Learning new tricks of the trade is paramount for photographers. Fortunately, we have a tool in Photoshop that provides an inexhaustible supply of techniques to refine our art. The sheer amount of post production methods to learn can make you feel like you’re drinking from a fire hose, but Tutvid has simplified things by giving us a list of useful tips to add to your workflow.
[REWIND: HOW TO PHOTOSHOP FASTER | SIMPLE TIPS TO SPEED UP YOUR PHOTOSHOP WORKFLOW PT.2]
1.) Revert Reconstruction – (1:09)
Producing high quality work demands precision. However, some tools in Photoshop are anything but precise. The liquify filter is one such tool. It can act like a butcher knife when what you want is a scalpel. This technique allows you to make your changes and reduce the collateral damage.
2.) Rubber Band – (3:49)
The Rubber Band feature allows you to refine the pen tool and see where your path is going when you place your next point. Once placed, you can further adjust your path to get your edit right the first time.
3.) Preserve Transparency – (5:43)
Many of the adjustments in Photoshop are initially applied to an entire layer. This hotkey allows you to fill or paint into a new layer only where there are pixels present. Any time you can narrow the scope of an edit to what you want, you win.
4.) Spring-Loaded Zooming – (7:45)
It can be easy to get lost in the details when retouching. This is a stage in your workflow when you things can go awry and you end up wasting time. This hotkey allows you to zoom in and out quickly to grasp a sense of your progress.
5.) Black and White from Channel – (8:35)
This is a neat way to create a black & white image from one of the RGB channels of a color image. You duplicate the channel you want, place into a new document, and voila.
6.) Previewing Adjustment Layers – (10:25)
This tip all about speed. Catching mistakes quickly can be a godsend. Especially with a more involved editing process, being able to immediately see the effects of the changes you make is helpful.
7.) Load a Channel as a Selection – (12:25)
It’s the little details that make an image stand out. This tip allows you to load an RGB channel as a selection. It also demonstrates how edits to a single RGB channel can result in a more refined final image.
8.) Scrubbing Sliders/ Arrow Keys – (15:42)
The adjustments we make in Photoshop are assigned a number or percentage value and being able to dial them in exactly is very beneficial. You can hover your cursor over a dialogue box and scrub left or right to make changes. You can also place your cursor in an input box and use your arrow key to make small adjustments.
9.) Lens Flare Placement – (18:01)
Lens flares are anathema in my book. I’m sure they can used to make beautiful images but I’m just not fan. Still this may convince me to rethink that. With this tip, you’re afforded greater control of the lens flare placement.
10.) Add Filter Again w/ Dialogue Box – (19:42)
Similar to tip number three, you not only want to control the scope of your edits but their intensity as well. Too much of a good thing can go real bad in Photoshop. This is a good way dial it back when applying filters.
*11.) Bonus Ruler Tricks – (20:30)
As a parting gift, Mr. Dodson gives us an extra dose of knowledge. He shows us that you can adjust the 0-X and 0-Y point of your ruler. You can also drag your guides and along the X and Y axis. Overall, it’s obvious that speed and precision were the themes behind these tips. This is key because the faster your can produce better work, the faster you can take your photography to the next level.
Tutvid is always putting out some highly informative and easily digestible content, all of which you can check out on their site, so surely show them some love.
About the author: Wendell is a Multimedia Producer from East Point, GA. who loves capturing the people and moments that fill his life. When not documenting the innovation work at Chick-fil-A corporate, he can be found shooting at his church, the streets of East Point, or his wife’s cake studio.
Instagram: wendellwphoto
website: wendellw.com