Photoshop CS5 now offers the ability to successfully make cut-out masks of complex subjects against busy backgrounds. This isn’t something new as there are a number of third-party plug-ins that have been able to do this type of masking, but this is the first time Photoshop has provided an effective, built-in solution. OK, there was the Extract command (which no longer ships with Photoshop), but this method, using the new improved Refine Edge command works much better. Click here to view the movie.

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Photoshop CS5 was announced this week and we have seen a wealth of new features for photographers, more so than any other version of Photoshop I can think of. By now you may already have had a chance to see some of the star new features in action such as Content-Aware filling, Puppet Warp and the new Merge to HDR Pro. Tucked away in Photoshop CS5 are a bunch of other smaller features, which nevertheless can be put to good use. In this article I wanted to focus on the new Divide blend mode. It took me a while to work out what it could be useful for, until Chris Cox who helped point me in the right direction by explaining that it could be useful for carrying out what is usually referred to as a ‘flat field calibration’. In other words, you could use the Divide blend mode to remove lens vignetting and stubborn sensor spots.

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This movie extract is from  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop.

One of the top requests for Camera Raw and Lightroom has been to include perspective corrections, so that users can apply perspective corrections to raw images. It so happens there is already a method in Camera Raw and Photoshop that will allow you to correct the perspective of a raw photograph while keeping the image in its original raw file state. This isn’t exactly a hidden feature in Camera Raw, but this movie does demonstrate a workaround for correcting perspective of raw files while keeping them fully editable in Camera Raw. Here’s how it can be done.

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

Click here to view movie

This movie extract is from  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop.

You know how the camera always seems to add 10 lbs.? You can shave those extra pounds away using Photoshop. This demo shows two methods of making people look thinner. And, if you do it with subtlety, you’ll never know that is was Photoshop that took those extra pounds off–and your clients will think you are a genius!

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

Click here to view movie

This movie extract is from  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop.

Here is an interesting challenge that I was presented with recently. I shot the model shown above for an advertising job and was asked by the client to make sure that the skin tone and nails looked flawless. After they had seen the initial retouch work they also asked if I could clean up the hair outline. At first it looked like this would be impossible to achieve. After all, how on earth can one use the clone stamp or healing brush to tidy up the fine hair strands against a background which consisted of a busy wallpaper pattern? As it turned out, the solution to this problem was staring me in the face!

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

Click to view movie

Yep, there are already a lot of ways to convert a color image to grayscale in Photoshop or Camera Raw. But all of them except this technique mean your image is converted as a global correction. Using color channels as grayscale layers means you can use layer masks to alter the grayscale conversion and allows you to optimize for the best possible result. The technique allows shows how to re-convert your grayscale image back to a color image for the purposes of color toning.

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

This is a story about how Jeff Schewe and Martin Evening got together in Chicago last year to shoot a set of pictures especially for our new joint book ‘Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop‘.

The title is kind of self-explanatory. This is a brand new book in the Photoshop for Photographers series (published by Focal Press) and forms a masterclass type experience with two leading Photoshop experts. It’s a book aimed at intermediate to advanced-level users and assumes that the reader is already pretty familiar with the Photoshop interface and basic tools and there is therefore no need to have to explain the basics all over again plus color management etc. You can already find all that information in the main Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers book. This new title contains 400 pages of Photoshop techniques shown in step-by-step tutorial form.

The second on my two book odyssey is completed…and the first book is now shipping! Whew, I wasn’t sure I would ever get to say that. 

The image above is one of the images from the new book Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop which is due to be released in March 2009.

Press Release: BERKELEY, CALIF. (Aug. 25, 2008)— Peachpit today announced the publication of Lessons in DSLR Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop , by seasoned photographer Jerry Courvoisier. This detailed guide, loaded with tips and techniques, delivers a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera workflow that allows readers to spend less time at their computer and more time behind the camera capturing great images. 

On Scott’s blog, Photoshop Insider, Scott has announced that all the book sales of his new Lightroom 2 book for Digital Photographers from today will be donated to the Spring of Hope organization that runs is building a care center for orphans in Kenya.

Now Scott isn’t just donating a portion of the proceeds, he’s donating the entire purchase price of all Lightroom 2 books sold today. Here’s a link to the story and a link to purchase the book from Kelby Training.

IMPORTANT: This opportunity to help out is available only today, Monday August 25th, 2008. Scott’s book is scheduled for delivery in early September. Not available with any other discounts. As always, Shipping & Handing is extra.

John Paul Caponigro (JP to his friends) has self-published a new book, ANTARCTICA drawn from his two photographic expeditions to, well, Antarctica.

The book has been published via Blurb, and online print on demand service. The printing is said to be equal to that of a traditionally published book. The page count is 64 and the size is 8×10 inches. The book sells for 34.95 for softcover and 49.95 for hardcover. Additional information can be found on JP’s blog.

Scientific Imaging with Photoshop: Methods, Measurement, and Output by Jerry Sedgewick

With so many photographers using Macintosh computers, it was high time that someone should write a book that was specifically designed to help photographers understand better how the Macintosh OSX system works and how to troubleshoot some of the common problems photographers face.