Quick Edit

Overview

Rotate and Crop as Necessary

Clone Dust and Scratches

Adjust Shadows and Highlights

Adjust Exposure

Adjust Contrast

Adjust Color Balance

Adjust Hue/Saturation

Make Selective Adjustments

            Masking

            Dodge/Burn Layer

Archive Master Image

Target for Output

 

 

 

 

 

Important Shortcut Keys

 

 

 

F

Full screen mode

 

Ctrl-0

Zoom to fit screen.f

 

Ctrl-Alt-0

Zoom to 100%

 

Space Bar

Hand tool to move about image

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[  ]

Increase or decrease brush size as needed

 

1,2,3,…

Change brush opacity

 

 

 

Steps in Detail

 

 

 

Ctrl-R 

rulers visible

Level Horizon

 

 

Rotate

Shift I

ruler tool under eyedropper tool

 

Drag line across the horizon (line you want to straighten)

 

Image, Rotate Canvas, Arbitrary, OK

 

Drag guide to quickly see if any given line is straight

Crop

 

 

Crop

C

Use crop tool w/90% opacity to compose desired crop

Correct Dust / Scratches

 

 

 

New C layer

Add new content layer above background layer, name it cloning, and make it active.

 

S

clone stamp tool (pattern stamp tool?)

Check “Use All Layers” in clone stamp tool info.

Use soft brush (Harness = 0) for most cloning.

Areas can be toned down by reducing opacity of clone tool

 

[  ]

Increase or decrease brush size as needed

 

Resample

Resample often enough to avoid “repeaters” especially for larger areas

Adjust Shadow/Highlight Points

 

 

Open Levels Adjustment Layer

 

 

Set highlight pt./shadow pt. with sliders or eyedroppers.

Overall Exposure Corrections

 

 

 

Use the middle slider in the layers adjustment layer to increase or decrease overall exposure.

Adjust Overall Contrast

 

 

 

 

Decide what you want to create contrast between (add separation / depth to the image)

 

Open New Curve Adj. Layer with Normal Blending Mode

 

Ctrl-Click 2 Points on Image You Want to Create Separation Between

 

 

This creates 2 anchor points on the curve.

 

Shift the Anchor Points to Adjust Contrast

 

 

Generally a “S” curve.  Lock down other points of the curve as needed to obtain desired effect and maintain a gentle sloping curve.

 

 

Increasing the slope of the curve increases contrast.

 

 

Best to go “too far” and then back off.

Adjusting Color Balance

 

 

 

Open Color Balance Adj. Layer

 

Select Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights

 

 

Emphasizes those areas (though entire tonal range does change.)  Usually start with Midtones.

 

Move Sliders and Eyeball w/ Preview

Hue/Saturation

 

 

 

Open Hue/Saturation Adj. Layer

 

 

Hue/Sat. dialogue box useful as it’s the only way to adjust saturation.

 

Increase Saturation 10-15

 

 

This is usually the amount needed to compensate (lost in scanning etc.)

 

Move Hue Slider

 

 

Hue slider can be used to change colors.  Small adjustments make a big difference.

Burning and Dodging

 

 

 

New C Layer

Must be and remain TOP LAYER on stack.

 

Change the Layer Blending Mode to Soft Light

 

Edit, Fill, Contents = 50% Gray

     To Burn

Black Foreground Color, Paint on New Layer, ~10-20% Opacity Soft Brush

 

 

Often a good idea to darken the corners slightly.

     To Dodge

White Foreground Color, Paint on New Layer, ~10-20% Opacity Soft Brush

Sharpen the Image

 

 

 

Edit, Sharpen, Unsharp Mask

Amount = 150, Threshold = 5, Adjust the Radius to achieve desired sharpness.