> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ OCTOBER 2019[ 66 ]
- LIGHTER COLOR AND DARKER COLOR
BLENDING MODES WITH THE CLONE STAMP
When Using the Clone Stamp tool (S) during skin retouching, explore
using the Lighter Color and Darker Color blending modes (not Lighten
and Darken!) in the Options Bar for removing small blemishes with-
out disrupting much texture or adding artifacts. Combined with a low
Flow in the Options Bar, you can sneak up on some tricky correc-
tions. This is especially helpful on the details layer when performing
frequency separation. - SAVING AND USING ADJUSTMENT LAYERS
IN LIBRARIES
Do you have a favorite set of adjustment layers you use frequently?
You can save adjustment layers (and groups of them) to your Librar-
ies panel (Window>Libraries) to save with a project. Just select
them in the Layers panel, and then drag them into the library of
your choice in the Libraries panel. Double-click the name in the
Libraries panel to rename it.
But when you drag them from the Libraries panel to either the
canvas or the Layers panel, they’re turned into smart objects that don’t
apply to your file directly. Holding the Option (PC: Alt) key while drag-
ging them will put them in place with the exact settings you stored,
including layer blending modes. This is a great way to store adjustment
layer stacks without creating actions or lots of temporary presets.- SHORTCUTS FOR EDITING SELECTIONS
Make small, local adjustments to your photos using temporary selec-
tions instead of adding entire layers. To blend them in more easily, set
the Feather value in the Options Bar for a smooth transition between
selected and unselected areas. With the Lasso or Marquee tools
selected, the following modifier keys let you adjust your selection with-
out starting over:- Hold Option (PC: Alt) to remove areas from your selection.
- Hold Shift to add to your selection.
- Hold Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt) to “intersect” with a
selection, meaning only selected areas that you overlap
will remain in the selection.
These are Boolean operations, which you can use with virtually
any selection method. Once you have the region you want, use the
tools under Image>Adjustments to make your changes. Be warned!
These are permanent changes, so tread carefully!
- REDUCE THE TOOLBAR TO ONLY
THE STUFF YOU NEED
Go to Edit>Toolbar, or simply click-and-hold on the three dots (or
the banana if you’ve done tip #80 by Gilmar) near the bottom of the
Toolbar, and select Edit Toolbar. Drag tools you don’t want to the
right side, and reorder the tools you use on the left. (Bonus: You
can also directly assign keyboard shortcuts here!) Once you click
Done, you can still access the “hidden” tools by clicking-and-hold-
ing on those same three dots in the Toolbar. - CUSTOM WORKSPACES
When you get your panels set up exactly how you want for a given
task, save their locations by going to the Workspaces icon in the
upper right of Photoshop’s interface, and selecting New Workspace.
Save your new workspace with a name that makes sense to you (such
as Painting) and you’re good to go. If you move things around, you
can always go up to the same spot and choose Reset [name of work-
space] to get a fresh start. Workspaces are a great way to focus when
you have different tasks such as retouching or web design. - EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT CROPS
Can’t decide on a crop for your photo? Make a flexible preview by
stamping a flat copy (Shift-Option-Command-E [PC: Shift-Alt-Ctrl-
E]) of your work at the top of the layer stack, and then placing a blank
layer beneath the stamped copy. Fill the blank layer with black, white,
Left: Before; Middle: Lighter Color; Right: Darker Color©Adobe Stock/Pavel Lysenko