Adobe Photoshop CS6 Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks

Lynette Kent (Huntington Beach, CA) studied art and French at Stanford University, where she received a master’s degree. She taught at the high school and community college level before becoming an unconventional computer guru when she adopted the Mac in 1987. Lynette now writes books for John Wiley & Sons, articles on digital imaging and photography for ShootSmarter.com, and reviews for Design Tools Monthly. She also teaches and presents graphics-related hardware and software for technology companies, including Wacom, Adobe, G-Technology, and Digital Foci. Both a photographer and artist, Lynette enjoys traditional and digital painting and often blends these techniques with her photographs to create images. Lynette has written the Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks titles for Photoshop CS2, CS3, CS4, and CS5; Teach Yourself VISUALLY Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2; Teach Yourself VISUALLY Mac OS X Leopard; and Teach Yourself VISUALLY Digital Photography, 3rd Edition. In her nonexistent spare time, Lynette helps run the Adobe Technology Exchange of Southern California, a professional organization for photographers, graphic designers, and fine artists.

1 Make Photoshop Work for You #1 Select the Color Settings for Your Projects 4 #2 Choose Your Preferred Color for the Interface and Screen Modes 6 #3 Set the Preferences for the Way You Work 8 #4 Create Your Own Customized Workspace 10 #5 Change Your Window Views 12 #6 Customize Your View of Bridge 14 #7 Save Time Finding Your Images with the Mini Bridge 16 #8 Add a Keyboard Shortcut for a Favorite Filter 18 #9 Create a Custom Action to Increase Your Efficiency 20 #10 Design a Custom Brush with Your Settings 22 #11 Load Optional Brush Sets for Better Painting 24 #12 Customize a Gradient to Suit Your Design 26 #13 Make Photoshop Take Notes for You 28 #14 Calibrate and Profile Your Monitor for Accurate Editing 30 #15 Turn On the Full Power of Photoshop with a Pen Tablet 32 2 Work with Layers, Selections, and Masks #16 Edit an Image with Added Layers and Blending Modes 36 #17 Organize the Layers Panel with Names and Colors 38 #18 Use Layer Filters to Quickly Find the Layer You Need 40 #19 Modify a Photo with an On-Image Adjustment Tool 42 #20 Add Layers as Smart Objects for Flexible Changes 44 #21 Apply Filters as Smart Filters for Dynamic Adjustments 46 #22 Make a Selection with the Quick Selection Tool 48 #23 Paint a Quick Mask to Make a Detailed Selection 50 #24 Select Just Skin Tones and Adjust Only the Faces 52 #25 Adjust a Selection with the Refine Edge Tool 56 #26 Blend Two Photos Together with an Automatic Layer Mask 58 #27 Use a Gradient Fill Layer to Improve Your Image 60 #28 Use Auto-Align and Auto-Blend Layers to Combine Photos 62 #29 Create Photographic Designs with Vector Layers 64 3 Straighten, Crop, and Resize #30 Crop Your Images Using Guides to Improve Composition 68 #31 Easily Level a Crooked Horizon 69 #32 Expand the Canvas with a Reverse Crop 70 #33 Crop Creatively for a Diptych, Triptych, or Quadriptych 72 #34 Change Your Perspective with the Crop Tool 74 #35 Correct Geometric Distortion with the Lens Correction Filter 76 #36 Improve the Field of View with the Adaptive Wide Angle Filter 78 #37 Assemble a Panorama Using Photomerge Automation 80 #38 Resize Your Image with Minimal Visible Loss 82 4 Retouch Portraits #39 Improve the Skin with the Spot Healing Brush and Layers 86 #40 Reduce Wrinkles for a More Youthful Appearance 90 #41 Soften the Skin Naturally 92 #42 Remove the Glare from Eyeglasses 96 #43 Change Eye Color Digitally 98 #44 Lighten the Irises with a Gradient Layer 100 #45 Brighten the Eyes by Lightening the Whites 102 #46 Add Depth to the Eyes and Lips to Enhance Them 104 #47 Make the Eyes Come Alive with a Digital Catchlight 108 #48 Selectively Sharpen Just the Eyes to Add Focus110 #49 Improve a Smile by Whitening Teeth 112 5 Enhance Colors, Tone, and Sharpness in Photos #50 Improve a Photo with an Auto Setting 116 #51 Improve an Overexposed Photo in Three Steps 117 #52 Improve Contrast with a Curves Adjustment Layer 118 #53 Remove a Colorcast to Improve the Overall Color 120 #54 Hand-Tint a Black-and-White Photograph 122 #55 Convert a Color Photo to a Black-and-White Photo 124 #56 Add a Touch of Color to a Black-and-White Conversion 126 #57 Improve Exposure with a Dodge and Burn Layer 128 #58 Increase Saturation Subtly Using a Vibrance Adjustment Layer 130 #59 Change the Highlights and Shadows Nondestructively 132 #60 Sharpen the Photo to Correct Digital Softening 134 #61 Apply High Pass Sharpening to Increase Edge Sharpness 136 #62 Alter Depth of Field with a Digital Blur 138 6 Process Photos in Camera Raw #63 Set the Preferences to Open Any Image in Camera Raw 142 #64 Open Camera Raw Files as Smart Objects Automatically 143 #65 Recover Blown Highlights with Camera Raw 144 #66 Synchronize the White Balance for a Group of Images 146 #67 Visually Adjust the Tone Curve with the Targeted Adjustment Tool 148 #68 Improve a Sky with the Camera Raw Graduated Filter 150 #69 Create a Split Tone in Camera Raw for a Special Effect 152 #70 Add Creative Adjustments with Camera Raw 154 7 Make Magic with Digital Special Effects #71 Apply a Photo Filter for Dynamic Adjustments 158 #72 Add a Vignette Effect to Focus on the Subject 159 #73 Remove Unwanted Elements with a Content-Aware Brush Stroke 160 #74 Use the Patch Tool to Clone Contents to a New Area 162 #75 Recompose a Photo with the Content-Aware Move Tool 164 #76 Scale an Image without Distorting the Subject 166 #77 Blend Separate Photos for the Best Group Shot 168 #78 Merge Multiple Photos into an Image with High Dynamic Range 170 #79 Use a Puppet Warp to Alter Perspective 172 #80 Apply HDR Toning to Just One Photograph 174 #81 Increase Depth of Field with the Auto Blend Tool 176 #82 Maintain Perspective when Adding Text to an Image 180 #83 Erase Architectural Structures with the Vanishing Point Filter 182 #84 Use the Clone Stamp Tool to Simulate a Reflection 184 #85 Apply a Shape to a Wrinkled Surface with a Displacement Map 186 8 Design with Text Effects #86 Create a Custom Watermark to Protect Your Images 192 #87 Make Text Wrap around a Subject 194 #88 Warp Text for a Fun Effect 196 #89 Add Perspective to Text and Keep It Sharp 198 #90 Create a Photo-Filled Title 200 #91 Create a Realistic Colored Shadow 202 #92 Design with Text and Graphics 204 #93 Format Text with Your Own Paragraph Style 206 9 Create Digital Artwork from Photographs #94 Make Any Photo Appear Sketched on the Paper 210 #95 Add Your Own Signature to Any Artwork 212 #96 Simulate a Painted Effect with a Filter 214 #97 Convert a Photo to a High-Contrast Stylized Image 216 #98 Control the Colors to Posterize a Photo 218 #99 Set Up the Brushes and HUD for Your Art Projects 222 #100 Sketch Traditionally with Digital Brushes 224 #101 Create a Digital Pen-and-Ink Drawing 226 #102 Create a Pastel Drawing from a Photograph 228 #103 Change a Photograph into a Pen-and-Colored-Wash Drawing 232 #104 Turn a Photo into a Hand-Painted Oil Painting236 #105 Paint a Digital Watercolor 240 10 Give Your Images a Professional Presentation #106 Add a Quick Matte to a Photo with a Frame Action 246 #107 Make a Simple Line Frame from within a Photo 247 #108 Apply a Filter to Give a Photo an Artistic Edge 248 #109 Create a Realistic Matte to Frame Your Art 250 #110 Make a Photo Look like a Gallery Print 252 #111 Make a Contact Sheet of Your Photos 256 #112 Create a Slide Show Presentation 258 #113 Create a Web Photo Gallery 260 11 Plug In to Photoshop #114 Enhance Colors and Light Selectively with Nik Viveza 264 #115 Colorize a Black-and-White Photo with Akvis Coloriage 266 #116 Convert a Photo to a Pencil Sketch with Akvis Sketch 268 #117 Create a Gold Logo with Alien Skin Eye Candy 6 270