Chrome effect in Photoshop

Hi.
We all know that we can do just about everything in Photoshop.
Well, not everything, but you know what I mean.
So today I'd like to share how to create a Chrome effect but bare in mind that the settings I use may be different for you, therefore just "play" with the curves to achieve the right effect that works for you.

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Let it rain

Hi.
Sometimes we go out to take some photos and it's raining and we end up either in the pub or back home.
However if think that you have a photo that will be even cooler if it was raining, well, you can try to shhot on the rain, but make sure you protect your camera and lens, as for you, well take a friend to hold an umbrella, or you can create rain in the confort of you home.
To do that just use Photoshop;).
In this video I will show ou exactly how to create rain and darken the photo to give more realism to it.

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Photoshop for beginners Part 3

Hi.
And here I am again to carry on with "Photoshop for Beginners".
In this video I will be showing how to work with some of the coolest tools in photoshop, but very complex too, but just follow along and you will be fine ;)

I hope that you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Photoshop for beginners Part 2

Hi.
As you may know I recently started with a series of tutorials called "Photoshop for Beginners".
The reason I started is to help those who want to learn about photoshop and don't know where to start.
In this video I explain some basics about some tools and also give one or two tips while doing it.

I hope that you like it.

See you next time


Miguel

Smart Filters in Photoshop

Hi.

Today I'd like to talk about Smart Filters.
Well, they are there for a few versions of Photoshop but not a lot of people use them.
Some because they don't know what they do, others because they didn't realized the control it will give you while working on Filters.

Personally Everytime I apply a filter to a layer I always convert to Smart filter, as the control over the filter is amazing.But that's just me.

If you haveany more queries about Smart Filters or something else in Photoshop, just let me know.


I hope you like it


See you next time

Miguel

Clone Stamp in Photoshop

Hi.

Here is one tool that I find really cool.
The Clone Stamp can help you in many ways and you can also have some fun with it.
The basic of the Clone Stamp is that you sample an area in a foto and then you can replicate the area you sampled in another point of an image or even in another image.

And that is why I've created this tutorial.

I hope you like it

See you next time

Miguel

Layer Masks

Hi.
Today I'd like to show you the possibilities of layer masks.

Layer masks can be very useful and the fact that you can blend 2 or more images using layers masks with full control, it's very cool.
When I say full control I not only mean the control over the image, but also that you will be kind of erasing the image but with the control that if you "erase" too much, you can bring it back.

But it's better for you to see for yourself :)

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Clipping mask

Hi.
Some people are not aware of the power of the clipping masks, or not even know how to use it.
Ok, fair enough, it's not very complicated, and once you know the possibilities, you can create some cool effects, that is why I created this 2 video tutorials to explain a bit what can be done with clipping masks.


I hope you like it

See you next time


Miguel

Text and layers mask

Hi.
For those wondering what I mean with this title, I mean that you can create some cool effects using text and layer masks.
I don't mean creating a text layer and then add a layer mask to create the basic stuff.
In this video I show you another wayto work with layer masks, that can be applied notonly withtext.


I hope you like it.

See you next time


Miguel

Photoshop for beginners Part 1

Hi.
There are many many tutorials all over the internet that can help you do some cool stuff in Photoshop.
However, the really simple stuff for those who are starting now, it's really difficult.But I started a new series of tutorials that at first I will explain the very basics of the tools and what can be done with them.

I really hope that I help who is starting now with Photoshop.

See you next time

Miguel

Load Presets to Photoshop

Hi.
We all have presets that we used in last versions of Photoshop or that we found all over the internet.
In this video I show exacty how to install them in your new version of Photoshop.
As I mention in the video I would advise to create a folder where you can have your custom brushes, gradients etc.Not only it's easier for you to find as when you backup to an external drive its also easier to find.

I hope you like it.

See you next time


Miguel

Fix export to Facebook etc with Bridge CS5

Hi.
With Adobe Bridge CS5 you can upload directly to facebook, Flickr and Photoshop.com.However it sounds so simple but sometimes it's not the case.
When I installed CS5 I've chosen as default language English_GB, but having Bridge with en_GB it won't work.
Well, you can always uninstall and install again, but there is a easier way to do so.
So to help people who had the same problem as me I' created this video tutorial on how to change it

I hope you like it

See you next time


Miguel

Nik HDR Effex Pro Review

Hi.
Today I’d like to talk about HDR, but in this case a Plugin that is available for Photoshop, Lightroom and Bridge.
To be honest I am not a fan of Plugins, it’s a bit like you are cheating, having said that Nik has a Plugin called HDR Efex Pro.
When I started working with HDR in Photoshop I was always after the surrealistic look because it was the one it looked cooler, however HDR is more than that.
Last night I downloaded the free 15 days trial version from Nik and I was amazed.
The download is very straight forward and very easy.
To install it took me no more than a minute and it was also very easy.
But the best was when I opened Photoshop and launched Nik HDR Efex Pro, but because the name mentions Pro, you don’t need to be a Pro to use it, but you will create some cool photos that will look that was a Pro who processed.
There are lots of easy to use presets, even has a preview mode without the need to apply the effect to your photos, but the control is brilliant.
Just like Photoshop CS5 you can process just one photo, or for a better result I would advise to work with 3 or 5.
In the matter of adjustments you will find in the “Global Adjustments” Exposure, Contrast, Saturation, Structure, Blacks, Whites and Warmth.
Then there is “HDR Method” where you can find easy to use presets like Natural, Crisp, Subtle and lots more, and just bellow that you will find Vignette and Levels and curves adjustments.
One thing is for sure, its a very cool plugin, but then I saw a button “Add Control Point” and I started “playing” with that.Basically I could add a control point in the Photo where I could adjust that area with Exposure, Contrast and Saturation, how cool is that?
Even that I am not a big fan of Plugins I tried in the past another, and I was very confused on how to work with it and with Nik HDR Efex Pro I found it not only very easy to use, but only with very good results, and the control over the photo is brilliant.

For those who are interested in trying or buying, just go to
Nik Software
I hope I helped in any way with this short review.

See you next time

Miguel

Personalized Frames

Hi.
There are so many ways to create frames in Photoshop that I could post a tutorial everyday of the year.
However I like to share some of the techniques that I find to be very easy and cool.

I hope you like it

See you next time

Miguel

Background with texture

Hi.
We all like to "play" with photoshop and we are always doing some cool backgrounds.
But we can add some texture to the background to give a different effect.
This technique is very easy and gives lots of possibilities.

I hope you like it

See you next time

Miguel

Repousse in Photoshop CS5

Hi.
Photoshop CS5 came out last April and it's brilliant!
There are lots of cool features and some cool improvements in existing ones but one of my favorites is Repousse.
Well, Repousse in 3D is brilliant as you can convert normal text to 3D and apply all sorts of textures and lots more.But it doens't stop there as even with any artwork that you may have or logos you can convert to 3D and move in 3D space.
I created a video to explain the very basics of Repousse in Photoshop CS5 but if you require a bit more information about it just let me know.

I hope you like it


See you next time

Miguel

Posterize

Hi.
Today I'd like to share a few ways to go around the Posterize in Photoshop.
I know that all of us tried sometime to use it but with some limitation.
So as I am a Photoshopaholic I had to try many ways to work with the posterize, and guess what, I found a couple of ways to get some cool effects.
And as you all know I like to share, therefore I have done a video tutorial about it :)

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

My Son and Photoshop

Hi.
You all know that I love Photoshop and I am addicted to it, but in a healthy way(I think.
I have a son that likes to play with photoshop, and other day while I was doing a tutorial he said that he wanted to do a tutorial as well.
Well, of course I said yes, and I just created a custom brush and the rest....
Well see for yourself :)

See you next time,

Miguel

Perspective with Text

Hi.
Today I'd like to show you how to work with text and after to add perspective to the text.
Fair enough that you can just add the text and then go to Edit-Transform-Perspective, however it doesn't look brilliant, so I decided to create this video so you see the best option to do so.

I hope you like it.

See you next time,

Miguel

Layer Styles

Hi.
Today I'd like to talk about layer styles.
Layer styles is very cool and very easy to use, but sometimes you are designing something that would look better with more than one layer style apllied.
Well, you can rasterize the layer or flatten the image, but that way it won't give you any more control over the styles applied.
In this tutorial I show you how to combine more than one layer style to a shape with lots of control over it, so if you would like to change it, it can be easily done.

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Photoshop Tips of February

Hi.
Lots of you follow me on twitter and Facebook and know that 5 days a week I post a Photoshop Tip of the day.

Today I decided to create this post based on February's Tips so it's easier to find.


Select layers palette, Hold SHIFT and click new Group, it will put all the selected layers inside new group.

To delete a style in the palette Hold ALT and click the one you want to delete.

With any lasso tool selected, Hold Control and click to close the selection area.

In Camera Raw hold Shift, the open image changes to open object so in Photoshop you can come back to Camera Raw.

In Camera Raw Hold ALT to change From Cancel to Reset all the effects on your photo.

Hold Alt and double click on locked layer to unlock.

Hold Alt and click in any tool, keep clicking to change tool in the same group.

With any tool selected Hold Control and use arrows to nudge unlocked layers.

With the move tool selected Hold ALT and click bracket keys to select layers...UP and Down.

With the gradient tool selected, Hold Control it will change the cursor so you can move the position of the layer.

With the dodge tool selected hold ALT to change temporarily to the burn tool.

Select the paint bucket, Hold SHIFT and Click on the document window to change the color.

Hold SHIFT+CONTROL+ALT and right click.It will open the floating color picker in CS5.

Hold down Ctrl-Alt-W to close more than one documents.

Hold down Alt (Option on Mac) while using the zoom tool, to switch from zoom-in to zoom-out.

Press Ctrl and [ or ] to move a layer down/up in the layers stack.

To enable / disable a mask, Shift-click on its thumbnail on the layers panel.

To convert text to a vector path Right-click on the text layer and select "Create Work Path"

I hope you liked it.

See you next time

Miguel

Sharpen an image in Photoshop

Hi.
Today I'd like to talk about sharpen images inside Photoshop.
It doesn't matter how good photographer you may be, because sometimes you want to add a bit more sharpen to a photo.
It may be just because you didn't have a tripod and the photo is not crispy as you like or just to create a special effect with the photo.
In this tutorial I show the easiest and fastest ways to get that effect and add that extra bit of sharpeness to a photo.

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Black and White photos in Photoshop

Hi.
today I'd like to talk about black and white photos.

We all love Black and white photos and inside Photoshop there are many ways to convert a color photo to black and white.

I found while "playing" with Photoshop there are many other ways to do so, however what you are about to see in my video not only are simple techniques, but also with great control over the effect.

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Offset Filter in Photoshop

Hi.
Today I decided to explain a filter that most people are afraid to use or just don't know how to use it or what can be done with it, but do not worry, Miguel for the rescue.

The Offset filter even that is not very used can be very cool for some effects and animation.
To be honest I mostly use it for animation, and in this video I show you how.

I hope you like it

See you next time

Miguel

Brushes in Photoshop

Hi.
Today I'd like to talk about creating your own personalized brushes inside Photoshop and I give an example of creating a brush from an entire photo can create a very cool effect.

Also came to my atention that a lot of people get a bit confused with which colours are selected on creating the brushes, therefore I explain that and also compare to selections in the channels palette.

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Videos and Filters in Photoshop

Hi.

We all know that Photoshop was made with the purpose for Photos, however It's capabilities to work with video it's getting better and better.
As I mentioned before we can apply adjustment layers to a video file.
But what about Filters?

That is why I created this tutorial, to show you how we can use filters in a video file.

I hope you like it.

See you next time

Miguel

Create 3D object in Photoshop

Hi.

Photoshop has some cool 3D features since CS3.
But with CS5 it's better than ever.
Even that Photoshop isn't native to create 3D objects you can create some, and it's what I am about to show you.

This is the first tutorial of this series.

In this tutorial I show how to create a repousse based on a Path and how to create a Light stand.
Also will explain a bit about textures, however my next tutorial will be only about textures.

I hope you like it

See you next time

Miguel

Photoshop Tips of January

HI.
Lots of you follow me on twitter and Facebook and know that 5 days a week I post a Photoshop TIp of the day.

Today I decided to create this post based on January's Tips so it's easier to find.


Shift+Tab hides all the pallets except your toolbar.

Double-Click the ruler on the top or side of your document brings up the Units & Ruler Dialogue box.

Hitting Tab hides all of your palettes. Hitting Tab again brings them back.

Using Shift+ the "+" or "-" will toggle through the various blend modes one at a time.

You can right click on the ruler to change from pixels, to inches and others.

Hold ALT and click the layer mask icon to get a "Black mask"

Once applied a Style if you Hold SHIFT you can add another Style.

Hold ALT and click New Layer Icon, it will give you the pop up window to name the new layer.

With the type tool selected ALT +arrow keys to increase/decrease the tracking.

To open last Filter Dialog Box click Control+ALT+F

To "Redo" hold Control+Shift and Z.

Hold SHIFT and click in a Layer mask, it will disable it.

After creating a path Click Control+Enter to load as selection.

Hold alt and double click on new layer icom to unlock a layer

To duplicate a layer above the existing "Control+ALT+Arrow key up"to duplicate below"Control+ALT+Arrow down"

Hold down ALT+ click on the visibility icon will hide all other layers apart from the selected one.

Hold down Alt (PC) or Option (Mac) and click on a tool icon to quickly switch between tools in the same group.

I hope it helps you.

See you next time

Miguel

Vanishing Point and 3D

Hi.
Today I'd like to talk about Vanishing Point and 3D.
You must be thinking that are 2 completely things, and they are.
However you can give a 3D effect in Vanishing point and put a 2D image in a 3D espace.
In this tutorial I show you how to achieve that.

I hope you like it.

Take care and see you next time

Miguel

Scan effect

Hi.

While "playing" with Photoshop I found another way of creating a Scan effect.
Some of you saw my video a few months ago about it, but this technique is very good as well.
These are the steps to create that effect:
-Open an image.
-Create a new layer and fill with 50% grey(Edit->Fill-> Contents use:50% Gray).
-Meke sure you have the default colors, so Black it will be on the foreground and white on the background.If you have different colors just click "D".
-Filter->Sketch->Halftone Pattern.
-In the Halftone Pattern select the Pattern Type to Line and just see what suits you regarding the Size and Contrast.Once you are happy, just click OK.
-Now just go to the Layers pallet and change the blending mode.
-Multiply to a darker effect, including the image.
-Overlay to a subtle effect.
-Soft light to a softer effect compared to overlay.

And of course you can experiment with a different blending mode and with the opacity to create that cool effect.

Here is the video I have done Previosly.
Soon I'll make a video with the technique I mentioned today.

I hope you like it

Take care and see you next time

Miguel

Layer Comps

Hi.

Today I'd like to talk about somethingg not very common but very easy to use and that can help you a lot.
I am talking about Layer Comps.
Layer Comps it's kind of the Snapshots.It records the order, the visibility, opacity and layer styles.
The brilliant thing about it is that you can save many different versions of a document in only a document.This way not only is easier to show to a client or just for yourself or other reason that doesn't occur to me :).

But enought Talk and more action!

Here is a video where I show you how cool Layer Comps can be.


I hope you like it

Take care and see you next time

Miguel

Patterns with Content Aware

Hi.

For those who don't know me,I am always trying different and crazy things in Photoshop, sometimes with some cool results, other times with no results at all, but I don't give up and keep trying.

A couple of days ago I was "playing" with content aware fill, and I came up with a cool way of creating patterns, and like always I like to share, therefore here is a video of that.
Another Filter very cool and that a lot of people don't use is Pixel Bender.Well, it's not a native filter from Adobe but you can download for free http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/pixelbenderplugin/
And while "playing" with pixel bender I came up with another way of creating Patterns.

I hope you like it:)

Take care and see you next time

Miguel

HDR Toning

Hi.

HDR has been in previous versions of photoshop, however in CS5 Adobe introduced HDR Toning.

With HDR Toning you can create HDR photo with a single photo, to be fair, to achieve the best results I still would advise to use at least 3 photos taken in a tripod and at different exposures, but this new adjustment is very good.
In this video I' go though the best settings and what the sub menu looks like and how it works.

Take care and see you next time

Miguel

Photoshop and video

Hi.

Today I'd like to talk about Video and Photoshop.

A lot of you know that in Photoshop you can create Animation, work in 3D and lots more, but what about video?
Well you can do lots of things with video inside Photoshop.

In this 2 videos I show different ways of working with video and a couple of ideas for your own projects.

Take care and see you next time

Miguel

Patterns in Photoshop

Hi.

Today I'd like to share a video tutorial that I created a couple of months ago.

In this tutorial I show a different way to create patterns in photoshop but in this case using 3D tools to create it.
I sounds weird but it works!As I am about to show you.

Take care and see you next time

Miguel

NAPP-National Association of Photoshop Professionals

Hi.

Today I'd like to talk about one of the best things that happened to me last year.

Yes, you guessed, becoming part of the NAPP community.
And I'd like to give a special Thank you to Dave Clayton who is the NAPP evangelist in UK, and obviously to Nancy from NAPP Headquarters as thanks to them I joined NAPP, as there was a Competition to win a 1 year membership and it's thanks to them.

Well, since I started in the world of Photoshop I always heard about NAPP and how good it was, but now I can say in my own words if it's good or not.

I have to say that it's not good is Brilliant!!!
In a way I thought that NAPP was a website where you could see some cool tutorials from the best in the world and that the members would get Photoshop User Magazine.

NAPP is more than that, there is a forum where people ask questions about anything from Photography to Photoshop and lots more, but the fact that if you have a problem or just want an opinion, that is the place as there is always someone willing to help, I am one of them :).
There are exclusive tutorials and exclusive Webinars.
And there's lot more.
One of the things that a lot of people say it pays for the membership is the discounts, and believe me there are very cool discounts in all sort of stuff, and not only in camera gear or photoshop or computers, even to rent a car you get discounts.But it's not only that.
You get a Help center where someone is there to answer any question that you may have.


To all of you that know me can see how much my photography has improved since I became part of NAPP.
So once again, thank you Dave and Nancy.


Long Live NAPP!

If you would like to join NAPP, just visit this link http://www.photoshopuser.com/?aid=xlkfkb

Here are some links that may be usefull to have

http://www.facebook.com/nappmember

http://www.nappmember.co.uk/

Kind regards to all

Miguel

HDR Effect

Hi

Today I'd like to share a technique that gives a subtle HDR effect created in Camera Raw.

Well, you can also use Lightroom for the same effect.
The technique is very simple, just moving some sliders and obviosly adjust as you like.








And that's it for today, I hope you liked it

Regards,

Miguel

Fix a photo

Hi

As you all know I always try to find different ways to make my work flow as easy as possible.

Recently I found another way to fix the exposure in a photo with full control of the photo, so I decided to share this technique with everyone.

Improve a Photo

Hi

Today I'd like to share with you what I have done a couple of months ago.
I went out and Took my camera and I took a few photos which were OK, the reason of beeing OK is because I could't go too close to the subject and didn't have my tripod, and the biggest reason to call it OK is because of the background.

As I wasn't Happy with this photo I decided to do some work on it...

So to achieve the final image I selected every part of the subject and masked.
Having completed all the masking(long hours)I took a picture of the Sky and added to the project.Obviosly I had to clone some areas, dodge and burn aswell.
After a few hours I added a Vignette and a Black and White preset that I created for this type of photos.

And here is the final result.




If you need a Tutorial about any of the techniques mentioned above or others, just let me know and I will do as soon as I can.

Animate a photo

Hi.
Today I decided to do a tutorial on animation.

Sometimes we want to create a slideshow or something similar and if we animate a bit the photo it can make a difference, so I decided to animate a sky in a nice photo.

Selections in Photoshop

Hi, we all use selections inside Photoshop, in this article I go trough the Selections and will give some tips as I go along.

So let's start with the Elliptical Marquee.
If you can't see the Elliptical Marquee, you can click and hold the mouse over the marquees, you can right click on the marquees or if you like to use the shortcut key, Holt SHIFT and click M until you get the Elliptical.
Now that you have the Elliptical selected you can draw a oval shape or a perfect circle, to achieve a perfect circle hold SHIFT while dragging the desired selection, but if you want to select a circle in an existing image, once you have the center of that circlewith the marquee start dragging with the mouse and after you start Hold SHIFT,(to get a perfect circle) and hold also ALT (Option on MAC) holding the ALT(Option on Mac) it will select from the middle, however if the selection is slightly off you can move it with the mouse or with the arrow keys, if you add SHIFT to the arrow keys you can move every 10px.

When you have a selection if you want to add to the existing selection, just Hold SHIFT and start selecting whatever you like.
But lets say that you want to subtract something from the existing selection, its very simple, just Hold ALT(Option on Mac) and start subtracting with a selection tool.
However if you want to intersect with an existing selection just use SHIFT+ALT.
If you have a selection that you want to copy, just select the move tool and hold Alt and just drag the selection.But if you have a very complex selection and you want to save, just go to Select->Save selection, that you create a new channel based on your selection, so when you need it again when working on that project it's always there.

I will continue to explain how to work with selections and will make some tutorials so you can see the possibilities of selections.


Kind Regards to all

Miguel

New Year and .....Action!

Happy New Year to all and welcome to my new and improved Blog.

I am going to start the year explaining Actions, the reason for that is that a lot of people don't know how to use it and also how it can improve the productivity.

So, Actions records every step inside Photoshop, as soon as you click "Record" it will record everything you do.
Let's get an example...You have a nice picture that you want to upload to your website or a blog and has to be resized, if that's your case, crating an action it will make your life a lot easier, I'll explain.


First go to Window and select Actions



Now you can see the Actions panel.....

As you can see Adobe were kind enough to give as some presets.
However we want to create our new action, to do so just click on the icon create new action on the action panel and a window opens so you can name your action for future reference.
In my case I name it resize because it's what we want to do.
And just click "Record"!
It's now recording, so let's resize our image going to Image->Image Size and resize to the size we want.
Now we can save as(personal option) in the Desktop or a folder and click STOP in the actions panel.

So next time you need to resize an image to the size that was especified just click Play in the Actions Panel and Photoshop will do all the work for you in a second(depending on your machine).

Please watch my video where I show how to create this action and another with a nice tip on sharpen a photo.


Kind Regards to all

Miguel