Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: A professional image editor’s guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC

Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: A professional image editor’s guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC

Released November 2008
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9780080927091

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Book description

Martin Evening's Adobe Photoshop for Photographers titles have become classic reference sources for photographers at all skill levels. Whether you are an accomplished user or just starting out, the Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers book contains a wealth of practical advice, hints and tips to help you achieve professional-looking results. Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers begins with an overview of the Photoshop interface and the fundamentals of how to use Photoshop, followed by how to configure and optimize your computer's performance to run the program and then it dives straight into the essentials of Camera Raw image editing. The Sharpening chapter shows how to use the Camera Raw controls to obtain optimum capture sharpening and noise reduction and the Essentials chapter outlines how to work with all the basic image adjustment tools that are in the program, some of which have been there since the very beginning. Practical workshops show you how to master the essential techniques, such as color correction, retouching techniques, toning a black and white image, creating composite images and so on. Each technique is described in step-by-step detail, showing exactly which command to use, whether you are working with a Mac or PC computer. The accompanying DVD contains a Photoshop for Photographers Help Guide. This is supplied in a web browser format that you can either run from the DVD or copy to your computer hard disk for off-line viewing. The Help Guide contains a complete guide to all the tools and panels in Photoshop as well as other items in the program. It is like having an off-line manual with which to learn more about what each Photoshop tool and palette does. The guide also provides 120 minutes of movie tutorials on Photoshop CS4. If you are just beginning to work with digital images or are looking for new ideas, the best techniques and ways to improve the quality of your work, this

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Foreword
  3. Introduction
    1. Book and DVD contents
    2. Acknowledgments
  4. 1. Photoshop Fundamentals
    1. An overview of the book chapters
      1. Chapter 1: Photoshop fundamentals
      2. Chapter 2: Configuring Photoshop
      3. Chapter 3: Camera Raw image processing
      4. Chapter 4: Sharpening and noise reduction
      5. Chapter 5: Image editing essentials
      6. Chapter 6: Black and white
      7. Chapter 7: Extending the dynamic range
      8. Chapter 8: Image retouching
      9. Chapter 9: Layers, selections and masking
      10. Chapter 10: Essential filters for Photoshop editing
      11. Chapter 11: Image management
      12. Chapter 12: Color management
      13. Chapter 13: Print output
      14. Chapter 14: Output for the Web
      15. Chapter 15: Automating Photoshop
    2. How to use this book
    3. Photoshop installation
    4. The Photoshop interface
      1. Tabbed document windows
      2. Managing document windows
      3. Image document window details
        1. Dynamic zoom views
        2. Title bar proxy icons (Macintosh)
      4. Rulers, Guides & Grid
      5. ‘Snap to’ behavior
      6. Pixel Grid view
      7. Application bar
      8. The Photoshop panels
        1. Panel arrangements and docking
      9. Workspace settings
        1. Customizing the menu options
        2. Customizing the keyboard shortcuts
        3. Working with a dual monitor setup
    5. Photoshop CS4 Tools panel
      1. Options bar
      2. Tool Presets panel
    6. Selection tools
      1. Color Range
      2. Modifier keys
    7. Painting tools
      1. On-the-fly brush changes
      2. Brushes panel
        1. Brushes panel options
      3. Pressure sensitive control
      4. Brush tool presets
    8. Tools for filling
    9. Tools for drawing
    10. Image editing tools
    11. Working with Layers
    12. Automating Photoshop
      1. Move tool
      2. Layer selection using the move tool
    13. Navigation and information tools
      1. Flick panning
      2. Bird’s-eye view
      3. Rotate view tool
      4. Notes tool
      5. Screen view modes
    14. Preset Manager
    15. History
      1. The History panel
      2. History settings and memory usage
      3. History brush
      4. Use of history versus undo
      5. Snapshots
      6. Non-linear history
      7. When files won’t open
      8. Save often
        1. Using Save As... to save images
      9. File formats
        1. Photoshop native file format
        2. PSB (Large Document Format)
        3. TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
        4. Flattened TIFFs
      10. Photoshop PDF
        1. PDF security
    16. Adobe Bridge CS4
      1. The Bridge interface
        1. Custom workspaces in Bridge
        2. Slideshows
      2. Opening photos via Camera Raw
      3. What’s new in Camera Raw 5.0
    17. Easter eggs
  5. 2. Configuring Photoshop
    1. What you will need
      1. Macintosh
      2. Windows
    2. The ideal computer setup
      1. Choosing a display
      2. Wide dynamic range displays
        1. Video cards
      3. Display calibration and profiling
        1. Calibration hardware
      4. The calibration/profiling procedure
        1. White point
        2. Gamma
        3. Luminance
      5. Device calibration and measurement
      6. The profiling process
        1. Do you want good color or just OK color?
      7. Color management settings
      8. Extras
      9. Backing up image data
    3. Photoshop preferences
      1. General preferences
      2. Interface
      3. File Handling
        1. File compatibility
      4. Performance
        1. GPU settings
      5. RAM memory and scratch disks
        1. Enhancing memory and performance
        2. Scratch disks
      6. Scratch disk performance
        1. Interface connections
      7. RAID setups
        1. RAID 0 (striping)
        2. RAID 1 (mirroring)
        3. Internal RAID
        4. External RAID
      8. Image Cache
        1. Cache pyramid structure
      9. Cursors
      10. Transparency & Gamut
      11. Units & Rulers
        1. Guides, Grid & Slices
      12. Plug-ins
      13. Type preferences
  6. 3. Camera Raw Image Processing
    1. Camera Raw advantages
      1. The new Camera Raw workflow
        1. Does the order matter?
        2. Raw capture
        3. JPEG capture
        4. Editing JPEGs and TIFFs in Camera Raw
        5. Alternative Raw processors
      2. A basic Camera Raw/Photoshop workflow
      3. A Lightroom/Photoshop workflow
      4. Camera Raw support
        1. DNG compatibility
    2. Getting raw images into Photoshop
      1. Image ingestion
        1. Importing images via Photo Downloader
        2. Tethered shoot imports
        3. Importing images via other programs
      2. Lightroom imports
        1. Importing photos via Lightroom 2
    3. Basic Camera Raw image editing
      1. Working with Bridge and Camera Raw
      2. General controls for single file opening
        1. Full size window view
      3. General controls for multiple file opening
      4. Opening raw files as Smart Objects
      5. Saving photos from Camera Raw
      6. The histogram display
      7. Image browsing with Camera Raw
      8. Camera Raw preferences
        1. Auto corrections
        2. Camera-specific default settings
        3. Camera Raw cache size
        4. DNG file handling
    4. Basic panel controls
      1. White balance
        1. Using the white balance tool
      2. The tone adjustment controls
        1. Exposure
        2. Recovery
        3. Blacks
        4. Fill Light
        5. Suggested order for the basic adjustments
      3. Basic image adjustment procedure
      4. Preserving the highlight detail
      5. When to clip the highlights
      6. How to clip the shadows
      7. Shadow levels after a conversion
        1. Digital exposure
      8. Brightness
      9. Contrast
      10. Clarity
        1. Negative clarity
      11. Vibrance and Saturation
      12. Tone Curve panel
      13. Correcting a high contrast image
      14. HSL/Grayscale panel
        1. Recovering out-of-gamut colors
        2. Adjusting the hue and saturation
      15. Lens Corrections panel
        1. Defringe
        2. Lens Vignetting control
        3. Post Crop vignetting control
      16. Camera Calibration panel
        1. The ACR Calibrator script
        2. New Camera Raw profiles
      17. Spot removal tool
        1. Synchronized spotting with Camera Raw
      18. Red eye removal
    5. Localized adjustments
      1. Adjustment brush
      2. Initial Adjustment brush options
        1. Brush settings
      3. Adding a new brush effect
      4. Editing brush adjustments
        1. Previewing the brush stroke areas
        2. Auto masking
      5. Hand-coloring in Color mode
        1. Sharpness slider
      6. Graduated filter tool
      7. Angled gradients
        1. Adding clarity and contrast
      8. Camera Raw cropping and straightening
      9. Camera Raw settings menu
        1. Export settings to XMP
        2. Update DNG previews
        3. Load/Save Settings
        4. Camera Raw defaults
      10. Presets panel
      11. Saving and applying presets
        1. Copying and synchronizing settings
    6. DNG file format
      1. The DNG solution
      2. DNG adoption
      3. DNG Converter
  7. 4. Sharpening and Noise Reduction
    1. When to sharpen
      1. Capture sharpening
        1. Capture sharpening for scanned images
        2. Sample sharpening image
      2. Detail panel
        1. The sharpening effect sliders
        2. Amount slider
        3. Radius slider
        4. The suppression controls
        5. Detail slider
        6. Interpreting the grayscale previews
        7. Radius and Detail grayscale preview
      3. Masking slider
        1. Masking slider example
      4. Some real world sharpening examples
        1. Sharpening a portrait
        2. Sharpening a landscape
        3. Sharpening a fine-detailed subject
      5. How to save sharpening settings as presets
      6. Capture sharpening roundup
    2. Selective sharpening
      1. Smart Sharpen filter
        1. Basic Smart Sharpen mode
      2. Advanced Smart Sharpen mode
        1. Removing Motion Blur
      3. Creating a depth of field brush
    3. Removing noise
      1. Reducing film grain noise
        1. Noise removal in Camera Raw
      2. Reduce Noise filter
        1. Advanced mode noise reduction
        2. JPEG noise removal
        3. Saving the Reduce Noise settings
  8. 5. Image Editing Essentials
    1. Pixels versus vectors
      1. Terminology
        1. ppi: pixels per inch
        2. lpi: lines per inch
        3. dpi: dots per inch
        4. Desktop printer resolution
        5. Choosing the right pixel resolution for print
    2. Image resolution
      1. Repro considerations
      2. The relationship between ppi and lpi
      3. Creating a new document
      4. Altering the image size
      5. Image interpolation
        1. Nearest Neighbor
        2. Bilinear interpolation
        3. Bicubic interpolation
      6. Bicubic interpolation methods
        1. Bicubic Smoother
        2. Bicubic Sharper
      7. Step interpolation
    3. Basic pixel editing
      1. The image histogram
      2. Basic Levels editing and the histogram
      3. Bit depth
        1. 8-bit versus 16-bit image editing
        2. Comparing 8-bit with 16-bit editing
        3. 16-bit and color space selection
      4. The RGB edit space and color gamut
      5. Direct image adjustments
        1. Adjustment layers and Adjustments panel
        2. Adding an adjustment layer procedure
        3. Adjustment panel controls
      6. Levels adjustments
        1. Using Levels to improve the contrast
      7. Curves adjustment layers
        1. On-image Curves editing
      8. Direct Curves dialog
      9. Saving and loading curves
        1. Using Curves in place of Levels
        2. Using Curves to improve contrast
        3. Curves luminance and saturation
        4. Luminosity and Color blending modes
        5. Curve presets
        6. Locking down portions of the curve
        7. Creating a dual contrast curve
      10. Brightness and Contrast
      11. Correcting shadow and highlight detail
        1. Amount
        2. Tonal Width
        3. Radius
        4. Color Correction
        5. Midtone Contrast
    4. Color corrections
      1. Basic color balancing with Levels
      2. Auto image adjustments
      3. Color correction with Levels or Curves
      4. Precise color correction using Curves
      5. Hue/Saturation
        1. Colorize mode
      6. Vibrance
      7. Photo Filter
      8. Multiple adjustment layers
      9. Adjustment layer masks
      10. Masks panel controls
        1. Masks panel editing
        2. Color Range adjustment layer masking
      11. Blend mode adjustments
    5. Cropping
      1. Selection-based cropping
      2. Perspective cropping
      3. Image rotation
      4. Canvas size
      5. Content-Aware Scaling
        1. How to protect skin tones
        2. How to remove objects from a scene
      6. Big data
  9. 6. Black and White
    1. Converting color to black and white
      1. The dumb black and white conversions
      2. Smarter black and white conversions
      3. Black & White adjustment presets
      4. Split color toning with Color Balance
      5. Curves adjustment layer split toning
      6. Camera Raw black and white conversions
        1. Pros and cons of the Camera Raw approach
      7. Camera Raw Split Toning panel
        1. Camera Raw color image split toning
    2. Black and white output
  10. 7. Extending the Dynamic Range
    1. Multiple raw conversions
      1. Place-A-Matic script
    2. High dynamic range imaging
      1. HDR essentials
        1. Fuji Super CCD
        2. Alternative approaches
        3. Bracketed exposures
        4. Displaying deep-bit color
      2. Capturing a complete scenic tonal range
      3. HDR shooting tips
        1. HDR File formats
      4. Merge to HDR
      5. Tone mapping HDR images
        1. Local Adaptation
        2. Local Adaptation tone mapping
        3. Manual tone mapping
  11. 8. Image Retouching
    1. Basic cloning methods
      1. Clone stamp tool
        1. Clone stamp brush settings
      2. Healing brush
      3. Choosing an appropriate alignment mode
      4. Clone Source panel and clone overlays
      5. Upside down cloning
      6. Better healing edges
      7. Spot healing brush
        1. Clone and healing sample options
      8. Patch tool
      9. Layer blending with Auto-Align layers
      10. Alternative history brush spotting technique
    2. Portrait retouching
    3. Beauty retouching
    4. Liquify
      1. Liquify tool controls
        1. Reconstructions
        2. Mask options
        3. View options
        4. Saving the mesh
      2. Straightening a fringe with Liquify
      3. Warp Transforms
  12. 9. Layers, Selections and Masking
    1. Selections and channels
      1. Selections
      2. Quick Mask mode
      3. Creating an image selection
      4. Modifying selections
      5. Alpha channels
      6. Adding to an image selection
      7. Selections, alpha channels and masks
      8. Expanding and shrinking selections
      9. Smoothing a selection
      10. Anti-aliasing
      11. Feathering
    2. Layers
      1. Layer basics
      2. Image layers
      3. Shape layers
      4. Text layers
      5. Adjustment layers
      6. Layers panel controls
      7. Masking layers
        1. Adding a layer mask
        2. Viewing in Mask or Rubylith mode
        3. Removing a layer mask
        4. Adding an empty image layer mask
      8. Masks panel
      9. Refine Edge command
      10. Working with the quick selection tool
      11. Combining quick selection with Refine Edge
      12. Color Range masking
    3. Layer blending modes
      1. Advanced Blending options
        1. Knockout options
        2. Blend Interior effects
      2. Creating panoramas with Photomerge
      3. Depth of field blending
    4. Working with multiple layers
      1. Color coding layers
      2. Layer group management
        1. Managing layers in a group
      3. Clipping masks
        1. Creating a new clipping mask
      4. Masking layers within a group
      5. Clipping layers and adjustment layers
      6. Layer linking
      7. Layer selection with the move tool
      8. Layer mask linking
      9. Layer locking
        1. Lock Transparent Pixels
        2. Lock Image Pixels
        3. Lock Layer Position
        4. Lock All
    5. Transform commands
      1. Repeat Transforms
      2. Numeric Transforms
      3. Transforming selections and paths
      4. Warp transforms
      5. Transforms and alignment
      6. Using transforms to create a kaleidoscope pattern
    6. Smart Objects
    7. Photoshop paths
      1. Path modes
      2. Drawing paths with the pen tool
      3. Guidelines for drawing pen paths
        1. Pen tool shortcuts summary
        2. Rubber Band mode
      4. Vector masks
        1. Isolating an object from the background
  13. 10. Essential Filters for Photo Editing
    1. Filter essentials
      1. Blur filters
        1. Adding a Radial Blur or Spin Blur to a photo
        2. Gaussian Blur
        3. Average Blur
        4. Motion Blur
        5. Surface Blur
        6. Box Blur
        7. Shape Blur
    2. Smart Filters
      1. Applying Smart Filters to pixel layers
        1. Lens Blur
        2. Depth of field effects
        3. Applying Lens Blur to a composite image
      2. Adding noise to disguise retouching
        1. Adding noise to create a grain effect
      3. Lens Corrections
    3. Filter Gallery
  14. 11. Image Management
    1. The Bridge solution
      1. Configuring the General preferences
      2. Launching Bridge
      3. Rotating the thumbnails and preview
    2. Arranging the Bridge contents
      1. Customizing the panels and content area
      2. Bridge workspace examples
      3. Working with multiple windows
      4. Slideshow mode
      5. Thumbnail settings
      6. Cache management
      7. Advanced and miscellaneous preferences
      8. One-click previews
      9. Deleting contents
      10. Stacking images
      11. Auto-stacking
    3. Bridge panels
      1. Folders panel
      2. Favorites panel
      3. Preview panel
      4. Review mode
    4. Managing images in Bridge
      1. Image rating and labeling
      2. Sorting images in Bridge
      3. Filter panel
      4. Metadata panel
        1. Image metadata
        2. File Info metadata
        3. Other types of metadata
        4. Edit history log
        5. Hidden metadata
      5. Keywording
      6. Keywords panel
      7. Image searches
      8. Collections panel
        1. Smart Collections
    5. Output to Web and PDF
      1. Web output
        1. Output gallery styles
        2. Output gallery settings
        3. Output preferences
      2. PDF Output
        1. The PDF Output panels
        2. PDF Output options
    6. Bridge automation
      1. Renaming images
        1. Renaming schemes
        2. Undoing a Batch Rename
      2. Applying Camera Raw settings
  15. 12. Color Management
    1. The need for color management
      1. The way things were
      2. RGB devices
        1. The versatility of RGB
      3. Output-centric color management
    2. Profiled color management
      1. Color Management Modules
      2. The Profile Connection Space
      3. Choosing an RGB workspace
        1. Apple RGB
        2. sRGB IEC-61966-2.1
        3. ColorMatch RGB
        4. ProPhoto RGB
        5. Adobe RGB (1998)
      4. Profiling the display
        1. Calibration and profiling
      5. Profiling the input
      6. Profiling the output
    3. Photoshop color management interface
      1. The Color Settings
        1. Color management policies
        2. Preserve embedded profiles
        3. Profile mismatches and missing profiles
        4. Convert to Working space
        5. Color Management Off
      2. Profile conversions
        1. Convert to Profile
        2. Assign Profile
        3. Profile mismatches when pasting
      3. Saving a Color Setting
      4. Reducing the opportunities for error
      5. Working with Grayscale
      6. Advanced Color Settings
        1. Conversion options
        2. Rendering intents
        3. Black Point Compensation
        4. Use Dither (8-bit per channel images)
        5. Blend RGB colors using gamma
        6. Custom RGB and workspace gamma
    4. RGB to CMYK
      1. CMYK setup
      2. Creating a custom CMYK setting
        1. Ink Colors
        2. Dot gain
        3. Gray Component Replacement (GCR)
        4. Black generation
        5. Undercolor Addition (UCA)
        6. Undercolor Removal (UCR)
    5. Choosing a suitable RGB workspace
      1. Rendering intents
        1. Perceptual
        2. Saturation (Graphics)
        3. Relative Colorimetric
        4. Absolute Colorimetric
        5. Fine-tuning the CMYK endpoints
      2. CMYK to CMYK
      3. Lab Color
      4. Info panel
      5. Keeping it simple
  16. 13. Print Output
    1. Print sharpening
      1. Judge the print, not the monitor
      2. High Pass filter edge sharpening technique
      3. Soft proof before printing
    2. Making a print
      1. Page Setup
        1. Ensuring your prints are centered
      2. Photoshop Print dialog
        1. Output settings
        2. Color Management
        3. Setting the Proof Setup in the Print dialog
        4. Proof print or aim print?
      3. About the print dialogs
      4. System Print dialog settings
      5. Custom print profiles
  17. 14. Output for the Web
    1. Sending images over the Internet
      1. Email attachments
      2. Uploading to a server
      3. File formats for the Web
        1. JPEG
        2. Choosing the right compression type
      4. TIFF compression for FTP transfer
      5. GIF
      6. PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
      7. Save for Web & Devices
        1. Web browser previews
        2. Optimize image settings
        3. ‘Save’ options
        4. GIF Save for Web & Devices
      8. Zoomify™ Export
  18. 15. Automating Photoshop
    1. Working with actions
      1. Playing an action
      2. Recording actions
      3. Troubleshooting actions
        1. Limitations when recording actions
        2. Actions only record changed settings
        3. Backgrounds and bit depth
      4. Action recording tips
      5. Inserting menu items
      6. Batch processing actions
      7. Creating a droplet
      8. Image Processor
    2. Scripting
      1. Script Event Manager
    3. Automated plug-ins
      1. Crop and Straighten Photos
      2. Fit Image
    4. How To help files
    5. Adobe™ Configurator application
  19. Colourmanagement.net: Neíl Barstow
    1. Remote profiling for RGB printers
      1. Coupon code: MEPSCS4-08
    2. Consultancy services
      1. Coupon code: MEPSCS4-08
    3. Pixel Genius PhotoKit plug-in
      1. PhotoKit: Analog Effects for Photoshop
      2. PhotoKit SHARPENER: A complete Sharpening Workflow for Photoshop
      3. PhotoKit Color: Creative color effects for Photoshop
  20.  
    1. Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop
    2. Mac OSX for Photographers

Product information

  • Title: Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: A professional image editor’s guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: November 2008
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9780080927091