The dos and don’ts of Photoshop retouching part 2

DO let the Liquify Filter work its magic
If used properly, the Liquify Filter (Ctrl + Shift + X) can replace many tools. For instance, the Forward Warp tool, which is included in the filter, is much more accurate than the Smudge tool, and the Twirl Clockwise tool replaces the Twirl filter, which is found in Distort. These are just a few of many examples.

Not only could the Liquify Filter be your one-stop shop for distortion, it also allows you to freeze areas that you don’t want to be affected.

The best part about this filter is that if you go a little crazy bloating an area, you can always fall back on the Reconstruct button to correct it.

Note: be sure to make the grid visible before editing to get a better sense of how the tool is affecting the area.

Bloat (shortcut “B”) is a great way to enhance features. Using a low brush rate and density is your best bet for making changes that aren’t too extreme. Reconstruct is your best friend in this case. It normalises changes in one click.

What’s the best part about Liquify? It can restore all without you having to exit the filter.

DON’T overlook Quick Masks
What do you do when you’re in a rush to make a selection? Quick Mask,  of course.

Simply press “Q” to activate the tool, brush around the subject you want selected, and press “Q” again to make all unpainted areas become your new selection. Pretty nifty, huh?

Note: Don’t forget to revert your colours to the default by pressing “D,” so that black is your base colour before Quick Masking to your heart’s content.

Quick Masks are a fast way to isolate an area. Make sure to zoom in far enough (Ctrl +) to get the perfect outline when brushing around a subject. If you make an error, switch your brush colour to white (using the “X” hot key if colours are default) to get rid of red where it shouldn’t be.

DO Heal away the pain
As mentioned, the Clone Stamp tool can be rough for matching colours. That’s where the Healing brush comes in. The idea is similar to the Clone Stamp tool (i.e. sample an area and brush away the blemishes), but it is far more intelligent.

The Clone Stamp is a kind of copy and paste, while the Healing brush blends the new area with the sampled area and takes into account tonal qualities.

The first thing to do upon opening the Healing brush is to change the sample drop-down to all layers. This is probably one of the most important steps because any changes you make won’t affect your original image (as long as you have created a new layer for your retouches).

Adjust the hardness to something a bit softer than the standard 100% for a cleaner heal with no visible edges. Don’t forget to adjust the diameter of the area you’ll be adjusting, using the [ and ] keys to grow and shrink the brush.

DON’T be bashful with creating Clipping Masks
Clipping Masks make your life a whole lot easier.

Here is a good example. Say you have four layers comprised of photos and an adjustment layer above them all. You want the adjustment layer to affect only one of the four photos.

Position the photo that you want to be affected under the Clipping Mask. Then all you have to do is right-click your adjustment layer and select “Create Clipping Mask.”

Now, the adjustment layer will affect only the photo below. This simple technique saves a lot of re-arranging, and if at any time you want to remove it, just right-click the Clipping Mask layer and select “Release Clipping Mask.”

DON’T stop at brightness and contrast to colour correct
Brightness and contrast can work wonders for colour, but don’t stop there. Merely adding a selective colour adjustment layer can do wonders for tones that are too warm or cool.

Select the colour you want to adjust and use the slide bars to tweak it just so. You can choose from plenty of other adjustments, so you have to take some time to play with them all.

DO choose an adjustment layer over an adjustment
The reason for this is simple. If you decide that you don’t like an adjustment that you have made, you can just delete the layer.

This practice saves you from many Ctrl + Z’s and possibly losing a serious amount of work.

A few quick Photoshop tips

• When working with a lot of layers, lock them.
• Always save at various times as you work on your image.
• Use the history panel to navigate to previous or later states rather than go crazy with Ctrl+Z.
• Retouch in different layers to keep from damaging the original photo. It is as simple as checking “Use all layers” in the toolbar with the clone stamp tool selected.
• Do most of your editing in RGB mode. It is far more editable than CMYK.
• Mind your DPIs. If you’re working with print, 300 DPI is standard. For concepts, 72 DPI is acceptable.
• Make a habit of naming your layers. Scrolling through 20 unnamed layers can get confusing.
• Ctrl + left-click a layer thumbnail to select everything in that layer.
• Feathering a selection never hurts anyone, and it sure won’t hurt for most selections, either.
• Set your undos high by going into Edit > Preferences > Performance. You’ll see a history and cache area, where you can set your history states to a maximum of 1000. This comes in handy for larger projects but beware: it eats up more memory.

Read Part 1

Author Melissa Toms is a graphic designer and registered business on ServiceSeeking.com.au