Adobe Tutorials

This tutorial will go show you how it is possible to take an object and smooth its edges to your desire. While we are doing this you will also discover how to unsmooth it or adjust it to your needs. We will be doing this in Adobe Photoshop CS3. You can use other default tools to try to sharpen and smooth your objects, but they are not as precise as using this method and should be avoided if you have this option to work with. I have included helpful screen captures to guide you through the process. Please read carefully to fully grasp the nature of this process. As with the rest of the tutorials on this website, you can view the full tutorial with proper images at Adobe Software Tutorials.

To start the tutorial please open Adobe Photoshop CS3 and click (File, New%u2026) like the illustration shows.

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Now you should name the project we are working on and set the width and height to something at or above 550x450. Please use a resolution over 90% otherwise the output will not look as smooth as it possibly could. Keep the background as white.

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Now you can see our background layer and what we are going to work with. However, we will not be working on the background layer itself. We are going to create a new layer by selecting the icon on the bottom right corner of the screen that creates new layers.

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Now you can see the new layer that we have created.

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Now we are going to make the background not viewable so we can focus on Layer 1.

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Now you can selected the Custom Shape Tool from the selection toolbar on the left side of the screen.

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I have constructed an arrow with a black base so that it is easy to see the difference when you change the smoothness.

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Now we are going to select the Vector Mask Thumbnail. You can do that by Control-Left Clicking on the thumbnail.

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After you have selected the Vector Mask Thumbnail, we can go to the bottom of the right toolbar and select the Add Layer Mask button. This will add a layer mask to the object we have created.

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Now we can select the Layer Mask Thumbnail so that we may single it out for changes. You then can select Control-D, to deselect the layer.

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Now we can go to the top toolbar and select (Filter, Blur, and Gaussian Blur%u2026). Select a ration of 4.0 pixels to make it an even blur.

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Now you will see that the Layer Mask is blurred by the filter we have just implemented.

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Now you can select the Layer Mask Thumbnail. You can do this by pressing Alt-Left Click to the layer mask available.

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After selecting the thumbnail, select (Image, Adjustments, Levels%u2026).

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You will now see a graph with three pyramids on the edges from 0-255. The closer you bring the three triangles to the middle the smoother your object is going to look. This is where you are able to play around with how your object will look with the variances of the degrees. If you have something special in mind you can adjust this how you please. I brought my pyramids rather close to the middle. It seemed if I brought them too close the smoothness almost became too smooth to use for a picture.

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Here you can see the selection I made and what it looks like on the screen.

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Press "OK" and you will end up at this screen.

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Now you should select the Layer Mask Thumbnail. Use a right-click to bring up a menu

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The menu that you see when you right-click the Layer Mask Thumbnail will look like the illustration below. Please select the Add Layer Mask to Selection option.

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You will see now that a dotted line is now around the object of the layer mask.

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Now you will press Alt-Left Click on the Layer Mask Thumbnail to complete the implementation of the layer mask to the object.

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Now you select Control-D to get rid of the dotted lines and deselect the Layer Mask Thumbnail.

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Now you can make the background visible again and look how smoother it is on a white background after it has been smoothed.

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This process to smooth the edges of objects is a great tool that anyone with a little patience can use to improve the look of their objects. It does not matter whether you are using it for pictures or for web content. I hope that this tutorial has taught you a few features that the Adobe Photoshop CS3 has to offer. Please remember to check back with us frequently for more unique tutorials by the website owner. If you want to submit your own tutorials or be informed of updates to our website please join the newsletter, which is sent bi-weekly.

This Adobe Photoshop CS3 tutorial will demonstrate how you can make a figure in an image pop-up from the background and the image border itself. It is a very cool effect if you do it correctly. It also works better if you have a better image to work with than the one you see below. However, this should be good enough to demonstrate what is possible. I hope that you find a better use for it than I have. I have found this useful to use in newsletters when you send out pictures of people and it makes the scene come to life and everybody feels really good about themselves. Enough of the chit-chat though. Let's continue with the tutorial.

First, let's open up the picture we want an object to jump out of!

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Now we must change the name of the picture layer from background to something else and then copy it. You must also create a new layer and drag it to the bottom of the layer list.

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Now we will change the background color of the image to white.

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Now you can see the new white background layer.

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The next thing you want to do is select the layer that is on top of the list.

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Then select the Quick Selection Tool.

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Use the Quick Selection tool to trace the object that you want to pop-out of the image.

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Now you want to right-click on that area and select (inverse). This will select the outside area of what you have selected. Then you can press the delete button or right-click and delete and that area will be erased. That is when you will see the white background from the bottom most level.

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Now select the layer that is in the second position.

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Now we will take a section of the picture that we want to reain inside of the picture frame. Anything outside of this region will either disappear or become part of the pop-out effect.

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Now will select the "Mask Button" that is below the layers. You can see my cursor pointing to it.

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Now you have a finished project. A little weak in its effect and maybe not appealing, but it works none the less.

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I am sure you will have much better ideas of what to do with this knowledge and how to use it. Now that I think about it I think that I could use it in some places right now that would help me out a little. I think I will get to work on that. Speaking of learning things, you should invest some time in learning more yourself!

If you are looking for how you can possibly learn more about Adobe Photoshop or any other Adobe product there are some really good tutorial software programs that teach very well. Most of them provide video tutorials that take you step by step through every feature and process within each product in detail. The possibility of getting lost or losing focus is minimal because you are in control of the rate of speed that you learn. I personally recommend Total Training because of its great information and detail. They are also a partner of Adobe. Digital Media Studios also has a very good series of products that may be a better solution for some individuals. Remember that with time you can unlock the Adobe Guru in you!

Hello Adobe Software Tutorial visitors,

Today's tutorial will be how you can take your photos and digital pictures and do skin correction. You may have seen sometimes when you take a picture that maybe your child had a jelly stain on her body or they puked on you at an opportune moment. Maybe you have some problems with your skin that you want to erase when you show your picture to people online. This tutorial can help you achieve this type of effect easily and effectively. All you need is Adobe Photoshop CS3 and a computer to follow this tutorial on my website. In light this, lets begin the tutorial.

1. Open up the image editing program Adobe Photoshop CS3.
2. Open the scanned photo or image that is causing you the problem.
3. Zoom in on the problem so that it fills up about 50% of the screen.
4. Image #1
5. Now what we want to do after we recognize the problem area is find a place that is similar to what the problem area used to look like. You can use another part of the body or clothing or even take it from another photo if the conditions are similar with lighting, shadows, and tans. I believe it is optimal to take it from the same photo area. I have done this below.
6. Image #2
7. Now you should head to the 7th tool down on the row on the left. It should be a bandage looking tool. Click and hold on the tool to bring up the other features for it. Within these features, you will see a tool called the patch tool. Use this to take a sample area that is bigger than the problem from another part of photo.
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9. Once you have selected this area, right click the area and you will receive some options. You want to select the option (Use patch as Destination). You can see this below.
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11. Now that you have created the patch and it knows that it will be used as a destination, you must move it over the problem area. You can see this being done below.
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13. Once you have dropped it into place, you will have the final product.
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I believe there are many situations that you may come across that you will have to use this feature to fix things that are wrong in your photos. Maybe somebody thought they were funny, but maybe you don't want to remember them or show them to other people. I would go back over my baby photos and erase some things if I could. I don't have that option though. However, you can do whatever you want with your personal photos. Seeing that you have visited this tutorial, you probably want to learn a lot more about Adobe Photoshop CS3 or other Adobe products as well. If you are I have a couple recommendations that will get you started. I am well aware of Total Training has the best education series out for Adobe products at this time. Adobe has made them their certified partner in training software and features them on their website. You can't go wrong with a product certified by the software they educate about. Remember that if you really want to become good all you have to do is work hard and you can unlock the Adobe guru in you!