Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4 - Photoshop CS4 Tutorial
 A fellow photographer was showing me some images the other day that he had captured with a camera that uses a plastic lens. The images had a certain attraction.
Although the images had some pretty shocking vignetting and heavy distortion he was drawn to the beautiful liquid smooth tones that the plastic lens was offering up. Most women who look at photographs of themselves would agree that crunchy detail is just not a good look.
A digital camera can be a very cruel tool that can capture way too much information. Most people would prefer their skin to appear smooth, but not featureless, and will thank the photographer when they can reveal a skin texture that does not shout its detail to the viewer. The craft of professional skin retouching is the ability to render perfect skin without giving your model the appearance of a plastic-fantastic shop window mannequin. Read the Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4 Photoshop tutorial.
Photoshop CS4 Tutorials and Resources
See our Photoshop CS4 Resource Center for Free Photoshop CS4 Tutorials, the Free Photoshop CS4 Trial Download, and the Latest Photoshop CS4 News.
 John Rauch has posted a fantastic tutorial about digital comic coloring. All the files are included so you can follow along, and the tutorial works in Photoshop 7. Because this tutorial only represents one possible way to approach coloring, you'll find a different one listed below.
The tutorial takes advantage of some changes to the brush engine that were implemented in Photoshop 7. If you are using a prior version, be aware that some things will not work.
To complete the tutorial you'll need the EraserX brush set (available as a free download online), as several of the brushes in the set are used. To take advantage of the brushes you'll need a pressure sensitive graphics tablet. For those of you who don't have a tablet and who plan on creating art digitally, it is highly recommend that you purchase one. Also note that without a tablet, parts of the tutorial will not be possible.
 go to "Digital Comic Coloring" tutorial
Photoshop Tutorials By Master Illustrator Kevin Hulsey
 We are proud to be hosting some amazing Photoshop tutorials from master illustrator Kevin Hulsey. "I have found that because I started out working in airbrush, I look at Photoshop from a completely different vantage point than most younger 'computer-only' artists." Kevin told us. "My use of Photoshop directly mimics the methodology of a conventional airbrush illustrator. I get a lot of E-mail from students who have a difficult time in understanding approaches that seem completely natural to me. The great thing about Photoshop is that there are so many different roads to the same conclusion."
Please note that these are extensive tutorials and may take some time to load.
Painting Techniques - tips and techniques for painting in Photoshop
Ghosting Techniques - tutorial on how to create a transparent view using Photoshop
Cruise Ship Cutaway - tutorial on using Photoshop to color line art
How To Sharpen An Image In Photoshop — Advanced Sharpening Techniques
 Most if not all digital images require sharpening, even if shot on a state of the art digital megaresolution SLR with pin-sharp focusing. Most cameras or scanners can sharpen as the image is captured but the highest quality sharpening is to be found in the image editing software.
The best sharpening techniques are those that prioritize the important areas for sharpening and leave the smoother areas of the image well alone, e.g. sharpening the eyes of a portrait but avoiding the skin texture. These advanced techniques are essential when sharpening images that have been scanned from film or have excessive noise, neither of which needs accentuating by the Unsharp Mask. So let the project begin.
Creating Selections With Photoshop's Pen Tool
 The Pen Tool is often used in the creation of sophisticated smooth-edged selections, but strictly speaking it is not one of the selection tools. The Pen Tool creates vector paths instead of selections; these, however, can be converted into selections that in turn can be used to extract or mask groups of pixels.
Although graphic designers are quite adept at using this tool, many photographers the world over have been furiously waving magic wands and magnetic lassos at the megapixel army and putting graphics tablets on their shopping lists each year in an attempt to avoid recognizing the contribution that this unique tool has to offer.
Photoshop Masking & Montage Tutorial
 In this sample chapter from his new book, Photoshop CS3 Essential Skills, Mark Galer shows you Photoshop techniques that use selections and Photoshop masks to create amazing effects that can be applied to landscape images. As a bonus, you can also download high resolution versions of the images that are used in the tutorial, so you can work along with Mark.
This tutorial is an excellent way to become more familiar with Photoshop's powerful masking and selection tools.
Working With Shadows In Photoshop - Advanced Shadow Techniques
 Learn the fine art of isolating and preserving delicate and complex shadows for transplantation to exotic new backgrounds. This tutorial reveals how to introduce a world of exciting textures to your ever so subtle... not... studio tabletop.
The flower for this tutorial was photographed (using a Fuji FinePix) on a cold winters morning in Victoria whilst the sand (shot on Kodachrome film) hails from the Great Indian Desert in Rajasthan. Unlikely bedfellows, but with a little craft the two can lie together comfortably within the same frame – but only if the subtle shadow is captured with all of its subtlety and delicately transplanted to its new home in the desert. This is how...!
Photoshop CS4 & Photoshop CS4 Extended - Best Deals From Adobe
 Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended feature a newly refined, tab-based interface in a single, integrated window, with self-adjusting panels arranged in docked groups. Automatically keeping tools well organized and away from your work area means you get greater efficiency, less clutter, and better results, faster than before.
Delivering all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS4 software, including the new Adjustments and Masks panels, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended also provides breakthrough 3D editing and compositing power to paint directly on 3D models, create 3D animations, convert 2D images to 3D objects, and more; richer motion graphics editing; and more powerful and flexible image analysis and tracking. Learn more on our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page. To download the free trial, see details on our Photoshop CS4 Free Trial Download Page.
Find upgrade options and package deals at the Adobe USA Store. Teachers and students get special pricing at the Adobe Education Store. You can also buy in your country currency and language at the following Adobe International Stores:
Adobe United Kingdom | Adobe Germany | Adobe France | Adobe Eastern Europe
Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium - Complete CS4 Bundle
 Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium software is the designer's dream toolkit for print, web, and mobile publishing. Creativity is rarely confined to one medium, so put your vector illustrations in motion, moving fluidly between Adobe Illustrator CS4 and Adobe Flash CS4 Professional. And use Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended to design and slice a web page for publishing with Adobe Dreamweaver CS4.
Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium combines essential tools for producing everything from professional page layouts to rich interactive experiences in a unified, intuitive environment. Also includes Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, Adobe InDesign CS4, plus Adobe Fireworks CS4.
Buy now or download the free trial at the Adobe USA Store, or buy in your country currency and language at the following Adobe International Stores:
Adobe United Kingdom | Adobe Germany | Adobe France | Adobe Eastern Europe
 These two tutorials by Chris Arlidge at Steel Dolphin Creative walk you through the steps you need to create beautiful and realistic comic book art in full color. The tutorials make use of the channels palette extensively, but you can use layers with some modifications.
Digital Coloring - Part I - Preparing Line Art For Coloring
Step one of the digital coloring and coloring comics routine is to take scanned line art and prepare it for coloring. This tutorial explains how this is done from taking a dirty scan to creating an alpha channel to store your final line art.
Digital Coloring - Part II - The Render
This tutorial shows you how to fully render comic book art using industry techniques. If you don't have your own line art to use you'll find a link to some prepared line art that is offered as a free download. By following both tutorials carefully you'll be able to add vibrant colors to your comics that will look as good as the pros.
 These three matte painting tutorials by Sebastien Gaucher will show you how to create matte paintings in Photoshop. They are detailed and include large versions of the images so you can study the effects closely.
Matte Painting Tutorial - 1: "This tutorial is actually a 'making of' where I explain how I proceeded to achieve this matte painting. I use a Wacom Intuos. If you don't have a graphic tablet this is going to be hard but not impossible. At each step of the matte painting, create a new layer so that the work will be easier and mistakes avoided."
Matte Painting Tutorial - 2: "This is my second matte painting tutorial. Here I wanted to change the season of a scene from summer to winter. Specific device used: Wacom Intuos.
Matte Painting Tutorial - 3: "Here is the making of my third matte painting, this time it is the Oratoire Saint-Joseph (in Montreal) under the rain! I used a Wacom Intuos."
Free Photoshop CS4 & Photoshop Extended CS4 Videos - Russell Brown
Head on over to the always entertaining Dr. Brown's tutorial page and you'll find some great content, including the following Photoshop CS4 Video Tutorials:
CS4 Extended: 3D Quick-Look
Get ready for an incredible 3D experience, as you view this quick-look at some of the new 3D features in Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended. This tutorial will take you through some of my favorite new tools for working, and experimenting, with 3D objects.
View QuickTime Tutorial; 4.5 MB
CS4 Extended: Spherical Panorama
 Discover one of the new 3D features in Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended. In this tutorial you will learn how to wrap an image around the inside of a sphere, to create a 3D panorama. Then, simply step into this digital space and use some of the new Photoshop CS4 tools to look around your newly created world.
View QuickTime Tutorial; 7.7 MB
CS4 Extended: 3D Mesh from Grayscale
Bring 2D images back to life with this new Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended technique for converting grayscale images into 3D objects. This tutorial will also demonstrate how to generate 3D depth maps directly from 2D images.
View QuickTime Tutorial; 9.7 MB
CS4 Extended: Advanced 3D Eclipse Animation
Learn about some of the advanced features in Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended for animating 3D objects. In this project I will create a solar eclipse simulation from 2D, and video images of the earth and moon. Did I mention that this is an advanced tutorial?
View QuickTime Tutorial; 15.3 MB
 There are two tutorials on the Greg Martin site that are truly quite remarkable — "Make A Realistic Star Field" and "Make A Planet." The Star Field tutorial will help you create awe-inspiring star fields, and the Planet tutorial shows how to create a simple, yet realistic-looking planet using Adobe Photoshop 7.
Greg Martin says: "My goal is to raise the bar for aspiring celestial artists everywhere by making the basic techniques to create realistic spatial elements available for all interested... It is up to the artist, however, to develop their own skill set and create truly dynamic compositions. Be forewarned... simple "planet and star" pieces are rapidly becoming the height of cliché... the challenge is out for YOU to break the mold and create the next unique and truly inspiring work of celestial art."
go to "Make a Realistic Star Field" tutorial.
go to "Make A Planet" tutorial.
 This is an extensive tutorial from Lunacore that details how to go about designing a glass ball in Photoshop that ends up looking very 3D.
On the Lunacore site, Reg says: "Most of my tutorials go beyond the basics of Photoshop. I never felt the need to write tutorials that explain these basics, when most of it is explained in Photoshop's manual/help, books or on different web sites. A lot of my tutorials are based on questions that beginners asked me over and over and/or what isn't clearly explained in the Photoshop's manual or help. Knowing how to use the tools is one thing but knowing when to use them, that's a different story. I try to help with that. It's my intention to write tutorials that are well written and easy to follow by a lot of people with different skill levels."
go to "Create A 3D Glass Ball" tutorial.
PhotoshopSecrets: Wacom Tablets and Photoshop
 A lot of you have asked us about Wacom tablet training, and so we're happy to announce that help is finally here! Our friend Colin Smith (of PhotoshopCafe.com fame) has updated one of his very popular training DVDs — PhotoshopSecrets - Wacom Tablets and Photoshop CS3 — a video training package that teaches you everything you need to know about working with a Wacom tablet in Photoshop. This updated edition now includes lessons with material that addresses some of the new features found in Photoshop CS3.
According to Colin's site, this is "the most complete training on the Wacom Tablet and Adobe Photoshop ever. This fully updated video will show you how to unleash the power and creativity that only comes from a pressure-sensitive tablet. Set up your tablet correctly and stop working like a mouse user in Photoshop. Two of the Top instructors in the industry combine their talents to bring you a video that will totally change the way you approach graphics on your computer. This fast loading CD ROM contains over 2 hours of sharp video with crisp digital sound."
Colin says, "Wes Maggio and myself went back to the studio and completely re-recorded all the lessons for this new version. The content is better, Wes included techniques for all the latest tablets and Cintiq. All the Photoshop techniques are brand new to this edition of the disk. Many of the new CS3 features are explained and covered, including Quick select, Smart Filters, Clone Source, new Curves, Black and White adjustment and more."
The simple-to-use interface frees you up, and you can instantly jump to any lesson with complete control over the playback. All the lesson files are included, so you can follow along at your own pace. If you currently own, or are considering a Wacom pen tablet or Cintiq, this video is one of the best investments you can make. For more on these tablets, see our Wacom Pen Tablets Resource Center. Lessons include:
 • Tablet overview
• The Brushes palette in Photoshop
• Maximizing pressure sensitivity
• Customizing the pen
• Setting up the ExpressKeys
• Programming Touch Strips
• Grayscale and color in same image
 • Collaging Techniques
• Adding 3D shadows and highlights
• Customizing the depth of field
• Dodging and Burning (the new way)
• Making custom grunge brushes
About Colin Smith
 An award winning designer, best-selling author and trainer, Colin is founder of one of the world's most popular Photoshop resource sites, PhotoshopCAFE.com. Colin is also a regular columnist for Advanced Photoshop, Computer Arts, and Photoshop User Magazine.
About Weston Maggio
As an Adobe certified Expert in Photoshop and Wacom sales manager, Wes is an authority on Photoshop instruction, and has taught and held workshops at PhotoshopWorld, Seybold, Macworld, and PMA.
Wacom Tablets and Photoshop CS3 - Special Discount Price
 PhotoshopSecrets - Wacom Tablets and Photoshop CS3 - $39.99 - (DVD version)
PhotoshopSecrets - Wacom Tablets and Photoshop CS3 - $39.99 - (instant download)
Don't have Photoshop CS3 yet? Get Photoshop CS3 now at the Adobe Store. This DVD training is also available for earlier versions. Here are the links:
PhotoshopSecrets Wacom Tablets and Photoshop - $39.99 - (DVD version)
PhotoshopSecrets Wacom Tablets and Photoshop - $39.99 - (instant download)
 Here is another great tutorial from the Lunacore site that will keep you busy - How To Beautify A Face.
Lunacore tutorial writer Reg says: "This tutorial will show you how to beautify a face. The corrections that we're going to do will make the face look different, but at the same time we will avoid making the results look unnatural. Of course, the face we're going to work on is not going to look the same when we're done, but we will only make necessary and subtle changes. We will fix skin, remove blemishes and wrinkles, whiten and fix teeth, fix hair, fix eyebrows, increase definition in the eyes and crop and sharpen the image in the final steps.
"I'm not only going to show you how to beautify a face, but I will also make suggestions that can be useful for other projects. I will also explain how to use some of the tools involved and show you how to work in a non-destructive way."
go to "How To Beautify A Face" tutorial.
Photoshop Masking Plugin Fluid Mask 3 - $15 Discount Special
 The 4 1/2 out of 5 star review of Fluid Mask 3 at MacWorld begins by saying that this "Photoshop plug-in takes the pain out of extracting backgrounds," and goes on to recommend the latest version, stating that "Fluid Mask 3.0.2 is a very effective tool for separating objects from their backgrounds. It offers a variety of useful features for tackling almost any difficult image, from wispy hair to complex foliage. Online video tutorials and live training sessions help ease the learning curve."
Our friends at Vertus, the makers of Fluid Mask 3 Photoshop Plugin, have set up a special exclusive discount for PhotoshopSupport.com. Just follow this discount link and instantly get $15 off your purchase of Fluid Mask 3.
Fluid Mask 3 is designed for photographers, image editors, graphic designers and all those who take digital image editing seriously. In a streamlined interface and workflow, Fluid Mask 3 instantly shows key edges in the image and provides comprehensive easy to use tools that work with difficult-to-see edges and tricky areas like trees & lattices. Features include:
 Fastest masking available today - from loading to final cut-out. Turn hours of tedious work into something that's short to complete and fun to do.
- Quick and easy to pick up, Fluid Mask 3 offers an intuitive workflow. Check out the edge guides that makes selecting the cut-out as easy as coloring by numbers and the always visible interactive help.
- Amazing edge quality. Fluid Mask 3 takes blending to a new level by preserving the edge data. In the final result, natural edge blur and contour is preserved for the best, most authentic cut-outs ever.
- Fluid Mask will also work in standalone mode (i.e. not as a plug-in).
- There is now an XML based Help file which may be searched by sections or by keywords. Also included are video tutorials.
- Fluid Mask may be used with a Wacom tablet, now pen pressure is hooked up to Brush Size.
To learn more visit the Fluid Mask 3 - Discount Deal Page.
 In this sample chapter from Creating Photomontages with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook artist Odile Pascal guides you through the photomontage process and explains in detail how the original photo of a woman was transformed into an angel in Photoshop.
From the PDF: "After studying at the Beaux-Arts in Marseilles and working in filmmaking, I found a compromise between those two worlds, one in which I can put a character on stage, and then model, color, and texturize her using Photoshop. Paintings of women represent a large part of my work. Using costumes and accessories, I enjoy creating often baroque or timeless worlds, blending styles and eras, and drawing my inspiration from mythological and symbolist imagery. The resulting work, which is quite unlike traditional photography, is designed to create a fairy tale–like universe in a pictorial style close to that of the Italian Renaissance. I decided to avoid traditional representations of angels, with their characters dressed in white, with halos and big wings, set against a background of clouds..."
Download "From Woman to Angel with Photoshop" PDF sample chapter. [2.0 MB]
Buy the book at amazon.com (34% discount)
 Artist Nicolas Fructus takes you from sketch and digitalization to working with layers in this PDF tutorial taken from Illustrations With Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook. With detailed notes and sample files, Fructus guides you through the process of creating very complex and beautiful illustrations in Photoshop.
From the PDF: "My task was to create illustrations for nine chapters of a special issue of Casus Belli magazine devoted to a mythical city called Laelith. Each illustration was supposed to show the atmosphere of the neighborhood being described. The image presented here is of The High Terrace, a rich and colorful environment where Laelith’s leading citizens are found. The rocky spires are magicians’ towers — the highest points of the city — where occult experiments take place. The idea was to present the neighborhood as if seen by a wandering tourist, but at the same time suggest the ethereal but omnipresent power of magic in the city. This is why I chose the point of view of a person in a crowd, but with a very wide-angle view..."
From sketch and digitalization to working with layers, this PDF sample chapter tutorial from Illustrations With Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook guides you through the process of creating very complex and beautiful illustrations in Photoshop.
Download "The High Terrace" PDF sample chapter. [1.6 MB]
Buy the book at amazon.com (34% discount)
 In this PDF tutorial taken from Photo Retouching with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook, artist Thibaut Granier shows you how to use retouching and photomontage techniques to create a matte painting.
From the PDF: "Among the many special effects techniques that are used in the film industry, matte painting is the cheapest solution. It is also the most commonly used when it is necessary to put in a decor that does not exist. For Julien Tycoon’s film Bloody Mallory, Mikros Image, a Parisian postproduction company, carried out special effects on over one hundred shots. I was entrusted with the creation of three matte paintings, one of which was to represent a night vision of an abandoned church, with a cemetery in the foreground. The atmosphere had to be eerie and haunted..."
Download "Bloody Mallory" PDF sample chapter. (1.3 MB)
Buy Photo Retouching with Photoshop at amazon.com (34% discount)
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 Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - PSSPPT06 - during the checkout process at onOne Software for an instant 10% discount on any onOne product. This includes Genuine Fractals and their amazing Photoshop Plug-In Suite.
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Why do you need plugins? Photoshop is an amazing image editing application that has forever changed graphic design and digital photographic editing, but like any tool, if you don't have time to fully learn it, you can't get the most out of it.
Plugins for Photoshop allow you to either do something that you cannot do with the features included in Photoshop or they allow you to do something easier, faster or better than you could do in Photoshop without the plug-in. Whether it is color correction, resizing, masking or creating an effect, you can find a Photoshop plug-in that can help you be more efficient with your time.
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