canonman
3rd April 2008, 09:26 AM
I thought people may like to learn this very basic but highly effective technique used in numerous applications.
It is still amongst one of my favourite methods of exagerating depth of field (by pushing items out of focus) or softening skin tones. When using this method, it is important to realise that when you push areas out of focus it automatically "implies" that other areas of the image are sharper than they were. I mention this, because over-use of any "sharpening" techniques in Photoshop can cause huge problems especially with high quality print output. A combination of this technique and selective sharpening (Used sparingly) will therefore give the best overall results.
As with everything else in Photoshop, get into the habit of only ever using a copy of the original image....the very worst that can ever happen is that you ruin or lose the copy with the original sitting safely in your library!
Work like this (for softening skin, reducing textures/grain or pushing out of focus).
1. Open the copy of your image in Photoshop, then duplicate that image as a background layer. Mac shortcut = Apple....J
2. Ensure that the background layer is the "active layer" To do this, click on "Layer 1" text in the layers palate, the icon will turn blue indicating the layer is active. Also ensure that the layer is visible, the eye symbol to the left should be displayed. If not, click in the empty box to turn it on.
3. Now go to "Filter"......."Blur"......."Gausian Blur". A pixel radius window will now appear,make sure the preview box is ticked. The applied effect is on the entire image as you can see on your screen. To determine how much effect to set, it is important to analyise the image carefully now. What you need to concentrate on, is the area where you want most blur to be applied. Look only at that area and apply the pixel radius accordingly. Click OK.
4. Now go to the bottom of the layers palate. And apply a black layer mask. On Mac shortcut = hold "option" then click the "layer mask" icon at the foot of the layers palate (icon is grey square with white circle in the middle). If this has been applied correctly, the layer mask will show (in active layer on layers palate) as a solid black rectangle. Your image on screen should now all look the way it did before you applied the "blur". The "mask" is now covering or hiding the effect. If we now remove areas of the mask, we will reveal the blur beneath.
5. Select a fairly soft brush of an appropriate size to paint in the blur where you require it on the image. Ensure that the foreground colour is set to white (foot of tools palate, front square white, rear outline black) this is the default colour setting.......Mac shortcut (to get this default) = D
6. On areas of the image where you want all of the blur intensity, paint with the brush set at 100% flow and opacity, thus removing all traces of the mask. If you want areas with more subtle blur, reduce the opacity and flow of the brush. This gives us maximum control over the entire image with a single process. You will notice on the image mask icon in the layers palate, the ares you have been working on will be turning white, showing the parts of the mask you have removed.
7. By changing the brush foreground colour to black, we can put back areas of the mask if we overdo a section. Putting back can also be done with varying degrees of subtlety by controling flow and opacity. Using the black will now be reverting areas back to the original image clarity.
8. When you like you are happy with the result, you can do a before and after comparison by switching on and off the eye symbol against your active layer. With the eye switched off, you see the original version.
9. When absolutely happy, flatten the layers by going to "layer"...."flatten image".
I hope people take the time to learn this, it is invaluable! When this is perfected and becomes second nature, you can transform an image regardless of complexity in minutes.
Enjoy !!
It is still amongst one of my favourite methods of exagerating depth of field (by pushing items out of focus) or softening skin tones. When using this method, it is important to realise that when you push areas out of focus it automatically "implies" that other areas of the image are sharper than they were. I mention this, because over-use of any "sharpening" techniques in Photoshop can cause huge problems especially with high quality print output. A combination of this technique and selective sharpening (Used sparingly) will therefore give the best overall results.
As with everything else in Photoshop, get into the habit of only ever using a copy of the original image....the very worst that can ever happen is that you ruin or lose the copy with the original sitting safely in your library!
Work like this (for softening skin, reducing textures/grain or pushing out of focus).
1. Open the copy of your image in Photoshop, then duplicate that image as a background layer. Mac shortcut = Apple....J
2. Ensure that the background layer is the "active layer" To do this, click on "Layer 1" text in the layers palate, the icon will turn blue indicating the layer is active. Also ensure that the layer is visible, the eye symbol to the left should be displayed. If not, click in the empty box to turn it on.
3. Now go to "Filter"......."Blur"......."Gausian Blur". A pixel radius window will now appear,make sure the preview box is ticked. The applied effect is on the entire image as you can see on your screen. To determine how much effect to set, it is important to analyise the image carefully now. What you need to concentrate on, is the area where you want most blur to be applied. Look only at that area and apply the pixel radius accordingly. Click OK.
4. Now go to the bottom of the layers palate. And apply a black layer mask. On Mac shortcut = hold "option" then click the "layer mask" icon at the foot of the layers palate (icon is grey square with white circle in the middle). If this has been applied correctly, the layer mask will show (in active layer on layers palate) as a solid black rectangle. Your image on screen should now all look the way it did before you applied the "blur". The "mask" is now covering or hiding the effect. If we now remove areas of the mask, we will reveal the blur beneath.
5. Select a fairly soft brush of an appropriate size to paint in the blur where you require it on the image. Ensure that the foreground colour is set to white (foot of tools palate, front square white, rear outline black) this is the default colour setting.......Mac shortcut (to get this default) = D
6. On areas of the image where you want all of the blur intensity, paint with the brush set at 100% flow and opacity, thus removing all traces of the mask. If you want areas with more subtle blur, reduce the opacity and flow of the brush. This gives us maximum control over the entire image with a single process. You will notice on the image mask icon in the layers palate, the ares you have been working on will be turning white, showing the parts of the mask you have removed.
7. By changing the brush foreground colour to black, we can put back areas of the mask if we overdo a section. Putting back can also be done with varying degrees of subtlety by controling flow and opacity. Using the black will now be reverting areas back to the original image clarity.
8. When you like you are happy with the result, you can do a before and after comparison by switching on and off the eye symbol against your active layer. With the eye switched off, you see the original version.
9. When absolutely happy, flatten the layers by going to "layer"...."flatten image".
I hope people take the time to learn this, it is invaluable! When this is perfected and becomes second nature, you can transform an image regardless of complexity in minutes.
Enjoy !!