The Photoshop Blog offers Photoshop news and Photoshop tips. http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/ From the Random Inspiration Department: Nuit Blanche explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy. After viewing, watch the making of Nuit Blanche... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/nuit-blanche-film-inspiration.html Here is a very comprehensive tutorial that will guide you through how to use levels and curves to control contrast and detail in your digital photos. Increasing contrast is one of the best ways to improve images, often dramatically. Images with good contrast can seem to “pop” off the page and appear to have more detail. There are a few things to beware of. The main thing is to be careful not to over-lighten or overdarken any area to the point that your image loses detail in areas that are important to you or that need to be preserved for reproduction on its destination device. For example, the lightest areas in images destined for print need to be a little darker than pure white and the darkest areas a little lighter than pure black to maintain print quality in a typical image. This is because of the limitations of the output device, such as a printing press or printer. Limiting lights and darks is not as much of an issue when you are preparing images for Web, since monitors don’t usually have as many tonal limitations as printing devices. However, displays can vary significantly in how they display images... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/contrast-details-curves-levels.html Photoshop Product Manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes gives you a glimpse of new selection technology that offers better edge detection and masking results in less time — even with the trickiest images, like hair... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/selection-tools-cs5.html After shooting with the Lomo, I wanted to find a way to duplicate the Lomo look and feel wtih photos from my Canon 20D. I searched and searched and after trying several different Photoshop methods, I finally came up with my own using a mix of different techniques I found on the internet. By all means, there are probably other ways to do this, included pre-built filters and actions, but this method has served me well and provides me with more control over the output. Here is my step by step on how I take a digital photo and make it Lomoified. I do have one suggestion: create an action script once get this down, it will save you a ton of time. ... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/lomo-tutorial-lomo-effect-how-to.html The Shadow/Highlight adjustment is an excellent way to reveal subtle detail in the shadow and/or highlight areas of your images. Although you could theoretically produce similar results with sophisticated use of Curves, the Shadow/Highlight adjustment is far easier to use when you need to recover detail that has been lost in shadow or highlight areas because of excessive contrast. It’s similar to the Fill Light and Recovery sliders in ACR, but it has additional controls so you can fine-tune the results... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/shadow-higlight-adjustments-details.html Topaz Labs announces the release of Topaz Detail Photoshop plug-in, which features a user-requested speed boost, a totally redesigned user interface, and more detail enhancement tools and presets. Detail 2 brings a quicker and more effective detail enhancement workflow to photographers. Topaz Detail’s underlying algorithm employs the most recent advances in detail enhancement technology. This new technology provides the unique ability to enhance detail and micro-contrast, with no over-sharpening, edge artifacts or halos, which often occur with other sharpening tools. Topaz Detail features three levels of detail control, high- quality image sharpening, natural feature enhancement and black and white conversion. (Watch a video tutorial that shows you how to use the Topaz Detail Photoshop plugin.) Enter our exclusive discount coupon code PHOTOSHOPSUPPORT during the checkout process at Topaz Labs for an instant 15% discount on any Topaz product, including bundle deals and upgrades... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/topaz-detail-2-free-upgrade.html From BittBox: Grunge Frames. After browsing Flickr for some texture ideas, I ran across a cool “grunge frame” image and thought I would give it a whirl myself. Each of these textures are 4-5 images stacked on top of one another layers with various blending modes. I then just erased the center of certain layers, which gives the frame effect. I hope you find a good use for them, they were a blast to make. Enjoy! (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/textures-grunge-frames.html Unified Color Technologies, the experts in high dynamic range imaging (HDR), today announced that its hallmark software application, HDR PhotoStudio, is now also available for Mac operating systems. Powered by Unified Color’s next-generation color model, Beyond RGBTM, HDR PhotoStudio is the only solution capable of creating realistic-looking HDR images that unlock the full range of color as perceived by human vision. Download the free trial... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/hdr-photostudio-software-mac.html Here's an 18 minute video with John Knoll reminiscing about the origins and history of Photoshop. Click here to watch the John Knoll video interview... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/john-knoll-20-years-photoshop-birthday.html Artbeats, a 20-year veteran in the stock footage industry, announced today that they are offering a free, downloadable HD clip every day at artbeats.com. In this "no strings attached" program, visitors to the Artbeats home page can access a different free clip every day simply by registering or logging-in to their online account. The clips, valued at up to $299 USD each, are pre-selected directly from the Artbeats and Artbeats FootageHub libraries and are available as a free download for 24 hours. Those who take full advantage of the Daily Free Clip program can quickly enhance and build their stock footage cache with over $8,000 USD in royalty-free HD content each month... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/free-artbeats-stock-footage.html Changing opacity is like mixing a cocktail with, say, 30% active layer and 70% all layers below. Assigning a blend mode is like shining a light or casting a shadow: The active layer infuses those behind it with life. In this week’s Photoshop Top 40 Countdown, Deke shows how to mix and blend layer opacities for best results. Click to see video in a new window... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/video-tutorial-opacity-mode-blend-mode.html Adobe researchers Eli Shechtman and Dan Goldman, working together with Prof. Adam Finkelstein from Princeton and PhD student Connelly Barnes, have introduced PatchMatch, "A Randomized Correspondence Algorithm for Structural Image Editing." It's a content-aware spot healing fill tool. And it could show up in CS5, although Photoshop product manager John Nack says "As with all such sneak peeks, I have to be really clear in saying that this is just a demo, and as such it's not a promise that a technology will ship inside a particular version of Photoshop." Click here to see a video demo of the patchmatch tool in action... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/patchmatch-cs5-image-editing-tool.html Here are the current special offers and deals from the Adobe UK Online Store... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/adobe-uk-store-special-deals-february.html Camera Raw is an independent application that lets you develop your raw photographs and exploit every byte of the vast information captured by your digital SLR camera. Not just powerful, it is a force unto itself. In this week’s Photoshop Top 40 Countdown, Deke shows us how to tap into its many features. Click to see video in a new window... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/video-tutorial-camera-raw.html Here's how you can get $75 off a Premium Subscription to lynda.com and $50 off an Annual Subscription. Follow this link, then choose one of the signup buttons, and fill out the first signup page. On the second signup page, choose which subscription you want and under Credit Card Information, click on the area that says Promo Code - click to enter. For the $250 Annual Subscription, enter promo code MW10A and your total will change from $250 to $200. For the $375 Premium Subscription enter Promo Code MW10P and your total will change from $375 to $300. Happy learning! (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/lynda-special.html The inspired and inspiring Kirsty of 500ml Brushes has created another exclusive brush set for us. This time our brush Diva has come up with a magnificent collection of love symbols and romantic gestures for you to use in your upcoming Valentine's Day cards.... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/valentines-brushes-free-valentines-card-brushes.html Today, Wacom announces the Intuos4 Wireless professional pen tablet, a highly-anticipated product featuring Bluetooth wireless technology. The new Intuos4 Wireless is expected to be warmly embraced by photographers, designers and artists who seek the freedom of wireless technology as well as the control and comfort benefits inherent in Wacom’s professional line of pen tablets... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-02/wacom-wireless-pen-tablet-intuos-4.html Here's a free tutorial, courtesy of iStockphoto.com: There is more to the artistic flair of black and white photography than merely grayscaling your photos. It is a world of grain, contrast and lighting. If you love the gritty look and are looking to show more emotion and dramatics with a hint of sexiness, but have found there's more that meets the eye in achieving this style, no fret. Where your digital camera settings may be showing sub par, we've got the cheap tricks in Photoshop that can compensate the difference for a professional look and new edge. Choosing to convert to black and white should be an intentional effort and not a solution. Architecture and portraits make great subjects, but when it comes down to it, some photos are just monotonous and black and white isn't an instant answer... (posted by Jennifer Apple for www.PhotoshopSupport.com) http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/10/cs5-01/convert-black-white.html