its predecessor.
U Point technology is a local adjustment technology that allows
you to make complex and natural-looking selections without a
brush. It’s now unique to PhotoLab. It lets you literally pinpoint a
DxO Optics Pro Renamed, with
Nik’s U Point Technology problem, then adjust that point and some of the surroundings—the
size and form of which you define—without sacrificing the ability
Review by Erik Vlietinck
to further fine-tune this “zone” if needed (and it seldom is) with a
brush later on.
By right-clicking a U Point, you get access to a submenu that con-
Company: DxO Labs
tains several adjustment tools. There’s a graduated filter and an auto
mask brush that enables you to make precise selections. All of these
Price: $199 (ELITE); $129 (Essential)
controls are fully integrated in DxO PhotoLab’s RAW conversion fea-
Rating: ture and are nondestructive. DxO’s lab experience is also integrated
further in PhotoLab. For example, you can restore highlights locally,
Hot Point integration; faster and more without changing the rest of the image by painting, while the app
accurate repair tool uses the extra data contained in the RAW file to make it perfect.
The repair tool has been rebuilt from the ground up. The algo-
Not: No IPTC support
rithm provides much better and faster results—even if you apply
this brush to large areas, as I did when I tried it.
Finally, the Lens Sharpness optimization feature adapts to the
image’s ISO level, and that part of the tool was a particular point of
focus in the new release.
DxO PhotoLab is certainly a big step up from Optics Pro. The
one-and-only thing that’s still lacking is full-scale IPTC support. It’s
the only thing that stands between near-perfect and perfect, as far
as I’m concerned. n
[108 ]
› › REVIEWS
Suitcase
One of the main changes you’ll notice in Suitcase Fusion version 8
is the slightly different interface. The screen isn’t in the previous
split view between the font preview and list-based font libraries;
Fusion 8
the default is now Tile view that changes depending on the selected
library. This view can be changed easily to a custom text display,
the waterfall, and an alphanumeric view.
Information about each font is quickly visible by clicking on the
Info button of each tile; from there, the font’s metadata, preview,
Organize Your Fonts Your Way
glyphs, and QuickMatch are immediately available. (QuickMatch
Review by Dave Creamer
shows fonts similar to the selected one.) On its own, the slightly
different screen view isn’t enough to upgrade; however, one
seemingly minor change is a Temporary Fonts library, which means
no more viewing the entire library and sorting by activation.
Company: Extensis
Of course, the primary reason most users upgrade is to maintain
compatibility with the latest Adobe and Quark software. The auto-
Price: $119.95; (Upgrade $59.95)
Suitcase TeamSync: $96/year per user activation plug-in includes a panel that allows activation directly
from the program. No new software has been added to the plug-
Rating: in list. This unfortunately means that Premiere Pro is not supported
(but After Effects is).
Hot CC 2015–2018 support; cross-platform; As before, Suitcase includes the latest FontDoctor from Font-
iOS support
Gear—a $70 value. Those folks who use fonts on an iOS device
Not: No Premiere Pro activation can download the Suitcase app to manage fonts on the device.
There are so many other features in Suitcase that, although
not new, are very important additions to font management, such
as Adobe Typekit and Google Fonts control. All of these features
make Suitcase one of the best, if not the best, font-management

program available for large font collections.
Suitcase is for individual users, but does allow users to sync fonts
between the user’s installations. For small groups, Extensis offers
Suitcase TeamSync, and for large groups, Universal Type Server. n
[109 ]
REVIEWS › ›
©Adobe Stock/staras
PortraitPro
The new PortraitPro Body 2 from Anthropics Technology Ltd. is
Photoshop’s Liquify tool on steroids—no joke! I recently got a
chance to test-drive version 2 on a series of real-world images
Body 2 from a fitness-oriented assignment, and this always-skeptical

reviewer was impressed.
Studio
PortraitPro Body 2 is available as a standalone app in both
the Standard and Studio editions. Studio includes support for
16-bit TIFFs and RAW formats, and works as a Photoshop and
Lightroom plug-in. Both versions give users a powerful toolset of
Fast, Easy, Photo-Editing Software endlessly customizable controls for shaping the body and face,
Review by Michael Corsentino
and tackling skin-retouching tasks. What I love about this soft-
ware is that, in the right hands, all these tools let users create
realistic, subtle corrections exactly where needed, rather than
Company: Anthropics Technology Ltd. overdoing it or taking a scattershot approach.
Built-in tutorial images that launch on startup, along with
Price: $79.90 (Standard); $119.90 (Studio)
ample onscreen tool tips, help first-time users learn to fully utilize
Rating: PortraitPro Body 2’s toolset. While, happily, it is powerful soft-
Hot: Powerful toolset; intuitive interface;

ware, it’s also very intuitive and easy to use straight out of the box.
sophisticated body-mapping; flip to The first step is to map the body using the app’s guided
original; autosave
and infinitely adjustable markup process. Next, in a top-down
Not: No master slider to control the strength progression on the interface, users work through the Markup
of all corrections at the same time
section, as follows: Fine-tune the body shape as needed, then
use the Shape Sliders to tweak and locally adjust each area of
the body. Next up are the Liquify-like Shape tools for further
[110 ]
› › REVIEWS
refinement, the Skin and Face adjustment retouching tools, the

Warp Fixer (new to version 2, see below), and Picture view controls.
When I tried PortraitPro Body 2 on a series of images where
corrections to body shapes were called for, I have to say that I was
blown away by the impressive and realistic-looking results. I threw
several curveballs at the software as well, such as figures not
directly facing the camera and several ground-based yoga poses.
“What I love about this software is Because of its sophisticated user-driven, body-mapping technol-
ogy, PortraitPro Body 2 handled them all perfectly.
that, in the right hands, all these PortraitPro Body 2’s side-by-side view of before-and-after
tools let users create realistic, images is great, but in my estimation the Flip to Original button
above the after image is indispensable. This button allows users
subtle corrections exactly where to toggle quickly between the original version and editing—
needed, rather than overdoing it or extremely useful for assessing how far you’ve taken your cor-
rections. Ideally, you’ll want to make corrections that keep your
taking a scattershot approach.” subjects looking recognizable.
As mentioned earlier, new to version 2 is the Warp Fixer,
which allows users to fix areas in the image that were unin-
tentionally warped during the body-shaping process. Other
new features include nondestructive smart filter support
when using the PortraitPro Body 2 Photoshop plug-in; a Lite
Mode that skips body shaping and lets users apply simple
and quick skin retouching where needed; and a faster, more
accurate interface. n
[111 ]
R E V I EWS › ›
The Amazing Black

and White Photo Book:
250 Pages of Inspirational
Monochrome Photographs
The subtitle sums it up—this is a book filled with black-and-white
Edited by Jennifer Lauretti
(okay, “grayscale”) images. And that’s it. No titles. No information
Review by Peter Bauer
on where the photo was captured. No information on the camera
used. No information on what lens was used. No information on
what exposure settings were used. Not even the photographers’
Publisher: New Ampersand Publishing names (which could easily have been added as an appendix).
Pages: 250 (of photos, a couple more Photos, just photos. Lots and lots of photos. Many of them are
for the cover pages) indeed food for thought and inspirational. Some are less so.
Price: $13.95 (paperback); $2.99 (Kindle)

A number of the images are two-page spreads (one photo covers
two adjacent pages). I reviewed the Kindle edition (using the Kindle
Rating:
Cloud Reader) and it was only mildly annoying to have a big white
stripe between the two halves of the images. I’m not going to
speculate on whether this would be as annoying (or more so)
in the paperback version. n
[112 ]
› › R E V I EWS
Photoshop: Photo Manipulation

Techniques to Improve Your
Pictures to World-Class Quality
Using Photoshop
I was asked by a loyal reader to review this title. I’m not sure how
By John Slavio
she’s going to react to this review (but I’m sure my e-mail will
Review by Peter Bauer
explode after she reads it). The publication date is 2017, but this
book is hopelessly outdated. The author dismisses the Creative
Cloud with the misunderstanding that you must be online to use
Publisher: Abhishek Kumar it, and so he uses Photoshop CS5 throughout the book. Not only
Pages: 90 is it outdated, it covers very little about Photoshop’s capabilities

and has a number of misleading and simply wrong statements.
Price: $19.99 (paperback); $4.99 (Kindle)
Examples: “Photoshop Does Not Do Gif or Animated Photos,”
Rating: (ignoring Camera Raw) another chapter is titled “Photoshop Can-
not Edit RAW Images – Lightroom,” and he presents the Bitmap
file format as RGB. The third 25% of the book is devoted to the
Toolbar (again with some problematic descriptions of tools). The
remainder is an oversimplification of Photoshop’s adjustments. n
[113 ]
PETERBAUER
> From the Help Desk
ANSWERS TO PHOTOSHOP AND GEAR-RELATED QUESTIONS
I recently attended a class by a well-known Photoshop expert who said that images must always
be converted to the Lab color space before sharpening, and sharpen only the L channel. He didn’t
explain why, just said it was a rule we should always follow. What’s the deal with converting to Lab
for sharpening?—Victor
The idea behind sharpening only the L channel is that it best Let me provide a workflow, however, that’s not only
protects color in an image and, more importantly, the edges simpler, but it’s also nondestructive (you can go back and
of areas of color. Sharpening only the L channel sharpens change the sharpening settings, or even remove the sharp-
only the luminosity of the image, preventing colors along ening completely):
edges from being knocked out of whack.
• Open your RGB image.
When sharpening in RGB color, especially if you’re using
very large amounts of sharpening, edges of areas of color • P ress Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to duplicate the
can become garish and disrupt the image. Overly bright Background layer.
edges caused by over-sharpening can attract the eye and
• Sharpen the upper layer.
prevent the viewer from seeing the image the way you want
it to be seen. The workflow goes like this: • In the Layer’s panel, change the upper layer’s blend
mode from Normal to Luminosity (that’s the equiva-
• Open an RGB image.
lent of sharpening only the Lightness channel).
• Go to Image>Mode>Lab Color.
• S ave and continue editing (with the Background layer
• Open the Channels panel (Window>Channels). selected in the Layers panel).
• C
lick on the Lightness channel to make it the If you want to add more sharpening, click on the duplicate
only active layer. layer and sharpen again. If you want to reduce the sharpen-
ing, delete that layer, make a new duplicate, and re-sharpen
• O
ptional: Click the Eye icon next to the Lab column
(and remember to change the blend mode of the new dupli-
so you can see the overall effect on the image, even
cate to Luminosity). Deleting the duplicate layer will remove
though only the Lightness channel is active.
the sharpening completely.
• G
o to the Filter menu and select the sharpening If you’re confident in your sharpening settings and are
filter you want to use. sure that you won’t need to change them, it’s even easier:
• A
djust the fields and/or sliders to sharpen the image • Open the RGB image.
as desired.
• Sharpen as desired.
• Click the OK button to apply the sharpening.
• Immediately after clicking OK in the sharpening dia-
• R
eturn to the Image>Mode menu and convert log, go to the Edit>Fade>[name of filter you used to
back to RGB Color. sharpen] command, change the mode from Normal
to Luminosity, and click OK. Remember that Fade
• Save and continue editing.
is available only immediately after applying a filter,
using a tool, or otherwise adjusting your image—
you can’t even use the Save command prior to Fade.
• Continue editing. n
[114 ]
Watch How Zach Got the Shot
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T H E A D O B E® P H O T O S H O P ® “ H O W -T 0 ” M A G A Z I N E › › january 201 8

Down & Create customized 3D props

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF

Steve Wallace | KelbyOne Member

Scott Kelby “Photoshop Fake Studio Lighting Trick”

Lightroom Tips | Photoshop Tutorials | Photography Tips

Images: Adobe Stock; Layout: Jessica Maldonado

Jungle: ©Adobe Stock/gi0572

[096] PHOTOSHOP TIPS

Log on to KelbyOne’s website:

420 Ninth Ave, NYC

> A Note from Scott

WHEN THE STUDENTS BECOME THE MASTERS

won the contest prior to Steve. She won the hearts of

HOW TO CONTACT KELBYONE:

has a B.A. from George Mason University and is an Adobe Certified

THE KELBYONE COMMUNITY: WHERE MEMBERS

Discuss this Issue

The Personal Side of Trey Ratcliff

of his beautiful images graces the cover of this very issue,

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> NATHAN ROBBINS

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> ROBERT SIJKA (PRONOUNCED SHEE-KA)

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT >> JOHN ASHTON (@ICKLEDOT ON INSTAGRAM)

Who’s Who in the KelbyOne Community

Who’s Who on the KelbyOne Instructor Team: Justin Wojtczak

8. What’s the best advice you’ve

Follow KelbyOne and Scott Kelby on Twitter!

Mastering Nikon Wireless Flash

Learn Photoshop in One Hour

Rick’s Top Tips for Taking

Step One: Begin by opening the main

©Adobe Stock/Pavel Losevsky

•  young woman is standing in

Step Two: Press D then X to set the Fore-

position. Once the text is set and scaled,

Step Three: Right-click on the text layer’s name

Step Four: Select the Path Selection tool (A) in

Step Five: With the path still selected, go to the

Step Six: Now make sure you have both the

Step Seven: At the top of the Properties panel,

Step Eight: Go back to the 3D panel and click

on the 5 Extrusion Material layer. Near the top of

Step Nine: When the document opens, press D

Step 10: With the 5 Extrusion Material still

Step 11: We’re going to use the original photo

Step 12: Reselect the 3D layer in the Layers

Step 13: Press Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste

Step 14: Once the image is in place, close it, and

Step 15: With the Move tool (V) selected, go to

Step 16: With the IBL in place for now, let’s

Step 17: Go to the Properties panel to modify

Step 18: In the Layers panel, add a layer mask to

Also lower the layer Opacity to 50%.

Step 19: Now select the Brush tool (B) and

Step 20: You may now see a few areas where

Step 21: Press Shift-O until the Burn tool (a

(near the bottom), or press Shift-Option-Command-R (PC:

Regardless of how you feel about the new movie,

Step One: Create a new document (File>New)

8. What’s the best advice you’ve

• young woman is standing in

Step 16: Switch back to the Essential work

• The elephant family in forest