Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks

29 Apr 12 - 11:31 AM (#3344781)
Subject: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

Photoshop CS5 Content Aware Fill

This is amazing, it enables straightening of a wonky photo with a function that expands the photo to fill the gaps thus created in each corner - great for gig photos!!

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29 Apr 12 - 11:33 AM (#3344782)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

The beta version of CS6 is around, which enables an object to be moved to a different position in the photo with automatic reading and fill of surrounding pixels.

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30 Apr 12 - 01:32 AM (#3345063)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Joe Offer

Bonzo, can this stuff be done with Photoshop Elements? I can't afford the full version.

-Joe-

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30 Apr 12 - 01:57 AM (#3345065)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Stilly River Sage

Joe, this isn't a Photoshop Elements trick. This is a high-dollar trick that I love seeing - thanks, Bonzo. I'll have to check out more of his videos. I'm planning to take a class soon to give me more of these Photoshop and other CS5 techniques.

If you go in with a brush you might be able do it manually in elements, but this is a lot faster.

SRS

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30 Apr 12 - 04:57 AM (#3345100)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: GUEST,.gargoyle

Joe look into GIMP under the Lynix system for photoshop type tools.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

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30 Apr 12 - 05:48 AM (#3345115)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

I just downloaded the new Photoshop CS6 from here - I ran a virus check and it's clean.

Adobe Photoshop CS6

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30 Apr 12 - 06:23 AM (#3345126)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: JohnInKansas

Joe -

Although I've previously lavished effusive praise on Photoshop Elements, I've been exceedingly disappointed with the latest versions.

In a process somewhat similar to the dummification of Office, they've splattered illegible icons all over the thing, renamed simple procedures to incomprehensible blather, and apparently have simply disabled many of the functions I found most useful in earlier versions.

When Vista objected to my PSE-2 I bought PSE-9, but decided it was too buggered to be useful, so I put up with occasional balks and burps and stayed with ver 2.

When Win7 refused even to open PSE-2 without Administrator approval, I bit the bullet again and got PSE-10. If anything it's even worse than ver 9.

I'm back to using PSE-2 on Win7, opening the program to "run as administrator." I can't open a file in it by double-clicking, even if the program is already running, since it requires separate Admin permission to access the program and then again to open the file, and it doesn't know how to ask twice. If the program is running, I can right click and "Open Using" but only one file at a time. With the program open, however, I can use the "Browser" in PSE-2 to open (simultaneously) as many files as I want. (I fairly frequently want 100+ files open at a time, for reasons most people aren't likely to find.) The browser still exists in PSE 9 & 10, but so far as I've been able to find, it only allows you to browse files that you've allowed it to "catalog" in phony locations with no resemblance to where I put them and intend to keep them.

When I get time, I'll take another look at Irfanview, I guess.

But in answer to your question, the closest you've got in PSE (in any version so far as I know) is careful use of the clone stamp. (It sometimes gives better results if you set opacity back to around 30% and clone three times, instead of trying to do it in one shot. And you can add a little appropriate blur to cover up the rough edges.)

John

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30 Apr 12 - 11:16 AM (#3345241)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Charley Noble

Bonzo-

"Content Aware" is certainly a wonderful and efficient feature. I may just have to upgrade.

Charley Noble

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30 Apr 12 - 11:36 AM (#3345251)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: GUEST,number 6

If one takes their time and concentrates on the framing of the subject when taking a photo shot you wouldn't have to rely on such a post editing technique such as this.

Use a tripod.

biLL

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30 Apr 12 - 12:19 PM (#3345274)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

"If one takes their time and concentrates on the framing of the subject when taking a photo shot you wouldn't have to rely on such a post editing technique such as this."

I agree entirely, but this software does enable the production of the type of shot only available with a high end digital SLR camera - for instance sharp subject and blurred background you see in newspaper sports photos, which is very difficult to achieve on a bridge camera, even on my Fuji HS10. It's also a lot of fun.

Unfortunately the Fuji designers saw fit to include a plastic thread for a tripod fixing on my camera, which I use sparingly - usually just when my Raynox telephoto Conversion Lens is fixed, for up to 60 x optical zoom!

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30 Apr 12 - 12:40 PM (#3345290)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: GUEST,number 6

CS5 is a very $$expensive photo editing tool .... a tool for serious photographers. The ones who have DSLR's. For those hobbyists on a limited budget who want to achieve 'bokeh effects' I would suggest they should purchase a low end dslr with kit lens, and buy PS Elements or even better Picassa, or Gimp (freeware). This would in itself be cheaper than purchasing CS5.

In fact (if I recall) the photo editing tool Picassa has a feature that can create a bokeh effect.

Just my opinion

biLL

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30 Apr 12 - 01:12 PM (#3345314)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: JohnInKansas

If one takes their time and concentrates on the framing of the subject when taking a photo shot ...

Lots of the best shots don't allow time for framing or concentration. If you only take good shots you're really not much of a photographer (in the opinion of many) - although there's no criticism intended as long as you're doing it the way you like to do.

Most real pros figure 10% "good out of the camera" is exceptional. The rest benefit from at least a little "fixing," and anything that makes it easier is a really big help. If you even show more than a third of your shots to anyone beyond "family" - after the fixing - you probably need to think about whether your "standards" need adjusting.

And it's very often easier to "create the situation" after the fact than it is to get complete cooperation from the subjects at the time of the shooting. The feature mentioned would, e.g., allow you to add "props" you didn't have handy when the model was in front of you, or - as one young lady requested - to take the ex husband out of all the pictures in her wedding album. (She didn't ask to have the new husband put in, which puzzled me a little; but I declined the removal task anyway - - since I didn't have the feature.)

John

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30 Apr 12 - 01:47 PM (#3345326)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

And don't forget the link I put above enables download......100s of $ or £ saved. I now have the trial Photoshop CS6 installed, it just required a simple procedure to convert to the activated version!!

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30 Apr 12 - 01:49 PM (#3345328)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

And the whole object of taking photos in RAW is to adjust the data afterwards before saving to jpg.

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30 Apr 12 - 02:24 PM (#3345350)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: MikeL2

Hi

I have used Photoshop for many years. However when I got to CS2 I decided not to go for the later versions of CS because of price.

So I bought Elements 7 and have now progressed to 10 - for my use this is fine and at an affordable price.

I also used Magix Xara Photo & Graphic designer 7 -again a reasonably priced tool.

There are some context aware facilities with which I can achieve similar results as in the demo - I admit though that it takes a bit of a learning curve and takes longer the do.

But this is not something that I do very often so I am happy to use the lower price tools.

Interesting tho Bonzo...thanks.

Cheers

MikeL2

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01 May 12 - 09:25 AM (#3345651)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

Tried the Iris Blurr and Content Aware Move tools in Photoshop CS6 - very very clever tricks indeed!

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01 May 12 - 09:43 AM (#3345657)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Charley Noble

There are many times when I'd like to remove certain distracting elements in a photo, including power lines and even vehicles. Having access to some higher order tools is very tempting. But I agree that being able to compose a photo properly eliminates the need for editing, and is the preferred technique.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

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01 May 12 - 11:55 AM (#3345702)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

"But I agree that being able to compose a photo properly eliminates the need for editing, and is the preferred technique."

Sounds like rules being set here!! Some prefer it and others do not - I prefer to play with the raw data because I can. In fact many sports photos in daily papers are so obviously "photoshoped" these days!

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01 May 12 - 02:18 PM (#3345767)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

And of course it's fun too!!

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01 May 12 - 06:11 PM (#3345863)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: number 6

John in Kansas ... "Most real pros figure 10% "good out of the camera" is exceptional." Do you mean 10% out of total shots taken in one photo shoot ... that I would say is true ... but if you mean 90% of one photo is expected to be post edited then I disagree and I must say I have never heard of that. Wedding and portrait photographers might perform more post precessing than other photographers on a shot, but certainly not more than 70%. If 70% post editing is required than it is over produced. Nothing is more annoying I find than an over produced photo ... sorta like an overproduced song or piece of music.

Most pro's have enough experience in framing a shot (even on the fly), and have mastered the technical usage of their cameras to get a pretty good shot "out of the can" ... but, I agree that almost all photos do require some post editing. Even in the days of film, photos required some orchestration in the dark room.

If I have to do more than 10 - 15% post editing on a single photo ( btw, I use only Adobe Lightroom) ... than it isn't acceptable by my personal standards ... it's a failed shot. I also shoot in RAW format.

With all that being said, I agree Bonzo, playing around with some photo editing tools can be fun.

biLL

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03 May 12 - 07:23 PM (#3346640)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: JohnInKansas

no 6 -

I was referring to the number/percentage of shots that are "perfect enough" to use without any editing.

I'll agree that many pros work at getting high percentages of shots usable, and for the routine "paid shooting session" very high percentages of shots taken may be used, but there's always the problem that as your experience accrues your standards may (should?) go up, so in your "creative moments" you recognize more things that can be "improved" with a tweak or two. You also should become more efficient at making the changes that your own preferences demand. Even Eastman & Weston said "it's 90 percent in the darkroom."

It must also be pointed out that the photos you take aren't necessarily the only ones you want to work on.

I got my start with Photoshop Elements (version 1) on a barrel (literally) of old "family photos," nearly all of which were more than 50 years old, nearly all faded and off color (even the B/W ones), and about half were torn or with coffee stains on great grand daddy's face. About 1500 photos (or 32 gallons, based on the biggest barrel) later, I find the shift in PSE to make it "all automatic" quite annoying. (the automatic corrections might be fine for typical exposure problems, but are totally inadequate for old and faded stuff.)

I'm still using mainly PSE2 despite the requirement to continually/repeatedly apply "Administrator authority" to force it to run in Win7, since many of its best features apparently don't exist in the later versions (I have versions 9 & 10). They've been replaced by some perhaps handy features (for fresh shots?) that I don't want or need for my particular purposes; and features I do need have disappeared.

Fortunately, "she" whose family supplied most of the photos that needed a lot of work has fairly low standards, so I only need to satisfy myself.

John

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07 May 12 - 05:38 PM (#3347962)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: JohnInKansas

Adobe has also advanced their opinion that all of their stuff should be "rented" rather than sold, with annual(?) or possibly even monthly(?) subscription fees for as long as you use it.

If you snap it, print it, sell it, & forget it, that might not be too bad a deal, but I use Elements for lots of stuff that doesn't really qualify as "pictures," and expect to rework and rearrange things indefinitely (and don't make any money off what I do). If you try to use PS "native" formats, they're dead if the program to work them with goes away.

Even a program that you "purchase" still "belongs to Adobe," but you've always had the right to keep using it as long as you can make it keep running. (Microsoft will take care of making it not run, eventually, if you use Windows; but that's sort of a different deal than having it shut off if you miss the paying the rent.)

Since the recent CS versions are already 3x or 4x the price of my computer, it's getting harder all the time to justify "sticking with the name brand." And the flaky changes they've become attached to completely negate the assumption that the "established real" provider will give you a consistent and reliable product.

John

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08 May 12 - 12:14 AM (#3348042)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: GUEST

I still run win98 on another machine   with office 2000 and a commercial version of photoshop that used Goo -Power - Tools

A gift from "bad tuna "

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08 May 12 - 06:04 AM (#3348101)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: Bonzo3legs

Good job that my Photoshop CS6 was free!!!

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08 May 12 - 06:44 AM (#3348117)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: JohnInKansas

Good job that my Photoshop CS6 was free!!!

I'm reaching the conclusion that that's the only way to buy it.

(Interpret that however you like.)

The last time I bought the full Photoshop, it was less than six months before all the smoke escaped from my computer and I had to replace it. The new computer naturally had a new version of Windows, and wouldn't run my Photoshop; and the "upgrade price" for a version of Photoshop that would run on the new Windows was more than I'd paid for the original. The price seems to have gone up even faster since.

John

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12 May 12 - 05:46 AM (#3349871)
Subject: RE: Tech: Photoshop CS5 tricks
From: JohnInKansas

Adobe's fix for Photoshop flaw? Buy another copy

Company is not issuing free patch for customers who want to protect themselves

By Matt Liebowitz
Security News
5/11/2012

Serious security vulnerabilities have been discovered in Adobe Photoshop, as well as in its companion applications Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Flash Professional.

Adobe is not issuing a free patch to correct the flaws, however.

Instead, the company says that customers who want to protect themselves should pay for the upgrades to the next versions of the software, which were released Monday. If you don't want to pay, Adobe asks that you "exercise caution."

The vulnerabilities in Photoshop CS5.5 and earlier, Illustrator CS5.5 and earlier and Flash Professional CS5.5 and earlier leave Mac and Windows systems open to remote exploitation by an attacker using a rigged TIFF file, Adobe said in a press release.

To tackle this problem, Adobe is recommending its users upgrade to the CS6 equivalents of their affected applications. Doing so will cost $99 for Flash Professional, $199 for Photoshop and $249 for Illustrator.

...

Adobe creative software products can be purchased individually or in various "Creative Suite" bundles. The full Creative Suite, with 16 stand-alone applications, retails for $2,599.
Citing numerous complaints that have flooded social-media sites, Graham Cluley from the security firm Sophos called Adobe's choice to force customers to pay for the new software, "a PR disaster for the company."

New versions of Photoshop and other Adobe creative applications can take months for corporate customers to deploy, and home users often hang on to older versions of Adobe's expensive software for years. Such periods of prolonged vulnerability are often exploited by malware writers, most recently with the Flashback Trojan that leveraged Apple's delay in patching Macs to infect 600,000 machines.

For those users who don't have the cash to pony up for new versions of Photoshop or Illustrator, Adobe recommends that they "follow best practices and exercise caution when opening files from unknown or untrusted sources."


And another formerly respected member of the computer community continues it's plan to be "just another toy shop," having noticed that those who buy new toys just because they're new don't worry much about hurting themselves.

John

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