If you're primarily interested in finishing touches--the million creative ways you can use your favorite software to improve, polish, and add pizzazz to your images--this is the book for you! The first book devoted exclusively to the topic, Finishing Touches for Photoshop CS2 offers a treasure chest of creative finishing techniques. With chapters on frames and border effects, color and artistic effects, presentation, sharpening, and printing, this full-color guide covers everything from creative cropping to dramatic lighting, stock photos, collage ideas, combining black-and-white and color, selective blurring, storybook layouts, PDF presentation, and more. Each technique is a stand-alone tutorial, so you can jump in at any point without weeding through a lot of info that's not relevant to the task at hand. Even better, author Dave Cross' two-column format--with simple instructions in one column and lavish, full-color photos and artwork running alongside--makes the techniques instantly accessible. You'll also find several variations for most techniques as well as instructions for creating reusable templates.

Adobe Photoshop for Mac and Windows, featuring graphics and graphics design, photo editing, and digital techniques.

Corey Barker–Executive Producer of PlanetPhotoshop.com and one of the Photoshop Guys of Photoshop User TV–brings you this completely new set of techniques, tricks, and tutorials in this second volume of the Down & Dirty Tricks for Designers series. Ever wonder how that movie poster was created, or how they created that cool ad in the magazine, or maybe even how to take a seemingly mundane photo and give it the Hollywood treatment? This is the book for you. Whether you are a designer, artist, or even a photographer, there is something here for everyone. Corey starts out discussing the common techniques and resources you'll use over and over again, such as extracting elements from backgrounds, creating and using brushes, and incorporating textures into your work. He then dives deep into dedicated chapters on typography, design effects, special effects, photography and design, and 3D. As you work through these exercises, you will start to see the potential of some of Photoshop's most powerful features and how, with a little experimentation, you can open up a whole new world of dazzling effects.

Each year, Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief of Photoshop User magazine and the #1 best-selling Photoshop author, trains literally thousands of photographers on how to retouch portraits using Photoshop through his live seminars, online classes, DVDs, and standing-room only workshops at the Photoshop World Conference & Expo. Now you can learn the same techniques he uses in his own retouching workflow, in the only book of its kind–one written expressly for photographers who do their own retouching. As a pro photographer himself, Scott understands that photographers make their living shooting, not retouching. But, delivering fully retouched images is now expected by clients. That’s why Scott put together this amazing resource for teaching photographers the quickest, easiest, and most effective ways to create professional-looking, retouched final images without spending hours grinding away at painstaking, detailed techniques. LEARN HOW THE PROS DO IT It’s all here–the step-by-step methods for fixing, enhancing, and finishing your portraits in Photoshop. Using the techniques in this book, you’ll create images that will absolutely wow your clients. You’ll learn: • How to soften skin and still retain detail and texture • The best tricks for beautifully enhancing eyes, eyebrows, and eyelashes • How to selectively sharpen portraits without complicated masking • How to create gorgeous-looking lips • How to remove blemishes fast and keep the most detail • The pros’ tricks for body sculpting • How to make your subject’s hair look fabulous • How to give your retouches that natural look that sets them apart • Plus, you get Scott’s complete 5-minute, 15-minute, and 30-minute start-to-finish workflows If you’re ready to learn the “tricks of the trade”–the same ones that today’s leading pro photographers use to retouch, tuck, tighten, and tone their images for that pro-retouched look–you’re holding the book that will do exactly that. It will radically change the way you retouch your portraits from here on out, and give you the best-looking, most natural retouches you’ve ever done.

The author shares the techniques he uses to elevate an image from the everyday to the extraordinary, showing you how to make seemingly impossible scenarios come to life. Starting with an overview of the Adobe Photoshop interface that focuses on the hidden tools you need to know to create stunning composite imagery, this informative guide walks through all the necessary stages, from the first planning sketches to the final finishing touches, of making all kinds of unique creations. Beyond the orientation of tools, layers, adjustments and more, Bret uses step-by-step tutorials to break down a wide variety of his Photoshop artworks. Additional detailed project walkthroughs offer tips on everything from creating a superhuman to compositing an epic fantasy landscape. And interviews and spreads featuring various established and emerging artists provide a range of inspirational imagery, creative insight, and professional know-how.

In Bret Malley’s world, a father is suspended in the air among his baby’s collection of toys . . . a big-box store and parking lot can be transformed into a scene of reclaimed nature . . . and an ordinary person can sculpt fire with his bare hands. And in Adobe Master Class: Advanced Compositing in Photoshop, Bret shares the techniques he uses to elevate an image from the everyday to the extraordinary, showing you how to make seemingly impossible scenarios come to life. Starting with an overview of the Adobe Photoshop interface that focuses on the hidden tools you need to know to create stunning composite imagery, this fun yet informative guide walks through all the necessary stages–from the first planning sketches to the final finishing touches–of making all kinds of unique creations. Beyond the orientation of tools, layers, adjustments and more, Bret uses step-by-step tutorials to break down a wide variety of his Photoshop artworks. Additional detailed project walkthroughs offer tips on everything from creating a superhuman to compositing an epic fantasy landscape. And interviews and spreads featuring various established and emerging artists provide a range of inspirational imagery, creative insight, and professional know-how. • Features an engaging, writing style that makes learning advanced Photoshop techniques fun • Provides detailed, step-by-step examples, walking through complex compositing projects from start to finish • Includes “Visual Masters” spreads that highlight beautiful and innovative work by current digital artists to inspire you to bring what’s in your imagination–the wildly impossible–to reality • Includes access to downloadable resource files so you can work through the projects along with the author Bret Malley is an award-winning digital artist and full-time college instructor living in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Erin, and new baby boy, Kellen. He has an MFA in Computer Art from Syracuse University and teaches photography, design, and Adobe Photoshop to university and college students of all levels and backgrounds. As a computer artist, he is crazy about digital tools and art-making of all kinds, and especially enjoys working in Photoshop, his ultimate favorite of all applications.

Photoshop's adjustment and fill layers give you an amazing level of control and are the building blocks of innumerable techniques. In this definitive resource, Scott Valentine demonstrates how to use these simple but powerful tools through approachable hands-on examples, and he calls on other Photoshop experts to share their techniques. Whether you're a professional or hobbyist, you'll learn techniques that give you an edge in technical, personal, and commercial projects. Beginning and intermediate users of Photoshop will learn how adjustment and fill layers work and get up to speed on the most common techniques. Advanced users will find indispensable reference material in addition to speedy solutions to vexing problems. More than just a collection of effects and recipes, The Hidden Power of Adjustment Layers in Adobe Photoshop explains why the techniques work and how to tune them for your specific needs. Powerful tips and techniques from industry experts, including Katrin Eismann, Pete Collins, and Corey Barker Straightforward teaching style from a veteran Photoshop user Richly illustrated with examples of over two-dozen techniques covering photography, compositing, and illustration Quick-reference guide to every fill and adjustment layer with before-and-after images for easy comparison Downloadable reference files and actions to explore and enhance your creativity (on the companion website)