20 Photoshop Retouching Tips

photoshop
retouching
tips
KRISTINA SHERK
2 0 p h o t o s h o p r e t o u c h i n g t i p s
Hey!
About
Kristina
Sherk
For the past 15 years, Kristina Sherk
has been a retoucher and
Photoshop educator based out of
Washington, D.C.
She loves “translating Photoshop” for
photographers and subsequently,
has spoken at AdobeMAX,
CreativeLive, Photoshop World,
KelbyOne, Canon, LinkedIn Learning,
ImagingUSA, and WPPI.
Two years ago, she welcomed the
launch of her own education
platform SharkPixel.com. And to
date, has helped over 1 million
people work smarter, not harder in
sharkpixel.com/contact both Photoshop and Lightroom.
She’s also a contributing author for
educational publications like Shutter
Magazine, Photoshop User
Magazine, and Lightroom Magazine.

20 photoshop retouching tips
INDEX
Layer Masks Select Subject Custom Workspace Color Grading
Spot Healing Tool Overlays Sky Replacement Content Aware
Select Object Neural Filters Liquify Camera Raw Masking
Curves Settings Search Bar Layer Blend Modes Blend If
Keyboard Shortcuts Actions Custom Brushes Important Terms

T I P 0 1
Layer Masks
Tip 01: Layer Masks
Layer Masks
Layer Masks provide
an incredible amount
of utility to your
Photoshop workflow.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
They give the ability to show

some portions of your layer
and hide other portions, but
they do this in a way that is
completely reversible (aka
non-destructive). This is
different than the Eraser
tool which works
destructively and deletes
pixels.
Layer masks
hide instead
of remove.
The pixels hidden by a mask
are still there, they are just
in an invisible state, decided
by where the mask to the
right of the layer icon is
black. That way if you need
to get those pixels back, it’s
easy to do so.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
When learning Photoshop

it’s easy to get confused
about Layer masks because
when you add a mask,
there’s no visual change to
the layer, so it can be
difficult to realize that
anything has happened.
Layer Masks
work by using
grayscale values
to define the
visibility of
the layer.
The old saying “Black
conceals and white reveals”
is easy to accidentally
reverse. Instead think of
“White Exposes” similar to
the old film days where in a
darkroom you would have
an enlarger and need to
shine light on something so
you can see. Then “Black
Cloaks” like the Invisibility
Cloak from Harry Potter.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
Step 01
In any multi-layer Photoshop file the topmost layer
will be the visible one as the layers beneath it are
hidden underneath.
Make sure that top layer is the active selected layer,

which you can tell by the thin white outline around the
layer thumbnail. Then in the bottom of the Layers panel
is a small button that is a white rectangle with a circle
inside it. That’s the Add layer mask button. Pressing it
will add a layer mask to the selected layer, you can see
the mask thumbnail next to the layer thumbnail but the
mask is filled with white by default, which means the
entire layer is completely visible and there’s no
immediate change at this point.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
Step 02
The mask is the currently active element, which you
can tell by the thin white outline around the thumbnail.
So if you grab the Brush tool and paint with black

paint, you can quite literally paint away the image,
much like an eraser tool, but not actually erasing it,
just hiding it behind the mask.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
Step 03
While we are aware that white means an area is visible,
and black means an area is invisible, there are 256
shades of grey in between white and black. Each of
those shades has a unique opacity value applied to it.
If you paint on a mask with 50% grey instead of white or

black, you will reveal the corresponding layer’s pixels at
50% visibility.
That means that gradients are also a wonderful tool

to create transparency effects.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
Step 04
You can also use most of Photoshop’s filters on a
layer mask for various effects. Generally, most of the
filters are not particularly helpful in this case, but some,
like the blur filters can be very useful.
Because we selected the mask icon before activating

the Gaussian Blur filter, the blurring effect isn’t blurring
the pixels themselves, but rather the edges between
where the mask is white and black is being softened.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
Step 05
It might be easier to understand a layer mask if you see
it directly as the grayscale file and not after it is applied.
To do this, hold down Option/Alt and click on the mask
thumbnail. This changes the view to the actual mask file
and can be greatly beneficial in helping to visualize how
the mask works.
Remember, White Exposes and Black Cloaks.
To return to the regular view, just Option/Alt click on the

mask thumbnail again.
Tip 01: Layer Masks
Step 06
When the layer mask is the
active, selected element,
the Properties panel also
has various functions that
can be used to adjust the
mask.
The Density slider is like

adjusting the opacity or
effectiveness of the mask.
The Feather slider is similar

to blurring the mask, but
does so non-destructively.
The select and mask button

will launch the Select and
Mask workspace which is
helpful in crafting a very
careful and complicated
mask.
The Color range button is the same as the menu

command Select>Color Range and lets you create a
selection based on color tones.
Then the Invert button inverses the mask, which is super

useful. If you get confused over how the black and white
colors work on a mask, you can easily reverse them.
TIP 02
Select Subject
Tip 02: Select Subject
Select Subject
Creating selections is one of
those tasks that has been at the
core of Photoshop since it
began. It’s the primary method
of telling Photoshop what pixels
to pay attention to for whatever
it is you are doing.
Recently Adobe
has been
working hard
to use machine
learning and
artificial
intelligence to
help simplify the
task of making
selections.
One of the results of those
efforts is the Select Subject
features.
Method 1
Step 01
The first method to explore is the extremely simple
menu command of Select>Select Subject.
Photoshop will evaluate your image and create a

selection based on what it thinks your subject is. The
result is rarely perfect, but often very good and provides
an excellent starting point for creating a better, more
refined selection to use.
If it gets you 80% of the way there, just by clicking

one button, it’s totally worth using and helps save
you time.
Step 02
In this case the automated selection left out the bride’s
veil. That’s an easy mistake to fix just by grabbing the
Quick Selection Tool and using it in the Add to Selection
mode to add the veil, and any other areas that were
inadvertently left out, to the selection.
Method 2
Step 01
Start with the Select Subject Tool. If you don’t see it on
the toolbar, that is because it is hidden behind the Quick
selection or magic wand Tool. You can toggle through
the tools in the tool set by pressing Shift+W until you see
the Subject selection Tool.
Step 02
Instead of interacting with the subject on the document
canvas, go to the Options bar at the top of the screen.
Next to the Select Subject button is a drop down menu
where you can choose between Device (Quicker
Results) and Cloud (Detailed Results).
Even though the implication is that the Cloud setting

is slower, it isn’t noticeably slower and the results are
much better, so that is usually the better option.
Step 03
Press the Select Subject button and Photoshop thinks
for a moment before returning a selection. You may get
a dialogue box about Photoshop using the cloud
services to generate the selection. Then evaluate the
results.
In this case the selection did a great job but the fine
hairs of the bride were left out.
Step 04
Press the Select and mask button to enter into the
dedicated Select and Mask workspace. Then use the
Refine Hair button in the Options Bar to have
Photoshop reevaluate the hair.
Usually this is sufficient to get a very good and

usable selection around the hair.
Method 3
Step 01
There’s yet a third place the Select Subject technology
has been implemented. It’s always good to have options!
With an image open, make sure the regular image layer

is the active element and look to the Properties panel for
the Quick Actions area. There’s a convenient button just
for Select Subject.
This also yields results that are a great start for

crafting a more careful selection.
TIP 03
Custom
Workspace
Tip 03: Custom Workspace
Custom
Workspace
Photoshop’s interface
is highly customizable.
Not only are there
already several preset
workspaces, but you
can easily define your
own that best suits
your way of working.
That goes further than
just rearranging the
panels though.
The toolbox
can be
customized
to prioritize
the tools you
use the most
and remove
the tools you
never touch.
Make Photoshop your
very own with Custom

Workspaces.
Step 01
In Photoshop go to Window>Workspace to see the
preset workspaces developed by Adobe.
They set these up to best fit the primary task you might
use Photoshop for.
This is also an easy way to reset your workspace if

you’ve created a bit of mess with your panels.
Step 02
Any panel in Photoshop can be docked or free
floating.
Just grab the tab that holds the title of the panel and
drag it around. By default the panel will become free
floating, but if you drag it over a seam between panels
you will see a blue highlight of that seam, dropping the
panel on a blue highlight will dock the panel to that
position.
Step 03
If a panel you want isn’t
already visible, you can
use the Window menu
to reveal it.
Think through what panels

you tend to use the most.
The Layers and Properties
panels are panels I use all
the time and I assume
other photographers feel
the same. But maybe the
Brush Settings or Character
panels are also frequently
used by you, and they’re not
visible by default on the
generic workspace.
To add them to your

custom workspace, start in
the Window top menu and
choose Brush Settings,
once it pops up, click and
drag the Brush Settings
window and hover it above
where you want it to live.
Once you see the blue line/
box, release your mouse
and the box will move
there.
Step 04
The same way you can customize your workspace,
you can customize your tool bar on the left.
At the bottom of the Toolbar is an icon with three

horizontal dots. This is the edit Toolbar “tool” and allows
you to customize what tools are visible, or even available
in the toolbar.
By default Photoshop presents as many of its tools
as possible in the toolbar, but you might want to

consider paring it down by removing the tools you
never use. Seriously, how often do you use the Art
History brush?
It’s also possible to

rearrange the tools to
better fit your liking, for

example, usually the Spot
Healing Brush Tool, the
Healing Brush Tool and the
Patch tool are all nested
together which means you
need to spend more time
long clicking into that fly-
out menu to access the
appropriate tool you’re
looking for. But by editing
the toolbar, you can give
each of those their own
spot so you won’t need to
go hunting for it next time.
Step 05
Once you’ve saved your toolbar and arranged your
panels as you like them, go back to the Window menu
and go to Workspace>New Workspace. Give your new
workspace a name and be sure to select the Toolbar
option if you made changes to the toolbar. Now this
workspace will be easily available for you every time
you open Photoshop!
TIP 04
Color Grading
Tip 04: Color Grading
Color Grading
Color Grading is an
extremely powerful
way to add color to
your image, but it’s
not just a blanket
color application.
By applying a
Gradient Map
adjustment layer
you can control
what colors are
applied based
on the
brightness
values of certain
areas in your
image.
Keep in mind when color
grading portraits and skin
tones we need to be
cognizant of the color we
apply to the brightness
value of whatever the skin
tones are in your photo.
Personally, when I create
color grading presets, I test
them on many different
skintones to make sure they
look appealing.
Step 01
From the Adjustment Panel select the icon for

Gradient Map. This adds a Gradient Map adjustment
layer to your document. Immediately things may
look a little wonky, so it’s important to understand
what is happening.
In the Properties panel you can see the gradient

being used. The color on the far left of the gradient is
being mapped to the darker values within the image
and the color on the far right is being mapped to the
brighter values.
If you are ever confused about which side is

which, just take a look at the icon above the
gradient bar, it shows a darker value on the left
and lighter value on the right.

Step 02
Click on the gradient bar to open the Gradient
Editor. Then click on the color stop box on the far left
bottom corner of the gradient bar and change that
color to blue. This will add blue to the shadows and
darker hues in your file.
Then click on the color stop box on the far right

bottom corner of the gradient bar and set that to an
orange color. This adds orange to all the highlights
and bright values. Then click OK to close the
Gradient Editor.
Step 03
The image does look very odd at this point, but that’s
OK. This next step will make everything make sense.
Make sure the adjustment layer is the active layer

and in the Layers panel change the blending mode
to Soft Light.
Immediately you can see how this approach to

Color Grading can really make the tones within
the image pop and add a lot of vibrancy and
richness to an image.
If your effect is too strong, it’s easy to temper it by

reducing the Opacity of the adjustment layer.
Step 04
The great thing about applying the effect with an
adjustment layer is that you can see the effect
change live as you make any edits.
Reopen the Gradient Editor by double clicking on
the gradient bar in the properties window and click
just under the middle of the gradient bar to add
another color to the mid tones of the image.
This will be the color to map to the midtones, so set it
to a purplish hue and see how the image reacts. This
way you can easily dial in the exact color tone you
prefer because the updates to the effect are being
shown in real time.

Step 05
It’s entirely possible that you don’t want the effect to
be applied as strongly to the skin tones as the rest of
the image.
There’s an easy way to reduce the effect just on

the skin, and that’s by using the mask that
already comes built in on the adjustment layer.
But first we need to create a selection of just the
skin tones.
Go to Select>Color Range then choose Skin Tones

from the drop down menu. Be sure to enable the
Detect faces option box.
Watching the preview area closely, adjust the

Fuzziness slider to get a good selection of the skin
tones within the image. Click OK and you can see
the “marching ants” of the selection, which should
be primarily the skin tone areas.
Step 06
Click on the mask thumbnail icon next to the
Gradient Map adjustment layer to make sure that’s
the active element, you can tell it is by the thin white
outline around the thumbnail. We can use this
mask to control how much of the effect is applied
to the image, and which pixels it is applied to.
Currently the mask is a solid white meaning the

effect is being applied fully across the entire image. If
we filled our current selection with black it would
mean the effect is not applied to those pixels at all,
instead we want the effect to be reduced by around
half.
Go to Edit>Fill and in the Contents select 50% Gray.

This fills our selection with a midtone gray which
means the effect is only halfway visible on those
pixels.
Step 07
Press Command/Control + D to cancel the current
selection and see the final result of the Color
Grading process.
The power of this approach is the great flexibility

it provides. The effect is applied non-destructively
so it is easy to edit or remove completely.
The gradient can be edited, the blending mode can

be changed, the Opacity setting for the gradient
layer can be edited, and the mask can even be
painted on directly.
These are all great options for perfecting a unique

Color Grading effect for any image.
Spot Healing
TIP 05
Tool
Tip 05: Spot Healing Tool
Spot Healing
Tool
When it comes to
blemish removal there
are several powerful
tools in the Photoshop
toolbox, but one of
the fastest is the
Spot Healing Brush

because it doesn’t
require you to define a
sample point before
using the tool.
This means half the number of

clicks can achieve the same
amount of work.
Step 01
Before starting, it’s important to consider the

settings of the tool.
Assuming the skin you want to work on is in focus, then

you want the brush Hardness to be fairly high, otherwise
the edges will be soft and the results will be a bit blurry
and not match the sharpness of the in-focus skin.
Step 02
The Mode setting is changed depending on what you
are trying to accomplish. If fly-away hairs are the target,
then use Replace mode. For skin blemishes it’s best to
use Normal mode.
Step 03
For most blemish work, set the Type to
Content-Aware.
In situations where that doesn’t work, the Proximity

Match option will reference the surrounding pixels and
guess to give you the right texture. But this doesn't
alway work perfectly on the first try, if you aren't liking
the results, play with the settings on the Diffusion slider.
This will give you less or more blend to help the area you
are working on blend more with your image.
Step 04
Instead of duplicating the background layer to clean
up blemishes, check the Sample All Layers checkbox,
and do your blemish removal on an empty layer. This
allows you to complete the blemish removal on a
separate layer which helps keep your file size small since
duplicating the background layer immediately doubles
the size of your file.
Step 05
Keep the brush size small, just slightly larger than the
size of the blemishes. Don’t try to be greedy and think
using large strokes to cover more at once will work.
This tool works best when you use many very small
strokes. It doesn’t need any sample point, just paint
over each individual blemish. While it may seem time
consuming to work so small, you’ll develop a rhythm
and it will go faster than you expect.
01
T I P 0 6
Overlays
Tip 06: Overlays
Overlays
One of the best ways to
create depth and visual
interest in your photos
is to add Overlays.
Tip 06: Overlays
In Photoshop, layers are one
of the best ways to
accomplish this.
Think of layers
as stacks of
clear plastic
sheets, and
each sheet has
a small element
printed on it.
Putting the foreground
elements (a.k.a. overlays) on
layers, separates them f rom
the background layer. Not
only is this a great way to
f rame and draw attention
to the subject, but those
elements are
independently adjustable.
When all the “sheets” (a.k.a
Layers) are stacked
together, it looks like the
photo includes those added
items in the first place.

Tip 06: Overlays
Step 01
Beginning with a base image, plan out the

improvements.
Here we have a beautiful shot of a lovely young

woman standing in a rose garden.
The idea is to add some foreground roses to

create depth, a sun light effect, and some color
adjustments.
Tip 06: Overlays
Step 02
Overlays provide an easy way to place some roses in
the foreground.
The overlays I sell already come with transparency

built in, so there’s no need to worry about masking
or blend modes. They are also available in several
blur amounts so you can make sure the foreground
elements you are adding match the focal blurs
already present in the photo.
Tip 06: Overlays
Step 03
It’s important to make sure the colors of the overlays
work with the established lighting in the base photo.
In this case the rose overlays are too saturated.
A simple Hue / Saturation adjustment layer is a great

way to correct it. The key is to make sure the
adjustment layer (which will act to lower the
saturation of the added roses) is clipped to the roses
layer beneath it. That way, it only affects the pixels on
that layer and not the background.
To clip a layer go to Layer > Create Clipping Mask.

Tip 06: Overlays
Step 04
Adding lighting effects with overlays is also an
extremely versatile and powerful means of creating
more visual interest in a photo.
When using overlays for lighting effects, the overlays
usually do not have any transparency built in, but are
intentionally on a black background. That’s so you
can use one of the blending modes in the Lighten
group to render the black pixels invisible.
In this case, the Screen mode is being used to add
the sun light effect.

Sky
TIP 07
Replacement
Tip 07: Sky Replacement
Sky
Replacement
One of the things

photographers cannot
control is the sky
( as much as we try! )
We can adjust our camera’s One of the more recent

exposure to compensate for features in Photoshop is the
uncooperative skies, or Sky replacement filter that
watch weather reports and automates much of the
attempt to time our shoot to process and makes it very
coincide with that ideal sky. quick and easy to craft the
perfect sky behind our
But when it subjects.
comes down to In this composite of my

daughter, the sky was not
it, we are at the as dramatic as I would have
liked. So it’s time to use
mercy of mother some Photoshop magic to
create an ominous sky that
nature… until we might just fly her to Oz, if
she’s not careful!
learn how to
replace skies in
Photoshop!
Step 01
Be sure the layer with the original sky is in the
background and does not contain the subject.
There’s no need to create a selection first as the AI

that runs the tool can detect that automatically.
Step 02
Go to Edit>Sky Replacement to get the dialogue box.
There’s a variety of skies to choose from, and even the

ability to upload one of your own.
Once you select a sky in the drop down box you can
see Photoshop’s result live on your document as long
as the Preview option is checked.
Step 03
If the automated process did not produce a perfect
selection, you can further refine it by using the Sky
Brush to extend or reduce the sky area. When this tool is
active, the options bar shows the plus and minus
modes, the plus mode allows you to extend the sky
area with the brush while the minus mode lets you
reduce it.
Step 04
While the dialogue box is still open, you can easily
reposition the new sky just by using the Move tool and
dragging on the canvas.
The Sky adjustments area provides an easy way to

adjust the Scale of the sky image and an option to
Flip it horizontally.
Step 05
Look closely at the horizon line. If the fade between the
land and new sky appears to be overly obvious, then
you will need to adjust the Edge settings. The Shift
edge will move that transition down when the slider is
pulled to the right (positive values), and further up when
pulled to the left (negative values) and the Fade Edge
slider controls how large the transition area is between
sky and land.
Step 06
Setting the Output to New Layers is the
recommended setting. This produces a group of layers
for the new sky and allows easy access to adjust the sky
position, lighting and even the masks all without having
to run the Sky Replacement again.
TIP 08
Content Aware
Fill & Crop
Tip 08: Content Aware Fill & Crop
Content Aware
Fill & Crop
As our screens
continually morph from
horizontal to vertical
orientation, changing
the crops of our images
has never been more
important.
But when cropping our
images into extreme
vertical formats, like 9 x 16
for example,
it’s hard to
protect the
subjects of our
images while
trying to make
them fit into
such a crazy
format.
Step 01
In Photoshop, activate the crop tool by hitting C on your

keyboard. At the top, input a 9 into the first box and 16
into the second box.
Step 02
Then drag the crop overlay wider than your canvas, to a
spot that includes most of the subject you want to
protect in your final image.
(You should see transparent pixels in the areas where

the crop preview is larger than your image size.)
Step 03
Most importantly, before pressing return to accept the
new crop ratio, check the box next to the word ‘Content
Aware’ in the top tools bar.
This will ensure that the areas which are currently

transparent (with no pixels or content) are filled
automatically using Photoshop’s content aware
technology.
Press the crop checkmark or

press return to accept your
changes, Photoshop will
complete your crop and will fill
the areas that are currently
transparent with the filled
content it guessed.
Most times, you’ll be amazed

at the accuracy of the results!
Using this ‘smart’ cropping

method can help keep the
overall messaging of your
image intact while changing
the crop and ratio to look
appealing on all different
digital platforms.
Select Object
TIP 09
Tip 09: Select Object
Select Object
Photoshop’s AI tools
are continuing to
improve and Adobe
is working tirelessly
on using machine
learning to help
improve how this
tool works.
Their efforts have already

put the days of
meticulously spending
hours crafting the perfect
selection long into the past.
While the first click may not

be perfect, it is usually a
90% solution that saves
huge amounts of time.
The best thing
is that these
AI assisted tools
are getting
better every day.
Step 01
In the toolbar, the Object Selection Tool can be

found behind the Quick Selection Tool. Just Click
and Hold on the Quick Selection Tool until the tool
flyout reveals the other tools in that slot, then slide
over and release your cursor on the Object Selection
Tool.
Step 02
Up in the options bar along the top of Photoshop,
confirm that the Object Finder checkbox is checked.
Then, you can begin to hover your mouse over the
different objects in the image. As Photoshop
detects the objects it reveals them with a bright
colored highlight. Then it’s just a single click to
create a selection around that object.
Note: The rough outline around the object is just a

reference, the selection that is created once you click
on an object will be more accurate than the
selection preview.
Step 03
An alternate method of using this tool is to drag a
selection box around the object to tell Photoshop to
look for an object within that area. If the selection
doesn’t fit nicely inside a bounding box, then use
the Mode dropdown to choose the Lasso mode.
This allows you to trace around a selection in an
irregular shape.
Step 04
While it is possible that the Object Selection Tool will
create a perfect selection in just one click, it’s also
very likely that it will really be a 90% solution that just
needs a bit of touching up to get it the rest of the
way. One of the best tools to do this is the Lasso
Tool, hold shift while circling the area that needs
to be added to the selection. This will convert the
tool to add mode. While working with this tool, the
mode can be easily toggled to Subtract from
Selection just by holding down the Option or Alt key.
While these automated selections may not create

the perfect selection in a single click, they do provide
an excellent starting point that can be a huge time
saver over other manual methods of creating
selections.
T I P 1 0
Neural Filters
Harmonization
Tip 10: Neural Filters Harmonization
Neural Filters
Harmonization
Neural filters are

among some of the
most interesting new
features in the latest
versions of Photoshop.
These filters process on

Adobe’s Cloud server and
use user feedback to
constantly improve the
results. That means that we,
as end users, can help make
Photoshop even better!
One of the most

useful new
Neural Filters
is the
Harmonization
filter.
It attempts to match the
color tone and lighting
between two layers. This is
extremely helpful in
compositing and generally
saves a lot of time when
assembling multiple
different elements into a
single scene.
Step 01 A
Setup your project so the subject is isolated
onto a layer of its own and the background is a
separate layer from that.
In this example we have a portrait of a young

woman that was taken in warm autumn colors
but we want to place her into a wintery
background.
It’s recommended that the subject layer be

turned into a Smart Object by going to:
Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to Smart Objects.
This means the filter can be applied as a

Smart Filter and adjustments are easy to
make later if needed.
Step 01 B
Step 02
Then go to Filter>Neural Filters.
The workspace switches to the neural Filter workspace

and you can see the list of available filters.
Enable the Harmonization filter form the Color set.
If you haven’t used this filter before, then click on the

cloud icon next to it to download the filter to your
system.
Step 03
Use the drop down menu under reference Image to
select the Background layer. Photoshop will take a
moment to process the data, but will then attempt to
adjust the color tones of the subject to match the
background.
Step 04
If the results aren’t quite to your liking, then use the
slider bar settings to manually adjust the colors of the
results.
The benefit of this being applied as a Smart Filter

means that these settings are “live” or available to be
readjusted later if needed.
Step 05
Before completing the filter, take just a moment and
answer the question at the bottom, “Are you satisfied
with the results?” Be honest with your answers. It’s
how we all work together to make these tools even
better for all of us.
Step 06
The Harmonization filter should become part of your
regular compositing workflow. Having it applied as a
filter on the subject layer is ideal as you can still layer in
other effects or elements as part of the finished scene.
T I P 1 1
Liquify
Liquify
Tip 11: Liquify
There’s one feature in

Photoshop that has
contributed more to the
negative reputation of
the program in regard
to fashion models than
any other feature.
That’s the Liquify Filter.
Tip 11: Liquify
This is the feature that has

been abused in a way to
completely change a
person’s body shape and
create artificial expectations
about how that person
looks. This practice is not
the fault of the tool, but of
the irresponsible actions of
those using it. This is a
fantastic feature that can be
used for multiple
applications, and
I always
encourage the
artist to act
responsibly
when wielding
such pixel-
pushing power.
I often equate using the
Liquify filter as if you printed
your image on silly putty,
then you could use your
fingers to move, stretch and
squish the pixels into
different locations.
Tip 11: Liquify
Method 1
Facial Adjustments
Step 01
Open a portrait image, duplicate the background layer
and use Layer -> Smart Objects -> Convert to Smart
Object to change Layer 1 to a smart object. You’ll see a
tiny grey box appear on the lower right corner of the
layer icon. This will apply the filter as a Smart Filter
and allow further editing of the settings after they’ve
been applied.
Tip 11: Liquify
Step 02
Go to Filter -> Liquify and click on the Face tool (on the
left). Then expand the Face-Aware Liquify section on the
right of the window. This includes several adjustments
that Photoshop will apply to the facial features it has
recognized in the image.
These should be used gently and not overdone as

pushing them too far can make the image look very
artificial. But generally this is used to slightly increase
the eye size and often a very subtle smile setting too.
In this image I made the camera left eye slightly larger,

rotated it a little and clicked and dragged downward on
the eye itself to relocate it slightly lower so it aligns
better with the camera right eye.
Tip 11: Liquify
Method 2
Object Adjustments
A better application of this filter is to smoothly adjust
inanimate objects within a scene.
The manual tools built into this filter provide some

amazing control over an image. It makes the canvas
truly feel more fluid than solid, which is what led to the
name of the filter in the first place
Step 01
After creating the smart object and running the filter
again, pay attention to the tool bar on the left side. The
tools here are all tools that require painterly type of
inputs, ie click and drag as opposed to the slider bar
settings used previously.
Tip 11: Liquify
Step 02
It is important to protect the pixels you don’t want
affected by the tools. Due to the fluid nature of the
filter, it’s very easy to accidentally push pixels to
where they should not go, so use the Freeze Mask Tool
to paint over the pixels that should be protected.
Tip 11: Liquify
Step 03
The shaping tools, such as the Forward Warp Tool, Push
Left Tool, and Twirl Clockwise Tool will all morph the
pixels in very drastic ways. It’s best to work gently and
coax the pixels into place. If you feel like your
adjustments are way too heavy handed, go into the
Brush Tool Options inside The Properties area and
lower the brush Pressure and Density. I usually keep
these between 25 and 40. That way I make sure my
changes are subtle.
Keep in mind that holding down the Option/Alt key
will reverse the direction the tool pushes the pixels.
For example holding down the Option/alt while
using the Push Left Tool will push the pixels to the
right instead.
Tip 11: Liquify
Step 04
Chances are, the initial results will look somewhat
stretched and distorted. That tends to happen a lot with
this filter. The best way to correct it is with the
Smooth tool. Just run this tool over the previous brush
alterations and they will smooth out, but not undo. This
goes a long way to making the effects seem more
natural and visually believable.
TIP 12
Masking in
Camera Raw Filter

Tip 12: Masking in Camera Raw Filter
Masking in
Camera Raw Filter
Photoshop’s sister
program, Lightroom
Classic, has developed
some outstanding
new AI assisted
selection tools.
These tools make it easier

for photographers to edit
their images directly in
Lightroom and not have to
open up Photoshop for
each image.
Fortunately,
that same
technology
is also in
Photoshop,
but it’s kind
of hidden.
It is located in the Camera
Raw Filter, which is the
same basic processor as
Lightroom’s Develop
module.
Step 01
Open a photo in Photoshop and turn the photo layer

into a Smart Object with:
Layer -> Smart Objects -> Convert to Smart Object.
This way the filter will be applied as a Smart Filter

and the settings can be readjusted later if desired.
Step 02
Go to Filter -> Camera Raw Filter.
This will launch the large Camera Raw Filter dialogue

box.
It’s also worth noting that if you open a photo that is

in a raw file format from a camera, this dialogue box
will open automatically before the file is sent to the
regular Photoshop workspace.
Step 03
Along the right hand toolbar, select the Masking tool.
Then in the People tab Photoshop will show face

thumbnails of each person it detects in the photo.
Mousing over each thumbnail will highlight that person

in the main view window.
Step 04
Click on one of the face thumbnails to get to the Person

Mask Options where you can choose from a subset of
options to create a selection, for example checking the
Teeth option will automatically create a selection of the
person’s teeth.
You can also use the Add person icon next to the face
thumbnail to add the teeth of someone else. Then
that same checkbox will create a selection of both
smiles.
Step 05
Click on the Create button and Camera raw shows a

small icon next to each smile and the Mask1 will list the
elements being used to create that mask. This makes it
easy to add or remove elements from the mask
construction.
Step 06
Once the mask is ready, then using it to adjust the

photo is as easy as working with the sliders to make the
adjustments you want.
This new approach to selecting and masking in

Lightroom/Camera Raw Filter makes common, quick
adjustments like this a lot faster than they have ever
been before.
TIP 13
Curves
Tip 13: Curves
Curves
Curves adjustments
are a very powerful
tool that allows
great control over
your image.
Tip 13: Curves
Curves are
a means of
adjusting the
tonal range
and white and
black points in
your image.
You can also add multiple
points giving you more
freedom to play with the
image once you
understand how it works.
Tip 13: Curves
How To Access
You can find the Curves icon in the Adjustment panel,
or you can add it from the Menu bar, just select
Image -> Adjustments -> Curves… This will create
a Curves adjustment layer. It can be edited in the

Properties panel.
Tip 13: Curves
Histogram
When you open Curves for the first time, you’ll see a
graph type image with a histogram behind it. The
histogram plots the brightness darkness value of each
pixel and organizes it onto a line with the other pixels with
the same brightness value. The higher the peaks, the
more of that tonal value there is in your image. The four
columns you see in the graph are divided into black
values, shadow values, highlight values and white values.
Tip 13: Curves
Adjustments
The diagonal line laying on
top of them allows you to
modify the brightness of
the pixels that fall in the
graph beneath it. You do
this by adding points to the
line and dragging them up
and down.
To add a point, simply hover

your mouse over the line
and click.
If you click and drag either

of the two end points in the
corners you will see the
image's white and black
points change. Depending
on which way you drag
the point, you’ll add either
a “hazy” or “contrasted”
look to the image.
Tip 13: Curves
Midtones & Contrast
You can also add points to the middle of the line. This
will increase or decrease the midtones of your image.
If you drag up, your image gets brighter, and down it will
get darker. Contrast is another feature which can be
affected in the Curves window. To do this you need to
make two points in the middle of the line. Drag the one
over the highlight values up, and the one over the
shadow values down.
Tip 13: Curves
Hand Tool
If you’ve never used Curves before, the most
important tool is the hand tool with the finger
pointing out. What this little tool does is it allows you to
click directly on an area of the image and click and drag
up or down to adjust the brightness of that exact tone.
When you click the hand icon it will show an eye
dropper as you hover over the image. As you click and
drag up and down, you’ll see a small circle point moving
up and down on the Curves line.
The reason why this is

the most important tool
for beginners, is it's quite
hard to guess the value
in the photograph and
where that
corresponding value is
plotted on the Curves
line in the window. This
takes time to acquire this
skill, but by using the
hand tool, you don’t
need any of that info to
make the corrections
you want to make.
Tip 13: Curves
RGB Channels 1 of 2
If you click the

dropdown where it
says RGB, you’ll see
the individual color
channels can also be
adjusted through the
Curves adjustment
layer.
These graphs
are so powerful,
some photographers
do all their
color grading in
Curves alone.
Please keep in mind that the single channel curve lines

work differently than the blended RGB line. They affect
the amount of that color that can be seen in the
different tonal zones of your image. If you select the red
channel from the dropdown, and you drag a point
upwards in the highlights area, then you create a
second point in the shadows area and drag it down,
what you’re essentially doing is adding reds to the
highlights and subtracting red from the shadows (or
basically adding red’s opposite color a.k.a Cyan to the
shadows).
Tip 13: Curves
RGB Channels 2 of 2
The same effect works for the

Green and Blue channels. If you
drag a point up, you add more of
that color to the underlying tonal
range you’re dragging the point
over. If you drag down, you will
remove that color from that area
(or add it’s opposite color Green/
Magenta or Blue/Yellow).
Now that you’re familiar with how

Curves works, I hope you’ll explore
a little bit about this wildly
powerful adjustment tool in
Photoshop.
T I P 1 4
Settings
Search Bar
Tip 14: Settings Search Bar
Settings
Search Bar
As an instructor, I’ve said this

more times than I can count:
“There's a setting for this
somewhere in the Photoshop
Settings Panel, but I can’t
remember which
sub menu it’s under.”

Well, recently
I’m thrilled to
Finally...
say - This
problem is
no more.
Adobe as of Photoshop
version 2023 has
implemented a search bar
within it’s settings and
preferences window.
And wow was it needed.

How To Access
Start at your top Photoshop menu and choose
preferences > general.
How To Use
Your preferences window will appear. At the top right of
the window, you’ll see a new search bar which allows
you to search any topic you like.
Let’s say you want to change the default processor

Photoshop uses to “Select Subject” when it’s asked to.
We can type in Select Subject and Photoshop will give
you suggestions.
Cloud Processing Tip
Let’s choose Select Subject Processing. Photoshop will
immediately take you to the Image Processing sub tab.
By default, when you tell Photoshop to Select

Subject, it uses your computer’s processor to do the
thinking.
But recently they added the option to beam the image

up to the cloud and use a much more advanced and
robust processor. Here, you can choose to use this
processor by default. Just change the Select Subject
Processing dropdown menu from Device to Cloud.
Spell Check Auto Correct
This feature is even great for me and my dyslexic friends
as it will search even if the word you input is spelled
incorrectly. So you’ll never be left wondering why a topic
doesn't show up if you don't remember to proofread.
TIP 15
Layer
Blend Modes
Tip 15: Layer Blend Modes
Layer
Blend Modes
Working with Layers is

a core part of your
workflow in Photoshop.
Normally, layers are stacked These blending modes are

up pixel on top of pixel and separated into five different
the top most layer is the groups: Normal, Darken,
one that is visible since it Lighten, Contrast,
hides the other layers Difference, and Color. The
beneath it. various modes within each
group are similar but use
different criteria to make
But Photoshop their changes.
has a feature
that allows the
layer to interact
with the layer
beneath it based
on different
conditions.
These are known as Layer
Blending Modes and can
be found near the top of the
Layers Panel in an
unlabeled drop down
menu that says Normal by
default.
Above that is a Grayscale

Of all the Test Layer which shows
three areas at the top of the
available modes, frame with black, 50% gray
only a handful
and white fills.
of them are The rows below that show a

smooth white to black
generally used gradient and then grayscale

values decreasing in
for photography increments of 10%.
work. The top layer, shows the

color fills of red, green, and
blue.
We will go over the ones

that tend to be most useful. Below that is a color
gradient containing the full
To illustrate the different rainbow of colors, and three
blend modes we will use a color wheels showing the
file designed for this full color spectrum in dark,
specific purpose.
mid and light tones.
This has a Base Layer with a

colorful, vibrant photo
image on it. This base layer
can also be referred to as
the underlying or
background layer.
Normal
In the Normal group there are only two modes, Normal

and Dissolve. The Normal mode is the default and
really doesn’t blend the pixels of the layer at all,
unless the Opacity is also adjusted.
The Dissolve blend mode also doesn’t make any visible

difference unless the Opacity is lowered, in which case
the top layer has a very speckled or grainy appearance
as the opacity is reduced. It’s like you printed your image
on a thin layer of salt and as you decrease the opacity of
the layer, more salt specks are eliminated or removed.
Darken 1 of 2
The next group of blending modes is the Darken group.

These modes are generally used to darken certain
aspects or all of your image depending on the blend
mode picked. In this group any pure white pixels on the
overlying layer will be rendered completely invisible. For
these examples we will be using the Grayscale Test
Layer over the Base Layer.
Darken 2 of 2
The Darken mode will evaluate the pixels on both

layers and display the one that is darker. So if you had
a layer that looked like newspaper print over the base
layer, changing it to Darken would make it look like the
newsprint was printed directly on that photo.
The Multiply mode gives a highly saturated, darker

color result. It’s very similar to how your image would
look if printed on an inkjet printer.
Lighten 1 of 3
The next group of Blending modes is the Lighten group.

These are similar to the Darken group but deal with the
lighter values instead of the darker values. Blending
modes in this group will render pixels that are 100%
black as invisible.
The Lighten mode does the opposite of Darken

mode. It shows only the lighter color of the two
layers.
Lighten 2 of 3
You can see from the photo above that you can only see
the lighter pixels on the grayscale test layer. Here’s
another example; if you were to add a layer which just
had a moon on it and everywhere else was black, and
you place that over a night shot of a tent on a mountain,
then you change the blend mode of the Moon layer
from normal to Lighten, which would make only the
moon visible, and the rest of that layer would be
invisible.
The Screen mode uses the brightness of the top layer

to brighten the appearance of the base layer. This
mode is very effective for layers with really bright effects
like glows, sparks or lens flares.
Lighten 3 of 3
The Color Dodge mode decreases the contrast

between the two layers by brightening the base
layer. It often creates a more vibrant effect than Screen,
while still working in a similar way. So if you wanted to
overlay a photo of fireworks on a landscape image,
consider using the Color Dodge mode.
Contrast 1 of 2
The Contrast group is a sort of blend between the

Darken and Lighten groups but focused on midtones.
So for several of these modes, if there is a section with
50% gray, it will come across as invisible when you
change the layer’s blend mode to one of these.
The Overlay Mode combines the Multiply and Screen

blend modes. It uses brightness information from the
underlying layer to darken areas that are darker and
lighten areas that are lighter, ultimately creating
more contrast.
Contrast 2 of 2
The Soft Light Mode is similar to the Overlay and works

in much the same way, but has a softer appearance.
Using this mode with a Gradient Map provides a very

useful means of color grading. It’s also a great way to
create a non-destructive Dodge and Burn technique.
Filling a layer with 50% gray and setting it to Soft Light

blend mode will make the layer invisible, but any painting
with a lighter or darker color on this layer will either
brighten or darken the pixels on the layer beneath it.
Difference 1 of 4
The next group is the Difference blend modes that

are mostly concerned with inverting colors.
To better demonstrate how the modes in this group

work the illustrations show the color test layer being
used above the base photo layer.
Difference 2 of 4
The Difference mode will invert the underlying

colors where the overlay colors are white. This mode
is useful to align layers, if the pixels are the same, they
show as black and if they are different they show up
bright. This way it is easy to visualize where pixels don’t
line up properly.
If you take a layer in your document and duplicate it,

then change the duplicate layer’s blend mode to
difference, it will show as black. As soon as you move
that top layer around, you’ll start to see colors.
Difference 3 of 4
The Color mode uses the saturation value of the

base layer to determine how much of the top layer
to apply.
This mode can be useful when applied to a Hue/

Saturation adjustment layer to change the hue of a
very colorful subject in the base photo layer.
Difference 4 of 4
The Luminosity mode keeps hue and saturation

values of the underlying layer but uses the luminous
values of the top layer. This gives yet another option for
a creative method to dodge and burn as the top layer is
used to shape the brightness of the highlights and the
deepness of the shadows but the rest of the color
information is coming from the photo on the base layer.
Pro Tip
To easily cycle through the various modes and see

their results in real time, select the Move tool and
hold down Shift and the Option/Alt key. Then use the
plus and minus keys to easily move through the list
of blend modes.
T I P 1 6
Blend If
Tip 16: Blend If
Blend If
This little known
feature is one of my
all time favorite tips
in Photoshop.
Tip 16: Blend If
The ability to effortlessly

hide and show portions
of a layer just by the
pixel’s brightness/
darkness value.
And as an added bonus,
this can be completed
using zero masking.
Tip 16: Blend If
Basics
Here is a file of a lady on a bridge surrounded by trees,

and layered on top of her are four gradient bars. The top
is just values, it runs black to white. The lower three bars
are saturation bars for red, green and blue.
Below that are circles that range from 100% black to 10%
black.
Tip 16: Blend If
How To Access
To access the blend if sliders, you need to double click

on the right empty portion of the Gradient Layer in the
layers pallet. Or you can choose Layer - Layer Style -
Blending Options.
Tip 16: Blend If
Important Note
The blend if box has two important gradient bars.
The top one takes all the pixels on the activated layer
you have selected, takes all the color value out of them
and plots each pixel’s brightness darkness value on a
line.
The second bar named “underlying layer” does the

same but for the layer below.
In this case, it’s the image of the trees and the bridge.
Tip 16: Blend If
How To Use
As I pull the left arrow at the bottom of the current layer

gradient bar to the right, look how the darkest pixels on
the top layer become invisible. And the same rings true
if I pull the right arrow over to the left. The brightest
pixels on the layer become invisible.
Tip 16: Blend If
Feathering
If the transition from visible to invisible is too stark, you

can hold Option (Mac) or Alt (PC) and split the arrow to
create a more feathered transition from visible to
invisible.
Note how you can now see a portion of semi-

transparent gradient between visible and invisible.
Tip 16: Blend If
Underlying Layer
For the underlying layer sliders, the same rings true, but
it uses the brightness/darkness values of the tree and
bridge photo to determine where the bars layer is
visible.
If you pull the left arrow inwards towards the middle, the
bars and circles will become invisible over the darkest
areas of the tree and bridge photo.
While the bars will still remain visible over the brightest
areas of the tree image (aka the bridge).
Tip 16: Blend If
RGB Options
If you change the dropdown from Grey, you have three

options; Red Green and Blue. These work through the
RGB channels of the image. But all you need to
remember is wherever the most saturated color is, that’s
where you can adjust the visibility of that color in your
image.
Below I switched the blend if dropdown from Grey to

Green. Then I pulled the right arrow inward. This causes
the green bar (where it has the most green) to be
rendered invisible.
This is the simplest way to avoid masking when you

need to quickly hide either a brightness value or a
color value from an image. Its applications are truly
limitless and I use it almost every day. I can’t wait for you
to explore this fun, hidden Photoshop gem!
TIP 17
Keyboard
Shortcuts
Tip 17: Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard
Shortcuts
With a certain
amount of experience
in Photoshop, your
comfort level with
the tools will increase

and you will find it
becomes almost
tedious to mouse
over to the toolbar
and grab the tool
you need every time.

One of the best

ways to speed
up your
workflow is to
use keyboard
shortcuts.
These allow you to change

the Photoshop tool you are
using without even moving
your mouse.
Spring Loaded Tools

The first shortcut isn’t even a specific tool at all. It’s a
feature in Photoshop that allows you to temporarily
activate a tool while you are holding down that tool’s
shortcut key and then when the key is released,
Photoshop reverts back to the previous tool.
For example, If you are painting with the Brush tool and
need the Eraser tool, hold down the E key to activate the
Eraser, erase the areas you need to, then release the E
key to revert back to the Brush tool.
If your Spring loaded Tools do not work, try going to

Photoshop>Preferences>Tools and make sure the
option for Spring-loaded Tool Shortcuts is enabled.
Hand / Zoom Tool

The most commonly used Spring Loaded Tool is the
Hand tool.
This is the tool that lets you pan around your canvas
without affecting anything on it. It’s like taking your
hand and grabbing your piece of paper and sliding it
across your desk.
To activate it, hold down the Spacebar, then just move

your canvas! If you then add the Command or Alt key to
it you get the Zoom Tool that lets you quickly zoom in
and out of your canvas.
There is no faster way to adjust your view of your canvas

than with this keyboard shortcut.
(BONUS TIP: This is also a great way to help find your

cursor if you’ve lost it. Just tap the spacebar and watch
for your cursor to change to a Hand and back. It’s like it’s
waving at you saying “Here I am!”)
Copy A Layer
This one is technically a modifier key, but since it’s still a
shortcut, it counts.
With the Move Tool active hold down the Option/Alt key.
You will notice that the cursor changes to have a white
duplicate behind the regular arrow. Then when you click
and drag on a layer, you will create a copy of that layer.
This works in the canvas window, or on the layer

thumbnails in the Layers panel.
Add or Remove from

a Selection
When using any of the selection tools from the Toolbar
(Rectangular Marquee, Lasso, Quick Selection, etc.) the
default mode is to discard the current selection and
create a new one.
There are settings in the options bar to change the

mode to Add to Selection and Subtract from Selection,
and these can be quickly activated by use of the spring
loaded shortcut keys.
Shift will Add to Selection and Opt/Alt will Subtract

from Selection.
Eyedropper Tool
Anytime you are painting with the Brush tool, the
brush is going to use the Foreground color that you
have set.
There are several methods for changing that color, like

picking a new color from the Color panel, or clicking on
the foreground color swatch to get the Color Picker
dialogue box. But if you want to grab a color from your
current canvas, the easiest way is to simply hold down
the Option/Alt key. That brings up the Eyedropper Tool
as a spring loaded tool and lets you quickly pick any
color on your canvas and set it to the Foreground Color.
(Bonus Tip: While using the Eyedropper Tool, if you hold

down the mouse button and drag outside your
Photoshop window, you can sample a color from your
desktop or any other open window!)
Default Colors
Photoshop considers black as the default foreground
color and white as the default background. As both of
these are easy to change to another color, there’s a
quick way to get back to the black and white default.
That’s the D key. Just a quick tap and you have the
default colors back again.
This is particularly helpful when working with layer

masks. Also, the X key will swap the foreground and
background colors. So no matter what color you are
painting with you can know that solid black or solid
white is just a key or two away.
Quickly Adjust Brush Size

Painting can be a meticulous task in Photoshop and
having the correct brush tip size is extremely important.
But opening the Brushes panel and specifying a brush
size is a long path to take for making minor
adjustments. Instead use the bracket keys [ ] to
quickly adjust the size. The left bracket [ steps the
brush size smaller and the right bracket ] steps
it larger.
For larger adjustments, hold down the Option and

Control keys along with the left mouse button (On a
PC it’s the Alt key and the right mouse button) to get
a brush size preview. Then dragging left and right will

interactively adjust the brush size, while dragging up
and down will adjust the brush hardness.
T I P 1 8
Actions
Tip 18: Actions
Actions
Actions are one of my

ultimate time saving
Photoshop secrets.
Tip 18: Actions
I always say
if you do
something more
than five times
in Photoshop,
make an action
for it.
And chances are if you do it
five times, then you do it
pretty frequently and that
means using an action will
save you time every single
instance you use it.
Tip 18: Actions
Basics
Let’s go over what an action is now that I’ve just talked it
up quite a bit.
An action is a recording of the steps that you take in

Photoshop.
For example, if you edit headshots often and you always

use the same adjustment layers for teeth, eyes, skin, etc.
recording an action allows you to record the creation of
all those layers, including all adjustments, masks,
parameters and everything.
You record yourself doing

this on one image and then
you can play the action on
any other image. When you
hit play, Photoshop will
create all of the layers and in
a fraction of the time it
would take you to manually
do it yourself.
Oftentimes, it can be completed in a millisecond.
Once you play your action on any image then you only
have to make minor adjustments to the layers that the
action created for you. The more actions you can create
and use in your editing, the better, and faster your
process will become.
Recording an action is quite simple, first make sure the

Actions panel is open, go to Window and make sure
Actions is selected.
Tip 18: Actions
Recording
Now in the Action panel you will see a small button with
a + sign inside of a box. (That is the ‘add new’ icon and
you will see it a lot within Photoshop.) In this application,
since we’re in the Actions window, it means ‘create new
Action.' This will open a prompt window to name and
place the Action in a “Set”.
A set is like an organizational folder within your

Actions panel. You can create sets (a.k.a. folders) to store
like actions together, for example a group for headshot
actions, another for landscape, another for family
portraits, weddings, etc.
Once you’ve named the Action, click Record. You will

know Photoshop is recording your steps when the red
“Record” button in the Actions panel is illuminated.
Now all you need to do is go through all the steps you

would usually complete to edit an image, add all of the
adjustments to the layers, add the masks to them, name
them group them.
Tip 18: Actions
Important Note
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not draw, paint,
make any unique selections to the image you are
working on while recording.
An action is meant to be used on multiple images

throughout your editing lifetime. Anything that would
be unique to the image you currently have open, should
not be executed while you are creating your action.
All of these tasks that are

image specific, should be
left for you to do after you
run the action you’re
currently creating. Doing
them while you are
recording an action is the
easiest way to mess up your
action creation. Ask yourself,
is this task specific to this
image or do I do it on all my
images?
For example, I whiten teeth on all my images. I need to

create a selective color adjustment layer, select the
yellows from the drop down menu, remove all yellow
tones from the yellows in my image, I then need to hide
it under a black mask. But DO NOT INCLUDE the actual
act of painting over where the teeth are in that specific
image. Because the next image you run the action on
will have teeth located in a different area of the picture.
When you are finished creating all of your steps, click

the little square icon next to the red record button to
stop the recording.
Tip 18: Actions
Play
Try opening another image
and locate your new action
in the Actions panel and
select it, then with the
action highlighted click the
“play” button at the bottom
of your Actions panel and
watch as Photoshop creates
all of the layers you need in
seconds as opposed to the
time it would take you to
manually recreate all of
those layers on every image.
You can create actions for

just about anything in
Photoshop, from basic
portrait editing to advanced
and even creative overlays.
The possibilities are endless
once you get the hang of
creating them and really
understand how useful it is
to have actions for as many
things as you can.
TIP 19
Custom
Brushes
Custom
Tip 19: Custom Brushes
Brushes
Photoshop’s brush engine is
one of its greatest strengths
for creating custom effects
and manipulating how painting
with the brush tool reacts.

A large part of that strength

comes from the ability to
create custom brush
shapes that can easily be
used to create interesting
effects. For example,
creating a custom brush to
add glowing bokeh spots to
a photo.
Once you’ve
created a
custom brush,
then a world of
brush reaction
options are
opened to you
in the Brush
settings
dialog box.
This is where you can easily
change the shape, rotation,
angle, size and a host of
other characteristics, but
we’ll get to that later on.
Step 01
Begin by opening the image you want to use to create
the custom brush. In this case, we have an image of
some soft blurry natural lens bokeh spots isolated on a
flat black background. There are two bright, circular
bokeh spots we want to isolate to use as a brush.
Grab the Crop tool and draw out a bounding box just
around those spots. Then commit the crop by pressing
Enter or clicking the check mark in the Options bar.
Step 02
Photoshop uses the shades of gray to define the brush,
the darker the tonal value, the more dense the brush is
and full white is interpreted as empty space. This image
is currently the reverse of what we need.
Go to Image -> Invert, and then Image ->

Adjustments -> Desaturate to remove all the
saturation.
You could also use Command/Control + I to invert, and

Command/Control + U to desaturate.
Step 03
It’s always best practice to make sure the darkest
part of the brush is fully black, otherwise it will be
impossible to get full opacity with the brush.
Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Levels and make sure

the black arrow is touching the left most part of the
histogram peaks. Essentially darkening your black point
from slightly grey to fully black.
Step 04
Next, go to Edit -> Define Brush Preset to actually create
the new custom brush. The dialogue box gives a small
preview of what the brush will look like and prompts
you to name your new brush.
Step 05
Now open an image to use the brush on.
Add a new layer to receive the brush work and when

you select the Brush tool your new brush should be
already selected and ready to go. If not, right click and
look for your new brush at the bottom of the brush list.
Then set the color you wish to use (a golden light color
in this case) and a simple click will add some custom
bokeh spots to your scene!
Step 06
As great as our new brush is, it gets even better.
Open the Brush Settings panel with Window -> Brush

Settings. In the Brush Tip Shape area set the Spacing to
100% to give some room between ‘stamps’ of the brush
tip.
You see, when you have a brush, what it actually is, is

the shape of the brush stamped one next to the
other so tightly, that it makes a line. Expanding the
spacing makes those ‘brush stamps’ farther apart. But
looking at the stroke preview, there’s a lot of distracting
repetition.
Step 07
Click on the check mark next to Shape Dynamics and
set the Size Jitter to 75%, this makes the brush size
change randomly within 75% of it’s size.
You can think of jitter as another work for variation.
Change the Angle Jitter to 75% as well to randomize the

rotation of each brush stamp.
Then check the Flip X and Flip Y Jitter options to further

add some visual randomness to the brush. This will flip
the stamp left, right, up and down as you draw a line
with the brush. Cool, right?
Step 08
Click on the check mark next to Scattering options and
set the Scatter to 225% and enable the Both Axes option.
This controls how far from where you're actually
painting the brush will appear. The higher the value,
the farther from where you are painting you’ll see the
stamps.
If the preview is showing a stroke that appears too

sparse of brush stamps, then increase the Count setting
to add more stamps to the line.
Step 09
Finally try out the new custom brush settings by
painting along your image!
Keep in mind that this is still a brush and will have all
the regular brush settings like size, opacity, flow and

blending mode.
Step 10
While it may not be as noticeable with the brush we’ve
created here, a common problem with using
Photoshop’s brushes is they tend to be a bit “shaky”
when drawn manually. This is particularly true when
using a mouse, it’s very difficult to get those nice
smooth, sweeping brush strokes that can be done with
a regular paint brush.
Photoshop has a feature that helps with this. It’s the

Smoothing setting in the Options Bar. Increase this
and Photoshop will automatically smooth out the
shakiness of your brush strokes as you paint them!
Thanks Adobe!
TIP 20
Vocabulary &
Important Terms
Tip 20: Vocabulary & Important Terms
Vocabulary &
Important Terms
Photoshop can be
overwhelming,
but learning some
key terms will help
you navigate it a
little easier.
In this tip, I will go through
some important vocabulary
words and definitions that
will help simplify your
Photoshop learning curve.
Resolution 1 of 2
This refers to how many paint dots or points a digital

picture has. It’s kind of like the art form of pointillism
where you only use dots to draw your entire picture.
But for us in photography, the dots are so close
together, we can’t tell them apart. These dots in digital

pictures are referred to as pixels, and they are
measured ‘per inch.’ Pixels per inch is shortened to
the acronym PPI, and dots per inch is shortened to
DPI. Generally, they both mean the same thing.
Resolution 2 of 2
Digital images can have a lot of dots per inch or a few.

This is what people refer to as Web resolution vs. Print
Resolution. Older computer screens could only display
72 dots per inch and that is widely known now as web-
rez, while images meant to be printed should have 240
to 300 pixels per inch in order to not look pixelated
when they are printed.
In recent years, display and screen companies have

started increasing the amount of pixels they put in
their screens, for monitors and video this is referred as
4K and others might be familiar with the term retina
screens/displays.
When I personally format

my images for my web
sites, I use 150 pixels per
inch in order to make the
images look sharp when
someone is viewing my
work using a screen with a
higher pixel density.
Select 1 of 2
Most of editing a photo comes down to two steps;
select the area you want to change, and then make the
change. The change you make can be modifying the
color, the brightness or the contrast. But before you can
make any change you need to select the area that you
want to make the change to. This is where select comes
in. It’s the act of isolating part of your image from the
rest of it.
“Select” is an important
term in Photoshop, that’s
why there is an entire
“Select” top menu.
There are a growing list of selection tools in Photoshop
including the Rectangular Marquee tool and the new ai
powered Select Subject and Select Object tools. All you
need to remember, is the first step to making any local
change to some (not all) of the pixels in your photo, is to
select them.
Select 2 of 2
There are tools that allow

you to select any portion
of your photo. The trick is
knowing and learning
about them. There are
tools that let you select
by a pixel’s color, or by
brightness/darkness
value of your pixels.
There are also selection
tools that will look for an
edge and select all the
pixels within that area.
The more selection

tools you learn, the
easier it will be for you
to pick the right one
depending on what
you need to isolate.
De-select is the opposite of select. It releases the

active selection you have. There is an easy shortcut for
this; Command/Control + D will erase any selection you
have activated on your photo.
Layers 1 of 2
Layers are Photoshop’s initial

way of protecting all the pixels in
your base image without writing
over any of them permanently.
Visualize a black and white,

landscape photograph and lay it
on a table. Then take a clear
transparent sheet of see through,
hard plastic and lay it on top. Next,
take a blue magic marker and
color the sky portion of the
underlying black and white image.
Make sure to do your coloring on
the clear plastic laying on top of
the black and white photo.
The sky will now look blue, but if

you pick up the transparent plastic
with the blue coloring on it, your
original black and white image is
unharmed and unchanged. This is
why we use layers in our work; to
never actually manipulate the base
layer (referred to as the
“Background” layer.)
Each change that you do in

Photoshop should have a layer in
the Layer window. This means any
change you make, (but then
decide later that you
don’t like) can easily be discarded

just by dragging that layer to the
trash can.
Layers 2 of 2
There are three main types of layers; pixel

based layers, adjustment layers and text
layers.
Pixel based layers will house actual

pixels on them. This is usually the case if
you are working on a composite image
where you are merging items from
different pictures together.
Another example of pixel based layers is

clearing up blemishes on skin. I usually
start with an empty layer, then I select the
tool to remove the blemishes. I make sure
the tool is set to sample the layer it’s on
and any layer beneath it in the layer stack.
Then I use the tool to remove the
blemishes from the layer below. The
replacement pixels (or the illusion that the
blemishes have disappeared) is on its own
layer, so I’m not ever changing the pixels
on the background layer.
You also have layers that only make

changes to the pixels on layers below it.
These are called adjustment layers. All
they do is modify the look of any pixel
based layers which reside below it in the
layer stack.
Lastly, there are text layers which allow

you to lay text on top of your image.
These layers are formatted differently so
you can add text, edit it, change the color,
etc. I personally use these least of all.
Mask 1 of 2
Adding a mask to a layer acts as a partial invisibility cloak

(think Harry Potter). Ultimately, when you add a mask to
a layer it will dictate which portion of that layer is visible
and which portions are hidden.
A mask looks like a little carbon copy of each layer and is

placed to the right of the layer’s icon in the Layers
window. Anywhere the mask is white, the
corresponding pixels will show, anywhere the mask
is black, the pixels on that layer will be hidden.
Mask 2 of 2
Masks support not just white and black but any

shade of gray in between. The lighter the gray, the
more visible the pixels in that area will be, and the darker
the gray, the less visible they will be.
Feather
The term feather has to do with the amount of blur
an edge has. Not the edge of the picture itself, but
the edge of a selection or part of your image.
To feather the edge of a selection or a mask is to blur it

so the edge becomes less and less visible. It’s measured
by pixels, so a edge that has a feather of 1 pixel will be
much sharper than an edge that has a feather of 300
pixels.
Radius 1 of 2
This term refers to how far

away from an edge or pixel
photoshop will look for or
apply an effect. For example,
when sharpening an edge,
Photoshop will add contrast
to the edge of your subject.
That sharpening is applied by
adding contrast to the edge
pixels. The Radius dictates
how far away from the edge
the added contrast will be
visible. Sometimes, when you
over sharpen the edges in
your image you will see white
lines surrounding the edges,
this is called haloing. This is
caused by Photoshop adding
too much contrast to the
edge. This usually means your
radius value is up too high.
Generally, the term refers to

the distance from the edge
that Photoshop will
reference when applying an
effect or trying to find an
edge. The larger the Radius,
the farther from the edge
Photoshop will
look out.
Radius 2 of 2
Smart Radius is a term you may also come across. It’s

located within the select and mask dialog box. While
perfecting a selection, this checkbox - when
activated - allows you to have different radiuses on
the same selection.
This of a person where the edge of the shoulders is very

sharp (needing a small radius as Photoshop doesn't
need to look very far to make sure it finds the edge) but
then you also have hair that has large gaps within it
where the background shows through. Finding the
edge of the hair is much harder and Photoshop needs
to look much wider on both sides to find and accurately
select the edge through the hair. This is how Smart
Radius can help you perfect your selection easily.
Threshold
This value is your way of telling Photoshop how
much contrast should be considered an edge.
A value of 1 or 0 means every pixel will receive the effect

or change you are applying, while a higher value makes
Photoshop be more selective and only apply the effect
to larger, more contrasty edges.
Threshold
No Yes
Tolerance 1 of 2
This is a value that shows up in many tools. It is similar to

threshold in that it tells Photoshop how picky or
inclusive the tool should act. When using the Magic
Wand Tool for example, a smaller tolerance value will
only let you select the pixels that are almost the exact
same color and very near the pixel that you sampled.
But if you increase the tolerance value to 30, the magic
wand tool will select more pixels, with more color
variation and a wider area.
Changing the tolerance value of a tool significantly

changes the way it reacts to you as the user.
Below, I click on the exact same mark using the magic

wand tool (marked by the red X). The first time, my
tolerance was set to 30 and the second it was set to 65.
Note the difference in how much more the tool selected
when I set the tolerance to the higher value.
Tolerance 2 of 2
Understanding certain words and phrases that pop

up frequently in Photoshop is extremely important,
and changing some of the values associated with the
words above can completely change the way the tool
reacts and performs. The more you learn about these
terms and what they truly mean, the easier your
Photoshop experience will ultimately be.
Designers may be expected
to know everything there is to

know about Photoshop, but
given the power and depth of
the program, that’s often
far from reality.
Kristina will help you close that

gap and take your design skills
to the next level.
20 PHOTOSHOP RETOUCHING TIPS

20 Photoshop Retouching Tips

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photoshop

For the past 15 years, Kristina Sherk

has been a retoucher and

Photoshop educator based out of

She loves “translating Photoshop” for

photographers and subsequently,

has spoken at AdobeMAX,

CreativeLive, Photoshop World,

KelbyOne, Canon, LinkedIn Learning,

ImagingUSA, and WPPI.

Two years ago, she welcomed the

launch of her own education

platform SharkPixel.com. And to

date, has helped over 1 million

people work smarter, not harder in

sharkpixel.com/contact both Photoshop and Lightroom.

She’s also a contributing author for

educational publications like Shutter

Magazine, Photoshop User

Magazine, and Lightroom Magazine.

Layer Masks Select Subject Custom Workspace Color Grading

Spot Healing Tool Overlays Sky Replacement Content Aware

Select Object Neural Filters Liquify Camera Raw Masking

Curves Settings Search Bar Layer Blend Modes Blend If

Keyboard Shortcuts Actions Custom Brushes Important Terms

Layer Masks provide

They give the ability to show

When learning Photoshop

Make sure that top layer is the active selected layer,

can tell by the thin white outline around the thumbnail.

So if you grab the Brush tool and paint with black

If you paint on a mask with 50% grey instead of white or

That means that gradients are also a wonderful tool

Because we selected the mask icon before activating

Remember, White Exposes and Black Cloaks.

To return to the regular view, just Option/Alt click on the

The Density slider is like

The Feather slider is similar

The select and mask button

The Color range button is the same as the menu

Then the Invert button inverses the mask, which is super

help simplify the

One of the results of those

efforts is the Select Subject

Photoshop will evaluate your image and create a

If it gets you 80% of the way there, just by clicking

Even though the implication is that the Cloud setting

Usually this is sufficient to get a very good and

With an image open, make sure the regular image layer

This also yields results that are a great start for

That goes further than

just rearranging the

Make Photoshop your

very own with Custom

This is also an easy way to reset your workspace if

Think through what panels

To add them to your

you can customize your tool bar on the left.

At the bottom of the Toolbar is an icon with three

By default Photoshop presents as many of its tools

as possible in the toolbar, but you might want to

It’s also possible to

better fit your liking, for

way to add color to