Digital Photography Blog

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS (top pick) - Largest Photoshop Tutorials Site on the Net. More than 6,500 Photoshop Tutorials!!!

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials Select (top pick) - Over 8,000 Photoshop Tutorials!!

All Graphic Design Photoshop Tutorials - Our selection of Photoshop Tutorials

Tutorial Outpost (top pick) - Huge selection of Photoshop Tutorials

Photoshop Cafe Live (top Instructional Pick)- The CD features over 80 minutes of live video. There are no lame fillers, just fast-paced back to back Photoshop 7 Tutorials and tips. In all there are 15 projects including a full 20 minute Background Super Tutorial. Every tutorial has that “little extra” that Colin is known for…Price is $25.

Blue Sfear - A wonderful selection of Photoshop Tutorials.

Absolute Cross Photoshop Tutorials - High Quality Adobe Photoshop Tips and Tutorials.

Adobe Evangelists Photoshop CS2, CS, 7.0, 6.0 Tutorials & Resources - A site offering Tips and Tricks, Reading, Actions, Training, and Inspiration

Adobe Studio Tips & Resources - Of course the publisher of Photoshop, Adobe, has great tutorials and resources.

Adobe Photoshop Web Reference for 3 and 4 - Check out the Photoshop Web Reference 4, with new organisation, retouched content, improved interface and (of course) featuring the latest on PShop 4. (I guess Reference 5 isn’t out yet)

Al’s Photoshop Tutorial (For Illustrators & Cartoonists) - Long ago, Al Mackey received a number of letters asking me how he does some of his coloring and effects, so he decided to make a page of tutorials for his methods when he illustrates in Photoshop.

Anders Qvicker Photoshop Tips & Tutorials - A great collection of tutorials for Adobe Photoshop

BioRust Photoshop Tutorials - Learn the basics and advanced features of Photoshop with these extensive tutorials for Photoshop.

B-Man Artworks Photoshop Tutorials - There are about 10 tutorials that can help you master a few special effects.

CBT Cafe - Photoshop 7 tutorials, brushes, shapes, etc.

Chipp - Tutorials on creating glass and metal buttons in Photoshop.

Computer Arts 2D & Photoshop - Discover the latest pro techniques in Photoshop and 2D design - step-by-step from the pros: everything from amazing effects to essential compositing techniques in the Computer arts tutorials.

Cyber Ink Designs Photoshop Tutorials - Learn from a few great Photoshop tutorials

Davro Digital Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Learn from these unique Photoshop tutorials, a couple dozen are located within 2 pages.

Design Studios Photoshop Tutorials - A few nice Photoshop tutorials made for Photoshop 5 or later.

Digital Mastery - So, if you have any trouble reproducing the techniques, that’s because they assume you have a base knowledge of Photoshop.

Digital Tropic Lessons - Still trying to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop? This is a great resource with some of the greatest tricks used by professional graphic designers in this tutorials area.

Digital Tutors - Digital-Tutors delivers breakthrough training solutions and offers a library of innovative learning tools, conceived by educators and driven by industry artists. (not free)

DreamFinity - That’s right the famous Photoshop tips right in your hands!

Dubtastic Design Lab Photoshop Tutorials - On the right bar of this site, scroll down to find the Photoshop tutorial that you want to use.

Effect Lab - Check out the really nice interface on this site…and make sure to turn the on button or you won’t be able to view the tutorials.

The Elated Web Photoshop Toolbox  In this section we offer a series of tips and tricks for Adobe Photoshop users. We hope you’ll find them useful. Each tip is  illustrated with screen-shots and example graphics to help you follow the technique. 

Espresso Graphics Photoshop Guides - Great set of Adobe Photoshop 5, 6, and 7 Tutorials. Use theses tutorials as a guide.

Eyeball Design - Learn how to create some really futuristic buttons and other neat things.

Eyes on Design Photoshop Tutorials - Learn how to make some really cool Photoshop Effects.

Extropia Introducation to Photoshop - A complete guide to Adobe Photoshop that will get you up and running…written like a course.

GFX - Photoshop Tutorials, Actions, Tips and Tricks, and HotKeys for Photoshop 5, 5.5.

Ghost Bone Digital Playground - Some really amazing Photoshop tutorials which will allow you to design even better digital images and effects.

GifArt - Several Photoshop 4.0 (Plug-in free), 5.5, and 6.01 Tutorials to help you get around better or just learn how to make that little effect you always wanted to, Enjoy!

Go2Graphics - Photoshop is the quintessential tool for creating high-quality output graphics for the web and print. In order to learn how to use it to the fullest effect, go through these tips and you will be ready to create top-notch graphics at will.

GrafX-Design 60 - 70 Excellent tutorials on Photoshop

Graphic-Design Photoshop Tips & Tricks - These are the voyages of the Photoshop & Illustrator follower and student, as they continue their mission to search out cool new techniques, meaningful training and to go where they’ve never gone before.

Graphics.com Photoshop Tips - Shared Photoshop tutorials and resources

Graphics World - Full database of the newest and the best photoshop tutorials posted by great designers on the net!

Gurus Network Photoshop Tutorials - There are about 30 - 2D Photoshop Tutorials

Hands On Training by DocOzone - Learn ‘Photoshopping’. Hands On training is, of course, the best way to learn just about anything.

HTML Center - 15 Photoshop Tutorials that will help you design your Website Interface.

Ice House Designs Photoshop Lessons - Adobe Photoshop CS tutorials and tips.

iDigitalMotion Adobe Photoshop 7, CS, and Image Ready Lessons Photoshop tutorials such as Airbrushing tutorials, Buttons / Interface tutorials, Digital Creation / Coloring / Tips, Photo / Image Fx, Photo Manipulation / Composition, Text Effects, Texture / Backgrounds, Video Tutorials, etc.

Impact Design Photoshop Tutorials - Over 500 Photoshop Tutorials in Helpful Sorted Categories.

Intro to Web Design with Photoshop -Day One: Photoshop Basics - Day Two: Basic Image Manipulation - Day Three: Advanced Image Manipulation.

Janee’s PS Tutorials - PS Resource Links, Gallery, and monthly Art Challenge.

Jay Arraich’s Photoshop Tips - These tips are for beginners not Photoshop experts, but if you are a pro, you might find them entertaining.

Jeff’s Photoshop - Tips & Tricks Tips and tricks, plugins, filters, actions, fonts, links, forum, and chat

Laurie McCanna Photoshop Tutorials  - Web site developers community

Lomberger Photoshop Tutorials - Both Video and HTML Photoshop and Web Design Tutorials.

Lunacore Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - 3 Pages of Original Photoshop Tutorials that will be useful in your search for learning digital arts.

Magic Pixels Photoshop Tutorials (new) - These are the New Magic Pixels Photoshop Tutorials, the old ones are still located here

NAPP - the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) Website. A world-class team of Photoshop experts, authors, consultants, trainers, and educators whose focus is to ensure that our members stay on the cutting edge of the latest Adobe Photoshop techniques, technology, and news.

Nebulus Designs Photoshop Tips - There is a Photoshop Learning section where you will find the Photoshop tutorials.

Neverside Photoshop Tutorials - With over 300 Photoshop tutorials, this ‘forum’ is a great place to start.

Noir Photoshop Tutorials - A large selection of Adobe Photoshop tutorials, with many textures, special effects, and navigational Photoshop tutorials available.

Noxcel Photoshop Tutorials - Tutorials that will train you in Photoshop Digital Perfection

Passion for Design - 9 Adobe Photoshop tutorials and ones always being added.

Phong Tutorials - About 15 Unique Photoshop Tutorials

Photocillin - If you’re stuck in the mysteries of analog to digital imagery, we can infuse yer skull with useful tips, tricks, and tutorials designed for photographers and Photoshop® artists.

Photoshop 101 Tutorials & Resources - Photoshop 101 is a comprehensive resource comprised of free Adobe Photoshop tutorials, tips, and other information to help users achieve their potential. The tutorials are updated weekly from a number of different sources, and so we save you the time of looking for them yourself.

Photoshop Brushes Tutorials - Included on this page are a selection of Adobe photoshop tutorials that deal with loading, saving, creating and using photoshop brushes.

Photoshop Cafe - The free resource for Photoshop Users.

Photoshop Crash Course Basic but comprehensive tutorial in Photoshop

The Photoshop Guru’s Handbook - A site where users of Adobe photoshop can stretch their imaginations to learn new and different ways of using this popular graphics program. There is an extensive list of photoshop tutorials, quick tips and techniques, as well as the normal photoshop goodies: a large community forum, links, downloads, etc.

Photoshop Junkie - A nice selection of tutorials for Photoshop dealing with cars.

Photoshop Mama’s Tutorials - Digital Makeover Projects Photoshop Tutorials

Photoshop Roadmap - More than five hundred selected Photoshop tutorials, tips and techniques written by masters.

Photoshop Stuff - Photoshop Stuff cds series are based on effects created in Photoshop 6 and 7. Some of the greatest Photoshop actions and styles ever created are contained in this series of special cds. A fantastic combination of styles, actions, brushes and shapes, that should keep you busy discovering the benefits of this series and impress your friends for a very long time.

Photoshop Top Secret - A Photoshop training DVD.

Photoshop Ticks Tricks - Photoshop Tricks that don’t suck

Photoshop Tutorials - Learn How To Do Anything In Photoshop In 5 Minutes Or Less…Guaranteed!

Photoshop Tutorial Search - Search over 8,000 Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

Photoshop Tutorial Dot Net - With over 800 Photoshop tutorials stacked up in their database, Photoshop Tutorial is the place for graphic designers who love working with Adobe Photoshop! And with categories like: Web Graphics and Effects you’re almost sure to find the tutorial you’re looking for.

Photoshop CS Tutorials from About.com - Resources for Adobe Photoshop users including tips, tutorials, free downloads, actions, plug-ins, training and support.

Photoshop Space Domain - A great site for Adobe Photoshop tips and tricks.

Photoshop Workshop - Your premier Photoshop Tutorial search engine.. We’re still the easiest way to find that exact Photoshop effect or technique you’re looking for!

Pixel2Life Photoshop Tutorials - Over 7,000 Adobe Photoshop tutorials in categories such as 3D Effects, Animation, Basic Help and Navigation, Brushes, Buttons and Interfaces, Color Application, Drawing, Filter Tricks, Forum Signatures, Icon Creation, Photo Editing, Photography Tips, Pixel Art, Poster and Ad Design Tips, Printed Media, Special Effects, Text Effects, Textures and Tiles, Website Banners and Images, and Website Layouts

Planet Photoshop - The ultimate Photoshop Site including tutorials, seminars, resources, books and more.

Photoshop Tutorials Dot US - A directory of Photoshop tutorials that lists only quality Adobe Photoshop tutorials.

Photoshop Video Tutorials - This course offers you an original method of a quick but total immersion into the Photoshop environment. (Not Free)

Polycarbon - Comic, Manga Tutorials & Photoshop Tips

PowerPix - There are some Photoshop Web Design Tutorails in the Drop Down Box.

PS6 - PS6.com supports Photoshop users with a newsletter, and tutorials.

PS Lover - This site is aim to provide webmasters with a complete resource for photoshop. This site features a collection of links to photoshop tutorials around the web. These Photoshop Tutorials contains tips, tricks and secret photoshop techniques used by professional graphic artists.

Rasterized Tutorials - The Raster Group has a page of In focus tutorials.

RetouchPRO Tutorials - Here you’ll find tutorials about photo restoration, retouching, and manipulation, all published by our users.

Russell Brown Photoshop Tips & Tricks - This is your one-stop shopping location for the latest in hot new tips from the one, and only, Dr. Brown….Adobe Photoshop CS2 tips

Sreaming Arts Designs PS Lessons - Here are a bunch of tutorials for Adobe Photoshop v5-v7

SiteBuilder - Photoshop Tutorials and Photoshop Links for your viewing pleasure! Photoshop has to be the greatest design tool ever, but it also has a very steep learning curve. What do you do? Practice, practice, practice…

SketchPad Photoshop Tips - Undocumented Photoshop commands. Step by step tutorials for mastering the pen. Techniques that are interchangable with Adobe Illustrator

Spoono Photoshop Tutorials - Includes 6 tutorials including: shortcuts, lighting effects, fire text, micro buttons, seamless water texture, paths, and outlines.

Steel Dolphin Creative Photoshop Tutorials - Learn more about Adobe Photoshop with these easy to follow tutorials.

Team Photoshop - team photoshop.com your ultimate resource for adobe photoshop tutorials, tips, help, and all your basic web and graphic design needs

The Unofficial Photoshop Weblog - A filtered and balanced Adobe Photoshop News Channel and Weblog.

Tutorialized Photoshop Tutorials - Hundreds of Photoshop articles related to Animation, Automation, Basics of Photoshop, Brushes, Buttons, Color, Digital Art, Drawing, Special Effects, Photo Effects, Photograph Retouchingl, Photography, Text Effects, Textures and Patterns, Web Graphics, Web Layouts

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials Select - Over 8,00 Photoshop Tutorials!!

User Fundy Photoshop Tutorials - Photoshop and Imageready Tutorials, Articles, Actions, Tips, Tricks and Keyboard Shortcuts.

VBrush Photoshop Brushes Tutorials - Tutorials for using Photoshop Brushes

Web Class Photoshop 5.5 & 6 - Sort of old tutorials, but if you have an older version of Photoshop you might be thankful to still find tutorials that will work for you. Otherwise, these tutorials will still work on newer versions of Photoshop.

Web Machine v6.0 - The WebMachine v. 6.0 offers tons of tutorials for Adobe’s Photoshop & ImageReady…You will also find numerous downloads useful with these programs.

Wetzel & Company Photoshop Textures Tutorials - If you want to to perfect your textures skills in Adobe Photoshop, then this site is the perfect place for you to hang out. Each month there is a new Photoshop tutorial.

Worth 1000 Photoshop Tutorials - Really amazing and unique style Photoshop Tutorials

Xanthic Photoshop 5 Tutorials - The tutorials that you will find here are written with Photoshop 5 and onward in mind. Some of the tutorials will work with older versions of Photoshop but some of the steps and menus might be different.

VecPix Photoshop Tutorials - 100s of Photoshop Tutorials in categories like Making Marbel Textures, Making variable colored grids, Neon Text, The micro bevel, Rusted Type, 3D Text/Logos, Techno-wave Effects, Trendy Avatars, Simple backgrounds, Digital Effect, Polar Coordinates, Water drops, and more.

Designer Today- Biggest selection of Photoshop articles

Zonnet Photoshop List of Tutorials - Here, you will find a large selection of unique Adobe Photoshop tutorials.

13 Dots Photoshop / Image Ready Tutorials - Here are some Photoshop and Image Ready Tutorials

80Four Photoshop Tips - Photoshop tutorials that are very helpful and in many useful categories.

101 Hidden Tips & Secrets For Photoshop  You may already know some of these, but it’s certainly worth a look for the one’s you don’t.5 Great Background Masking Techniques in Photoshop  covers masking techniques using Photoshop including: isolate objects, extract objects, cut out an image, and remove a background. Learn to isolate an object from the rest of the image.

Add a Little Contrast to Your Photos  put some pop back into your low contrast images with this tutorial.

Add Text to Clipart  from Laurie McCanna

Add Texture to Type  from Laurie McCanna

Adding a Color Tint in Photoshop CS3  Thanks to the new Black & White command in the Photoshop CS3, it’s simple to create a great black and white image and add a color tint.

Adjusting Exposure in Adobe Camera Raw CS3  This tutorial deals with exposure in Adobe Camera Raw CS3.

Adjustment Layers 101  If you’ve not yet discovered the benefits of using adjustment layers, you owe it to yourself to read this article.

Adobe Pen Tool Cheatsheet  The pen tool works pretty much the same across Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Learn the differences between the various pen symbols with this handy helper.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 Tips  Here are ten great tips to get you started in Lightroom 1.0.

Anti-aliasing guide  an important technique in making graphics and text easy to read on-screen is anti-aliasing.

Beginners Guide to Creating a Glossy Effect  This tutorial guides you through the simple steps to creating a glossy object.

Charcoal Drawing with Photoshop  is a tutorial on how you can apply charcoal drawing effect to your photos using Photoshop.

Controlled Image Sharpening with Photoshop  use Photoshop’s Unsharp Mask filter to sharpen up your pics.

Create 3D Abstract Crystals  Learn to create 3D crystals in Photoshop without using 3D software.

Create Golden Text  Create text in precious metal (gold) using this beginner’s based tutorial.

Create a Hollywood style Text Effect  from Laurie McCanna

Create a Stone Texture  In this Photoshop Tutorial .. you’ll learn to create a realistic stone texture.

Create a Paper Texture  from Laurie McCanna

Create A Photo Within A Photo  In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to bring more focus to your main subject by creating the illusion of a smaller, cropped version of the image within itself.

Create a Seamless Cloud Background  from Laurie McCanna

Creating a Layered Threshold Effect in Photoshop  Using the Threshold command in Adobe Photoshop can create a neat one color effect. A full color photo can be turned into a black outline. This technique involves creating a different shade of color to four different layers, all increasing levels of threshold. The result is a “layered threshold” look.

Creating a Smoke Effect in Photoshop  Create a smoke effect with Photoshop.

Create a Transparent GIF  from Laurie McCanna

Create Denim Cube Textures  This tutorial will teach you how to quickly create very believable denim-like cube textures using Photoshop’s built in features.

Create Glowing Text  from Laurie McCanna

Creating a Rope in Photoshop  This tutorial illustrates how to create a rope using blending and filters.

Creating an Online Portfolio with Photoshop  This tutorial will show you how to create an online portfolio from the File Browser in Photoshop CS or Bridge in CS2.

Creating Batch File Processes in Photoshop  Have a load of tasks to complete? Create a batch file to do the heavy lifting for you.

Creating Custom Brushes in Photoshop  is another great tip from Laurie McCanna.

Create Realistic Hair in Photoshop  This tutorial will show you how to create realistic looking hair when little or none exists.

Customizing the Way You Work in Photoshop CS3  is a sample chapter from the book *Adobe Photoshop CS3 On Demand*. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to customize Photoshop CS3 to suit your needs bettter.

Deke McClelland’s Tour of Photoshop CS3 Interface  The all time Photoshop guru goes over the new interface and features.

Design a Web 2.0 tab with Photoshop  Like those fancy tabs you see all over the place? Check here for a nice tutorial on how it’s done.

Design a Website In Photoshop  takes a more graphical approach to the design and layout od a website.

Digital Drawing  In this tutorial geared towards the beginner .. you’ll learn to use the vector drawing tools of Photoshop using your mouse.

Drawing Lightning  is a tutorial explaining how to make lightning by using filters in Photoshop.

Eraser Tool Video Tutorial  is a 2 minute video on the eraser tool from CreativeTechs.

Fade Images in Photoshop Using Layer Masks  show you two ways to use Layer Masks to fade images.

Filter Gallery: Quick Reference  Check out this handy guide to see exactly how the collection of 47 Gallery Effect filters work when applied to images.

Fine Art Effects - Cubism  This article shows the effects of Cubism. The steps are easy to understand, and have lots of good images and screen shots.

Fixing a Washed Out Sky  Sometimes the sky isn’t as perfect as you’d like .. this tip has a fix for that problem.

Focus With Light In Photoshop  In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll learn how to add focus to an image with light, using Photoshop’s Lighting Effects filter and multiple light sources.

Get better .eps preview images from Photoshop  You can get beautiful full color/full resolution preview images in your .eps file by following this simple tip.

Getting good grayscale out of Photoshop  converting color images to black and white.

Gradient Mapping in Adobe Photoshop  Learn to create a half sunset photo.

Gold & Silver Metallic text  This tutorial walks you through the creation of precious metals text creation.

Groovy Two Toned Text Effects in Adobe Photoshop  Laurie McCanna shows how to create 60’s style effects.

Guy’s Digital Imaging Tips  Most are tips for Photoshop, but some are probably applicable to other applications as well.

Hands on Training for Photoshop  from DocOzone and Apocalypse Studios  

Healing lines under the eyes  use the Healing Brush to remove dark circles or wrinkles.

How to Adjust Your Printer Settings to Get Great Photos  This article covers how to select the correct options in your printer driver. If you’ve ever been frustrated trying to figure out your printer driver options or you just couldn’t get a print that looked right, this article is for you.

How To Apply A Smart Filter In Photoshop CS3  This Photoshop CS3 tutorial, will look at the basics of how to apply smart filters to an image, a new feature of Adobe Photoshop CS3.

How to Deploy Smart Stacks in Photoshop CS3 Extended  This step-by-step tutorial teaches you how to erase moving objects from crowded street scenes with a new feature in Photoshop CS3 Extended. Plus, a workaround for those not ready to shell out big bucks for the new software.

How To Sharpen An Image In Photoshop  The techniques in this tutorial are geared towards the advanced Photoshop user, and certainly worth a read.

Laurie McCanna’s Photoshop Tips and Techniques  Great techniques for anti-aliasing, balls, beveling, speeding up your work, and more. If you’re getting started with Photoshop or been around the block, you’ll find something here.

Learn to draw circles, 3d concentric circles and 3D round graphics in Photoshop  In this tutorial you’ll learn how to draw circles, 3d concentric circles, and more.

Magic lighting effect in Photoshop  This Photoshop tutorial will show you how to create a cool magical lighting effect. It also uses text morphing and various other methods to create the finished image.

Lunacore  Detailed Photoshop tutorials, tips, FAQ, news, training, advice and resources.

Macworld Photoshop CS3 Extended review  is a nice and informative review, but puts it’s focus primarily on the special features in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended.

Metallic Paint in Photoshop  is one method of drawing metallic effects in Adobe Photoshop.

Misunderstood Photoshop: The Match Color Tool   explains how you can put Photoshop’s Match Color tool to work in your photo editing workflow. Also included is a video tutorial.

Old Movie Effect  Using this step-by-step tutorial, you’ll be able to create an Old Movie Effect with the image of your choice.

Optimizing Photoshop for the Web  Before you let it out on to the Internet on its own, it is a good idea to net-train it a little.

Optimize performance in Photoshop CS3 on Mac OS  is from the Adobe Knowledgebase.

Optimize performance of Photoshop CS3 on Windows XP and Vista  From the Adobe Knowledgebase as well.

Organize Your Photos in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom  organize your photos in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Photoshop CS2 Easter Egg - Space Monkey  (OS X): Click the Photoshop menu .. then hold down the Command and Option keys, and click *About Photoshop*.
(Windows): Simultaneously press both CTRL+ALT and hold them down. Still pressing CTRL+ALT, click on the *Help* menu and select *About Photoshop*.

Photoshop Professional Tips & Tricks  Part of these tricks are of interest to Web designers, others for real world designers. Most of the things described here are undocumented features.

Photoshop Sharpening Tips for Designers  Here are a few helpful tips, no matter which method you choose to use, for sharpening your image.

Photoshop Tips  Basic, simple, well-illustrated instruction for beginning Photoshop users.

Photoshop Your Stamps With PhotoStamps  Learn to create your own customized postage stamps with Photoshop.

Printing from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - Add Edge Effects  onOne Software’s Mike Wong has a tutorial explaining how to apply borders and edge effects from within Photoshop Lightroom.

Puzzle effect  This tutorial will show you how to apply puzzle effect to a picture.

Recolor Clipart  from Laurie McCanna

Refining Selections  is a look at selecting an area to work on in Photoshop.

Removing Dust Spots from Multiple Photos  By using Lightroom’s Remove Spots tool along with the Synchronize feature you can zap those spots in a heartbeat.

Resize Clipart  from Laurie McCanna

Retouching the Mouth in Photoshop Elements  Tips on how to whiten smiles, enhance lips, fixing spaces between teeth .. and more.

Review of Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended  by Lori Grunin of CNET.

Rumpled Picture Effect in Photoshop  this tutorial shows how to create a crumpled effect in Photoshop.

Selecting & Extracting Hair  One of the toughest jobs in Photoshop, or any image editing app .. is editing hair. This tutorial shows you how to stack the deck in your favor … BEFORE you even snap the picture.

Sharpening The Right Way In Photoshop  Using Smart Sharpen instead of Unsharp Mask.

Shortcuts At A Glance  covers the plethora of keyboard shortcuts available in Photoshop.

Simulate An Infrared Photo Effect In Photoshop  In this Photoshop tutorial, you’ll learn how to simulate the look of infrared photography.

Stained metal effect texture in Photoshop  In this tutorial you will see how to make a texture with stained metal effect.

Top 10 new things you can do with Photoshop CS3  are 10 new reasons that are certainly worth mentioning if you’re thinking up upgrading.

Understanding Type and Text in Photoshop, Part 1  explains the fundamental concepts you need to understand to work with type in Photoshop.

Understanding Type and Text in Photoshop, Part 2: Type Layers and Tools  explains how you can work with Photoshop’s type layers and tools to add text to your artwork.

Understanding Type and Text in Photoshop, Part 3: Type-Related Palettes  Pete Bauer provides an in depth look at the many type related options Photoshop offers through the Character and Paragraph palettes.

Using Photoshop’s Free Transform Command  Learn to apply transformations (move, rotate, scale, skew, distort, perspective and wrap) in one continuous operation with this tutorial.

Water bubbles in Photoshop  is a tutorial showing you how to make water bubbles in Adobe Photoshop.

Web Domination Using Photoshop  This Photoshop tutorial teaches you resizing, rotating documents and layers, using masks, curves, custom shapes, transparent images, gradients, and style dialogs.

What’s New in Photoshop CS3  Is a 4.05 MB, 24 page PDF file from Martin Evening’s book: Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers. This PDF is chapter 1 from the book .. and outlines all the new features of Photoshop CS3 and Bridge 2, written from a user’s perspective.

Working With High Dynamic Range in Photoshop CS3 Tutorial  Photoshop’s Merge to HDR (High Dynamic Range) is still not able to merge exposures where subjects have moved between the separate exposures. The technique in this tutorial shows you how to resolve this problem.

Working With Shadows In Photoshop  Learn the fine art of isolating and preserving delicate and complex shadows for transplantation to exotic new backgrounds in the advanced tutorial.

Making Teeth Whiter

This is one of those questions that I get just about every other day. The actual form of the question ranges anywhere from “How do I get rid of yellow teeth?” to the simple, “How do I make teeth whiter?” Fortunately, the answer is just about the same for all circumstances.

Method 1: Brightening Dull Teeth

This one works best as an overall teeth-brightening technique. It’s great for teeth that have a grayish tint to them and appear to be a little darker, but not yellow. It also works great when you just want to make the teeth pop out a little more. You can skip to Method 2 if you want to whiten yellow teeth.

• Step 1. Open a photo where the person’s teeth have a grayish darker tint to them.
• Step 2. Add a new Levels adjustment layer by clicking on the Create Adjustment Layer icon at the top of the Layers palette and selecting Levels. When the Levels dialog opens, drag the white Input Levels slider on the right about 25% toward the left. Click OK. This will, in effect, lighten the entire photo.

• Step 3. After you make the adjustment, the Levels adjustment layer will appear above your photo in the Layers palette. You’ll see a little white thumbnail to the right of it. It’s called a mask, but don’t get caught up in the name right now if you’ve never used one before. All you need to do is fill this thumbnail (aka: mask) with black. The easiest way is to press D, then X to set your Foreground color to black, then press Alt-Backspace (Mac: Option-Delete). This will fill the mask with black and hide the effects of the Levels adjustment that we just made.

  Step 4. Use the Zoom tool (Z) to zoom in on the teeth if you need to. Then, press B to choose the Brush tool, press X to set your Foreground color to white, and start painting over the teeth. This will reveal the Levels adjustment on the teeth only, thus making them whiter.

Method 2: Whitening Yellow Teeth

While the previous technique worked for overall teeth brightening, it would most likely just turn yellow teeth into bright yellow teeth. That’s where this technique steps in. It works best on teeth that have a yellow tint to them.

• Step 1. Open a photo where the person’s teeth appear to have a yellow tint.

• Step 2. Press Z to get the Zoom tool and zoom in on the teeth. Press A to get the Selection Brush. Then, in the Options Bar, choose a soft-edged brush from the Brush Picker that is about half the size of one of the teeth.

• Step 3. Start painting with the Selection Brush to select the teeth. I do a quick pass over the edges first. Then click-and-paint again to cover the rest of the area. Don’t worry if you select a part of the surrounding area, though. We’ll fix that in the next step.

  TIP

  Remember that the Selection Brush is just like any other brush. You can always resize your brush using the Left and Right Bracket keys. That will help you get into those hard-to-reach areas.

• Step 4. If you’ve inadvertently painted over some other areas (lips, gums, etc.), then press-and-hold the Alt (Mac: Option) key and start painting to remove them.
• Step 5. Once you’ve got the teeth selected, press Ctrl-J (Mac: Command-J) to copy them onto a new layer.
• Step 6. Now go to the Enhance menu and choose Adjust Color>Replace Color.

• Step 7. In the Replace Color dialog, drag the Fuzziness slider all the way to the right to 200. Then at the bottom of the dialog, take the Saturation slider and move it to the left to around -40. Then take the Lightness slider and move it to the right to +15–20. Try 20 first, and if it’s too bright then pull back to 15. Click OK and you’re done. The teeth should be nice and white.

One of the factors that can often make the difference between a photo being eye-popping mind candy and lackluster visual soup is the appropriate amount of contrast. Photographically speaking, contrast is the difference between the light and dark areas of an image. The less difference, the less contrast and the more difference the more contrast, one of the few things in the confusing world of photography that has a direct and logical correlation. In some images, such as foggy landscapes, low contrast is the goal. For other images, low contrast makes the image look muddy, washed out and lifeless. Depending on the nature and direction of the light source and how the light is interacting with the atmosphere, digital camera sensors naturally capture some images with less contrast and others with more contrast. Images that come out of the camera with more contrast are not usually a problem since our eyes and brains see it that way automatically. However, digital images often have too little contrast as captured by the camera. Fortunately, digital imaging software such as Photoshop gives us tools to bring low contrast images back from hazy obscurity. Below I will outline a few simple techniques to put some pop back into your low contrast images.

Open a low contrast image in the photo editing software of your choice. I use Adobe Photoshop, so my tips will be specific to that software, but most programs use very similar approaches.

Check the levels. In Photoshop, go to Image>Adjustments>Levels (or type control + L) to open the Levels dialog box. The histogram shows you the spread of color values in your image. The highlights are on the right and the shadows are on the left. If either end of the histogram doesn’t reach the end of the graph then your lights, darks or both aren’t as light or dark as they could/should be. By pulling the sliders in to meet the ends of the histogram data you will be darkening the darks and lightening the lights, which by definition will increase the contrast of your image. Hint: pulling the sliders past the end of the histogram data is generally a no-no. It will “clip” information from your image causing some areas to be completely black or completely white. Avoid this unless you are purposefully going for a Euro-fashion, impressionistic look.

Please note that this test may make you unhappy! It may well be that you have a dusty sensor but it has made no difference to your shooting and now you find out you obsessively try to clean the sensor.

I find I cannot actually see the dust on the sensor and this is why a photograph is necessary. Dust tends to show up as small dark round patches in photographs. The smaller the aperture you shoot at the more they become obvious. Also they tend only to show up on light backgrounds. This means some people may not see them at all whilst others will. For example landscape photographers usually have the sky in the top part of the frame where dust will show up if in this area of the sensor.

1. Stick on a telephoto lens. Select f22 aperture. Select the maximum telephoto if a zoom lens. Focus to infinity.
2. Point the camera at a white wall. If no white wall try a clean piece of paper.
3. Let the camera select an auto shutter speed. It does not matter if you have camera shake, 0.5 to 2 seconds is fine. The idea is to have a blank subject and have the camera exposure meter turn this medium grey.
4. Transfer the photo to your computer. View the photo at around 1600 x 1200. You should see any dust and marks easily.

Please don’t panic. Remember your camera is probably cleaner than most other peoples! Reference for good cleaning information:-

Recommended sensor cleaning:-

1. Wet clean

You should use wet cleaning when you have smears or blobs on the sensor. Smears are caused by skin oils, using too much cleaning fluid, using cheaper quality cleaning fluid, and by grease and oils sometimes coming from elsewhere in the camera.

I have found the trick with the 5D is to clean with two sensor swabs instead of only one and also clean carefully at the edges of the sensor.

On a cropped sensor you do not normally have to worry about the edges because the swab will overlap the sensor. With the 5D the sensor is fairly flush with the chamber wall making it hard to clean.

Because the 5D sensor is larger relative to the chamber you need to clean the edges. This is achieved by ensuring you swipe the edges, one edge on each sweep.

I contacted various sensor cleaning companies and I was advised that they use the ‘Wet’ method that is a swab and alcohol or methanol fluid.

Although an expensive method it is very useful to get the sensor spotless the first time it is used.

I found SensorSwabs from Photographic Solutions a good method used with Eclipse fluid also by Photographic Solutions. There are also other companies offering similar solutions. If these are too expensive then these can be made up more cheaply using the ‘Copperhill’ method by using ‘PecPads’ wrapped around a spatula.

SensorSwabs are expensive because they are produced in a ‘Clean Room’ free from airborne contaminates. Please note that Photographic Solutions do not promote the ‘Copper Hill’ method and say that their SensorSwabs use another material other than PecPads. However as SensorSwabs are so expensive about $5 each, some users prefer to roll their own.

Photographic Solutions guarantees that your sensor will not be damaged by using sensor swabs. They now also recommend use of the original Eclipse fluid on their website and not the new E2 Eclipse fluid.

Please note that Canon only recommend blowing, however with this guarantee from Photographic Solutions I am happy to use this method.

Also note that Canon may offer a free cleaning during the first year so do try this as an option.

A. Preparation

To start select sensor cleaning from the camera menu. This lifts up the mirror giving access to the sensor.

I hold the camera up and tilt the camera down so as to avoid collecting dust while cleaning.

Warning: Do not switch camera off accidentally whist cleaning or allow batteries to become dead, otherwise the mirror may flip down and it may be damaged.

Do not believe Canon technical support when they tell you that the SENSOR CLEANING menu selection will self-clean the camera. This is nonsense! All the menu selection does is lift up the mirror and turn off the sensor.

B. The Edges

The edges of the sensor are very hard to clean on the 5D and in fact many outlets offering sensor cleaning charge more for the full frame sensor. In fact some go so far as to take the camera apart to more easily get at the sensor.

Place only 2 drops (3 at most) of Eclipse fluid on a SensorSwab. Place on the tip which will be in contact with the sensor. More will cause streaking.

First use a horizontal sweep LEFT to RIGHT ensuring top edge is swiped. Then use same swab tilted the other way and use a horizontal sweep RIGHT to LEFT ensuring the bottom edge is swiped.

Second use a new swab and give the sensor a vertical sweep UP to DOWN ensuring left edge is swiped. Then use same swab tilted the other way and use a vertical sweep DOWN to UP ensuring the right edge is swiped.

The first time you clean the sensor yourself you may like to use a third swipe horizontally either using a new swab or reusing the second swab once more.

You may have heard from suppliers that the extreme left and right side edges of the swab do not clean efficiently because the material is not supported inside the swab. This is incorrect and it is actually these edges that are needed to clean the edges of the sensor in a full frame sensor. In a cropped sensor these SensorSwab edges float over the edge of the sensor and only touch air so it become less relevant on a cropped sensor compared to a full frame sensor.

To ensure the edges are cleaned you may find it useful to twist the swab slightly (around the vertical axis of the swab) during the sweep to ensure that the one corner of the swab is slightly forward at the end of the sweep and touches the edge and corner of the sensor. Remember the trick is to lift up impurities at the edges and not to push it into the corners and sides where it is hard to access.

I keep swabs and the eclipse fluid in a small wallet that came from Photographic Solutions.

C. Check

I then test the cleanliness of the lens. See ‘How to check if your full frame sensor is dirty’ above. I sometimes find one or two dust particles have arrived during cleaning or immediately afterward. In this case I simply give the sensor a blow as described below. Often a second blow is necessary if the first blow did not do the trick.

When blowing remember that the dust photograph is reversed left to right and inverted top to bottom in relation to the camera viewed from the back. So if for example you are looking at a speck on the top right of the photograph it will appear on the bottom left of the sensor when camera viewed from the back. This will appear on the bottom right if camera viewed from the front while actually cleaning. This is less necessary to know while swabbing as the whole sensor is cleaned when swabbing. With blowing you can concentrate where the actual dust is.

2. Large Blower.

For regular dust, and not smears, use a large hand blower.

This is recommended by Canon. Anything else may void their warranty.

I use the large black blower that came in a sensor cleaning kit from Lenspen. It has a small soft rubber snout to protect lenses and sensors and a double valve. The rubber part is four inches long and two inches diameter and the nozzle is an extra two inches.

To start select sensor cleaning from the camera menu. This lifts up the mirror giving access to the sensor. I tilt the camera down so as to avoid collecting dust while cleaning.

I stick the tip halfway into the chamber and blow by squeezing. I make sure not to touch the sensor.

I keep it in the soft leather case that came from Lenspen. I keep a smaller blower handy in the camera bag to blow dust away from the lens and lens caps.

I have found that blowing removes all loose dust. Sometimes I have to blow twice checking between each time.

3. Lenspen

I have tried Lenspen SensorKlear. I found it is excellent for dust but hopeless for removing the last of smears and grease etc.

I have decided not to use this method as the Sensorklear tip is not designed to be cleaned by the user. My concern is that particles from a previous cleaning may be rubbed over the sensor. Instead the dust is removed by twisting the closed cap which moves the chamois on the tip onto a sponge in the cap and reintroduces non-liquid carbon compound to the chamois. The instructions say use only 50 times then dispose. However the Lenspen is simple to use and is marvelous for cleaning lenses.

4. Brushes.

This method works. The method uses positively charged brush hairs to gently lift dust by being in contact with the sensor.

I bought a sensor brush from Copper hill Images called SensorSweep II. This works by blowing a small jet of air, using the supplied battery operated blower, through the bristles of the brush. Note it is not the power of the blowing that increases the charge, but the bristles rubbing against each other building up static electricity, rather like rubbing a balloon on a jersey.

The brushes with many hairs work best. The Arctic Butterfly from Visible Dust seems a reasonable method on the go, however it has less bristles than dedicated brushes. In fact some cleaning service companies recommend this method to customers between their cleaning as it is fairly easy to use even for people afraid of cleaning their sensors.

I must admit as the blower method is working for me I have not bothered to continue the brush methods.

5. SpeckGrabber