Missing in Action? No, just on the move!
March 30, 2010 by admin

Biergarten in Nussloch, Germany Well, it has been over two months since my last entry, and in that time I’ve been around the world and back again, visiting such places as Malaysia, China, Norway, Scotland, Germany… the list goes on. Sadly for my bird-loving friends, I haven’t had much time for birding, but I have been lucky enough to have my camera with me on many of my trips, so I will be posting a few shots over the coming days and weeks taken from the road.

In addition to some fun travel photography, I’ve been fortunate enough to have a chance to be a beta-tester for the forthcoming release of Adobe Photoshop CS5, which is scheduled to be announced on April 12. I’ve been digging in to the new features, so watch this space after the announcement for some new tutorials and demonstrations of the great new capabilities to be found in this latest version of my favorite software!

I’ve not been totally idle online during my blog’s hiatus, however – I’ve been authoring a series of Monday tutorials on the ins and outs of Photoshop’s powerful Blend Modes, and you can find them on the fun and informative TipSquirrel blog. Just go to the blog and look for the link to posts by Mike Hoffman, including my latest, demonstrating 3 ways to use Luminosity blend modes for sharpening. While you’re there, be sure to check out the many other great tips and techniques shared by the great TipSquirrel authors!

That’s it for now; I’ll be back soon!

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Clone stamp weirdness? This may help.
November 19, 2009 by admin

In Photoshop CS4, Adobe introduced some new features to the Clone Stamp Tool, and in the process have managed to confuse more than a few people. The Clone Stamp Tool paints over the image using pixels that it draws from a “source,” and starting with CS4, this source is displayed live under your brush (this is a feature that migrated over from the Vanishing Point filter). The result is a colored blob that seems to undulate and flow as you move the Clone Stamp Tool brush over your image, and this colored blob is the source of confusion for many people. See the image below as an example:

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The colored blob is actually a preview of what you will paint, if you click the Clone Stamp Tool in that spot. It is useful for lining up the clone source with the target, but if you don’t like it, you can easily return to the old behavior. Start by opening the Clone Source Panel (Window > Clone Source).

 

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See the check box for “Show Overlay?” Just un-check that, and your preview disappears – your Clone Stamp Tool is now reset to behave exactly like it did in Photoshop CS3 and earlier.

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Adobe Camera Raw Power Tips
October 29, 2009 by admin

Today, I have two quick Power Tips for using Adobe’s Camera Raw. These are just a couple of little time savers that aren’t obvious… and if you didn’t know they were there, you could skim right past them without seeing them.

Take a gander at these tips, and I hope they will lead you to further discoveries in the world of Adobe Camera Raw. Should you want to learn more, I’ve added some links to further learning at the end of this article.

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Photoshop Color Picker Quick Pick Tip
October 27, 2009 by admin

Adobe Photoshop has had a color picker that hasn’t changed significantly for many versions. There is a hue slider, and a brightness/saturation gradient square in which you can pick the color you desire by clicking directly on it.

If you’re like most people, you often want to pick pure black or white, or a pure saturated hue such as 100% red form the picker. Yet you try and try to click close to the corner, and you always seem to get a value that is just slightly removed – it is really hard to get the picker directly on the corner as you click.

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