Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual

Rescuing the Unfixables

Sadly, even with all the tricks you’ve learned in this chapter, you can’t fix every image. If you run into what seems to be a truly unfixable photo and you’re desperate to salvage it (if the scene or subject just can’t be reshot, say), try one of these techniques:

• Use the Lab Pop technique described on Adding Lab Pop and use the Lightness channel to create unique, retro-style color.

• Create an overexposed, high-key version (see Creating a High-Key Portrait Effect).

• Convert it to black and white (the whole thing or just part of it) using one of the methods in Chapter 9. By draining the color from the image, its color problems vanish.

• Add a color tint using a Black & White or Photo Filter Adjustment layer (Black & White Adjustment Layers or Photo Filter Adjustment Layers, respectively).

• Turn it into a duotone (Delicious Duotones).

• Use a Threshold adjustment to create a pure black-and-white image (High-Contrast Black and White).

• Use a combination of filters to turn it into a pencil sketch (Stylize) or painting (Liquify).

POWER USERS’ CLINIC: Processing Multiple Files

By now, you’ve probably realized how time-consuming all this image-correction business can be. That’s why it’s important to know how to save time by correcting more than one image with a single adjustment. Happily, there are several ways to do that:

• Open multiple files in Camera Raw. If you’re using Camera Raw, you can adjust several files at once by selecting ’em, and then Control-clicking (right-clicking) ...