Here, in this chapter, we're going to focus in on the Adjustments panel, and we'll target some of the more important adjustments that we can use in order to improve and enhance our photographs. Let's start off with this image here. Zoom in on this one by pressing Command+Plus on a Mac, or Ctrl+Plus Windows, then press the Spacebar key to click and drag this to reposition it. Now before we get to the Adjustments panel, I do have to point out that a lot of times people go to this area here, Image > Adjustments, and then they choose an option.
Now I don't recommend that, because if you do that, it will then make the adjustment onto the pixels itself so that you can't undo it, you can't modify it after the fact. So in order to have more flexibility, what you want to do is navigate to your Adjustments panel. And let's start off by making a brightness and contrast adjustment and then take a look at how we can tweak it or customize it so that our image looks its best. Let's click on this icon here, little sunshine icon. What I want to do is click on the Auto button.
The Auto button, which you'll find here in levels and curves, it does a good job at trying to analyze the image and figuring out how to modify these controls so that our photograph looks better. Now here with this picture, at first glance, I like it. We can click on the Eye icon. Here is before and then after. And let's say we send this image to our printer, and then we realize, you know what? We had too much contrast, not enough brightness. Well, the good news is that you can always customize these amounts, these sliders, even after the fact.
These will always be saved inside of your document here. So what you can do is modify the brightness and also perhaps change the contrast and get this to just the right spot for your picture. Let's now take a look at that before and after. Here's before, and now here's after. It's much more subtle. Another way that we can customize things is we can also close this Properties panel for a moment by clicking on the double arrow icon there. We can go to the Layers panel, and we can change the opacity of this effect.
If we want an effect which isn't quite so strong, well, we can decrease the opacity or diminish this effect, and so here you can see we can customize this many different ways. If the Properties panel is ever closed, well, just double-click the icon for the adjustment layer, and it will reopen it with those controls so that you can then further make any needed changes in order to make this image look its best. And again, what's really fun about this is that you can customize things, you can walk away and then come back, because when it comes to making adjustments, sometimes the first time we see them, we'll think, "Oh yeah, that's great." But then, after a while our taste might change or perhaps the output for the photograph might change.
Well, by having this layer, we can always make the changes after the fact, and this extra bit of flexibility can help us to be more creative and also can help us to create even more compelling photographs.
Author
Released
4/26/2012The course details the features and techniques behind enhancing and retouching photos, preparing them for print and online publishing, and much more. Chris demonstrates how to make basic edits in Camera Raw, develop and save color profiles, work with layers and selections, tone and sharpen, and retouch images while retaining their natural character.
Chris also shares some creative tips and project ideas, such as converting a photo to black-and-white and enhancing a portrait with hand-painted masks. The course also covers workflow details, such as organizing images in Bridge and Mini Bridge, optimizing Photoshop preferences, and calibrating your monitor.
- Getting started with Bridge and Mini Bridge
- Setting up color and performance preferences
- Calibrating your monitor
- Improving images with the basic controls in Camera Raw
- Creating, aligning, and organizing layers
- Using masks for removing or blending images and for sharpening
- Working with vibrancy, hue, and saturation controls
- Enhancing color and tone with Levels
- Using Curves and masks to enhance brightness, color, and tone
- Mastering the art of blending modes
- Correcting and replacing color
- Burning and dodging
- Converting to black and white
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
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Introduction
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Welcome55s
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1. Strategies for Learning
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2. Getting Started with Bridge and Mini Bridge
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Adding metadata and keywords4m 47s
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Renaming images1m 45s
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Working with Mini Bridge4m 36s
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3. Color Settings and Preferences
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Modifying zoom preferences4m 20s
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Changing HUD brush options3m 41s
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Opening up documents in tabs4m 11s
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Choosing cursor preferences5m 14s
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4. Foundations of Color Management
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Introducing color profiles5m 17s
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Setting up your studio1m 59s
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5. Getting Started with Photoshop
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Introducing the Tools panel4m 53s
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6. Understanding Digital Images
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Introducing image resizing3m 42s
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Resizing images effectively3m 48s
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7. Working in Camera Raw
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What is Camera Raw?2m 47s
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8. Utilizing Layers
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Introducing layers2m 22s
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Working with layer opacity3m 29s
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Aligning layers1m 32s
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Creating new layers4m 53s
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Organizing layers2m 31s
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Adding layer style effects5m 28s
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Creating a clipping mask6m 50s
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Targeting and moving layers2m 13s
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9. Making Selections
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Using the three lasso tools4m 56s
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10. Using the Masking Panel
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Introducing masking1m 14s
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11. Adding Custom Borders
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Using prebuilt borders4m 13s
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12. Improving Your Images with Adjustments
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13. Using Levels to Correct and Enhance
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Working with auto levels3m 36s
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Creative tip: checking in2m 38s
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14. Making Color and Tone Adjustments with Curves
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15. The Art of Blending Modes
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Using blending shortcuts2m 4s
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16. Correcting Color
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17. Enhancing Colors
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Creative tip: shoot more1m 37s
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18. Burning and Dodging
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19. Converting to Black and White
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The power of black and white4m 14s
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20. Working with Filters
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Introducing Smart Filters3m 36s
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Applying Smart Filters6m 20s
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Working with Tilt-Shift Blur3m 52s
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21. Removing Noise
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22. Basic Image Cleanup
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Basic portrait retouching3m 15s
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Brightening the eyes2m 30s
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Retouching selected areas5m 27s
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23. Correcting Distortion and Perspective
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24. Combining Multiple Images
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25. Sharpening Your Images
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Working with Smart Sharpen6m 17s
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Using Unsharpen Mask4m 49s
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26. Getting Your Images Online
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Sharpening for the web3m 5s
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Creating a web gallery5m 49s
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27. Desktop Printing
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Adjusting printer settings3m 43s
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28. Working with Video
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Exporting a project2m 15s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye35s
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Video: Adding brightness and contrast