Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® & Photoshop® Workflow Bible

Chapter 17. Using Photoshop's Main Retouching Tools

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding how brushes are used in Photoshop

• Using Photoshop's oldest retouching tool—the Clone Stamp

• Smart retouching with the Healing Brush

• Removing sensor dust and scanner dust with the Spot Healing Brush

• Working with Photoshop's smartest retouching tool—the Patch tool

• Removing red eye in seconds with the Red Eye tool

• Controlling retouching when multiple layers are used

• Quickly changing body contours with the powerful Liquify command

This chapter focuses on the three main retouching tools in Photoshop: the Clone Stamp, the Healing Brush tool, and the Patch tool. Along the way, you take a couple of side trips to visit some other tools called the Spot Healing Brush and the Liquify filter. By the time you're done, you'll have a complete understanding of how these tools work.

These retouching tools are one of the most important toolsets in the toolbox we call Photoshop. They're used in countless ways to remove imperfections that can be distracting in a photo. Any serious retoucher uses most of them on a daily basis. I encourage you to spend some time exploring them as you move through this chapter because everything you learn here will serve you well when you begin editing your own special images in Photoshop.

Working with Brushes

Some of the tools explored here use what are called brushes. A brush is the virtual equivalent of a real paintbrush. It's used to apply colors, tones, and pixel information in a variety of ways ...