- Strategy for retouching
- Resolution and image size
- Getting started
- Straightening and cropping an image
- Using automatic adjustments
- Adjusting the tonal range
- Removing a color cast
- Replacing colors in an image
- Adjusting lightness with the Dodge tool
- Adjusting saturation with the Sponge tool
- Applying the Unsharp Mask filter
- Compare the manual and automatic results
- Saving the image for four-color printing
- Review questions
- Review answers
Getting started
The image you’ll work on in this lesson is a scanned photograph. In this scenario, you’ll prepare the image to be placed in an Adobe InDesign® layout for a fictitious magazine. The final image size in the print layout will be 2 inches by 3 inches.
You’ll start the lesson by viewing the finished image. The picture you’ll work on shows an interesting window with a window box that is overflowing with blooming red geraniums.
- Start Photoshop and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (Mac OS) to restore the default
preferences. (See “Restoring default preferences” on page 4.)
As messages appear, select Yes to confirm that you want to reset preferences, No to defer setting up your color monitor, and Close to close the Welcome Screen.
- On the tool options bar, select the File Browser button, and use the Folders palette to navigate to and select the Lessons/Lesson03 folder on your hard disk.
- In the thumbnails palette, select the 03End.psd file, so that it appears in the Preview palette in the File Browser.
- Select the 03Start.psd thumbnail and compare it to the 03End file. Then double-click the 03Start.psd thumbnail or preview
to open the file in Photoshop. Close the File Browser.
The colors in the 03Start.psd file are relatively dull, the scan is crooked, and the dimensions are larger than needed for the requirements of the magazine. These are the qualities that you’ll fix in this lesson using Photoshop retouching techniques.
- Choose File > Save As, and save the file in the same location as before, but rename it 03Work.psd.
Remember, when you’re making permanent corrections to an image file, it’s always wise to work on a copy rather than in the original. Then, if something goes horribly wrong, at least you’ll be able to start over on a fresh copy of the original image.