by David Peters
Before you apply any of these special effects, it can be useful to apply a masking on your photo to select which areas you want to change and which you want to keep unchanged. You can easily get a nice soft fade between the effect and no-effect areas. This is called masking and there's many ways of doing it. The one method I almost always use now (it took years before I discovered it) is the 'quick mask mode'. It is very easy to use and usually gives acceptable results.
Quick masking: Find the button called 'edit in quick mask mode' in Adobe Photoshop. It looks like a circle in a rectangle located near the bottom of the main tool bar. There is also a short-cut key: Q. Once in quick mask mode, you can select and deselect areas by painting them with white and black respectively, using the standard brush tool. For best accuracy, zoom to 100 or 200 %. You can use a soft-edged brush to avoid hard edges. After you are done, exit the masking mode and go to 'Select - Feather' and set the feather radius to somewhere around 5-10 pixels. You can set the opacity to anywhere between 0 and 100%, allowing you to apply the effect stronger or weaker in one part of the image than in another.
Layer masking: Only a bit more complicated, you can add a layer mask. This lets you to apply any effect gradually from any point in your photo. Follow these steps to achieve this:
1. Select 'Windows - Layers'.
2. Right click on your layer and pick 'Duplicate layer'.
3. In the bottom of the layer box, click on the little icon called 'Add layer mask'.
4. Select the 'Gradient tool' on the main tool box.
5. Select a gradient style from the top 'Options' bar (linear, radial etc.).
6. Click on your image on the point you don't want to change, dragging the mouse away to the point where you want the full effect to take place. The effect will be applied gradually more and more along this line you've now created.
7. Finally, go back onto your original background layer and apply any effect you want. This will apply the effect in a soft, gradual way. Use opacity to turn the effect down to less than full strength if you want.
Lens-like effects: You can apply 'Gaussian blur' using the layer masking outlined above which will make the selected areas appear soft-focused, as if you had used a large-aperture lens. With 'Curves' you can make your corners darker than the center, duplicating the lens effect called vignetting. Technically, vignetting is considered a lens dysfunction, but subjectively it can add an extra feeling to your photo, creating a sort of frame that will have a 'sucking' effect, drawing more attention into the center of your photo. You can also just lower the contrast and/or color-saturation around your main subject, helping to separate it from the background clutter. Be creative with the many options offered!
Soft glow effect: Great for creating a 'romantic' look for portraits. Follow these steps:
1. Duplicate layer.
2. Apply 'Gaussian blur' to the new (top) layer. Make it blurry, but leave a little detail.
3. Play around with the blend modes and opacity till you get what you want:
'Darken' or 'Multiply' blends darkens image details while softening features and adding a halo. Good for soft, expressive shadows.
'Lighten' or 'Screen' blends lightens the image instead. Nice for adding high key or highlight glows.
'Soft Light' and 'Overlay' adds contrast and saturation. Particularly useful for landscapes and still life photos.
Black and-whitish: By setting the contrast high (curves) and color saturation low, you create a metallic black and whitish look many times seen in documentaries and subdues portraits. Do this through Photoshop's 'layers' to be able to most accurately adjust your setting in place.
Color grading: You know how some movies have a 'special look', golden brown, sick yellow-greenish, cool blue etc.? You can get the same effect in your photos if you want. The simple way is to go to 'Image - Adjustments - Hue/Saturation', click 'Colorize' and use the slide bars to select your preferred grading. If you are going for a well-defined color, it's better to use the 'Edit - Fill' function. Simply select the color you want and set the 'Blending mode' to 'Color'. Either way, it's good first to duplicate your layer before you start. This will allow you to preserve some of the original colors by turning the color grading down. Use the 'Opacity' slider in the layer box to do this. If you want a duo-tone image, simply make 2 duplicate layers and give them different color gradings. Mix them together, again with the 'Opacity' slider and the different 'Layer blending mode' options in the layer box.
One example: To give your image a cool green-blue color tone, first create two duplicate layers. Use 'Edit - Fill' to make the first one green and the second one blue. Set opacity to 30 and 60% respectively and select the 'Multiply' blending mode for the top (blue) layer. Adjust levels to get it exactly like you want. Also try adding a soft glow, as described above.
Micro contrast: This is a really neat trick to enhance your contrast and draw out texture details in your photos. You can even use it when your overall contrast is already maxed out, using all tonal ranges from pure black to pure white. The procedure is similar to the normal 'Unsharpen Mask', but with some special settings. Go to 'Filter - Sharpen - Unsharpen Mask' and set the 'Amount' to around 20-30%, the 'Radius' to 50-100 pixels and zero on the 'Threshold'. You will get a subtle contrast enhancement that, for some pictures at least, works really well.
Remember however that just as important as learning how to apply these effects, is learning when to use them. You want to make sure to not lose the original qualities of the photo to the special effects. When to use these effects is ultimately up to you and your personal taste and opinion. Less can be more, so make sure not to overdo it.
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New Unique Article!
Title: Learn Photoshop Tips - Special Effects With Photoshop
Author: David Peters
Email: andrewedgington1@gmail.com
Keywords: learn Photoshop,Photoshop,adobe Photoshop,photography,hobbies,entertainment,art,photos,computer software,sports,travel
Word Count: 1025
Category: Photography
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