Skip to main content

My Photoshop tips when editing cosplay photos.

Though I’ve used Photoshop in some fashion since the early 2000s, I’m always learning or re-learning things about it. To improve the speed of editing, there are a few things that make a big difference. I’ve been trying to incorporate the keyboard more into the editing process because it does speed up editing a lot.

I use Photoshop CS5, so if something doesn’t work for you then there might be a difference in how things are done for your version.

  • Holding the space bar down will allow you to drag around the photo while keeping your current tool.
  • There is an application level setting that you can change to have the scroll-wheel perform zoom and it doesn’t change your current tool selected. I always enable that whenever I need to (re)install Photoshop.
  • The clone stamp tool is my go-to tool for editing cosplay photos. It’s easy to clone out harder to manage spots and areas with this tool compared to the others I’ve used. It takes more effort to use than the other related tools, so I try to use the others when I can to speed things up.
  • The spot healing brush is good for quick removal of most moderately sized things you don’t want in the photo as long as the image around it isn’t too complex. This tool works best when editing inside something and not edges of things. The healing brush tool is a quicker alternative to the clone stamp tool as long as the surroundings are not complex.
  • The patch tool is good for changing big areas as a starting point. It’s also good for under the eye darkness.
  • To change brush size or hardness, hold alt+right mouse button and drag the mouse either up/down or left/right to change things.
  • The blur tool is good for a number of things, especially making your larger edits like changing the background look more natural by blurring the edges of what is in the foreground.
  • The sharpen tool helps fix some of the blurriness that some of the other tools like clone and heal result in.
  • Dodge and burn are just generally good and adding realism to major edits or changing things like shadows to make them less harsh.
  • If you are zoomed in and want to get a full view, use CTRL+0 to jump back out quickly. This is also helpful if you pulled in a selection that’s outside of your view but you want to see all of it.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Viltrox AF FE 28mm f/4.5 VCM ASPH ED Lens Overview

Viltrox asked me if I wanted to take a look at this unique compact autofocus full-frame prime lens with a focal length of 28mm and a fixed f/4.5 aperture for Sony E-mount cameras. Viltrox agreed to my standard collaboration terms before sending me the lens.    In the video I talk about features, how it works in practice, and show photos I had taken on a photo walk with the Sony a7S as well as the APS-C a6000. Viltrox is starting this off as an Indiegogo campaign. They told me that it will eventually be sold through normal retailers: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/viltrox-af-28mm-f4-5-fe-chips-size-ultra-thin-lens They said it will be $99 USD or 109 Euros with discounts during the crowdfunding period. Check out Indiegogo for details. I am not an affiliate of that website. You can check on the status of availability through my usual affiliates: B&H Photo Video Amazon As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!    The front of the lens. K...
Read more

Camera Gear Reviews and Marketing Issues Exposed

A great overview by Gerald Undone on his experiences in the field of camera gear related videos! It is an important topic. The more open the better, I’d say. After over 13 years making photography and videography gear videos, I’ve not had a huge amount of success comparatively, but I’ve also never been especially brand safe to begin with for these companies to consider me. 🤣 I think his mentions toward the end of the video are especially important. The unwritten pressure, or worse with companies like Insta360 , shouldn’t be acceptable and should be publicly called out more often. That’s probably the only way things will actually change for the better. I created a video detailing my opinion on the topic further: More of my comments on the video… His YouTube channel. 4:30 I understand that’s what Gerald does, but are there situations where companies are paying for flights and hotel costs of other reviewers with the expectation of a video/article being produced? (EDIT: I’ve seen confirm...
Read more

First look at the Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 for Sony E-mount bought from KEH

I've use a Sony Alpha A6000 and the PZ 16–50mm F/3.5–5.6 OSS kit lens with my computer as a webcam for a long time now. It's a lower cost option that has been very consistent outputting 1080p at 30 FPS to a USB based HDMI capture device. The kit lens is generally fine, but it has a few quirks. The biggest issue is that throughout the zoom range the maximum aperture value is not fixed. This introduces technical challenges when I want to show detailed views of product or similar use cases. There are also other considerations I'll talk about later in this article. So I decided to buy the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 DC DN | C lens in E-mount as a replacement.  Links in this article are a mix of paid and through my affiliates. I earn from each in different ways. One is a flat fee and the others I earn from qualifying purchases. Considering them for your purchasing needs helps make the creation of this information viable!   I made a video unboxing the lens and trying it out with Open ...
Read more