OK so I wrote this for my tech writing class. And it may be pretty sloppy because I had to reduce the file size for uploading so many times I kind of got tired of proofreading. I had to compress it again for here. So sorry for the mess.
How to go from snap shot to glam shot using Adobe Photoshop CS5
Useful Keyboard Shortcuts to know
Z Zoom tool
Use the zoom tool while working on fine detail in an image. With the zoom tool. activated, click on the area of the image you wish to magnify.
*You can also temporarily access the zoom tool without switching your current tool. Press Ctrl+Plus to zoom in and Ctrl+minus to zoom out.
B Brush
X toggles back and forth between colors
H Hand tool
The hand tool is useful when the image is zoomed in larger than the work space. With the hand activated, click and drag the image to navigate within the image.
Space bar
Press and hold the space bar to temporarily access the hand tool while any tool is select.
Left and Right Brackets
adjust the brush size of any active brush.
example: brush tool, history brush, eraser, healing brush, etc.
[ (left bracket) makes the brush smaller.
] (right bracket) increases the brush size.
*Mac users while using the shortcuts, replace CTRL with the command key and ALT with the option key
Getting Started
Open an image
With Photoshop open, locate the menu bar, click file, open, navigate to the image you want to open. Click open.
OR
Use the shortcut Ctrl+O.
Because this tutorial includes using a Layer mask, it is essential to work on a duplicate layer, however; It is always a good habit to create a duplicate layer before doing any editing in Photoshop.
3 different ways to duplicate a layer:
- In the layer panel locate the layer thumbnail of the image and right click on it. Click Duplicate Layer. A dialog box will pop up. Click ok.
- On the menu bar, click Layers. In the drop down menu select Duplicate Layer. A dialog box will pop up. Click OK.
- Use shortcut combination Ctrl+J.
In the next steps, we are going to isolate the subject from the background using the lens blur filter to create a more shallow depth of field and draw attention to the subject.
Click the quick selection tool located on the tool bar (fourth tool from top).
Paint over the entire subject. If an unwanted area is selected, hold alt (the cursor will change from a plus to a minus )and paint the unwanted selection. A broken line will outline the subject.
Now that we have selected the whole subject, we need to inverse the selection to the background.
To inverse the selection press Shift+Ctrl+I.
Next we need to soften the edges of the selection.
On the options bar, click the refine edge button.
OR;
On the menu bar click select, then refine edges.
*Our selection will be Masked with red so that you can easily see the changes being applied to the edges of the selection.
Drag the radius slider bar to about 4 pixels and click OK.
Adding a lens Blur
On the menu bar click filters, blur and click lens blur.
Drag the lens blur radius bar to the far right at about 74 pixels or until the desired amount of blur is achieved.
Press Ctrl+D to remove the selection.
The lens blur filter cut off some of the fly away hairs in the little girls pony tail and created an unnatural look. To soften these areas we will use the History brush tool and create a more natural photograph look.
*Note the history brush tool only saves up to the last 25 steps done. If the file or program is closed this option will no longer be available.
On the tool bar, click the history brush tool.
On the options bar, there is a brush opacity slider. Click the arrow next to the numbers and a slider will pop up. Slide it to about 60%.
Begin painting over the areas that need to be recovered. The history brush tool removes the filter effect from the areas being painted.
Removing Red eye
Click and hold the healing brush tool to reveal the tools beneath it.
Select the red eye tool (the forth tool down in the drop down menu).
Left click and hold while dragging a box around the eye.
When the whole eye is selected release the mouse and repeat with other eye.
Getting soft beautiful skin
We are going to remove any imperfection on the face. Here there are unwanted stray hairs on the forehead that need to be removed.
Zoom in on the forehead using the desired method discussed in the introduction.
Click on the healing brush tool located under the tool we just used (the red eye tool).
Adjust the brush to an appropriate size using the [ ] keyboard shortcuts as discussed in the introduction.
Before painting over the hairs, Photoshop needs to know what you want to replace the unwanted areas with.
To sample pixels: Alt click on a nearby area (when you alt click cross hairs or a + sign shows up in brush).
Begin painting over the unwanted hairs on the forehead and resample as necessary. Be sure to sample areas with similar flesh tones to maintain a natural look.
Sharpening the image
While editing any photograph, the final step is usually sharpening the image, however that isn't the case here. Because we need to add the glowing skin effect we are going to do this a little out of order.
Press Z, to get the zoom tool. Zoom in on the image till it says 100% in the bottom left hand corner of your image window.
In the Menu bar click filter, Sharpen and click unsharp Mask.
When the unsharp mask preview pops up there will be three slider bars: amount, radius, and threshold.
Move the amount to 120, radius 1.5 and threshold 3 and click OK.
Creating glowing skin
Now we are going to blur everything we sharpened.
Duplicate the background copy layer.
On the tool bar, click the quick selection tool. On the options bar, click the brush size icon.
With the slide bar, adjust the brush size to about 58 pixels.
Begin to paint the face and arms selecting only the skin.
Shift click to jump to another area to make separate selections.
There should now be four separate selections, The face/neck, and each arm.
Refine The edges about 4 pixles radius.
In the menu bar, click the filters, blur, and click Gaussian blur. Add enough blur until the features are blended about 10 pixels. Click OK.
In the layers panel, reduce opacity on the background layer to 75%, just until the skin has a soft glow.
Press Ctrl+D to deselect.
Adding a layer mask
Using a layer mask, we are going to bring back the sharpness to only selected features.
In the layers panel, the background copy 2 layer should still be selected. Click on the add Vector mask icon. A white layer mask thumbnail will apear next to your background copy 2 layer thumbnail.
Click on the Brush Icon in the tool bar or Press B.
On the options bar, lower the opacity of the brush to 50%.
Click on the top color box in the tool bar, select black and click OK.
Brush around the hairline to create a smooth transition between the sharp hair and soft skin.
To better see where you are painting, you can add a red mask to the areas you are painting.
Click on the channels tab in the layers panel and click the box to the left of the background copy channel to display the eye (the white channel thumbnail on the bottom).Continue painting the area that you want sharp: Eyes, lips, hair, edges of nose and ears.
While painting the eyes and eye lashes, increase the brush opacity to 100%.
*Remember to adjust brush opacity as needed for the desired effect.
To remove the red mask, click the channels tab and re-click the eye to disable the visibility of that channel.
Return to layer panel by clicking on the layer tab.
Press Z to access the zoom tool. In the options bar, click the "Fit Screen Button" and evaluate your finished product.
Press Ctrl+Shift+S to save the image to your desired location.
Before
After
The result is a huge improvement. The background is less distracting and our subject has a beautiful soft glow on her skin. The changes are very subtle but pleasing.
