Author Archives: Geoff Shaw

Select and Mask

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Photoshop’s Select and Mask tool replaces the Refine Edge dialog of previous versions with new, added features, and better “refinement” but at the cost of increased complexity. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I will direct you to some resources which … Continue reading →

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Creating realistic shadows

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

When compositing it is not enough to simply paste an object onto a background. If you do, it will look artificial and pasted. Shadows are what link the pasted object to the background. Creating realistic shadows requires some technical skills, … Continue reading →

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Twirl Effect

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Twirl, found under Filters>>Distort in the Photoshop menu can be used to make some interesting effects. Consider the simple crossed lines image below. Activate the Twirl dialog, and adjust the Angle slider to achieve your desired degree of twirl. I’ll … Continue reading →

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The making of “At Home with the Mouse Family” by Bob Thomas

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Bob has kindly shared a short video to show how he made his award winning entry “At Home with the Mouse Family” Continue reading →

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Local adjustment tools in Lightroom

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Lightroom has three local adjustment tools (excluding the red-eye reduction tool), the linear gradient tool, the radial gradient tool and the paintbrush tool. Gradient tool and Radial gradient tool Clicking the gradient or radial adjustment icon brings up the adjustment … Continue reading →

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Split Toning

Posted on September 23, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Think about the light on an image. Consider an image with end of day sunshine casting shadows across a landscape/cityscape. The sunlit areas get warm, orangish light, whilst the shadows will be colder, with light from the blue sky. You … Continue reading →

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Doug Porter – Hons SIG 10 June and Creative SIG – 11 Aug 2020

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Here is a chance to see some of Doug Porter’s expertise as he transforms mediocre images in Photoshop to amazing works of fine art. Continue reading →

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Smart objects (Photoshop)

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Before smart objects were introduced to Photoshop, if you edited a pixel layer, you changed the data in that layer so your edits were a one-way process. Smart objects changed that. A smart object’s base image is edited non-destructively. Any … Continue reading →

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Nik Collection

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

Nik Collection is a popular set of 8 photo processing plugins for Photoshop, Lightroom, DxO Photolab and some other packages. Continue reading →

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Faststone Image Viewer

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Geoff Shaw

An image browser, converter and editor that supports all major graphic formats including BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO, TGA and camera raw files. It has a nice array of features such as image viewing, management, … Continue reading →

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