Photoshop 2022

Master Class.

The Creative World Powered by

Photoshop.
Image editing and graphic design

Author: Ernesto Martinez .

English Version

Improve your skills in the field of image editing, composition and

manipulation with this complete Adobe Photoshop Course , one of
the best image and graphic design programs in the world. In this
course you will discover how to create spectacular designs and
enhance your everyday photos, design creative illustrations for
websites, mobile applications and much more.
Photoshop it's at the core of nearly every creative project , from
photo editing and compositing to digital painting, animation, and
graphic design.
You will learn to transform everyday photographs into true works of
art. Posters, product packaging, banners, websites – all of your design
projects start with Photoshop .
Learn to combine photos and text to create completely new and
impressive designs. We'll show you the benefits of working with layers
and masks, and painting with brushes that you can easily control.
Today you can start a project on your iPad and finish it on your
desktop—your work is automatically saved to the cloud and your PSD
files are the same, no matter where you are.
If you're new to Photoshop, here you'll learn the main concepts and
features you'll need to master the program. The lessons are designed
so that you can learn at your own pace, regardless of the knowledge
you already have of the program, we have covered the greatest
number of concepts and advanced tools necessary for the work of the
photographer and the image designer.
We have structured the book so that each chapter or lesson
provides help and references for using each tool, command, and
method of working with the program, as well as step-by-step
instructions for creating specific projects. You can study the book from
cover to cover or consult only the chapters that fit your interests and
needs.
This book is not intended to replace official Adobe documentation,
nor is it intended to be a complete reference to the entire Photoshop
CC program. With this book we try to facilitate the use of Photoshop in
the work area of photography and image design.

Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSHOP.
1. Brief Introduction.
2. File formats.
3. Home screen. Basic concepts.
4. A first look at the Photoshop workspace.
5. Tool Properties and Context Menus.
6. Digital development of a RAW negative.
II. THE WORK SPACE.
7. Let's get to know the Photoshop workspace
8. Management and handling of windows and panels.
9. Using The Most Suitable Canvas Color.
10. Default Workspace Options.
11. Workspace organized as much as possible.
12. Rulers, Guides and Grids.
III. TOOL GALLERY .
13. Selection Tools group.
● Move tool.
● Rectangular Marquee Tool and Elliptical Marquee Tool.
● Lasso Tool, Polygonal Lasso and Magnetic Lasso.
• Quick Selection Tool, Magic Wand and Object Selection.
● The Standard Mask Tool and Quick Mask.
14. Crop Tools Group and Straighten an image.
● Crop Tool and Free Transform.
● Crop tool
15. Measurements, Notes and Counting Tools Group.
● The Eyedropper Tool, Ruler.
16. Retouch Tools group.
 • Clone Cap Tool and Pattern Cap.
• Healing Brush Tool, Spot Concealer, Patch, Red-Eye and Content-Aware Motion
● Eraser Tool , Background Eraser and Magic Eraser.
• Sharpen, Blur and Finger tool
● Dodge Burn and Sponge tool
17. Paint Tools Group.
● Brush Tool, Pencil and Mixer Brush
● Gradient Tool and Paint Bucket
• History Brush Tool and History Brush
18. Text Tool
19. Navigation Tools Group
Hand Tool and Rotate View and Zoom.
IV. PHOTOSHOP PANELS.
20. Panels and their location
21. Photoshop Main Menu Bar.
The Options bar of the tool in use .
V. IMAGES MANAGEMENT
22. Basic information about images
23. Image resampling.
24. Creating, opening and importing images.
25. Visualization of images.
26. Image resizing.
VI. COLOR MANAGEMENT.
27. Color modes.
28. Selection of colors.
VII. LAYERS IN PHOTOSHOP
29. Layer basics.
30. Layer management.
31. Selecting, grouping and linking layers.
32. Moving, stacking and locking layers.
33. Layer Opacity and Blend Modes.
34. Layer styles and effects.
35. Creation and management of layers and groups.
36. Creating Layered Masks.
VIII. ADJUSTMENTS IN THE IMAGE
37. Image blur stabilization.
38. Adjusting the focus and blur of the image.
39. Applying the Brightness/Contrast adjustment.
40. Adjustment and fill layers.
41. Hue and saturation adjustment.
42. Applying the Color Balance adjustment.
43. Converting a color image to black and white.
IX. FILTERS AND EFFECTS.
44. Basic concepts about filters.
45. Applying filters from the Filter Gallery.
X. EDIT YOUR FIRST PHOTO.
46. Resolution and image size.
47. Crop and Straighten
48. Enhance lighting and color.
49. Touching up with the Clone Stamp, Healing Brush and Patch.
50. Focus and Sharpness
51. Save changes to a File
I. INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOSHOP.
 1. Brief Introduction.
photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed by Adobe Systems
Incorporated. Mainly used for editing, retouching and composition of images
and graphics, its name in Spanish literally means " photo workshop ". It is the
world leader in the market for image editing applications and dominates this
sector in such a way that its name is widely used as an icon for image editing
in general.
It has become, almost since its inception, the standard for photo
retouching, but it is also used extensively in many disciplines in the field of
design and photography, such as web design, bitmap image composition,
digital styling, photocomposition, etc. editing and video graphics and
basically in any activity that requires the treatment of digital images.
Its power, variety of filters, specialized tools and endless possibilities
make it an essential software in its sector, whether it is about creating,
editing, transforming or retouching images and photographs.
It is full of very interesting and powerful tools that can easily go
unnoticed, so having a Reference Guide for your study becomes essential if
we intend to take advantage of its potential and function well in its
environment.
The creative world runs on Photoshop .
Don't just take photos, Photoshop offers us the tools to turn your
snapshots into works of art, you can do simple edits or total transformations.
Adjust, crop, remove objects, retouch and repair photos, play with colors,
effects and much more to make something ordinary extraordinary.
Adobe Photoshop is currently part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite ,
a set of tools for creating and editing all kinds of multimedia content
developed and maintained by Adobe. You must have the Adobe Photoshop
CC software license and ensure that your computer meets the minimum
conditions for its installation.
 2. File formats.
Everything we do in Photoshop, from an invitation card, an
advertisement, a retouch to an image, at the end of our work, everything must
be saved in a file format according to the output needs of our final image.
Here lies the importance of knowing precisely which file format is the most
suitable for each job.
A digital image is nothing more than a file that contains all the
information corresponding to this image, transformed into a digital language
(ones and zeros). At present, it is sought by all means to transform an optical
image into a digital image with the least possible loss of information (colors,
tones, textures, etc.).
When we shoot our camera, the file that stores all the information of the
captured image is known as a RAW (raw) file, but they are very heavy,
voluminous files, it is necessary to compress this information efficiently, to
speed up its reading and writing and occupy less physical memory space.
Image compression necessarily requires discarding less relevant
information. In this way, different file compression methods began to
emerge. Then came the web revolution and it became necessary to create
lighter files, with less information, but trying to preserve the quality of the
original.
• Choosing a file format
Graphic file formats differ in how they represent graphic information (as
pixels or vectors), as well as in the different compression techniques and
Photoshop features they support. To preserve all Photoshop features (layers,
effects, masks, etc.), we must save a copy of the image in Photoshop (PSD)
format.
Like most file formats, the PSD format supports files up to 2 GB in size.
For files larger than 2 GB, save in Large Document Format ( PSB ),
Photoshop RAW (flattened images only), TIFF (up to 4 GB), or DICOM.
The standard bit depth for images is 8 bits per channel. To achieve higher
dynamic range with 16-bit or 32-bit images, the following formats are used:
• Formats for 16-bit images (Save As command required)
Note: The Save For Web & Devices command automatically
converts images from 16-bit to 8-bit.
• Formats for 32-bit images (Save As command required)
 • About file compression
Many file formats use compression to reduce the file size of bitmap
images. “Lossless ” techniques compress the file without removing image
detail or color information; “ less quality” techniques remove image detail.
The most common compression techniques are the following:
RLE (Run Length Encoding) Lossless compression technique supported
by some common Windows file formats.
LZW (Lemple-Zif-Welch ) Lossless compression technique supported
by TIFF, PDF, GIF, and PostScript language file formats. Mainly useful if
you need to compress images that contain large areas of a single color.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) Lower-quality
compression technique supported by JPEG, TIFF, PDF, and PostScript
language file formats. Recommended for continuous tone images, such as
photographs. To specify the quality of the image, we have the option of
selecting a value in the “ Quality” menu , either in camera or in editing in
Photoshop.
For best results on hard copies, choose the highest quality compression.
A JPEG image is automatically decompressed when you open it. A high
compression level produces a lower image quality and a low one a better
image quality . In most cases, under optimal exposure conditions, the highest
quality option produces a result that is very close to the original.
Photoshop format (PSD) The Photoshop ( PSD ) format is the
default native file format and the only format that supports all of Photoshop's
features. Because of the great integration possibilities between Adobe
products, other Adobe applications such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe
InDesign, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe GoLive can
directly import these PSD files while retaining many of the features of
Photoshop.
When saving a PSD file, you can set a preference to maximize file
compatibility. This saves a composite version of a layered image to the file so
that it can be read by other applications, including older versions of
Photoshop.
It also maintains the appearance of the document, in case future versions
of Photoshop change the behavior of some features. Composite also makes it
faster to load the image for use in applications other than Photoshop, and may
sometimes be necessary for other applications to read the image.
 16-bit per channel and 32-bit per channel high dynamic range images can
be saved as PSD files.

• Photoshop RAW format Photoshop RAW format is a flexible file

format used in transferring images between applications and computer
platforms. Documents saved in Photoshop RAW format can be any pixel size
or file size, but cannot contain layers.
The Photoshop RAW format consists of a stream of bytes that describes
information about the color of the image. Each pixel is described in binary
format, where 0 represents black and 255 represents white (for images with
16-bit channels, the white value is 65535).
You can save the image in interleaved or uninterleaved format. If you opt
for the interleaved format, the color values (red, green, and blue, for example)
are stored sequentially. The choice will depend on the requirements of the
application with which the file will be opened.
Note: A RAW image from Photoshop is not in the same file format as a
RAW image file from a digital camera. A camera raw image file has its own,
camera-specific format, which is essentially a “digital negative” with no
filters, white balance adjustment, or other in-camera processing.
• Digital Negative Format (DNG)
The DNG (Digital Negative) format is a file format that contains RAW
image data from a digital camera and metadata that defines the meaning of
the data. DNG (camera raw file format, publicly available from Adobe) is
designed to provide compatibility and reduce the current proliferation of
camera raw file formats. The Camera Raw plugin can save camera raw image
data in the DNG format.
• BMP format BMP is a standard Windows image format on DOS and
Windows compatible computers. The BMP format supports RGB, Indexed
Color, Grayscale, and Bitmap color modes . You can specify a Windows
format and a bit depth of 8 bits/channel. On 4-bit and 8-bit images that use
Windows format, you can also specify RLE compression.
BMP images are normally written from the bottom up; however, you can
select the Flip Row Order option to write them from top to bottom. You can
also select an alternate encryption method by clicking Advanced modes. (The
Flip Row Order and Advanced Modes options are the most important to
game programmers and other DirectX® users.)
• GIFs GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is the file format
commonly used to display indexed color graphics and images in HTML
documents on the Internet and other online services. GIF is an LZW-
compressed format designed to minimize file size and electronic transfer
time. The GIF format preserves transparency in indexed-color images, but
does not support alpha channels.

• PDF Portable Document Format (PDF) is a flexible, cross-platform,

cross-application file format. Based on the PostScript imaging model, PDF
files accurately display and preserve fonts, page layouts, and vector and
bitmap graphics. In addition, PDF files may contain electronic document
navigation and search features, such as electronic links. PDF supports 16-bit
images per channel. Adobe Acrobat has a tool called Touch Up Object for
minor edits to images in a PDF.
• PNG format Developed as a patent-free alternative to the GIF
format, the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format is used for lossless
compression and display of images on the Internet. Unlike the GIF format,
PNG supports 24-bit images and produces background transparency without
jagged edges; however, some web browsers do not support PNG images. The
PNG format supports RGB, indexed color, grayscale, and bitmap mode
images without alpha channels. PNG preserves transparency in grayscale and
RGB images.
• TIFF
The TIFF or TIF (Tagged-Image File Format) format is used to exchange
files between applications and computer platforms. TIFF is a flexible bitmap
image format that is supported by virtually all painting, image editing, and
page layout applications. Also, virtually all desktop scanners can produce
TIFF images. TIFF documents have a maximum file size of 4 GB. Photoshop
CS and later supports large documents saved in TIFF format. However, most
other applications and older versions of Photoshop do not support documents
larger than 2 GB.
The TIFF format supports CMYK, RGB, Lab, indexed color, and
grayscale images with alpha channels, and images in bitmap mode without
alpha channels. Photoshop can save layers to a TIFF file; however, if you
open the file in another application, only the flattened image will be visible.
Photoshop can also save notes, transparencies, and multiresolution pyramid
data in TIFF format.
 In Photoshop, TIFF image files have a depth of 8, 16, or 32 bits per
channel. This feature allows us to save high dynamic range images as 32 bit
per channel TIFF files.
 3. Home screen. Basic concepts.
As you work with Photoshop, you'll find that you can often accomplish
the same task in several different ways. To take full advantage of Photoshop's
extensive editing capabilities, you must first understand and learn how to
navigate the workspace deftly and quickly.
● Learn to navigate and use the Adobe Photoshop
workspace .

The Adobe Photoshop workspace includes:

1). MENUS, 2). TOOL BARS AND 3). PANELS , which give you
quick access to a variety of tools and options for editing and adding elements
to your images. You can also add commands or filters to the MENUS by
installing third party software known as ADD-ONS or plugin.
Any arrangement of these elements is known as a Workspace .
You can tailor Photoshop's interface to the way you work by choosing
from several preset workspaces or creating your own.
You usually won't need to reset to defaults to work on your own projects.
● Home screen
Updated in Photoshop 22.0 (November 2020 release)
To get started you will need to launch Adobe Photoshop . The
workspace of Start it may look different depending on the width of the
application window or whether you are using a paid or trial version of the
product.
When you start Photoshop, the splash screen appears, which includes the
following:
◦ Information about new features.
◦ A wide range of tutorials to help you quickly learn and understand
the concept, workflow, tips and tricks.
◦ View and access your recent documents. You can customize the
number of recent files that are displayed. Select Preferences > File
Handling and then specify the desired value (0-100) in the The list of
recent files contains field.
 Photoshop Start Screen
A . Show options for the Home work center .
b. buttons
Create new: click this button to create a new document. You can
create a document by selecting one of the many templates and presets
available in Photoshop.
Open: click this button to open an existing document in Photoshop.
C. Start Photoshop .
To access the home screen at any time while you're working on a
Photoshop document, click the Home icon ( ) in the options bar. To exit the
home screen, simply press the Esc key .
When we start Photoshop, the startup workspace is displayed. In the
center, you'll typically see a list of recent documents you've opened, though
the list is cleared every time you reset Photoshop settings. On the left, you
can click Recent Files , Libraries, and Presets to change what's displayed in
the center of the workspace. You can also click the New and Open buttons .
Select the file you want to work on and click Open . Sometimes when
opening a file you may get an “ Embedded profile mismatch ” dialog box .
Click OK if you want to continue working with the color profile that comes
with the file.
The new file will open in the Photoshop workspace, in its own image
window.
 4. A first look at the Photoshop workspace.

A: Tool panel (bar) | B: History pane | C: Navigator Pane | D: Settings

panel | E: Layers panel. | F: Main Menu | G: Options menu of the tool in use.
| H: Predefined workspaces panel. | I: Expand and Collapse Panels. | J: Panel
Options Sub Menu. | K: Access to Layer Options. | L: Image Window.
The default workspace in Photoshop consists of the MENU bar and the
OPTIONS bar at the top of the screen. The TOOLS PANEL on the left and
several open PANELS on the right panel. When we have documents open,
one or more image windows also appear.
To Close the document choose File > Close, or click the Close button (the
X next to the file name) in the image window's title bar and choose how you
want to save your changes.
• Workspace overview
◦ The application bar at the top contains a workspace icon button .
 ◦ The Tools panel contains tools for creating and editing images,
illustrations, web page elements, etc. The tools are grouped in subgroups
according to their work object.

◦ The Options bar control panel displays options for the currently selected
tool.

◦ The image or document window displays the file you are working on.
Document windows can be tabbed and, in some cases, grouped and docked.
 ◦ Dashboards help you monitor and modify your work. Panels can be
moved, grouped, stacked, or docked.

• Manage windows and panels

We can adapt our workspace and customize it by moving and
manipulating the panels to our liking. You can also save workspaces and
switch between them.
Rearrange, dock, or float document windows
 When we open more than one file, each one opens in a Document
window and these have tabs .

◦ To rearrange the order of tabbed document windows, drag a

window's tab to a new location in the group.

◦ To undock (float or undock) a document window from a group of

windows, drag the window's tab out of the group.

◦ To dock a document window to a separate group of document

windows, drag the window to the group.
 ◦ By default photoshop shows us on our canvas one window at a
time, (active window) that corresponds to the menu option > Window >
Organize > “Consolidate everything in tabs”. If you need to display all
open windows, change the option in the Window > Arrange menu and
select, for example, “Segment everything vertically”.

◦ To switch to another document in a tabbed group when dragging a

selection, drag the selection over the document tab momentarily.

• Docking and undocking panels

A dock is a collection of panels or groups of panels displayed together,
usually in portrait orientation. You can dock and undock panels by moving
them in and out of a dock.
◦ To dock a panel, drag it by its tab to the dock, on top, bottom, or
between other panels.
◦ To dock a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid empty bar
above the tabs) to the dock.
◦ To remove a panel or panel group, drag it out of the dock by its tab
or title bar. You can drag it to another dock or make it free-float.
 The browser pane is dragged into a new dock, indicated by a blue
vertical highlight

• Move panels
As we move the panels, you will see drop zones highlighted in blue, these
areas indicate where we can move and place the panel. For example, you can
move a panel up or down on a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop
zone above or below another panel. If we drag to an area that is not a drop
zone, the panel floats freely in the workspace, it does not “stick” like a
magnet to the group.
◦ To move a panel, drag it by its tab.
◦ To move a group of panels, drag the title bar.

The narrow blue drop zone indicates that the Color panel will dock only
above the Layers panel group.
A. Title bar B. Tab C. Drop zone
• Add and remove panels
 If we remove all the panels from a dock, the dock disappears. We can
create a dock by moving the panels to the right edge of the workspace until a
drop zone appears.
◦ To remove a panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac)
its tab and then select Close, or clear its selection from the Window
menu.
◦ To add a panel, select it ( ) from the Window menu and dock it
where you want.
• Manipulate panel groups
To move and add a panel to a group, drag by the panel tab to the
highlighted drop zone in the group.

Add a panel to a panel group

• Change the size of the panels

◦ To collapse or expand a panel, double-click a tab. You can also
double click on the tab area (the empty space next to the tabs).
◦ To resize a panel, drag either side of the panel. Some panels, such
as the Color panel , cannot be resized by dragging.
• Collapse and expand panel icons
You can collapse panels into tiles to reduce clutter in your workspace. In
some cases, panels collapse to icons in the default workspace.
1). Panels collapsed from icons 2). Expanded panels.
◦ To collapse or expand all panel icons in a column, click the double
arrow at the top of the dock.
◦ To expand the icon for a single pane, click it.
◦ To resize the panel icons so that you only see the icons (and not the
labels), adjust the width of the dock until the text disappears. To display
the icon text again, widen the base.
◦ To collapse an expanded panel back to its icon, click its tab, its
icon, or the double arrow in the panel's title bar.
◦ To add a floating panel or panel group to an icon dock, drag it by
its tab or title bar. (Panels automatically collapse into icons when added
to an icon dock.)
◦ To move a panel icon (or group of panel icons), drag the icon. You
can drag panel icons up and down the dock, to other docks (where they
appear in that dock's panel style), or off the dock (where they appear as
floating icons).
 5. Tool Properties and Context Menus.

When we select a tool, for example zoom , we see that the options bar
gives us ways to change the view of the current image window. Now we'll
learn more about how to set tool properties using context menus, the options
bar, panels, and panel menus.
● Using Context Menus.
Context menus they are short menus that contain commands and options
appropriate to specific elements in the work area. They are sometimes
referred to as “ Right-Click Menus ” or “ Shortcut Menus ”. Commands in a
context menu are usually also available in the menu bar or panel menus, but
using the context menu can save a lot of time.
Let's do an exercise as an example. We are going to add a colored ribbon
to an image to add a text or title .
● Let's do an exercise:
We open an example image, in our case a flower.

◦ In the Layers Panel , at the bottom select the “Create a new layer ”
icon
◦ With our new layer selected in the Layers Panel , select the zoom tool
and zoom in enough to clearly see the lower area of the image where we will
add a title ribbon.
Rectangular Marquee tool in the tools panel , to make a rectangular
selection.
rectangular marquee tool to make a selection approximately 3 cm wide
by 10 cm long. As you drag the Photoshop tool displays the measurements of
the selected area.

The areas of the selection are displayed as dotted “marquee” lines, also
known as “running ants”.
◦ Select the Brush tool in the tools panel and in the image window
right-click (Windows), to open the context menu for the Brush tool (B).

Click on the foreground color in the tool panel to open the Color panel
and select a color of your choice. We select blue.

Context menus vary with their context, so a menu of commands or a set

of panel-like options may appear, which is what happens in this case.

◦ Select the first brush “ Soft Round ” and resize it to suit the resolution of
your image, in our case 65px.

◦ To close the Brush Panel “ context menu ”, click anywhere outside of

the selection we created.

◦ Drag and paint with the brush, over the selected area until it is
completely painted blue. Don't worry about going outside the selection while
painting, it won't affect anything outside the selection, because that's its
purpose. When the ribbon is completely colored, choose from the menu
Selection > Deselect to remove the selection. The selection disappears, but
the blue ribbon remains.

● Select a hidden tool.

Photoshop has many tools that we can use in our projects, but you will
surely work with a few. The Tools Panel organizes some of the tools into
groups, with only one tool displayed for each group. The other tools in the
group are hidden inside their container. A small triangle in the lower right
corner of the tool button indicates that other tools are available but hidden
below this tool.

Polygonal Lasso Tool to create a triangular notch in the blue ribbon.

◦ With the Polygonal Lasso tool you can draw freeform selections , the
tool makes it easy to draw sections of a straight edge in a selection.
◦ Move the pointer over the left edge of the blue ribbon we just painted.
Click just to the left of the top left corner of the ribbon to start the selection.
You should start your selection just outside the colored area.
◦ Move the cursor to the right and center of the ribbon to create the first
side of the triangle.
◦ Click just to the left of the lower left corner of the ribbon to create the
second side of the triangle. Click on the point where you started to finish.

Press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the selected area of the
blue ribbon creating a nice effect. Choose from the Selection menu >
Deselect to deselect the area we removed.

The ribbon is ready, now you can add a title with the Text tool which
we will talk about in the next Lesson.

• Configure the properties of the Tool and the Options Bar.

Next , we'll use the options bar to select the text properties and then type
a title inside the blue ribbon.

◦ In the tools panel, select the horizontal type tool ( ).

Options bar buttons and menus now accommodate the text tool .

◦ In the options bar select a font you like from the first pop-up menu.
Specify an appropriate font size.

You can specify the size by typing an amount directly into the text dialog
box and pressing enter or by moving the Font Size menu tab . You can also
choose a font size from the predefined list in the Font Size menu of the Text
tool options bar.

Note: I was able to hover over the labels of most of the number settings in
Photoshop's tool options bar, Panels, and dialog boxes to display a “Slider”.
Dragging the slider to the right increases the value, dragging to the left
decreases it.

◦ Click (with the Type tool cursor) on the far left inside the blue ribbon
and type any text. It doesn't matter if the text isn't well positioned, we'll fix
that later.

If we have not modified the foreground color, our Text will remain blue,
the same color as the ribbon we made. We must change the color so that it
can stand out on the color of the tape.

• Using Panels and Panel Menus.

If the color of the text turned out to be the same color of the color sample
that we did to paint the ribbon blue, remaining as the foreground color. We
will select the text and change its color in the sample panel.
 ◦ With the Horizontal Type tool selected, click and drag across all of the
text to select the entire name or title. Click the Color Swatch tab to open that
panel. Select a color that stands out against the blue of the ribbon. When you
move the pointer over the swatches, it temporarily changes to an
Eyedropper. Place the dropper tip over the sample and click to select it.

The selected color will appear in three places: As the Foreground

(Front) Color in the Tool Panel, in the Text Color Swatch in the Options
Bar, and in the Text you selected in the image window.
◦ Click the check icon in the options bar to confirm and deselect to see the
new text color.
• Undo actions in Photoshop
Photoshop gives us the possibility to go back in executed actions to be
able to correct them if necessary and to be able to try other options. We can
experiment freely, knowing that we can reverse the process very easily.
Note: The Undo command is not available if you have already saved
changes to your project. However, we can still use the Step Back command
and the History Panel , as long as you haven't closed the project since you
made the changes.
Even for novice users it will be easy to get familiar with the undo
command (Ctrl + Z). The Undo command in Photoshop, until version 2017,
reverses only one step. This is a practical matter, because Photoshop files are
often very large, and maintaining multiple Undo steps can consume a lot of
memory, hurting system performance. If we press Ctrl + Z, Photoshop
restores the step it initially deleted. You can use the Step Back and Step
Forward commands in Menu / Edit , to move through multiple steps.
◦ Once our Text is finished, select the Move Tool (V) to drag in the
text and position it centrally on our ribbon. Finally let's save the file.
 6. Digital development of a RAW negative.
Digital development is the most basic processing and is completely
necessary for the creation of the final photograph (when we shoot in RAW).
When you shoot in RAW format you don't get an image itself. The RAW
format stores a large amount of data at the time of shooting that then has to
be interpreted and processed to make up the final JPG (or other type of image
format).
These settings would correspond to:
color temperature; Brightness and Contrast; Lights and shadows;
Intensity and saturation; Correction of lens distortion and chromatic
aberrations; Color correction; Sharpness; Noise reduction.
These adjustments are not about adding or removing anything from the
photo. It is simply an optimization of the data collected in the RAW file for
the creation of the final image with the most appropriate settings. RAW is our
original, the equivalent of the negative film frame in analog photography. In
the creation of the JPG by the camera all these settings are applied
automatically and destructively by the camera.
It is true that the vast majority of photos are taken in jpg, that if we select
a shooting profile (both predefined and custom) we can slightly influence the
result we are looking for, but it is a very imprecise option and our camera
will be applying them for us when create the JPG. On the other hand, by
applying these adjustments manually in post processing we will always be
much more precise and we will be able to personalize the photograph much
more. In this process we can make our own decisions based on our
experience and our photographic Eye.
● Reveal a RAW File.
There are many programs to develop a RAW file such as Lightroom,
Adobe Camera RAW, ON1 Photo RAW, Capture One, Darktable,
RawTherapee, etc. Even many well-known camera brands have their own
developing programs, such as Canon 's Digital Photo Professional , Nikon 's
Capture NX-D , or Sony 's Image Data Converter .
With any of them we will be able to modify a large number of aspects of
our photography. But to finish, we are going to see some practical examples
of the difference that it makes to modify these most basic settings in the same
photograph in RAW and JPG format. If the photograph does not require a
great processing, you will not notice much difference between the two. But
when you do need it, without a doubt having the photo in RAW format will
"save the photo". We are going to see how we can easily recover photographs
in these situations if we have shot in RAW, and how it will not be so easy to
do so if we have them in JPG format.
1. Adjust White Balance.
We can vary the color temperature without any problem if we have shot
in RAW format, since the white balance is not applied to the photograph, but
that information is stored and can be varied later in post-processing. As an
example, we can greatly increase the warmth of the photo and it looks the
same as if we had shot directly with that balance.
On the other hand, if we shoot in JPG, the white balance is applied
automatically just after shooting the photo. So if we then try to change it the
same way we changed it with the RAW file, the result is much worse.
Nuances are lost in highlights and colors. Even if we process the photo a little
more, adding contrast, intensity and varying the exposure, we do not get as
good a result as processing the RAW.
2. Correct Underexposure
When a photograph is not well exposed, we will also have much more
margin for correction in the RAW file. This happens because JPG is a lossy
compression format, so just when it is "saved" a lot of information is
discarded, especially in the shadows and highlights of the photograph. That is
why recovering it later will be much more difficult if the photograph is in
JPG, the image quality would suffer a lot.
We can always get a jpeg to lighten it up quite a bit, but the colors are
completely washed out and horrible red aberrations appear all over the skin
and hair mainly. We also generate a lot more noise, it would be too
noticeable, it would ruin our photo.
Not only has JPG stored less color information (8 bits per channel versus
RAW's 12-14 bits per channel), but also, being a lossy compression format,
in-camera processing has thrown away a lot of color information when saved,
especially in the darker areas. So, when we try to recover those darker areas,
all the color information that was discarded from these areas cannot be
recovered, and that is when those unpleasant color aberrations appear.
3. Correct Overexposure
In the same way as with underexposure, with overexposure we are going
to find ourselves with a similar situation. Although it is true that
overexposure is more difficult to recover even in RAW files, they will give
us a greater margin of correction compared to JPG.
However, thanks to the RAW format we can recover the highlights of a
photograph and all its texture. And thanks to its greater color information, we
can also preserve the colors of the overexposed area, which have been
recovered in the same way. On the other hand, if we try the same thing with
the JPG photograph, you will see that, despite the fact that we have been able
to recover enough of the highlights of the photograph, we will lose texture
and part of the color information.
4. Compensate for a Great Contrast between Light and Shadow.
Thanks to the greater margin of correction of the RAW format both of the
underexposed and overexposed areas, we can be able to compensate a
photograph with great contrasts between lights and shadows without
difficulty. Let's think of a landscape photograph where we find a high
contrast between the very bright sky and the very dark ground, it would be
very difficult to get a well exposed shot.
The dynamic range of the camera is not capable of extracting detail in
both the highlights and the shadows, we have to choose one of the two or try
to find a medium exposure and then recover both areas in the processing.
Thanks to the RAW format we can achieve this, because it preserves the
maximum possible information in the entire tonal range of the photograph.
On the other hand, by processing the JPG file we will be able to
compensate very little for this contrast and we will not be able to recover so
many nuances and tones by far, neither in the lightest nor in the darkest areas.
After seeing these theoretical examples, I hope you have been able to see
the difference between RAW and JPG format. As I mentioned before, if you
want to process your photos to get the most out of them, you should
definitely shoot in RAW format. But if you prefer not to process the photos,
or if you need them immediately, then the JPG format will be more useful.
And if your camera allows it, you already know that you can always shoot in
RAW+JPG.
The important thing is to know it and know when it is necessary to ure it.
II. THE WORK SPACE.
 7. Let's get to know the Photoshop workspace
In the editing work with Photoshop to process our photographs, we must
have our program well configured so that we are as efficient as possible. It is
important to master the Areas and components that make up the Photoshop
interface, something basic to move around the application and know how to
use it, as well as how to configure the interface so that your work is fluid and
effective.
It is a very basic subject, but it is always advisable to review it. So let's
start by talking about the different Photoshop Areas. The central area of the
Photoshop interface , on which the images are placed and where we carry
out the different editing actions, is called the Canvas. The rest of the
Components are located around it:

1). Panels ( to the right), 2). Toolbox (on the left), 3). Options of the
currently selected tool (above) and 4). General menu , through which you
can configure all the application options (at the top).
● Preference Defaults
The Preferences file ( Edit menu > Preferences ) stores information about
panel settings and commands. Every time we exit Adobe Photoshop, the
panel positions and certain command settings are recorded in the Preferences
file. Any selection you make in the Preferences dialog will also be saved to
the preferences file.
The organization and variation of the elements distributed in these Areas
is what is called in Photoshop how to configure your Workspace . Carrying
out this configuration in the most appropriate way is what will allow us to be
able to work with our images in the most appropriate and agile way possible.
● Photoshop workspace
Workspace Overview
◦ The Application Bar at the top contains a workspace switcher , menus
(Windows only), and other application controls. In certain Mac products, you
can show or hide it using the Window menu.
◦ The Tools panel includes utilities to create and edit images,
illustrations, page elements, etc. Related tools are grouped together.
◦ The Control panel of the Options Bar displays options specific to the
currently selected tool.
◦ The Document window shows the file being worked on. Document
windows can be organized as tabs and, in certain cases, can also be grouped
and docked.
◦ Panels help control and modify work. Panels can be grouped, stacked or
docked.
◦ Screen Mode - Click the button at the bottom of the toolbar to switch
between Standard and Full Screen screen modes.
◦ Set Interface Color - You can customize the interface with one of the
following color themes: black, dark gray, medium gray, and light gray. To do
this, go to Edit menu > Preferences > Interface. Choose the desired color
theme.
 8. Management and handling of windows and
panels.
• Hide or show all panels: We can hide or show all panels, including the
Tools panel and the Control panel, just by pressing the tab key. To hide or
show all panels except the Tools panel and the Control panel, press Shift +
Tab.
• View panel options: By clicking on the panel menu icon located in
the upper right corner of each Panel, we access various configuration options.
• Reconfiguration of the Tools panel: We can display the Tools panel in
a single column or in two columns next to each other. Clicking the double
arrow at the top of the Tools panel .
You can create a custom workspace by moving and manipulating the
Document windows and panels to your liking. You can also save workspaces
that we have already customized and switch between them.
Rearrange, dock, or float document windows
◦ If we open more than one file or image, they appear in the Document
windows (also known as image windows) in the form of tabs. Each file a
document window. If you want to change the order of the Document window
tabs, drag the corresponding tab to another location within the group.

◦ If you want to undock (float or detach) a Document window from a

group of windows, drag the corresponding tab out of the group, onto the
canvas. If you want to dock a Document window to another group of
Document windows, drag the window onto that group.
 ◦ To create stacked or tiled document groups, drag the window to one of
the drop zones on the top, bottom, or side edges of another window. You can
also select a composition for the group with the relevant button on the
application bar.

Coupling and uncoupling of Panels.

The Panel Store – is a docked set or group of panels that are displayed
together, usually in a vertical orientation on the right hand side of the
interface. It's where we arrange all the panels and they dock and undock like
magnets, moving them in and out of a docked assembly.
 A) Tab or Title of the Panel. b) Panel group bar or title bar.
◦ To dock a panel to the panel store, drag it by its tab or title to the stack,
top, bottom, or between other panels.
◦ To dock or move a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid empty
bar above or next to the tabs) onto the docked set.
◦ To remove a panel from a panel group, drag it out of the dock by its tab
or title bar. You can drag it to another dock or make it float freely.
panel movement

As you move panels, you will see drop zones highlighted in blue, areas
where you can move the panel. For example, you can move a panel up or
down in a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop zone above or below
another panel. If you drag to an area that is not a drop zone, the panel floats
freely in the workspace.
To move a panel, drag it across its tab. To move a panel group, drag its
title bar.
 9. Using The Most Suitable Canvas Color.
The canvas is going to be present in any editing process with Photoshop,
so it is worth determining the most appropriate color for this region. If you
access the main menu and go to Edit > Preferences > Interface you can easily
vary the color of the canvas. Medium gray, or another variant of gray, will
generally be the safest choice.
However, working with Black and White images, you may be interested
in leaving the gray scale and using a green or bluish tone so that the canvas
does not interfere with your perception of the image.

If you need to vary the color of the canvas when editing a specific image,
you can also right-click on the canvas and a pop-up menu will appear that
will allow you to quickly change its color.
 10. Default Workspace Options.
● Essential aspects; 3D; Graphic and Web; Photography.

Photoshop offers us a group of workspace options according to the

activity that we are going to carry out. From these predefined proposals, we
can generate new workspaces, based on the configuration established by
ourselves at a given time, so that you can save those settings that you want to
keep and always have the possibility of returning to them.
If you want to get a proper workspace for photo editing and retouching,
probably the best option to start with is the " Photography " workspace .
When you select this type of workspace, you will see how tools and
options that are of great interest for this task appear in the right section, such
as the histogram , or the layers, channels and paths .
You may want to rearrange the panels, retract, or unfold some of them;
group panels as tabs within the same section, etc. To make all these changes,
simply use the scrolling options (the vertical stripes located on each panel), or
the icons that allow you to display or collect the panels (the arrows located on
the panels). If what you want is not to move an entire section, but for a
specific tab to become part of another section, all you have to do is click on
the title (if it is displayed), or the icon associated with the tab (if the panel is
folded down). ) and drag it to the section you want it to merge into.
 11. Workspace organized as much as possible.
If there are panels associated with features that you won't use, it's best to
get rid of them, rather than move them to another location within the
workspace. There is another icon associated with the panels, which is the one
that will allow you to remove them from the work space (they are not
removed, they are hidden) and prevent them from disturbing you. This is the
icon with horizontal lines . Of course, to be able to visualize it, the panel in
question must be displayed.
By clicking on that icon, you will have different options to modify the
appearance of the panel , including closing it. Do not be afraid to close all
those panels that you do not need.
If you make a mistake and close one that you later realize you needed,
you can get it to show again through the main menu > Window option .
When you select it, you will have a list of all the panels that exist to be able
to activate or deactivate their display. You will see that there is a check to
the left of the active panels at all times.
Photoshop It will allow us to configure the interface to our liking to
move, change, show or hide all the panels and tools it contains at will. There
are always tools that you use more than others and panels that you use more
often. Take time to review what you need to have most at hand and set up
your workspace with a view to always reducing the distance between the
tools you use most often. In addition, you can also choose to hide panels and
tools that you never use. If they don't work for you, having them in the
middle of the interface will only serve to get in your way and slow you down.
Undoubtedly, customizing the program's interface to your liking is a great
optimization of time.
 12. Rulers, Guides and Grids.

Rulers help us to accurately position images or elements within the

canvas. When visible, rulers appear along the top and left of the active
document window. The tick marks on the ruler show the position of the
pointer as you move it. Changing the ruler origin (the (0, 0) mark on the top
and left rulers) allows you to measure from a specific point on the image. The
origin of the ruler also determines the origin point of the grid.
To show or hide rulers, choose View menu > Rulers .
Change the origin point of a ruler
Position the pointer over the intersection of the rulers in the upper left
corner of the window and drag down diagonally across the image. A set of
crosses appears, marking the new origin of the rulers. You can hold down the
Shift key as you drag so that the origin of the ruler snaps to the tick marks.
To restore the ruler origin to its default value, double-click the upper left
corner of the ruler.
 III. TOOL GALLERY .
Photoshop has a powerful arsenal of tools to edit all kinds of images
distributed mainly in two blocks.
1 . Those that are stored in the Toolbar with their respective
identification icon.
2. Those that are saved inside the Main Menu , (menu bar and
options bar of each tool), known as Commands that do not have an icon
that identifies them.

We'll start by looking at all the tools that are stored in the Toolbar.

In the Photoshop Tools Panel we find about 70 tools of work (not all of
them are useful for photography). We find these tools organized in about 20
Groups that we can see in the Tool Bar or Panel. We have the option to
organize and customize these “Groups” according to our needs from the Edit
/ Toolbar menu .
 ● Using Photoshop Tools.
It would be too extensive to refer to details about each tool and its
respective configurations. If you're new to Photoshop, you'll start gaining
experience by setting up and using a few tools in a sample project from the
downloadable content. In each Lesson we will advance and present new
Tools, Commands, Filters and how to use them. By the end of all the lessons
in this book, you'll have a solid foundation for further exploring Photoshop's
toolset.
When we start Photoshop, the Tools panel appears on the left side of the
screen. Some tools on this panel have options that appear in the contextual
options bar.
You can expand some tools in order to see the hidden ones it contains. A
small triangle on the lower right side of the tool icon indicates the presence of
hidden tools .
To see information about a tool, simply place the pointer over it. The
name of the tool appears in the tooltip below the pointer.

Click the double arrows above the Tool Panel to switch to a double
column view. Click the double arrows again to return to the single-column
panel for more efficient workspace.
The Photoshop Tools Panel shows us 20 groups of tools arranged in a box
on the left of our screen, many of them contain another set of related tools
inside, identified by an arrowhead, if we click on it will display a window
with all the tools available for this group. By default, each tool is assigned a
letter (on the keyboard) for quick access, to scroll through the set of hidden
tools, do so by holding down the Shift key and repeatedly pressing the tool's
shortcut key.

A. Tools panel B. Active tool C. Hidden tools D. Tool name E. Tool

shortcut.
 13. Selection Tools group.

● What are Selections and what are they used for.

Learning to use the selections with total mastery in editing a photograph

or to use the available selection tools to select a part of the photograph that
you want to edit, will be an important and much-needed advance in mastering
the program. Photoshop has a whole arsenal of tools and commands to work
with selections . A group of tools dedicated to creating grouped selections in
the Toolbar and another group in Actions and Commands grouped in the
Menu > “ Selection ”.
Let's first review the selection tools found on the Toolbar.
A selection is an area of the photograph that we have isolated from the
rest. When we create a selection, the area can be edited (for example, you can
lighten a portion of a photo without affecting the rest). You can make
selections with either a selection tool or a selection command. A selection
border will appear around the selection, which you can hide if you wish. You
can change, copy, or delete pixels within the selection border, but you won't
be able to edit the areas outside that border until you deselect it.
 The center of the image has been selected with the “Rectangular
Marquee” tool. This area has become "The Selection" and what is around it
is "The Mask".
As we have seen, Adobe Photoshop offers selection tools for different
types of selections. For example, the Elliptical Marquee tool select circular
and elliptical areas, while the Magic Wand tool you can select an area
that has similar colors with a single click. To make more complex selections,
you can use one of the “Lasso ” tools . The most advanced selection tool is
offered by the Object Selection tool and the “ Select Subject” and
“Select and Apply Mask” commands. In addition, it is possible to soften
the edges of a selection with the feathering and smoothing options.
Selections are one of the most powerful tools Photoshop has to offer and
we're going to use them for almost all of our editing and retouching work.
They allow us to apply adjustments or selective effects in an area of the
image to cut out parts of our photograph to move to another place, or to put
another element in its place. Without a doubt, with the selections we can do
infinite things; the limits are set by our imagination.
THE FUNCTION OF A SELECTION TOOL is to isolate a certain part of
the image creating a SELECTION area, subject to changes, while the rest of
it is PROTECTED BY A MASK and consequently unalterable. All changes
and actions WILL ACT ONLY WITHIN THE SELECTION and thus we will
achieve more precision by only altering a certain color range or a previously
delimited area. The selected area will be surrounded by virtual blinking
dotted lines (marquee) separating it from the protected (masked) area.
● Move tool .
Although we have included it within this group, it will not serve us for
this purpose, but it is closely related. “ Move ” is one of the main tools of
Photoshop, which we will be using constantly, whatever our daily work with
Photoshop. It is in charge of selecting (activating) the Layer with which we
are going to work, we use it when moving, dragging, shrinking or stretching a
floating layer or a selection .
It is not used to draw or edit, or make selections, but to change the
position on the canvas of parts of an image, layers and other elements that we
are working on. It has been our hands to move each element from one side to
another within our screen or work document.
The move tool is located at the top of the Photoshop toolbar and is
activated by pressing the (V) key. The move tool really requires few
explanations, because its operation is very intuitive. You just have to click
and drag to move the elements on the image canvas (layers, images, text). In
addition to using the mouse, you can also move the content of the layers or
the selection made, by using the cursors on your keyboard. With what you
will have a greater precision.
What do I move with the move tool?
When you click and drag with the move tool , in principle, it does not
matter where you clicked, because the tool always moves the contents of the
active layer, you should see in the Layers panel which is the active layer
(highlighted in color) this is the one you will move, the same happens if we
apply a command or effect, it will be applied to this “Active Layer”. At least
this is the default behavior.
If we are not working with many layers, it will be convenient to select the
“ Automatic Selection ” option in the Options Bar of the Move tool. It will
allow us to select the Layer with a Click on it, within the image window, as
long as the layer is visible, that it is not covered by another. When we click
on it, it will become the active layer.

One of the typical problems of the move tool is precisely this point. That
sometimes we don't take into account which layer is active and then, when
we use the tool to move a component of the image, it may move another one
that we weren't wanting. That's because we didn't have the active layer of the
element we wanted to move and the element that was moved was the one on
the active layer. So it seems as if the move tool is not working, but in reality
what is happening is the same as before, that we are moving a layer that was
not the one we wanted to move and that layer is empty, hidden or covered by
another layer that have on top
So, to save yourself trouble, always keep in mind which is the active
layer, which will be the one that moves when you use the move tool.
● Special uses of the move tool
There are some special uses of move , also quite simple, which are also
often useful. One of them, which is widely used on a day-to-day basis,
combines the capabilities of this tool with selections, which are used to move,
instead of an entire layer, only the selected area. Hence, it is included in this
group of selection tools.
In the Options bar of the Move Tool: we are going to activate the box ☐
Select Layer Automatically . We already explained one benefit of this
option. For the cases in which we have to choose between several layers in
our Work Project, we can activate it directly on it with a click. You can move
the content of a layer or a selection by clicking on it and dragging it to the
location you want.
When working with Text, for example, select the Move Tool (V) to
drag the text and position it precisely in our composition. Any element within
our design that you want to move will only be possible by activating this tool
and clicking on the element and dragging it.
A handy shortcut to activate the Move tool when another tool is selected,
hold down the Ctrl key. (This technique doesn't work when the Hand tool is
selected.)
• Other options to move and organize the images on our canvas:
Arrange menu: Moves the selected (active) layer in front of, in between,
or behind other layers . The options are Bring to Front, Forward, Backward,
and Send to Back. To place a layer, select it and choose one of these options
from the / Layer / Arrange menu .
Align Menu: Align the selected layers. Options include Top Edges,
Vertical Centers, Bottom Edges, Left Edges, Horizontal Centers, and Right
Edges. Multiple layers can be aligned at once. To align multiple layers, select
one, hold down the Shift key, select another layer, then choose an item from
the / Layer / Align menu.
Distribute menu: Distributes the selected layers equally. Options include
Top Edges, Vertical Centers, Bottom Edges, Left Edges, Horizontal Centers,
and Right Edges. Multiple layers can be spaced at once. For this option to be
enabled, you must have a minimum of three layers selected. To distribute
layers, select one, hold down the Shift key, select other layers, then choose an
item from the menu / Layer / Distribute.
We will study all these options in depth in the LAYERS chapter.
● Rectangular Marquee Tool and Elliptical Marquee Tool
.
The Selection Tools are intended to select (isolate) a fragment of the
image and carry out a modification, in its first group there are four different
examples: Rectangular Frame tool, Elliptical Frame, Single Row Frame
and Single Column Frame .
● Rectangular frame.
The most basic selection tool we find is the Marquee or Shape Selection.

However, sometimes what we want to select is not a continuous surface

and we need to “ join ” multiple selections or “ subtract ” them. To join
multiple selections, you can do so by holding down the Shift key when
making selections. For its part, to " subtract " selections you must hold down
the Alt key on your keyboard as you make the new selections. You can also
indicate the addition, subtraction, or intersection of selections through the "
Selection Merge Mode " icons in the Tool Options Bar.
 It is useful to know that you can blur the edges of the selection through
the "Fade" property, indicating the number of pixels to blur. Regarding the
size of the selection, you can also set the proportions or even the size of the
selection through the " Style " dropdown .
An example of the use of the “ Rectangular Marquee ” tool, we have
seen previously when we have selected a rectangle in the image of a flower to
create a blue ribbon and place a title on this area.
● Elliptical Frame .
Elliptical Marquee tool works similar to the “ Rectangular Marquee ”
tool, only with this we will obtain selections with a circular or elliptical
shape. Let's take an example using this tool. In the image I have selected the
area of the flowers with the Elliptical Marquee Tool (M) and to adjust it
precisely on the desired area we go to the Selection/Transform Selection
menu and adjust it in the correct place and size, I have painted in orange to
give it a touch of fantasy to the image. Then I've blended the layer using the
Soft Light blending mode.
 To create these selections you only have to click with the mouse and drag
it without releasing it to define the shape and size of the selection. If you hold
down the Shift key while doing so, both the rectangular and elliptical
marquees will create a fully square or circular proportional selection
respectively. Rectangular and circular selections will especially come in
handy to apply adjustments or filters to specific areas of the image, since it is
rare to find something that we can copy or cut that fits right inside these
shapes. With a fairly high Feather, we can also use them to create vignetting.
 On the left, Selection made with the Elliptical Marquee tool, with a color
adjustment we have modified the selected area.
The other two selection tools in this “set”, Row and Single Column, are
less commonly used in photography.
● Lasso Tool , Polygonal Lasso and Magnetic Lasso .
The execution provided by this group of Selection tools is aimed at
manually drawing lines and curves that are mostly used in work areas where
they are difficult to treat due to their tonalities or characteristics. arrive,
choose and group certain areas of specific areas, all manually and very
intuitively. Several actions can be carried out after performing the operation,
thus providing a solution to any problem that warrants the use of this tool.
● Lasso tool.

Lasso: It will allow you to make selections by pressing and dragging the
mouse along the outline of the selection you want to make. The moment you
release the mouse, the tool will close the outline and define the selection.
To use the lasso we simply have to press the left mouse button and,
without releasing it, drag, to draw a freehand selection border that will be our
selection , as if it were a pencil. When we reach the starting point, or simply
when we release the mouse button, the selection will be closed and created.
The problem with this selection is that, being freehand, it is not very
precise. It is true that if instead of a mouse we use a graphics tablet we can be
much more precise, but even so, it is still a freehand selection.
That is why this selection is going to come in handy to select irregular
areas with a very high fade, to apply filters or effects, or to add/subtract small
pieces to other more precise selections, to rush them and adjust them exactly
to the area we want. delimit.
To add an area to the selection, release the mouse button; press Shift ,
and when the pointer changes to ( + ), drag it. To subtract from the
selection, release the mouse button; press Alt , and when the pointer changes
to ( - ), drag it.
That is why this selection is going to come in handy to select irregular
areas with a very high fade, to apply filters or effects, or to add/subtract small
pieces to other more precise selections, to rush them and adjust them exactly
to the area we want. delimit.
 We've selected the flowers with the lasso with a 100px Feather to apply a
Levels adjustment to blend smoothly with the photo.
● Polygonal Lasso Tool .
Polygonal Lasso tool draws straight segments of a selection border. You
can create as many segments as you need to draw a selection border.
Polygonal lasso: You will be able to define the selection through the
definition of the vertices of the polygon that will form the chosen selection.
To define each vertex you must click the left mouse button.
This tool creates the selection by dragging and clicking with the mouse.
Each click will be a new point in our selection, which will advance until it
closes when we return to the initial point, or if we simply double click it will
close directly. The problem with this selection arises if we try to select
something curved, we will be left with edges in the selection, so that curve
will not be selected correctly. We can try to make the points very close
together, to make the selection as curved as possible, but unless that curve is
very small, it is not worth wasting time, since there are other selections that
will be better for selecting curves.
However, this selection is very interesting for selecting polygonal
elements, since the lines of the selection will be completely straight.
The polygonal lasso is good for us to select straight areas, but on the other
hand, in curved and irregular areas it is not precise and leaves edges. To
soften the selection edge so that it blends with the outside area of the
selection, enter a value for the Feather option .
Click where you want the first straight segment to begin, and click again
where you want it to end and the next to begin. Keep clicking to create more
segments.
 If you make a mistake, press the Delete key to delete the segments. You
can toggle between creating straight segments and drawing freehand by
pressing the Alt key .
To close the selection border, position the pointer over the start point and
click . When hovering over the starting point, a closed circle will appear next
to the pointer.
If the pointer is not at the starting point, double-click or Ctrl (Command
in Mac OS) and click. Next, a straight selection segment will be drawn from
the pointer to the starting point of the selection.
● Magnetic Loop .
magnetic lasso tool draws a selection border that automatically snaps to
the edges of objects in your photo that you drag the tool over. This makes it
easy to draw precise selection borders. The Magnetic Lasso tool is very
useful for quickly selecting objects with complex edges on high-contrast
backgrounds.
Magnetic lasso: This tool is characterized by being "attracted" by the
edges detected in the image. The selection is built from the vertices that you
define, but the union between these are not straight lines (as in polygonal
lassoes), but "intelligent curves" that follow the edges detected in the image.
As you could do with all the " Selection " tools, this tool allows you to
indicate if you want to join, subtract, or find the intersection of several
selections in the tool options menu .
 It works very well detecting fairly defined edges. The detail is to use it
especially in images where the color of the border and the color of the
background are really different. If the border colors are similar, smoothed
out, or belong to the same range, it all gets confusing for the tool.
The lasso “detects and collides ” with a color other than the pixel it shows
that it has been instructed to, and then “wraps around” it. We assign him
which color will be separated and he will avoid mixing with other different
ones. The first point we click defines the range, the color range and all we
have to do is follow the outline of the object in the image with the pointer
WITHOUT PRESSING THE BUTTON the lasso will continue to stick to the
edge and place anchor points around the image. detected form.
To specify the edge detection area, enter a pixel value between 1 and 256
for Width. The tool detects only the edges that are within the specified
distance from the pointer.
To specify how sensitive the Magnetic Lasso tool is to the edges of
objects in your photo, enter a value between 1% and 100% for Edge Contrast.
A higher value detects only edges that contrast sharply with surrounding
ones; a lower value detects low-contrast edges.
To specify the speed at which the Magnetic Lasso tool defines the
anchor points, enter a value between 0 and 100 for Ruling. A higher value
sets the selection border in place much faster.
If for some reason it goes astray we will have to click again to indicate
the correct color range. In any case, if some tolerance does not satisfy you,
try other adjustments in “Width” and “Edge Contrast” in the options bar.
This is very useful for selecting complex elements, but it has a limitation:
the area to be selected must have a clearly different color from the area that
we do not want to select. If both areas have a similar color, the magnetic
lasso will not be able to tell them apart and will not "stick" to the line
correctly.
Continuing with the previous example, the magnetic loop has been able to
be more precise when selecting the curved and irregular parts of the
building.
 Drag the pointer along the border while holding down the mouse button.
The selection border snaps to the edge of the photo. If the border doesn't fit
the edge correctly, click once to manually add a point, then continue tracing
the border, clicking as many points as necessary. If you make a mistake,
press the Delete key to delete points along the border.
To manually close the border, drag back to the starting point and click.
When hovering over the starting point, a closed circle will appear next to the
pointer. To close the border with a freehand magnetic segment, double-click
or press Enter.
• Quick Selection Tool , Magic Wand and Object
Selection
• Quick Selection
If the tools we have described so far are not enough to achieve the
selection you want, Photoshop has more: " Quick Selection Tool ", with it
you can select contours that belong to a uniform region. It is a tool that leads
to perform the selection in a more intelligent way, considering properties
such as texture or brightness, Tolerance and Color Range , when obtaining
the selection It was, until a few versions ago, the most powerful selection
tool.
Quick Selection tool selects based on texture and color similarity when
you click or drag the area you want to select. Your markup doesn't have to be
precise because the Quick Selection tool automatically and intuitively creates
a border.
In the case of this tool, the available options are:
 ◦ The combination mode of the selections that are made.
◦ New Selection: Lets you draw a new selection. This option is selected
by default.
◦ Add to Selection: Allows you to add the next selection to an existing
selection.
◦ Subtract from Selection: Allows you to remove from an existing
selection. This option is only available after you have made a first selection.
◦ The size of the brush that will be taken so that, starting from the pixels
selected by that brush, the final selection can be established. Choose a brush
from the brush picker in the options bar. If you want to select a large area,
you can use a larger brush. For more precise selections, choose a smaller
brush size.
◦ The option to sample all layers creates a selection from all layers
instead of just the currently selected layer.
◦ The enhance edge option automatically enhances the selection. Option
that is recommended to always keep enabled. Enhance Edge: Reduces the
jaggedness and solidity of the selection boundary. Enhance Edge
automatically flows the selection beyond the boundaries of the image and
applies some of the edge enhancement that can be applied manually in the “
Select and Mask” workspace .
Paint inside the part of the image you want to select. The selection will
grow as you paint. If the update is slow, continue dragging to allow time for
the operation to complete on the selection. When painting near the edges of a
shape, the selection area stretches to follow the contours of the shape's edge.

To give an example of using this tool, we made a selection with the

Quick Selection Tool (W).
Clicking or dragging on the area we want to select, be it a subject or
object, and then release the mouse button. The selection border will appear.
To specify the selection we have one of the following options:
 ◦ To add to selection, click the Add to Selection button in the options bar
and click or drag across the area you want to add.
◦ To remove an area from the selection, click the Subtract From
Selection button in the options bar and click or drag across the area you want
to subtract from the selection.
◦ To start a new selection, click the New Selection brush in the options
bar and click or draw to specify the new selection area.

Applying a Gaussian blur filter, we see that we only alter the selected
area. Getting a better depth of field effect for our composition.
• Magic Wand .
Unlike all the selections we've seen so far, the magic wand will create the
selection automatically, we won't have to create it for you. This will allow us
to select things with complex shapes, as long as they are on a background of
a uniform color and opposite to that of the object to be selected.
The magic wand will select all the pixels with a similar tone to the pixel
that we point to by simply clicking with the mouse. However, this tool has its
limitations: like the magnetic lasso, if the difference in tone between what we
want to select and what we don't want is minimal, it will confuse the tool and
it will probably select areas we don't want, and leave areas we do want out of
the selection.
For this reason, the magic wand will only come in handy if what we want
to select has a very different tone from what we do not want to select.
However, we will be able to make it a little more precise than the magnetic
lasso with some options that we will see next.
 The Magic Wand tool allows you to select a consistently colored area (for
example, a red flower on a white background) without having to trace its
outline. You can specify the selected color gamut, or tolerance, relative to the
original color you select.
Specify one of the selection options in the options bar. The Magic Wand
tool pointer changes depending on the option selected.

selection options
A. New B. Add to C. Subtract from D . Intersect with.
Magic Wand tool selects pixels from a similar color range with just one
click. You can specify the color range or tolerance to fine-tune the Magic
Wand tool selection . Use the tool when you have an area of similar colors,
such as a blue sky, objects on a plain background, etc.
With it you can select contours that belong to a region that have a similar
color. The Magic Wand is going to come in handy especially to select small
gaps, since sometimes the Quick Selection makes a mistake when trying to
select very small spaces, and ends up selecting more spaces than it should.
You will simply have to configure its Tolerance in the upper menu so that it
covers more or less tones, and click on an area while holding down the Shift
key to add it to the selection, or Alt to subtract it from the selection.
Combining the tools won't make you lose the selection you're working on.
 It is also interesting to know the box ☐ " Adjoining ". If you check it,
only similar shades that are next to each other will be selected. If you
uncheck it, all similar tones in the entire photo will be selected. For example,
in this photograph the holes inside the lamppost were not selected correctly
the first time with the Quick Selection or the Lasso, being so small. With the
Magic Wand we have added them to the selection easily.
When selecting this tool there are the following options:

◦ Selection Combination Mode : Addition, Subtraction, Intersection .

Common to all selection tools.
◦ Tolerance: The allowable "difference" between the color of the pixel
you clicked on and the colors that will make up the selection. Tolerance 0
means that only those pixels of the same color will be selected. Tolerance :
determines the range of colors of the selected pixels. Enter a value in pixels,
between 0 and 255. Setting a low value will select those colors that most
closely resemble the pixel you clicked. The higher the value, the larger the
color gamut selected.
Forbearance is one of the most powerful wand options. With it we are
going to define the requirement of the magic wand to discriminate or not, the
tones similar to the selected pixel. The less tolerance we put on it, the more
demanding the wand is going to become, and the more tolerance we put on it,
the more pixels of different tones it will select. The normal tolerance for the
tool to work properly would be between 20-50px, but every photo is
different, so it's all a matter of experimenting until you find the right
tolerance that selects exactly the tones you want. In addition, as I mentioned
before, you can add or subtract a selection, to be able to choose several tones
in the same selection. On the other hand, you can also lower the tolerance to
subtract or add areas that have not been selected correctly, or even add and
subtract them with other tools such as the lasso .
◦ Smooth: Smooths the outline of the selection, smoother edges. If we
activate this option, our selection will automatically smooth any edge or
irregular area that may be on the edge. That is why it is usually convenient to
have it activated.
◦ Contiguous: Require selection to span contiguous pixels, selects only
adjacent areas with the same colors. Otherwise, all pixels in the entire image
with the same colors are selected. This option is activated by default and
implies that only pixels with tones similar to the chosen pixel will be
selected, that are adjacent to it, that is, that are contiguous. If we deactivate it,
the pixels of similar tones of the ENTIRE photograph will be selected.
Normally this is not going to come in handy because we are going to select
areas that we don't want, but it can be useful in certain cases, so it's a good
idea to know about this option.
◦ Sample all layers : Activating this option will be especially useful
when we make montages, since it will allow us to select an area that is not
delimited in a single layer, but rather a composition of several layers. Thus,
instead of having to flatten the layers, we will only have to activate this
option. When composing the selection or exclusively pay attention to the
layer on which you are working. Select colors with data from all visible
layers. Otherwise, the Magic Wand tool selects colors from the active layer
only.
In the image, click on the color you want to select. If you select
Contiguous, all adjacent pixels within the tolerance range are selected.
Otherwise, all pixels in the tolerance range are selected.
When you've finished your selection, click the Select & Mask command
in the Options bar to make further adjustments to the selection boundary or
view the selection with different backgrounds or as a mask.
In the next exercise we will use the MAGIC WAND tool to make a
selection.
This type of tool for selections detects and acts on a certain COLOR
RANGE that we will choose to create the selection. The wider the band or the
tolerance that we indicate ( tolerance ), the more colors of the same range
will be selected. In other words, if I click with the pointer on a green area of
the image, I will SELECT this tone and all the other green shades of the
surrounding area.
If the tolerance is low I'm going to get a more restricted selection, limited
to greens very similar to the pixel clicked with the “ Wand ”. If I want the
area to be larger I will have to increase the percentage. It is advisable to leave
the "Smooth" and "Contiguous" boxes activated so that the edges of the
selection are not very hard and so that the tone detection is not done on the
entire image but on the neighboring pixels.
Before starting the exercise I make a very important observation
regarding the "Wand" and the other tools that act according to a tolerance or
color range that is indicated and they detect: for uniform colors, for areas
with very different colors and separated, for any image that does not contain
very mixed colors THEY ARE A WONDERFUL. If the image has all the
colors mixed and many shades are useless.

Let's continue practicing with Photoshop, starting with an example where

the sky was overexposed (almost white).
Leaving the tolerance at 32% by default and clicking the medium blue
color swatch next to the tip of the building. Once this was done, we were left
with some unselected holes, there are several ways to solve this. You can
apply the SELECT > SIMILAR menu so that the program itself looks for
more blue down in the light tones, but in our example image the building has
a wall with a very similar blue color and the selection was extended there.
Another way is to continue adding to the selection with the same tool and
having the add to selection button active, the selection expands and covers
the entire sky, to finish we will apply from the SELECTION > MODIFY >
SMOOTHING menu a value of 3 pixels to smooth the transition.
If we want to appreciate the exact shape of the selection and the mask, we
go to the bottom of the toolbar and activate the quick mask button “ Q ”, we
press “ Q ” again to return to “standard” mode. Checked that the selection
was correct, we apply the appropriate adjustment, in this case, in standard
mask mode we apply an Exposure adjustment through the Image >
Adjustment > Exposure menu . The sky came alive.
ABOUT THE FAST MASK AND STANDARD MASK WE TALK
BELOW.
We have observed when selecting with the magic wand the appearance of
a row of dots surrounding the limits of the selection and blinking
continuously. It is the standard mask indicator and has the role of separating
the 2 zones in question: the selection is inside and the outside is protected. In
the QUICK MASK mode (area in red) it gives us the possibility to precisely
visualize the selection area and also to modify the selection areas, such as
enlarging or removing areas from the selection with the help of other tools.
The red color is virtual , that is, it does not actually act, it is a reference to the
semi-transparent layer created, the marquee of the mask has disappeared in
standard mode, the red shows us the protected area and the rest ( the blue sky
in this case ) the area of the selection where we will act to apply a specific
setting.
● Object Selection

Select Object it's a relatively new tool in Photoshop, but it clearly

needed a good tweak. From the first day it appeared, we knew that in the
future it would become a very powerful tool, but at the moment it left a lot to
be desired. The selections were crude, inaccurate, and generally pretty
lackluster. But now, with this new update, this tool has been greatly
improved.
Object Selection Tool . Introduced in Photoshop 21.0 (November 2019
release), it simplifies the process of selecting a single object or part of an
object in an image: people, cars, furniture, pets, clothing, and more . You
only need to draw a rectangular region or lasso around the object, and the
Object Selection tool will automatically select the object within the defined
region. The tool works better on well-defined objects than on regions without
contrast.
How is the Object Selection tool different from the Select Subject
command?
Object Selection tool comes in handy when you only need to select one
of the objects or part of an object within an image that contains multiple
objects. While the Select Subject command is designed to select all the main
subjects of an image.
 Follow these steps to select objects in an image with the Object Selection
option:
1. Select the Object Selection tool in the Tools panel .
2. Select a selection mode and define a region around the object. In the
options bar, choose a Selection Mode: Rectangle or Lasso.
• Rectangle mode : Drag the pointer to define a rectangular region
around the object.
• Lasso Mode : Draw a jagged lasso outside the bounds of the object.

Photoshop automatically selects the object within the defined region.

3 . Subtract or add fragments from selections, if necessary.
In the options bar, click one of the selection options: New Selection,
Add to Selection, Subtract from Selection, or Intersect Selection . New
Selection is the default option if nothing is selected. After you make your
initial selection, the option automatically changes to Add To.
◦ Add to Selection— Hold down the Shift key or select Add to Selection
in the options bar, then draw a new rectangle or lasso around the missing
region. Repeat this process for all the missing regions that you want to add to
the selection.
◦ Subtract from Selection— There are two options when subtracting
from selection:
4. Use the Subtract from selection option in the options bar
• Deactivate the Object Subtraction option in the options bar.
• Hold down Alt or select Subtract From Selection in the options bar,
and then draw an exact rectangle or lasso around the boundary of the
region you want to subtract from the selection.

5 . Use the Object Subtraction option in the options bar

◦ Object Subtraction is especially useful for removing background
regions within the current object selection. The Object Subtraction option
could be thought of as the opposite of the Object Selection option . In this
way, you can draw an irregular lasso or rectangle around the region to be
subtracted. Including more background within the lasso or rectangle region
produces better subtraction results.
In this example we are going to put the tool to the test. A photo of 3
people where we only want to select two to separate it from the background
and create a nice photomontage.
 We select the tool and in the Mode option we can choose between Frame
and Lasso to make a selection (sample) with which we indicate to Photoshop
where to identify the faces in the area of the image that we indicate. After a
couple of seconds...Done.
● The Standard Mask Tool and Quick Mask .
We have observed when making a Selection , the appearance of a row of
dots surrounding the limits of the selection and blinking continuously. It is
the standard mask indicator and it has the role of separating the 2 zones of
the image in question: the selection remains inside and the outside is
protected (isolated). In QUICK MASK mode at the end of the toolbar
(shortcut letter Q on the keyboard), not only do we have the possibility to
better visualize the selection by coloring everything in transparent red, but
also to modify the areas with the help of other tools. The red color is virtual,
that is to say that it does not actually act, it is a reference of the semi-
transparent layer created.
With the marquee of the mask disappeared in standard mode, the red
shows us the protected area and the rest (the sky in this case) the selection
area.
Finally, the last selection we're going to look at is Quick Mask Mode .
This isn't actually a selection, but we're going to get into a mode where we're
going to paint the selection ourselves with the Brush tool .
To do this, the first thing we have to do is activate the Quick Mask
Mode (Q), which we will find in the side toolbar, just below the color
selection squares . Once this icon is pressed, it will turn into this other ,
which will mean that we are already in quick mask mode. Also, you'll notice
that your current layer appears red in the Layers panel .
Once in this mode, we are going to use the Brush tool to paint the area
that we want to select. This area will be painted a semi-transparent shade of
red. Technically what we DON'T paint is what will be selected, but it's
usually easier to paint what we DO want to select and then invert the
selection. You can set the size, shape, hardness, and opacity of the brush to
adjust the selection to exactly what you need.
To have more precision with this tool, it is recommended to use small
brushes for the edges of the selection, approach the area with the magnifying
glass and work with a graphics tablet instead of the mouse.
Finally, when we have selected the entire area correctly, we will press the
Quick Mask Mode icon again to exit this mode. At that moment, the entire
area that was not painted red will be selected. If what you wanted to select
was the painted area, you simply have to invert the selection from the
Selection/ Invert Selection menu or by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl (or
Cmd) + Shift + I.
We can activate this mode at any time, even when we already have an
active selection, even if we have made it with another selection tool. Thus,
we can "edit" it in this mode, painting or erasing areas to adjust it to our
needs. In fact, this mode is really for this, to rush other selections, since
painting a selection from scratch will usually cost more than using other
selection tools.
• ALTERNATE AND RETOUCH WITH THE QUICK MASK.
The image below shows us a selection of the sky with the “ Magic Wand
” in standard mode (always active by default).

To extend the selection to the limits of the mountain, we are going to do a

MANUAL TOUCH UP . This is the advantage that the QUICK MASK mode
allows us : we can paint on it and remove or add parts of it with a brush
(which is impossible in standard mask mode).
Indeed, using a Brush (B) we paint with black as foreground color , we
can increase the mask (red color) and changing to white foreground color
we can remove the mask, that is, increase the area of the selection.
We are going to use a painting tool (brush, airbrush, pencil) for manual
retouching, they are activated with the letter “B” or “J”. We are going to use
the “B” brush in the toolbar, by doing so we adjust the diameter, pressure and
hardness of the brush from the options bar.

To avoid doubts, let's look at the image on the left.

At the left end of the brush tool options bar we see the paint tool symbol
which we can access by clicking on it, a dialog box will open where we will
move the size cursor to 10 pixels and leave the hardness and 100% pressure.
A hard edge of 95 – 100% gives us a sharp and precise line while a soft edge
(hardness 20 – 30%) allows us to make smoother transitions. We press key “
D ” to put black foreground color and white background (display under
toolbox). With the hard edge brush we remove the existing gaps in the
profile of the lamppost and the edges of the foliage and mountainside.
Observe how the foreground color (black) covers the isolated areas of
selection with red (masked).
BY REPEATEDLY PRESSING THE “ Q ” KEY WE CAN SWITCH
THE QUICK AND STANDARD MASK MODE (surrounded by flashing
dots) and thus see if there are any details left to retouch. To minimize the
transition between the mask and the selection of the part of the sky we have
to use a larger brush and soft edges, we invert the colors with the “ X ” key
now white is the foreground color and we will use it to give it transparency ,
remove a little bit of the edge of the mask. We click on the brush button in
the options bar to change the settings: diameter 50 pixels, hardness 0 and
opacity 25%.

The figure above contains this action in full process.

Let's tweak by clicking repeatedly without dragging to remove the hard
red top edge. We press “ Q ” again to return to the standard mask. All that
remains for us to finish the job is to go back to the PICTURE / ADJUST /
CURVES menu and drag the diagonal line from the center down a bit to
gently darken the light tones of the sky. To remove the selection we use
CTRL + D or in the menu SELECTION > UNSELECT. The final and
comparative result is shown in the image.

Conclusions: In a Standard Selection (dashed lines) we can edit on this

area, modify tones, color, apply effects, etc.
In a Selection in Quick Mask mode (it is tinted red) we can only act on
the values of the selection, it is used to modify, adjust, subtract or add a
selection.

Selection in Standard and Quick Mask modes

A. Standard mode B. Quick Mask mode C. Selected pixels appear white
in the channel thumbnail D. Overlay on the acetate sheet protects the area
outside the selection and unselected pixels appear black in the thumbnail of
the Chanel.
QUICK MASK TO CREATE SELECTIONS WITH GRADIENTS.
Another interesting way to get masks with smooth transition gradient
edges is by COMBINING THE QUICK MASK AND THE GRADIENT
FILL. Let's remember that activating the Quick Mask Mode (Q), the color
Black makes the MASK and the White the SELECTION . Therefore, if we
are going to use a gradient from black to transparent or from black to white
(it is the same) we will obtain a mask for the black area, with a smooth
transition for the rest of the image (the selection).
Let's practice with the same image to revive the dark bottom area. First
we are going to put the default colors (black / white) then we activate the
“Gradient” tool with the “G” key

The figure below describes in details the steps to do it.

 The important thing in our case is to configure the black color a little
more extensive than the model assigned by default. If we leave it like this we
would have little compact black and too much transparency. This would not
be convenient because the upper part of the image (the sky) is quite wide and
little black will therefore produce little mask. Our job is to mask from the sky
down to revive the entire bottom part of the photo that was slightly
underexposed.
The 50% location on the slider will help us to get more protected space
and not clear the upper part that we had already corrected in previous steps.
Let's see in the next image how we proceed with the quick mask + the
gradient (shown below).
After setting the gradient we go with the “Q” key for the quick mask
mode . We place the pointer (as shown in the image) at point A , press
SHIFT to obtain a straight line, drag to point B and release. We press Q
again to return to the standard mask and apply the same procedure.
PICTURE > ADJUST > CURVES to correct the dark area. The gradient
mask can be successfully applied for all kinds of effects such as partial
blurring of an image, art effect filters, adjusting white balance, hue and
saturation, etc.
 14. Crop Tools Group and Straighten an image.
As we have already seen, Photoshop has its tools basically organized into
two blocks. Those that are stored in the Toolbar with their respective
identification icon and others that are stored in the Main Menu , (menu bar
and options bar for each tool), known as Commands.
In this group of tools we find:
Crop Tool inside the tool box or panel. While in the main menu bar we
find. Scale to Content, Puppet Warp, Perspective Warp, Free Transform
Command and Transform Command .
● Crop Tool and Free Transform.
● Crop tool
The following tool will allow you to quickly make a crop on your photo.
You can access it through the “C” key or through its icon in the toolbar. Once
selected, you can indicate the crop area by clicking where you want to set the
top left corner of the crop and dragging to the bottom right corner.
You will be able to vary the size of the crop by dragging its corners,
move the region to be cropped, make the crop respect certain proportions,
show a certain mesh or another, etc. All this through the options offered by
this tool.
Once you have the selection you want to crop, press Enter to confirm or
hit Escape if you don't want to apply the crop to your image. You can also
use the confirmation buttons in the options bar:
• Crop part of an image to improve its framing.
Cropping an image removes material (pixels) from the edges to show a
smaller area, often for artistic reasons, to aid composition . The Crop tool
removes the part of an image that surrounds the selection. We crop an image
to remove non-relevant background elements and focus the image's attention
on the object you want. When cropping an image, the same resolution of the
original image is maintained by default, but its weight is reduced by
removing information (pixels) from it.
 The original image (left) has been cropped to remove areas at the bottom
and left edges. Improving its composition and reducing the physical
dimensions of the image (right).
On several occasions, while we edit in front of the computer, we realize
that our photography could be improved in terms of framing with just a crop
in the image where we prioritize the center of interest of the photograph.
Other times photography requires improving the format imposed by the
camera, which does not work for my framing (for example, panoramic or
square photos), on these occasions we reframe the photograph, applying the
limit of not cropping more than 15% of the photograph when I maintain the
original format and maintaining the dimensions of at least one of the sides
when the cut implies a change in format.
Before starting the cut, if necessary we can configure the options in the
drop-down menu that we find in the pop-up menu of the tool. By right
clicking on the image, with the tool selected. Or from the options bar (drop-
down “ Proportion ”).
If we select No Restrictions , we can crop in the format we want. Pulling
down the tab, we can select Original Aspect Ratio which locks the crop to the
original proportions of the photo. Very useful for not changing the format and
removing the same proportion from above and below.
In this same dropdown, we have the presets of the most used proportions
for reframing: square (1x1), screens or videos (16x9), change of format (4x3
or 2x3).
Also in the dropdown, we have the possibility to mark Size and
Resolution in case we want to crop our images to a specific size and even
change their resolution. This option is interesting to create our own presets
according to the type of work we do.
The last option in the dropdown is Crop Box Rotation . We will use it to
convert vertically, photographs taken horizontally and vice versa. You can
also use the rotate icon on the far right in the tool menu or the letter X as a
keyboard shortcut.
As an aid to framing, we can overlay a mask with one of the most used
composition rules. We will select it in the dropdown or we will change from
one to another using the letter O. To change the orientation of the mask, we
will press shift plus the letter O.

Once configured, we can adjust the crop box, which in Photoshop is

always active, and apply the crop by pressing Enter. If you uncheck the
Remove Clipped Pixels box , we have the similar effect as the Hide option in
previous versions of Photoshop, and we can use the Move tool to do post-
crop reframing.
● Free Transform command .
Free Transform Command is one of the most powerful and most used
options in this group related to image size and proportions. It allows us to
modify the shape and dimensions of a layer (it does not act on the
background image, only when we have a layer), in multiple different ways to
adjust it exactly as we want. This tool will allow us to achieve everything
from simple perspective adjustments to contributing to the creation of
completely realistic montages.
Free Transform tool will allow us to freely transform the dimensions
and shape of a layer . With it we can rescale, rotate or deform a layer or the
content of a selection in different ways. You'll find it in the Edit > Free
Transform menu , or via the keyboard shortcut Control + T.
If you use this tool without any selection, then the free transform will be
applied to the entire active layer. If, instead, you have created a “selection” of
a fragment of an image, the free transform will be applied only to this
“selection” of the layer.
Keep in mind that if the layer you want to transform is the “ Background
” layer, it will be locked and therefore Free Transform will appear in dull
gray, disabled. In order to transform it you must unlock it by double clicking
on it, or select it completely from the Select / All menu or by using the
keyboard shortcut Control + A.
When we press this tool, handles will automatically appear on the edges
and corners of our layer (or selection). By pressing and stretching these
handles we can freely change the size or scale of our layer or selection, that
is, without any type of restriction by proportions.
If we press the Shift key while we move them, then we will apply a
proportion constraint, (also activating the “ maintain proportion ” button
in the options bar) so as not to deform our layer or selection, but only to
resize it. In this new version of Photoshop, this option is activated by default.
 1. Stretch and reduce the image to change its size . two. To rotate the
image.
If we press the right mouse button on the selected "area", when we have
the active tool, a pop-up menu with different options will be displayed. Each
one of them will allow us to deform the image in a different way, to adjust it
exactly as we want. Let's see the most common options:
1. Free transformation: This option is the one that appears by default
when selecting this tool from the menu. It will be very useful for us to return
to the usual free transformation mode if we have entered any of the other
modes that we are going to see below.
2. Scale: This option will allow us to resize our image, that is, make it
larger or smaller. We can scale it by eye or write the percentage we want in
the upper bar, in the An (width) and Al (height) rectangles. If you don't want
to deform your photo, you can keep the proportion by pressing the Shift key
while dragging any of the handles, or activate the “ Keep proportion ” icon (
) that you will find between the two rectangles to write the percentage in the
Options bar.
3. Rotate: This option will allow us to rotate the layer or selection at the
angle we want. To do this, move the mouse cursor outside the free transform
borders and hold down the left mouse button to freely rotate the image. If you
hold down Shift while you rotate the image you will be able to do it in 15º
intervals. You can also manually type the specific angle you want to rotate
the image into the box on the top bar.
4. Skew: This option will allow us to change the inclination of the layer
both in its vertical axis and in its horizontal axis, pressing and stretching any
of its points. You can also do it numerically by typing the amount of
distortion you want to apply on the horizontal (H) or vertical (V) axis in the
top bar.
5. Distort: Distort is an option similar to Skew, but it gives us total
freedom when tilting our image. Just as Skew allows us to tilt the layer but,
respecting its scale and proportions, Distort does not have these restrictions.
If at any given moment we want to activate the same restrictions that the
Skew tool has, we can do so by holding down the Shift key.
6. Perspective: This option will allow us to change the perspective of our
layer or selection. If we use it in a subtle way we can convert the image, as if
it were taken from a slightly different angle than the original.
7. Warp: This option changes the guide lines of the Free Transform tool
that we have seen so far. Now we will have our layer or selection divided into
9 equal parts, and two handles will be born from each corner. With Warp we
can change the shape of our layer or selection, simply by clicking and
dragging anywhere inside the mesh, or by clicking and stretching both the
corners and the handles that come from them, to adjust the image to our
liking.
 15. Measurements, Notes and Counting Tools
Group.
● The Eyedropper Tool , Ruler.
If you have worked minimally with Photoshop or with any other photo
retouching program, you will know that this tool is the one that allows you to
obtain the color of a certain pixel.
The options offered by this tool are:

Define the Size of the sample of pixels to consider.

Sample: Indicate if you want all the layers to be considered or only the
current layer and, finally, the possibility of showing a ring around the dropper
in which, if you keep the mouse button pressed and move it, you will be able
to see, dynamically, the evolution of the colors of the pixels on which you go
over.
Color Swatch tool , on the other hand, allows you to collect up to a
maximum of 4 swatches, whose data you can see in the Information Panel .
One way to sample a color is to use the Eyedropper tool to sample color
from an area of the image that you are interested in.
◦ In the Layers panel , with the “ Move ” tool, select the image or the
layer in which you want to take a color sample.
◦ In the Tools Panel , select the “ Drop Counter ” tool. Click on the
desired image area to take the color sample.
The foreground color changes in the Tools panel and in the Color panel .
Everything you draw next will be this color until you change the foreground
color back.

Perhaps the eyedropper tool is one of the easiest tools to use, but it is
also surely one of the most used by users every day. Basically, what the
eyedropper tool offers is the ability to select any color in an image just by
clicking on it. As soon as you do this, the selected color will automatically be
set as the foreground color in the Color Picker that we also find in the
Photoshop toolbar itself. From that moment on, that will be the active (front)
color and the one that other drawing tools will adopt by default, such as the
brush , for example. If the color we are looking for is not at hand or we
cannot set it exactly, all we have to do is activate the eyedropper tool (I) to
sample the color by clicking on the area with the desired color.
The sampling radius can be measured in several pixels and as we enlarge
it, what it does is select the average color of the area of the image that we
mark with the eyedropper . As we can see, when displaying the list of
sample sizes for the dropper, we will be able to choose the default size, which
is 1 pixel, or expand the radius to 3×3, 5×5, 11×11, 31×31, 51×51 or even
101×101 pixels, depending on what we need at any given time.
Another option offered by the eyedropper tool is to show the color
previously selected or that we have as the active color together with the color
of the area of the image where we pass the tool itself.
To do this, simply click on any area of the image and keep the mouse
button pressed to move wherever you want. Then, we will see how a circle
appears around the pointer, where the lower half will show the current
background color and the upper half will show the color of the image on
which we are positioned.
Alongside the drop counter are other tools that measure the percentages
of color that make up the swatch ( Color Swatch ) and clicking it takes the
color sample and splits it, specifying their respective percentages of red,
green, and blue ( RGB mode ) or cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ( CMYK
mode ) in the INFO panel. In this way we can manually configure, in
percentages, the colors that we want to reproduce and we will have precise
information on these quantities available for later editing.
The tool options bar comes with a section called Sample size that is
activated by default at one point. If we activate the 3 or 5 points we will
obtain an average measurement of a larger area.
● Ruler Tool
Another tool that we will find in this group of MEASUREMENT is
called RULE . The Ruler tool helps you position images or elements
precisely. Calculates the distance between two points in the workspace.
When you measure from one point to another, a line is drawn that is not
printed, and the options bar and Info panel display the following information:
◦ The starting position (X and Y)
◦ The horizontal (W) and vertical (H) distance traveled from the
x and y axes
◦ The angle measured relative to the axis (A)
◦ The total length traveled (D1)
◦ The two lengths traveled (D1 and D2) when using a
protractor

All measurements except angle are calculated in the unit of measurement

currently defined in the Units & Rulers preference dialog. If the document
has an existing measurement line, when you select the Ruler tool, this line
will appear.
Measuring the distance between two points
1. Select the Ruler tool, (It should be in the Eyedropper tool “group” ).
If it is not in this group, you can activate it from the Edit Menu / Toolbar .
Remember that not all Photoshop tools are active, from this option we can
organize them at our convenience.
2. Drag from the start point to the end point. Hold down Shift to constrain
the tool to 45° increments.
3. To create a protractor from an existing measurement line, Alt-drag at
an angle from one end of the line, or double-click the line and drag. Hold
down Shift to constrain the tool to multiples of 45°.
Editing a measure line
◦ To resize the line, drag one end of the existing measurement line.
◦ To move the line, hover over it away from the endpoints and drag.
◦ To remove the line, hover over it away from the endpoints and drag it
off the image, or click Erase in the tool options bar.
Note: You can drag a horizontal or vertical measurement line outside an
image, then choose Image > Image Rotation > Arbitrary. The rotation angle
required to straighten the image relative to the line is automatically inserted
in the Rotate Canvas dialog box.
 Once the Ruler (I) is selected, click the left mouse button to mark the
start point of the measurement and drag the mouse to where you want to set
the end point. You will be able to see information about the position of the
origin point, the length of the stroke, its inclination, etc.
 16. Retouch Tools group.

• Clone Cap Tool and Pattern Cap

Clone Plug Tool : The operation of this tool is extremely simple, we
already saw an example in CHAPTER II: the area from which it is going to
be reproduced (Clone) is established or selected with a click, as if it were the
"Drop Counter". ” to select a color.
By pressing “ Alt ” and clicking on the sample area (the cursor becomes a
selector +) we take a sample, then we move that sample over the other section
of the image where we want to insert the new cloned pixels (the pointer will
correspond to the of a brush ⃝).
What is cloned on top of an image replaces the pixels that existed
previously, that is, they do not form a new layer, unless you indicate it. If I
have a background or a layer that I'm going to clone from I can also create
another new layer that it can clone onto.
It is not the only one that we would use to cleanse the skin, for example,
but many think that it alone is enough. It makes sense to remove isolated
items such as smudges from the sensor. Let's see Adobe's definition:
clone stamp tool paints a part of an image over another part of the same
image or over another part of any open document that has the same color
mode after selecting it with Alt+click. You can also paint part of a layer on
top

of another layer. The clone stamp tool is useful for duplicating objects or
removing defects from an image.
It can be used to hide imperfections by cloning over them regions free of
said imperfection. But it can also be used, as in the image below, to duplicate
elements or regions of your photographs.
 When opening the tool we will see the following options menu at the top
from left to right:
Brush size, brush type, clone blend mode, opacity, and brush flow (in
percentages).
Brush type and size : Opens a pop-up menu for brush settings.
◦ Mode: to choose between different layer blending modes and tweak the
layer it's applied to. For more artistic effects or offsetting some colors. By
default it is set to “Normal”, that is to say that it will reproduce the pixels in
the action as they are original. To change the blending mode, open the
window and select a mode option.
◦ Opacity : Defines the strength with which we apply the retouch.
◦ Flow: Defines the intensity of the retouch each time you apply it to the
image.
◦ Aligned : Check this option so that the cloning will be done
symmetrically from the origin point to the destination point, while we move
through the area to be retouched. If we disable it, the action will cause the
pixels from the origin point to repeat at the destination point , even if we
move by clicking through the area. This is not useful when it comes to
cloning shapes, but it is useful when we want to reproduce a color or pattern
in another area.
◦ Sample: “Use All Layers” is left unchecked unless you want to apply
the clone content to the underlying layers. For small adjustments that you
don't mind doing on the original layer, just put current layer. If we are
working on an empty layer, we must apply the current layer and those below
or on all the layers; if not, the program will tell us that the sampling area has
no information. These methods are used by working non-destructively.
You will notice that this tool works very much like the Healing Brush.
, but there is a fundamental difference, the Clone Plug is limited to taking
an exact sample of the pixels and pasting (cloning) it onto the new surface.
While the Healing Brush takes information from the pixels in the selected
area as a reference (same as the Clone Stamp), but maintains the texture,
lighting, transparency, and shading of the pixels you want to heal, making it
much more convenient for photo restoration . As a result, by using the
Healing Brush, the corrected pixels will blend much better with the rest of the
image, offering a more natural retouch.
• Healing Brush Tool , Spot Concealer , Patch , Red-
 Eye and Content-Aware Motion
Healing Brush Tool
Brush tool lets you correct image imperfections so they disappear. Like
the clone tools, the Healing Brush tool is used to paint with pixels sampled
from an image or pattern. However, the Healing Brush tool also matches the
texture, lighting, transparency, and shading of the sampled pixels to the
pixels being healed. As a result, the repaired pixels blend seamlessly with the
rest of the image. Basically, they allow the content of the area with the
imperfection to be replaced by pixels from another similar area in which there
is no such imperfection.
Healing Brush tool .
1. Select the Healing Brush tool and click the brush swatch in the
options bar and set the brush options in the popup panel:

◦ Mode Specifies the blend mode. Select Replace to preserve noise and
texture at the edges of the brush stroke when using a soft-edged brush.
◦ Origin Specifies the origin to use for pixel repair. Sampled lets you use
pixels from the current image, and Pattern lets you use pixels from a pattern.
If you choose Pattern, select a pattern from the Pattern pop-up panel.
◦ Aligned Samples pixels continuously, without losing the current sample
point, even if you release the mouse button. Deselect Aligned to continue
using the sampled pixels from the initial sample point each time you stop and
resume painting.
◦ Sample Samples the data from the layers you specify. To sample from
the active layer and the underlying visible layers, select Current and
Underlying. To sample from the active layer only, select Current Layer. To
sample from all visible layers, select All Layers. To sample from all visible
layers except adjustment layers, select All Layers and click the Skip
Adjustment Layers icon to the right of the Samples pop-up menu.
2. Define the sample point by placing the pointer over an area of the
image (origin); the area from which it is going to be reproduced (Clone) is
established or selected with a click, as if it were the “ Drop Counter ” to
select a color, we press “ alt ” and click on the area of the source sample (the
cursor becomes a selector+), then we move that sample over the other section
of the image (destination) where we want to insert the new cloned pixels (the
pointer will correspond to that of a brush ⃝).
Spot Healing Brush Tool

Spot Healing Brush tool quickly removes blemishes and other

imperfections from photos. It works similarly to the Healing Brush : Paints
with pixels sampled from an image or pattern and matches the texture,
lighting, transparency, and shadow of the sampled pixels to the pixels being
healed. Unlike the Healing Brush , for the Spot Healing Brush you do not
need to specify a sample point. The Spot Healing Brush automatically
samples the area around the retouched spot.
Using the Spot Healing Brush to remove a blemish
If you need to retouch a larger area or need more control over the source
swatch, it is preferable to use the Healing Brush instead of the Spot Healing
Brush.
The procedure is as follows:
1. Select the Spot Healing Brush tool on the toolbar. If it's not visible,
click the “Group” (J) Healing Brush tool , Patch tool , or Red-eye Brush
tool to show the hidden tools and make your selection.
2. Select a brush size in the options bar. A brush that is a little larger in
size than the area you want to correct works best, as it allows you to cover the
entire area with one click.
3. Choose a blend mode from the Mode menu in the options bar. Select
Replace to preserve noise and texture at the edges of the brush stroke when
using a soft-edged brush.
4. Select a Type option in the options bar.
Fit to environment It uses pixels around the edge of the selection to find
an area to use as a patch.
create texture Uses the pixels in the selection to create a texture. If the
texture doesn't work, try dragging across the area a second time.
According to the content Compare nearby image content to perfectly fill
the selection while maintaining the realism of key details such as shadows
and object edges.
 5. Select Sample All Layers in the options bar to sample data from all
visible layers. Deselect Sample All Layers to sample only data from the
active layer.
6. Click on the area you want to correct, or click and drag to smooth out
imperfections over a larger area.
Patch Tool

The Patch tool allows you to repair a selected area with pixels from
another area or a pattern. Like the Healing Brush tool , the Patch tool
matches the texture, lighting, and shading of sampled pixels to the source
pixels. You can also use the Patch tool to clone isolated areas of an image.
● Repairing an area using the Patch Tool

The region we want to correct is not always circular or has a clearly

defined shape. ( Select a small area for best results ). For those cases, the
Patch tool comes in handy. With it we can remove imperfections from our
images simply by pointing to the outline of the imperfection (as if we were
using the lasso ) and then dragging this region to an area where the pixels
we want to take as a sample are found.
Photoshop, once you have dragged the patch to the area you want to take
as a sample, will apply the retouching maintaining the texture, shadows and
lights of the area to be corrected. Just like we did with the concealer brush.
When selecting the origin area, just as we did with the selection tools, you
can choose between adding to selection , subtracting from selection or
creating intersection of selections, you can also indicate whether the selected
area will be the origin or destination of the selection. correction, and even
select a specific texture as the reason for the correction.
Select the Patch tool and drag the pointer on the image to select the area
you want to repair and select Origin in the options bar. Or else, drag the
pointer on the image to select the area you want to sample and select
Destination in the options bar.
To extract transparent background texture from the sampled area, select
Transparent in the options bar. Deselect this option if you want to completely
replace the target area with the sampled area (as is the default). The
Transparent option works best for solid or gradient backgrounds with
distinctly different textures (such as a bird in a blue sky).
Place the pointer inside the selection and do one of the following:
◦ If Source is selected in the options bar, drag the selection border to
the area you want to sample. When you release the mouse button, the
initially selected area will be patched with the sampled pixels.
◦ If the Destination option is selected in the options bar, drag the
selection border to the area you want to patch. When you release the
mouse button, the newly selected area is patched with the sampled
pixels.
◦The Healing Brush and Patch tools will be very useful to integrate the
sample in the area to be corrected, however, they do not usually work well
when there is a very evident change in brightness or color in that area, since
they will interpret the surrounding pixels of the area to be corrected and will
try to match their lighting and color, which will normally generate a blur. In
these cases it is best to use the clone buffer with a somewhat high hardness to
create that dividing line between the light and dark areas or between the
change of colors. If using the clone stamp creates areas where the touch-up is
noticeable, correct them again with the healing brush or patch.
◦ These three tools are complementary, so remember that you can use all
three together to perfect your touch-ups. Don't limit yourself to just using
one, combine them!
Red Eye Brush Tool .
The last of the healing brushes that you can access via the J key is the
red eye brush . We also find it in the Camera Raw filter.
Simply select this tool, set a marquee around the eye (by clicking and
dragging), and then set the desired pupil size (versus iris) and degree of iris
darkening.
 Red Eye Brush tool removes red eye from flash photos of people and
animals.
Red Eye Brush Tool . Click on the red eye. If you are not satisfied with
the results, undo the correction and optimize the parameters of the following
options in the options bar and click on the red eye again:

Pupil Size Increases or decreases the area affected by the Red Eye Brush
tool.
Darkening Amount Defines the amount of darkening for the correction.
Your cursor will turn into an eye with a cross . If you click and drag,
you will see that you will draw a selection square. What you have to do is
draw this square around the red eye that you want to fix. Do not place both
eyes within the same square, it can confuse and it will surely not work for
you; you must make a selection for each eye. As soon as you release, you will
see that the red pupil will turn dark gray or black.
However, you won't be able to see it in real time, but you'll need to set it
up before you create the square around the red eye. If you don't like it, you
can undo the action from the Edit/Undo menu or from the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl + Z , set it again and redraw the square around the eye. Easy.
The other option is to do it from Camera Raw . The tool is very similar,
but it will leave us more room to act because here we will be able to see the
changes in size and darkening of the pupil in real time. First of all, we will
need to open the Camera Raw Filter from the Camera Raw Filter/Filter Menu
. In the side toolbar we will find the Red Eye Removal icon , which is the
same as the brush that we have seen before.
Similarly, we need to draw a square around the eye for the tool to
automatically create a black pupil. In the bar on the right you will find two
sliders that will allow you to modify the size and darkness of this black pupil
in real time, to adjust it exactly to the eye and the tones of the photograph.
Finally, when we have already adjusted both pupils, we will accept it and we
will have our photograph with the eyes fixed.
In addition, this tool also allows us to remove red (or green) eyes from
our pets. In animals this phenomenon of red eyes occurs very often, and this
is a quick way to solve it. If you notice, in the menu on the right where we
configured the size and darkness of the pupil, there is a small dropdown that
says Red Eyes.
If you press it you will see that Pet Eyes also appears. As with human
eyes, we will have to create a square around each eye with this tool, and from
the Pupil Size slider, play around until we find the size that fits perfectly in
our pet's eye. Also, so that the eye does not remain dull, below you will find
the option Add eye shine, which will include a small shine inside the pupil to
give life to the eye.
Move Tool with Content Detection

The Content-Aware Move tool lets you relocate objects in a photo

(move them around within the photo itself) with little or no trace of their
original location. As they warn in the program manual, the tool is infallible
with uniform funds. It works like a charm with birds in a blue sky, for
example. It is not a very precise tool, but with good use you can greatly speed
up our development beyond the relevant settings.

When selecting the tool we have to go to the configuration bar (at the top
of the interface so that it works exactly as we want:
• Mode: we have two possibilities, Movement to change the location and
Expansion to expand or contract objects.
 • Structure: 7 values to specify how accurately the patch should reflect the
current motifs in the image. 7 is more precise and 1 works more freely.
• Color: 10 values to indicate how we want the color to merge in the new
destination. 0 disables the feature and 10 applies maximum color cast.
• Sample all: To work with all the layers that are part of our file.
• Transform when placing: With this option checked we can change the
size of the selected objects. For example, we can make trees grow or make
church steeples taller.
In Photoshop, a small change to the “ selection ” can improve the result
on the first try. So if you don't like how it looks, do it as many times as you
think necessary until you find the desired look. I always start with some
intermediate values in Structure and Color until I achieve my goal.
● Content Based Fill Tool
This tool, of the Command type, is found in the Edit / Fill According to
Content menu . It focuses on digital retouching and mainly serves to remove
elements from the image using an algorithm that fills the deleted content with
information from the scene around what we deleted.
We have two ways to access this tool.
Fill out.
Menu > Edit > Fill

The first thing we will do is select what we want to remove from the
image, we can use one of the selection tools such as the “ Lasso ” to make
the selection.
 Then we can go to Edit > Fill (Shift + F5). This will bring up a fill tool
pop-up panel, with various options. We will choose the 'Content-aware fill'
option.

As we can see, the interface is very simple in this mode. From top to
bottom we have:
 ◦ Adapt Color (default on): If on, the algorithm takes into account the
contrast and brightness of elements in the image, to create a more accurate
patch.

◦ Blend Mode and Blend Opacity: Here we can select if we want the fill
to be applied with some kind of layer blend mode or with an opacity
percentage. By default it is applied in normal mode at 100%.

The downside of this way of applying content-aware padding is that it

does so destructively. But luckily there is an option that gives us more tools.
Fill According to Content
Menu > Edit > Content Aware Fill

We can activate it from Edition> 'Fill according to content'. This will

open a new panel containing two windows. On the left the selection map and
shows and on the right a preview of the result. This allows us to easily see
how changing the values affects the clone.
 On the left of the panel we will find the following tools:
• Sampling Brush: Allows us to add or remove sampling zones for smart
fill.
• Lasso : It allows us to add or remove areas to fill.
• Hand : allows us to move between the image.
• Magnifying glass: allows us to zoom in or out of the image.

On the right we will see a series of adjustment options for the tool. These
are:
• Show sample area checkbox : Allows us to see a mask superimposed on
the image to identify where the sample or the area to be erased is being taken
from.
• Sampling options: We modify the properties of the mask. We can
change the opacity of this with the opacity slider, we can change the color of
the mask, or we can determine if that mask represents the sample or the area
we're erasing.
• Fill Options: This is where we can fine tune the way the smart fill is
applied. First we have a dropdown for ' Adapt Color' , which will take into
account the overall contrast and brightness. Then we will have another
dropdown for ' Adapt Rotation' , which will take into account curved
elements or variant patterns for a better and smoother texture application.
Below it there will be two boxes. The first is 'scale' takes into account the
sizes of the sample and the element to be erased, to scale the texture (ideal
when erasing elements in a shot with a lot of perspective). The second box is
the ' Mirror' box , it is especially useful in symmetrical shots and what it does
is indicate that the clone is flipped horizontally.
• Output Options: In this drop-down we can tell the tool if we want the
automatic fill to be done on the layer (destructive), on a new layer (Non-
destructive), or on a duplicate of the active layer (semi-destructive). .

The logic behind this tool is that when filling we can be more specific in
how we want to fill, giving (usually) more polished results, as long as the
background is as smooth as possible. When using a photo with a complex
background, the result is not the best.
● Eraser Tool , Background Eraser and Magic Eraser .
Eraser Tool
The first and most obvious is Eraser (E) (the typical "rubber"), which
will allow you to erase the information (pixels) from those areas of the
selected layer on which you apply this tool.

You will have the possibility, through the " Mode " option, to apply the
eraser as if it were a pencil, a square or a brush, each of them having the
properties that we have already described. If you opt for the " Brush" option
, which I recommend because of the greater customization possibilities it
offers, you will have the following options:
◦ Brush Size and Type The brush and pencil define the eraser to act
as these tools. The block is a fixed-size hard-edged square that has no
options to change opacity or flow. For Brush or Pencil modes, select a
brush preset and set the Opacity and Flow options in the options bar
◦ Opacity or intensity of the erasure. An opacity of 100% erases
pixels completely. A lower opacity partially erases pixels.
◦ Flow or degree of action of the tool each time you apply it on a
certain area

Remember that, to be able to work on a layer, it must not be locked. If

you access the Layers Panel , you will be able to see the existing layers, the
visible layers (through the eye icon ), the active layer you are working on
(shaded in a darker tone) and those layers that are locked and cannot be
modified. (via the padlock icon , (like the "Background" layer). Therefore,
every time you are going to delete or make any type of modification to an
image, go to the Layers Panel and make sure that the layer on the you want to
work on is active (selected) and not locked, if it is, unlock it or create a new
layer from it and work on it.
Stroke Smoothing
Photoshop performs intelligent smoothing on brush strokes. Simply enter
a value (0-100) for Smoothing in the options bar when you're working with
one of the following tools:
Brush, Pencil, Mixer Brush, or Eraser. The value 0 is equivalent to the
smoothing function, inherited from previous versions of Photoshop. Higher
values apply increasing amounts of intelligent smoothing to strokes.
Stroke smoothing works in several modes. Click the gear icon ( ) to
activate one or more of the following modes:
◦ Pull Chain Mode: Paints only when the chain is tight. Cursor
movements within the smoothing radius leave no mark.
◦ Stroke Update: Allows the paint to continuously update with the cursor
when you stop the stroke. Disabling this mode stops paint application as soon
as the cursor movement ends.
◦ Update at End of Stroke: Ends the stroke from the last paint position
to the point where you released control of the mouse or stylus.
◦ Adjust for Zoom: Prevents shaky strokes when adjusting the
smoothing. Reduces anti-aliasing when document is enlarged; increases
smoothing when you decrease it.

In photography we will use this tool mainly to erase parts of a layer,

making use of its opacity modes and other settings. We will see below how to
use this wonderful tool:
We saw an example when we studied the selections, when extracting a
person or an object from its background, the edges are not always perfectly
clean, some rest of the background can be adhered to our selection and in
these cases the Eraser tool can be very useful to remove those unwanted
parts. It's a matter of setting an appropriate type, brush size, and opacity.
 Note the difference when applying the eraser with a hard edged Brush
type ● and when applying it with a soft edged Soft Brush type 〇　.
The Eraser tool works in 2 different ways:
1. When you apply it on the “ background ” layer ; which by default
will always be locked (with a padlock symbol) changes the pixels to the
current background color. It will act as if you were painting with a brush ,
just the same result.
2. When you apply it on a “ floating ” layer , the pixels will be removed
(erased), they change to a transparent aspect.
Background Eraser Tool
While the "normal" Eraser doesn't pay attention to what it's erasing, but
just erases (removes all pixels where it's applied), the Background Eraser
tool brings some intelligence to the erasing process.
It consists of only erasing those pixels whose color is similar to that of the
pixels that have been indicated. The Background Eraser tool erases pixels
from a transparent layer as you drag (paint) over it. You can erase the
background while keeping the edges of a foreground object. By specifying
different tolerance and sampling options, you can control the range of
transparency and sharpness of the boundaries.
Background Eraser samples the color in the center of the brush, also
called the hotspot, and removes that color wherever it appears within the
brush. It also performs color extraction on the edges of any foreground
objects, so that color fringes are not visible if the foreground object is later
pasted into another image.

The pointer of this tool has a special shape. It's made of a rounded base
(just like a normal brush) but adds a crosshair in its center ♁ . This is
because this eraser evaluates the color found on the blade and erases it if it is
found on the rest of the tip. Thus, being able to erase a background while
keeping the object that we want to extract from the image intact.
Of course, there are many options to configure this tool and be able to
achieve more successful results.
◦ We'll start with the brush tip settings ●. The tip can be completely
modified. You will have to carry out a few tests until you find the most
suitable combination, although the most interesting options are the following:
Limits option accepts 3 values. Sets the erase limits for the tool. By
default we find Contiguous, which erases the areas with the sampled color,
but only if they are connected to each other. The Not Contiguous option
does the opposite, connected or not, it erases all areas with the sample color
within the brush tip. The latter, Find Edges , acts like the former but
preserves the sharpness of the shape's edges.
Regarding the Tolerance , we could say that it sets the extension of
colors to be erased. A higher tolerance allows colors close to the sampled to
be erased. Whereas a null tolerance would only erase areas with the exact
color of the sample.
Swatches option is relative to the sampled color, and allows you to define
it in the following ways. The Continuous option evaluates each color pixel
that passes the blade and acts accordingly with that sample color. If we chose
Once , the sampled color would be the first one we clicked on, and the eraser
will act on that color as a reference. It is also possible to define a background
color (in the tools panel) and use it as a sample in the draft by activating the
Background Sample option.
If we activate the Protect foreground color checkbox , the eraser will act
normally, but it will be unable to erase areas of color equal to the active
foreground color in the tools panel.
Let's look at an example where we want to remove the background from
the image.
 It also works by detecting the color range that must be specified in the
tolerance box. This time it is about working with a brush that can be
configured according to taste and the needs of the work and that removes a
certain color by means of successive Clicks that we apply to the area that has
to be eliminated. In the image there is the brush with its characteristic cross in
the middle ⊕ , as indicated by the green arrow.
The circle around it represents the size of the brush and therefore the area
to be removed (hotspot). The cross takes the sample of the color and
eliminates it in the ENTIRE EXTENSION OF THE CIRCUMFERENCE.
If you want to use brushes with other shapes, for example, squares, it
does not matter, when you start erasing, the background will also become a
layer as in the case of the “ magic eraser ” .
Going to the green arrow, the background (white) swatch is detected and
removed, but the dark brown color of the pin will remain intact, even though
it's inside the circle.
For this reason we indicate it with the red color similar to a mask. The
cross perceives white with a wide tolerance so brown or any color other than
white will not be affected.
Now let's look at the top of the image. Some of the background has been
removed by applying the eraser to the white area and none of the pins have
been damaged at all. Further down to the right we have applied the brush on
the yellow and we have obtained the opposite effect by protecting the
background and eliminating part of the guitar. For more security regarding
this exercise we have activated the “protect foreground color” box in the
options bar. This helps in detection when we are looking to outline a certain
area.
We remove step by step all the white background around the guitar neck.
Of course this could be done faster with the “ Magic Wand ” (from the
selections tool group) or with the “ Magic Eraser ” itself but we are
practicing with a new tool.
Once the white background has been removed and the guitar is left alone
and clean, we are going to find an image to use as a new background, open it
and place it behind this layer (guitar).
Magic Eraser Tool
The last variant of the "rubber" tool offered by Photoshop is the Magic
Eraser. With this tool you will be able to eliminate all those pixels that have
a color equal to or similar to the one on which you apply the tool.
Clicking on a layer with the Magic Eraser tool removes all similar
pixels, changing it to a transparent look. Remember that you must act on a
floating layer, if you only have one image open in your document, this
"background" image will be locked by default, you can unlock it and work on
it.
You can choose to erase only contiguous pixels or all similar pixels on
the current layer.

Example of how to erase a background with uniform tones and colors

magic eraser tool . Enter a tolerance value to define the range of colors
that can be erased. A low tolerance erases pixels that are within a range of
color values that are very similar to the pixel where you clicked. A high
tolerance extends the range of colors that will be erased.
• Select Smooth to soften the edges of the area you erase.
• Select Contiguous to replace only the pixels contiguous to the
pixel you click, or leave this option deselected to delete all similar pixels
from the image.
• Select Sample All Layers to sample the erased color using the
combined data from all visible layers.
• Specify an opacity to define the intensity of the erasure. An
opacity of 100% erases pixels completely. A lower opacity partially
erases pixels.

Click on the part of the layer you want to delete. All pixels corresponding
to that color will be removed.
• Sharpen , Blur and Finger tool
Sharpen Tool

When we use a focus tool, like the most basic; Sharpen Tool ,
Photoshop increases the contrast in the color of the pixels. This gives a
feeling of increased sharpness (appearance of focus). The focus must be used
with care because if we go too far with it we will oversaturate the image and
the reference of the original colors will be lost.
This tool is applied in the same way as a drawing brush, painting over the
area that we want to highlight its focus, as if you were drawing. Its option
settings are similar to using a brush: Brush Size and Type, Color Mode, and
Opacity.
Do one of the following in the options bar:
◦ Select a brush tip and set options for blend mode and intensity.
◦ Select Sample All Layers to zoom with data from all visible layers. If
this option is not selected, the tool will only use the data from the active
layer.
◦ Select Protect Detail to enhance detail and minimize pixelated artifacts.
Deselect this option if you want to produce more exaggerated sharpening
effects.
Draw (by dragging the pointer) over the area of the image you want to
focus on.
If your photograph is in jpg and does not have major professional
pretensions, with the Sharpen tool we can improve that photograph a lot, as
long as you can make a retouch, which however quick and simple it may be,
will significantly improve that photograph that the camera gave you. In the
example image we retouch some areas of the girl's face that will highlight the
general sharpness of the portrait such as: the mouth, eyes, eyebrows and
details in the clothes.

blur tool

The Blur tool softens hard edges and reduces image detail. The more
paint that is applied to an area with the tool, the more it will blur.
1 . Select the blur tool , and do one of the following in the options bar:
Select a brush tip and set the blend mode and intensity options in the
options bar.
Select Sample All Layers in the options bar to blur using data from all
visible layers. If you deselect this option, the tool uses only the data from the
active layer.
2. Draw (by dragging the pointer) over the area of the image you want to
blur.
To blur any area of the image, just hold down the left mouse button and
paint in the area you want to edit as if it were a brush . The degree of blur
will vary depending on the intensity that we have determined, but in general
the change will be very subtle.
 We configure a soft brush of 18 pixels, pressure 50% making strokes in
circles along the areas where we want to dim the focus, such as the cheeks,
forehead and nose.

finger tool

The Finger Tool of Photoshop is a tool that generates a drag and

movement effect on the colors of the area to which we apply it. Its use is the
same as the rest of the tools. Without letting go of the left mouse button, we
paint over the area we want to blur.
In the finger options, in addition to the usual parameters, we find the
Paint with fingers box. If the option is inactive, the finger will use the ink
itself on which it is applied. When activated your finger can also paint in
addition to dragging. The color you use to paint will be the one activated in
the color picker in the tool panel.
Basically, Photoshop's finger tool simulates an effect like running your
finger across paint that hasn't dried yet. Specifically, the finger tool takes the
color or combination of colors from the point where we start its application
and the path and extends it in the direction that we move the mouse pointer.
Therefore, the finger tool generates a dragging and moving effect on the
colors of the selected area at the beginning and it is achieved without
releasing the left mouse button until we have finished. We can use any of the
preset brushes or created by ourselves to use the finger tool. In addition to the
parameters that we find at the top of Photoshop, if we check the Paint with
fingers option, in addition to the drag effect of the tool, we can paint the color
we choose.

● Dodge Burn and Sponge tool

Dodge, Burn, and Sponge are Exposure Tools. They have the purpose of
manipulating the luminosity and saturation depending on the work area and
what is required in the project.
Dodge Tool
The Dodge tool allows us to slightly modify the exposure of the image, in
very specific areas. Lightens certain areas of the image. This tool simulates a
traditional photo development technique that was used to regulate the
exposure of certain areas of a printed photo. Photographers hold back light to
brighten an area of the print (dodge) or increase the exposure to darken areas
of the print (burn). The more paint that is applied over an area with the
Dodge tool, the lighter it will be.

1. Select the Dodge tool .

2. Select a brush tip and set brush options in the options bar.
3. On the options bar, select one of the following from the Range menu :
Medium tones Change the mid-gray range
Shadows Changes the shaded areas
Illuminations Changes the illuminated areas
4. Specify the exposure for the Dodge or Burn tools.
5. Click the Airbrush button to use the brush as an airbrush. Alternatively,
select the Airbrush option in the Brush panel.
6. Select the Protect Tones option to minimize clipping of shadows and
highlights. This option tries to prevent colors from changing hue.
7. Drag the pointer over the area of the image you want to lighten.
Burn Tool
The Burn tool darkens certain areas of the image. The more paint that is
applied to an area with the Burn tool, the darker the area will be.
Set the options the same as the Dodge tool.
sponge tool
This tool no longer acts on the exposure of the image (this is fully
covered by Dodge and Burn ). The Sponge is a tool that will allow you to
vary the saturation level of those areas on which you apply it. You can apply
a desaturation over certain areas of an image with this tool. Among its
options we find: Size and type of brush to use. Mode: Desaturate or Saturate.
Flow or intensity of the application of the effect in each pass over the area.
 17. Paint Tools Group.

● Brush Tool , Pencil and Mixer Brush

Brush Tool
Sometimes we need to apply color touch-ups or simply fill areas with
different tones, whether they are uniform or combined (gradients). To correct
small imperfections in the background or in a layer we have sometimes used
the specialized “ Clone Plug” tool. However, touch-ups can be done with the
classic painting tool such as brushes. As you can imagine, painting decently
with the mouse is a thing of fantasy. We can do some tweaking, we can cover
large areas of background, we can draw straight horizontal and vertical lines
if we hold down the SHIFT key . But we are always going to have certain
limitations due to the inaccuracy of our pulse. The most frequent use in
Photoshop of the “Brush” tool (B) is when we use it in layer mask mode ,
to remove or hide parts of an image.

The Brush (B) They are based on giving shades of colors, with brushes
or brushes of different types, all of these have their panel , to be manipulated
in the way that best suits, this tool can be worked with others in turn for a
project of large span, where custom shapes need to be colored.
WHEN USING THE PAINT TOOLS AND PRESSING THE ALT. The
pointer will automatically turn into an “ eyedropper ” and will take a color
sample with the click, which will be painted next. That is to say that when
painting with painting tools it is not necessary to go out and measure the
colors from the “Swatches” palette or configure them in the color selector.
Pressing Alt and a simple click turns the brush into a precise eyedropper and
we will take the color sample on the image area that suits us, passing this
sample to be the foreground color in the tools panel .
The Brush tool : Not much different from the Pencil . Basically we can
talk about two differences: the first, the hardness that in the case of the brush
can vary, but not in the case of the pencil, which will always be 100%. The
second, the possibility of setting, in the case of the brush, the value of the
Flow option , which will define the "strength" of the brush each time you
apply it. Thus, a lower flow will mean that the brush will have to be applied
more times to achieve a visible result.
 When smooth adjustments are desired, the flow is usually reduced
considerably, so that each application of the brush is not abrupt, but
progressive, offering greater control. In summary, the brush tool will allow
you greater control and possibilities, so, at least in photo retouching, it will be
much more used than the pencil. Finally, mention one last option of the brush
tool, the "Airbrush" option, the last icon of the options, which will allow you
to indicate to Photoshop that you want the brush to behave like a spray.
Color replacement allows, as its name suggests, to replace a color with the
color you have selected as foreground color.
For example, if having selected this tool, we select the blue color and
paint over the eyes, we will see how the pixels on which it is painted change
color to blue. The options offered by this tool are, as you can see:
◦ The choice of brush size and type
◦ The mode to apply in the substitution: Color, Lightness, Saturation and
Hue. The pixels that will be sampled to determine which ones to apply the
substitution to: progressive, the first pixels affected by the brush, or those
obtained by sampling the background ("reference pixels").
◦ The limits of substitution: contiguous or discontinuous pixels. The
tolerance or percentage of color variation with respect to the reference pixels
that the tool will accept to determine whether to replace a given pixel or not.
pencil tool

If we opt for the Pencil Tool , we will have the following options: You
will be able to vary the pointer and size of the pencil (by clicking the right
mouse button you will also be able to access this option), the blending mode
of what is drawn with the layer on which paints and, finally, the opacity of
the strokes you make.
The pencil tool will also allow you to draw lines if you hold down the
Shift key while clicking on the origin point and the destination point of the
line you want to draw.
Mixer Brush Tool

An especially useful tool in photo restoration, knowing how to use it we

can retouch areas of an image and rescue its colors.
Mixer Brush Tool . If you have ever painted with watercolor, you will
notice that the behavior of this tool is very similar. You load the brush with
the foreground color and, simulating a greater or lesser amount of water
(through the mode and the percentage of humidity), you paint over your
image. The result you get is a mixture of the color of the layer with the color
of the brush , which, as happens in watercolor painting, will depend on the
degree of water that the brush had and its paint load. You can choose other
parameters such as: Load (of paint), Flow, Mix , Sampling of all layers and
not just the front, etc.
The Mixer brush features two paint areas: a reservoir and a reservoir.
The pool stores the final color applied on the canvas and has more capacity.
The warehouse only receives paint from the canvas; its content is
continuously mixed with the colors of the canvas.
1. Select the Mixer Brush Tool ”B”. (If it's not visible, click and hold the
Standard Brush tool to reveal the Mixer brush.)
2 . To load paint into the reservoir, Alt -click on the canvas. Or select a
foreground color .
Brush and Color Windows : Choose any brush you can think of.
Whenever you work with brushes, it is important that you are aware of the
existence of two windows that will give you the possibility of fully
configuring the characteristics of the brush to be used. First of all, through the
“ brush settings ” button or the F5 key, or the Window > Brush option , you
can precisely define the brush model to use. Second, and as an alternative to
choosing the color through the color selector integrated in the Toolbar, the
Window > Color option , also accessible by pressing F6.
When paint is loaded from the canvas, the brush tip reflects any color
variations in the sampled area. If you prefer a solid color across the brush
tips, select Load Solid Colors Only from the Current Brush Load pop-up
menu in the options bar.
3. Select a brush from the Brush Presets panel .
4. On the options bar, set the tool options:
Current brush load sample : In the pop-up panel, click Load Brush to
dip the brush in the color from the pool, or click Clean Brush to remove paint
from the brush. To perform these tasks after each stroke, select the automatic
load or cleanup options.
Preset pop-up menu : Applies popular combinations of Moisture, Load,
and Mix settings.
Humidity : Controls how much paint the brush picks up from the canvas.
Higher value settings produce longer paint lists.
 A) Paint moisture rise: 0% B ) Increase in paint moisture: 100% C )
Increase in charging speed: 1% D) Charge speed increase: 100%.
Burden: Specifies the amount of paint loaded into the pool. At slow
loading speeds paint strokes dry faster
Mixture: Controls the ratio of paint on the canvas to paint in the pool. At
100%, all the paint on the canvas is collected; at 0%, all paint comes from the
pool. (The Humidity setting, however, always determines how the paints mix
on the canvas.)
Sampling of all layers: Picks up the canvas color from all visible layers.
5. Take one or more of the following actions:
◦ To paint, drag over the image.
◦ To draw a straight line, click a starting point on the image. Then hold
down the Shift key and click an end point.
◦ When using the Brush tool as an airbrush, hold down the mouse button
without dragging to add a color.
● Gradient Tool and Paint Bucket
Gradient Tool

The Gradient Tool is used to paint or fill an image or part of it with

color. Creates a gradual blend between various colors. You can select from
preset fountain fills or create your own.
In photography we will use it most often when we are working with
Selections , to create a blend from one end of the selection to the other.
We must remember that to apply a gradient with this tool YOU MUST
CLICK WITH THE POINTER AT THE START, DRAG WITHOUT
RELEASE UNTIL YOU REACH THE END OF THE AREA and finish by
releasing the button.
 1. To fill part of the image, select the desired area. If not, the fountain fill
will be applied to the entire active layer. Select the Gradient Tool.
2. In the options bar at the top, choose a fill from the wide gradient
swatch:
◦ Click the triangle next to the swatch to select a preset fountain fill.
◦ Click inside the swatch to see the Gradient Editor. Select a preset
fountain fill or create a new one.
 3. Select an option to determine how the start point (where the mouse
button is pressed) and end point (where the mouse button is released) affect
the appearance of the gradient.
Linear gradient: Shade from start point to end point in a straight line.

Radial Gradient: Shades from the start point to the end point with a
circular pattern.

Angular gradient: Shadows with a counterclockwise sweep around the

starting point.

Reflected Gradient: Reflects the same linear gradient to the sides of the
starting point.

Diamond Gradient : Shades from the middle to the outer corners of a

diamond pattern.

4. Do one of the following in the options bar:

◦ Specify a blend mode and opacity for the paint.
◦ To reverse the order of colors in a fountain fill, select Reverse.
◦ To create a smoother blend with less bunching, select Dither.
◦ To use a transparency mask for the fountain fill, select
Transparency.
5. Position the pointer at the point in the image where you want to define
the start point of the gradient, and drag to define the end point. To constrain
the line angle to a multiple of 45°, hold down Shift as you drag.
Gradient Editor Overview
Gradient Editor dialog box, click the current gradient swatch in the
options bar. The Gradient Editor dialog allows you to define a new gradient
by modifying a copy of an existing one. You can also add intermediate colors
to a gradient, creating a blend between more than two colors.
 Gradient Editor Dialog Box
A. Gradient Panel Menu B. Opacity Level C. Color Levels D. Adjust
values or remove selected color or opacity level E. Color Midpoint.
Paint Bucket Tool

A very practical tool to fill large spaces with color. This is one of the
most basic, in fact, in more amateur programs such as Paint, the paint can is
present.
Compared to similar tools found in other graphic design programs, the “
Paint Bucket ” tool (G) is much more complex in Photoshop and it is worth
learning about its configuration options before going on to talk about other
features. complex as editable fill layers. The same key (G) houses the “
Gradient ” tool and therefore to select the Boat we have to click on the
corresponding icon to activate it.
This tool is very practical, but at the same time basic. As its name
indicates, it fills an area of an image with color, as a paint pot would do when
it is emptied in a certain area.
With the paint pot we can fill the area of an image that is not delimited or
any layer that we have selected. However, keep in mind that if we define an
area in a layer, the paint bucket will only fill the selected area.
In case of applying it in an area that does not have delimitation, the paint
pot will be in charge of filling the entire layer with the color that we have
selected,
In the event that we want to paint an area that is not delimited, without
the paint pot spreading throughout the layer, we will have to use the selection
tool to delimit the area that we want to paint, without leaving those limits. .
paint bucket tools
The paint pot has a series of its own options to be able to apply different
types of fill. These are located in the options panel, usually located at the top
of the program. When selecting the tool, the tool options bar will be
displayed with the following functions:
Front color or paint with a motif
Foreground color allows painting with the main color , which is the
one selected at the top of the color picker. For its part, when selecting to
paint with a motif , it will not be filled with a flat color, but rather the tool
will present us with a series of options, among them we can choose a series
of textures, patterns, logos or patterns. The program has several reasons
configured that are really useful and we can add many others.
Opacity Opacity allows us to reduce the intensity of the color with which
we are painting, generating a transparency and allowing us to see what is on
the next layer. The less opaque it is, the more we can see between layers.
Tolerance This value allows more or less the limits of the layer where we
are painting. The less tolerance there is, the limits will be restricted only to
places where there is the same color.
 Soften This option allows you to soften the edges of the area to be filled,
so that the pixel map is not so noticeable.
all layers By selecting this option, we will paint on the layer we are
working on, but the tolerance will take into account what has been drawn on
all layers and not just the one we are working on.

A. The original photo with a white background, a selection was applied to

the subject with the Select Subject tool.
B. The selection was inverted: menu > Selection > Invert and the Paint
Bucket tool was applied with the color red as the foreground color.
This way of applying a color is very different from simply filling the
entire background surface of some layer or a selection with the foreground
(Alt + Delete) or background (Ctrl + Delete) color. We will use this mode
when we seek to obtain certain fill effects on a specific part of the image
surface, be it background, layer, etc. It is about generating different shades
between the background or the underlying layer and the applied fill as a
certain blending mode and variable opacity.
• History Brush Tool and History Brush
History Brush Tool
The History Brush Tool: (Y) Used to manipulate the image by retrieving
information from previous steps. Locates the events executed on the image,
such as filters, adjustments, superimposes the characteristics of one step on
another. Widely used in image editing.
The History Brush allows you to go back in your retouching and editing
work in a specific area of the photo, without losing the work done in the rest
of the photo. We can recover a specific area of the skin without losing the 8
or 10 retouching steps carried out on the image as a whole.
 It is closely related to the restoration of old photographs, it is also used to
eliminate white halos that may appear after focusing or retouching a
photograph.
Finally, we also show how to increase the number of steps kept in the
History States that Photoshop remembers while we're retouching a photo.
History Brush tool paints a copy of the selected state or snapshot in the
current image window. This tool allows you to go back to a state or a
snapshot of the active document and apply it, from one layer to another or on
the same layer.
◦ Choose the tool in the Tools panel. The options bar shows the specific
parameters:

◦ Select a status or snapshot in the History panel.

◦ Drag the tool over the document to retrieve the part of the image that
interests you.
In all work with filters, effects, adjustments or touch-ups, the use of this
extraordinary tool is essential. Removing the excess is apparently 99% of its
usefulness, however, although it seems hard to believe, it can also be cloned
from the future.
History Brush Tool
Brush tool paints with stylized strokes that simulate the look of different
painting styles using the selected state or snapshot. This tool is very similar to
the previous one, although it allows you to set more formatting, drawing and
style options.
◦ Select the tool in the Tools panel. The following options bar is
displayed:
 Choose a Brush from the tool preset selector.
◦ Specify a blend mode in the Mode drop-down menu. We usually
work in normal mode.
◦ Define a Style in the menu.
Brush works similar to History Brush , it allows you to go back to a
previous state or snapshot, but it has some extra properties; In addition to
being able to define the size and shape of the brush, the blending mode and
the opacity, you have properties that did not appear in the History Brush :
Style: There are different alternatives when making the layouts.
Area: Specifies the area covered by the brush strokes. The larger the
area, the greater the number of strokes and the larger the area covered by
the brush.
Tolerance : It will determine the appearance of paths in colors more
or less similar to the one on which the historical brush is applied.
Both tools work in conjunction with the History Panel , which is why we
cover it in this chapter, even though they are inside the Tools Panel.
 18. Text Tool
When we need to add text to an image or a design, we can use the tool
that PS offers us for this purpose. The Type Tool (T). This tool is vector and
therefore can be manipulated without distortion, edited at any time and add
all kinds of layer styles.
The options bar.

Let's look at the basic options:

1. List of fonts or typefaces.
2. The style of the letter.
3. The font size.
4. Smoothing method.
5. Alignment.
6. Color Picker.
7. Warp Text.
8. Access to Character and Paragraph Panels.

As with any other tool, as soon as we select the Text tool, the options bar
updates to present us with the options for the tool we just selected.
This tool has two Settings Panels, Character Panel and Paragraph Panel.
In the options bar you can activate it from the corresponding button or from
the Window > Character and Paragraph menu.
Character panel overview
The Character panel provides options for formatting characters. Some
formatting options are also available in the options bar. We can access the
Character panel by doing one of the following:
◦ Choose Window menu > Character , or click the Character panel tab if
the panel is visible but not active. With the text tool selected, click the Panel
button in the options bar.
◦ To set an option in the Character panel , choose a value from the pop-
up menu to the right of the option. For options with numeric values, you can
also use the up and down arrows to set the value, or you can edit the value
directly in the text box.
 A. Select Source . B. Define Font Size. C. Change vertical scale. D.
Vertical displacement. E. Font style. F. Language. G. _ Option menu. H.
Shape of the source. I. Distance between lines. J. _ Distance between
characters. K. Horizontal scale. L. Select font color.
Paragraph Panel Overview
 A. Alignment . B. Left indent. C. Upper space. D. _ Add space before the
paragraph. E. Right indent. F. Lower space.
How to add Text.
When we click with this tool on an image, Photoshop adds a special text
layer, which we can see in the layers panel. Photoshop allows us to add text
in three ways: Point, paragraph and path.
◦ The point is a vertical or horizontal line that starts at the point
where we click.
◦ Paragraph uses bounds to control characters, useful for adding
blocks of text.
◦ Path is a special type of text that flows over a line or path,
following its shape.

At any moment or stage of the writing, be it during or at the end of

writing and confirming the end, what we will do is mark, shade one or more
words or the entire text and go to any of these two palettes where we will
change the size parameters , spacing, line spacing, etc.
The modification is instantaneous so they can toggle and find what suits
them by seeing all the changes at once. To shade the text and make a
modification, the same Windows modality is used, Right Click and drag on
the text to select the part to edit.
There is also a button located at the far left of the options bar for the
text, marked with the letter “ T ”. This button is used to switch between
"Horizontal Text Orientation", that is, to write likewise, horizontally from left
to right, and "Orient Text Vertically". The first is activated by default. If they
need to write a thought vertically, they must activate the second one.
IF YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS YOU
MUST CLICK TO ACTIVATE THE BACKGROUND THUMBNAILS OR
THE LAYER ON WHICH YOU WANT TO PLACE THE TEXT. IF THEY
DO NOT, THE TEXTS CAN BE COMBINED AS A CONTINUATION OF
THE PREVIOUS WRITING.
ANOTHER MENTION: if you need to write the text of a precise
paragraph, you must mark (drag) a bounding rectangle with the mouse and
specify in the window options WHAT TYPE OF JUSTIFICATION will be
applied. The rectangle has handles to be able to modify the size at any time
and adapt it to the needs. If you are looking to do something fun or have
something very personal in mind you can CONVERT VECTOR TEXT
INTO A SHAPE via the LAYER / TEXT / CONVERT TO SHAPE menu.
Change the color of the text .
Entered text appears in the current foreground color ; however, you can
change this color before or after entering the text. When modifying existing
text layers, you can change the color of selected individual characters or all of
the text on a layer.
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Click the Color selection box in the options bar (#6 in the image above)
or in the Character panel and select a color using the Adobe Color Picker.
◦ Click the foreground color selection box in the toolbox (the Adobe
Color Picker Pop-up Panel will open) and select a color. You can also click a
color in the Color panel or the Swatches panel. If you use this method to
change the color of an existing text layer, you must first select the characters
on that layer.
● Changing the color of individual letters
1. Select the Horizontal Type tool .
2. In the Layers panel, select the layer that contains the text.
3. In the document window, select (by shading) the characters you want
to change.
 4. In the options bar at the top of the workspace, click the color swatch
(#6 in the image above).
5 . In the Adobe Color Picker, find your desired color range using the
triangular sliders on the color spectrum bar, then click the desired color in the
color field. The selected color appears in the upper half of the color swatch in
the Adobe Color Picker. The original color remains in the lower half.
6. Click OK. The new color replaces the original color in the options bar,
in the toolbar color box, and in selected characters. We won't see the new
color in the characters until you deselect or select another item.
● Underline or strikethrough text
You can apply a line below horizontal text or to the left or right of
vertical text. You can also apply a line across horizontal or vertical text. The
line is always the same color as the text color.
◦ Select the text you want to underline or strikethrough.
◦ To underline horizontal text, click the Underline button in the
Character panel.
To apply an underline to the left or right of vertical text, choose
Underline Left or Underline Right from the Character panel menu . You
can apply an underline to the left or right, but not both sides. A check mark
indicates that an option is selected.
Note: The Underline Left and Underline Right options only appear in the
Character panel menu when you select a type layer that contains vertical
type.
◦ To apply a horizontal line across horizontal text or a vertical line across
vertical text, click the Strikethrough button in the Character panel . You can
also choose Strikethrough from the Character panel menu.
 19. Navigation Tools Group
Hand Tool and Rotate View and Zoom .
hand tool
The Hand tool is used to move over the visible area of an image. If we
open an image, Photoshop is smart enough to open it at the proper zoom so
that it fits entirely in the image window. But we can extend the zoom and
what will happen is that, if the image does not fit in the Photoshop window,
some lateral and vertical scroll bars will appear that we can move to move the
visible area of the image. The hand would be like a shortcut to avoid using
the scroll bars, which are often quite slow and awkward.
The use is very simple. We select the hand tool (H) in the Photoshop
toolbar, then we move the image, clicking, with the left mouse button,
anywhere on the image and dragging without releasing the click. When we
see the area of the desired image, we can release the left button and the image
will remain in that position of displacement. Only when scroll bars appear in
the image window (because the image has been zoomed in), does it make
sense to use your hand to scroll the viewable area of the image.
Keyboard Spacebar : The hotkey to momentarily select the hand is the
spacebar. At any time, if we press the space key (with any active tool), we
will see that the mouse cursor turns into a hand, with which we can move the
image by clicking and dragging to the position we want to view.

Rotate View Tool

The Rotate View Tool allows you to rotate the canvas non-destructively,
that is, it does not transform the image. This action is useful for various
purposes, for example, to facilitate painting and drawing operations.
In the toolbox, select the Rotate View Tool (H). (If the tool isn't visible,
tap and hold the Hand tool.)
Do one of the following:
 ◦ Drag the pointer on the image. A compass appears pointing to the
"north" of the image regardless of the angle of the canvas.
◦ On the Options Bar, enter degrees in the Rotation Angle field.
◦ Click or drag the Set Rotation Angle circular control.
To restore the original angle of the canvas, click Restore View.

zoom tool
zoom; Enlargement or reduction of the visualization of the images.
Zoom tool or View menu commands to enlarge or reduce an image.
When using the Zoom tool, each click enlarges or reduces the image to the
next preset percentage and centers the image around the point clicked. When
the image has reached the maximum magnification level of 3200% or the
minimum size of 1 pixel, the magnifying glass appears empty.

◦ Select the Zoom tool and click the Zoom In or Zoom Out button on the
options bar. Then click on the area of the image that you want to enlarge or
reduce.
To quickly switch to zoom out mode, hold down Alt (Windows) or
Option (Mac OS). In this way we alternate between increase ( + ) and
decrease ( - ) when we have the Zoom tool activated .
◦ On our main menu, choose View > Zoom In or View > Zoom Out to
zoom in or out, regardless of which tool you're using. We can also achieve it
with the keys " Ctrl and + " to increase and " Ctrl and - " to decrease the
display or Zoom, this is the fastest and easiest way.
◦ Another option to define the zoom level is found in the lower left corner
of the document window, by entering a certain value or in the Navigator
panel .
• Viewing images at 100%
A zoom setting of 100% provides the most accurate view, because each
pixel of the image is displayed on one pixel of the monitor. (At other zoom
settings, the image pixels are interpolated relative to a different number of
monitor pixels.) The 100% view of an image displays an image as it will
appear in a web browser (at the current resolution of the monitor).
◦ Double-clicking the Zoom tool sets the image display to 100%.
◦ Choose View > 100% or click 100% in the Zoom tool or Hand tool
options bar and also with the “ Ctrl + 0 ” shortcut.
◦ Choose View > Actual Pixels, or click Actual Pixels in the Zoom tool or
Hand tool options bar. Enter the value 100% in the status bar and press Enter
(Windows) or Return (Mac OS).
• Increase of a specific area .
Select the Zoom tool. Drag over the part of the image you want to
enlarge. If you select Drag Zoom in the tool options bar, click anywhere on
the image and drag zoom right to enlarge (zoom in) the image or drag zoom
left to reduce (zoom out) the image .
You can deselect Drag Zoom (default) in the options bar if it is selected.
Then, using the zoom tool (+), drag a rectangle to enclose the part of the
image you want to see enlarged. The image is enlarged so that the area you
waxed into the rectangle now covers the entire image window.
Click Fit Screen in the options bar to re-cover the entire image window
with the actual size image.
The area included within the magnification frame is displayed at the
highest possible magnification. To move the marquee around the artwork in
Photoshop, start dragging the marquee, then press and hold Spacebar.
We have seen the zoom tool in 4 ways Different ways to use to change
the magnification of the image (ZOOM):
◦ Clicking with the zoom tool on the image.
◦ Hold down a keyboard modifier while clicking (“Ctrl and +” and
“Ctrl and –“).
◦ Drag to zoom in and out.
◦ Drag to define a zoom area.

The Navigator panel is another quick way to make changes to the zoom
level, especially when the exact percentage of magnification isn't important.
It's also a great way to scroll through an image because the thumbnail shows
you exactly which part of the image we're viewing in the image window.
IV. PHOTOSHOP PANELS.
 20. Panels and their location
Panels , along with the Toolbox and menu , are one of the key elements
of Photoshop 's interface . Most panels support the same appearance and
most of the elements of the palettes.
Dashboards help control and modify work. Panels can be grouped,
stacked or docked.
We will rarely need to view the panels simultaneously. That's why they're
in panel groups and why the program's default settings leave many panels
unopened.
The complete list of panels appears in the Menu / Window. Check marks
appear next to the names that are open and active in your panel groups .
You can open a closed Panel or close an open Panel by selecting the
Panel name from the Window Menu.
You can hide all panels at once, including the Options bar and the Tools
panel, by pressing the Tab key . To reopen it, press Tab again.
We already saw the use of Panels in the panel dock when using the
Layer and Sample Panels . You can drag Panels to or from the Panels dock
. This is convenient for bulky Panels or those that are used only occasionally
but want to keep close at hand.
On the left, elongated, is the Tool Panel. The rest, scattered all over the
screen, are PALETTES OR PANELS. The / WINDOW menu allows you to
activate (place on the screen) or deactivate (remove from the screen) the
panels. When we are going to use any of the tools or apply an effect filter,
etc. and thus produce a change on the image that we are working on, this
action will appear at once in the HISTORY panel and the respective state of
the last action will be located in the bottom position and will be visible with a
darker shading.
If you need to apply a certain color with the brush, for example, you
would click on the tab in the SAMPLES palette and a fan of default colors
will open. From there you can select any by clicking on the sample.
This swatch will become the FORE COLOR (at the bottom of the
toolbox) and will be applied when you use any paint tool, the same action is
achieved by pressing the X key . If the image contains several layers, all of
them appear in the LAYERS panel and can be activated or deactivated
individually so that our action does not take place on the whole set but
individually on the layer we have chosen.
We cannot work with all the panels open at the same time, they would
occupy the entire screen or work area. The previous idea of the Panel
WAREHOUSE is to save space and have them ready at all times, for that we
have the possibility of coupling them and reducing their size when they are
not necessary.
This dark gray space (seen on all panels) allows dragging to other panels
and saving them together. Scattered open panes or windows within the
workspace are inconvenient and get in the way.
To begin with, you can leave only 2 floating panels: LAYERS and
HISTORY , the most used on the spot. These two can also be docked in
pairs, so that by clicking on the strip they shrink/unfold at the same time and
can be activated/deactivated separately by double clicking on the tab that
bears their name. The others can be stored in the dedicated sector of the
options bar and activated only when necessary. You can also drag one panel
onto the other's dark gray stripe and drop, they will stick together, are
magnetic and activate separately with a click.
The LAYERS Panel is the most used because it allows us to manage the
layers present in the image individually or in groups. The HISTORY Panel
shows us step by step the actions executed since we opened the image on the
screen, it allows us to get rid of those unwanted actions, if we make a mistake
in an action we can undo it immediately with the combination Ctrl and Z
(only for actions latest), if we want to go back even further and undo other
actions, activate the History Panel and go back by clicking on the state of the
history that interests you, the state in which the document would be found
will be highlighted with a darker tone. Thus they eliminate the action that
does not suit them. The program will roll everything back to where you've
told it to, but it won't delete the part you don't like.
To delete this permanently right click on the states you want to delete and
remove them one by one or use the button with the icon in the shape of a
trash can and do the same with the right mouse button. If you want to delete
all the states, indicate DELETE HISTORY. The only one that will be
preserved will be the present state.
Dashboard Options:
Each panel offers its own selection of options.
◦ Options menu : by clicking on the icon on the right, a sub menu
is displayed, with commands specific to the panel itself, which allow
 you to manipulate the panel options and adjust your preferences.
◦ Minimize button : if we have the panel at its default size and we
click on the minimize button, the size of is reduced and the opposite
happens if it is minimized. Collapse and expand the Panel.
◦ Panel Tabs - Clicking a panel tab brings it to the front, whether it
is docked to other panels or in the Panels Area. On the other hand, if we
click on the panel tab and keep the mouse click pressed while dragging,
we can dock and undock panels, both in the floating ones and in the
panel area.

● Coupling and uncoupling of panels:

A docked set is a group of panels that are displayed together, usually in a
vertical orientation. Panels are docked and undocked by moving them in and
out of a docked assembly. To dock a panel, drag it by its tab to the stack, top,
bottom, or between other panels. To dock a panel group, drag it by its title
bar (the solid empty bar above the tabs) to the docked set.
To remove a panel or panel group , drag it out of the dock by its tab or
title bar. You can drag it to another dock or make it float freely. The same can
be achieved from the EDIT/THUMB/HISTORY menu . To be able to go
back in actions it is not advisable to set History State from
EDIT/PREFERENCES/GENERAL to more than 20 because it will use too
many resources of our system.
All palettes can be turned on/off from the WINDOWS menu.
As you move panels, you will see drop zones highlighted in blue, areas
where you can move the panel. For example, you can move a panel up or
down in a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop zone above or below
another panel. If you drag to an area that is not a drop zone, the panel floats
freely in the workspace.
Panels can be organized in different ways:
◦ To move an entire Panel group, drag the title bar to another
location on the work area.
◦ To move a panel to another group, drag the Panel tab to that panel
group so that a blue highlight appears within the group, and then release
the mouse button.
 To remove a panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) its
tab and choose Close, or deselect it from the Window menu.
◦ To add a panel, select it from the Window menu and dock it where you
want.
◦ To undock a Panel or Panel group so that it becomes a floating Panel or
Panel group, drag its title bar or panel tab out of the Dock.
When Panels are hidden, a thin strip is visible on the edge of the
document. Hover over the strip to temporarily reveal docked Panels along
that edge.
● Unfolding and Folding Panels.
You can resize Panels to make better use of your workspace and to see
fewer or more Panel options by either dragging or clicking to toggle between
preset sizes:
◦ To collapse Open Panels into icons, click the double arrow [ << ] in the
title bar of the dock or Panels group. To expand a Panel, click its icon or the
double arrow [ >> ].
◦ To change the height of a Panel, drag its bottom edge. To change the
width of the base, position the pointer on the left edge of the base until it
changes to a double-headed arrow, and then drag left to widen the base or
right to narrow it.
◦ To collapse a panel group so that only the header bar and base tabs are
visible, double-click a panel tab or title bar. Double click again to restore it to
expanded view. You can open the panel menu even when the panel is
collapsed.
Note: Some Panels cannot be resized, such as the Character and
Paragraph Panels. But if you can get them. To restore Photoshop's default
workspace, in case it's gotten too cluttered, click the PS app icon in the top
left. You can also restore or modify a workspace from the workspace button
at the top right of our workspace.
 Interface Configuration.
By default, Photoshop Panels, Dialog Boxes, and the background are dark
gray. You can brighten the interface or make other changes in the Edit >
Preferences dialog .
◦ Choose Edit menu > Preferences > Interface.
◦ Select a different color theme or make other changes.
When you select a different theme, you can see the changes immediately.
You can also select specific colors for different display modes and change
other interface settings in this dialog.

Popup Panels.
• Work with pop-up panels
Pop-up panels make it easy to access the available options for brushes,
swatches, gradients, styles, patterns, outlines, and shapes. You can customize
popup panels by renaming and deleting items, as well as loading, saving, and
replacing libraries. You can also change the display of a pop-up panel to see
items by their names, as thumbnail icons, or both.
Click a tool thumbnail in the options bar to display its popup panel. Click
an item in the pop-up panel to select it.
 Displaying the Brush pop-up panel in the options bar
A. Click to display the popup panel. B. Click to see the popup panel
menu.
• Renaming or removing an item from a popup panel
Select an item, click the triangle in the upper right corner of the pop-up
panel, and select one of the following options:
Rename Tool Preset Allows you to enter a new name for the item.
Delete Tool Preset Removes an item from the popup panel.
Customizing the List of Items in a Popup Panel
1. Click the triangle in the upper right corner of the popup panel to access
the panel menu.
2. To return to the default library, select the Restore Tool Presets
command. You can replace the current list or add the default library to the
current list.
3. To load a different library, do one of the following:
◦ Choose the Load Tool Presets command to add a library to the current
list. Next, select the library file you want to use and click Load.
◦ Choose the Replace Tool Presets command to replace the current list
with a different library. Next, select the library file you want to use and click
Load.
◦ Choose a library file (which appears at the bottom of the panel menu).
Then click OK to replace the current list or click Add to add it to the current
list.
4. To save the current list as a library for later use, select the Save Tool
Presets command. Next, enter a name for the library file and click Save.
• Visualization and definition of menus
Display context menus
Context menus display commands relevant to the active tool, selection, or
panel. They are different from the menus at the top of the workspace.

Eyedropper tool context menu

1. Hover over an image or panel item.
2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS).
 21. Photoshop Main Menu Bar.

Photoshop menu bar

It works as the command bridge of our Photoshop. It offers us control

over the files and allows us to access the different functions to edit our
images.
File, Archive: It allows us to access those options related to capture,
export and import and close the images. The same as printing options, color
management preferences, as well as other job preferences.
Edition: It has the options related to the modification and displacement
of images.
Image: This menu is one of the most important Photoshop menus that
allows us to access correction options, color, display of graphics or images,
its measurements, etc...
Layer : shows all the possibilities related to the applications, creations,
transformations, groupings, duplications or combinations that can be made
with the layers.
Text: This menu offers us all the configuration options for our texts in
Photoshop.
Selection: its options allow us to choose between general selection
applications for the entire image or specific applications in a specific
selection.
Filter: we are faced with all the image filter options, with spectacular
effects. This latest CC version offers us the commands and their options in a
very dynamic way.
3D: includes options to work in three dimensions.
View: With this menu we will streamline the processes related to the
measurement and visualization of the image or the preview.
Window: contains most work panes and the toolbox.
Aid: in this menu we get information regarding the use of Photoshop.
 ● Entering values in panels, dialog boxes, and the option bar
A. Menu arrow B . Hand regulator C. Text box D. Dial E. Regulator.
The Options bar of the tool in use .
Using the options bar

The options bar is displayed below the menu bar at the top of the
workspace. The options bar is context sensitive: it changes depending on
which tool is selected. Some options bar settings (such as paint modes and
opacity) apply to multiple tools, while others are specific to one tool.
You can move the options bar in the workspace by using the grab bar to
dock it at the top or bottom of the screen. Tooltips appear when you rest the
pointer over a tool. To show or hide the options bar, choose Window menu >
Options .

Lasso Options Bar

A . Holding bar B . tool information
To restore default settings, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac
OS) the tool icon in the Options bar, and then choose Restore Tool or Restore
All To the context menu.
V. IMAGES MANAGEMENT
 22. Basic information about images
pixels.

If you get close to a photograph, printed or on screen, you will realize that
it does not have delimited edges, but is made up of small squares (in the case
of the screen) or dots (if it is printed).
These squares or dots are what we call pixels . So, in short, photos are
made of pixels. Each pixel has a specific color (RGB or CMYK), so the more
pixels an image has, the more detail you can see in the image.
To measure this, you must take into account the DPI (dots per inch) that
calculates the number of pixels that must be in a space.
As a general rule, when you go to print images, you should make sure
that they have a minimum of 300 dpi so that they look good. Whereas, if you
are going to use them on screen, they should be about 72dpi. If you want you
can increase this number, but not decrease it.
Once you determine the size of an image, if you enlarge it, you will lose a
lot of quality in the photo, making it look pixelated. Images made up of
pixels allow all the colors that make up the photograph to be changed in great
detail. This is due to what I told you at the beginning, that each pixel is a box
of one color.
The pixel is the smallest unit of bitmap images (bitmaps), which are two-
dimensional Cartesian matrices, that is, with vertical and horizontal
coordinates, which determine the position of a pixel in an image. The
memory that a pixel occupies is determined by its value or depth, and
depending on this value, the image will be able to display a greater or lesser
number of colors. They are used in software that is mostly used for editing
real images and videos; examples of these programs are After Effects,
Photoshop, Premiere.
Images in pixel format do not depend so much on the program or
application with which they were created, since the vast majority of
applications that process images can read various formats: .bmp, .jpeg, .gif,
.tiff, .tga. Pixel units require less processing and decoding action. The fact
that each image occupies points, depending on the size of the image, will
occupy more space in memory and will take more time to transfer files of this
type on the network. The resolution in which they are displayed is fixed,
depending on the number of pixels that have been stored in the file.
Obviously, size transformations lead to loss of file information (aliasing).
Beyond this, this type of graph is very good for storing highly complex
textures.
image resolution Number of pixels per inch ( dpi ) of a bitmap image.
Using too low a resolution for a printed image results in pixelation, large
pixels that look very uneven in print. Using a resolution that is too high
(pixels smaller than the output device can produce) increases file size without
improving the quality of the printed output, and slows down artwork printing.
Color Channels Photoshop images have one or more channels, each of
which stores information about the color elements of the image. The default
number of color channels in an image depends on its color mode. By default,
bitmap, grayscale, duotone, and indexed color images have one channel;
RGB and Lab images have three; and CMYK images have four. Channels
are added to all types of images except Bitmap mode images.
The channels of color images are actually grayscale images that represent
each of the color components of the image. For example, an RGB image has
separate channels for each color value: red, green, and blue.
bit depth
Bit depth specifies the amount of color information that is available for
each pixel in an image. The more bits of information per pixel there are, the
more colors are available and the more accurate color representation is seen.
For example, an image with a bit depth of 1 has pixels with two possible
values: black and white. An image with a bit depth of 8 has 28 or 256
possible values. Images in grayscale mode with a bit depth of 8 have 256
possible gray values.
RGB images are made up of three color channels. An RGB image with 8
bits per pixel has 256 possible values for each channel, which means more
than 16 million possible color values. RGB images with 8 bits per channel
are sometimes called 24-bit images (8 bits x 3 channels = 24 bits of data per
pixel).
image size (or pixel dimensions) is the measure of the number of pixels
in the height and width of an image. For example, the digital camera can take
a photo that is 1500 pixels wide and 1000 pixels high. These two
measurements indicate the amount of image data in a photo and determine the
file size.
Resolution is the amount of image data in a given space. It is measured in
pixels per inch (dpi). The more pixels per inch there are, the higher the
resolution. Generally, the higher the resolution, the better the quality of the
printed image. Resolution determines the fineness of detail seen in an image.
Although a digital image contains a specific amount of data, it does not
have a specific physical size or output resolution. As the resolution of an
image changes, the physical dimensions also change; in the same way,
changing the height or width of an image changes the resolution.
You can see the relationship between size and resolution in the size
dialog (choose Image > Resize > Image Size). When modifying one value,
the other two will change accordingly.
File Size The file size of an image is the digital size of the image file
calculated in kilobytes ( K ), megabytes ( MB ), or gigabytes ( GB ). The file
size is proportional to the pixel dimensions of the image. Images with more
pixels show better detail at a given print size, but require more disk space to
store and take longer to edit and print. Consequently, image resolution
becomes a compromise between image quality (capturing all the necessary
data) and file size.
Another factor that affects file size is the file format. Depending on the
different compression methods used in GIF, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF file
formats, file sizes can be very different even with the same pixel dimensions.
Similarly, the depth of color bits and the number of layers and channels in an
image affect file size.
Photoshop supports maximum pixel dimensions of 300,000 by 300,000
pixels per image. This restriction limits the size and print resolution available
for an image.
 23. Image resampling.
Resampling is altering the amount of image data by changing the pixel
dimensions or resolution of the image. Lowering the resolution (reducing the
number of pixels) removes information from the image. If you increase the
resolution (the number of pixels increases), new pixels are added.
Specify an interpolation method to determine how many pixels to add or
remove.

pixel resampling
A. Downsampling B. Original C. Upsampling (selected pixels displayed
for each set of images)
Please note that resampling may result in a lower quality image. For
example, if you resample an image to larger pixel dimensions, the image
becomes larger but loses some detail and sharpness. I was able to Apply the
Unsharp Mask filter to a resampled image to help refocus the details of the
image, it doesn't bring back its quality, but it improves its definition.
The need for resampling can be avoided by scanning or creating the
image with a high enough resolution. If you want to preview the effects of
changing pixel dimensions on screen or in proof prints at different
resolutions, resample a duplicate of the file.
Photoshop resamples images using an interpolation method to assign
color values to new pixels based on the color values of existing pixels. The
method to use is selected in the Image / Image Size menu dialog box .
By approximation A quick, though less accurate method that reproduces
the pixels of an image. This method is used for illustrations with edges that
are not anti-aliased and is used to preserve sharp edges and produce a smaller
file. However, this method can produce jagged effects, which become
apparent when you distort or resize an image or perform various
manipulations on a selection.
Bilinear A method that adds pixels by calculating the average of the
color values of adjacent pixels. Produces average quality results.
Bicubic A more accurate but slower method based on an examination of
the values of adjacent pixels. Using more complex calculations, the Bicubic
option produces smoother tonal gradations than the By Approximation and
Bilinear options.
smoother bicubic A good method for enlarging images based on bicubic
interpolation , but designed to produce smoother results.
Bicubic more focused A good method to reduce the size of an image
based on bicubic interpolation with an improved approach. This method
maintains the detail of a resampled image. If the Bicubic plus focus option
over-focuses some areas of an image, try the Bicubic option.
 24. Creating, opening and importing images.
• Creation of an image or project.

Choose File menu > New. In the New dialog box , type the name of the
image.
Define the width and height. To do this, choose a preset from the Size
menu or type appropriate values in the Width and Height text boxes.
Set the resolution, color mode, and bit depth.
If you have copied a selection to the Clipboard, the image dimensions and
resolution are automatically based on the image data.
Select a canvas color option:
White Fills the background layer with white, the default background
color.
Background Color Fills the background layer with the current
background color.
Transparent The first layer will be transparent, with no color values. The
resulting document contains a single transparent layer.
When you're done, you can save the settings as a preset by clicking Save
Preset , or you can click OK to open the new file.
• Duplication of an image
You can duplicate an entire image (including all its layers, layer masks,
and channels) in available memory without saving to disk.
1. Open the image you want to duplicate.
2. Choose Image > Duplicate .
3. Type a name for the duplicate image.
4. If you want to duplicate the image and merge the layers, select
Duplicate Layers Only . To preserve layers, make sure this option is not
selected.
5. Click OK.
• Opening a file with the Open command
1. Select File > Open . ( Double click on the screen or Ctrl + O )
2. Select the name of the file you want to open. If the file does not appear,
select the option to show all files from the Type pop-up menu (Windows) or
Enable (Mac OS).
3. Click Open . In some cases, a dialog box appears that allows you to
configure format-specific options.
 25. Visualization of images.
• Changing the screen mode

You can use the screen mode options to view images on the full screen.
You can show or hide the menu bar, title bar, and scroll bars.
Press the F key to quickly cycle through display modes.
◦ To display the default mode (menu bar at the top and scroll bars on
the side), select View > Screen Mode > Standard Screen Mode . Or,
click the Screen Mode button on the app bar and select Standard
Screen Mode from the pop-up menu.
◦ To display a full-screen window with a menu bar and a 50% gray
background, but no title or scroll bars, select View > Screen Mode >
Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar . Or, click the Screen mode button
on the app bar and select Full screen mode with menu bar from the pop-
up menu.
◦ To display a window full screen with only a black background (no
title, menu, or scroll bars), select View > Screen Mode > Full Screen
Mode . Or click the Screen Mode button on the app bar and select Full
Screen Mode from the pop-up menu.

• Viewing another area of an image

◦ Use the window scroll bars.
◦ Select the Hand Tool (H) and drag to pan the image. To use the
Hand tool while another tool is selected,
 hold down the spacebar while dragging the image with the mouse.
Navigator panel, right panel of the interface.
A. Panel menu button B . Thumbnail view of an illustration C. Preview
area D. Zoom text box E. Zoom out button F. Zoom control G. Zoom in
button.
 26. Image resizing.
The menu command > Image > Image Size in Photoshop includes a
method to preserve detail and provide better focus when enlarging images.

◦ A pop-up window displays the preview image of the resizing

parameters.
◦ Resizing the dialog box resizes the preview window.
◦ The Rescale Styles option is toggled on and off within the gear menu
in the upper right corner of the dialog.
Dimensions pop-up menu , select different units of measure to display the
dimensions of the final result.
◦ Click the link icon to turn the Constrain Proportions option on or off .
● Resize images
 Resizing Images
1. Select Image > Image Size.
2. To change the unit of measure for the dimension to pixels, click the
triangle next to Dimensions and choose an option from the menu.
3. To keep the original width to height ratio, make sure Constrain
Proportions is turned on. If you want to scale the width and height
independently, click the Constrain Proportions icon to unlink them.
You can change the unit of measure for width and height. To do this,
select the appropriate options from the menus to the right of the Width and
Height text boxes.
4. Do one of the following:
◦ To change the resolution or size of the image and allow the total
number of pixels to adjust proportionally, make sure Resample is
selected and, if necessary, choose an interpolation method from the
Resample menu.
◦ To change the resolution or size of the image without changing the
total number of pixels in the image, deselect Resample.
 VI. COLOR MANAGEMENT.
Color management makes it easy to get consistent colors across digital
cameras, scanners, monitors, and printers. Each of these devices reproduces a
different set of colors, called a color gamut. Moving an image from a digital
camera to a monitor and ultimately to a printer changes the colors of the
image. This change is due to the fact that each device has a different range of
colors and, therefore, the colors are reproduced differently.
Color management converts the colors in the image so that each device
can reproduce them in the same way. Also, the colors you see on your
monitor will be close to the colors in the printed image. All colors may not
match exactly if the printer cannot reproduce the same range of colors as the
monitor.
What is a color management system?
A color management system converts colors with the help of color
profiles. A profile is a mathematical description of a device's color space. For
example, a scanner's profile tells a color management system how the scanner
"sees" colors. Adobe's color management system uses ICC profiles, a format
defined by the International Color Consortium (ICC) as a standard for various
platforms.
Since there is no single color conversion method that is ideal for all types
of graphics, a color management system offers a variety of interpretations, or
conversion methods, so that you can apply an appropriate method to a given
graphic element. For example, a color conversion method that preserves the
correct relationships between colors in a nature photograph can alter colors in
a logo that contains spot colors.
 27. Color modes.
RGB color mode
RGB Color mode uses the RGB model and assigns an intensity value to
each pixel. In 8-bit-per-channel images, intensity values range from 0 (black)
to 255 (white) for each of the RGB (red, green, blue) components of a color
image. For example, a strong red color might have an R-value of 246, a G-
value of 20, and a B-value of 50. If the values of all three components are
identical, a neutral shade of gray is obtained. If the values of all components
is 255, the result is pure white, and pure black if the value is 0.
RGB images use three colors or channels to reproduce colors on the
screen. In 8-bit-per-channel images, all three channels are converted to 24 (8-
bit x 3-channel) bits of color information per pixel. In 24-bit images, all three
channels can reproduce up to 16.7 million colors per pixel. In 48-bit (16-bit
per channel) and 96-bit (32-bit per channel) images, even more colors per
pixel can be reproduced. In addition to being the default mode for new
Photoshop images, the RGB model is used by computer monitors to display
colors. This means that if you are working in color modes other than RGB,
such as CMYK, Photoshop converts the CMYK image to RGB for on-screen
display.
Although RGB is a standard color model, the exact range of colors
represented may vary, depending on the application or display device.
Photoshop's RGB Color mode varies according to the working space setting
specified in the Color Settings dialog box.
CMYK color mode
In CMYK mode , each pixel is assigned a percentage value for process
inks. Lighter colors (highlights) have a small percentage of tint, while darker
colors (shadows) have higher percentages. For example, a bright red might be
2% cyan, 93% magenta, 90% yellow, and 0% black. In CMYK images , pure
white is generated if all four components have values of 0%.
Use the CMYK mode when preparing images to be printed using process
colors. Converting an RGB image to CMYK creates a color separation. The
best thing to do when starting to work with an RGB image is to edit it in
RGB and convert it to CMYK at the end of the editing process. In RGB
mode, you can use the Proof Adjustment commands to simulate the effects of
a CMYK conversion without changing the actual image data. You can also
use CMYK mode to work directly with CMYK images scanned or imported
from high-resolution systems.
Although CMYK is a standard color model, the exact range of colors
represented may vary, depending on the press and printing conditions.
Photoshop's CMYK Color mode varies according to the working space
setting specified in the Color Settings dialog box .
Lab color mode
The CIE L*a*b* ( Lab ) color model is based on the human perception of
color. The numerical values of Lab describe all the colors seen by a person
with normal vision. Because Lab describes the appearance of the color rather
than the amount of colorant needed for a device (such as a monitor, desktop
printer, or digital camera) to produce the color, Lab is considered a device-
independent color model. Color management systems use Lab as a color
reference to predictably transform a color from one color space to another.
The Lab color mode contains a lightness (L) component that ranges from
0 to 100. In the Adobe Color Picker and Color panel, the a component
(green-red axis) and the b component (blue-yellow axis ) can be between
+127 and –128.
Lab images can be saved in different formats: Photoshop, Photoshop
EPS, Large Document Format (PSB), Photoshop PDF, Photoshop RAW,
TIFF, Photoshop DCS 1.0, or Photoshop DCS 2.0. 48-bit (16-bit per channel)
Lab images can be saved in these formats: Photoshop, Large Document
Format (PSB), Photoshop PDF, Photoshop RAW, and TIFF.
grayscale mode
Grayscale mode uses different shades of gray in an image. In 8-bit
images, there can be up to 256 shades of gray. Each pixel in a grayscale
image has a brightness value between 0 (black) and 255 (white). In 16-bit and
32-bit images, the number of tones in an image is much higher than in 8-bit
images.
 28. Selection of colors.
By default in Photoshop, the color picker we find it at the bottom of the
toolbar , where the foreground color is black and the background color is
white . You can change the foreground and background color in different
ways. One way to sample a color is to use the Eyedropper tool to sample
color from an area of the image that you are interested in.
◦ In the Layers panel , select the image or layer you want to sample color
from.
◦ In the Tools panel , select the eyedropper tool .
◦ Click on the desired image area to sample the color.
The foreground color changes in the Tools panel and in the Color panel .
Everything you draw next will be this color until it changes back to the
foreground color.

Photoshop uses the foreground color to paint, fill, and stroke selections,
and the background color to create fountain fills and fill in faded areas of an
image . Foreground and background colors are also used by some special
effect filters.
You can designate a new foreground or background color with the
Eyedropper tool , the Color panel , the Swatches panel , or the Adobe
Color Picker .
The default foreground color is black. and the background white .
● Color selection in the toolbox
The current foreground color appears in the toolbox's top color selection
box, and the background color appears in the bottom box.
 Toolbox foreground and background color boxes
A . Default colors icon B. Toggle colors icon C. Foreground color box
D. Background color box
◦ To change the foreground color, click the top color selection box in
the toolbox and choose a color from the Adobe Color Picker.
◦ To change the background color, click the lower color selection
box in the toolbox and choose a color from the Adobe Color Picker.
◦ To invert the foreground and background colors, click the Toggle
Colors icon in the toolbox.
◦ To restore the default foreground and background colors, click the
Default Colors icon in the toolbox.

● Selecting colors with the Eyedropper tool

Eyedropper tool lets you sample color to designate a new foreground or
background color. You can sample the active image or any other part of the
screen.
1. Select the Eyedropper tool .
2. In the options bar, change the eyedropper sample size by selecting an
option from the Sample Size menu:
1 Point Reads the precise value of the pixel where you clicked.
3 x 3 Average, 5 x 5 Average, 11 x 11 Average, 31 x 31 Average, 51 x 51
Average, 101 x 101 Average Reads the average value of the specified number
of pixels in the area where you clicked. click.
 Select a foreground color with the eyedropper tool
A. 1 point B. Sample average of 5 x 5
3. Select one of the following options from the swatches menu:
all layers Samples the color of all layers in the document.
current layer Samples the color of the layer that is currently active.
4 . To circle with the Eyedropper tool and preview the swatch color on
top of the current foreground color, select Show Swatch Ring .
VII. LAYERS IN PHOTOSHOP
 29. Layer basics.
Photoshop It is a very complete and complex program, so just opening it
can become overwhelming given the number of options, panels and menus it
has. However, before you even start to learn how to use all of its tools, the
main thing is to know how it works. And that is basically learning what
layers are and how they work.
This is one of its main characteristics and, together with the use of masks,
it is the reason why it has become so well known and preferred over the
years. Layers are the building blocks that make up many imaging workflows.
You may be able to do without layers if you only do simple image
adjustments. However, layers help improve efficiency and are essential for
most non-destructive image editing tasks.
layers resemble stacked sheets of acetate. You can see the layers below
through the transparent areas of a layer. If you move a layer in order to place
content on it, it's like sliding an acetate sheet into a stack. Also, if you wish,
you have the possibility to change the opacity of some layer so that its
content is partially transparent.
Knowing this basic utility you will see how a world of possibilities opens
up before your eyes to retouch your photographs.

You can see the layers below through the transparent areas of a layer. If
you move a layer in order to place content on it, it's like sliding an acetate
sheet into a stack. Also, if you wish, you have the possibility to change the
opacity of some layer so that its content is partially transparent.
Layers are used to perform a variety of tasks, including compositing
multiple images, adding text to an image, or adding shapes to vector graphics.
Applying a layer style makes it easy to add special effects like drop shadows
or some kind of glow.
Organization of the layers
Each new image has only one layer. The number of additional layers,
layer sets, and layer effects you can add to your image is limited only by your
computer's memory.
Layer operations are performed in the Layers panel . Layer groups help
you organize and manage layers. You can use groups to organize layers
logically and declutter the Layers panel. You can nest groups within other
groups. You can also use groups to apply attributes and masks to multiple
layers at once.
Layers to allow non-destructive editing
Sometimes it seems as if some layers are devoid of content. Adjustment
layers, for example, only contain color or tonal adjustments that affect the
layers below them. So instead of editing the pixels in the image, you can edit
an adjustment layer and keep the underlying pixels unchanged.
There is a special type of layer called a smart object that contains at least
one content layer. Smart Objects can be morphed (skewed or scaled and
reshaped) without directly editing pixels in the image. It's also possible to edit
the Smart Object as a stand-alone image even after it's placed in a Photoshop
image. In addition to all of the above, Smart Objects support Smart Filter
Effects that allow you to non-destructively apply filters to images in order to
adjust the effects later or, if you prefer, remove them. See Non-destructive
editing.
● Layers panel overview
The Layers panel contains all layers, all layer groups, and all layer
effects in an image. You can use the Layers panel to show and hide layers,
create new layers, and work with layer groups. You can access additional
commands and options in the Layers panel menu.
 Photoshop Layers panel
A. Layers panel menu B. Filter C. Layer group D. Layer E.
Expand/Collapse layer effects F. Layer effect G. Layer thumbnail
● Layers panel display
Choose Window > Layers . Selecting a command from the Layers panel
menu
◦ Click the triangle in the upper right corner of the panel.
Layer Filtering
◦At the top of the Layers panel , filter options help you quickly find key
layers in complex documents. You can display subsets of layers by filtering
by name, type, effect, mode, attribute, or color tag.
● Background and layer conversion
When you create an image with a white or colored background, the
bottom image in the Layers panel is called Background. Images can only
have one background layer. You can't change the stacking order, blending
mode, or opacity of a background layer. However, you can make a
background a normal layer and then modify any of its attributes.
When you create a new image with transparent content, the image does
not have a background layer. The bottom layer doesn't have the limitations of
the background layer: you can move it to any position in the Layers panel
and change its opacity and blending mode.
Convert a background to a layer
1. Double-click Background in the Layers panel, or choose Layer > New
> Layer From Background .
 Convert a layer to a background
1. Select a layer in the Layers panel.
2. Select Layer > New > Background from Layer .
The layer's transparent pixels take on the color of the background, and the
layer is moved to the bottom of the layer stack.
You can't create a background simply by renaming a normal layer to
Background; you need to use the Background from Layer command.
Layer Duplication
It is possible to duplicate the layers in the same image, in another image
or in a new one.
Duplicate a layer or group within an image
1. Select a layer or group in the Layers panel.
2. Do one of the following:
◦ Drag the layer or group onto the Create New Layer button.
◦ Choose Duplicate Layer or Duplicate Group from the Layers menu or
Layers panel menu. Enter a name for the layer or group and click OK.
Duplicate a layer or group to another image
1. Open the source and destination images.
2. In the Source Image Layers panel , select at least one layer or layer
group.
3. Do one of the following:
◦ Drag the layer or group from the Layers panel onto the destination
image.
◦ Select the Move tool and drag the layer from the source image to the
destination image. The duplicated layer or group appears above the active
layer in the destination image's Layers panel . Shift - drag to move the image
content to the same location as it was in the source image (if the source and
destination images have the same pixel dimensions) or to the center of the
document window (if the source images are the same). source and destination
have different dimensions in pixels).
◦ Choose Duplicate Layer or Duplicate Group from the Layers menu or
Layers panel menu . Select the destination document from the Document
pop-up menu and click OK.
◦ Choose Select > All to select all pixels in the layer, and choose Edit >
Copy . Then choose Edit > Paste into Destination Image. (This method copies
only pixels and excludes layer properties, such as blend mode.)
 30. Layer management.
● Rename a layer or a group
When adding layers to an image, it's helpful to choose names that reflect
their content. Descriptive names make it easy to identify layers on the panel.
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Double-click the layer or group name in the Layers panel and enter a
new name.
◦ Alt-click (Windows) or Option-double-click (Mac OS) the layer (not the
name or thumbnail) in the Layers panel . Enter the new name in the Name
text box and click OK.
◦ Select a layer or group and choose Layer Properties or Group Properties
from the Layers menu or the Layers panel menu . Enter the new name in the
Name text box and click OK.
● Rasterization of layers
You can't use the paint tools or filters on layers that contain vector data
(such as text layers, shape layers, vector masks, or Smart Objects) or
generated data (such as fill layers). However, you can rasterize these layers to
convert their content into a flat raster image.
◦ Select the layers you want to rasterize, choose Layer menu > Rasterize ,
then choose an option from the submenu:
Text Rasterizes the text on a text layer. Does not rasterize any other
vector data in the layer.
Shape Rasterizes a shape layer.
Fill Content Rasterizes the fill of a shape layer without including the
vector mask.
● Deleting a layer or a group
Removing layers that are no longer needed reduces the size of the image
file.
◦ To quickly remove empty layers, choose File > Scripts > Remove All
Empty Layers.
1. Select one or more groups or layers in the Layers panel.
2. Do one of the following:
◦ To delete with a confirmation message, click the Delete icon.
Alternatively, choose Layers menu > Delete > Layer or choose Delete Layer
or Delete Group from the Layers panel menu.
 ◦ To delete the layer or group without confirmation, drag it to the Delete
icon, Alt - click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Delete icon, or
press the Delete key .
◦ To remove hidden layers, choose Layer > Remove > Hidden Layers .
To remove linked layers, select a linked layer, choose Layer > Select
Linked Layers , and then delete the layers.
● Export of layers
You can export all layers or visible layers to separate files.
◦ Select File > Scripts > Export Layers to Files .
 31. Selecting, grouping and linking layers.
Layer Selection
You can select one or more work layers. For some activities, such as
painting or making color and tonal adjustments, you can only work with one
layer at a time. A single selected layer is called the active layer. The name of
the active layer appears in the title bar of the document window.
For other activities such as moving, aligning, transforming, or applying
styles in the Styles panel , you can select multiple layers and work on them
simultaneously. You can select layers in the Layers panel or by using the
Move tool (V).
You can also link layers. Unlike when you select multiple layers at the
same time, linked layers stay together when you change the selection in the
Layers panel .
If you don't get the desired results when you use a tool or activate a
command, you may not have the correct layer selected. Check the Layers
panel to make sure you're working on the correct layer.
● Layer selection in the Layers panel
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Click a layer in the Layers panel .
◦ To select multiple contiguous layers, click the first layer, hold down the
Shift key, and click the last layer.
◦ To select multiple discontiguous layers, Ctrl -click (Windows) or
Command-click (Mac OS) them in the Layers panel .
While selecting, Ctrl -click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the
area outside the layer thumbnail. This action is used to select the non-
transparent areas of the layer.
◦ To select all layers, choose Select menu > All Layers .
◦ To select all similar layers (for example, all text layers), select one of
the layers and choose Select > Similar Layers .
◦ To deselect a layer, Ctrl -click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac
OS) the layer.
◦ If you don't want to select any layers, click in the Layers panel below
the background or bottom layer, or choose Selection > Deselect Layers .
● Layer selection in the document window
1. Select the Move tool . Do one of the following:
 ◦ On the Options bar, choose Select Automatically . Then select Layer
from the dropdown menu and click in the document on the layer you want to
select. The topmost layer with pixels under the cursor is selected.
◦ On the Options bar, choose Select Automatically . Then select Group
from the dropdown menu and click in the document on the content you want
to select. The group with pixels under the topmost cursor is selected. If you
click on an ungrouped layer, it is selected.
◦ Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the image and choose
a layer from the context menu. The context menu displays a list of all layers
that contain pixels below the current pointer location.
● Selecting a layer in a group
1. Click the Layers panel group.
2. Click the triangle to the left of the folder icon.
3. Click on an individual layer in the group.
● Layer grouping and linking
Grouping and ungrouping layers
1. Select multiple layers in the Layers panel . Do one of the following:
Select Layer > Group Layers . Alt - drag (Windows) or Option-drag
(Mac OS) the layers to the folder icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to
group them together.
2. To ungroup the layers, select the group, then Layer > Ungroup Layers .
Adding layers to a group
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Select the group in the Layers panel and click the Create New Layer
button .
◦ Drag a layer to the group folder.
◦ Drag a group folder onto another group folder. The group and its layers
move.
◦ Drag an existing group onto the New Group button .
 32. Moving, stacking and locking layers.
● Change the stacking order of layers or groups
The stacking order determines whether a layer appears before or after all
other layers.
By default, the Background layer should remain at the bottom of the
stack. To offset the Background layer , you must first convert it to a normal
layer .

Dragging one layer below another changes the stacking order

1. In the Layers panel , select one or more layers. To select multiple
layers, hold down the Ctrl key and click each layer.
 2. To change the stacking order, do one of the following:
◦ Drag layers up or down in the Layers panel to a new position.
◦ Select Layer > Arrange , then choose Bring to Front, To Front, To Back,
or Send to Back .
◦ Drag the layer or group up or down in the Layers panel . Release the
mouse button when the highlighted line appears where you want to place the
layer or group.
◦ To move a layer to a group, drag it into the group folder. If the group is
closed, the layer will be placed at the bottom of the group.
◦ Select a layer or group, choose Layer > Arrange , and choose a
command from the submenu. If the selected item is in a group, the command
applies to the group's stacking order. If the selected item is not in a group, the
command applies to the Layers panel's stacking order.
◦ To reverse the order of selected layers, choose Layer > Arrange >
Reverse . These options are disabled if you have not selected at least two
layers.
background layer is always at the bottom of the stacking order. Therefore,
the Send to Back command places the selected element directly on top of the
background layer.
● Layer content movement
1. In the Layers panel , select the layers that contain the objects you want
to move.
2. Select the Move tool (V).
You can select the layers you want to move directly in the document
window. On the Move tool options bar , choose Auto Select . Next, select
Layer from the dropdown menu. Shift - click to select multiple layers.
Choose Auto Select and then Group to select the entire group when you
select one of the layers in that group.
3. Do one of the following:
◦ Drag any object from one of the selected layers into the document
window. (All objects on the layer move at the same time.)
◦ Press an arrow key on the keyboard to move the objects 1 pixel.
● Layer lock

You can fully or partially lock layers to protect your content. For
example, you can completely lock a layer when you finish working on it. You
may want to partially block a layer if it has the right transparency and styles,
but you still need to decide where to place it. When you lock a layer, a lock
icon appears to the right of the layer name. The padlock icon appears solid
when the layer is fully locked and hollow when it is partially locked.
● Lock all properties of a layer or group
1. Select a layer or a group.
2. Click the Lock All option in the Layers panel .
Layers in locked groups display a grayed-out lock icon.
● Partial lock of a layer
1. Select a layer.
2. Click one or more lock options in the Layers panel .
Lock transparent pixels Limits the editing to the opaque portions of the
layer. This option is equivalent to the Preserve Transparency option in earlier
versions of Photoshop.
Lock image pixels Prevents layer pixels from being modified by paint
tools.
lock position Prevents pixels in the layer from moving.
For text or shape layers, the Lock Transparency and Lock Image options
are selected by default and cannot be turned off.
● Apply lock options to selected layers or a group
1. Select multiple layers or a group.
2. Choose Lock Layers or Lock All Layers In Group from the Layers
menu or Layers panel menu.
3. Select the lock options and click OK.
 33. Layer Opacity and Blend Modes.
● Specify global and fill opacity for selected layers
The overall opacity of a layer determines the degree to which the layer
hides or shows the layer below it. A layer with 1% opacity is almost
transparent, while a layer with 100% opacity is completely opaque.
In addition to global opacity, which affects any of the layer styles and
blend modes applied to the layer, you can also specify the fill opacity of
layers. Fill opacity only affects pixels, shapes, or text on a layer, and does not
affect the opacity of layer effects such as drop shadows.
1. In the Layers panel , select one or more layers or groups.
2. Change the opacity and fill values. (If you've selected a group, only
Opacity is available.)
To see all the blending options, select Blending Options on the Add a
layer style icon located at the bottom of the Layers panel .
● Specify the blend mode of a layer or group
A layer's blend mode determines how pixels in that layer blend with
underlying pixels in the image. You can create many special effects using
blend modes.
By default, the blend mode of a layer group is Pass Through, which
means that the group does not have any blending properties of its own.
Selecting a different blend mode for a group changes the order in which the
image components are arranged. All the layers in the group are joined first.
The composite group is then treated as a single image and blended with the
rest of the image using the selected blend mode. Therefore, if you choose a
blend mode other than Pass Through for the group, any adjustment layer or
blend mode of layers within the group will not be applied to layers not
included in that group.
1. Select a layer or group in the Layers panel.
2. Choose a blend mode:
Blending Mode pop-up menu .
◦ Choose Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options , then choose an option
from the Blending Mode pop-up menu .
 34. Layer styles and effects.
● About layer styles and effects
Photoshop provides many effects such as shadows, glows, or bevels that
allow you to change the appearance of the content of a layer. Layer effects
are linked to the content of the layer. When you move or edit the content of
the layer, the same effects are applied to the modified content. For example,
if you apply a drop shadow to a type layer and add more text, a drop shadow
is automatically added to the new text.
A layer style consists of an effect or effects that are applied to a layer or
group of layers. You can apply one of the preset styles provided by
Photoshop, or you can create a custom style using the Layer Style dialog box.
The layer effects icon appears to the right of the layer name in the Layers
panel. You can expand the style in the Layers panel to view or edit the effects
that make up the style.

Layers panel showing a layer to which various effects have been applied
A. Layer effects icon B. Click to expand and show layer effects C. Layer
effects
When a custom style is saved, it becomes a preset style. Style presets
appear in the Styles panel and can be applied to a layer or group with the
click of a button.
● Application of preset styles
Preset styles can be applied using the Styles panel . The layer styles
provided by Photoshop are grouped into libraries based on their function. For
example, one library contains styles for creating web buttons, and another
library contains styles for adding effects to text. To access these styles, you
must load the appropriate library.
Layer styles cannot be applied to a background, locked layer, or group.
● Styles panel display
Window menu > Styles.
● Applying a preset style to a layer

In general, applying a preset style overrides the current layer style.

However, you can add the attributes of a second style to those of the current
style.
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Click a style in the Styles panel to apply it to selected layers. Drag a
style from the Styles panel onto a layer in the Layers panel.
◦ Drag a style from the Styles panel to the document window and release
the mouse button when the pointer is over the content of the layer you want
to apply the style to.
Hold down Shift while clicking or dragging to add (rather than replace)
the style to an effect on the target layer.
◦ Select Layer > Layer Style > Blend Options and click the word Styles in
the Layer Style dialog (first item in the list, left of the dialog). Click the style
you want to apply, and then click OK.
◦ When using the shape or pen tools in shape layer mode, select a style
from the pop-up panel in the options bar before drawing the shape.
 35. Creation and management of layers and
groups.
When you create layers and groups, a new layer appears above the
selected layer or in the selected group in the Layers panel.
● Create a layer or a group
1. Do one of the following:
◦ To create a layer or group with default options, click the Create New
Layer or New Group buttons in the Layers panel.
◦ Select Layer > New > Layer or Layer > New > Group.
◦ Choose New Layer or New Group from the Layers panel menu.
2. Set the layer options and click OK:
Name Specifies a name for the layer or group.
Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask This option is not
available for groups.
Color Assigns a color to the layer or group in the Layers panel.
Mode Specifies a blend mode for the layer or group. (See Blend Modes.)
Opacity Specifies an opacity level for the layer or group.
Fill with Neutral Color Fills the layer with a preset neutral color.
To add the selected layers to a new group, choose Layer > Group Layers ,
or Shift-click the New Group button at the bottom of the Layers panel.
● Viewing layers and groups within a group
◦ Do one of the following to open the group:
◦ Click the triangle to the left of the folder icon .
◦ Right-click the triangle that appears to the left of the folder icon, and
then select Open this group .
◦ Alt-click (Windows) the triangle to open or close a group and the groups
nested within it.
 36. Creating Layered Masks.
You can add a mask to a layer and use it to hide certain parts of the layer
and show the layers below it. Layer masking is a valuable compositing
technique for combining multiple photos into a single image or applying local
color or tonal corrections.
You can use masks to hide certain parts of a layer and show parts of
lower layers.
You can create two types of skins:
◦ Layer masks are resolution-dependent bitmap images that are edited
with the paint and selection tools.
◦ Vector masks are resolution-independent and are created with a shape
or pen tool.
Layer masks and vector masks are non-destructive, as they can always be
re-edited without losing the pixels they hide.
In the Layers panel, both layer and vector masks appear as an additional
thumbnail to the right of the layer thumbnail. In the layer mask this
thumbnail represents the grayscale channel that is created by adding the layer
mask. The thumbnail of the vector mask represents the path by which the
content of the layer is clipped.
If you want to create a layer or vector mask on the background layer, first
convert it to a normal layer (Layer > New > Layer From Background).

Layer mask
 A. Layer mask thumbnail B. Vector mask thumbnail C. Vector mask
link icon D. Add mask.
You can edit a layer mask to add or subtract elements from the region
covered by the mask. A layer mask is a grayscale image, so areas you paint
black will be hidden, areas you paint white will be visible, and areas painted
in shades of gray will appear at various levels of transparency.

Black painted background; gray painted description card; white painted

basket
A vector mask creates a sharp-edged shape on a layer and is useful
whenever you want to add design elements with clear, sharp edges. Once
you've created a layer with a vector mask, you can apply one or more layer
styles to it, edit them if necessary, and instantly access a button, panel, or
other web design element.
panels Properties or Masks provide additional controls for adjusting the
masks. You can change the opacity of the mask so that more or less of the
masked content is shown, invert the mask, or refine its edges just as you can
with selection areas.
mask panel and Properties panel
A. Layer Mask. B. Vector Mask. C. Apply Mask.
● Adding layer masks
By adding a layer mask, you can hide or show the entire layer, or base the
mask on a selection or transparency. In addition, you can paint on the mask to
precisely hide parts of the layer and reveal underlying layers.
Add a mask that shows or hides the entire layer
1. Check that no part of the image is selected. Choose Selection >
Deselect.
2. In the Layers panel, select the layer or group.
3. Do one of the following:
◦ To create a vector mask that shows the entire layer, click the Add Layer
Mask button in the Layers panel or choose Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal All.
◦ To create a mask that hides the entire layer, Alt-click (Windows) or
Option-click (Mac OS) the Add Layer Mask button, or choose Layer > Layer
Mask > Hide All .
● Adding a layer mask that hides part of a layer
1. In the Layers panel , select the layer or group.
2. Select the image area and do one of the following:
◦ Click the Add Layer Mask button in the Layers panel to create a mask
that shows the selection.
◦ Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the Add Layer Mask
button in the Layers panel to create a mask that hides the selection.
◦ Select Layer > Layer Mask > Reveal Selection or Hide Selection.
● Creating a mask from layer transparency
If you want to directly edit the transparency of a layer, create a mask from
this data. This technique is useful for videos and 3D workflows.
1. In the Layers panel, select the layer.
2. Choose Layer > Layer Mask > From Transparency .
Photoshop converts the transparency to an opaque color, hidden by the
newly created mask. The opaque color varies considerably, depending on the
filters and processing that has been previously applied to the layer.
● Applying a layer mask from another layer
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ To move the mask to another layer, drag the mask to the other layer.
◦ To duplicate the mask, Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS)
the mask to another layer.
● Turning a layer mask on or off
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Select the layer that contains the layer mask you want to turn on or off,
then click the Mask On/Off button in the Properties panel .
◦ Shift-click the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel.
◦ Choose the layer with the layer mask you want to turn on or off, and
select Layer > Layer Mask > Off or Layer > Layer Mask > On.
When the mask is off, a red X appears over the mask thumbnail in the
Layers panel, and its contents appear without mask effects.
● Apply or remove a layer mask
You can apply a layer mask to permanently remove hidden portions of
the layer. Since masks are stored as alpha channels, applying and removing
layer masks can help reduce file size. You can also remove layer masks
without applying the changes.
1. In the Layers panel , select the layer that contains the layer mask.
2. In the Masks panel, click the Pixel Mask button.
3. Do one of the following:
To remove the layer mask after permanently applying it to the layer, click
the Apply Mask icon at the bottom of the Properties and Masks panels.
To remove the layer mask without applying it to the layer, click the
Delete button at the bottom of the Masks panel, and then click Delete.
You can also apply or remove layer masks using the Layer menu.
• Change the color or opacity of the layer mask's acetate sheet
1. Do one of the following:
◦ Double-click the layer mask thumbnail.
◦ Double-click the layer mask channel in the Channels panel.
2. To select a new color for the mask, click a color swatch in the Layer
Mask Display Options dialog box and select a new color.
3. To change the opacity, enter a value between 0% and 100%.
Both the color and opacity settings affect only the appearance of the mask
and not how the underlying areas are protected. For example, you can change
these settings to make masks easier to see over colors in the image.
4. Click OK.
VIII. ADJUSTMENTS IN THE IMAGE
 37. Image blur stabilization.
Photoshop has a clever mechanism to automatically reduce image blur
caused by camera shake. If necessary, advanced settings can be adjusted to
further fine-tune the image. The image stabilization filter in the Filter >
Sharpen menu can reduce blur caused by various types of camera shake,
including linear, arcing, rotating, and zigzag motion.
Images suitable for image stabilization
Image stabilization works best with still images that are well lit and have
little noise. The following types of still images are especially suitable for
image stabilization:
Indoor and outdoor images captured using a lens with a long focal length
Indoor images of a static scene captured with a slow shutter speed and no
flash
Additionally, image stabilization can help improve the sharpness of
blurred text in images affected by camera shake.
Using automatic image stabilization
1. Open the image.
2. Select Filter > Sharpen > Shake Stabilizer . Photoshop automatically
analyzes the area of the image best suited for stabilization, determines the
nature of the blur, and extrapolates the appropriate corrections to the entire
image. The corrected image is displayed for review in the Image Stabilizer
dialog.
 If you don't see any image correction in the Image Stabilizer dialog, make
sure the Preview option in the right pane is turned on.
Using Multiple Blur Traces to Stabilize the Image
A blur trace represents the shape and extent of the blur that affects a
selected region of the image. Different regions of the image can have
differently shaped blurs. Automatic image stabilization only considers the
blur trace corresponding to the region of the image that Photoshop has
determined to be the best for determining blur. To further refine the image,
you can have Photoshop calculate and take into account the blur trails of
various regions.
Available blur trails are listed in the Advanced panel of the Shake
Reduction dialog. You can click on a blur path to enlarge it.
 38. Adjusting the focus and blur of the image.
Sharpening improves the definition of the edges of an image. Whether
from a digital camera or scanner, most images can benefit from the focus
operation. The degree of focus required varies depending on the quality of the
digital camera or scanner. Note that sharpening cannot correct a very out-of-
focus image.
◦ Tips to improve focus:
◦ Focus the image on a separate layer so you can refocus it later if
you are going to use a different output medium.
◦ If you focus the image on a separate layer, set the layer's blend
mode to Luminosity to avoid color drift at the edges.
◦ Sharpening increases the contrast of images. If highlights or
shadows appear clipped after sharpening, use the layer blending controls
(if you sharpen a separate layer) to avoid focusing on highlights and
shadows.
◦ Reduce image noise before sharpening, otherwise the noise level
will increase.
◦ Sharpen the image several times in small amounts. The first time,
focus it to correct the blur caused by capturing the image (scanning it or
taking it with a digital camera). After making color and size corrections,
sharpen the image (or a copy of it) again to add the proper amount of
sharpening for the output medium you'll be using.
◦ If possible, use the final output medium to determine the amount of
sharpening required, as this varies from one output medium to another.

Use the Unsharp Mask filter or Soft Sharpen filter to better control the
focus of images. Although Photoshop also has Sharpen , Sharpen Edges , and
Sharpen More filter options, these filters are automatic and do not provide
any controls or options.
You can sharpen the entire image or just a portion defined by a selection
or mask. Because the Unsharp Mask and Soft Sharpen filters can only be
applied to one layer at a time, you may need to combine layers or flatten the
file to sharpen all image layers in a multi-layer file.
Note: The name Unsharp Mask comes from a traditional photographic
technique used in darkrooms during the development of film reels. The filter
is used to sharpen images.
● Sharpen with the Soft Sharpen filter
The Soft Sharpen filter offers sharpening controls not available in the
Unsharp Mask filter. You can define the sharpening algorithm or control the
amount of sharpening in the shadow and highlight areas.

Smooth Focus Dialog Box

1. Zoom the document window up to 100% to get an accurate view
of the focus.
2. Select Filter > Sharpen > Soften Sharpen .
3. Define the controls on the Sharpen tab:

Amount Defines the amount of focus. A higher value increases the

contrast between edge pixels, producing a sharper appearance.
Radius Determines the number of pixels around the edge pixels affected
by sharpening. The larger the radius value, the wider the edge effects and the
more obvious the focus.
Reduce noise (Photoshop CC only) Reduces unwanted noise without
affecting important edges.
Remove Defines the sharpening algorithm used to sharpen the image.
◦ Gaussian Blur is the method used by the Unsharp Mask filter.
◦ Lens Blur detects edges and image detail; offers more precise focus
on detail and less focus fringing.
◦ Motion Blur attempts to reduce the effects of blurring due to
movement of the camera or the subject being photographed. Set the
 Angle control if you select Motion Blur.

Angle Defines the direction of movement for the Motion Blur option of
the Remove control.
4 . Adjust the focus of dark and light areas using the Shadow and
Highlight tabs. (Click the Advanced button to display the tabs.) If too
strong dark or light out-of-focus fringes appear, you can reduce them
with these controls, which are only available for 8-bit and 16-bit-per-
channel images:
Transition Quantity Adjusts the amount of focus on highlights or
shadows.
pitch width Controls the range of tones of the modified shadows or
highlights. Move the slider left or right to decrease or increase the Tonal
Width value. Lower values limit adjustments to the darkest areas in Shadow
Correction and only the lightest areas in Highlight Correction.
Radius Controls the size of the area surrounding each pixel that is used to
determine whether it belongs to the shadows or the highlights. Moving the
slider to the left specifies a smaller area; moving it to the right specifies a
larger area.
5. Click OK.
 39. Applying the Brightness/Contrast adjustment.
The Brightness/Contrast adjustment allows you to make simple
adjustments to the tonal range of an image. Moving the brightness slider to
the right increases the tonal values and expands the highlights in the image,
while moving it to the left decreases the values and expands the shadows.
The Contrast slider increases or decreases the overall range of tonal values in
the image.
In normal mode, Brightness/Contrast applies proportional (non-linear)
adjustments to the image layer, just like the Levels and Curves adjustments
. When Use Legacy is selected, the Brightness/Contrast value simply changes
all pixel values higher or lower when adjusting the brightness. As this can
cause reduced or lost image detail in highlight or shadow areas, using the
Brightness/Contrast adjustment in Legacy mode is not recommended for
photographic images (but can be useful for editing masks or scientific
images).
1. Do one of the following:
◦ Click the Brightness/Contrast icon in the Adjustments panel.
◦ Select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Brightness/Contrast .
Click OK on the New Layer dialog .

You can also choose Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast . Keep
in mind, however, that with this procedure, adjustments are applied directly
to the image layer and information is removed from the image.
2. In the Adjustments panel or Properties panel, drag the sliders to adjust
the brightness and contrast.
Dragging to the left decreases the level, and dragging to the right
increases it. The number to the right of each slider reflects the brightness or
contrast value. Values can be between -150 and +150 for Brightness and -50
and +100 for Contrast.
 40. Adjustment and fill layers.
About Adjustment and Fill Layers
An adjustment layer applies color and tonal adjustments to the image
without permanently changing pixel values. For example, instead of
performing a levels or curves adjustment directly on the image, you can
create a levels or curves adjustment layer. Color and tonal adjustments are
stored in the adjustment layer and are applied to all layers below it. You can
fix multiple layers with a single adjustment instead of adjusting each layer
separately. Changes can be discarded and the original image restored at any
time.
Fill layers let you fill a layer with a solid color, gradient, or pattern.
Unlike adjustment layers, fill layers do not affect the layers below them.
◦ Adjustment layers offer the following benefits:
◦ Non-destructive edits . You can try various adjustments and come
back to edit the adjustment layer whenever you want. You can also
reduce the effect of the adjustment by lowering the layer's opacity.
◦ Selective editing . Paint over the adjustment layer's image mask to
apply an adjustment to part of an image. Once this is done, you can go
back to editing the layer's mask to control which parts of the image are
adjusted. You can paint on the mask with different shades of gray to
vary the fit.
◦ Ability to apply adjustments to multiple images . Copy and
paste adjustment layers between images to apply the same color and
tonal adjustments.

Adjustment layers have many characteristics in common with other

layers. You can adjust their opacity and blend mode and group them to apply
the adjustment to specific layers. In the same way, you can turn the visibility
on and off to apply the effect or preview it.
 Original (left); adjustment layer applied to the barn only, allowing it to
be seen in more detail; and adjustment layer applied to the entire image
(right), which lightens all elements, but pixelates the clouds.
Because adjustment layers contain adjustment data rather than pixels,
they increase file size much less than standard pixel layers. If you are
working with a larger than normal file, you may want to reduce the file size
by combining adjustment layers with pixel layers.
● Create and limit adjustment and fill layers
Adjustment and fill layers have the same opacity and blending mode
options as image layers. You can rearrange, delete, hide, and duplicate them
just as you create image layers.
● Create an adjustment layer
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Click the New Adjustment Layer button at the bottom of the
Layers panel and select an adjustment layer type.
◦ Choose Layer > New Adjustment Layer and select the option that
interests you. Give the layer a name, set layer options, and click OK.

To limit an adjustment layer's effects to specific image layers, select the

image layers, choose Layer > New > Group From Layers, and change the
mode from Pass Through to any other blend mode. Next, place the
adjustment layer on top of the layer group.
● Creating a fill layer
◦ Do one of the following:
◦ Choose Layer > New Fill Layer and select the option that interests
you. Give the layer a name, set layer options, and click OK.
◦ Click the New Adjustment Layer button at the bottom of the
 Layers panel and select a fill layer type.

Color Fills the adjustment layer with the current foreground color. Use
the Color Picker to select a different fill color.
Gradient Click the gradient to access the Gradient Editor, or click the
inverted arrow and select a gradient from the pop-up panel. Define other
options if you consider it necessary.
Style specifies the shape of the gradient.
Angle , specifies the angle at which the gradient is applied.
Scale , changes the size of the gradient. Reverse changes the orientation
of the gradient.
Dither reduces banding by applying a dither to the gradient.
Align To Layer uses the layer's bounding box to calculate the fountain
fill. Drag in the image window to move the center of the gradient.
Pattern: Click on the pattern and choose a pattern from the pop-up panel.
Click Scale and type a value or drag the slider. Click Snap to Origin to make
the pattern origin the same as the document origin. Select Link With Layer
if you want the pattern to move with the layer as it moves. When Link to
Layer is selected, you can drag in the image to position the pattern while the
Pattern Fill dialog box is open .
 41. Hue and saturation adjustment.
Hue/Saturation lets you adjust the hue, saturation, and lightness of a
specific range of colors in an image, or adjust all colors in an image at once.
This setting is especially useful for readjusting colors in a CMYK image so
that they are within the gamut of an output device.
● Applying the Hue/Saturation adjustment
1. Click the Hue/Saturation icon in the Adjustments panel. You can
also do this by choosing Layer menu > New Adjustment Layer >
Hue/Saturation . Click OK on the New Layer dialog .
The two color bars in the dialog box represent colors in the order they are
displayed on the color wheel. The top color bar shows the color before the
adjustment; the bottom bar shows how the adjustment affects all tones at full
saturation.
You can also choose Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation menu . Keep
in mind, however, that with this procedure, adjustments are applied directly
to the image layer and information is removed from the image.
2. In the Properties panel , choose from the menu to the right of the
Image Adjust tool:

◦ Select All to adjust all colors at once.

◦ Select one of the other predefined color ranges in the list for the
color you want to adjust. To modify the color gamut, see Specifying the
Color Gamut Adjusted Using Hue/Saturation.
◦ Choose a Hue/Saturation preset from the Presets menu.

3. For Hue , enter a value or drag the slider until you get the colors you
want.
The values shown in the box reflect the number of degrees of rotation
around the wheel from the pixel's original color. A positive value indicates
clockwise rotation, and a negative value indicates counterclockwise rotation.
Values can be between -180 and +180.
4. Under Saturation , type a value or drag the slider to the right to increase
the saturation or to the left to decrease it.
 42. Applying the Color Balance adjustment.
Color Balance command changes the global mix of colors in an image to
achieve general color corrections.
1. Make sure the composite channel is selected in the Channels panel.
This command is only available if you are viewing the composite channel.
2. Do one of the following:
◦ Click the Color Balance icon from the Settings panel.
◦ Select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance . Click OK
on the New Layer dialog.

You can also choose Image > Adjustments > Color Balance . Keep in
mind, however, that with this procedure, adjustments are applied directly to
the image layer and information is removed from the image.
3. In the Properties panel, select Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights to
select the tonal range in which you want to focus the changes.
4 . Select Preserve Luminosity to prevent the image's luminosity values
from changing while the color changes. This option maintains the tonal
balance of the image.
5. Drag a slider to the color you want to increase in the image; drag a
slider away from the color you want to decrease in the image.
The values above the color bars show the color changes of the red, green,
and blue channels. (In Lab images, the values are for channels A and B).
Values can be between -100 and +100.
● Changing the color balance using the Photo Filter command
The Photo Filter setting It mimics the technique of placing a colored
filter in front of the camera lens to adjust the balance and color temperature
of the light transmitted through the lens and expose the film. The Photo Filter
setting lets you choose a preset color to apply a tonal adjustment to an image.
If you want to apply a custom color setting, the Photo Filter setting lets you
specify a color using the Adobe Color Picker.
1. Click the Photo Filter icon in the Adjustments panel . Or choose
Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter . Click OK on the New Layer
dialog. You can also choose Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter. Keep in
mind, however, that with this procedure, adjustments are applied directly to
the image layer and information is removed from the image.
 2. In the Adjustments panel , select a preset or custom filter color. For a
custom filter, select the Color option and click the color square to use the
Adobe Color Picker to specify a color for a custom color filter. For a filter
preset, select the Filter option and choose one of the presets from the Filter
menu :
Warm filter (85 and LBA) and cold filter (80 and LBB) Color
conversion filters that adjust the white balance of an image. If an image was
photographed with a low color temperature of light (yellowish), the cool filter
(80) adds blue to the colors in the image to compensate for the low color
temperature of the ambient light. Conversely, if an image was photographed
with a high color temperature of light (bluish), the warm filter (85) makes the
colors in the image warmer to compensate for the high color temperature of
the ambient light. .
Warm filter (81) and cold filter (82) Use light balance filters for minor
adjustments to the color quality of an image. The warm filter (81) makes the
image warmer (more yellow) and the cool filter (82) makes the image cooler
(more blue).
individual colors Apply a tone adjustment to the image based on the
color preset you select. The choice of color will depend on how you are going
to use the Photo Filter setting. If your photo has a color tint, you can choose a
complementary color to neutralize it. You can also apply colors for special
color effects or to enhance your photo. For example, the Underwater color
simulates the blue-green tint of underwater photos.
Make sure Preview is selected to see the results of applying a color filter.
If you want to prevent the image from getting darker when you add the color
filter, make sure the Preserve Brightness option is selected.
3 . To adjust the amount of color applied to the image, use the Density
slider or enter a percentage in the Density box. A high density value
intensifies the color adjustment.
 43. Converting a color image to black and white.
Black and White setting allows you to convert a color image to
grayscale, but retains full control over the method of converting the
individual colors. You can also tint grayscale by applying a color tone to the
image, for example, to create a sepia effect.
1 . Black and white click icon in the Settings pane . Or choose Layer
> New Adjustment Layer > Black & White. In the New Layer dialog , type a
name for the adjustment layer and click OK.
grayscale conversion by default. You can also choose Image >
Adjustments > Black & White. Keep in mind, however, that with this
procedure, adjustments are applied directly to the image layer and
information is removed from the image.
2. Choose a Black & White preset from the Presets menu in the Properties
panel.
3. In the Properties panel, manually adjust the conversion using the color
sliders, apply an automatic conversion, or select a previously saved custom
blend.
Preset Menu Select a predefined grayscale blend or a previously saved
blend. To save a mix, choose Save Black & White Preset from the panel
menu.
Auto Sets a grayscale mix based on the color values in the image by
maximizing the distribution of gray values. Automix often produces excellent
results, or can be used as a starting point for adjusting gray values with the
color sliders.
color sliders Adjust the shades of gray for specific colors in an image.
Drag the slider left to darken or right to lighten shades of gray from the
original color of an image.
◦ To adjust a particular color component, select the Image
Adjustment tool, then click the image. Drag the cursor left or right to
change the predominant color slider for that location to make it darker or
brighter.
◦ Click the Restore button to restore the default grayscale conversion
for all sliders.

Preview Deselect to view the image in its original color mode.

 4. To apply a color tone, select Hue . To adjust the color of the tint, click
the color swatch to open the Color Picker .
IX. FILTERS AND EFFECTS.
 44. Basic concepts about filters.
• Use of filters
Filters are used to clean up or retouch photos, apply special effects that
give an image the appearance of a sketch or impressionistic painting, or
create unique transformations through distortions and lighting effects. Filters
offered by Adobe appear in the Filter menu. Some filters provided by other
developers are available as plugins. Once installed, these plugin filters appear
at the bottom of the Filter menu.
• We can apply filters in three different ways:
1. From the Filter Menu
Contains all available filters and allows you to apply them individually.
2. From the Filter Gallery:
Shows thumbnail examples of each filter's effect, like the panel. The
Filter Gallery allows you to apply filters cumulatively and apply individual
filters more than once. You can also rearrange filters and change the settings
of each applied filter to achieve the desired effect. Due to its flexibility, the
Filter Gallery is often the best option when it comes to applying filters.
However, not all filters that appear in the Filter menu are available in the
Filter Gallery.
3 . From the Filters Panel:
Shows thumbnail examples of the effect of each filter in the Filter menu .
The Filters panel allows you to apply filters individually to a photo in Expert
view.
Tips for applying filters
◦ Preview the result of the filter. Applying filters to a large image
can take a long time. It is faster to preview the filter effect in the Filter
Gallery. Most filters also allow you to preview the result in the Filter
Options dialog and in the document window. You can then choose to
apply the filter or cancel the operation without wasting time.
◦ Filters are applied only to the active part of the image . Filters
affect the active, visible layer or the selected area of the layer.
◦ Filters do not work on all images . Some filters cannot be used on
images in grayscale mode. No filters can be used on images in Bitmap
or Indexed Color modes. Many filters don't work on 16-bit images.
◦ You can reapply the previous filter . The last filter that was applied
 appears at the top of the Filter menu. You can reapply it with the same
settings you used last time to further enhance the image.
Tips for creating visual effects with filters
◦ Feather the edges of the filter . If you are applying a filter to a
selected area, you can soften the edges of the filter effect by feathering
the selection before applying the filter.
◦ Apply filters consecutively to create effects . You can apply filters
to individual layers or to multiple layers in a row to create an effect.
Choosing different blend modes in the Layers panel blends the effect.
For a filter to affect a layer, the layer must be visible and contain pixels.
◦ Create textures and backgrounds . By applying filters to solid-color
or grayscale images, you can generate a wide variety of backgrounds
and textures. Then you can blur these textures. Although some filters
(for example, the Crystal filter) have little or no visible effect when
applied to solid colors, others produce interesting effects. For these
colors, you can use Add Noise, Chalk and Charcoal, Clouds, Conté
Crayon, Difference Clouds, Crystal, Fountain Pen, Halftone Pattern,
Engraving, Embossed Paper, Pointillist, Reticulate, Pastel, Sponge, or
Paint Under. You can also use any of the filters in the Texture submenu.
◦ Improve image quality and consistency . By applying the same
filter to each image in a series, you can hide flaws, alter or enhance
images, or make them look similar.
• How to Apply a Filter
1. Select the area where you want to apply the filter:
• To apply a filter to the entire layer, deselect all selected areas, then
select the layer in the Layers panel .
• To apply a filter to part of the layer, use a selection tool to select an
area.
2 . Choose how to apply the filter:
• To use the Filter Gallery, choose Filter > Filter Gallery , select a
category, and click the filter you want to apply.
• To use the Filters panel , choose Window > Filters , select a
category, and double-click the filter you want to apply.
• To use the Filter menu , choose Filter, and then choose a submenu
and the filter you want to apply. If a filter name is followed by an
ellipsis (...), a dialog box with options for the filter appears.
3. In that case, enter values or select options.
 4. Select the Preview option to see the effect of the filter in the document
window. Depending on the filter and how you apply it, use one of the
following methods to preview the filter's effect:
5. If the dialog box contains sliders, hold down Alt (Option on Mac OS)
while dragging the slider to see a real-time preview (real-time rendering).
6. Click in the image window to center a specific area of the image in the
preview window. (This method may not work with all preview windows.)
7. If you are using the Filter Gallery , or if the filter opens in the Filter
Gallery:
• Filter Gallery Overview
The Filter Gallery offers a preview of many of the special effect filters.
You can apply multiple filters, turn a filter effect on or off, reset filter
options, or change the order in which filters are applied. When you have the
desired preview, apply it to the image. Not all filters in the Filter menu are
available in the Filter Gallery.

A. Preview B. Filter category C. Thumbnail of the selected filter D.

Show/Hide filter thumbnails E. Filters pop-up menu F. Options for the
selected filter.
 45. Applying filters from the Filter Gallery.
Filter effects are applied in the order in which they are selected. You can
rearrange filters after they have been applied by dragging a filter name to
another position in the list of applied filters. Rearranging filter effects can
drastically change the look of an image. Click the eye icon next to a filter to
hide the effect on the preview image. You can also remove applied filters by
selecting the filter and clicking the Remove Layer icon .
To save time when trying out various filters, experiment by selecting a
small representative part of the image.
1. To apply a filter to an entire layer, make sure the layer is active or
selected. To apply a filter to an area of a layer, select the area.
◦ To apply a filter non-destructively so you can change its settings later,
select the Smart Object that contains the image you want to filter.
2. Select Filter > Filter Gallery .
3. Click on a filter name to add the first filter. You may need to click the
inverted triangle next to the filter category to see a list of filters. Once added,
the filter will appear in the list of applied filters in the lower right corner of
the Filter Gallery dialog.
4. Enter values or select options for the filter you have selected.
5. Do one of the following:
◦ To apply filters cumulatively, click the New Effect Layer icon and
select another filter to apply. Repeat this procedure to add more filters.
◦ To rearrange applied filters, drag the filter to a new location in the list of
applied filters that appears in the lower-right corner of the Filter Gallery
dialog.
◦ To remove applied filters, select a filter in the Applied Filters list and
click the Remove Layer icon .
6. When you are satisfied with the result, click OK.
 X. EDIT YOUR FIRST PHOTO.
The amount of retouching that we will make to an image depends on the
photography in which we work and the purpose or destination of it. For many
images you may just need to change the resolution, lighten the image, or fix a
small blemish. For more rigorous ones, you may need to multitask and
employ more advanced tools and techniques.
Most photo retouching processes follow these general steps:
◦ Duplicate the original image: working on a copy of a file ensures that
the original can be recovered later if necessary.
◦ Make sure the resolution of our image is suitable for the purpose of the
image.
◦ Crop and resize the image to its final size and orientation.
◦ Correct any color cast or tint.
◦ Adjust the overall contrast or tonal range of the image.
◦ Repair or restoration in case of damaged photos (tears, stains, dust).
◦ Focus and sharpness of the image.
The order of the tasks may vary depending on the project, but you should
always start by duplicating the image and adjusting its resolution. Sharpening
should always be the final step, so that this process does not affect other
aspects of the image.
 46. Resolution and image size.
When we edit an image in Photoshop for a specific use, we must make
sure that the image contains an adequate amount of pixels (good resolution)
and establish the degree of detail that it contains. We can calculate this from
the dimensions in pixels or the number of pixels across, width and height of
an image.
In Photoshop the 100% view of the image does not display the ppi value
of the image (resolution; pixel per inch), the image is displayed at the ppi
value of your screen. At 100% zoom, each pixel on the screen shows one
pixel of the image.

Pixel in a digital photographic image.

When you multiply the width of an image by its height in pixels, it tells
us how many pixels are in the image. For example, a 1000 x 1000 pixel
image has 1,000,000 pixels (one megapixel). Thus, the dimensions in pixels
affect the size of the file (the weight) and also the time of processing,
uploading and downloading.
In Photoshop, resolution means the number of pixels per unit of physical
length, such as pixel per inch (PPI in English or PPP in Spanish).
A resolution change affects the file size only when the pixel dimensions
change. For example, a 7 x 7-inch image at 300 dpi is 2100 x 2100 pixels; if
you change the size in inches or the dpi value (resolution) while keeping the
pixel dimensions at 2100 x 2100 pixels, the file size does not change. But if
you change the size in inches without changing the dpi value, the pixel
dimensions should change, as should the file size.
The ideal resolution requirements for an image vary depending on the
intended output (destination). An image can be considered low resolution if
its dpi value is less than 150. Greater than 200 dpi is generally considered
high resolution because it may contain enough detail to take advantage of
commercial printing device resolution and high resolution devices.
Factors such as our image viewing distance and output technology
influence the resolution or sharpness that our eyes actually perceive, and this
can also affect the resolution estimate.
A 220 dpi laptop screen can have the same high resolution as a 300 dpi or
higher phone. At the same time, a 50 dpi image can appear perfectly sharp on
a billboard when viewed from hundreds of meters away.
Due to the way display and output devices work, your images may not
need to match the resolution of your high resolution printing device. While
some photo-quality inkjet printers may have a resolution of 2400 dpi, the
appropriate image resolution for sending our photos to those devices for
printing is typically only 200 or 360 dpi. Enough to get a correct photo
display resolution.
 47. Crop and Straighten
Let's then proceed to practice with Photoshop: We go to FILE / OPEN
menu or DOUBLE CLICK WITH THE MOUSE CURSOR ON THE
SCREEN. We are going to search our computer for the location of the image
we want to edit. In our example, at first glance we notice that the Image is
somewhat crooked and has a dominant green color that must be corrected.

One of the first adjustments we make in the Reveal process is the

reframing of the photograph, although it seems very basic, we must carefully
check the framing of all our photos, if we notice that there is something left
over, if we should straighten the horizon, etc. , we must rectify it.
Cropping is the process of removing parts of a photo to create a frame or
strengthen the composition. With the Crop tool , you can crop edges,
change the shape and size of a photo, and even straighten a crooked horizon
line.
By default, clipping removes clipped pixels.
It is advisable to deselect the Remove Cropped Pixels Option if you want
to crop non-destructively, so that you can review or retrieve the crop later.
 ◦ In the Tools Panel select the Crop Tool (C) . The Crop handles
appear and a Crop Shield covers the area outside the crop region to help
focus your attention on the cropped area.
◦ On the options bar choose An . XAl . _ X Resolution in the Default
Aspect Ratio menu.
◦ In the options bar type 7 cm x 7 cm and 300 dpi resolution, a canvas
square appears.

Crop and Straighten:

First, let's straighten it out. We will do this with the TRIM tool (it is also
activated with the C key), located in the toolbar in the left column. Press C
and the cursor with the same symbol will appear. We place it in the upper left
corner and drag diagonally to the right and down. We observe a lighter
selected area, bordered by a dotted line that separates it from the dark area
(which will be eliminated).
If the selection is not quite perfect, don't worry: the borders can be
dragged in any direction by means of the small buttons located in the centers
and corners of the box. On the right side of the OPTIONS BAR you will see
3 buttons: if you press “confirm” (in the form of a √), the image will
be cropped because you are approving the action. With the one in the center
“cancel” you can cancel its action if the result does not convince you, the first
one will restore the values.
When we activate the TRIM tool (C), the options bar will present several
choices for the trims. Pressing the “Dimensions” button will display the data
concerning the width, height and resolution of the image. If we want to cut it
to certain dimensions, we must delete the current ones (by pressing the
“Delete” button on the options bar), fill in the corresponding spaces in cm. or
inches (for “inches” you should place the initials “en” after the numbers, just
as you would with “cm”) for width/height and drag the cursor over the image.
The selected (lighter) part will then have these precise parameters.
If it is not well centered, it can be dragged with the cursor or with the
arrow keys and thus place it in the precise place. Then, in the options bar we
click on "confirm" to finish the cut.
If for some reason we want to take a closer look at where we place the
cursor to insert it, the image can be enlarged and reduced by holding down
the CTRL key. and clicking on the symbols “+” or “–“ (the plus or minus).
Once the first phase related to the symmetry and the general framing of the
image is finished, we then move on to the next step, that of correcting the
tones and colors.
We can also straighten our photo with the Crop tool's Straighten
command.
◦ Click the straighten icon in the Crop tool options bar . The pointer
changes to the Straighten tool.
◦ Click in the top corner of the photo, hold down the mouse button while
dragging a straight line across the top edge of the photo, and then release.
 Photoshop will straighten the image so that the drawing line we draw is
parallel to the top of the image area. Any line we make that defines the
vertical or horizontal axis of the image will work. Now, we will crop the
white border and you will scale the image if necessary.
◦ Drag the corners of the cropping grid inward until the corners of the
photo itself to trim the white border. If you need to adjust the position of the
photo, click and drag it within the cropping grid. Press Enter or Return to
accept the trim.
The image is now cropped and straightened, sized and positioned to your
specifications.
Finally, if you don't need to do anything else, Choose File > Save to save
your work with the changes included or Save As if you prefer to save in
another format.
 48. Enhance lighting and color.
Brighten a photo and make its colors pop using adjustment layers.
One of the most common edits we always use is to enhance the lighting
of an image taken with a digital camera or phone. We will brighten this
image by changing the Brightness and Contrast values .
The first thing you should know when applying adjustments to edit or
retouch an image with any color correction adjustments such as brightness /
contrast, hue / saturation, intensity, etc., is that it is much more recommended
to use them in the form of layers . instead of applying the adjustments that
we find directly in the Image /Adjustments menu. Because using the
Adjustment Layer , the adjustment will stay on a separate layer and this
gives us several advantages:
1. Ability to add any adjustment non-destructively as it is not applied
directly to the photo itself.
2. Ability to undo the adjustment by hiding or deleting the adjustment
layer.
3. Control the intensity of the adjustment through the opacity of the layer.
4. Adjustment action mode control via layer blending mode.
5. Possibility of delimiting the zone of action of the adjustment in a
simple way through the layer mask associated with the adjustment layer.
6. Ability to vary the setting at any time through the setting options.
As you can see, there are many reasons to use adjustment layers and not
the adjustments directly on the image. You can add an adjustment layer to
your photo via the Layer / New Adjustment Layer menu , or via the
adjustment layers icon at the bottom of the layers window. Once the
adjustment layer is created, you will be able to access the values of the
selected adjustment (by pressing the icon in the form of a black and white
circle) and also the layer mask associated with the adjustment. If you double-
click on the mask, it will also open its properties panel to modify its fade
and density.
The nice thing about these settings panels for both the adjustment layer
itself and its mask is that they can be changed at any time, so the adjustment
won't be applied destructively, but can be altered and even removed at any
time.
 1. Let's make an exposure adjustment to the example image as follows:
◦ First in the Layers Panel , on the right side of our workspace, make
sure the image to edit is selected. In the Adjustments Panel , click the icon
corresponding to Brightness/Contrast . The Properties Panel opens ,
displaying the brightness and contrast settings.
◦ We can also do it from menu Layer > New Adjustment Layer >
Brightness/Contrast . Click OK on the New Layer dialog .
◦ Alternatively, choose the Image > Adjustments >
Brightness/Contrast command . However, remember that with this
procedure, adjustments are applied directly to the image layer and
information is removed from the image, resulting in a poor result.
2. In the Properties panel of the Adjustments panel , drag the sliders to
adjust the brightness and contrast.
Dragging to the left decreases the level, and dragging to the right
increases it. The number to the right of each slider reflects the brightness or
contrast value. Values can be between -150 and +150 for Brightness and -50
and +100 for Contrast.
Experiment with different values to see how they affect your image.
There is no right or wrong setting, the values you should use depend on the
results you want to achieve.
 ◦ In the Layers Panel, click the eye icon of the Brightness / Contrast
adjustment layer to hide its effect, click the eye icon again to show the
effect. This makes checking easy.
File menu > Save As. Choose a location and choose a format option.
Name the file and click save if you don't want to continue editing your image.
Note: Saving the file with a different name ensures that your original
image remains unchanged. This way you can go back to it if you want to start
all over again.
Adjustment layers allow you to make changes to your image, such as
adjusting brightness, without affecting the actual pixels. Since you've used an
adjustment layer, you can always return to the original image by hiding or
deleting the adjustment layer at any time.

The creation of Layers Adjustment is one of Photoshop's most

fundamental and powerful features. The program includes many types of
layers, some of which contain images, text, or solid colors, and others that
simply interact with layers below them.
● Adjusting the color casts of our image
To proceed with our exercise we will open the LAYER / NEW
ADJUSTMENT LAYER / HUE SATURATION menu .
As we can see, the window offers us both the possibility of correcting a
specific tone without interfering with the others (in “ All ”, we click on the
right arrow – Reds, yellows, greens, cyans, blues, magentas) and to correct
the tonality in general in the “ All ” section. The following image describes
the procedure to follow.

We are going to select “Greens” and move the 2nd cursor (Saturation) to
the left –70. With this immediately on the screen a drastic loss of the greenish
nuances can be seen. Of course, it is possible to view the settings “live”, at
once, only if we activate the “View” box that is located at the right foot of the
window. We now activate the "Yellows" box and place the cursor at -20 to
remove the yellowish glow. We go back to the general “All” box and move
“Tone” to the left –8 to give it an overall warmer tone. Experiment until you
get the best color result.
 49. Touching up with the Clone Stamp, Healing
Brush and Patch.
photoshop offers us various tools to correct small imperfections in our
photographs. The ones that will be most useful to us are the clone buffer ,
the healing brush and the patch . Although they are similar, each of
them will come in handy in certain different situations.
The cloning and correction tools will help us to correct multiple defects in
our photographs: from a piece of paper on the ground or an inappropriate
traffic sign, to pimples or imperfections on the skin of our models, and even
eliminate a disoriented tourist who has slipped into our frame.
The operation of these tools, despite being different, has the same basis: it
consists of defining a "clean" area, that is, an area similar to the area that we
want to cover or restore, to serve as a sample to cover or correct the
imperfection. . Obviously, the larger the area to be corrected, the easier it will
be for this cloned area to be noticed as a goop and it is obvious that we have
retouched the photograph, so it is necessary to clarify that these tools offer
good results as long as the area to be corrected not be excessively large and
there is enough "clean area" to sample.
Let's take a closer look at each of these three retouching tools, to find out
how they work and which one will be best for you at any given time.
• Cloner buffer
The Clone Stamp is the most basic tool of the three since it is going to
copy exactly an area of the photograph that we will define on the area of the
photograph in which we will paint.
The clone stamp works like the brush tool, we need to configure its size,
its hardness, its opacity, etc. as if it were a normal brush. However, if we try
to paint directly with the clone stamp, Photoshop will give us an error
because before that we must first define which area we want to copy, "take a
sample".
To define the area that we want to use as a "sample" for cloning, we must
hold down the Alt key and click with the left mouse button on that area.
Next, we can now paint in the area that we want to cover with this sample.
 You can play with the opacity of the brush and its hardness to perfectly
integrate the cloned area and not notice this copy. It is also advisable to try
not to copy areas that are too close to the cloned area so that there are no
patterns that are repeated too close together, as this would be clear evidence
that we have effectively cloned part of the photograph. If you have no choice
but to copy a nearby area and you detect repeated patterns, you can always
clone another area over this repeated pattern to hide it. This way you will get
much more realistic clones.
• Concealer Brush
Many times the use of the clone buffer is not enough for the cloned area
to integrate perfectly. It is on these occasions that the Healing Brush is best
used .
The healing brush works practically the same as the clone stamp , but
with a fundamental difference: just as the clone stamp copies exactly the
sample on the area in which we paint, the healing brush not only copies it but
also analyzes the pixels of around to better integrate this copy, keeping the
original lightness and tone and applying it to the cloned sample to integrate it
much better to make it look more realistic.
Let's also see a quick example of using the healing brush. We are going to
correct some imperfections of the skin of the model of the following portrait.

As you can see in the following screenshot, if we try to correct them

using the clone buffer, the retouching is too noticeable; this is because the
skin has so many nuances of light and color that it is very difficult for the
sample to exactly match the area that we want to correct. That is why in these
cases it is recommended to use the concealer brush to obtain better results.
With the correction brush we will select with Alt a sample of "clean"
skin to copy it over the pimples and imperfections. When we have to correct
various points, as in this case, it is best to take samples often, close to the area
to be corrected, in order to make the retouching as natural as possible. As you
can see, thanks to the fact that the correction brush tries to match the tones
and luminosity of the sample and the area to be corrected, there are no sticky
spots as with the clone stamp.
Be careful with imperfections that are very close to lines and edges,
because if you touch them with the healing brush, trying to match their tones
and luminosity, the program will create a very ugly blur.
If you can't help but touch the edges to correct any imperfections, you'd
better use the clone stamp with a slightly higher hardness so that the edge
isn't too fuzzy. This way we will help to mark those lines instead of blurring
them.
• Spot Healing Brush tool

Finally, it should be noted that the correction brush has a very interesting
variant that is the Point Correction Brush . Just as with the healing brush
we must choose a sample by keeping the Alt key pressed, just as we did with
the clone buffer , with the spot healing brush we will not need to take a
sample, but simply paint over the area we want to cover and automatically
Photoshop , by analyzing the surrounding pixels, will choose which sample to
use for this correction.
• Patch tool
 Finally we find the Patch tool . Although its operation is similar to that of
the correction brush, its use is quite different.
By using the patch tool we are going to draw a selection in the same way
as the freehand selection that is created by using the lasso tool . We simply
have to surround the area we want to cover with this selection and then we
must left click inside it and drag without releasing the mouse button towards
the area that we want to copy over this selected area (we can preview it in
real time) . When you release the mouse button, that area will not only be
copied within the selection, but it will be integrated in the same way that we
saw with the correction brush, that is, the luminosity will be preserved and
the tones of both samples will be integrated to try to make a clone as realistic
as possible.
As it is a selection , we can play with its fading to try to soften the edges
of the cloned area even more and integrate the sample more easily.
Let's quickly walk through a practical example so you can see how to use
the Patch tool . We want to remove the sign next to the ship, because it
totally destroys the composition.

With the patch tool we select the poster, we click with the left mouse
button inside this selection and we drag it without releasing the mouse
towards the area that we want to use as a sample for the correction.
In this photograph the area we want to remove includes a very obvious
line. As was the case with the correction brush, if there is a sudden change in
tone or brightness in the sample, the correction does not work well and a blur
is created.
However, what we can do is choose a sample with this same line and fit
exactly with the lines outside the selection. This way we will achieve a
perfect integration and no smear or goop will be noticed.
Although the sample is darker than the area to be corrected, when we
release the mouse button Photoshop will automatically match them.
Finally, it is worth remembering to be careful with the samples you
choose to avoid repetitions of patterns that can make the retouching too
obvious. For example, if you look at the correction of the reflection of the
poster in the water, the repetition is noticeable. So we should choose a flatter
area so that it is not noticeable.
Finally, if an area doesn't look quite right, remember that you can always
use the other two tools, the clone stamp and the healing brush, to finish
perfecting the retouch.
 50. Focus and Sharpness
We must understand that the focus is the most important factor to achieve
a very sharp photo, Photoshop or any other software, until now, manages to
focus an image for us, it is in the camera that we must manage it. No digital
image should be presented without applying a more or less complex focus
processing (sharpness) if we want to achieve a good level of quality.
The methods that can be applied are very diverse, and there is no single
magic recipe for it, but depending on the resolution of the original image and
the type of output that we are going to use (web or computer screen, paper of
different types and different sizes, etc.) we will use different configuration
parameters.
There are many people who believe that the different options and filters
that accompany photo editing programs like Photoshop are useful to fix a
blurred photo. Unfortunately, a shaken or shaken image does not have a good
fix, but we can always improve the perception of sharpness in a correctly
taken photo. And it is that, even following the advice to take the sharpest
photos possible such as using a good tripod, using a fast enough shutter speed
and ensuring a good focus, it is convenient to focus the digital photographs in
the subsequent processing of the development.
The best time to sharpen our images is at the end of the work process,
once we have made all the desired adjustments and defined the final size of
the image. In addition, the size and output mode that we are going to apply to
the photograph will influence the decision or not to focus and the amount of
focus to apply to the image. And it is that we will apply completely different
processes if we are working with an image that we are going to show on a
web page at a size of 800 x 600 px or if what we want is to make a print on
photographic paper at 25 x 30 cm.
The methods and parameters to apply sharpening filters to photographs
are varied. The most widespread are the unsharp mask or the high pass
filter , but very similar or even better results can be obtained in different
ways. In a next chapter we are going to review the different approach
methods, from the simplest and most well-known to the most elaborate with
surprising results. If your photograph is in jpg and does not have major
professional pretensions, with a basic adjustment that Photoshop offers us,
we can greatly improve that photograph, as long as you can make a retouch,
however quick and simple it may be, it will significantly improve that
photograph that the camera gave you. .
Some basic settings are:
◦ Through the Filters / Sharpen Menu . Choose and try the different
options, the most recommended are unsharp mask and soft focus.
◦ Using the Sharpen Tool , on the toolbar. It is applied manually on the
areas that we want to highlight, such as the eyes, hair, textures, etc.
◦ FILTER / SHARPEN / SHARP MASK , the most used within the
application. To apply it, you have to configure very carefully the quantities
and the radius of the pixels that are involved in the focus. If they are
exceeded, everything will seem silhouetted, marked with a luminous outline
(halo) and consequently it will be useless. If you try to sharpen an image that
is not very clear, confused, or low in resolution, the result will be disastrous.
It helps a lot that the image to be retouched has a good resolution, in the
case that it is a JPG file. To finish processing this focus or sharpness
adjustment, we retouch the excesses a little with the Blur tool , we set a 19
pixel soft brush, pressure 50% making circle strokes along the areas where
we don't want to highlight the focus, like the cheeks, and nose.
This filter is perfectly compatible with any way of focusing, it is about
applying it to an image size slightly larger than the final one (if we are going
to export the final image at 800 pixels, it would have to be done on one of
1000 pixels, for example) in such a way so that the unsharp mask is slightly
“soft”. As when reducing the image later to 800 pixels it will lose focus, we
will be able to leave it “at the exact point” achieving a very natural focus
style, that is what it is all about! There is nothing worse in this aspect than an
image full of halos or with a “shrill” focus.
 51. Save changes to a File
PSD format to preserve your layers for future edits. To share your photo
online or via email, save a copy as a JPEG.
Use the File > Save menu command to save changes to the current file or
the Save As command to save changes to a different file.
• Save changes to the current file:
◦ If we choose File > Save , the file maintains its current format and the
changes we have made to the image are saved. These adjustments made to
the image will be permanently applied to the file and these changes will be
irreversible. Whenever possible, save a copy of the original image, work or
edit on a copy of the original image and when finished it will save the
changes and rename the file so as not to affect the original.
• Saving a file with a different name, location, or format:
◦ If we chose File > Save As , you must select a file format from the
Format menu. Specify a file name and location.
Save As dialog box , select your save options and click Save .
A dialog appears where you will select options when saving to some
image formats.

. . . . the end . . . .
We have now finished our overview of the main aspects of the wonderful
program that is Photoshop. My most sincere wish is to be in contact with you,
those of you who are reading these lines and have managed to reach the end
of the book with effort and perseverance, motivated by your ideas and
creative impulse, my congratulations.
My intention is that everything learned will be of benefit to you.
Dedicating time and effort to what you are passionate about is a virtue,
continue the route and improve yourself more every day and you will find
true satisfaction. Thank you for purchasing the book. I hope you liked it and
above all that it is useful and growth in your professional and personal career.
This is a translation of the original version in Spanish, We
apologize for some errors that we will be solving in the next
update...Thank you.
........
Ernest Martinez.
 ernestomartinezllerena.@gmail.com
ernestomartinezllerena.wordpress.com