What Photoshop Tutorials Could Not Teach You ?

Even the best Photoshop Tutorials on the web cannot teach you everything. It is important that you are armed with the right knowledge and attitude towards learning. You have to determine your purpose to better anticipate the results.

Most untrained Photoshop users forget the importance of theories behind the tools and functions found in the interface. Theory alone can't stand but skill alone neither prevails. You have to know the logic behind the techniques in order to take advantage of them. Asking why is as important as asking how.

Successful designers often have a background in fine arts. Learning the fundamentals in drawing and illustration makes you more adept with the theory behind the elements of graphics and images. It helps you create original and evocative designs because you, more than anyone else, know how to achieve such effects. Photoshop tutorials don't always tell you why a certain step should be performed. But with the right theory, it is easier to understand why you have to go through such lengths to achieve a certain design.

Here are some essentials you won't learn from Photoshop tutorials.

Design Theory. It may sound banal to some but there are self-professed graphic designers who don't even know how to properly juxtapose text to graphics and arrange all elements of design in an aesthetically pleasing and functional manner. It pains to know that some clients let these mistakes pass with a shrug but behind the eyes of fellow graphic designers who know better, erring on the fundamentals is just unacceptable.

Great Photoshop tutorials are all about manipulating elements such as color, line, shape, scale, space, texture and how they complement in order to achieve a certain visual effect. It is important to know design theory because you can't just follow tutorials blindly. The techniques used by a tutorial writer on his/her design might have worked for the image he/she used but not necessarily for your own. Knowing design concepts eliminate these blunders.

Color Theory. Color experimentation makes or breaks a design. Colors evoke emotions, set moods, attract attention, and make a statement. It creates a visual ambiance. It conveys imagery beyond what you can illustrate.

Harmonious color combination is important to avoid straining the eyes of your spectator. Instead, it encourages your audience to try and find meaning on the design even if you did not deliberately inject meaning into it. The important thing is that color moves your audience because he/she perceives a message out of it.

Psychologists found out that exposing oneself to a certain color has an effect on the person's behavior. Although these effects are somewhat subjective, there are colors that possess universal meanings. Authors of Photoshop Tutorials take advantage of color theory in their works. To understand them better, you have to know color theory yourself.

Typography. Never say that graphic design is all about, well, graphics. There are times when you just can't help but use text in your design especially for advertising purposes. This is why another essential knowledge you should have before navigating around Photoshop is typography. Designers tend to forget that texts are also visual elements. To be more specific, they can easily become graphic elements as well.

Typography involves the ability to juxtapose one font to another to achieve a certain contrast and to control the visual effects created by text blocks and empty spaces.

How some Photoshop Tutorials explain text is somewhat arbitrary. The usual mistake of novice designers is that they tend to clutter the design with pompous fonts that evoke certain ambiance but are not readable. Typography is the art of balancing artistry and function when it comes to texts.

Basic knowledge about each of these theories can already do wonders to your work. The quickest route to Photoshop prowess is never the shortest. It's always the safest. Understand the elements of design lead to original and thought-provoking work.

Free How To Digital Scrapbook With Photoshop Tutorials

Today, How to digital scrapbook is now very easy to master thanks to the power of the computer and digital camera technology. And, there are also photo editing software programs that can help in making your ordinary looking photos into professional looking ones. One software program that is very popular among photography enthusiasts and professional photographers is Adobe Photoshop.

So, what's with Adobe Photoshop that it even made professional photographers want one of their own? Well, basically, the great thing about Adobe Photoshop is that this software contains everything that a photographer needs in order to edit pictures with Photoshop Tutorials. This software is basically a digital photo laboratory where you can edit pictures to make it look even better.

The basics of the software are easy to pick up. However, it can be somewhat a mystery for first time users of Adobe Photoshop because of its un intuitive interface and lack of simple tutorials. If there is a simple tutorial included that will be able to teach the user the different interface of Photoshop, then this will definitely be a software program that everyone can easily understand.

Adobe Photoshop is basically made up of four areas. These areas are the menu bar located at the top, the toolbar located just below the menu bar, the toolbox which is located on the left and the palettes that are located on the right. By understanding the basics of the Photoshop Tutorials interface, you will be able to start editing your ordinary looking photos and convert them in to something special.

And, the great thing about this software is that you don't have to have a professional SLR digital camera in order for you to take great pictures. But, all you need is an ordinary digital camera. In fact, even a 2 megapixel camera is enough for you to have a high quality picture with the help of Adobe Photoshop. That's the power of this software.

Also, you can never avoid errors on the photos you take. For example, you may experience red eye on the photos where the subject will have red eyes. When this happens, it will be almost impossible for you to remove the red eye unless you take them to a professional photographer that will be able to edit the photos for you. However, with Adobe Photoshop, all you need to do is remove the red eye with one of the tools provided. Check out this Free Photoshop Tutorials that shows you just how easy it is to recreate really awesome eyes .

Motion blurs are another error that can make your pictures look bad. To correct this, Adobe Photoshop has sharpening tools that will be able to remove the hand shake blur errors. If you want your photos to have that misty feel, then there are also blurring tools that you can use.

If the colors are dull, then the software will be able to make the colors look more vibrant like it was taken by a professional photographer. These are just some of the many things that Adobe Photoshop can do. As you can see, you don't need to be a professional photographer to make really good pictures. With the help of Adobe Photoshop, you can be sure that you will be able to turn those ordinary looking photos in to something magical.

So, if you love to take pictures and you want to produce high quality photos, you may want to get this software. And remember to check out these Free Photoshop Tutorials.

Photoshop Tutorial -Turn Your Photos Into Watercolors in Photoshop

I cannot say enough good things about my best friend in the digital world: Photoshop. Suffice to say, I love it! As a Graphic Designer, I use it in 99% of all my projects, and now I enjoy using what I do to make Photoshop Tutorials for others.

You don't need to be a professional or even and "artist" to create works of art. Nowadays, you don't even have to know how to draw! I intend to create a series of tutorials to illustrate several ways to use this program for creating beautiful pictures and illustrations just by using photographs. In this particular tutorial, I will be showing you how to turn photos into watercolor paintings in a few easy steps.

The only materials needed to follow along with this tutorial are:

I use Photoshop Tutorials but you can use whichever version you have. --A photo. Either a photo of your own or a stock photo. Some really good stock photos can be found for free at Stock Exchange.

That's it! I find a graphic tablet a nice tool for all work I do in Photoshop and they are fairly cheap these days, but it is definitely not necessary.

This tutorial does assume that you have some basic knowledge of Photoshop. Having a basic "beginner knowledge" of the program will help a lot. Also, there is a link in my bio for you to see photos that walk you through everything.

1. Open Photoshop Tutorials Then go to File-->Open, select the picture you want to work with and then hit "Open".
2. On the layers palette (on the right side), right click on the "Background Layer" and select duplicate. Do this twice.
3. Click on the first duplicate layer (this should be your middle layer), then go to Image-->Adjustments-->Desaturate . Then click on the second duplicate layer(your top layer) and do the same.
4. On the top layer, go to Image-->Adjustments-->Invert.
5. Still on the top Layer, set the blending mode (located within the layer palette, looks like this: ) to "Color Dodge".
6. Still on the top Layer, got to Filter-->Other-->Minimum and set the radius to 1.
7. Now duplicate the bottom layer(the one that still has color) one more time and drag it to the top of your layers. Go to Filter-->Blur-->Gaussian and set the radius number in the box anywhere between 1 and 5. Usually the more detailed the picture, the lower you will want to set the radius. Then set the layer blending mode to "Multiply".
8. Select the Paint Brush Tool, select the soft round or "fuzzy" brush shape at the top and set the size to fit whatever area you are working on. Set the opacity to 20%.
9. Go to Layer-->New Layer and name your final layer whatever you wish and hit "OK".

Then select the color you wish to paint with and paint the area to improve or change colors.

Each picture you do will have different results. Have fun playing with different levels and colors! I hope you found this Photoshop tutorial easy to follow.

How to Work with Light and Dark Edges in Photoshop Tutorials

Through highlighting edges of your photo, you also highlight its details. The method of unsharp mask and others like the difference of Gaussians increase the change in brightness close to each step with Photoshop Tutorials. This technique’s standard version adds a bright halo along the bright edge of the step and a dark halo along the dark edge. Depending on what effect you’d like for your image, there are advantages in just using one or the other. Using both may not do very much to improve your image, though.

There are several advantages of using any of the effects for the edges on real images. One is that it reduces interference between steps or detail and the haloes from other, nearby steps. Another thing, the light or dark haloes make other features of the image stand out better from the background.

Start doing this effect on your images using Photoshop Tutorials by following several procedures:

1st step is duplicate the layer holding the image

2nd step - apply the conventional un sharp mask

3rd step - set the layer blending mode to “Darken” or “Lighten”.

However, you must understand that this only works for 8 bit per channel images – those that can be put into layers but it could function also on 16 bit per channel pictures with Optipix plug-in that allows direct selection of dark or light edges in Photoshop Tutorials.

If you are not sure about which edge halo to use, there are general rules regarding such:

1. On light background tones, light edges don’t show up well and vice versa on dark ones.
2. The halo should lie on the background, not on the foreground. This technique helps the feature stand out without having to change its brightness values.

Sometimes the following rules are in conflict. It is necessary, then, to try several combinations to decide which is best. You can try both edges, light edges only, dark edges only. You can experiment since different regions of your image may call for different answers.

As you experiment for the best results, you’ll come to know that using unsharp mask filter may drive you to add too much additional local contrast. Understand that though adding some local contrast can make a bland image turn into a good one Science Articles, adding too much creates a disaster. Take care not to add too much and make the image appear more like caricatures than photos. Remember that what looks best on the computer screen may not be the same in print since the process somewhat compresses contrast and blurs detail.

Photoshop Tutorials Elements

Photoshop Tutorials Elements puts the power in your hands to transform your digital photos like the works of a pro. It can perfect your photos with advanced editing features that give you more control. Wrinkles and unwanted objects are easily brushed with the use of healing brush. It instantly fixes common flaws and unwanted objects. It artistically adds flamboyance and personality to your photos by the use of its artistic effects. Drop shadows, bevels, glows and other effects can automatically be applied to any element on a layer. If you’re a fanatic of a black and white or sepia look, you can also avail of this feature to create a classic yet stylish image. Creating real-world photographic effects through the use of colored filters becomes easy as 123. Simulating pictures with realistic paintbrush effects to simulate oils, charcoal, pastel and different canvas textures are used to transform your photos to an exuberant masterpiece.

Photoshop Elements compared to Photoshop is more friendly to users. Currently, Photoshop remains as a standard tool for the graphics professional but this does not render Photoshop Elements inferior compared to the other. Many people trusted Photoshop Tutorials because it is what they believed to be “the best” choice. However, they sometimes do not know what “the best” means. Preference can actually be a result of actually being better than the rest. But it is ironic if we only base it with familiarity and publicity. The catalyst may have been something as plain as placement of the tools, new features, design of the interface, price, circumstance or convenience.

What is “the best” today has the probability to be toppled by another. If you have common needs for image editing, you can likely get results with any image editing program that you choose - you just exert effort to learn to use it. The key difference lies in popularity, price, and system requirements that may affect your choice more than features. These concerns might not matter one iota to the photo results.

If you have unlimited budget for image editing then ignore costs. You should not sacrifice the quality of your images. But if your budget does not allow you to purchase exorbitant products, just upgrade your old products. It may be that the investment can be put to better use somewhere else, such as in investing in an update for your system. Several of these updates may attest far more useful to you than the newest version of the program. But still, if you want to try another dimension of photo craftsmanshipScience Articles, sojourn in the magical world of Photoshop Tutorials Elements! It is both easy and enthralling.

Photoshop Tutorials Contests: What you need to win…

When you go on a site such as this one where people vote on images which people have created they have to look at the picture and get a vibe for it immediately. At first glance they will decide whether or not they want to vote for that particular image to win the contest. What is it though which triggers these reactions to make people want to give a high vote for that particular image? Something must be in place which tells the user: Hey, this is real good and deserves to win. You need to go the extra mile in order to draw votes in. Just a standard Photoshop Tutorials deal on a picture will do nothing to help you make it to the top of the contest and gain a high score. It takes a lot more than that to make your image stand out above the rest.

Creativity is by far the most important aspect to an image contest. If there are a series of Photoshop images there for people to view and look at and then vote on they are likely to get repetitive, especially if they are all from the same category. It takes a level of creativity to create something unique and special that will allow it to stand head and shoulders above the rest and truly warrant a score of a 9 or a 10. The creativity can come from a variety of sources.

One of the sources where the creativity can draw from is in terms of colors and variation of design. If the Photoshop Tutorials image has a different and more colorful vibe to it which sets it apart from the rest it can automatically catch someone’s eye and draw them into giving that highly coveted high score for the image. The same can be said about an image which may not have that much color. The key is to be different, but in a good way.

To truly win a contest differentiating you from the rest of the pack while still maintaining a quality image is key. People will not vote for a very creative image if it is one of the sloppiest things out there. Even if the creativity is in place they still need to have a good amount of quality and professionalism to them. You can have the best idea in the world but if you cannot fully implement it to make it work into the contest then your image will not go anywhere but to the bottom of the list very quickly with high and low scores.

When you look at the entire picture you really need to have the total package in order to win a contest with your skills. An experienced user of Photoshop can put their skills to the test and make it very useful. They need to be able to take their creativity that they have and then use it to make an image which can differentiate itself from the other images. Once it can do this and look like a quality image then it will be a no-brainer for people to give it a high score. It is creativity, qualityFree Reprint Articles, and differentiation which will put your Photoshop image at the top of the heap with its scores.

Learn Photoshop by Photoshop Tutorials

The birth of Photoshop has meant a great thing for a lot of people around the globe. Having a special software that can help people into improving the aspect of their digital photographs was all they ever dreamed about. Due to the fact that it has a lot of tools and options and that it is easy to use, a lot of people have become fans of this program and have rejected the idea of using other programs that have the same main purpose: working with digital photographs.

For those who don't know how to use Photoshop and want to learn working with it, free Photoshop Tutorials have been made available, first on the mother site of Photoshop, the Adobe site, and then step by step on other profile sites. These sites offer only for Photoshop fans special tutorials that teach them new tricks and techniques for adjusting photos.

These free Photoshop tutorials are easy to use and everybody loves them. It's much more easier to use them instead of reading a complicated thick book written about how to use this software. Getting free Photoshop tutorials is a great deal as you will be able to understand better how this program works and how you can correct the flaws from your photos, highlight the good parts in it and hide what you don’t want other to see. With the help of Photoshop many stars have their photos corrected and then published in the most wanted magazines. The easiest way for your photos to become the way you want is to invest a little bit of time in consulting the free Photoshop tutorials.

Depending on what you want to learn, you can select a few of the tutorials you can find on the net and start learning about Photoshop. In the basic free Photoshop Tutorials you will find detailed explanations about the tools used in Photoshop, the functions of all the buttons, the basic changes that can be made on a photo, certain special commands and other stuff you will definitely be interested in if you want to have a perfect photo.

Photoshop it's not used only for modifying photos, you can also create very sophisticated images by yourself. It also works with high printing resolutions that will satisfy all you need.

A good news, only for Photoshop fans is that every time a new version of this program appears on the market, the company that has launched the program will automatically update its site with free Photoshop Tutorials concerning the last versions released. This is a great thing as you can learn a lot about your favorite software updates and changes and the best part is that you can do it for free. Don’t forget to check all the sites you found great free tutorials because the photoshop fans will surely place their on tutorials after each update.

Nowadays there are even forums that have their main theme focused on free Photoshop tutorials and these are not only for Photoshop fans. If you have just started using this program you should register on such a forum and have great discussions with it's members. You can find out new tricks and get some answers regarding Photoshop, all for free. Not to mention that you get to make new friends there and you share the same passion which is the greatest image editing software, Photoshop.