The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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Master the Art of Portrait Retouching in Photoshop – fast! This bite-sized tutorial combines traditional techniques and cutting-edge AI tools for flawless skin, natural enhancements, and a polished final image. Learn how to add makeup, remove tattoos, retouch clothing, without spending hours editing.
Note:
Due to copyright restrictions, we’re only able to share preview images and a PDF with direct links of the FREE Adobe Stock images.
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 9 Sample Images
- 9 Sample PSDs
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Table of Contents
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The Art of Retouching
AFTER
BEFORE
Professional Color Grading
Go beyond the ordinary with professional color grading! This course dives deep into our toolbox of expert techniques. Learn how to meticulously control each aspect of color, from highlights and shadows to vibrance and detail, to achieve captivating visuals.
Natural Skin Tones
Learn how to fix skin color, no fancy words needed! In this tutorial we’ll show you how to get natural-looking skin tones every time, so your photos look real and your subjects glow.
Eyes Shine On
Enhance your natural beauty! Discover a hassle-free Photoshop technique to vanquish dark circles and under-eye puffiness, leaving you looking your best and feeling confident.
AFTER
BEFORE
Embrace Real Beauty
From the delicate touch on skin to the individual strands of hair, every element requires a careful approach to avoid an unnatural, “Photoshopped” look. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create captivating and authentic portraits that go beyond the ordinary.
Perfect Skin Textures
Learn how to remove and reduce distractions like blemishes, redness, or unwanted hair without compromising the skin texture. We’ll also focus on enhancing natural features through subtle edits that showcase and celebrate your subject’s unique characteristics.
Non-destructive Editing
Forget edit fear! Non-destructive editing lets you rewind to your original anytime and adjust edits easily, no starting over. This guide unlocks the best workflow for lightning-fast portrait retouching, worry-free!
Effortless Glam
Add Makeup with AI
From subtle enhancements to dramatic transformations, explore endless possibilities with AI tools. Discover how to apply flawless lipstick, define eyes, and achieve a natural-looking glow, all within your favorite editing software.
AFTER
BEFORE
Remove Tattoos
While we normally wouldn’t remove tattoos in most cases since they are permanent part of the subject, it’s a request we get enough that the process is worth demonstrating. This tutorial will show you how to achieve realistic results in Photoshop while preserving the skin’s natural texture.
Easy Cutouts
Cutting out hair is a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be frustrating! We’ll show you the tools that simplify the process, helping you preserve detail and create a cut-out that looks great on any background.
Flawless Hair Edits
Tame flyaway hairs and achieve a polished portrait! Our tutorial tackles these distracting strands using simple tools, preserving natural hair texture and leaving you with a flawless final image.
AFTER
BEFORE
Retouch Fabrics
Clothing is as much a part of a portrait as the person, oftentimes adding personality and detail. Learn how to work with fabric and clothing in Photoshop to reduce distractions and help the clothing look like a natural extension of the subject.
Hands-On Learning
Not only do we walk you through multiple examples, we include the completed PSD files to help you understand how complex projects like these come together and are organized. Start an image from scratch and then compare yours to the final PSD to check your work!
Portraits Learning Path
If you want to explore more tutorials on portrait retouching, we recommend exploring our Portraits Learning Path. From correcting exposure and retouching portraits efficiently to mastering advanced techniques like professional beauty retouching and compositing, we’ve got you covered! Follow this link to access the Portraits Learning Path.
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
View More Classes by Aaron Nace
Special thanks to Ph.galtri, Prince Akachi, and Jasmin Chew. Images for this PRO course were sourced from Pexels,Unsplash, and Adobe Stock.
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The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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DifficultyMedium
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Length3.25 hours
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Videos11
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Description
Lightroom 2024 is a powerful photo editing and organization tool that makes creating professional-looking photos incredibly easy! In this tutorial, we’ll cover the basics, including importing, organizing, and exporting files, as well as essential editing techniques. We’ll explore our favorite new tools like Color Grading, AI Masking, Lens Blur, Adaptive Presets, and more.
Follow along with the included 180 images as we show you how Lightroom can help you work faster, smarter and more efficiently!
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 184 Sample Images
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Table of Contents
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01 - Lightroom Essentials32:44m
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02 - Organize Your Files23:03m
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03 - Crafting The Picture Perfect Collection23:46m
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01 - Transform Your Photos with AI Masking19:59m
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02 - Lightroom to Photoshop6:55m
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03 - Lens Blur Tool12:27m
Course Downloads
Easy Color Grading
AFTER
BEFORE
The Art of Color Grading
The Color Grading Tool is a powerful and versatile tool that can help you to improve your photos in a variety of ways. By experimenting with the different sliders and settings, you can create stunning and unique effects in your photos.
Want to create a cozy, warm vibe? The Color Grading Tool has you covered. Feeling a little mysterious and cool? It’s got your back. And if you’re aiming for some Hollywood drama, it’s the perfect tool for the job!.
Using the Color Grading Wheels
The Color Grading Tool features three color wheels: one for shadows, one for midtones, and one for highlights. Each color wheel allows you to adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance of colors in that tonal range.
To use a color wheel, simply click and drag on the colored circle. Dragging the circle around the wheel will change the hue of the color. Dragging the circle towards the center will decrease the saturation, while dragging it towards the edge will increase the saturation.
AFTER
BEFORE
AI Masking in Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom’s new AI masking tool is a game-changer for photo editing. It allows you to automatically select people, objects, and even backgrounds with just a click. This can save you hours of time and effort, especially if you’re working with complex images.
The AI masking tool is incredibly accurate, and it can even select objects that are partially obscured or out of focus. It’s also very easy to use. Simply click on the object or area you want to select, and Lightroom will do the rest!.
AI Masking for Creative Effects
One of the most exciting things about the AI masking tool is its potential for creative effects. By selectively applying filters or effects to different parts of your photo, you can create unique and eye-catching images.
In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use the AI masking tool to select the sky in a landscape photo and change the saturation, exposure and more in just a few click! Also, you’ll learn how to select one or more subjects of your portraits and apply tailored edits.
A Streamlined Workflow
Organize Like a Pro
Lightroom makes it easy to organize your photos by date, location, keyword, and other criteria. You can also create collections of your favorite photos or photos from specific projects.
AFTER
BEFORE
Save Time and Stress
Finding the photos you’re looking for is much easier when they’re organized. This can save you a lot of time when you’re working on a project or simply trying to find a specific photo. With Lightroom, you can create folders, collections, and albums to organize your photos. In this tutorial, we’ll teach you the best way to do it!
Virtual Copies: Endless Creativity
Virtual copies are Lightroom’s superpower! They allow you to create endless versions of your photos without taking up any extra space. With virtual copies, you can experiment with different edits, create different versions for different purposes, and collaborate with others without fear of losing your original photo.
Protect Your Work
Adding a watermark or copyright information to your photos is a great way to protect your intellectual property and to promote your work. Lightroom makes it easy to add watermarks and copyright information to your photos, and you can customize the appearance and placement of the information to suit your needs.
AFTER
BEFORE
A Seamless Transition
No PHLEARN tutorial is complete without a touch of Photoshop! In this one, you’ll learn how to send an image to Photoshop for more complex edits, and then bring it back to Lightroom for organization and sharing.
Generative Fill
Generative Fill is a new feature in Photoshop that uses artificial intelligence to help you add or remove content from your images. It’s still under development, but it’s already pretty powerful! In this tutorial we’ll show you how you can incorporate this tool to your Lightroom workflow, to get the best possible results.
Lightroom Learning Path
If you love Lightroom, we recommend exploring the other tutorials in our Lightroom Learning Path. From the fundamentals to advanced techniques, this comprehensive guide will help you make the most of this powerful software and bring your creative vision to life. Follow this link to access the Photoshop Learning Path.
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
View More Classes by Aaron Nace
Special thanks to Cottonbro Studio, and Vlada Karpovich. Images for this PRO course were sourced from Pexels.
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In the second episode of our series on selections in Photoshop, let’s explore some of the more advanced selection tools that allow us to mask objects in front of complex backgrounds.
Follow along as we make a precise selection of a subject to integrate graphic elements into the environment behind them.
Click here to download the complete PSD file (113 MB).
Free Selection Series
- Replace a Sky with Simple Selection Tools
- Add Logos & Graphics to a Photo with Advanced Selection Tools (This Episode!)
- Refine Selections with Select & Mask (Coming Soon)
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MAKE SELECTIONS IN COMPLEX BACKGROUNDS
BEFORE
Advanced Selection Tools
Getting Started with Photoshop Selections
Selections are some of the most powerful and versatile tools in Photoshop, allowing us to cut things out from their backgrounds, make ultra-precise edits, and blend elements from multiple photos together seamlessly. Let’s explore the basics of selections using some of the simpler selections tools that Photoshop offers.
Selecting Basic Shapes
When it comes to making selections, it doesn’t get any simpler than rectangles and circles. The Marquee tools allow you to make a selection in the form of a rectangle or ellipse.
Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool and create a rectangle anywhere over top of the image.
Then, create a new Layer above the background image, select the Brush Tool, and try to paint all over the canvas. Notice that the Brush Tool only works within the bounds of the rectangular selection while its active.
When a selection is created, it defines an area that can then be edited or copied. Anything outside of the selection is ignored. This is great when you need to make edits to specific portions of a photo.
Once you’ve created a selection, you can add to it by holding the SHIFT key while creating another.
You can combine multiple types of selection tools, adding to the original selection with each to create more complex shapes.
Replace a Sky & Combining Selection Tools
Now that we have some of the basics down, let’s explore how to use some simple selection tools to replace the sky in this landscape photo.
First, let’s see what we can do with our basic Marquee selections. Creating a Rectangular Marquee selection over as much of the sky as possible without overlapping the mountains, we can take care of a large chunk of the work.
Once you’ve made the selection, select the mountain Layer (make sure the image with the new sky is underneath it in the Layers Panel), and click on the Layer Mask icon. This will hide the selected area from that Layer, revealing any Layers that are underneath it.
But what about the areas along the edge of the mountains? We’re going to need something a little more precise than our basic shape tools to work around such an irregular edge.
Let’s try some tools that allow us to make more freeform selections.
Our next simple selection tool is the Lasso Tool. Rather than using a pre-defined shape to select an area, the Lasso Tool allows us to draw any selection we want.
The drawback to the Lasso Tool is that the edges can look a little rough. But since we’re working with the edge of a mountain range, the Lasso Tool actually does a decent job of recreating the natural rough edges along the landscape.
You can also try the Polygonal Lasso Tool, which, instead of allowing you to draw a freeform selection, allows you to draw a selection using a series of straight lines.
Automated Selection Tools in Photoshop
So far we’ve covered some easy-to-use manual tools, but Photoshop has a number of ‘smart’ tools that will try to automatically select an area for you.
For example, there is the Object Selection Tool. The Object Selection Tool allows you to define an area using what looks like a Rectangular Marquee, and then Photoshop will try and automatically select whatever object it thinks you want selected within that area.
And, more commonly used, is the Magic Wand Tool. The Magic Wand couldn’t be easier, requiring you to simply click on an object or area you want to select, and Photoshop will make a selection of everything similar to that area.
For example, using the Magic Wand to click on the sky, makes it pretty easy to get a decent selection of the sky which is largely mostly a similar color and texture.
Again, the Magic Wand Tool isn’t always perfect, and the edges of the selection can be a little rough. Luckily, those rough edges work pretty well with mountain landscapes.
And if you do need to make some adjustments to the selection, there’s the Select and Mask dialog.
The Select and Mask dialog provides a number of options to refine and smooth out the edges of a selection. In our case, the Magic Wand Tool left a little bit of the sky visible along the edge of the mountain range. We can use Select and Mask to move the edge of our selection inward until the sky is no longer visible. Additionally, we can add a little bit of feathering so that the new edges matches the amount of blur that should be present in the photograph.
Once the sky has been fully selected and masked away, you should be left with a brand new sky that blends in seamlessly with the original photo!
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Selections are one of the most important tools in Photoshop, but what are they and how do they work? Follow along as we show you how to use some of the basic selection tools in Photoshop to replace the sky in a landscape photo.
Click here to download the complete PSD file (42 MB).
Free Selection Series
- Replace a Sky with Simple Selection Tools (This Episode!)
- Add Logos & Graphics to a Photo with Advanced Selection Tools
- Refine Selections with Select & Mask (Coming Soon)
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SWAP A SKY WITH SIMPLE SELECTION TOOLS
BEFORE
What Are Selections?
Getting Started with Photoshop Selections
Selections are some of the most powerful and versatile tools in Photoshop, allowing us to cut things out from their backgrounds, make ultra-precise edits, and blend elements from multiple photos together seamlessly. Let’s explore the basics of selections using some of the simpler selections tools that Photoshop offers.
Selecting Basic Shapes
When it comes to making selections, it doesn’t get any simpler than rectangles and circles. The Marquee tools allow you to make a selection in the form of a rectangle or ellipse.
Select the Rectangular Marquee Tool and create a rectangle anywhere over top of the image.
Then, create a new Layer above the background image, select the Brush Tool, and try to paint all over the canvas. Notice that the Brush Tool only works within the bounds of the rectangular selection while its active.
When a selection is created, it defines an area that can then be edited or copied. Anything outside of the selection is ignored. This is great when you need to make edits to specific portions of a photo.
Once you’ve created a selection, you can add to it by holding the SHIFT key while creating another.
You can combine multiple types of selection tools, adding to the original selection with each to create more complex shapes.
Replace a Sky & Combining Selection Tools
Now that we have some of the basics down, let’s explore how to use some simple selection tools to replace the sky in this landscape photo.
First, let’s see what we can do with our basic Marquee selections. Creating a Rectangular Marquee selection over as much of the sky as possible without overlapping the mountains, we can take care of a large chunk of the work.
Once you’ve made the selection, select the mountain Layer (make sure the image with the new sky is underneath it in the Layers Panel), and click on the Layer Mask icon. This will hide the selected area from that Layer, revealing any Layers that are underneath it.
But what about the areas along the edge of the mountains? We’re going to need something a little more precise than our basic shape tools to work around such an irregular edge.
Let’s try some tools that allow us to make more freeform selections.
Our next simple selection tool is the Lasso Tool. Rather than using a pre-defined shape to select an area, the Lasso Tool allows us to draw any selection we want.
The drawback to the Lasso Tool is that the edges can look a little rough. But since we’re working with the edge of a mountain range, the Lasso Tool actually does a decent job of recreating the natural rough edges along the landscape.
You can also try the Polygonal Lasso Tool, which, instead of allowing you to draw a freeform selection, allows you to draw a selection using a series of straight lines.
Automated Selection Tools in Photoshop
So far we’ve covered some easy-to-use manual tools, but Photoshop has a number of ‘smart’ tools that will try to automatically select an area for you.
For example, there is the Object Selection Tool. The Object Selection Tool allows you to define an area using what looks like a Rectangular Marquee, and then Photoshop will try and automatically select whatever object it thinks you want selected within that area.
And, more commonly used, is the Magic Wand Tool. The Magic Wand couldn’t be easier, requiring you to simply click on an object or area you want to select, and Photoshop will make a selection of everything similar to that area.
For example, using the Magic Wand to click on the sky, makes it pretty easy to get a decent selection of the sky which is largely mostly a similar color and texture.
Again, the Magic Wand Tool isn’t always perfect, and the edges of the selection can be a little rough. Luckily, those rough edges work pretty well with mountain landscapes.
And if you do need to make some adjustments to the selection, there’s the Select and Mask dialog.
The Select and Mask dialog provides a number of options to refine and smooth out the edges of a selection. In our case, the Magic Wand Tool left a little bit of the sky visible along the edge of the mountain range. We can use Select and Mask to move the edge of our selection inward until the sky is no longer visible. Additionally, we can add a little bit of feathering so that the new edges matches the amount of blur that should be present in the photograph.
Once the sky has been fully selected and masked away, you should be left with a brand new sky that blends in seamlessly with the original photo!
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In this first episode of our four-part series, learn about all of the best tools in Photoshop for removing objects and distractions from your photos! See Content-Aware Fill, the Healing Brush, the Spot Healing Brush, and the Clone Stamp Tool in action as we remove a logo from a piece of clothing.
Click here to download the complete PSD file (129MB).
Free Object Removal Series
- A Tour of the Best Object Removal Tools in Photoshop (This Episode!)
- Clean Up Simple Backgrounds in Photoshop (Coming Soon)
- Remove Objects Around Lines & Edges in Photoshop (Coming Soon)
- Remove Objects From Complex Textures in Photoshop (Coming Soon)
If you’re ready to take these skills to the next level, be sure to check out our PHLEARN PRO series on object removal in Photoshop.
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THE BEST TOOLS FOR OBJECT REMOVAL
ORIGINAL
Learn the Best Tools for Removing Objects
How to Clean Up Your Photos in Photoshop
Like many other tasks in Photoshop, removing objects and distractions from your photos will usually require a number of different tools to make it happen.
Let’s take a look at some of the most useful tools in Photoshop for removing unwanted things from a photo.
Let’s try and remove this logo from the subject’s shirt. Since it’s on a relatively simple background (a plain white fabric with a bit of texture), we can use automated tools to take care of most of the work.
Content-Aware Fill
Start by Duplicating the background image by hitting CTRL or CMD + J. This will allow us to use Content-Aware Fill to remove the logo on the duplicate image, leaving the original image unchanged.
Then, use the Lasso Tool to make a rough selection around the thing you want to remove–in this case, the logo.
Open the Edit menu and select the Content-Aware Fill option. The Content-Aware Fill dialog will open. Content-Aware Fill will use Adobe’s AI technology to analyze the areas highlighted in green, and use information from those areas to fill in the selected object.
Watch the preview window as you adjust the settings, and dial in a result that you think looks good. Hit OK.
While Content-Aware Fill does a solid job of realistically removing the logo, zooming into the image reveals some strange repeating patterns and textures that make it obvious the image was edited.
The Healing Brush
After using an automated removal tool, it’s common to need to refine that area using more manual methods. This is where the Spot Healing Brush comes in.
The Healing Brush allows you to sample an area to pull texture from (hold ALT or OPTN and click on area to Sample it), and then paint over another area to apply that texture. The Healing Brush will then blend the texture you selected with the color from where you paint.
Before you use it, make sure to create a new, blank Layer on top of the Layer you want to remove the object from. Then, set the Sample option of the Healing Brush to All Layers. This will let you work on a separate Layer without damaging the work you’ve already done.
This is great for evening out textures in an area, while getting rid of any spots that repeat the same texture or pattern.
The Spot Healing Brush
Our typical go-to tool for object removal is another automated powerhouse. The Spot Healing Brush allows you to simply paint over top of an object and Photoshop will do its best to remove it by automatically sampling color and texture from the surrounding areas.
Again, make sure to create a new, blank Layer first, and make sure to check the Sample All Layers box in the top toolbar of the Spot Healing Brush.
Now you’re free to simply paint over any details or distractions you want to remove, and Photoshop will take care of most of the hard work.
The Clone Stamp Tool
The Spot Healing Brush did a pretty good job of removing the loose threads at the bottom of the shirt, but notice that it had a little bit of trouble around line and edge details.
When working around lines and edges, there’s no better tool than the Clone Stamp Tool. The Clone Stamp Tool also allows you to Sample an area (ALT or OPTN) and then paint using the sampled information. But this time, it creates an exact copy of the sampled area–color and texture combined.
This means that if you want to clean and straighten an edge, you can sample another part of the photo where the edge is in tact, and then paint that clean edge over an area where the edge is broken.
Once you’ve made a first pass with Content-Aware Fill and the Spot Healing Brush, the Clone Stamp Tool is a great way to finish a removal edit as it allows you to clean up any rough edges and make sure all of the textures are perfect.
And there you have it! While this is a relatively simple example, it still required us to use four different tools to get a result that looks realistic. Once you know the tools, you’ll be ready to move on to our next example where we put them to use in a slightly more complex situation!
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Selections help us cut out people and objects from their backgrounds, combine multiple images together, and make careful edits to particular things an image. But it can be tricky to make an accurate selection without the right tools.
Learn how to use some of the most powerful selection tools in Photoshop like Select Color Range, the Pen Tool, Channels, and more!
Artist Credit
Videos sourced from Pexels.
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Accurate Selections, Every Time
What are Selections?
Before we start learning about the tools, let’s quickly talk about selections, what they are, how they work, and what they allow us to do as editors. Selections are a way for us to isolate certain parts of an image. That could mean isolating a person or object from the background, isolating a certain color, or isolating an element of the environment, like the sky or clouds.
By isolating these things, we can edit them independently of other elements in the scene. We can even move a selection from one image to another, like placing a person into a brand new background and environment. But as helpful as they are, selections come in a lot of different varieties with a wide range of complexity. It’s no surprise then that Photoshop has over a dozen different tools to create them.
Basic Selection Tools
Most of you will be familiar with the basic selection tools in Photoshop. These are the tools that appear in the toolbar on the left side of the Photoshop interface. The Lasso Tool, Marquee Tools, and Magic Wand are all very commonly used and popular ways to make fast and easy selections. As easy as they are to use, they often fall short when asked to make selections of more complex things. For example, if you have a subject in front of a busy background, the Magic Wand will struggle to figure out what it is that you want selected.
For situations like this, we need some more advanced tools that can create accurate selections and deliver a clean, professional result.
Advanced Selection Tools
So what qualifies as an advanced selection tool? For starters, it doesn’t always mean that it’s a more difficult or complex tool to use. There are some automated tools that we’ll cover that are just as fast as the basic tools, using A.I. technology to make quick work of more complicated jobs.
Hair is one of the most challenging things to make clean selections of in Photoshop. It’s a highly-detailed, soft edged element that can easily get lost if we use the wrong tool. It can also be a challenge to select something that is in front of a similarly colored and lit background. Advanced selection tools help us either automatically or manually select out the things we want with great precision and accuracy.
1. Select Subject
As we said earlier, advanced tools don’t always have to be complicated. Select Subject is a relatively recent addition to Photoshop that utilizes Adobe’s A.I. technology to make quick work of otherwise troublesome selections.
For example, if you have a person in front of a relatively plain background, you can use Select Subject to make a quick selection of that person. Just go to the Select Menu, and then to Subject. Photoshop will do the heavy lifting and create a selection of what it determines the subject of the image to be.
Now, it is an automated tool meaning the result often won’t be perfect. In our example image, the background and the subject both include similar colors and tonal values. Photoshop might accidentally read elements of the background as being part of the subject. Keep in mind that if you use automated tools for a selection, some additional refinement with other tools will usually be required. Fortunately, even making minor adjustment to the selection means you’re still saving a ton of time over more manual processes.
If unwanted elements are selected, just use some basic selection tools to select the bits you don’t want and remove them from the Layer Mask.
With a little bit of fine-tuning, you should end up with a usable result and in just a matter of minutes!
2. Select Color Range
Selections don’t always involved people or objects. What if you wanted to change the color of some element in an image? You would need a way to isolate a particular color rather than a complete shape or object.
Take the follow image as an example. What if we wanted to change the blue color in the woman’s makeup and hair? Well, it’s a relatively easy work for Select Color Range!
Again, open the Select Menu and click on Color Range.
This dialog provides a number of tools to help you select and isolate a range of colors in a photo. Using the eyedropper tools while making adjustments to the fuzziness allows us to make a selection of those bright blue colors in the image.
Here you can see we’ve dialed in a pretty good selection of the eye makeup and the blue highlights in the hair.
With the selection created, a simple Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer can make quick work of any color changes and adjustments we want to make!
3. Select and Mask
Select and Mask is a suite of tools that help us make a wide variety of detailed selections and masks. These tools are great for creating a selection from scratch, or for refining a selection you made with another tool (like Select Subject). You can find the Select and Mask dialog under the Select Menu.
Once opened, you’ll be served a number of tools and options from brushes to paint over areas you want to select or deselect, to sliders that help you refine edges and feathering. One of the most helpful features of Select and Mask are the options that allow you to view a selection in a number of different ways.
Better yet, Select and Mask also utilizes a combination of both manual and automated tools. You can click on area with a brush and Photoshop will attempt to figure out what it is you want selected. As you paint more, it will make more accurate determinations. And as add and remove more from a selection, you can use the adjustments on the right side of the dialog to further refine the result.
In our example, clicking along the background gave a us a pretty good start to cutting out the subject.
From here we can zoom in and use the various tools to work out some of the finer details and more complicated areas.
While Select and Mask can take a little more time than a tool like Select Subject, its use of automated processes with manual selection allow you to get a much more refined final result.
4. The Pen Tool
Some objects require us to manually trace around them to get the most accurate selection possible. And when manual tracing is required, the Pen Tool should be your go-to. We know that it can be tricky to learn, which is why we have a number of free tutorials and in-depth PRO courses on learning it, but with a little practice it will quickly become one of your most-used tools in Photoshop.
The Pen Tool is the best way to get perfectly smooth curves and edges when making a selection. Products and hard objects are a prime example, but it can also be a great solution for cutting out people as well when accuracy is of the upmost importance.
Because of the accuracy you’ll get, it can be one of the more time-consuming selection methods. But if you’re doing professional work, this is the tool we would recommend as it will provide the cleanest selections and give you the most flexibility while you edit.
5. Channels
There will be plenty of things you run into that automated tools or manual tracing won’t be able to properly capture in a selection. Take hair for example. Hair is highly detailed and has soft edges. Automated tools will often cut off a lot of the natural details and manual tools (like the Pen Tool) are not practical simply due to the amount of detail and the time it would take.
Hair might be the most common culprit, but there are other situations where selections can be extremely tricky. For example, say we wanted to place the clouds from one image into the sky in the background of a portrait.
We know we can’t trace the clouds with the Pen Tool. A tool like Select Color Range might work, but it might yield some rough edges when we smooth, natural edges. For jobs like this, we turn to our favorite selection tool in Photoshop: Channels!
Channels allow us to select parts of an image by their tonal (light or dark) values. To use them, click on Channels Tab in the Layers Panel. Click through each Channel and look closely at the image. In order to get a selection with Channels, we need to find the Channel that has the most contrast–brightest whites and the darkest darks. For our example, this turned out to be the Red Channel.
With that Channel selected, you can use a Levels Adjustment to further increase the contrast. When we convert the Channel into a selection, the white areas will be selected and the dark areas will not. So we want to make sure there is clear definition between the two. Use Levels to make the darks as close to pure black as possible and the light areas as close to pure white as possible.
Hold ALT or OPTN and click on the Channel to convert it into a selection. Load that selection as a Layer Mask and you should end up with white fluffy clouds with most of their natural shape and detail in front of a transparent background.
Now we can integrate them into the background of the portrait. Since we only want them to appear in the background and not over the top of our subject, we can use another selection tool to select the subject and then mask that area out of our cloud Layer.
Use Select Subject to make a quick selection of the subject and then load that selection as a Layer Mask on the cloud Layer. Unlink the mask from the Layer so that you can move the clouds around to get the perfect composition while making sure they don’t cover up any parts of the subject.
Using a combination of selection tools you can make precision edits, composite photos together, change out backgrounds and a whole lot more!
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7 Courses
30+ Hours
Medium
Get ready for an epic adventure into the world of retouching with this flexible learning path. This awesome collection of tutorials lets you dive into specific techniques and tools that will help you bring all your creative projects to life.
Whether you want to explore a wide range of topics or prefer to zoom in on the tutorials that truly grab your attention, our learning path has got you covered! Along the way you’ll learn the most advanced retouching techniques, including Frequency Separation and Sharpening, and must-know Photoshop tools like the Pen Tool and the Brush Tool!
Photoshop Tools
In this tutorial, we teach you everything you need to know about the Pen Tool, from the most important keyboard shortcuts to making beautiful lines and curves. Learn to change a background color, remove an entire background, and create a simple logo.
Photoshop | Photo Editing | Medium | 2.75 hours | 12 videos
14 Sample Images
Learn how to create rain, snow, and atmosphere from scratch and how paint in photo-realistic hair for perfect cutouts. Watch 15 in-depth examples of how to use some of the 35 custom Photoshop brushes included with this tutorial!
Photoshop | Photo Editing | Medium | 6.25 hours | 16 videos
26 Sample Images | 35 Photoshop Brushes
Adjustment Layers are the smartest and most powerful tools for photo editing in Photoshop. We walk you through all 19 Adjustment Layers while showing you how to fix exposure, apply professional coloring, create custom LUTs and more.
Photoshop | Photo Editing | Easy | 4.5 hours | 33 videos
45 Sample Images
Photoshop Techniques
Create smooth, vibrant skin tones with natural texture and details with Frequency Separation in Photoshop. Learn how to separate frequencies, edit the details and color independently of one another, and use our Photoshop action to work faster.
Photoshop | Retouching | Advanced | 6.75 hours | 26 videos
7 Sample Images | 2 Photoshop Actions | 1 Photoshop Brush
In this tutorial, we walk you through how to manually blend exposures using the power and flexibility of Luminosity Masks. You will learn to create selections based on light levels and then use those selections to paint detail back into your photos.
Photoshop | Photo Editing | Advanced | 3.5 hours | 10 videos
11 Sample Images | 2 Photoshop Actions
Dodging and burning is a staple technique for professional photographers and retouchers. Learn how to sculpt highlights and shadows to add dimension, remove blemishes, and guide the eyes of the viewer to the most important parts of a photo.
Photoshop | Photo Editing | Medium | 5 hours | 14 videos
16 Sample Images | 1 Photoshop Brush
Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.
Photoshop | Photo Editing | Medium | 3 hours | 14 videos
18 Sample Images | 1 Photoshop Action
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The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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DifficultyMedium
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Length7.25 hours
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Videos22
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Description
Learning how to combine or composite multiple photos together will open a new world of possibilities for any photographer. Whether you are new to compositing or an experienced editor, this tutorial will change the way you create composite images. Follow along with the included RAW Photos and Custom Photoshop Brushes.
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 22 Sample Images
- 1 Photoshop Brush
- 1 Photoshop Action
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Table of Contents
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01 - Introduction2:41m
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02 - Matching Light4:04m
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03 - Matching Perspective2:33m
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04 - Masking2:28m
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05 - Clipping Masks1:35m
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06 - Blending Modes1:15m
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07 - Luminosity1:11m
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08 - Matching Color1:40m
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09 - Check Layers1:33m
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01 - Intro to Frame Compositing4:00m
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02 - Importing & Culling in Lightroom14:05m
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03 - Frame Compositing in Photoshop (Part 1)58:09m
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04 - Frame Compositing in Photoshop (Part 2)54:53m
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05 - Create a Cinemagraph28:58m
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06 - Intro to Element Compositing6:37m
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07 - Importing & Organization in Lightroom9:42m
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08 - Element Compositing in Photoshop (Part 1)32:12m
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09 - Element Compositing in Photoshop (Part 2)45:53m
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10 - Element Compositing in Photoshop (Part 3)1:14h
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11 - Element Compositing in Photoshop (Part 4)1:04h
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12 - Exporting in Photoshop & Lightroom8:37m
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13 - Conclusion1:18m
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Professional Techniques. Realistic Composites.
Frame Compositing
If you are new to compositing, this is the perfect place to begin. Learn to combine multiple photos from the same shoot to create stunning effects.
Combine Any Photos
A photographer has many tools at their disposal, and the more you learn how to use, the more options you have. Creativity can flow freely when you are unrestricted by gear or technique. Learn how to combine multiple types of light sources to create stunning lighting effects.
The Essential Techniques
Photoshop Compositing can be complex, that is why we start this tutorial by breaking down all the essential techniques you need to create a great composite photo. Learn the essentials, then master compositing.
Photography, Lightroom & Photoshop
Go behind the scenes into each photo shoot and learn the details of how these images are captured, then follow the images through the editing process from Lightroom into Photoshop.
Lighting. Color. Perspective.
Combining images together can be tricky. Learn the essentials for making realistic composites–from finding the right images, to matching light, color, and perspective.
Create a Cinemagraph
Give your image the magic of movement by turning it into a Cinemagraph. Learn how to animate a still photo and save it as a Cinemagraph so it displays perfectly on the web.
Learn Perfect Masking
In order to place your subject into a new background, first you have mask or cut them out of their original photo. Depending on your subject, this can be simple or complex. Learn the tools you need to create a perfect mask every time.
Element Compositing
Flex those creative muscles, it’s time to learn element compositing. Combine photos taken around the globe to bring your concepts to life.
The PHLEARN Compositing Workflow
When creating a complex composite photo, how do you know what should be done first and how do you stay organized? Learn the workflow we have developed over years of compositing.
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
Ian Elkins
Photographer/Retoucher/Influencer – Featured Artist
Ian Elkins’ work in modeling, retouching, and serving as a content creator for the world’s leading brands is sexy, adventurous, and influential. In our interview, we talk about finding balance in work and life, and how he stays inspired and strives to be his best self.
View Ian’s Instagram
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From where do you learn all these tricks??
The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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Length5.25 hours
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It’s time to experiment with design and typography, discover the awesome potential of 3D, and see how smart objects and layers can make your editing life easier.
Follow along and take the final step to Photoshop mastery!
* This tutorial is part of the Photoshop 101-301 Bundle
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 7 Sample Images
- 2 RAW Images
- 2 Graphics
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Table of Contents
Course Downloads
Learn Advanced Photoshop Techniques
Learn 3D in Photoshop
3D is becoming a standard part of modern image and film production. Movies like The Jungle Book and Avatar show how far 3D animation has come. In this Phlearn Pro Tutorial, we will teach you the basics of 3D in Photoshop!
3D Printing in Photoshop
Photoshop has 3D Printing capabilities built in. Whether you have your own 3D printer or you would like to outsource your 3D model, Photoshop has you covered. Learn how to set up a 3D model to be printed and even how to order a 3D print delivered to your door.
Lights, Camera, Render
One of the benefits of working in 3D is the ability to control the 3D environment. For instance, if you want to make a 3D object look like it is in a photo, you can add lighting similar to the original image, and even cast realistic shadows!
Your Own Logo in 3D
Learn how simple it is to create a logo in 3D. Render it out to create a stunning image, or have it 3D printed for signs. The possibilities are endless!
Warping and Scaling
Transforming a layer can be done in a variety of ways. Learn the right tool for moving your image in the way you need to make it work with your vision. See how to warp and scale your images including the content-aware and liquify tool.
Puppet Warp
Ever wish you could pose a person after the photo shoot using Photoshop? The puppet warp tool can move a person in a realistic manner, you just need to know how to place points accurately. Learn the best practices for the puppet warp tool.
Content Aware
Have you ever needed to stretch an image without making it look like it has been stretched out? Save time without sacrificing image quality by using the Content-Aware Scale to give a more natural appearance to scaled images.
Pen Tool and Paths
The pen tool is one of the most powerful and complex tools in Photoshop. Learn the details of working with anchor points and how easy it can be to make adjustments to every point and curve. These paths will give you more editing power than ever before.
Make Perfect Cutouts
Follow along as we explain the correct tools and techniques to cut out any subject. Learn how to use the Pen Tool to create paths and turn the paths into selections. Create incredible selections and speed up your background cleanup.
Create Precise Selections
Pen paths can be easily turned into selections and edited over and over again. If you are not happy with the first selection, simply edit the path, and then convert it into a selection again. This process allows you to be incredibly precise when creating selections from paths.
Vector Masks
Vector masks allow you to control the visibility of a layer based on a pen path. The advantage of using a vector mask is that they automatically update when you update a path. Discover greater flexibility with your masks.
2 Practice Exercises
Take the knowledge you have learned from Photoshop 101-301 and bring it all together to create stunning images. Follow along during two start-to-finish edits in Photoshop and work with the included image files.
Create Perfect Shadows
Learn how to create shadows from scratch in Photoshop. Use what you learn to accurately composite a person from one image to another. Knowing how to properly build shadows with the right amount of color will give you more believable images.
Never Lose Image Quality
Learn how to transform an image smaller and larger without ever losing image quality. This allows you rapidly test ideas without having to go back through your history and erase what you’ve already done.
Advanced Tools
In Photoshop 301, we leave no stone unturned. See every advanced tool and technique in action as we create some amazing images.
Cut Out Curly Hair
Some objects are easier to cut out than others. Hair—and especially curly hair—tends to be one of the most difficult. Learn advanced techniques for cutting curly hair and other detailed objects out of their backgrounds.
Use Smart Objects
When it comes to editing in Photoshop, the ultimate goal is to be non-destructive. This means that anything you do can be undone and doesn’t destroy the image. Smart objects allow you to make and undo changes to your image at any time.
Change Filters at Any Time
When you convert an image to a smart object you have the ability to use smart filters. Smart filters can be changed at any time, making them much more versatile and non-destructive than regular filters.
Create a Custom Logo
Learn how to convert type into a custom logo using pen paths and custom shapes. Manipulating type is just as easy as any other layer you’re familiar working with. We’ll show you the best practices to get you started.
Create Image Variations
Linked smart objects allow you to use external files as references in your image. Simply make changes to the external file and it will automatically update in your image. This can be very helpful when trying out different logos or designs on images for marketing and advertising.
Add Fonts using Adobe Typekit
With the addition of Creative Cloud subscriptions, Adobe added thousands of fonts available for subscribers. Learn how to browse, add and use fonts from Adobe Typekit in Photoshop to create more interesting and custom images.
Advanced Type Controls
Learn how to use all the advanced type tools in Photoshop to create better type layout, design and logos. The character and paragraph palettes have a ton of options that when used properly will make your typography much better.
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Standard Lasso Tool
The Standard Lasso Tool has it’s advantages and disadvantages. It’s not great for areas that require a very precise, calculated selection. The standard lasso tool is great for areas that are more of random selections. If there is an area of your image or if you want to create an area of your image that doesn’t require a precise selection, the Standard Lasso Tool is the best Tool to use. Selecting things like mountains or puddles are perfect examples of when the Standard Lasso Tool would come in handy. In our example, we Color the inside of a flower with the standard lasso tool. It’s perfect for random, unpredictable areas of your image.
Polygonal Lasso Tool
The Polygonal Lasso Tool will allow you to create polygons. This is great for straight Lights and sharp corners. When selection out buildings or different types of architecture, the Polygonal Lasso Tool is a great choice! In our example, we select the Outline of the tv in our image. Now because this is a selection, we group it with a New Layer and place an image inside our tv selection. With a bit of transforming and perspective matching, we were able to place an image on the tv seamlessly.
Magnetic Lasso Tool
The Magnetic Lasso Tool is perfect for tracing around an object. The Magnetic Lasso Tool basically finds the edge of the selection you are trying to make. There are more options involved with the Magnetic Lasso Tool. From the Width, Contrast and Frequency, the Magnetic Lasso Tool gives us enough variety to use the tool to our advantage.
Conclusion
In conclusion, all of the Tools in Photoshop can be extremely useful when used correctly. The Lasso Tools are no exception. They are commonly used to create selections. Rather that selection be a spill on the carpet, which in that case you’d use the Standard Lasso Tool. Or if that selection requires getting around corners and dealing with straight lines, which in that case you’d use the Polygonal Lasso Tool. Or if it’s just an object in your image that you want to cut out. In that case the Magnetic Lasso Tool might be the perfect for the job. These three Lasso Tools are great for creating any type of selection that you desire.
Tutorial Description
In today’s episode, we show you how to use advanced color Tools in photoshop.
We’ll show you a unique set of Tools that allow you to choose complimentary colors easily. We’ll also show you how to spice up an advertisement and how to work with your color library and color swatches in Photoshop.
The Power of Color
Colors are always a huge part of an image. Sometimes it can be extremely difficult to choose the Colors for your desired output. The method we show you today should make this process a lot easier. Think of it as a Color Wheel on steroids. On the Color Wheel you’ll see each of the colors and their complimentary colors. The Photoshop version of this is a lot more precise because it calculates the exact Complimentary Color based off the color you choose.
Getting Started
The image we work on today is one of our ads from The Ultimate Guide to Retouching. We start off with white Text in our ad. The goal is to change the colors to Colors that compliment our image. In order to do this, we need all of our Color windows in an organized format. We start off by going to Window —> Library. That pulls up our color library panel. Next we go to Window —> Color Themes. We move our Color theme next to our library panel. Finally, we go to Window —> Color.
- Make sure to keep your workspace as clean as possible. It will make you more efficient in the long run.
Sampling Colors
Next we grab our Eyedropper and we click on the Skin tone of our subject in the image. Then we choose our preferred option from our Adobe Color Themes. Next we click on the “set selected Color from active color” button. From there we choose complimentary Colors. Now our Adobe Color Themes panel shows us the Complimentary Colors based off of the tone we chose with our Eyedropper. Long story short, this enables you to sample any color in any document and find it’s Complimentary Colors based off of adobe’s precise calculations. Now we click on the “add to library” tab and all of those colors will show up in our color library.
The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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Let’s get things in order!
In this tutorial, learn to use the alignment tools in Photoshop to arrange layers to themselves and to the entire canvas.
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 1 Sample Image
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What are the Align Tools
Nearly every word processing program includes align tools. These tools let the user position the text as desired: left aligned, centered or right aligned. These handy tools are also a great feature of Photoshop. They make it easy to align any layers within a Photoshop file. Whether you have many blocks of text that all need to align with the left margin or you’re designing a logo with several graphics that need to be perfectly centered, the Align tools in Photoshop provide everything you need to finish your project.
Features of the Align Tools
Photoshop’s tools are far more sophisticated than the options you will see in word processing programs like Microsoft Word. You can:
- Align two or more layers by left edges, right edges or horizontal centers
- Align two or more layers by top edges, bottom edges or vertical centers
- Equally distribute two or more layers by left edges, right edges or horizontal centers
- Equally distribute two or more layers by top edges, bottom edges or vertical centers
- Combine images with the auto-align option to merge photos spherically, cylindrically, collage-style, using perspective and more
You can choose to align all layers or just certain layers. You could align some layers by top edges and others by bottom edges when designing a poster or other professional graphic that includes many text elements.
Why Use Photoshop’s Align Tools?
Many designers are perfectionists, and the Align tools are made for these people. Sure, you could always eyeball the placement of elements, but using a tool like this is faster and more accurate. There are a number of circumstances where these tools would make your life much easier, such as:
- When you want to perfectly align different elements
- When you want to merge several pictures into one picture with a precise edge
- When you want the flexibility to align some elements but not all
- When you want elements spread out equally
- When you want to center a watermark logo on top of a photograph
When Align Isn’t the Right Tool
There are many uses for the Align tools, and it’s an option many Photoshoppers use constantly. However, there are definitely circumstances where it’s not needed, such as if you like an asymmetric look or if you’re working with a flattened or merged image; you can only use the Align tools with layers. If you need to divide your flat image into layers to use the Align tools, Photoshop has options for you.
Once you master Photoshop’s Align tools, you’ll find yourself using them quite often. If you haven’t used the tools before, it’s time to learn! Check out the video to see the Align tools in action, and browse our website for more Photoshop tips, tricks and hints.
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Details
6 Courses
14+ Hours
Medium
Level up your photo editing with this AI-powered path! Master Photoshop basics, then dive into AI magic for natural-looking portraits, seamless composites, and effortless Lightroom adjustments.
This path is perfect for photographers and image editors of all levels, from beginners looking to take their skills to the next step to professionals seeking to work faster and more efficiently.
Getting Started with AI
Tap into the power of AI photo editing! Learn how to expand images, remove objects, replace backgrounds, create artistic effects, retouch photos and more.
Photoshop | Photo Editing | Advanced | 2.5 hours | 9 videos
33 Sample Images | 33 Sample PSDs
Combine AI & Traditional Tools
Unlock the secrets of portrait retouching in Photoshop! Learn classic methods and leverage AI for smooth skin, subtle enhancements, and stunning results.
Photoshop | Retouching | Medium | 1.5 hours | 9 videos
9 Sample Images | 9 Sample PSDs
Master image compositing! Learn to blend photos, match light & color, and create stunning composites with AI and traditional tools.
Photoshop | Compositing | Advanced | 3.75 hours | 9 videos
17 Sample Images | 8 Sample PSDs
Elevate your graphics with a captivating journey through Photoshop for advertising! Learn the essential skills of text, graphics, and compositing, then bring your creations to life in the real world through billboards, magazines, and more!
Photoshop | Graphics & Text | Advanced | 4.25 hours | 7 videos
10 Sample Image Links | 12 Sample PSDs
Explore Lightroom
Learn everything about Lightroom 2024, from importing and organizing your photos to basic and batch editing, plus master all the new tools, including the AI Masking Tool, Color Grading Tool, Lens Blur Tool, Adaptive Presets and more.
Lightroom | Photo Editing | Medium | 3.25 hours | 11 videos
184 Sample Images
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The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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DifficultyAdvanced
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Length3.75 hours
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This in depth tutorial is your easy entry point into the exciting world of image compositing! Learn how to understand light, angles, and color to ensure your photos blend flawlessly.
We’ll teach you how to cut, arrange, and blend objects seamlessly, making them look like they were always meant to be together. We’ll unlock the secrets of both traditional techniques and AI-powered tools to help you create composites that will amaze and inspire.
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 17 Sample Images
- 8 Sample PSDs
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Table of Contents
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01 - Match Light & Color39:42m
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02 - Master Blending Modes20:25m
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03 - AI-Powered Storytelling18:39m
Course Downloads
Compositing Made Easy
MASTER LIGHT & COLOR
LEARN THE BASICS OF COMPOSITING
The Power of Compositing
Mastering the art of compositing unlocks a dynamic toolbox for both creative and professional endeavors. From subtly enhancing portraits to crafting evocative landscape composites, the ability to seamlessly merge multiple images will empower you to tackle creative challenges and elevate your visual storytelling.
Flawless Color Match
Create stunningly realistic composites by mastering color matching. Fine-tune shadows, mid-tones, and highlights individually for a vibrant and authentic blend. This meticulous approach not only enhances the photo’s realism but also seamlessly integrates elements, resulting in a cohesive and believable final image.
Master Cutouts & Selections
Forget tricky backgrounds! We’ll show you the easiest ways to cut out any object, simple or complex. Discover how automatic tools like “Select Subject” make it a breeze, and learn the secrets of traditional tools like the Lasso Tool and Magic Wand.
CREATE SEAMLESS COMPOSITES
BLENDING MODES EXPLAINED
From Beginner to PRO
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to polish your technique, this tutorial will cover everything you need to know. We’ll start with the building blocks, making sure you have a solid foundation, then we’ll dive into some cool tools, tips, and tricks to unlock your compositing superpowers!
Blending Modes Magic
Take your photos to the next level by exploring the power of Blending Modes! This tutorial unlocks a world of possibilities, from subtle enhancements to eye-catching compositions.
Easy Background Change
If you’re tired of bland backgrounds stealing the spotlight, this tutorial will show you how to easily transform them into vibrant scenes using Photoshop’s AI tool. Say goodbye to tedious selections, Generative Fill paints your vision with just a few clicks!
Imagine. Fill. Create.
Bring Your Vision to Life
Imagine adding anything you can dream of to your photos! AI Generative Fill lets you seamlessly fill in missing areas with realistic textures and patterns, opening up endless possibilities for creative expression.
AFTER
BEFORE
Words Into Pictures
Ready to paint with words? This tutorial shows you how to transform ordinary text into stunning visuals, adding or removing anything from your photos with the power of AI.
Reinvent Your Images
Learn how to turn ordinary photos into Wow-worthy scenes. Forget awkward cutting and pasting! We’ll break down the secrets of light, color, and perspective, showing you how to blend multiple pictures seamlessly for stunning results.
Create Seamless Shadows
Craving shadows that perfectly complement your scene? In this tutorial we’ll show you how to use Ai to create realistic, dynamic shadows that adapt to any light, making your composites shine.
AFTER
BEFORE
Expand & Explore
Photoshop’s Generative Expand tool opens whole new worlds of creative possibilities. Expand your images in any direction, add depth and dimension to scenes, and explore endless storytelling avenues. Let your imagination take flight and craft visuals that truly captivate and inspire!
Hands-On Learning
Master the art of compositing with our comprehensive toolkit! 17 sample images and 8 detailed PSDs let you deconstruct and rebuild, step by step, to create your unique masterpiece.
Magical Compositing Learning Path
If you love compositing, we recommend exploring our Magical Compositing Learning Path. From mastering light and color with stock images to exploring mind-bending creations by guest artists, this learning path empowers you to bring your wildest visions to life. Follow this link to access the Magical Compositing Learning Path.
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
View More Classes by Aaron Nace
Special thanks to 7Inchs, Khantushig Khosbayar, Ozan Çulha, Kássia Melo, Alex Sever, Alina Levkovich, Ahmad Basem, Edvin Richardson, The Earthy Jay, Willian Justen de Vasconcellos, Duy Le, Alexander Ant, Erik Schereder, Mathilde Langevin, Yemi Wallington, Leah Kelley, and Michael Kucharski. Images for this PRO course were sourced from Pexels.
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You must be extactic over the new AI that has been released. And I thought your last 8years of tutorials were fantastic. Looking forward to what new and exciting tutorials you come up with….
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Master perspective in Photoshop and create perfectly balanced images with this easy-to-follow tutorial!
Learn how to merge layers seamlessly and use powerful tools like the Transform and Perspective Warp tools to straighten vertical lines and fix any perspective issues in your photos.
Plus, discover Photoshop’s Generative Fill tool, which can automatically recreate backgrounds without the subject, saving you time and effort and helping you create cleaner, undistorted images.
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AFTER
BEFORE
Picture-Perfect Perspective
The Power of Perspective Correction
Correcting perspective in photos is essential for creating visually appealing and balanced images. When backgrounds are distorted and lines converge, it can make photos look unprofessional and cluttered. By correcting perspective, you can ensure that your subjects appear natural within their environment, which will improve the overall appeal of your images.
Cutting Out and Duplicating Layers
One of the easiest ways to correct perspective involves selecting and duplicating layers in Photoshop. This separates the subject and background for independent editing, simplifying the perspective correction process.
Generative Fill
Photoshop’s Generative Fill tool can automatically recreate backgrounds without the subject, removing the need for manual editing. This can save you time and effort, and it can also help you create cleaner, undistorted backgrounds.
Transform Tool
Want to fix those perspective issues in your photos? The transform tool can help! Just carefully adjust the background layer to straighten vertical lines and align objects for a balanced composition. You can use guides to help you get it just right.
Perspective Warp
For complex adjustments, Photoshop’s Perspective Warp tool is invaluable! It lets you create and manipulate perspective grids to correct multiple issues in one image. While more advanced, it offers the flexibility needed for intricate corrections, delivering professional results.
As you get better at Photoshop, remember that practice makes perfect. Try different scenarios and images to improve your skills in correcting perspective. Don’t be afraid to experiment with advanced features like Perspective Warp for more precise adjustments.
The ability to fix perspective distortions in your photos is a valuable skill that can take your photography to the next level!.
The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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Get ready to dive into the fascinating world of compositing! Discover the art of seamlessly blending a person into a brand new background. Unveil some awesome techniques such as shadow blending and color matching that will take your final creation to a whole new level of realism.
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 7 Sample Images
- 1 Sample PSD
- 1 Photoshop Brush
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Table of Contents
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01 - Compositing Essentials Unveiled17:15m
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02 - Mastering Subject Integration24:21m
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03 - Crafting the Perfect Reflection29:16m
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04 - Refining Layers20:12m
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05 - Captivating Light Effects39:49m
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06 - Magical Northern Lights22:52m
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07 - Adding the Final Touches32:10m
Course Downloads
Compositing Magic Unleashed
INTO ONE BEAUTIFUL SCENE
COMBINE SEVEN IMAGES
Advanced Compositing in Photoshop
Compositing is what we do best, and we’re here to help you unlock the full potential of this technique to create extraordinary visuals. Discover the art of seamlessly blending multiple images into a surreal and captivating composition using Photoshop.
Expand your Skillset
Master essential tools like Levels, Clipping Masks, Smart Objects, and Custom Photoshop Brushes to develop a seamless workflow for combining multiple images. Gain precise control over the elements you’re compositing and elevate your images to the next level.
Use Stock Images
Don’t let the complexity of compositing hinder your progress, especially when it comes to finding the right images for your creation. Our tutorial includes all the necessary images, saving you valuable time and effort.
FINAL COMPOSITE
ORIGINAL BACKGROUND
Complete PSD File
We don’t just show you how to create this stunning image, we include our own completed PSD file for you to explore and reverse-engineer. See how a pro organizes and structures a project to be able to work quickly and non-destructively.
Photoshop Brush
Using brushes in Photoshop is essential for adding artistic touches, creating unique effects, and enhancing your digital artwork. This course includes our custom Photoshop Brush for you to use and keep forever!
Compositing Learning Path
To comfortably navigate through this course, it’s necessary to have some familiarity with Photoshop and experience in compositing. If you’re new to compositing, we recommend exploring our Compositing Learning Path—a curated selection of our top-notch compositing courses that will guide you from beginner to expert. Follow this link to access the Compositing Learning Path.
Put Your Imagination to Work
Seven Photos, One Masterpiece
Join us in creating an awe-inspiring scene by blending seven stunning free stock images into a seamless and visually striking composite!
AFTER
BEFORE
Perfect Color Match
Craft a convincing composite image by flawlessly matching colors. Dive into the world of adjusting colors separately for shadows, mid-tones, and highlights to achieve an authentic and vibrant color blend that brings your composition to life.
The Power of Artificial Intelligence
With AI-powered tools, you can now achieve precise and accurate selections with just a few clicks, saving you valuable time and effort. Say goodbye to tedious manual selection techniques and embrace the convenience of AI for seamless subject extraction in Photoshop.
Sky Replacement
Learn how to easily swap out the sky in your images with a different sky from another photograph. Discover techniques and tools that enable you to smoothly integrate a new sky, effortlessly transforming the mood and atmosphere of your photos.
CREATE TEXTURES LIKE A PRO
BLEND IMAGES SEAMLESSLY
Texture Integration
Creating textures plays a vital role when blending multiple images in Photoshop. Textures add depth, realism, and cohesion to the final composite, helping to seamlessly integrate various elements.
Efficient Workflow
With almost 15 years of experience under his belt, Aaron Nace has mastered a smooth and efficient compositing workflow. Get ready to learn how to work smart, solve creative challenges, and make the most of various tools to nail your compositing projects.
Mastering Photo Compositing
Once you finish this course, try one of our other advanced compositing courses like Advanced Compositing with Stock Photos and Advanced Compositing with Stock Photos 2!
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
View More Classes by Aaron Nace
Special thanks to Eberhard Grossgasteiger, Joshimer Biñas, Stephan Seeber, Tobias Bjørkli, and Zayceva Tatiana. Images for this PRO course were sourced from Pexels.
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description
Discover how to seamlessly blend graphics with portraiture using simple techniques in Photoshop. Learn how to upscale graphics without losing resolution with Super Zoom, apply Gradient Maps for color matching, and use the Select Subject and Select and Mask tools for precise subject isolation.
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AFTER
BEFORE
Next-Level Graphics with AI Scaling
In this video tutorial, we explore the process of combining graphics with portraiture, making an exact color match, and using artificial intelligence to scale up graphics to match the size of an image using Adobe Photoshop. This technique is beneficial for creating visually appealing and harmonious compositions in photography and design projects.
First, we start by taking a small graphic that we want to place behind the subject’s head in our main image. However, as the graphic is too small, scaling it up using traditional methods would result in a significant loss of resolution, causing the image to appear pixelated and of low quality. To overcome this challenge, we use Adobe’s innovative new tool called Super Zoom, which can be found under the Neural Filters menu in Photoshop. This advanced tool utilizes artificial intelligence to intelligently upscale the image without losing much resolution. After processing the image, it is output as a new, larger document.
Next, we drag the upscaled graphic into the subject’s document and change the blending mode to Screen. This allows us to see both the subject and the graphic simultaneously, making it easier to adjust the size and position of the graphic as needed. To place the graphic behind the subject, we first cut the subject out of the background using the Select Subject tool. This powerful tool creates an initial selection of the subject, which we can then refine using the Select and Mask feature. By using the various brushes and tools available in the Select and Mask workspace, we can fine-tune the selection to achieve a more accurate and natural-looking result. Once the selection is satisfactory, we apply a layer mask to remove the background, and then we place the graphic layer below the subject layer in the Layers panel.
To match the colors of the graphic with those of the subject, we use a Gradient Map adjustment layer. Gradient Maps are an effective way to recolor an image based on the luminance values of the original image. We create a custom gradient by selecting colors from the subject’s image and adjusting the sliders in the Gradient Editor. By carefully placing the color stops on the slider and choosing appropriate colors, we can control the appearance of the graphic and make it match the subject’s colors seamlessly.
Finally, we can move the graphic around to find the perfect position within the composition. If needed, we can use the brush tool to paint away any unwanted areas or blend the graphic more seamlessly with the subject. We then crop the image to the desired size and aspect ratio, and the final result is a beautifully integrated graphic with the subject’s image, with the colors matching perfectly.
These techniques will help you create stunning and cohesive compositions that will captivate your audiences. So, don’t hesitate to give it a try and see the amazing results for yourself!
The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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Description
The new artificial intelligence masks in Lightroom are the most powerful update to come to Lightroom classic ever. Learn to get the most out of these fantastic new tools to help create stunning images.
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 8 Sample Images
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Table of Contents
Course Downloads
More Power than Ever
IMPROVE SUBJECT & BACKGROUND
ORIGINAL
Create Enhanced Selections
The new artificial intelligence masks in Adobe Lightroom Classic allow you to select people easier than ever. You can even select certain parts of a person such as their eyes, skin, or hair for more advanced masking and editing capabilities.
Edit All Images in a Series
Oftentimes photographers will shoot a series of images with the same subject and when it comes time to edit those photos it can be a pain to edit each one of them individually. With Lightroom Classic’s new artificial intelligence masks you can make selections to your subject and enhance your photo and then instantly apply those changes across the entire series of photos saving a ton of time and creating better results.
Edit the Subject and Background Separately
Learn to edit your subject and the background independently of one another which will add a ton of control to the editing process. oftentimes the subject will be just a little bit too dark but the background will be properly disposed, use the new artificial intelligence masking tools to select just your subject and enhance their exposure bringing overall corrections to your photo.
FREQUENCY SEPARATION RETOUCHING
ORIGINAL
Color and Exposure Correction
Learn to color correct exposure correct and even color tone your photos. using a combination of masking your subject or background as well as luminance ranges oh, you can Target either highlights or shadows and correct those individually. then bring everything together in terms of color and light with color toning to create stunning artistic looks.
Follow Along from Start to Finish
Follow along as we go through different examples showing you how to get the most out of Lightroom masks and create stunning images in the process. You’ll learn an introduction to how masking works in Lightroom, how to add subtract and intersect masks for more control, and how to apply these changes to multiple images into a series.
Learn Advanced Masking
DRAW MORE ATTENTION TO YOUR SUBJECT
ORIGINAL
IMPROVE SUBJECT & BACKGROUND
ORIGINAL
Create Beautiful Color Toning
With the ability to isolate your background from your subject you can apply stunning color transformations to your images while choosing just the areas you would like to select. You learn how to create a background with cool science and the foreground with nice warm colors for stunning color combinations that will give your image an artistic feel.
Add, Subtract and Intersect Masks for More Control
The new masking Tools in Lightroom Classic allow you to add subtract or intersect different masks together – this will let you create more advanced selection than ever before. For instance if you want to create a vignette on your background but not include your subject you can simply start by creating a radial gradient and then subtract out your subject with just a couple of clicks.
IMPROVE SUBJECT & BACKGROUND
ORIGINAL
Create Better Edits – Faster
The new masking Tools in Lightroom Classic allow you to create better edits faster by selecting out your subject or background in making individual edits on them. The more powerful Lightroom becomes, the less you have to move into other programs like Photoshop to create stunning versions of your photos.
Follow Along with the Included Sample Images
Download and follow along with every tutorial step by step so you can get the most out of Lightroom classic and then apply these fantastic skills to your photos with ease.
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
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description
Learn to use Lightroom’s new powerful AI Selection tools like Select Subject to select and isolate colors for more power and control. In this tutorial, we start by selecting the subject and then isolating only her dress – so we can change the color from green to purple and create contrasting colors with the environment.
We also add blue to the sky and bring more attention to the subject with a natural vignette. All of these tips are easy to do and can make a big difference in your images!
Artist Credit
Special Thanks to the following artist for uploading their images and making them available for free for everyone to use.
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AFTER
BEFORE
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description
Lightroom is such a popular program because it is easy to use and all the tools are in one place, but did you know you can get the same tools and workflow in Photohsop?
In this tutorial you will learn the best workflow for Adobe Camera RAW (which is like Lightroom inside of Photoshop).
Learn non-destructive workflow so you can make changes at any time!
Artist Credit
Photo by Serkan on Pexels
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AFTER
BEFORE
The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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Add to
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DifficultyMedium
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Length2 hours
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Videos3
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Description
Follow along as we cover a variety of editing techniques that are sure to make any image better!
Learn skin retouching, object removal, sky replacement, noise reduction and more!
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 2 Sample Images
- 2 Sample PSDs
- 1 Photoshop Action
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Course Downloads
More Power than Ever
Advanced Object Removal
Learn to remove unwanted objects from your photos using a suite of tools and features in Photoshop. You will learn the fastest and most advanced methods that will work in any image.
Frequency Separation
Download the included Photoshop Action and learn to retouch images and remove distractions. Our exclusive action allows you to separate the color and texture of your images, giving you more editing flexibility and greater accuracy when retouching.
Sky Replacement
Adding a new sky can make a huge difference to your images, and Photoshop’s new tools make it easier than ever. Learn to use these tools and add your own adjustments to make seamless sky replacements on any image.
Noise & Spot Removal
Use the most up-to-date methods for removing noise from your image as a part of a completely non-destructive workflow.
Draw Attention to the Subject
Some of the time images can appear as a bit flat and boring. Learn to add color and light to make photos more dynamic and make your subject POP!
Follow Along
Use the included sample images and .PSD files to follow step-by-step instruction so you don’t miss a thing!
Improve any Image!
DRAW MORE ATTENTION TO YOUR SUBJECT
ORIGINAL
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
Reviews
The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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Add to
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DifficultyAdvanced
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Length1.25 hours
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Videos6
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Software
Description
Learn to use the new advanced masking tools in Lightroom Classic to bring your photos to life! Select your subject, sky, light range and color range to edit specific parts of your images.
Is your subject too dark? Now you can target a person a lighten them, while leaving the background alone. Is the sky overexposed? Edit just the sky to bring back color and detail. The possibilities are endless.
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 5 Sample Images
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Table of Contents
Course Downloads
Color Correction
Learn to target specific colors and adjust them to better suit your images. This can be used to correct skin tones, color casts or even to completely change the color of objects.
Combine & Conqueror
Add, subtract and intersect the new masking tool in Lightroom Classic to enhance selections and edit specific areas of your images. For instance, you can select your subject, then just the skin of the person and then color correct their skin without effecting any other areas of your image.
Follow Along
Use the included sample images to follow along with the tutorial and then practice on your own images once you have mastered the techniques.
Fix Blown Out Skies
Use “Select Sky” to get an accurate mask of just the sky in your images and then add more detail by adjusting the color and the exposure. For more control, bring it into Photoshop and replace the sky!
Edit the Subject & Background Separately
One of the advantages of the new masking tools is that you can target either your subject or your background and work on them individually. This allows you to create stunning images and draw more attention to your subject.
Non Destructive Editing
Did you know that any changes you make in Lightroom Classic can be undone at any time? Feel free to try new things and make creative edits without worrying about messing up your original image.
Add Interest & Drama
Correct Exposure & Color
It can be difficult to expose an image perfectly for both the subject and the background, but now that is an issue of the past. Learn to target just your subject and expose them perfectly while retaining detail in the background.
Small Details Come to Life
Use the brush selection tool to paint over specific areas of your images and adjust exposure and color. In this example, we lighten the exposure of the eyes using natural selections.
Layer Masks
You can think of these new masking features in Lightroom as you would Layer Masks in Photoshop. Create as many as you want and alter them at any time for an unlimited array of photo editing power.
Correct Distortion
Learn to correct distortion that can result from shooting with a wide-angle lens. The will make your subjects look more natural and flattering.
Add Detail to Highlights & Shadows
Don’t let your shadows get too dark or the highlights too light. Learn to target light ranges and adjust them to bring back exposure and create a more balanced image.
Easier than Ever
These new tools make editing your photos faster and easier, and in a lot of cases you won’t have to take them into Photoshop at all. Lightroom Classic is more powerful than ever!
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
Reviews
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This course is exactly what I want at this moment.
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description
Unlock the secrets of advanced selection tools in Photoshop and learn how to cut people out of tricky backgrounds.
Free Selection Series
- Replace a Sky with Simple Selection Tools
- Add Logos & Graphics to a Photo with Advanced Selection Tools
- Refine Selections with Select & Mask (This Episode!)
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MAKE DETAILED SELECTIONS OF HAIR
BEFORE
Perfect Selections with Select & Mask
What is the Select and Mask?
There is no shortage of tools for cutting things out of a photo in Photoshop. But even the best tools need a little help to dial in the perfect cutout.
Select and Mask is a workspace designed to help you get the most out of automated selection tools, allowing you to make an initial rough selection, and then refine that selection until you’re happy with the end product.
Let’s explore how Select and Mask can help us make clean and accurate cutouts—even when working with a person in front of a bust background!
Getting Started with Select and Mask
You’ll find the Select and Mask option within the Select menu at the top of the screen.
If you’re following along, make sure that you’re using the latest version of Photoshop as we’ll be exploring some of the newer tools and features.
Once you click on Select and Mask, the Select and Mask workspace will open. This dialog provides a wide variety of tools and options that are designed to help you quickly select something in a photo, and then refine that selection so that it’s clean and accurate.
To begin, we’ll need a way to make a rough selection of the subject in the image. Fortunately, the Select and Mask dialog offers just that.
Click on the Select Subject button at the top of the panel.
This will use Photoshop’s AI technology to try and identify the subject and remove the background—all in a single click!
But we’re far from done. Notice that, when you zoom in, there are some obvious areas that Select Subject had trouble with.
You can use the Transparency slider located in the panel on the right to increase or decrease the visibility of any areas that were removed from the photo.
This can be helpful as you refine a selection, allowing you to more easily determine what’s part of the background and what’s part of the subject.
Now that we’ve made our initial selection, let’s start cleaning it up!
Refining Selection with Select and Mask
Locate the toolbar near the top left of the Select and Mask dialog. Here you’ll find a variety of tools that can help you add or remove areas from a selection.
Here’s a list of the available tools:
Quick Selection Tool
Refine Edge Brush Tool
Brush Tool
Object Selection Tool
Lasso Tool
Polygonal Lasso Tool
Hand Tool
Zoom Tool
Since our goal is still to work quickly, let’s start with the Quick Selection Tool.
This tool works very simply. Just paint over an area to either add or remove it from the selection. You can use the + and – buttons in the top toolbar to toggle between adding elements and subtracting elements.
For example, if we want to remove that problem area we looked at earlier, we can use the Quick Selection Tool, with the – option toggled, to simply paint over it.
Don’t forget that you can use that Transparency slider to make it easier to see what you’re removing!
Scan around the image and see what other areas the Quick Selection Tool can help clean up. Try using it in any gaps in the subject’s hair where the original background is still visible.
You might also discover that Select Subject also removed parts of the subject. For example, it missed a couple of the subject’s fingers.
To fix this, just hit the + icon within the Quick Selection Tool toolbar, and paint over the fingers.
It might take a couple of passes, but this should allow you to restore any areas that you don’t want to be cut off.
Some Additional Tools to Try
We’re not going to cover every tool in-depth, but there are a select few that we find ourselves using often within this workspace.
Select and Mask has its own regular Brush Tool that provides the manual control you might need to restore or remove the trickiest of areas.
There’s also the Polygonal Lasso Tool, which is great for adding or removing areas that have hard edges.
Simply trace around an object.
And you can quickly add it back into the selection!
This is also extremely helpful for larger areas and gaps in between limbs and appendages. Select Subject had a difficult time in the area between the subject’s hand and their body.
But the Polygonal Lasso Tool allows us to very quickly define the edges of their skin and clothing, creating a much cleaner result.
Working with Hair in Select and Mask
Hair continues to be one of the most challenging areas to select in Photoshop. We even have countless PRO courses that demonstrate all of the advanced methods for capturing and recreating hair detail in your selections.
But Select and Mask has come a long way, and there are some new tools that make selecting hair less of a hassle.
And what could be more hassle-free than a single button? Try clicking on the Refine Hair button at the top of the Select and Mask Workspace.
Wow! Pretty impressive for a single click. We’ll explore a little bit more with hair in a bit. But let’s first take a look at some of the other tools available to apply more general changes to our selections.
Shift Edge, Radius, and More
The panel on the right side of the Select and Mask Workspace is packed with sliders that can help you instantly apply more general changes to your selections.
You can increase the amount of feathering along the edges of the selection, increase the amount of contrast for a sharper look, and even shift the entire edge in or extend it outward if you notice fringing.
But be careful! Remember, that these sliders will affect the entire selection. Notice how our changes, mainly the Shift Edge adjustments, affected the subjects hair. Because the hair detail is so thin, shifting the edge of the selection in will completely remove that detail.
Back to Photoshop
Once you’ve completed most of your selection work within the Select and Mask dialog, you can output your work in a variety of ways.
In general, we prefer to output to either a Layer Mask, or a New Layer with Layer Mask. These options provide the most flexibility while allowing us to continue working non-destructively.
Once you hit OK, Photoshop will apply your selection using the method you chose. In our case, it applied our work as a Layer Mask on our existing background image.
We’re Not Done Yet!
From a distance, it may look like we’re done. But there are still several unwanted areas of background still visible around our subject.
This is pretty common! Layer Masks are something that you’ll constantly be tweaking and fixing throughout an edit. And Select and Mask is always available, allowing you to go back in and pick up right where you left off.
Don’t get discouraged if you’re constantly finding spots you missed. Just hop back into Select and Mask and use your preferred tools to fix and refine the mask until it’s as close to perfect as it can get.
You also may notice some of the original background colors sticking around along the edge of whatever you’re cutting out. Depending on what you’ll be using for a new background, this may or may not be a problem.
In any case, there’s a tool specifically designed to fix this issue. Simply check the Decontaminate Color box near the bottom of the right panel, and Photoshop will extend the colors inside the selection out towards the edges, covering up any linger background color.
Additional Cleanup with the Brush Tool
We’re just about finished, but there are some still some spots that could use a little extra care and attention.
Notice the dark, foggy areas in between the subject’s hair. Sometimes these spots might be a little too tricky to tackle in Select and Mask. But fortunately, it’s relatively quick and easy work with the regular old Brush Tool.
To fix these areas, first switch to a view of the Layer Mask by holding ALT or OPTN and clicking on the Layer Mask.
Select the Brush Tool and set the color to black. Then, set the Blending Mode of the brush to Overlay.
Paint over any spots where there you see those foggy details and watch them disappear!
And just like that we have a nearly perfect cutout of our subject, complete with fine details in the hair!
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Speed up your Photoshop retouching workflow with these keyboard shortcuts that will help you switch tools and move around your images with ease!
Ready to learn more Photoshop? Check out The Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop and our comprehensive series of courses in our Photoshop Learning Path.
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HELPFUL RETOUCHING SHORTCUTS
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description
In episode two of our four-part series, let’s put some of the tools we learned about to work to clean up a relatively simple background in Photoshop.
Click here to download the complete PSD file (139MB).
Free Object Removal Series
- A Tour of the Best Object Removal Tools in Photoshop
- Clean Up Simple Backgrounds in Photoshop (This Episode!)
- Remove Objects Around Lines & Edges in Photoshop (Coming Soon)
- Remove Objects From Complex Textures in Photoshop (Coming Soon)
If you’re ready to take these skills to the next level, be sure to check out our PHLEARN PRO series on object removal in Photoshop.
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Clean Up Simple Backgrounds
Removing Distractions from Simple Backgrounds
Removing objects and distractions from a photo is an easy way to help your subjects stand out and to help the image feel more focused. Better yet, cleaning up the background in a photo can be easy as long as the background is relatively simple.
What do we mean by simple backgrounds? Well, it could be a solid-colored studio background or even a solid-colored wall if you’re shooing out on a location. Or it could be a busier background, but one that’s out-of-focus, eliminating the need to work around sharp, complicated details.
This image has what we would call a relatively simple background. It’s mostly out-of-focus, making it easy to remove any distracting elements without having to work too hard to recreate the details in the photo.
Before we start the process of covering up distractions, let’s first make a plan of what elements to remove. This can be done by creating a new Layer, and then using the Brush Tool to circle (in a bright, noticeable color) all of the things we want to cover up. This is a great way to make sure we hit everything we want since we can always reference it later as we’re working.
Content-Aware Fill
We recommend always starting with quick, automated tools first. These will handle the majority of the heavy lifting that we can later clean up using more manual tools.
Start by Duplicating the background image by hitting CTRL or CMD + J. This will allow us to use Content-Aware Fill to remove the logo on the duplicate image, leaving the original image unchanged.
Then, use the Lasso Tool to make a rough selection around the thing you want to remove–in this case, the power lines in the background..
Open the Edit menu and select the Content-Aware Fill option. The Content-Aware Fill dialog will open. Content-Aware Fill will use Adobe’s AI technology to analyze the areas highlighted in green, and use information from those areas to fill in the selected object.
Watch the preview window as you adjust the settings, and dial in a result that you think looks good. Hit OK.
Repeat this process until you’ve taken care of all the unwanted elements in the sky of the image. Notice that there might be some imperfections in the final result though, especially in areas near the subject. Let’s switch over to a more manual method to refine these areas so that they look more realistic and unedited.
The Clone Stamp Tool
The Clone Stamp Tool The Clone Stamp Tool also allows you to Sample an area (ALT or OPTN) and then paint using the sampled information. This is especially useful because it creates an exact copy of the sampled area – both the color and texture combined.
We can use it to clean up unwanted spots and textures where the Content-Aware Fill Tool might have not done exactly what we wanted.
And we can also use to clean up the edges of the subject that overlap distractions we want to remove. If you want to clean and straighten an edge, you can sample another part of the photo where the edge is in tact, and then paint that clean edge over an area where the edge is broken.
The Clone Stamp Tool can also be used for more general clean-up as well. Since it creates an exact copy of color and texture from the sampled area, it makes it easy to cover up elements on surface that has subtle textures and variations.
Try using the Clone Stamp Tool to cover up some of the writing on the wall behind the subject. And don’t worry about it being perfect. If you accidentally paint over top of the subject, add a Layer Mask to the Layer where you used the Clone Stamp Tool, and then paint with black using the Brush Tool over any areas you don’t want the sampled textures to appear.
It might take a little time to refine the edges, but once you do, you should have a clean background and clean edge between it and the subject.
The Brush Tool
The Brush Tool is the most versatile tools in Photoshop, and that holds true for object removal techniques as well. Let’s learn how to use it to clean up the other half of the wall behind the subject.
Like the Clone Stamp Tool, hold ALT or OPTN to Sample a color from the wall where there isn’t any writing. Then, on a new Layer, use that color to paint over the writing to cover it up. Make sure to use a soft, round Brush set to a relatively low Flow. You’ll also want to continually Sample new areas to make sure the color, highlights, and shadows all match.
And again, if you accidentally paint over the subject, use a Layer Mask to refine the effect.
The Spot Healing Brush
We haven’t talked about our favorite removal tool yet, the Spot Healing Brush Tool. This tool allows you to simply paint over an object, and Photoshop will do the rest to try and cover it up.
As always, be sure to create a new Layer first, and don’t forget to set the Sample option of the Spot Healing Brush to Current & Below. Then, just start painting over any small spots or distractions that you don’t want to be visible.
Work your way around the painted concrete block that the subject is sitting on. If you run into any areas that are troublesome, like areas along the edge of the subject, just switch over to the Clone Stamp Tool so that you can get the textures and edges just right.
Practice using all of these tools until you’ve cleaned up the background of the image. Now that you’ve mastered the basics, in the next episode we’ll tackle an example that includes more complex details in the background like patterns, lines, and edges.
The Beginner’s Guide to Portrait Retouching Using AI & Traditional Tools
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DifficultyAdvanced
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Length3.5 hours
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Videos6
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Description
This is the most advanced guide to removing objects and distractions from your photos in Photoshop! Follow along through multiple examples where we show you how to remove large objects and people, reconstruct entire backgrounds, manually paint in lost details, and much more.
OBJECT REMOVAL SERIES
- Simple Object Removal in Photoshop
- Intermediate Object Removal in Photoshop
- Advanced Object Removal in Photoshop (this course!)
THIS COURSE INCLUDES
- 7 Sample Images
- 5 Sample PSDs
- 2 Photoshop Brushes
- 1 PDF Companion Guide
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Table of Contents
Course Downloads
Remove Anything from a Photo!
Now You See It, Now You Don’t
Object removal doesn’t get more advanced than this. Learn how to remove groups of people, large objects like cars, tattoos, and even entire backgrounds from any photograph. This is Photoshop magic.
COMPLETELY CHANGE BACKGROUNDS
ORIGINAL
Remove Anything from a Photo
When we say anything, we mean anything. This is our most focused, advanced course on removing objects and distractions in Photoshop. Whether you want to develop new professional skills, or tackle a new fun and challenging project, this is the perfect course for you.
Advanced Tools & Techniques
In Simple and Intermediate Object Removal, we showed you the ropes of cleaning up your images. In this course, we combine all of those skills with some new and advanced techniques, giving you all the skills you need to clean up any photograph.
Photo Compositing
Learn how to use multiple images to remove large objects and even entire backgrounds from an image. And if you want to learn even more compositing skills, be sure to check out Intro to Photoshop Compositing for Beginners.
PRESERVE SKIN TEXTURE
ORIGINAL
Preserve & Recreate Natural Details
It’s one thing to remove something from in front of a background or landscape, it’s another thing entirely to remove something from a subject’s skin. While we cover advanced retouching and blemish removal in other PRO courses like How to Master Frequency Separation Retouching, we take some time in this course to show you how to remove complex elements from a subject’s skin while preserving all of the natural texture and details.
Advanced Brush Techniques
Sometimes object removal is quick and easy, perfect for tools like Content-Aware Fill or the Spot Healing Brush. But for those tricky jobs with complex backgrounds, you need a more manual touch. Learn advanced techniques for the Brush Tool to literally paint in background elements and detail for an unbelievable final result.
Professional Skills
No matter what sort of photos you work with, object removal is a key skill for any editor. Need to remove studio lights and equipment from a studio shoot? No problem. Small blemishes or distractions from a subject’s skin? We’ve got you covered. Entire groups of people from an urban landscape? You’ll be able to do all this and more!
Advanced Photoshop Skills
REMOVE PEOPLE FROM PHOTOS
ORIGINAL
Seamless Results
Whether you just want to clean up some family photos, or you need a subject or product to stand out for a client, we show you how to achieve seamless, professional results in your images.
Work Non-Destructively
The most important part of a professional workflow is making sure you can get back to your original, unedited photos at any time. We show you how to use Layers, Groups, Layer Masks, Smart Objects, and more to make sure you can undo or change your work at any time.
Complete Control
We show you how to use every object removal tool and technique out there, giving you complete control over your photos. If you, or your clients, don’t want something to be in frame, you’ll be able to hide it so that only the most important elements of a photo take center stage.
REMOVE GROUPS OF PEOPLE
ORIGINAL
Skills for Any Photographer
These skills are universal for any photographer. Whether you capture products, weddings, headshots, fashion, or landscapes, you’ll be able to identify and remove any distractions using the power of Photoshop and your editing savvy.
Reconstruct Backgrounds
It’s pretty common and pretty easy to remove small distractions in front of relatively simple backgrounds. But what about when you have a background full of complex details like buildings, trees, signs, and other small details?
Sample PSDs Included
We don’t just provide the sample images for you to follow along with, we also set you up with the completed PSD files so you can reverse-engineer the process and experiment with the effects.
Aaron Nace
PHLEARN Founder – Class Instructor
Aaron Nace is a photographer, Photoshop artist and founder of PHLEARN. He is the #1 Photoshop instructor in the world with millions of YouTube subscribers.
Reviews
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I bought three lessons from PHLEARN, the lessons were good but there were parts that impossible to follow – if the purpose of the lesson is to teach people how/what to do then, please try to make sure the lesson is clear enough for people to learn how to do it!
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Nice photoshop tutorial. As always , I love to have Aaron Nace as an Instructor. I really enjoy his tutorial.
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description
In the age of phone photography, noise and grain reduction has become a popular feature in many photo editing programs. But which program handles it best?
Let’s find out! Join us as we explore some of the most popular noise reduction tools to see which one provides the cleanest, most realistic result.
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Reduce Noise in Your Photos
What is Noise Reduction?
Noise often appears in images that are underexposed or were captured at a high ISO to compensate for environmental lighting conditions. It’s even more common with portable digital cameras, like those found in mobile phones, since those devices have a limited dynamic range and a limited range of options for shutter speed and aperture settings.
With more devices out there capturing noisier photos, it’s no surprise then that noise reduction editing technology is on the rise. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular programs out there, from our usual suspects like Photoshop and Lightroom Classic, to newer tools like Luminar AI, DxO PhotoLab, Topaz DeNoise, and Vance AI.
We’ll be looking for the program that can remove the most noise while sacrificing as little of the original definition and detail in the photo as possible.
How to Reduce Noise in Photoshop
Photoshop is our home base when it comes to photo editing, so there’s no better place to start.
Since the noise reduction option in Photoshop comes as a filter, it’s a good idea to first right-click on the image layer and select Convert to Smart Object. This will convert all Filters to Smart Filters, which allows them to be disabled, removed, or adjusted at any time.
You can find the noise options under the Filter menu. Hover over the Noise option and select Reduce Noise.
Throughout these tests we’re going to be dialing up the noise reduction settings of each program to max. This will help us see the results better, exaggerated as they may be.
Within the Reduce Noise dialog, set the Strength of the effect to 10. Notice that, while some noise was removed, there’s still quite a bit remaining in the image.
There are additional options, like being able to target noise by color channel.
And there are additional settings that will help try to recover any details that might have been lost with the noise reduction effect, but we found that, with this particular image, they just tended to reintroduce grain back into the image.
How to Reduce Noise in Lightroom Classic
Our other go-to editing software is Lightroom Classic. And, like Photoshop, it has some stock noise reduction tools available.
Navigate to the Develop tab and scroll down to the Detail options. Here you’ll see some options and sliders for Noise Reduction.
Setting the Luminance slider to max yield a much smoother and softer image than Photoshop, but at the cost of some detail and definition from the original photo.
Reduce Noise with Luminar AI
We’ve explored Luminar and their AI tools in the past, so we’re somewhat familiar with what they can do and how easy they can be to use.
The best part about Luminar is how flexible their tools are. Not only do they offer standalone programs, they also offer plug-ins for Lightroom Photoshop, allowing you to take advantage of their AI technology within your software of choice.
Here’s the results of our Luminar AI test after pushing all of the relevant settings to their max.
Reduce Noise in Topaz DeNoise
Topaz DeNoise is another standalone software powered by AI technology.
Not only does it offer some of the same settings we’ve seen in other program, but it also includes AI models based around particular lighting/photo issues.
And since this is a standalone program based entirely around noise removal, there are a ton of other options and settings to explore.
The results were pretty impressive, but let’s take a look at a couple other programs before we decide on a winner.
Reduce Noise in DxO PhotoLabs
DxO PhotoLab 4 is a full-feature photo editor, much like Lightroom Classic.
And like Lightroom, it includes some relatively easy-to-use tools to reduce noise, grain, and other issues like chromatic aberration.
We found the results to be more similar to Photoshop, reducing some of the noise but not all of it. There were also some issues with additional artifacts appearing in the image.
Reduce Noise with Vance AI
The most unique tool we’ll be checking out is a browser-based AI tool by Vance AI. This tool could be particularly handy for anyone that’s not happy with the result from their current software, but also don’t want to have to download any additional programs.
Vance AI can be accessed entirely through your internet browser.
After making a basic account, you can upload and process a limited number of images.
We found their AI noise reduction to be impressive, especially since it didn’t require us to download anything to our computers.
Now that we’ve explored some of the tools, let’s take a look at all of the final images!
Noise Reduction Comparison
We applied similar noise reduction settings to the same image using each of the programs and tools listed above. Now let’s take a look at the results!
The original, unedited image.
After noise reduction in Adobe Photoshop.
After noise reduction in Adobe Lightroom Classic.
After noise reduction in Luminar AI.
After noise reduction in Topaz Labs DeNoise AI.
After noise reduction in DxO PhotoLab 4.
After noise reduction with Vance AI.
The Winner
After taking a close look at each of the results, we found Topaz Labs DeNoise produced the most balanced result with Vance AI as a close second. However, this is a very rough test and our subjective opinion. Each of the tools certainly have their advantages, so it all comes down to your own taste and how you prefer to work.
Which program do you think did the best job of reducing noise? Try them for yourself and experiment with your own photos!
Aaron is the best instructor! He communicates clearly and demonstrates techniques and tools in ‘real time’ as he moves through the tutorial.
Absolutely first rate in all respects.
Really enjoyable as always. In another tutrial you put a full stop in the generative fill box when you wanted the tool to work it out. I notice you didn’t do that here, has the tool moved on so that you don’t need to do that?
Great help with color. Still not willing to just accept what AI gives me
i enjoyed that one