To open a new window with another folder, command-doubleclick the folder.
You can get a flat view of all images in all subfolders of a folder with the menu View > Show Items in Subfolders.
To skip Camera Raw, shift double-click in Bridge. This will open the file directly in Photoshop.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Photoshop Navigation - things you did not know
A quick way to zoom in to many points in different parts of a picture is command-0 (fit on screen), and then drag with the zoom tool around the part you want to check. Then command-0 again and drag with the zoom tool against another part, and so on.
To cycle through open documents: ctrl-Tab (yes, dear Mac users, not "command"!).
To cycle through open documents: ctrl-Tab (yes, dear Mac users, not "command"!).
Photoshop: Masks - things you did not know
To toggle between a view of the mask and the image it covers: alt-click the layer mask.
To create a black new mask: alt-click on the "add layer mask" icon.
To delete a mask: drag it to the trash icon.
To create a black new mask: alt-click on the "add layer mask" icon.
To delete a mask: drag it to the trash icon.
Photoshop: Warp - things you did not know
If you know what Warp is, you probably know how to access it. In case you don't it is in the menu Edit > Transform > Warp.
Using Warp, you can drag about any point of the warped object. You do not have to click-drag on the corner points or lines. You can click-drag on the vast empty spaces between the lines as well.
If you end up with a Warp grid that goes outside the current window, press command-0 (View > Fit on Screen) to see the entire grid.
Using Warp, you can drag about any point of the warped object. You do not have to click-drag on the corner points or lines. You can click-drag on the vast empty spaces between the lines as well.
If you end up with a Warp grid that goes outside the current window, press command-0 (View > Fit on Screen) to see the entire grid.
Photoshop: Layers - things you did not know
To duplicate a layer press command-J. Another quick way to do it is to press V (activate move tool), and then alt-drag the layer.
To copy part of a picture onto a new layer: select that part and press command-J.
To find out which layer contains a visible part of an image: command click on the image. The layer will be highlighted in the layer palette.
To display one layer at the time: alt-click on the eye-icon.
To fill the current layer with the foreground colour: press alt-delete. To fill the current layer with the background colour: press command-delete.
To load layer transparency as a selection: command-click the thumbnail.
To quickly change Blending modes: press V (activate move tool) and then press shift+(plus) or shift+(minus). For the each of the blending modes, there are shortcuts beginning with shift-option, like shift-option-F for Soft Light or shift-option-M for Multiply. They can all be found in the manual under the title "Keys for working with blending modes".
To change opacity: press V (activate move tool) and then type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. You can also change some of these methods.
To merge all visible layers to a new layer above the currently selected layer: Shift-option-command-E (or alt+ Layer > Merge Visible). This can be useful if you have smart objects, whose pixels you cannot edit directly.
To create a new layer from another image: drag the other image to the current one. To make sure it is centred hold down the shift-key as you drag.
To copy part of a picture onto a new layer: select that part and press command-J.
To find out which layer contains a visible part of an image: command click on the image. The layer will be highlighted in the layer palette.
To display one layer at the time: alt-click on the eye-icon.
To fill the current layer with the foreground colour: press alt-delete. To fill the current layer with the background colour: press command-delete.
To load layer transparency as a selection: command-click the thumbnail.
To quickly change Blending modes: press V (activate move tool) and then press shift+(plus) or shift+(minus). For the each of the blending modes, there are shortcuts beginning with shift-option, like shift-option-F for Soft Light or shift-option-M for Multiply. They can all be found in the manual under the title "Keys for working with blending modes".
To change opacity: press V (activate move tool) and then type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. You can also change some of these methods.
To merge all visible layers to a new layer above the currently selected layer: Shift-option-command-E (or alt+ Layer > Merge Visible). This can be useful if you have smart objects, whose pixels you cannot edit directly.
To create a new layer from another image: drag the other image to the current one. To make sure it is centred hold down the shift-key as you drag.
Photoshop: Channels - things you did not know
To display only one channel at a time, type command-3, command-4, command 5. You can also drag the eye from one channel to another. You can also alt-click on the thumbnail - not the actual eye, to deselect all other channels.
To make a selection from a channel: command-click the thumbnail.
To make a selection from a channel: command-click the thumbnail.
Photoshop: Curves - things you did not know
To get a fixed point in a curve from a picture: click on the hand tool in the curves dialogue and then command click on the picture. That will fix a point at that particular colour.
Photoshop: Gradients - things you did not know
To apply a gradient exactly horizontally or vertically: hold down the shift-key, as you create it.
Photoshop: Brushes - things you did not know
When the brush tool is active, you can hold down alt to make it to a colour picker, so you can change colour of the brush by clicking on the image.
To change the colour of the active brush from the current image: hold down alt to temporarily make it to a colour picker, and then click on the colour in the image.
To change the opacity of the active brush: just type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. Or use one of these methods.
To get a straight line with the brush tool: click on one place - shift click on another, and the line will appear between the two. If you go on shift-clicking somewhere else, you get another line, which makes it easy to make a polygon.
Usability trap: In the Brushes palette, you can activate a feature, like Scattering or Noise by clicking on the checkbox next to its name. However, this will not display the options for that feature. You have to click on the feature name to see the options.
When you create a Brush (Edit > Define Brush Preset...), it does not matter if you leave white space around the brush, as all white will be discarded. This is different from when you create a pattern, where the white space is taken into account.
To change the size of a Brush there are two shortcuts: Method 1: Press [ or ]. Method 2: Hold down ctrl+alt and drag horizontally. To change the Brush softness: Command + Ctrl + Option + click-drag.
To change the colour of the active brush from the current image: hold down alt to temporarily make it to a colour picker, and then click on the colour in the image.
To change the opacity of the active brush: just type a number. 1=10%, 2=20% and so on. Or use one of these methods.
To get a straight line with the brush tool: click on one place - shift click on another, and the line will appear between the two. If you go on shift-clicking somewhere else, you get another line, which makes it easy to make a polygon.
Usability trap: In the Brushes palette, you can activate a feature, like Scattering or Noise by clicking on the checkbox next to its name. However, this will not display the options for that feature. You have to click on the feature name to see the options.
When you create a Brush (Edit > Define Brush Preset...), it does not matter if you leave white space around the brush, as all white will be discarded. This is different from when you create a pattern, where the white space is taken into account.
To change the size of a Brush there are two shortcuts: Method 1: Press [ or ]. Method 2: Hold down ctrl+alt and drag horizontally. To change the Brush softness: Command + Ctrl + Option + click-drag.
Photoshop: Selections - things you did not know
To fill a selection with the foreground colour: press alt-delete.
To fill a selection with the background colour: press command-delete.
To fill a selection with the background colour: press command-delete.
Photoshop: Eyedropper - things you did not know
To choose foreground colour from an image, use the eyedropper tool (I) and just click on a part with the desired colour. To choose background colour from an image use the eyedropper tool (I) and alt-click on the desired colour.
To select a colour on the screen outside an image: click and hold down the colour picker and drag it to the point on the screen with the desired colour.
To swap foreground and background colours: press X. To set the default foreground and background colours to black and white: press D.
To select a colour on the screen outside an image: click and hold down the colour picker and drag it to the point on the screen with the desired colour.
To swap foreground and background colours: press X. To set the default foreground and background colours to black and white: press D.
Photoshop: Numeric values - things you did not know
To change numeric values in most dialogues in Adobe Photoshop, you can use one of these methods.
- Type a new number.
- Click on the label for the number and drag horizontally.
- Command click on the number field itself, and drag horizontally.
- Put the cursor in the number field and press or hold down arrow-up or arrow-down.
Photoshop - things you did not know
I will soon add a number of "things you did not know" entries about Photoshop. They will not constitute a manual in any way, but they will contain small tips and hints, which are not always obvious. If something is useful, but it is so well hidden that a user may miss it, it fits the concept. Some of you will obviously already know some or most of them, but some of you may not.
The option/alt/⌥ key is consistently called "alt".
The command/⌘ key is consistently called "command". The Windows equivalent is almost always ctrl.
The option/alt/⌥ key is consistently called "alt".
The command/⌘ key is consistently called "command". The Windows equivalent is almost always ctrl.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Bridge's raw xmp files
Whenever Adobe Bridge updates a raw file, it stores the data in an external "xmp" (Extensible Metadata Platform) file with same basic file name as the original. If your raw file is called "sunrise.nef", then the corresponding xmp file is "sunrise.xmp".
The idea behind this is excellent. The raw file contains exactly the data that came out of the camera and nothing else, and you can trust that nothing has been changed - by Bridge.
The drawback is of course that you have two files that need to stick together. If you move all files created a certain date from a folder, it is not at all certain that the raw and xmp files are created the same date, so they may get separated.
Nikon's Capture NX instead stores all modifications in the nef file itself. That may be seen as a drawback - a raw file is no longer what came out of the camera. However, there are ways inside Capture NX to remove the modifications, so it is not that much of a drawback.
Aperture has yet another approach. It stores the modification in its own database. When you export the Master you get the choice whether you want to include the IPTC data or not. The IPTC is the only data Aperture allows to change in a raw file. The rest of the image is intact, as it came out of the camera. Other changes need to be exported through other file formats, like tiff or jpeg.
The idea behind this is excellent. The raw file contains exactly the data that came out of the camera and nothing else, and you can trust that nothing has been changed - by Bridge.
The drawback is of course that you have two files that need to stick together. If you move all files created a certain date from a folder, it is not at all certain that the raw and xmp files are created the same date, so they may get separated.
Nikon's Capture NX instead stores all modifications in the nef file itself. That may be seen as a drawback - a raw file is no longer what came out of the camera. However, there are ways inside Capture NX to remove the modifications, so it is not that much of a drawback.
Aperture has yet another approach. It stores the modification in its own database. When you export the Master you get the choice whether you want to include the IPTC data or not. The IPTC is the only data Aperture allows to change in a raw file. The rest of the image is intact, as it came out of the camera. Other changes need to be exported through other file formats, like tiff or jpeg.
Index of NEF files with keywords
There are plenty of good reasons to use RAW file format instead of jpeg. However certain things get trickier. One of them is keywords.
The great thing with metadata like keywords and IPTC fields is that you quickly can search your entire harddisk for files about a certain subject, taken at a specific location or by a specific photographer. You just have to make sure that the information is stored in your files.
That is fairly easy with JPEG files. You update the metadata with, for example, Bridge, and the files can be searched in Bridge itself, in Aperture or Spotlight.
However, if you update NEF files or other RAW files using Bridge, the data is not stored in the files themselves, but in the associated xmp files. This means that for example Spotlight does not find the image, but just the xmp file. Neither does Aperture see the field, if the file is imported to Aperture.
The only way I found to make sure that they keywords are found by both Bridge, Spotlight and Aperture, is to use Nikon's free application View NX to set the metadata.
This is a funny roundabout way of doing things as View NX itself does not have any search engine. In other words: you need to use one tool to set the metadata, and another to look for it. Well, that is how things work today anyhow.
The great thing with metadata like keywords and IPTC fields is that you quickly can search your entire harddisk for files about a certain subject, taken at a specific location or by a specific photographer. You just have to make sure that the information is stored in your files.
That is fairly easy with JPEG files. You update the metadata with, for example, Bridge, and the files can be searched in Bridge itself, in Aperture or Spotlight.
However, if you update NEF files or other RAW files using Bridge, the data is not stored in the files themselves, but in the associated xmp files. This means that for example Spotlight does not find the image, but just the xmp file. Neither does Aperture see the field, if the file is imported to Aperture.
The only way I found to make sure that they keywords are found by both Bridge, Spotlight and Aperture, is to use Nikon's free application View NX to set the metadata.
This is a funny roundabout way of doing things as View NX itself does not have any search engine. In other words: you need to use one tool to set the metadata, and another to look for it. Well, that is how things work today anyhow.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Doing the Impossible with Smart Objects
Before CS3, there were plenty of things you simply could not do in Photoshop. With CS3 and the introduction of Smart Objects, a lot has become possible.
One (almost) obvious thing is that you can apply lossless filters. Just create a layer to a Smart Object and apply the filter. You can add loads of filters and remove or activate them, and of course edit them with Layer Masks.
Smart Object layer in Adobe Photoshop CS4
But not only that - you can now mix layers of different kinds. You can have one layer as a 16 bit image in LAB colour space, while you have another in 8 bit grey scale, and blend the two layers. You can even add RAW files using File > Place, so you have a RAW file layer, which will open for adjustments in Camera RAW every time you double click on it. This means that you can have an almost endless number of different image formats - all stored in the same file.
And if that is not enough, you can have one Smart Object contain another Smart Object that contains a third one and so on.
To have several instances of the same Smart Object, highlight the layer and press command-J. You can have as many instances of the same Smart Object as you like in a file. You can apply different kinds of layer styles and rotations and transformations of them. If you then update the Smart Object, for example by changing its colour, the modification will apply to all instances of that Smart Object in the file.
To replace the content of a Smart Object: Go to Layer > Smart Objects > Replace Contents....
You cannot edit the individual pixels in a Smart Object (unless you open it). However, you can make a copy of the Smart Object, for example with merging all visible layers to a new layer above the currently selected layer with Shift-option-command-E (or alt+ Layer > Merge Visible).
One (almost) obvious thing is that you can apply lossless filters. Just create a layer to a Smart Object and apply the filter. You can add loads of filters and remove or activate them, and of course edit them with Layer Masks.
Smart Object layer in Adobe Photoshop CS4But not only that - you can now mix layers of different kinds. You can have one layer as a 16 bit image in LAB colour space, while you have another in 8 bit grey scale, and blend the two layers. You can even add RAW files using File > Place, so you have a RAW file layer, which will open for adjustments in Camera RAW every time you double click on it. This means that you can have an almost endless number of different image formats - all stored in the same file.
And if that is not enough, you can have one Smart Object contain another Smart Object that contains a third one and so on.
To have several instances of the same Smart Object, highlight the layer and press command-J. You can have as many instances of the same Smart Object as you like in a file. You can apply different kinds of layer styles and rotations and transformations of them. If you then update the Smart Object, for example by changing its colour, the modification will apply to all instances of that Smart Object in the file.
To replace the content of a Smart Object: Go to Layer > Smart Objects > Replace Contents....
You cannot edit the individual pixels in a Smart Object (unless you open it). However, you can make a copy of the Smart Object, for example with merging all visible layers to a new layer above the currently selected layer with Shift-option-command-E (or alt+ Layer > Merge Visible).
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Master a few tools well instead of many tools poorly
One of the marvellous things with Photoshop is that you can achieve the same thing in so many ways. That is also one of the sad things. You may rush around, trying to learn as many of the different tools as possible, and you end up being able to do the same thing over and over again, without acquiring the skills to do anything really well. Two things spring to mind in particular.
Blend modes. Some people claim that a great way of lightening a picture is to add the picture to itself as a new layer and applying, for example, screen blend mode. Likewise, it is alleged that multiplying a picture with itself is an excellent way of darkening it. Well, those methods definitely work, but they are not very flexible. You can equally well achieve the same thing using curves or levels on an adjustment layer. Using an adjustment layer takes much less disk space, and it is much more flexible, as you can choose in which way you want to darken or lighten the picture. There are admittedly quite a lot of flexibility with a duplicated layer as well, if you use Blending options, but no matter which way you use, you need to do some work to get it exactly as you like it.
Another thing that may be overrated is LAB colour space. It can be used for several things, one of them being to get more colour into a picture as described here. However, you can also get more colour into a picture using the adjustment layer Vibrance or Hue/Saturation. You may not get exactly the effect you get using LAB, but the effects you can get with LAB are not necessarily better. And LAB is very destructive. You have to change colour space for the full image, and once you have gone back to RGB, there is no way to go back to LAB to undo or modify the changes you made.
LAB has other uses of course, and so do Blend modes. The point is simply that it sometimes is more efficient to look at how best to use the tools you have and to master them well, instead of trying to find a solution in other tools.
Using new tools is often fun. Using old tools is often efficient.
Blend modes. Some people claim that a great way of lightening a picture is to add the picture to itself as a new layer and applying, for example, screen blend mode. Likewise, it is alleged that multiplying a picture with itself is an excellent way of darkening it. Well, those methods definitely work, but they are not very flexible. You can equally well achieve the same thing using curves or levels on an adjustment layer. Using an adjustment layer takes much less disk space, and it is much more flexible, as you can choose in which way you want to darken or lighten the picture. There are admittedly quite a lot of flexibility with a duplicated layer as well, if you use Blending options, but no matter which way you use, you need to do some work to get it exactly as you like it.
Another thing that may be overrated is LAB colour space. It can be used for several things, one of them being to get more colour into a picture as described here. However, you can also get more colour into a picture using the adjustment layer Vibrance or Hue/Saturation. You may not get exactly the effect you get using LAB, but the effects you can get with LAB are not necessarily better. And LAB is very destructive. You have to change colour space for the full image, and once you have gone back to RGB, there is no way to go back to LAB to undo or modify the changes you made.
LAB has other uses of course, and so do Blend modes. The point is simply that it sometimes is more efficient to look at how best to use the tools you have and to master them well, instead of trying to find a solution in other tools.
Using new tools is often fun. Using old tools is often efficient.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Photoshop Masks - Trouble Shooting and Quick Keys
Sometimes it may feel like editing layer masks in Photoshop does not work. For example, the eraser tool may not erase. If that is the case, there are a few possible reasons and remedies.
- In a mask, erase and delete changes colour to the background colour. To make it erase from the mask, make sure black is the background colour. A quick way to do this, is to highlight the mask and simply press "D", which sets the foreground and background colours to their default values - white and black. (The default values for an image area are the opposite - black and white.)
- Make sure the mask is highlighted. (If it is not, edits will obviously go somewhere else.)
- If you have a selection, make sure it selects the thing you want to edit, and not the reverse. (shift-command-I).
- To move a mask from one layer to another, just drag it.
- To copy a mask from one layer to another, alt-drag it to the other layer.
- To copy a mask from one image to another, drag the layer icon it is attached to to the other image. You cannot drag the mask alone.
- To temporarily hide the effects of a mask, shift-click on it.
- To make a selection from a mask, command-click on it.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
EXIF and IPTC
For a photographer EXIF and IPTC data can often be regarded as the same thing. They are collections of metadata that are attached to an image file.
However, they have different origins.
EXIF, Exchangeable Image file Format, was created by the Japan Electronic Industries Development Association to store camera specific data in files.
IPTC or IIM (Information Interchange Model), is a specification for adding metadata to a large number of file types. It was created by the International Press Telecommunications Council, which is a UK based organisation that works with standard for sharing news.
It is not always clear if a particular piece of information shall be stored as an EXIF field or an IPTC field.
However, they have different origins.
EXIF, Exchangeable Image file Format, was created by the Japan Electronic Industries Development Association to store camera specific data in files.
IPTC or IIM (Information Interchange Model), is a specification for adding metadata to a large number of file types. It was created by the International Press Telecommunications Council, which is a UK based organisation that works with standard for sharing news.
It is not always clear if a particular piece of information shall be stored as an EXIF field or an IPTC field.
HUD - what is that?
In for example Apple's Aperture, there is a HUD or Head-Up Display. (In Aperture, you activate it by simply typing "H".) This is a display of data on top of the current picture.
The name HUD originally comes from military aircraft. Before the HUD, the pilot had to quickly look down to read indicators, thereby taking attention from the view in front of him. With the HUD, the indicators were displayed on a transparent background just in front of the pilot, so he could read it at the same time as he was looking out the windscreen.
The name HUD originally comes from military aircraft. Before the HUD, the pilot had to quickly look down to read indicators, thereby taking attention from the view in front of him. With the HUD, the indicators were displayed on a transparent background just in front of the pilot, so he could read it at the same time as he was looking out the windscreen.
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