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An introduction to our Photoshop tutorials
Welcome to our online Photoshop tutorials. Each issue – based around a specific theme or topic – will show you how to use Photoshop to transform your photographs into powerful and compelling images. Each contains numerous screen grabs; rollover illustrations; and detailed explanations of how to use each tool and technique. Some also include a number of short movies: providing guided walkthroughs to the more complex techniques we discuss.
Each tutorial, unless otherwise noted, also contains a set of exclusive, downloadable Photoshop files of images that have been previously posted on chromasia. These are matched to each month’s theme and contain all the adjustment layers that were used to transform the original. As you can see from the examples to the right, these transformations are often dramatic. The Photoshop files show you how these results were achieved.
Our published tutorials (listed below) cover a variety of intermediate and advanced topics, as will our forthcoming issues, but they are written to be accessible to both novice and experienced users alike. The only prior knowledge they assume is that you have some understanding of the Curves tool – Photoshop’s most useful and powerful tool. We provide a detailed explanation of this tool in our free, introductory tutorial on Tonal Range and the Curves tool.
PLEASE NOTE that an annual subscription or lifetime membership will grant you immediate access to all our published image-based and digital workflow tutorials in addition to those that will be published during the lifetime of your membership. These currently contain a total of over 70,000 words, almost 600 illustrative images and screen grabs, over 35 Photoshop files (including all the adjustment layers used to create each image), and a number of short movies illustrating a variety of tools and techniques. To purchase an annual subscription or lifetime membership, and gain access to our current tutorials, subsequent issues and our dedicated members’ forum, please use either of the PayPal buttons above (or see below for further information). You can also purchase selected tutorials for £5.00 per issue. Each tutorial bought in this way contains a £5.00 discount coupon code which you can redeem against a subsequent purchase of an annual subscription or lifetime membership.
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Tonal range and the Curves tool • 62 comments
In this Photoshop tutorial I show you how to get the most out of the Curves tool, one of Photoshop’s most powerful features. This tool can dramatically enhance the contrast of an otherwise dull image; it can change the colour balance, either subtly or more radically; it can increase the saturation; and it can even covert an image to black and white (when used with LAB color mode). In short, it’s an extremely powerful tool with a wide range of applications; but it’s also quite difficult to understand, at least at first. In this Photoshop tutorial I will show you a number of ways you can use this tool using a range of practical examples.
If you decide that you would like to subscribe to our Photoshop tutorials, details of how to take out an annual subscription or lifetime membership are included below, while individual tutorials can be purchased by clicking the PayPal button to the right of each tutorial’s description (below). Subscribing to an individual tutorial will grant you 12 month’s access to that tutorial only. The annual subscriptions and lifetime memberships will give you automatic access to all our published tutorials, listed below, and each new tutorial as it’s released. They also provide a range of other benefits, also detailed below.
Our current issue
Digital workflow: part three
In this tutorial we will discuss one of the most important aspects of an effective digital workflow – how to convert your RAW files to optimize the quality of your final images. This will include a detailed discussion of Adobe Camera Raw (Photoshop’s built-in RAW converter), but will also cover a variety of generic topics including, setting the white balance, pre-sharpening, preliminary noise reduction, output colour profiles, dpi, and a variety of other topics.
Creative workflow: part one
This is the first in a new series of tutorials that take the creative process as their primary focus; i.e. rather than just discussing ‘how’ an image was constructed, we will also be considering ‘why’ each change was made, and how each change contributes to the image as a whole. As with our other image-based tutorials, each will also include a thorough technical discussion of any tools or techniques that were employed, but the emphasis will be upon creative rather than technical outcomes – e.g. how each image was constructed to tell a particular story, what each image says about its subject, and so on.
Scheduled release date: on or around Friday 8th August 2008
Previous issues
LAB Color mode: part two • 8 comments
In this tutorial we take a detailed look at how to manipulate colour using LAB Color mode. Specifically, we will discuss: the relationship between colours and their numeric values in LAB Color mode; how to alter a specific colour range within an image (a topic we briefly discussed in the An Introduction to LAB Color mode tutorial); how to alter a single colour within an image; how to colour correct an image in LAB Color mode; and how to tone the neutral areas of an image by manipulating the ‘a’ and ‘b’ Curves.
The specific topics covered include how to:
Alter a colour range of an image by manipulating the ‘a’ and ‘b’ Curves.
Alter a specific colour within an image.
Colour correct or alter the white balance of an image.
High Dynamic Range images: part two • 6 comments
This is the second part of a multi-part tutorial on creating High Dynamic Range images using Photoshop and Photomatix Pro. In this part we take a detailed look at how you can use Photomatix Pro to create and tone map your images, using both the Tone Compressor and Details Enhancer methods. The bulk of this tutorial is taken up with working through the various settings you need to adjust to produce your tone mapped images, but we also include two example images, both of which were produced using the Details Enhancer method.
The specific topics covered include:
Shooting for HDR.
Creating HDR images with Photomatix Pro.
Tone mapping: an introduction.
Photomatix Pro: tone mapping using the tone compressor.
Photomatix Pro: tone mapping using the details enhancer.
Annual subscribers and lifetime members can obtain a 15% discount coupon code which can be used to purchase Photomatix Pro.
Published on: 11th May 2008
£5.00
Digital workflow: part two
This is the second section of a multi-part tutorial devoted to digital workflow which, over the coming months, will build into a comprehensive resource detailing a variety of topics: from capture to output to storage.
In this section we cover three main topics. First, we discuss choosing a workflow model; i.e. whether to use a range of stand-alone packages or an integrated solution such Aperture or Lightroom. Second, we briefly discuss importing, categorising and organising your images. Third, we cover a variety of techniques you can use to help you decide which of your images to work with, and which to delete.
High Dynamic Range images: part one • 10 comments
One of the first things we learn as photographers is that our camera sees the world in a different way to us, especially in terms of its ability to capture the full tonal range of a scene. For example, we know that if we want to take a backlit portrait we will most likely need to overexpose the shot or risk our subject’s face being lost in shadow. We also know that this will blow out the highlight details in the background. Likewise, if we wish to photograph the same subject against the backdrop of a glorious sunset, we will probably need to reconcile ourselves to the subject appearing as nothing more than a silhouette.
In short, we learn that our camera has limitations and that it can’s always capture the scene as we see it. So, we stop trying to take impossible shots, and concentrate instead on doing the best job we can with equipment whose limitations we have learnt to accommodate.
In this tutorial we will discuss a variety of techniques your can employ to circumvent the limitations of your equipment and produce those ‘impossible’ shots.
Please note that the ‘Merge to HDR’ command, discussed in this tutorial, is only available in Photoshop version CS2 and above.
Annual subscribers and lifetime members can obtain a 15% discount coupon code which can be used to purchase Photomatix Pro.
Published on: 30th March 2008
£5.00
Masking: part one • 9 comments
In this tutorial we will discuss a variety of masking techniques including: creating complex and compound masks; repairing images with less than ideal masks; and how to add a vignette using a feathered mask.
Digital workflow: part one
In part one of this series we concentrate on two interrelated topics, both of which will provide you with the knowledge you need to maximise the quality of your initial images. First, we discuss the benefits of shooting RAW images rather than in-camera JPEGs. The topics covered in this section of the tutorial include: colour conversion; setting white balance and colour temperature; initial sharpening, the application of tone curves during RAW conversion, adding contrast and saturation, the importance of bit-depth, why you should avoid JPEG compression, and the benefits of preserving your latent images, i.e. your original RAW data. Second, we discuss two issues relating to optimising your initial exposures: i.e. avoiding the loss of data through overexposing an image; and how to ensure that your exposures capture the maximum amount of data.
An introduction to Lab Color Mode • 27 comments
Lab Color Mode (LAB) is an alternative colorspace that enables you to manipulate the luminosity and colour of your images more flexibly and powerfully than when working within RGB. In this, my first LAB tutorial, I hope to achieve three things. First, I will provide a brief explanation of the theory and numbers behind LAB (and how to work with these within Photoshop). Second, I will demonstrate the advantages of LAB over RGB – i.e. its ability to dramatically alter colour – both in terms of tone and saturation – more flexibly and with less degradation to your images than when using RGB. Third, using a range of real world examples, I will show you how to use LAB to:
dramatically alter the contrast of an image without affecting its colour balance or saturation.
increase the saturation of an image with less image noise and cleaner colour separation than when working in RGB.
alter the tone and colour balance of your images by adjusting the ‘a’ and ‘b’ channels within LAB.
invert specific colours and colour ranges using the Curves tool within LAB.
Portraits: part one • 19 comments
There are many techniques that you can use to enhance your portraits, but in this Photoshop tutorial I will be focussing on three things. The first is a general point about post-processing portraits – i.e. what it is you want your portrait to say – and the remaining two are techniques that I find especially useful in my own work:
Soft-focus effects, and …
Selective masking of a subject’s eyes.
Both of these techniques can transform a mundane portrait into something much more powerful …
Toning colour images • 19 comments
A key function of any digital camera is its capacity to produce images with colours that match or closely resemble those of the original scene and, generally speaking, most do a good job. There are exceptions – e.g. when the camera’s automatic white balance gets things wrong – but most of the time you can be fairly confident that what you see is a reasonably faithful ‘copy’ of the original scene. From a technical point of view, this is a good thing, but aesthetically it’s a little more complicated, not least because digital images can appear quite sterile.
In this Photoshop tutorial we will explore these aesthetic limitations in a bit more detail before moving on to discuss a variety of tools and techniques you can employ to tone your colour images. This will include a discussion of the Channel Mixer, the Selective Color tool and the Curves tool. We will also discuss the merits of selectively toning specific areas of an image to increase their overall impact …
Black and white: part one • 13 comments
With the advent of digital cameras, black and white photography has changed. Now, rather than loading a black and white film into your camera, you can either select to shoot in black and white mode (if your camera has one) or convert the image to black and white during post-production. There are a variety of ways of doing this within Photoshop, the simplest of which are the Desaturate command and the Hue/Saturation tool. Both of these methods convert an image to black and white based on an average of the RGB values of the individual pixels, and both often produce only average results.
In this Photoshop tutorial we will be discussing three further methods of creating black and white images. The first uses the Channel Mixer tool, which offers a much greater degree of control over the appearance of the final image, and the second – using Lab Color mode and the Lightness channel – is a great technique for producing black and white portraits. We will conclude the tutorial with a brief discussion of the new ‘Black and White’ tool, introduced with Photoshop CS3 …
Landscapes: creating dramatic skies • 28 comments
In one sense, creating a dramatic sky, assuming that the sky in your photograph isn’t entirely flat and lifeless to begin with, is relatively straightforward: you just need to expand its tonal range, boost the saturation, and so on. A relatively simple job for the Curves tool. Typically though, any shot that includes the sky will also include some other feature – the ground, a person, a tree, and so on – and invariably, the sky will be considerably brighter than this feature. If we simply adjust the image to make the sky more dramatic we will probably fail to produce a good image, and fail quite miserably. In this sense then, creating a dramatic sky must be seen as part of a larger task; i.e. creating an image with a dramatic sky, where both the sky the ground, or any other features, combine to create a well-crafted and compelling image …
Our plans for future issues currently include (in no particular order): removing noise; colour correction in LAB Color Mode; RAW conversion and advanced RAW workflow; sharpening techniques; advanced masking techniques; how to create photo-realistic High Dynamic Range images; how to create the ‘illustrative&rsquo look with High Dynamic Range images; creating high-key portraits; how to tone black and white images, and how to add the finishing touches to your photographs (e.g. retouching and vignettes).
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Purchasing our tutorials as a gift
If you would like to purchase one of our tutorials or subscription based packages as a gift, please see the following page for further information:
Chromasia Training limited is a sister company to Chromasia Limited (a fine arts and commercial photographic company run by David and Libby Nightingale) and specialises in all aspects of photographic training and post-production.
Libby is the company’s Commercial Director and was a recent finalist in the Outstanding Woman in Business Award category in the ABF Tiger Awards, 2008. David formerly worked as a senior lecturer in a UK university but is a the full-time Director of the company. They live in Blackpool, a seaside resort in the North West of England, and have six children at home, all of whom have appeared regularly in their children’s portraiture gallery.
Further information about the blog can be seen here.
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Compatibility with Adobe Photoshop Elements
Many of the techniques and tools I discuss in our tutorials can also be used in Photoshop Elements, but there are some tools that will not be available to you (e.g. the Channel Mixer, Selective Color tool, and so on). In addition, the Curves tool, which is used extensively in the tutorials, is only available in a limited form in Elements version 6, currently only available for PC (though it can be added to earlier versions as a third party plugin; e.g. the SmartCurve plugin).
In addition, while the example Photoshop files I include with the tutorials can be opened in the latest versions of Elements, the adjustment layers can only be turned on or off; i.e. the specific settings cannot be viewed or modified.
testimonials
Another superb tutorial David, clear, concise and perfectly described. Definitely one of the best ever on HDR and Photomatix.
Rog
A crystal-clear tutorial for a novice like me.Thank you very much.
Kevin
Absolutely superb tutorial David, well set out and very easy to follow. I've learnt such a tremendous amount already and am really looking forward to the others.
Roger
This is an excellent tutorial. I am by no means a neophyte when it comes to using Photoshop to process my images, but I had always wondered about the toning effects I have seen on Chromasia. There are some techniques here that I really hadn't used or seen tutorials for, so this was definitely worthwhile!
Very well presented. I consider myself an advanced Photoshop user, and there is information here I will find useful. The ability to download and view the layered files is crucial – the difference between the original and end result in Image 4 is staggering.
These have been truly a joy to go through. I especially appreciate that you reinforce the concepts as you go along. Thanks for being a good steward of your gifts.
brooks
In this, your third (2nd subscription) tutorial, I very much enjoy 'getting inside your head'. Reading about the process of discovery, the trial and error, and of course a down to Earth description of the different Photoshop tools, has helped me in ways no other book or tutorial has.
Very valuable stuff covered here Dave, the layout is simple to follow and a great insight to improving images, very much worth the subscription. All the best.
Thanks a ton for your tutorials. It's a boon for people at the other end of the globe who actually can't attend your classes. Waiting for more.
Seema
It is a rare treat that a photographer that produces such outstanding pieces of art, would also be able to produce such a wonderfully presented and explained tutorial. I've been a photographer for years, but have never really used Photoshop. As with any tutorial, if you are already in the knowledge about the subject then it is bound to seem too simple - but for me, to be able to see your examples of turning a "normal" photo into another Chromasia photo is magic.
Our annual subscribers and lifetime members can obtain a 15% discount on Photomatix Pro.
FDRTools is an alternative HDR tool that can produce results that are more photo-realistic than those that can be achieved with Photomatix Pro. Our annual subscribers and lifetime members can obtain a 15% discount on this product.
training partners
Included above are links to a variety of photography schools and events that I am currently involved with and am pleased to recommend.
I own and can recommend all of the above equipment, other than the Canon 1DS Mark III. That’s on my wish list until I can afford to replace my 1Ds Mark II :-)
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