Photoshop CS5 now offers the ability to successfully make cut-out masks of complex subjects against busy backgrounds. This isn’t something new as there are a number of third-party plug-ins that have been able to do this type of masking, but this is the first time Photoshop has provided an effective, built-in solution. OK, there was the Extract command (which no longer ships with Photoshop), but this method, using the new improved Refine Edge command works much better. Click here to view the movie.

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Photoshop CS5 was announced this week and we have seen a wealth of new features for photographers, more so than any other version of Photoshop I can think of. By now you may already have had a chance to see some of the star new features in action such as Content-Aware filling, Puppet Warp and the new Merge to HDR Pro. Tucked away in Photoshop CS5 are a bunch of other smaller features, which nevertheless can be put to good use. In this article I wanted to focus on the new Divide blend mode. It took me a while to work out what it could be useful for, until Chris Cox who helped point me in the right direction by explaining that it could be useful for carrying out what is usually referred to as a ‘flat field calibration’. In other words, you could use the Divide blend mode to remove lens vignetting and stubborn sensor spots.

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This movie extract is from  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop.

One of the top requests for Camera Raw and Lightroom has been to include perspective corrections, so that users can apply perspective corrections to raw images. It so happens there is already a method in Camera Raw and Photoshop that will allow you to correct the perspective of a raw photograph while keeping the image in its original raw file state. This isn’t exactly a hidden feature in Camera Raw, but this movie does demonstrate a workaround for correcting perspective of raw files while keeping them fully editable in Camera Raw. Here’s how it can be done.

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

Click here to view movie

This movie extract is from  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop.

You know how the camera always seems to add 10 lbs.? You can shave those extra pounds away using Photoshop. This demo shows two methods of making people look thinner. And, if you do it with subtlety, you’ll never know that is was Photoshop that took those extra pounds off–and your clients will think you are a genius!

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

Click here to view movie

This movie extract is from  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop.

Here is an interesting challenge that I was presented with recently. I shot the model shown above for an advertising job and was asked by the client to make sure that the skin tone and nails looked flawless. After they had seen the initial retouch work they also asked if I could clean up the hair outline. At first it looked like this would be impossible to achieve. After all, how on earth can one use the clone stamp or healing brush to tidy up the fine hair strands against a background which consisted of a busy wallpaper pattern? As it turned out, the solution to this problem was staring me in the face!

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

I’m off to Boston and Photoshop World this week. I’ll be hooking up with Martin Evening there as well–we are actually doing a conference session together! Which Download Movies should be fun because I’ll get to make fun of the way Martin pronounces common Photoshop tools’ names. Those Brits…they even misspell the word color!

Andrew Rodney and JP Caponigro and I are doing another mini-Print Academy for Epson. After PSW I’m off to hook up with Seth Resnick and Michael Reichmann in Miami Beach for some tutorial taping….more about that later!

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Yep, there are already a lot of ways to convert a color image to grayscale in Photoshop or Camera Raw. But all of them except this technique mean your image is converted as a global correction. Using color channels as grayscale layers means you can use layer masks to alter the grayscale conversion and allows you to optimize for the best possible result. The technique allows shows how to re-convert your grayscale image back to a color image for the purposes of color toning.

Please note this video is in Quicktime format. A player can be downloaded from apple.com.

This is a story about how Jeff Schewe and Martin Evening got together in Chicago last year to shoot a set of pictures especially for our new joint book ‘Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop‘.

The title is kind of self-explanatory. This is a brand new book in the Photoshop for Photographers series (published by Focal Press) and forms a masterclass type experience with two leading Photoshop experts. It’s a book aimed at intermediate to advanced-level users and assumes that the reader is already pretty familiar with the Photoshop interface and basic tools and there is therefore no need to have to explain the basics all over again plus color management etc. You can already find all that information in the main Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers book. This new title contains 400 pages of Photoshop techniques shown in step-by-step tutorial form.

TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The National Association of Photoshop Professionals(NAPP) today announced the winners of its 4th annual Photoshop User Awards – the first and only worldwide competition for Adobe Photoshop users. Winners were selected from more than 700 entries from 12 countries. Finalists in each of the 11 categories also competed for Best of Show to win an all expense paid, five-day trip for two to Barcelona, Spain. NAPP president Scott Kelby and Photoshop User magazine art director Felix Nelson chaired the judging panel for this year’s competition. Winning images can be viewed atwww.PhotoshopUserAwards.com/winners.php.

The second on my two book odyssey is completed…and the first book is now shipping! Whew, I wasn’t sure I would ever get to say that. 

The image above is one of the images from the new book Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop which is due to be released in March 2009.

We’re getting the band back together and hitting the road again. The Epson Print Academy is going to Atlanta this Saturday, November 8th at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown.

Featuring Andrew Rodney (The Digital Dog), Jeff Schewe, Greg Gorman, Mac Holbert and John Paul Caponigro, the new Epson Print Academy is headed to Atlanta for the first of a 15 city tour. We’re dragging along one of the new Epson Stylus® Pro 7900 printers with UltraChrome® HDR inks and we’ll be teaching how to get the most out of that, or any fine art ink jet printer. In fact, attendees are registered to win one of the 7900 printers (given out next June) or a change to win one of 15 4880 printers (one will be given away at each venue). For more information, check out the web site at Epson Print Academy.

Check out Julieanne’s web site for new Camera Raw 5 and Photoshop CS4 video tutorials and PDFs.

ADOBE TV The Complete Picture – Episode 08
Let Julieanne show you the power behind the new features in Camera Raw 5. Discover how to make non-destructive localized corrections as well as create special effects using the Adjustment Brush, Graduated Filter, Post Cropping Vignettes and more!

ADOBE TV The Complete Picture – Episode 07
Discover the new features in Adobe Bridge CS4 as Julieanne walks through the new features, tools, refined interface and integration with Photoshop.

PSCS4 What’s new in Bridge CS4 (PDF)
Learn everything there is to get you up to speed quickly in Bridge CS4.

PSCS4 What’s New in Camera Raw 5 (PDF)
Discover the unlimited possibilities with Camera Raw 5.

PSCS4 Photoshop CS4 – But Wait, There’s More! (PDF)
Master the important but often overlooked refinements and adjustments in Photoshop CS4.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 Learning Center Offers Tutorials, New Feature Overviews, Exclusive Interviews and More for the Newly-Released Photoshop CS4

TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has launched its new Adobe Photoshop CS4 Learning Center covering the new exciting features of Photoshop CS4 as part of the much anticipated Adobe Creative Suite 4 announcement. The NAPP Adobe Photoshop CS4 Learning Center is the most comprehensive Photoshop CS4 learning experience available today jam-packed with video tutorials, interviews, helpful information, and more at www.photoshopuser.com/cs4.

Press Release: BERKELEY, CALIF. (Aug. 25, 2008)— Peachpit today announced the publication of Lessons in DSLR Workflow with Lightroom and Photoshop , by seasoned photographer Jerry Courvoisier. This detailed guide, loaded with tips and techniques, delivers a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera workflow that allows readers to spend less time at their computer and more time behind the camera capturing great images. 

On Scott’s blog, Photoshop Insider, Scott has announced that all the book sales of his new Lightroom 2 book for Digital Photographers from today will be donated to the Spring of Hope organization that runs is building a care center for orphans in Kenya.

Now Scott isn’t just donating a portion of the proceeds, he’s donating the entire purchase price of all Lightroom 2 books sold today. Here’s a link to the story and a link to purchase the book from Kelby Training.

IMPORTANT: This opportunity to help out is available only today, Monday August 25th, 2008. Scott’s book is scheduled for delivery in early September. Not available with any other discounts. As always, Shipping & Handing is extra.

Scott Kelby has our own Andrew Rodney of PixelGenius on board as a guest blogger on his Photoshop Insider blog. Andrew talks about “getting old” along side Photoshop and how he, as a Photoshop user of 18 years has learned to love Lightroom. Check it out here. BTW, the image above is a shot Andrew did of his late dog Tosh. He still has 3 dogs (hence the “Digital Dog“ moniker), Zia, Mela and Brisket.

John Paul Caponigro (JP to his friends) has self-published a new book, ANTARCTICA drawn from his two photographic expeditions to, well, Antarctica.

The book has been published via Blurb, and online print on demand service. The printing is said to be equal to that of a traditionally published book. The page count is 64 and the size is 8×10 inches. The book sells for 34.95 for softcover and 49.95 for hardcover. Additional information can be found on JP’s blog.

The blog isn’t signed by the author, but apparently some Londoner has noticed that there is an overabundance of banana skins littering the streets of London and decided to do something about it. Thus the start of london bananas.

Scientific Imaging with Photoshop: Methods, Measurement, and Output by Jerry Sedgewick

Photoshop World Conference & Expo – September 4-6, 2008 – Las Vegas, NV

This full-week photography workshop is an intense immersion into digital photography with one of its pioneers. In five days you will go from perhaps not even understanding what a RAW file is, to making well-crafted and thoughtful prints.

Award-Winning Drobo Adds FireWire 800 and Dramatically Improved USB 2.0 Performance 

Press Release: Mountain View, CA – July 8, 2008 ˆ–Today Data Robotics launched the second generation of its award-winning Drobo product. Featuring FireWire 800 alongside improved USB 2.0 performance and an upgraded core processor, the new Drobo is the fastest product in its class for managing and storing digital information.

The increased read and write performance now makes the product ideal for use as primary storage for media applications such as photography and video editing, as well as secondary storage.

dekePod Video Podcasts Launches With ’101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes’

Press Release: SEBASTOPOL, Calif. — They claimed no matter how fast you gabbed (or crooned) no creature (or robot) could deliver 100-plus, real-world Photoshop instructions in five minutes or less. Yet today, digital imaging master and modern day troubadour Deke McClelland proved the naysayers wrong. In his new music video — titled 101 Photoshop Tips in 5 Minutes and Deke’s kickoff to his new video podcast series,dekePod – he breathtakingly sings, buzzes, leaps, dances and kick-boxes his way through dozens upon dozens of useful Photoshop tricks.

Learn Lightroom 2.0 with D65

Adobe released Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 beta which features enhancements such as dual-monitor support and localized dodge and burn corrections. It is the first Adobe application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Intel Macs and Microsoft Vista 64-bit operating systems.

We are now teaching the transition to 2.0 and all the features.