Useful Features in Photoshop For Fixing Photos

 

Do you need some help getting started with Photoshop? Maybe you just got Photoshop and don't know where to start. Or perhaps you're considering buying it and aren't sure what it really has to offer. I am going to give you a quick overview of some of the tools in Photoshop and what you can do with them to improve your pictures.

Remove Images From A Background

Is there someone or something in the background of your picture that you don't want there? Photoshop has a tool that can easily take that right out. It's called the clone tool and it does exactly what it says; it clones (copies) one part of the background so you can use it to replace another. As an example, say there is a stray Frisbee on a beach picture that you want removed. Simply clone a piece of beach next to it and paste it over the offending Frisbee. Presto! Where there once was a Frisbee, there is now just another piece of beach. For larger objects, you can use the tool many times and clone small pieces of the background repeatedly to give a more natural look. Also, the size of the tool can be adjusted depending on your preferences. And the improvements in the newest version of Photoshop make this feature look even more realistic.

Brighten Up Your Backgrounds

Got a shot with a boring skyline that you want to brighten up? Photoshop has some useful features to change the background of your shots. This can be used to add a more interesting background to enhance a picture. Or, if you're trying to make good stock photography, it can be used to remove a background and put subjects on a white background (tip: pictures of people on white backgrounds sell the best). For this, you can use layers. Put the new background in a new layer and use the magic eraser to simply (or sometimes not so simply) delete the original background. If you are adding a background of interest (like a cloudy sky) you may have to move it around a bit to get it to look right, but in the end you have a much more interesting (or less distracting) picture.

Beyond Red Eye - Get Rid Of Pet Eye

I take pictures all the time at my local zoo and the one thing I hate the most is trying to get rid of "pet eye." While human eyes have a red glow, many animal's eyes, particularly cats, have a bight yellow or green glow that is much more noticeable and can't be fixed with the normal red eye tools. But in Photoshop you can use the paint feature to cover up the offending shiny eye, and then use layers to copy the animals "glint in the eye" from the original picture to make it look more realistic. This makes even your pet's portraits look amazing.

Resize Large Pictures

While ultra-large pictures are great for editing and printing, they are not so great for posting on the web or e-mailing. That's why Photoshop has the "resize" feature which you can use to reduce the size of your pictures. You can also use the "save for web function" which will automatically make pictures very small. This is convenient for posting to websites and forums that have a size limit.

Autocorrect White Balance & Color Problems

Have you ever left the camera on the indoor white balance settings when taking an outdoor picture, or vice versa? If you have, you know you can have some very disappointing color in your pictures. Before you delete those precious memories, Photoshop can help. The fix may be as simple as using the autocorrect feature, which adjusts the color to what it thinks looks best. If this doesn't work for your picture, you can easily go in and adjust the color cast to get that picture looking perfect. There are also settings to adjust balance and other lighting or color problems.

These are just a few of the features available on Photoshop to help you make all your pictures perfect.  It's not the cheapest photo/graphics software out there but for anyone serious about their photos, it's a must own piece of software.  Get Photoshop CS3 here and get this book to learn how to use it's impressive array of features.