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- ROTATE VIEW TOOL
The Rotate View tool is perfect for retouching when you’re using
a graphics tablet. When using a pen, you might often find yourself
contorting your wrists and arms into all manner of peculiar positions,
but all you really need to do is use the Rotate View tool. With this tool,
you can rotate the view of the image, but not the image itself.
To access the Rotate View tool, press R on your keyboard, or
click-and-hold the Hand tool (H) in the Toolbar to reveal it. Then,
click-and-drag left or right in the image to rotate it. When you want
to put your image back to where it should be, with the tool still
active, click on Reset View in the Options Bar, and the image will
reset its orientation. You can also double-click the tool in the Tool-
bar to reset the view.
- FREELY MOVING A DROP SHADOW
When we apply a Drop Shadow layer style in Photoshop (Layer >Layer
Style>Drop Shadow), we’re presented with a dialog full of options.
You can bypass most of those options by simply clicking-and-drag-
ging directly in your image to move the Drop Shadow exactly where
you want it. The Opacity and Size of the Drop Shadow can still be
adjusted in the dialog.
- CURVES ADJUSTMENT WITH A DIFFERENCE
We usually apply a Curves adjustment layer to affect the image’s
tonal range. When we do this, we often opt for an S-shaped curve,
boosting color and saturation. You can take this in a slightly
different direction and give a similar, yet different, boost to color
and contrast by changing the blend mode of the Curves adjust-
ment layer to Soft Light, and reducing its Fill in the Layers panel
to between 50–60%, depending on taste. The result is slightly
different, but usually very pleasing.
- QUICKLY CHANGE COLORS AT ANY TIME
When part of your image contains mainly one color, you can make
brilliant color changes using blend modes and Fill layers. First, go
to Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color, choose the color you want to
use in the Color Picker, and click OK. In the Layers panel, change the
blend mode of the Color Fill layer to Color, click on its layer mask
thumbnail in the Layers panel to make the mask active, and press
Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to invert the mask to black, which hides the
effect of the Color Fill.
Switch to the Brush tool (B), press D so white is the Foreground
color, and paint over the area of color you want to change. The Color
Fill layer and the original layer will interact with each other, and the
new color is applied to the shapes and shadows of the underlying
layer. The best part of using a Fill layer is that you can double-click
the Color Fill thumbnail in the Layers panel to open the Color Picker,
and change the color at any time. You can even see the color and
saturation change in the image as you select different colors in the
Color Picker.
- RE-CREATING THE INSTAGRAM FADE EFFECT
Instagram filters are hugely popular both on and off the social media
platform. Re-creating these filters and applying the best elements can
help your images stand out and gain popularity among a huge crowd
of photographers. To quickly add an Instagram-style fade effect,
go to Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Selective Color. In the Proper-
ties panel (Window >Properties), choose Neutrals from the Colors
drop-down menu, and set the Blacks slider to –20. Now choose
Blacks from the Colors drop-down menu, and set the Blacks slider
to –15. All your moves are complete, and now you’ve applied your
own version of the fade filter. n
ALL IMAGES THIS SPREAD BY DAVE WILLIAMS
