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Catalog > Free Tutorials > 5 Wacom Tricks: Frequency Separation, Object Removal, and More!
  • 5 Wacom Tips: Frequency Separation, Object Removal, and More!

  • by Aaron Nace
    November 19, 2019
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Download the Sample Images, Brushes, and the Action!


Click the link below to download the sample images, sample PSDs, custom brushes, and the PHLEARN Frequency Separation Action.

Download

Tutorial Description

What can a Wacom Tablet do for you and your workflow? We’ll show you! Learn how to use a pressure-sensitive tablet to create realistic atmospheric effects like rain and snow, remove common objects and distractions, and even apply professional techniques like dodging and burning and Frequency Separation!

Be sure to click on the download button above to get our custom Rain and Snow brushes, our Skin Retouching Brush, and our PHLEARN Frequency Separation Action!

Installing Actions & Brushes

To load the PHLEARN Frequency Separation Action, click on the Window menu and then click on Actions to open the Actions dialog. Click on the drop-down menu icon at the top right of the Actions dialog and select Load Actions. Navigate to the folder where you saved the Action and select PHLEARN Frequency Separation.atn.

To load the brushes, click on the Window menu and then click on Brushes to load the Brushes dialog. Click on the drop-down menu icon at the top right of the Brushes dialog and select Import Brushes. Navigate to the folder where you saved the brushes and select PHLEARN Wacom Brushes.abr.

wacom tablet dodge and burn photoshop

Wacom Intuos Pro

Get complete control of your editing with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity! Perfect for blending effects and for a more ergonomic, natural feel as you work.

View on Amazon

What is a Wacom Tablet?

A Wacom Tablet is the most popular brand of pressure-sensitive tablets that work with Photoshop, Lightroom, and other creative software suites. While pen tablets aren’t a necessary part of the editors toolkit, they do make it much easier to create subtle, natural-looking effects while making the overall editing experience more ergonomic.

Rain, Snow, and Atmospheric Effects

Adding rain or other atmosphere to an image can help to set the tone and tell the story. The difficult part about creating these effects is making sure there’s enough depth and natural variation so that it looks realistic.

A Wacom Tablet can help you add that natural variation by simply applying more or less pressure as you paint. Using the Brush Settings dialog, we can turn our normal soft round brush, into a brush that recreates the shape of rain or snow. Then we can use the pressure-sensitivity settings, we can change the size of the rain or snow by applying more or less pressure. This allows us to put rain or snow into the foreground, middleground, and background of a photo, creating realistic depth.

Object Removal

The Spot Healing Brush Tool is our go-to for taking care of common blemishes and distractions in photos. But a pressure-sensitive tablet can make the process even easier!

You’ll usually want your brush size to be similar in size to the object that you’re trying to remove. But if you’re working with an image that has a lot of distractions of varying sizes, constantly having to change your brush size can become tedious.

With a pen tablet, you can set the brush size to pen-pressure, which will allow you to change the size quickly and naturally as you as work.

Dodge & Burn

Dodging and burning is one of the most talked about techniques in photo editing and retouching. The process involves enhancing the natural highlights and shadows in an image, making brighter areas brighter and darker areas darker. Since we’re painting with light, a soft and subtle approach goes a long way in making the effect both powerful and realistic.

A Wacom Tablet gives you that control and precision. With so much variation in size, shape, and intensity, pressure-sensitivity gives you the ability to handle almost any situation with missing a beat.

Frequency Separation

The most powerful of all retouching techniques, Frequency Separation involves separating the texture of an image from the color and tone. This allows you to edit each independently, so there’s no risk of damaging one while you edit the other.

All of the benefits of a pressure-sensitive tablet come together for advanced techniques like this. Being able to quickly change brush size, control precisely how much of an effect is applied, and adding natural variation are all key to great to retouching. Combined with our custom Photoshop Action, a Wacom Tablet makes Frequency Separation easier than ever!

Catalog > Free Tutorials > How to Dodge & Burn with a Wacom Tablet
  • How to Dodge & Burn with a Wacom Tablet

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BEFORE

AFTER DODGE & BURN

Download Sample Image & Custom Brush


Click the link below to download the sample images and follow along with this tutorial.

Download

Tutorial Description

Whether you’ve already got a Wacom Tablet (or any other brand of pressure-sensitive tablet) or you’ve been thinking about picking one up, we want to show you how you can use it to take your editing to the next level. Learn how to apply a beautiful, subtle dodge and burn effect using the features of a Wacom Tablet and by creating a custom brush in Photoshop!

And if you don’t want to go through the motions of making the custom brush, we’ve included it in the sample image download. For free!

And once you’re ready to put your Wacom to work, try our PRO tutorial How to Master Dodging & Burning in Photoshop. Up your editing and retouching game while taking full advantage of your Wacom Tablet.

wacom tablet dodge and burn in photoshop

Mouse vs. Wacom Tablet

Let’s be clear; you can create beautiful images and edits in Photoshop with a mouse or a pressure-sensitive tablet. While a Wacom Tablet can give you more control and help save you a bit of time, there are plenty of talented artists and craftspeople out there that create extraordinary work with standard computer peripherals.

Do we recommend using a pressure-sensitive tablet? Absolutely! If you have the budget and the time to get used to the change, we think it can vastly improve your workflow.

Do we think you need a pressure-sensitive tablet to be successful? Not at all. Whether you don’t want to invest in another piece of computer or hardware or you just love your mouse, you’ll still be able to get professional results without compromise.

If you’re using a mouse, you can still get a build-up effect when painting by setting your Brush to a lower flow. Using a flow of 2-5% will allow you to gradually blend any effects.

A pressure-sensitive tablet effectively does the same thing, but rather than using the Flow setting you simple need to apply more or less pressure as you paint. Not only can you get more control when blending, you can also have the amount of pressure applied affect brush size as well. Combining these options, you end up with a very natural-feeling process that acts similarly to painting with a real paint brush.

wacom tablet dodge and burn photoshop

Wacom Intuos Pro

Get complete control of your editing with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity! Perfect for blending effects and for a more ergonomic, natural feel as you work.

View on Amazon

Create a Custom Brush

If you’re using a pressure-sensitive tablet, try setting up a custom brush that allows you to utilize its most powerful features. By setting Shape Dynamics and Flow Jitter to Pen Pressure, you can get full control over both the size of the brush as well as how much of an effect is applied–all by simply applying more or less pressure with the pen!

Follow along with the tutorial, load our Wacom Tablet-optimized custom brush, and try it for yourself!

Catalog > Free Tutorials > How to Set Up and Use a Wacom Tablet
  • How to Set Up and Use a Wacom Tablet

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How to use a Wacom Intuos Pro and Wacom Pen in Photoshop

Wondering how to use a Wacom Tablet and Wacom Pen in Photoshop? We’ve got you covered. In this tutorial, you’ll learn the basics — and some advanced techniques — to fully take advantage of your Wacom Tablet and push your photo editing to the next level.

Ready to ditch the mouse? Let’s dive in!

how to use wacom tablet in photoshopwacom tablet with a mac

WACOM INTUOS PRO

WACOM INTUOS PRO

Download Sample Images


Click the link below to download the sample images and follow along with this tutorial.

Download

Tutorial Description

As artists, it’s important that we use tools that are comfortable and allow us to express our ideas quickly and freely. Writers use a pen or an ergonomic keyboard. Painters have countless sizes and styles of brushes. But what should a Photoshop artist use?

A mouse? Well, a mouse can certainly get the job done, but computer mice were not designed for digital artists in mind. There’s a better way to work!

Here at PHLEARN, we’ve been a huge fan of Wacom for many years. Today, we look at one of their tablet products; the Wacom Intuos Pro.

Our Wacom Tablet Review

I’ve personally been using a Wacom tablet for years and I won’t be looking back any time soon. It’s become an integral part of my workflow and gives me the control and comfort I need, especially when working on long and details edits. One of the great features of these tablets is their options for customization. Everyone works a little bit differently, and you setup your Wacom to cater to your needs and how you work.

Once you’ve unboxed your tablet, be sure to visit Wacom’s Support Page and download the most recent drivers for your tablet and operating system.

Once you’ve installed the most recent drivers and support software for your Wacom tablet, it’s time to go under the hood and start customizing the settings to maximize comfort. Let’s start by opening the Wacom Tablet software preferences. (We’re working with a version for Mac OS – if you’re using a PC, the setup will be similar but make sure to read the installation instructions for your particular OS.)

Tip Feel

Beginning under the Pen tab, let’s take a look at some of the customization options that are available. Tip Feel will set the pressure sensitivity of the pen on the tablet. A more firm Tip Feel will require more pressure and a soft Tip Feel will require less. I generally prefer a firmer feel, but as you work with tablet more in Photoshop, adjust these settings to whatever is most comfortable for you.

Double Click Distance

With a normal mouse, you can quickly press the left mouse button to register a ‘double click’ which will activate or open whatever is underneath the cursor. You can get the same functionality from a graphics tablet by tapping on the pad twice. Since it’s unlikely that you’re going to tap the exact same spot twice, this setting allows you to set the distance in which the pen can move between the first click and the second and still register a double click. Sound confusing? No problem! We’re turning this off. Having this feature enabled in Photoshop will cause a lot of issues and will more than likely ruin your day. So turn this off. And have a great day.

Tilt Sensitivity

This setting will come into play while using some brushes in Photoshop that will change depending on if or how far your pen is tilting. Think of drawing with a marker. With the marker straight up and down, you’ll get a relatively thin and even line. Tilt the marker and the line will get larger and change shape. Setting Tilt Sensitivity will depend heavily on what brushes you tend to use. I don’t often use brushes that take advantage of this setting, so I just leave it set to normal.

Pen Button Layout

Wacom pens will come with a couple of buttons that can be mapped to different functions. I use undo a ton and, normally, I would have to hit OPTN + CMD + Z (or ALT + CTRL + Z for PC users) every time I wanted to step back. Instead, I prefer to set this command to one of the buttons on my Wacom. This allows me to work much faster in Photoshop.

To do this, click on either drop-down box assigned to the pen buttons and select ‘Keystroke’. Simply hit the keys of the keyboard command that you want to assign and hit ‘Okay’.

I leave the other button set to Right Click since that’s a pretty important command to have while working in Photoshop. There are nearly unlimited options for how you can use these buttons so if this doesn’t work for you, find a combination that does!

Eraser Preferences

Not once in my life have I flipped my Wacom pen over to erase something. Layer Masks and the Eraser Tool are all I need.

Mapping Preferences

By default, the entire surface of your Wacom tablet will cover the entire area of the screen. This means if you want to move your cursor from one edge of the screen all the way to the other, you need to move your pen the entire distance of your tablet. Fortunately, there are settings for this that allow you to reduce the distance your hand has to travel to cover the distance of the screen.

To do this, click on the Mapping tab. You will see a drop-down for Screen Area and a drop-down for Tablet Area. Leave the Screen Area set to full, since we want to be able to move our cursor over the entire screen as needed. Using the Table Area drop-down, you can set how much of the tablet you want use in order to get full coverage of the screen. I set my Tablet Area to cover only a small portion of the top left corner. This allows my hand and wrist to stay in the same area as I work.

Touch and Functions

I don’t use the features at all. I prefer to use my keyboard when I use any keyboard shortcuts and I only use the top left corner of the tablet when I’m using my pen. If you want to try my setup, I recommend disabling all of these features. A good way to determine what works best for you, is to start with most of these features disabled and then pay attention to what tools or shortcuts you use most often. If you discover something that you wish you had faster access to more often, it’s a good idea to try mapping it to a function key on the tablet.

Brush Settings in Photoshop

Aside from being a more comfortable and natural fit for the hand, pressure sensitivity in Photoshop is another huge advantage of using a tablet. Open Photoshop, go to Window, and to Brush Settings. Here you will see a wide variety of brushes and settings that can be adjusted to respond to varying levels of pressure.

The customization here is deep, but the big takeaway is that these tools will give you the feel of using a real brush, pen, or marker as you apply effects in Photoshop. This means more natural looking effects that can be layered and smoothed out in real-time as you work.

Using a tablet does take some getting used to. It will take time to hone in on the right settings that work best for you and it will take time to get used to the physical differences between working with a pen and working with a mouse. But after a couple of weeks, I’m confident you’ll come out on the other end feeling more confident and excited to put this new tool to work. You’ll find yourself working more comfortable and with more precision than ever before.

I started using my first Wacom in 2006 and I haven’t looked back. It has changed the way I work in Photoshop and I hope that, if you decide to make the investment, it will do the same for you.

Wacom Tablet Drivers

If you are using a Wacom tablet on a Windows computer, there is a good chance you need to download additional drivers to make sure it works properly. If you are looking for the latest drivers, don’t use any other website other than the official Wacom driver download page located here: https://www.wacom.com/en/support/product-support/drivers

You never know what you are downloading when you use some random third-party download website or if they are giving you the latest version!

Pen Nibs

I’ve always found that my Wacom nibs last a long time, sometimes over a year each. Because of that, I’ve never seen much need in stocking up on a bunch of additional nibs as you will likely to find they last a lot longer than a lot of comparable tablets out on the market. I don’t know if Wacom just does a better job manufacturing their nibs than other’s do, but they can be used constantly, day after day, for months and show almost zero sign of wear-and-tear.

Wacom Intuos vs Intuos Pro vs Bamboo

A common question we get is, “Which version should I buy?!?

Here is the quickest way I can think of to sum this up.

If you are a professional photographer, professional designer or illustrator, or you do a lot of paid retouching work, you’ll likely need the Intuos or Intuos Pro. It’s has amazing sensitivity, has a huge editing surface (active area), and is buttery smooth when you are using tools like brushes.

The Bamboo is designed for those who want to “try out” using a tablet in their editing workflow, but don’t yet want to commit to a professional level tablet. That’s why it costs a lot less and has far fewer features. It’s a pure introductory tablet. There is nothing wrong with the Bamboo, but out of the hundreds of professional editors I’ve met over the last eight years of teaching, none of them use the Bamboo.

So, the question boils down to the Intuos vs Intuos Pro. Either works great. You cannot lose going with either tablet, the new Pro is simply the latest version of Wacom’s technology, which means it takes advantage of having even more sensitivity, more advanced settings, a newly designed Pen with eraser, and it comes in a Large size as well. If your budget is tight, go with the Intuos and you will be just fine. If you can afford it, get the Pro and take advantage of the single best table on the market.

Thanks for watching!

Capturing the comical and sometimes surreal aspects of childhood and family life are something of a specialty for John Wilhelm. Going miles beyond the average family photoshoot, his portraits capture a variety of emotions spanning from tenderness to downright hilarity.

But the mood he is so good at conveying doesn’t happen on its own. Often lacing several shots together to create one dreamlike scene, John’s work requires a detail-oriented vision and precise execution. Here, he tells us what gear he uses to create his incredible composites with 3D elements.


CAMERA:

Sony a7R III

42MP Full-Frame Exmor R BSI CMOS Sensor, 399-Point AF System, Built-In Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, Dual SD Slots

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According to my Lightroom database, I have owned 89 Cameras and 112 lenses. The Sony a7r III is the first camera I love everything about. Handling, quality, weight, speed… just everything!

LENSES:

Sony 24-70 2.8 GM lens

Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/22, Direct Drive Super Sonic Wave AF Motor, Focus Hold Button; Internal Focus

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Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/4 Macro

Aperture Range: f/4 to f/32, Manual Focus and Aperture

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Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 Lens

Aperture Range: f/1.8 to f/22, One Extra-Low Dispersion Element, Double Linear AF Motor

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The Sony 24-70 G Master build and image quality are just superior! It’s a lot of glass, but a D800 with the Nikon 24-70 is much heavier. Another lens I love is the Laowa Wide Angle Macro 15mm because it’s just so unique. For portraits I also love the Sony 85mm 1.8. I have also worked with the 1.4, but in my honest opinion it is not worth the money.

LIGHTING:

Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL

ELB 500 Flash Head, ELB 500 TTL Pack with Battery

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Of course, I use Elinchrom. The ease of use and quality are absolutely perfect. I just bought an ELB 500 TTL and if you’re looking for something portable you have to check it out. Hi-Sync, TTL, everything is there in one little machine.

BAG:

I own an older Boblbee. It feels like I could be run over by a tank and nothing would happen to my gear with this pack. Boblbee is absolutely great and I don’t get why everybody isn’t walking around with one.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS:

A Wacom Cintiq is absolutely essential.

Tell us how you go about deciding which gear is essential to your work.

I’m pretty quick in ordering new stuff. If it fits or enhances my workflow I keep it, if not I sell it immediately.


To see more of John’s unique and humorous work and to get a look behind the scenes, check out his website. There, you can view timelapse videos of his workflow, see before and after shots, and shop for prints. You can also follow him on Instagram, Facebook, or Flickr.