Tricks for Taming Hair in Photoshop (Part 1 of 2)
Brute force methods for dealing with fly-away hair don’t have to be inelegant!
Symmetry Painting for Holiday Graphics
Photoshop Proving Ground Symmetry painting is a lot of fun, but it can sometimes be a challenge to keep under control. The November issue of Photoshop Proving Ground shows you how to create custom brushes from text, and how to lay out a unique set of guides to keep your text flowing as a smooth…
Frequency Separation with Color and Luminosity Splits
Photoshop Proving Ground Frequency separation (FS) is still one of the most important, powerful techniques for retouching currently available to photographers. The basic concept is to split high and low detail elements to more easily address things like blemishes and discoloration. In the September issue of Photoshop Proving Ground I add another layer of control.…
High Contrast Blend Modes
Photoshop blend modes are great for effects, but have some practical uses, as well! Learn to increase contrast in this moth’s Photoshop Proving Ground in Photoshop User Magazine.
Adding Lens Blur Bokeh
Photoshop Proving Ground Sometimes you want just a little extra dash of magic in photos that have already been captured. Fortunately, we have Photoshop for just such emergencies! Bokeh – the quality of blur effects in out-of-focus areas of an image – can be incredibly difficult to recreate. Simple Gaussian blur doesn’t quite cut it…
Mixer Brush Painting with Stencils
Photoshop Proving Ground The more I use the Mixer Brush, the more I enjoy working with it. I’m not a trained painter or even a traditionally educated artist – like many people I’ve learned on the fly, on the job, and on a lot of caffeine. Anyway, the June issue of PSPG takes you through…
Dodge & Burn for Landscapes
Photoshop Proving Ground There are approximately three articles on Dodge and Burn for every licensed copy of Photoshop out there. I have several of my own. Of course the topic is extremely important to virtually anyone who works on their photos beyond applying a filter (many of which apply AI-based dodge and burn… ironic, no?).…
Difference Blending Mode
Photoshop Proving Ground You are here: Home In the April 2021 issue of my column, Photoshop Proving Ground, I talk about Difference blending in Photoshop. It turns out there is a lot of cool stuff you can do with this blending mode, but it’s not at all obvious. The main applications I talk about are…
Path Blur
Photoshop Proving Ground The March installment of Photoshop Proving Ground shows off some tricks with Path Blur to add dynamic motion to your images. In the dancer image to the right, I also treated the background to some blur love that creates a unique, directional texture, reinforcing the sense of movement. This technique is pretty…
Mixer Brush Backgrounds
Photoshop Proving Ground Sometimes I enjoy just playing with a tool to see what comes out of it. This time around, I used the Mixer Brush in Photoshop to create some textured backgrounds. These turned out to be much more useful than I had expected! Check out the before/after image to the right to see…
