Photoshop & Lightroom Tutorials, Presets & Actions

1,264 free and PRO tutorials, plus Lightroom presets, Photoshop actions, brushes and LUTs. Filter by topic, software, skill level or downloads, or search for a tool or technique.

A girl with curly red hair in a denim jacket dancing against a plain backdrop, from a Gap-inspired fashion shoot retouching tutorial (Part 1)
 

We take the images from our Gap inspired shoot into Photoshop to start the Compositing and Retouching process. Make sure to check back for part 2 of the post production later this week.

A yellow and purple high-top sneaker splashing through milk against a black background, behind-the-scenes photo from a 'Juicy Kicks' product shoot
 

Sometimes it’s just fun to make a mess. We had wanted to play with paint for a while, and came up with this concept to create shoes splashing and blending with paint.

A shirtless-styled athlete seen from behind holding a soccer ball under dramatic stadium lighting, demonstrating dramatic sports portrait retouching in Photoshop
 

Portraits of athletes are a great place to experiment with using a contrasty, high energy, dramatic Retouching technique. Here are a couple of our favorite methods to achieve this look.

Close-up portrait of a man in a vest and shirt with a thoughtful expression, hand near his chin, from an editorial headshot retouching tutorial (Parts 2 and 3)
 

You saw the behind the scenes of our corporate/editorial photo shoot, and Part 1 and Part 2 of the Retouching. Now we’ll wrap up this image with some final Retouching and Styling.

Close-up portrait of a man in a vest and shirt with a thoughtful expression, hand near his chin, from an editorial headshot retouching tutorial (Parts 2 and 3)
 

Now we’ll continue with the Retouching to get this image refined even more.

A Photoshop editing screenshot showing retouching tools applied to a close-up portrait of a woman with dark hair and earrings, from an editorial headshot retouching tutorial (Part 1)
 

To start our headshot retouching, we use the clone to remove some blemishes, do some hair retouching, and add a bit of skin texture.

A steam train traveling beside a still canal reflecting a sunrise sky, demonstrating how to bring back shadow detail in Photoshop
 

Today we’re using this incredible image from Chris to show how to use Photoshop to bring back detail into the Shadows of an image and then doing some Coloring and stylizing.

A man in a beanie and denim shirt raising a camera to take a photo outdoors, from a Phlearn Features interview with photographer Grant Legan (Part 3 of 3)
 

In Part 3, we tag along Chicago Photographer Grant Legan as he takes some awesome portraits.

Black-and-white photo of a young man in a white t-shirt leaning against a weathered wall, from a Phlearn Features interview with photographer Grant Legan (Part 2 of 3)
 

After our interview in Part 1, we go behind the scenes with Grant Legan during a photoshoot.

A man with long hair backlit by warm sunlight outdoors, from a Phlearn Features interview with photographer Grant Legan (Part 1 of 3)
 

Grant Legan is a Chicago based photographer who works very closely with modeling agencies, testing new models and filling out their portfolio’s with a variety of looks.

A dramatic mountain valley landscape at sunset with clouds low in the valley, illustrating how to maximize image quality in 8 easy steps
 

Learn to edit in a way that is not as destructive to your images, and retain the maximum amount of quality. Use these 8 steps!

A figure with bones lying curled in a dirt pit, demonstrating how to combine custom brushes and the Clone Stamp tool in Photoshop
 

In today’s episode we create a custom Brush that looks like dirt and show you how to configure it perfectly. We then save the Brush and load it into the Clone Stamp tool to finish the job. The resulting effect is seamless and fun!

A close-up of a person in dramatic clown makeup with white face paint and a wide red smile, demonstrating how to add depth and color to any image in Photoshop
 

Today we are using an image from our latest Halloween contest to show you how to add Color to enhance the overall feel of an image.

A couple embracing in a red dress within a mirrored, angular hallway with multiplied reflections, illustrating how to use Curves and color creatively in Photoshop
 

Adding a gradient Color Tone to an image can help with it’s Depth and help Draw the viewers eyes towards your intended point of focus. You’ll see how as we take you through a few curves, a little Pen Tool Action and just one Levels Adjustment Layer.

A blond man in a tweed jacket standing against a streaked motion-blurred background, demonstrating how to add motion blur in Photoshop
 

This started as an incredible image by Daniel. We noticed just a couple small improvements that could really help to give it the magazine feel. We’re just going to add a touch of Style and refinement.

A mock movie poster titled 'Riddick: Rule the Dark' featuring a close-up of a man with glowing blue eyes, part 2 of a tutorial on creating a movie poster
 

We pick up where we left off in Creating a Movie Poster: Riddick – Part 1. Having taken care of most of the Coloring and Shadow work in part one, now it is time to create the eyes that make this image stand out.

A close-up of a man's face lit in cold blue tones with a menacing expression, part 1 of a tutorial on creating a Riddick-style movie poster
 

In this episode we show you how to go from an image straight out of camera, into the dark image you see as the final. We cover how to Color your images to strip everything down to one Hue. Then you will learn how to cover your subject in Shadow.

Close-up portrait of a woman with dark hair and a neutral expression against a white background, demonstrating how to make photos look their sharpest
 

How best to make your images look their sharpest has always been a key aspect of our craft. One of the quickest ways to make your photos look more “professional” is by making them critically sharp.

Close-up portrait of a woman wearing a dark veiled hat with red lipstick visible through the netting, demonstrating how to enhance shadow details in Photoshop
 

Camera sensors are very powerful tools that capture tons of information, you just need to know how to massage that information out of it. This episode shows you how to bring out those details from your Shadows.

A man leaning in thought at a desk with a globe and typewriter, composited with a soft glowing dust-and-light effect, demonstrating how to create dust from scratch in Photoshop
 

In this episode we show you how to create a custom Brush that creates dust anywhere you want it. All you have to do it paint over the area you would like the dust and erase the rest!

Sample Images Included

Photoshop  |  Photo Effects  |  Easy  |  15 mins  |  1 video

1 Photoshop Brush

A cowboy seen from behind walking away against a golden backlit dusty landscape, illustrating how to use composition to create compelling photographs
 

The most basic rules of composition are rather simple but can be extremely difficult to master. Here are a few less orthodox compositional suggestion that might help you make the most of your next photoshoot.

Side profile of a woman with dramatically sculpted, wind-swept hair against a white background, demonstrating how to shape hair with the Liquify Tool in Photoshop
 

You are going to learn how to fix up a hairstyle in Photoshop using the Liquify Tool. There are a few different strategies to consider when reshaping something like Hair.

A Photoshop screenshot showing a before-and-after landscape photo with Curves panel and gray point sampler annotations, illustrating 5 things you didn't know about Curves
 

Here are five cool things you probably didn’t know about Curves

Two girls laughing together lying in grass at golden hour with a warm vintage color tone, illustrating simple steps to make a photo look vintage
 

In this tutorial you will learn methods for adding a Lens Flare and atmosphere as well as adding interesting Colors that complete the effect.

Black-and-white close-up of a mirrorless rangefinder-style camera with attached lens, illustrating an article about mirrorless cameras
 

Today we’re going to talk about just how awesome mirrorless cameras are and why you should probably be at least taking a look at them if you’re looking to get a new camera.

A large brown dog sitting on a dirt path with a smaller identical dog duplicated in the misty background, demonstrating how to duplicate anything in perspective using Photoshop
 

Learn to transform an object to make it appear as though it is following the rules of perspective.

A black-and-white dog sitting alertly against a dark background, demonstrating how to dodge and burn using High Pass in Photoshop
 

A new take on dodging and burning. Save yourself time and trouble!

A woman in a dark dress leaning against a vintage car on a dirt road at sunset, illustrating how to find hidden exposures in Photoshop
 

In today’s episode we start off with an image that has been resized for the Web and saved as a .jpg. It is a very small and compressed image yet we are still able to bring out a ton of detail.

Two women in a cornfield silhouetted against a golden sunset, demonstrating how to remove power lines in Photoshop
 

Today we focus on removing distractions in Photoshop that you couldn’t change when you took the picture.

A figure wearing a gold crown and pale robes in a hazy, atmospheric attic-like room with light streaming in, demonstrating how to use custom brushes to create atmosphere in Photoshop
 

In this episode we cover everything you know to create custom brushes from scratch as well as use them to enhance your images!

A woman in a green dress standing near a twisted tree beside a pond at a colorful sunset, illustrating how to enhance a beautiful sunset in Photoshop
 

Sunrise and sunset are both amazing times to own a camera. Take advantage of this light as often as you can. There is a reason that it is called “golden hour”. It will turn your photos into gold.

A woman in a white fur vest and shorts reclining on rocky terrain with dramatic makeup, illustrating how to create mood, atmosphere, and drama in Photoshop
 

Today we are going over some great techniques that can be applied to most images to make them a bit more interesting. By adding Color and Contrast to the image as a whole you can make your subject stand out a bit better in a few easy steps.

A woman surrounded by lush green tropical foliage, behind-the-scenes photo demonstrating how to use a wide aperture to eliminate distractions
 

Aaron hops behind the camera to share a few tricks on using a wide aperture to eliminate distractions.

A woman standing beneath hanging green foliage in dappled sunlight, illustrating how a 5-in-1 reflector can improve photography
 

A 5-in-1 reflector can be extremely useful when taking pictures in natural Light.

A man in a plaid shirt lit with strong green and red color casts on either side of his face, demonstrating how to remove color cast using complementary colors in Photoshop
 

If you have a Color cast that is a result of a Light being a different color than the rest of the Lights in the image, you will need to get a bit more in Depth when editing to remove it. That is what today’s episode is all about.

A woman in a red dress sitting on a ledge in front of dark green shrubbery, behind-the-scenes photo about balancing light ratios while battling nature
 

Watch as we explain the lighting that went into the portrait below, just in time to beat the impending torrential downpour!