Photoshop CC 2015 for Photographers: The Basics

Learn to leverage the photographer's toolset in Photoshop and enhance your images while retaining their natural character.

Photoshop CC 2015 for Photographers provides an introduction to Photoshop aimed specifically at the needs of photographers. In this installment, teacher Chris Orwig covers the most essential skills: cropping, improving exposure, painting color and light with masks, converting to black and white, thinking creatively with filters, retouching, and publishing photos online and in print. In addition, the series is sprinkled with segments that inspire viewers to think photographically and shoot with Photoshop's capabilities in mind.

Introduction

• Welcome
• Using the exercise files

1. Strategies for Learning Photoshop

• Getting the most out of this course
• Course challenges

2. Where Photoshop Fits In

• Photoshop's role in today's workflow
• Accessing your images with Bridge
• Getting started with Lightroom

3. Setting Up Photoshop

• Setting up your color settings
• Fine-tuning your preferences
• Choosing and customizing a workspace

4. Introducing Camera Raw

• The new dark interface
• What is Camera Raw?
• Camera Raw and Photoshop case study
• Opening images into Camera Raw
• Improving your images with the basic controls

5. Getting Started with Photoshop

• Opening, saving, and closing a photograph
• Getting familiar with the interface and the Tools panel
• Using tools and undoing mistakes

6. Viewing Your Images

• Zooming and panning on your photos
• Quickly zoom and pan around a photograph
• Arranging and viewing multiple documents

7. Resizing Your Images the Correct Way

• The relationship between pixels and image sizing
• Resizing an image to a smaller size
• Using the resizing presets

8. Cropping Your Photographs

• Mastering the Crop tool
• Cropping your images to a specific size
• Fixing a crooked image
• Challenge: Level and resize a photo to make a 5x5 print
• Solution: Level and resize a photo to make a 5x5 print

9. Nondestructive Editing with Layers

• Why layers matter
• Creative layers case study
• Creating new layers
• Applying layer style effects
• Combining multiple images into one document
• Organizing layers into groups

10. Improving Exposure

• Adding brightness and contrast
• Fixing overexposure with levels
• Adding contrast with levels
• Advanced tip for levels
• Fine-tuning an image with Curves
• When to use Camera Raw

11. Working on Specific Areas of an Image

• Using the selection tools
• Working with the Quick Selection tool
• Removing the background with Quick Selection
• Building a selection with Color Range
• Making a selection with Focus Area
• Challenge: Selecting the subject from the background
• Solution: Selecting the subject from the background

12. Advanced Adjustments with Masking

• Introducing masks
• Painting in a color effect
• Painting in light with a mask
• Refining the edges of a mask
• Using Color Range to refine the mask
• Challenge: Creating a color effect
• Solution: Creating a color effect

13. Fine-Tuning Color

• Changing color with hue and saturation
• Creative color with hue, saturation, and masking
• Increasing saturation and color variety with Vibrance
• Using color balance to create vivid color
• Combining color balance and hue saturation

14. Converting to Black and White

• Creating better black-and-white landscape photographs
• Making a strong black-and-white portrait

15. Applying Photographic Effects with Filters

• Adding lens flare
• Applying a film grain effect as a Smart Filter
• Changing focus with the Blur Gallery
• Adding light with lighting effects
• Challenge: Adding blur
• Solution: Adding blur

16. Sharpening and Reducing Noise

• Reduce unwanted noise in Camera Raw
• Reduce unwanted noise in Photoshop
• Using Focus Area to select the area to sharpen
• Selective sharpen with Smart Sharpen
• Masking and sharpening a specific area
• Sharpen and perfect your photos with Smart Sharpen

17. Retouching Tools

• Using Content-Aware Fill to remove distractions
• Working with the Patch tool and Content-Aware Move
• Removing an object with the Clone Stamp tool
• Seamless retouching with the healing tools
• Challenge: Correcting a large area of a photograph
• Solution: Correcting a large area of a photograph
• Challenge: Improving details
• Solution: Improving details

18. Basic Portrait Retouching

• Removing skin blemishes with the Healing Brush tools
• Whitening teeth with adjustment layers
• Reducing wrinkles and shadows under the eyes
• Brightening eyes with Curves and targeted color adjustements
• Improving facial structure with Liquify
• Challenge: Creating more beautiful skin
• Solution: Creating more beautiful skin

19. Printing with Photoshop

• Getting ready to print: Resizing and sharpening
• Selecting your printer and paper size
• Choosing color management and printer settings

Conclusion

• Next steps