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Books by AGI’s Instructors

Understanding the Smart Filter feature

With the Smart Filter feature, you have the ability to turn filters on or off and blend or mask filters without editing the original image content.

By choosing Filter > Convert for Smart Filters, you can save an original image that will not be affected when you apply filters. You can then add, adjust, and remove filters from the image without having to re-save the image or start all over again.

You’ll now open a file with a Smart Filter already applied to it. You’ll find out how to create and work with these filters more in Lesson 12, “Using Adobe Photoshop Filters.”

1 Choose File > Browse. Adobe Bridge appears. If the ps01lessons folder is not visible, click on the Folders tab in the upper left side of the Adobe Bridge workspace, then click on Desktop and locate the ps01lessons folder inside the pslessons folder on your desktop.

2 Double-click on ps0102.psd to open the file. An image with an exaggerated radial blur appears. You’ll tone this down a bit using the Smart Filter mask located in the Layers palette.

3 You’ll now save this as a work file. Choose File > Save As. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the ps01lessons folder. In the File name text field, type ps0102_work. Leave the format set to Photoshop and press Save.

4 If the Layers palette is not visible, choose Window > Layers. Note the Filters effects mask that is under the image layer.

5 Click on the eye icon () to the left of Smart Filters. The unfiltered image appears. To turn the filter effect back on, click on the area where the eye icon was located.

Now you will make an adjustment to the radial blur filter.

6 Double-click on the words Radial Blur underneath Smart Filters in the Layers palette. The Radial Blur dialog box appears.

7 Click and drag the Amount slider to approximately 15, or type 15 into the Amount text field.

8 Select Zoom for the Blur method, then press OK. Notice that much of the detail is returned to the image, as it retained the original image data as a Smart Object.

9 Choose File > Save, and then choose File > Close.

You may use Smart Filters for simple processes, like clicking on the eye icon to turn filters that you applied off and on. You may want to take it further with creative masking techniques like painting on the Filter effects. Learn more about the Smart Filter feature, as well as the Smart Object feature, in Chapter 11, “Using Smart Objects.”

Select like a pro with the Quick Selection tool

Accurate selections in Photoshop are essential. If you do a good job using the selection tools, editing and retouching looks natural. Do it badly, and the image could look contrived. In Photoshop CS3, you can take advantage of new tools to make accurate selections more easily.

The new Quick Selection tool () allows you to paint a selection on an image. Photoshop automatically completes the selection for you with very accurate results. Of course, this won’t work for every selection, but it will do the trick for many types of selections.

Once Photoshop has completed the selection, you can then refine it—or any selection, for that matter—with the new Refine Edge feature.

In this next exercise, you’ll make the background transparent and change the color of the little girl’s shirt using this new selection tool.

1 Choose File > Browse, or click on the Go to Bridge button () in the upper right of the options bar.

2 Locate the ps01lessons folder, and double-click on the image named ps0103.psd. An image of a young girl appears.

3 Choose File > Save As. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the ps01lessons folder and type ps0103_work in the File name text field. Leave the format set to Photoshop and press Save.

4 In the Tools palette, click and hold on the Eraser tool () to reveal the Magic Eraser
tool (). Using the Magic Eraser tool, click on the white background behind the little girl.

You just eliminated the background, essentially turning it from white to transparent, using the Magic Eraser tool. This is not a new tool, but many users have yet to discover its possibilities.

5 Now, select the Quick Selection tool () from the Tools palette and paint over the little girl’s shirt. Watch as the selection is created with your cursor movement. If you accidently select the area beyond the shirt, choose the Subtract from selection button () in the options bar and paint over the area that should not be selected. You can make the brush size smaller by pressing the [ (left bracket key) or larger by pressing the ] (right bracket key).

6. Choose File > Save. Keep this image open for the next part of this lesson.

Making selections with the new Refine Edge feature

After making a selection, you can click on the Refine Edge button in the options bar. This opens a Refine Edge dialog box full of options to improve your selection. In this section, you will use these options.

1 With your ps0103_work.psd file still open, click on the Refine Edge button in the options bar. The Refine Edge dialog box appears. You can click on the Preview buttons at the bottom of the dialog box to choose the preview method that works best for the image. In this example, the preview was left at On White.

You can experiment with these new selection features and learn some tried-and-true methods for using them in Lesson 7, “Making the Best Selections.”

2 Click and drag the Contrast slider to approximately 40, or type 40 into the Contrast text field. Press OK.

3 With the selection still active, locate the Layers palette. If it is not visible, choose Window > Layers, then click and hold on the Create new fill or adjustment layer button () and select to Hue/Saturation. The Hue/Saturation dialog box appears.

4 You can drag the Hue slider to the left or right to change the color of the shirt. Don’t worry if your selection is not perfect, as you will learn how to better create selections in Lesson 7, “Making the Best Selections.” In this example, drag the slider to approximately +113 to change the color of the shirt to green, then press OK.

5 Choose File > Save, then choose File > Close.

Creating better composites

With the new Auto-Align feature in Photoshop CS3, you can align multiple layers quickly and accurately.

The Auto-Align Layers command quickly analyzes details and then moves, rotates, or warps layers to align them perfectly. This is a big boost for photographers who regularly shoot photos of groups, and for anyone else who wants to combine images more accurately.

This new feature includes the Auto-Blend Layer option, which blends color and shading seamlessly into the final image. You could achieve the same high-quality results in earlier versions of Photoshop, but it was very time consuming. The new automatic layer alignment and blending features get you there faster, and with less work. You’ll have the opportunity to use the Auto-Align feature in the Lesson 2, “Exploring Adobe Photoshop CS3.”

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