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Issue 121 April 2021

Essential tricks for raw shooters

8 EXPERT
VIDEO
LESSONS

PLUS
LIGHT-PAINTING
AI RETOUCHING TRICKS
LIGHTROOM TIPS
 Editor
James Paterson
Art Editor
Rosie Webber
Production Editor
Richard Hill
Content Director
Chris George
Senior Art Editor
Warren Brown

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The change in workflow and extra editing required
when you start raw photography can be a stumbling Also available on:
block for some – but with tools like Camera Raw, it
needn’t be a chore. This issue we take an in-depth
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look at Photoshop’s indispensable raw processor.

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James Paterson, Editor • [email protected]

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HIGHLIGHTS: WHAT’S INSIDE…

MASTER BATCH PROCESSING AI SKIN SMOOTHING LIGHT-PAINT LIGHTROOM
CAMERA RAW MADE SIMPLE EXPLAINED YOUR GARDEN SKILLS
QGet to grips with QSync your edits QThe Neural Filter QShoot and edit QTake control of
the raw workflow across entire sets for easy automated stunning light- the Lightroom
in Photoshop of photos with ease retouching painted scenes Histogram
 Get to grips with the best raw editor in the business

Raw editing has improved Over the next few pages, we’ll
dramatically over the last explain everything you need
few years – and Camera Raw to know about Camera Raw –
leads the way. Photoshop’s from basic editing and workflow
dedicated raw processor offers advice to essential image-
a combination of simple tools, enhancing tools and amazing
powerful settings and great features like the brand-new
depth of features. Super Resolution command...

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 CAMERA RAW

Find out why you need to use Camera Raw to edit your raw photos

WHAT IS CAMERA RAW? layers, creating special effects,

Raw files require processing compositing and more. But for
before they can be edited in photographers who mainly prefer
Photoshop. Camera Raw is to make simple
Photoshop’s raw processor. It enhancements, FOR PHO T OGR A PHERS W HO
allows you to set white balance, the tools in Camera
crop photos, enhance colors, Raw can be all you PREFER T O MAK E SIMPLE
make tonal changes and powerful need. These tools ENH A NCEMEN T S, CA MER A R AW
local adjustments. As such, it’s and settings are
invaluable for many essential almost identical
CAN BE ALL YOU NEED
editing tasks. By contrast, the main to those in the
Photoshop editor gives you more Lightroom Develop Module, so it’s
depth in terms of working with easy to switch between the two.
WHY CAN’T I JUST SKIP RAW
AND USE JPEGs INSTEAD?
It’s perfectly fine to shoot and edit
JPEGs, and many photographers
can produce stunning images
without needing to turn to raw.
But there are things to be aware
of. JPEGs might look fine straight
out-of-camera, but once you
begin to perform edits – say a
boost in contrast, a change to the
brightness or an increase in color
saturation – the cracks may soon
start to show. Banding can occur in
tonal gradations, and artifacts may
be amplified.
By contrast, a raw contains
all the fresh image data that
your camera is able to record,
which gives you greater editing
headroom. You have greater scope
to rescue exposure problems,
adjust white balance and pull detail
out of highlights and shadows. As
such, it’s best to do as much of your WHY DON’T I HAVE TO
editing as possible on the raw file; SAVE RAW EDITS?
if you need to output a JPEG, do so After making your changes in
at the end of your workflow. Camera Raw, you can simply click
Done to exit Camera Raw; click
HOW DO I OPEN A RAW FILE? Open to continue into Photoshop;
When you attempt to open a or right-click and select Save
raw file into Photoshop, it’ll Image to save
automatically open in Camera Raw a different file YOU HAVE GRE ATER SCOPE T O
first. You can also open files into format. Any RESCUE E X POSURE PROBL EMS,
Camera Raw directly from Bridge changes you
by right-clicking and choosing Open make will be A D JUS T W HI T E B A L A N C E A ND
in Camera Raw (Photoshop needn’t remembered next PULL DE TA IL OUT
even be open to launch Camera time you open the
Raw from Bridge, which saves on raw in Camera Raw or Lightroom.
processing power). What’s more Raw files are impossible to save
you can also open JPEGs and TIFFs over. They can only ever be added
into Camera Raw in this way, and to with other tiny bits of ‘sidecar’
enjoy all its editing tools. data, held in a separate file. This
extra data sits alongside the Image editing is rarely a
original data, and tells the software straightforward journey. Camera
how the file should look when Raw brings a creative freedom
opened. This is sometimes called to that journey, as you’re free to
parametric editing. try out different treatments or
retrace your steps whenever you
WHAT’S PARAMETRIC EDITING? choose. With parametric editing,
Rather than altering the pixels that the journey can take as many
make up the image, we instead diversions as
alter a set of parameters that you like before YOU CAN T W E A K A SE T T ING,
affect how the image is presented. you settle on
The beauty of parametric the destination. CH A NGE A CROP OR A LT ER
editing is that every single Sometimes this THE LOOK OF THE IM AGE
change you make is completely might mean
non-destructive. You can tweak continuing
AT A N Y T IME
a setting, change a crop or alter working on the
the look of the image at any time. image in Photoshop, but often
What’s more, you can copy edits you can do everything you need
from one image to another - or an in Camera Raw, then export the
entire set - with ease. photo in its final format.
 CAMERA RAW
Five reasons why raw trumps JPEG

1 HIGHLIGHTS
AND SHADOWS 3
Raws hold more detail in the
highlights and shadows; this
is good for landscapes, as
it can often be a challenge 2
to record detail in the
brightest and darkest
parts of the frame. 1

2 WHITE BALANCE
With raws you can set the
white balance after the fact,
so you don’t need to worry
about getting it absolutely
perfect in-camera: you’re 4
free to fine-tune it later on. 5
You can make a sky warmer
or cooler with ease.

3 GRADUATED TONES
Heavy editing of JPEGs will
lead to an unsightly banding
effect in areas of gradation
where light tones transition
to darker tones – this is
very unlikely to happen
with raw files. in-camera, you have color channel. A raw is
ultimate control over the usually 12 or 14-bit, which
4 DETAIL CONTROL strength of sharpening. means either 4,096 or
You can pull greater detail 16,384 levels of luminosity.
out of raw files as there’s 5 MORE INFORMATION Higher bit-depth means
more headroom for editing; An 8-bit JPEG holds 256 smoother gradations and
and, unlike JPEGs processed levels of luminosity per less chance of banding.
 3

1
2

CAMERA RAW

1 PROFILE BROWSER 2 BASIC PANEL 3 TOOLBAR

The Profile Browser offers The Basic Panel is the The toolbar on the right edge
a range of excellent starting place to begin making lets you access the Crop
points for editing your raw enhancements to tone Tool, local adjustment tools,
photos, including themes and color. Start at the top presets and more. When you
such as Adobe Landscape and work your way down click on a tool, the panel view
and Adobe Portrait. The the sliders. Many work in changes to show the specific
Camera Matching set mirrors combination with the Alt tool settings. The top icon
the picture style options on key to give you a handy will bring you back to the
your camera. grayscale view. regular panel view.
 4

6
5

CAMERA RAW

4 WHITE BALANCE 5 FILMSTRIP 6 PANELS

SETTINGS When you open a set of You can access a host
This control allows you to photos into Camera Raw of image settings here,
set a white balance preset they’ll show in the Filmstrip. from lens correction tools
after the fact, just as if You can hide or view it by to sharpening and color
you’d used the new white clicking the icon here. Right- grading. The best way to
balance setting at the time click the image thumbnails learn these settings is simply
of shooting. to sync, edit or save files. to dive in and experiment.
You can use the Tint The Filmstrip can be set Remember that every
and Temperature sliders to horizontally or vertically, and setting is reversible, so you
fine-tune the white balance, you can turn off file names can see how they affect
either to correct a color cast and ratings if you like, for a your image without making
or add a creative shift. larger view of the images. permanent changes.
 CAMERA RAW
A basic raw workflow for almost every image

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01 CHOOSE A PROFILE
The Profile Browser is
often the best place to begin
editing your raw. The Profiles
in the Adobe Raw set have
been optimized for different
subjects - here the Landscape
profile improves the colors
and detail in our scene.
02 SET BLACK AND
WHITE POINTS
By setting black and white
points, we can control the
tonal range. As a rule of
thumb, we should bring them
to a point just before clipped
pixels appear. Alt-drag the
sliders to see clipping.

03 WHITE BALANCE TOOL

Use this to set white
balance by clicking on a point
that should be neutral – like
a gray rock, or the white cliffs
here. Drag to draw a box and
sample a wider area.

04 APPLY CAPTURE
SHARPENING
Raws are inherently softer
than JPEGs (which are
sharpened in-camera), so
they will often benefit from
capture sharpening, which
is performed with ease in
the Detail Panel here.
 CAMERA RAW
Essential tricks and workflow shortcuts

01 ZOOMING
You can press Cmd/Ctrl
and the plus or minus keys to
zoom in or out, or press Z then
drag right or left. Pressing
Cmd/Ctrl+0 (the number) or
double-clicking the Zoom
Tool icon will fit your image
on-screen. When zoomed in,
hold down Space and drag
to move around the image.

02 ALT-DRAG SLIDERS
Several sliders give you
a different view if you hold
Alt. The Masking slider in the
Detail Panel lets you mask out
areas from sharpening, while
the Whites and Blacks sliders
let you see clipped pixels.
The Exposure slider gives a
grayscale view that can help
judge image brightness.

03 RESET SLIDERS
Double-click any slider in Camera Raw to reset it to
its default value. You can also hold Alt and click Reset to
reset all changes. The three-dot menu in the toolbar also
lets you reset all changes, apply previous settings, or set
new default settings for every image.
04 BEFORE/AFTER VIEWS
Get to know the Before/
After icons in the bottom-
right of the image window
and use them to judge your
changes. You can choose from
several split-screen views.
You can also click and hold the
eye icons next to each panel
name to temporarily toggle
off the settings within.

05 ORDER THE PANELS

Right-click on the
panels for useful interface
options. Edit Panels To Show
lets you hide any panels
you don’t use, and drag the
list to change their order.
Enabling Single Panel Mode
automatically collapses all
other panels, which can save
on endless scrolling up and
down the list.

06 SPOT REMOVAL TOOL

The Spot Removal
Tool lets you quickly fix small
blemishes or sensor marks.
Check the Visualize Spots box
for a handy black-and-white
view. If you have a recurring
sensor mark, you can fix it
on one image, then sync the
edit to an entire image set
to correct them all.
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CAMERA RAW: IN-DEPTH

Go beyond simple cropping and make use of powerful crop tool features

Camera Raw is hands the edit in Camera Raw, it will never be lost. Cropping
down the best place remains non-destructive, is very straightforward –
to crop your photos. Sure, so you can always go back simply grab the tool and drag
you can do so in Photoshop and change the crop later if the crop box – but there are
later on – but if you make you like. The cropped areas a few tricks you can use too...
01 CONTROL THE
PROPORTIONS
Press X to switch between
a vertical or horizontal
orientation, or right-click
with the Crop Tool for various
useful aspect ratios, like 3:2
or 1:1 square. Click the lock
icon in the tool settings or
press Alt+A to lock or unlock
the crop box proportions.
Holding Shift will also lock
the proportions.

02 USE CROP OVERLAYS

A range of crop overlays
offer a helping hand if you
want your composition to fit
with a particular rule like the
rule of thirds. Right-click and
choose Show Overlay, and
right-click and go to Overlay
Style to choose from different
overlays like the Golden Ratio,
rule of thirds and more. You
can also toggle through them
with Alt+V.

03 USE GEOMETRY FIXES

Straightening out a
wonky image can be done
with ease by using the
Straighten Tool in the Crop
settings – simply enable it,
then drag along a horizon
line. Alternatively, use the
Level button at the top
of the Geometry Panel to
automatically detect and fix
wonky horizons for you.
 CAMERA RAW: IN-DEPTH
Double the resolution of your image with this new AI-powered tool

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This new feature employs machine

learning to double the resolution of
your photos. It works brilliantly on low-res
images, so it’s great for improving old photos
or low-quality rights-free images.
Open an image in Camera Raw, then right-
click the image or the filmstrip thumbnail (or
select several at once) and choose Enhance.
If it’s a raw file, the feature will apply Raw
Details enhancement as well as Super
Resolution. It’ll also give you an estimated
completion time. Once complete, you’ll find a
new Adobe DNG file alongside your original
image file, with the suffix ‘-Enhanced.dng’.
 CAMERA RAW: IN-DEPTH
Use Camera Raw’s powerful trio of local
adjustment tools to boost areas of your images

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The local adjustment

tools in Camera Raw let
you lock on to different areas
of an image to enhance it.
Perhaps you need to tease out
detail, boost colors, sharpen
the details or fix the exposure.
Simply define an area with one
of three tools, then use the
tonal sliders to alter it...
01 ADJUSTMENT BRUSH
Perhaps the best
tonal tool in Photoshop and
Lightroom, this lets you paint
over an area to isolate it,
then adjust the area using
the sliders to the right. It’s
great for targeting precise
parts of your photo (especially
if you turn on Auto-Mask
or use Range-Mask). Here
we’ve used it to boost Clarity
over the castle.

02 GRADUATED FILTER
This lets you make
transitional tonal changes. For
example, you can darken part
of a frame in the same way
as a lens-mounted neutral-
density grad. It’s ideal for
darkening skies in landscape
scenes to balance the tones
with the land below. The
command features a Brush
Tool for adding or subtracting
from the mask.

03 RADIAL FILTER
The radial Filter is
much like the Graduated
Filter, except it creates
circular rather than linear
transitions. Drag a circle over
part of the image, then use
the tonal sliders to alter the
area outside/inside the circle.
It’s ideal for adding vignettes
to darken the corners of an
image and draw attention
to your subject.
 CAMERA RAW: IN-DEPTH
Save yourself time by editing an entire set of raw photos at once

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01 OPEN A SET OF PHOTOS

You can open an entire
set of images into Camera
Raw, then edit them all at
once. Either hold Cmd/Ctrl
and click to highlight several
thumbnails in Bridge; or
Shift-click between the first
and last file in the set to
select them all, then right-
click them and select Open
In Camera Raw.
 02 EDIT AND SYNC
Once the set is open
in Camera Raw, you can
sync in different ways.
Either highlight them all
in the Filmstrip (Cmd/
Ctrl+A) and begin editing
to alter the entire set at
once;. or edit one photo
to your satisfaction, then
select the rest, go to the
top-left menu and choose
Sync Settings.

03 SYNC IN BRIDGE
After editing a single photo in Camera Raw, you can copy the edits to other photos
in Bridge without having to re-enter Camera Raw. Simply right-click the edited image in
Bridge and choose Develop Settings > Copy Settings. Then select several photos, right-
click them and choose Develop Settings > Paste Settings. Here the facility lets us copy
a black-and-white treatment.
 Once your raw is ready to show the world, you’ll need
to select the right settings and export the file
After perfecting the screens are mostly 8-bit). 3 SETTING A RESOLUTION
look of the image, Saving as a JPEG at this As well as choosing a format,
the next stage is to output point will give you a small you might also want to set
the file in another format. file size, which is perfect a resolution for your image,
You can right-click the for posting online. especially if you intend to
image and choose Save print the image at a specific
Image to access different 2 OUTPUTTING AS A TIFF size. You can choose a width
format options, resolution TIFF is a 16-bit lossless and height for your image
settings, sharpening format, so your image won’t in cm or inches and set a
controls and more... degrade from repeated resolution. The standard
opening and closing, which resolution for printing is
1 OUTPUTTING AS A JPEG can happen with JPEGs over 300 pixels per inch.
JPEGs aren’t great for heavy time. TIFF is often a better
editing, but they’re fine for choice for professional 4 OUTPUT SHARPENING
outputting finished images. printing. TIFFs are larger You can apply output
8-bit JPEGs can hold 16.7 in file size than JPEGs, but sharpening tailored to the
million colors, while the eye they’re certainly the better size of the image and the
can perceive around 7-10 choice if you need maximum intended output, whether
million (and even modern quality in your final image. that be screen or print.

1
2

4
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BEFORE

AUTOMATIC SKIN SMOOTHING

Discover how Photoshop’s new AI-powered
Neural Filter enhances portraits for you

The Skin Smoothing wrinkles, eye bags and rough Neural Filters are part
Filter is part of Adobe’s skin can all be de-emphasized of a bold new direction
Neural Filters command: a within a few clicks. for Photoshop, as Adobe
range of new filters that Even a model with great embraces the power of
employ artificial intelligence skin like this can benefit from artificial intelligence. They
to analyze image content some subtle smoothing. won’t be perfect every time,
and determine which areas Skin Smoothing gives better but they usually get you most
to affect. Skin Smoothing results than many other of the way there. In the case
can automatically recognise techniques: you can smooth of Skin Smoothing, you may
people and faces in your out tones while retaining need to finish off by adjusting
photos, isolate the skin and texture in the pores, which which parts of the face are
let you apply a softening is essential for keeping the covered in order to keep the
effect. Pimples, spots, portrait looking natural. important areas sharp.

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 1 2

1 2 3
NEURAL FILTERS SELECT A FACE BLUR AND SMOOTHNESS
Skin Smoothing is part of The command analyzes These two sliders let
Photoshop’s Neural Filters the image and recognizes any you set the strength of
feature (Filter > Neural faces within. If your photo the Skin Smoothing effect.
Filters). These employ has more than one person, Blur affects fine details,
artificial intelligence to carry it can differentiate between so it’s good for softening
out image-editing tasks. each face and allow you to pimples and spots;
right now, only two are fully make different edits to each. Smoothness has more of an
complete - Skin Smoothing Choose between faces using impact on uneven tones and
and Style Transfer. Skin this dropdown (of course, if patchy skin. Experiment with
Smoothing detects skin in there’s only one subject, like different settings; it can help
faces and applies a smoothing here, you won’t see any other to output as a Smart Filter
effect to the area. If you’re choices in the dropdown). so you can adjust it later.
using it for the first time, you The blue box around a face The Before/After icon at the
may need to download shows that it has been bottom can be useful for
it from Creative Cloud. recognized by the command. assessing the effect.
 5

6
4

4 5 6
OUTPUT OPTIONS MASK THE DETAILS RETOUCH SPOTS
Once you’re happy with After completing the Skin SEPARATELY
the settings, you can choose Smoothing effect, some of While Skin Smoothing is
from several output options. the details in the face might ideal for enhancing rough
Duplicate Layer makes a look softer than you’d like. patches of skin and softening
copy of your current layer Here it has blurred the nose areas of uneven tonality, it
and applies the effect to it, slightly too much. A few might not be the best choice
while New Layer makes a seconds spent painting a for retouching marks and
semi-transparent layer with Layer Mask will fix this. Apply spots. The Spot Healing
the blurring effect applied the filter then add a Layer Brush is ideal for removing
over the face. Smart Filter Mask (if you’ve set Output marks in an otherwise clean
turns your layer into a Smart to Smart Filter or Duplicate area of skin. This can be done
Object, which means you can Layer Mask, just highlight before or after applying Skin
re-enter the settings at any the newly created mask). Smoothing. Make a new layer,
time by double-clicking the Grab the Brush Tool and paint grab the Spot Healing Brush
Smart Filter name that shows black on the face to mask out and check Sample All Layers,
in the Layers Panel. the effect in these areas. then paint to remove marks.
 PAINT YOUR GARDEN
James Paterson heads outdoors after dark to transform
a flower bed into a riot of color, by light-painting with a torch

Light-painting is a or you don’t have a suitable The wonderful thing

wonderful way to garden, you could easily about this is how we can
make the ordinary look set this up indoors in a transform a simple scene
extraordinary, and you dark room with a pot plant, into something completely
don’t necessarily need to or any other interesting- different. We could go for
travel far to create photos looking objects you like. a mix of colors like this, or
that look out of this world. The technique for light- make a more muted mix.
In this project, we’ll show painting is simple: we fix You could also try painting
you how to get set up to our camera to a tripod and shapes, figures or words
shoot eye-catching light- set up a long exposure, into the scene. There are
painted photos in your then open the shutter and endless possibilities, and
own garden after dark. move a torch around the you never know exactly
You don’t need any scene. By moving our torch how the image will turn
special kit for this: you around the frame, we can out. Experimenting with
probably have everything create colorful streaks of different exposure lengths
you need in your house. light, just as if we were and light sources is fun,
If it’s miserable weather painting in thin air. addictive and simple!

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 2

3
1

THE SETUP
Learn how to shoot vibrant long exposures in your garden at night

1 TRIPOD 2 CAMERA SETTINGS 3 REMOTE TRIGGER

Our exposure here will run When our camera is set We need to trigger the
to several seconds, perhaps to Bulb mode, we need camera and keep the shutter
even minutes. So we need to set the aperture and open. A cable or wireless
to keep the camera still by ISO manually. We can set release is fine, but it’ll be
using a tripod. If you don’t a narrow aperture of f/22, even better if you can
have a tripod to hand, then which restricts the flow connect your phone to your
you can simply place your of light into the camera. camera: you can then use
camera on any solid garden A low ISO of 100 also allows the Live View feed to figure
object, like a sturdy chair or for a long exposure and out where to paint with your
a suitable brick wall. ensures a noise-free image. torch between photos.

4 TORCH 5 FLOWERS 6 IN THE DARK

Once the shutter is locked Choose a still night to shoot Our garden scene needs to be
open, we can move our torch this: we don’t want wind dark, but it needn’t be pitch-
through the scene to create blowing the plants around. black (if we set our exposure
trails of light, in much the Pick flowers with strong with a narrow aperture and
same way as shooting traffic shapes that will look bold low ISO, any dim ambient
trails. This works best when in silhouette. It’s best if the light will barely register).
painting behind objects, bed extends a few metres, Wear dark clothes, though,
so that they appear almost as then you can paint in as otherwise the torch can
in silhouette, surrounded ‘levels’ through the scene reflect light from them and
by colorful streaks. for extra depth. show up in the image.
 LIGHT-PAINTING TRICKS
01 PLAN YOUR
COMPOSITION
In any garden there are likely
to be plenty of good spots
you can choose for this
technique. Have a look around
during the day, and take a few
test shots to work out some
nice compositions. Look for
strong shapes, like a single
flower, or seek out interesting
trees, branches or other
garden objects.

02 HOMEMADE
LIGHT WANDS
You can buy all kinds of
different lights and gizmos
for light painting, but a
simple torch and a few
colored plastic cups will do
the trick perfectly well. Here
we stacked some plastic
cups on top of one another,
then used gaffer tape to
attach them to the front
of a powerful LED torch.

03 FOCUS AND LOCK

Many cameras’
autofocus systems can
struggle in the dark and may
hunt around for something
to lock onto, which can throw
the scene out of focus. So
focus on your subject using
AF (you may need to shine
your torch on the subject
so the AF picks it up), then
switch to manual focus to
lock the settings into place.
 LIGHT-PAINTING TRICKS
04 SET BULB MODE
When you are setting
up your exposure for light-
painting you have two
options – you could set the
shutter speed to a specific
duration to 30 seconds or,
if this isn’t enough, set the
camera to Bulb mode instead.
This means the shutter will
stay open for as long as we
like. You’ll need to experiment
for the best results.

05 LOCK OPEN
THE SHUTTER
Either use your phone or a
cable release to begin the
Bulb exposure. Our exposure
times ranged between 30 and
90 seconds. Use a stopwatch
if you like, or you could just
count in your head – timings
needn’t be exact as the torch
is the dominant light source
here, and the dim ambient
light will barely register.

06 TIME TO PAINT
Time is a big factor in
light-painting – it’s not just
about where you wave your
torch, but also the speed
at which you do so. If you
linger the torch over part of
the scene for longer, then
the light will build up more
in that area, and the area
will become increasingly
brighter as a result.
Experimentation is key!
 PERFECT YOUR PAINTING TECHNIQUE
01 FLASHING FUNCTION
If your torch has a
flashing function, this can
give you a different light-
painting effect. The flashes
will show up as a series of
dashes and dots as you
move the torch around the
scene. You could take this
further if you have two
torches by creating separate,
differently colored dashes in
different areas.

02 SMOOTH MOTION
The key to flowing
light-painted swirls is to use
a smooth motion, so keep the
torch moving throughout the
exposure and make flowing
movements with your arms.
Some light-painters like to
tie a torch to a piece of string
or a long stick, then wave it
around for circular patterns,
which can yield some
spectacular results.

03 SILHOUETTES
OR DETAILS
Remember that as well
as creating the colored
patterns of light, your torch
is also illuminating parts
of the plants as you paint,
so you can pick out details
by allowing the torch light
to linger on them for a few
seconds, or shield the light
from hitting the plant for
a bold silhouette, like so.
 ENHANCE YOUR LIGHT PAINTINGS
A few simple tweaks in Camera Raw
or Lightroom can make all the difference…

It’s hard to get the exposure spot-on when you’re

light-painting, and you might find a few areas look
too dark or blown out. It’s best to shoot in raw, as raw files
have greater dynamic range than JPEGs, which means
you have greater headroom for recovering highlights or
shadows. To do so, it’s worth getting to grips with the
Adjustment Brush in Camera Raw or Lightroom.
We simply paint over an area with the Adjustment Brush,
then tweak the tonal sliders to change it. Here it allows
us to lift the darker areas and balance them with the rest
of the image. You might find that the colors look slightly
muted in raw files to begin with, so boost Saturation
and Vibrance to make them stronger.
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 Your quick-start guide and reference
to image editing in Photoshop

If you’re relatively new to editing in typical image-editing workflow in Photoshop;

Photoshop, or you just don’t know an overview of raw file editing; a guide to the
where to begin, then this section is the best six most useful layers; and a glossary of the
place to get started. Over the next 10 pages, most useful shortcuts. This guide condenses
you’ll find an overview of the different versions most of the tools and techniques you’ll use
of Photoshop available; a breakdown of the every time you import a new roll of pictures.
 CREATIVE CLOUD PLANS
CHOOSE THE PLAN WITH THE COMBINATION OF TOOLS AND STORAGE YOU NEED
Photography Plan • 20GB Photography Plan • 1TB

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Price per month £9.98/$9.99 £19.97/$19.99

Photoshop CC

Lightroom CC

Lightroom Classic

Lightroom Mobile

Cloud storage 20GB 1TB

If you want Photoshop, The same as the Photography

you need the regular Plan, but with 1TB storage.
Notes
Photography Plan – you Existing users are offered
also get Lightroom Classic a discount for the first year

Lightroom Plan All Apps Plan

Best for Cloud fans Mobile-only users

Price per month £9.98/$9.99 £49.94/$52.99

Photoshop CC

Lightroom CC

Lightroom Classic

Lightroom Mobile

Cloud storage 1TB 100GB

With this plan you get the ‘new’ Includes all Adobe apps,
Notes Lightroom CC and 1TB storage – including Illustrator, Premiere
but not Photoshop and After Effects
 LIGHTROOM CC
FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH
WINDOWS, macOS
Lightroom CC combines
professional image-
processing tools with
asset organizing. It keeps all its
images online in the Creative
Cloud, with advanced image
search capabilities.

LIGHTROOM CLASSIC
FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH
PHOTOSHOP CC
FROM £9.98/$9.99 PER MONTH WINDOWS, macOS
WINDOWS, macOS
Lightroom Classic
Photoshop is the software of choice for most professional offers editing and
and non-professional photographers. Beyond the standard organizing tools, but
photo-editing features, it boasts a vast array of more you can only store images on
creative tools and filters. Layers are one of the key differences your computer.
between Photoshop and Lightroom. They enable you to mask
out selected parts to build up increasingly sophisticated images.
LIGHTROOM MOBILE
FREE (PREMIUM: £4.49/$6.49 PER MONTH)
IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID
Lightroom Mobile is
the lightweight iPad,
iPhone and Android
version of the application,
integrated with Lightroom
CC. You can use Lightroom
Mobile on its own for free,
or use the Premium In-App
Purchase to access the Adobe
Creative Cloud. This enables
you to create a collection
of photos on your desktop
copy of Lightroom, and sync
ELEMENTS 15 £79.99/$99.99 WINDOWS, macOS them via the Creative Cloud
Elements is the consumer variant of Photoshop, and to Lightroom Mobile on your
contains many of its key tools and features within a portable devices. You can also
simplified interface. It’s limited, but it does provide access get Lightroom Mobile via any
to layers for those who have switched to a Lightroom workflow. Photography Plan.
 ADOBE SHAPE
FREE
IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID
Adobe Shape enables
you to turn photos and
sketches into beautiful
vector shapes for use in your
designs or artwork. The app
smooths out jagged edges in
images, resulting in gorgeous
vectors that are endlessly
scalable, just as if you’d drawn
them by hand with the Pen tool.
Make a shape with the mobile
app and the next time you open
Photoshop on your desktop, the

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
FREE IPAD, ANDROID
MIX shape will sync to your Library.
Drag it in to any document to
add color and make further
Mix enables you to merge two photos together adjustments.
to create a composite image. It offers a simplified
compositing process that makes it easy for beginners
to start combining an object from one image with a background
ADOBE BRUSH
from another. You can then send the composite to Photoshop
FREE
for further edits. If you like, you can also use Mix to edit a single
IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID
image. It offers a few simple tonal adjustments and more Adobe Brush enables
complex edits such as Content-Aware Fill. you to make your
own custom brushes
from photos or sketches for
use in Photoshop, Illustrator
ADOBE COLOR or the Sketch app. The most
successful subjects are usually
FREE IPHONE, IPAD, ANDROID those that can be easily
If you ever need help isolated, such as a splash
selecting coordinated colors against white, or a leaf against
for your designs, try using the sky. You can capture objects
Adobe Color. It enables you to create for your brush tips using your
color themes from photos taken on device’s camera, choose from
your mobile device. This could be your camera roll, or use your
anything from a scene in your local Creative Cloud library. Once
park to a famous painting. So if you captured, you can then fine-
come across an inspirational scene, tune the look of the tip and
capture the colors and save them. apply brush settings.
 ADOBE COMP CC
FREE IPAD
If you’re a designer
who wants to build
a quick layout for a
web or print page, then Comp is
the ideal place to start piecing
ideas, images and text together.
You can draw common design
elements such as text or image
boxes with quick gestures. For
example, a couple of squiggly
lines with a dot makes a
header, and a cross makes an

ADOBE
FREE IPAD
PHOTOSHOP SKETCH image box. It makes it easy to
mock up a layout in seconds.
You can then add words and
As the name suggests, this app enables you to paint graphics. The app even spits
freehand using a selection of brushes, colors and other out a Photoshop, Illustrator or
tools. However, Sketch is more than just a painting InDesign document.
app. It also enables you to connect with like-minded creatives,
so you can follow artists and see their work updating. Once
you’re done sketching the image on your iPad, you can upload
BEHANCE
to the Sketch community, or continue working on the image CREATIVE PORTFOLIO
in Photoshop CC. You can also bring in brushes made with FREE IPAD, IPHONE
Adobe Brush, and for those who can’t paint, there’s an option Behance is the online
to overlay images so you can trace over a photo. Sketch is social space for
compatible with Adobe’s pen and ruler hardware, Ink and creatives to share
Slide, but you can get great results with your finger. and showcase their portfolios,
connect with one another,
and find work. With work
from the best photographers,
PHOTOSHOP FIX digital artists and designers
out there, it’s also a great
FREE IPAD place to find inspiration for
Fix is a retouching app a new project. If you’re a
for altering portraits and Creative Cloud subscriber you
fixing marks or blemishes can set up a Behance page in
in your photos. Intelligent facial minutes. The Behance app
recognition locks onto eyes, lips for iOS devices enables you to
noses and chins, making it easy to manage your page, while the
tweak a smile, tuck in a jawline or Creative Portfolio app provides
enlarge eyes, should you wish. a polished portfolio.
Manage your photos from capture to output in three stages

The image-editing process begins as

1
soon as you’ve transferred your photos
from your memory card to your computer.
1 The first stage is to begin sifting
through your pictures to discover which are
the keepers. The image organizer that comes
with Photoshop is ideal for this task. Adobe
Bridge has controls for keywording, rating and
filtering your images, and there are handy tools
for batch renaming files, creating panoramic
stitches, making contact sheets and more.
Launch Adobe Bridge and navigate to a
folder containing new images. Use the cursor
keys to quickly flick through the images and
click below a thumbnail to add a star rating, or
use the keyboard shortcut Cmd/Ctrl+1-5. You 2
can then filter your photos by the star rating to
group the ones you want to work on.
2 The next step is to open the shots from
Bridge into Adobe Camera Raw. ACR is the best
place to make initial changes to your images
to boost tones and correct any problems with
exposure and so on. It doesn’t enable you
to combine images – you’ll use Photoshop
for that – but it does enable you to make
the kind of edits photographers need.
3 In Photoshop, you can further refine the 3
image with layers and adjustment layers, which
offer a much more flexible way of working than
ACR. Once you’ve finished, it’s time to share
it with an audience. Go to File>Save, and your
image will be saved as a Photoshop document
(PSD). This keeps all the layers intact, which
means you can go back and retweak the image
at a later date. However, PSD files are large
and can take up lots of hard drive space. If you
want to share your images online or via email or
social media, save them as JPEGs.
Discover how to process your raw files to perfection
The latest version of the raw file rather than in Photoshop, you’ll ensure the
processor included with Photoshop is so best possible image quality, because raw files
powerful that most photos can be processed contain more picture information than bitmap
entirely in the raw processor, with no need for images such as un-layered PSDs and JPEGs.
further editing in Photoshop. And by making Here’s our reference to the features you’ll
your adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw, use the most in the Basic panel.

THE BASIC CONTRAST

Makes light pixels brighter

PANEL IN ACR and dark pixels darker

HIGHLIGHTS
TEMPERATURE Controls the brightness
Use this slider to warm of the lightest pixels
or cool an image if the
White Balance tool fails
to correct a color cast SHADOWS
Controls the brightness
of the darkest pixels
TINT
This slider enables you to
correct a green or magenta WHITES
cast, again, if the White Sets a point on the tonal
Balance tool fails range at which pixels
should be pure white

EXPOSURE
Controls the overall CLARITY
brightness of the image Controls the amount
of midtone contrast

BLACKS
Sets a point on the tonal SATURATION VIBRANCE
range at which pixels Controls the overall color Adjusts the intensity of
should be pure black intensity of the image the less-saturated colors
The six most frequently used Photoshop layers for image
editing, and how to use them to improve almost any photo
Photoshop has many types of layers used may seem a little daunting for beginners,
and adjustment layers available, but but once you’ve got to grips with them, you’ll
there are six that you’ll find you need to use find they play a part in the creative process of
again and again. Learning how they should be almost every image you make.

01 LEVELS
This should be the first layer you add
to an image, because it fundamentally alters
the tonal range of the entire image. Create
a Levels Adjustment Layer, drag the Black
point slider inwards until it touches the left-
hand edge of the histogram, and drag the
White point slider inwards to the right-hand
edge. This remaps the tones of the image to
make more of the available tonal range.

02 CURVES
Curves is one of the most powerful
adjustment layers. An S-shaped curve
brightens the highlights and darkens the
shadows, resulting in extra contrast. Create
a Curves Adjustment Layer and click the
middle of the diagonal line to add a central
control point. Drag down on the lower part
of the line and drag up on the upper part of
the line to improve image contrast.

03 HUE/SATURATION
This adjustment layer is best used
for altering the intensity and brightness
of individual color channels in an image –
greens and blues in landscapes, for instance.
Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer,
click the Master menu and choose the color
channel you’d like to adjust. Small changes
are usually the most effective.
04 HEALING LAYER
Most photos contain unwanted
marks or blemishes. The Spot Healing Brush
tool is effective at removing these. The best
way to apply the healing is on a new blank
layer, so that you can easily tone down or
remove selected healing work later without
having to start from scratch because you
healed directly on the background layer.
To do this, create a new blank layer, choose
the Spot Healing Brush tool from the Tools
panel and tick Sample All Layers on the
Options bar, then continue as normal. AFTER BEFORE

05 DODGE AND BURN

One of the best ways to enhance a
photo is by lightening or darkening selected
areas of the image. This can be done with
the Dodge and Burn tools, but rather than
use them directly on the image, a separate
grey layer gives you greater control. To
create a Dodge and Burn layer, hold down
Alt and click the Create a new layer icon in
the Layers panel. Give the layer a name,
then choose Mode: Overlay. Check Fill with
Overlay-neutral color and click OK. Now use
the Dodge and Burn tools (with Range set to
Midtones) to work on the new layer.

06 SELECTIVE SHARPENING
Once all other adjustments have
been made, you need to sharpen the image
for output. The traditional way is to create a
merged layer at the top of the stack, apply
Unsharp Mask, then paint on the mask to
remove the sharpening from those parts
of the image you want to remain soft.
However, the Sharpen tool enables more
control over the process by enabling you to
build up the effect by brushing repeatedly
with a low opacity brush. Create a new blank
layer, select the Sharpen tool, tick Sample All
Layers and set a Strength of 50% or lower.
14 keyboard shortcuts that will massively improve your
speed and efficiency while working in Photoshop

D X
Reset the foreground and background colors Switch the foreground and background
to black and white color swatches

ALT+[SCROLL WHEEL] [ OR ]
Zoom in or out of the image Resize the brush tip

CMD/CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+E SHIFT+[ OR ]
Create a merged copy of all the layers in the Cycle backwards or forwards through the
layer stack layer blend modes

SPACE BAR CMD/CTRL+Z

Temporarily switch the current tool to the Hand Undo the last change made to the document.
tool, for moving around the image while zoomed in Works multiple times

ALT+[EYE ICON] CMD/CTRL+[LAYER MASK]

Switch off the visibility of all other layers in the Load the currently active layer mask as
layer stack, for before-and-after comparisons a new selection

CMD/CTRL+I CMD/CTRL+T
Invert the color of a layer mask to black Activate the Free Transform tool

SHIFT+[LAYER MASK] CMD/CTRL+J

Disable the effects of a layer mask Duplicate the current layer
 Future Publishing Limited, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA
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