smashing-ebook-8

Angle Gradients Angle gradients can be a great way to mimic environmental reflections found on highly polished metallic objects. ...

Dithering Is Everything Adding dithering to a gradient produces smoother results. Non-dithered gradients often contain visible b ...

If you’re not seeing the difference, here’s an extreme and completely unrealistic example of gradient dithering in action: Ensur ...

Note that gradient layer styles can’t be dithered, and gradients in placed objects (such as stuff you’ve pasted from Illustrator ...

A combination of the gradient techniques described above were used to create the Mac app icon below. Gradient Maps Quite differe ...

With a gradient map. Without the gradient map, things look quite different. It’s a composite of about seven photos; the boy and ...

film with intentionally low contrast so that the grain would be more prominent when the contrast was pushed by the gradient map. ...

A Little Obsessed? Absolutely. I conducted all of the tests above to learn more about some common techniques that I already use: ...

Useful Photoshop Tips And Tricks for Photo Retouching Dirk Metzmacher When it comes to designing in Photoshop, there is a myriad ...

Skin Color Matching Skin Tones Reducing Noise Retro Look With Curves Identifying Layers Conserving Resources Classy Sepia Look ...

Increase light on a separate layer. Then use the brush tool with a soft brush, and hold the Alt/Option key to pick up colors fro ...

The blending mode “Color Dodge” creates realistic results. Simulate Infrared Images Open a photo in Camera Raw; you can do this ...

to the “Effects” tab, and enter 15 for the amount, 20 for size and 80 for roughness. You could also apply a “Vignette.” Here I u ...

Move the slider so far to the right that only a few white spots remain in the document. Use the “Color Sampler tool” and set dow ...

Change the blending mode of this layer to “Difference.” Select the “Threshold adjustment layer” again and move the slider all th ...

Here’s a before-and-after comparison. ...

Now you can use the gray Eyedropper tool on the third Color Sampler spot. The color tint will be decreased. Color Sampler spots ...

Alternatively, you could use several color layers. Create them from the layer palette with the “New Fill/Adjustment Layer” butto ...

Pass and enter a radius of 3 pixels. Change the blending mode to “Overlay” and double-click the layer next to its name to open t ...

are. This increases contrast only for the mid-tones. Double-click the “High Pass” filter in the layer palette to bring the dialo ...