Photoshop FAQ
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Okay, so here's what we envision for the Photoshop FAQ project.
[edit] The Goal
To create the most helpful frequently asked questions (FAQ) page for Adobe Photoshop on the Web, not the one that is already in the Photoshop help section. It is intended to aid Photoshop users with the experience from the fellow users or it's called Consumer to Consumer (C2C) service.
Not a bad goal, right?
[edit] What You Can Do Right Now
- Look at the FAQ list below.
- Make it a little better. Add a question, answer a question, improve the organization, add a link to your website where you answer the question in more detail - you get the picture.
[edit] Questions or Ideas?
Visit the Talk page for this project. We'll watch it closely and try to answer right away.
Here are some ideas from the members.
Thank you for your help!
[edit] Photoshop Wiki FAQs
[edit] Who's involved at this wiki anyway?
See the User Directory. Add yourself too!
[edit] Photoshop FAQs
[edit] 
Beginner Questions
Beginner Questions [edit] What is Photoshop?
Adobe Photoshop (Or commonly, Photoshop), is the industry standard graphic editing program published by Adobe Systems. The software is currently in its 10th edition, named Creative Suite 3, with CS4 set for released in late 2008/early 2009. It will also be the first 64-bit Photoshop on consumer microcomputers. Photoshop is popular with professional designers and novices alike due to its intuitively simple interface, powerful brush engine, and a multitude of tools capable of everything from photo retouching to video editing.
The wide feature-set also makes Photoshop the number one choice for both print based publications and digital images. For example, the CMYK color mode is ideal for magazine design, whereas the 'Save for web & devices' can compress images to small filesizes, ideal for uploading onto the web.
[edit] Where can I get Photoshop?
You can buy Photoshop from Adobe Systems, where prices start at $649 USD for a new copy of the standard edition. If you have an older version of Photoshop, you can upgrade from $199 USD. One option is to buy a older version (make sure it's legal!) at a thrift store, flea market, or on eBay and then upgrade to the most recent version.
Current educators and students can qualify for an education discount. Those who qualify can purchase Photoshop and other Adobe software at a discounted rate through Adobe or an authorized education re-seller, including campus bookstores.
Here is a small list of some popular sites:
- Campus Tech
- Academic Superstore
- gradware
- Adobe's Education section
- Also be sure to check with your local campus bookstore and ask what kind of discounts they offer on their software
[edit] What can I do with Photoshop?
Photoshop was originally conceived to edit already made images, but it has exploded out from that into everything you see today. It is a fantastic tool for digital photographers to enhance their photographs. With Photoshop, you can perform almost any tasks that any graphic artist and designer, from newbies to Gurus, could ask for as well. You can manipulate, retouch, enhance and even alter photos and pictures with no boundaries but your wildest imagination. You can create the most creative ads, logos, brochures, posters, or any other graphic related media with sophisticated tools of Adobe Photoshop. You can also add filter effects, transformation, and adjustment to your so-called "Untitled-1" project. With Photoshop, almost anything's possible. Imagination is the keyword. As the saying goes, "Can you imagine what life without Photoshop would be?".
A common misconception is that having Photoshop makes you a great designer/artist, but that's just not the case. Having Photoshop can't make you a professional-level designer any more than a full suite of Craftsman tools can make you a skilled an expert craftsman. Each and every person has a style of creating things in Photoshop that is unique to them because whether it's influenced by other digital artists or from somewhere else, each and every person is unique.
Take all the knowledge you learn from here, and elsewhere on the interwebs, and learn to use Photoshop as the tool it actually is, then you'll realize all that Photoshop really can do.
[edit] How long does it take to be able to use Photoshop accordingly?
It truly depends what you want to do, how motivated you are and how creative you are. If you want to just add some "oomph" to pictures, bring out and change colours, contrasts and lighting, getting rid of red eyes, these general manipulations can be learned in a matter of days with a few good online tutorials and some time to kill.
The real difficulty in learning photoshop is to find your way around the interface. It's often difficult for beginners to find their way back to something nice that they once found. This can be overcome with a few note cards and a bit of searching, patience, and above all by playing around with what you've got in front of you. However, learning this is time consuming, but as you advance with the software you'll start to feel alot better about it and you'll get the results you wish on the way.
Nevertheless, good comprehension and understanding of the software can be attained in a matter of months, but to really get the experience and the "eye" to make things really work, to make illustrations and totally realistic photo manipulations it can take years of practice.
[edit] Is there anybody who could say, "I have mastered everything in Photoshop."?
This question relies on your definition of 'mastered'. There are people out there who know every shortcut, every filter to a T and can navigate through the menu's like they're strolling through the park. To some people, this person may have mastered Photoshop because they have mastered the controls, but whilst one person might know every shortcut, someone who might only know a few could create a far better piece of work. To coin an old phrase "Don't judge a book by it's cover", even though a user might not know every shortcut or know what each filter does precisely, a creative mind and a mouse are all you need to master Photoshop and create a beautiful piece of work that can inspire others to learn more until in their own eyes they become a 'master' of Photoshop. The beauty of Photoshop is that there are multiple ways of accomplishing a particular result. Some may claim to have 'mastered' a certain technique, but there may be another solution that could be quicker, more viable and/or less destructive of the original image.
[edit] What Separates Photoshop from Other Image Editors Out There?
Photoshop is the flagship product of Adobe (side by side with PDF reader) and has single handedly managed to conquer the image editing market and keep a firm grip on it for some time. Photoshop stands out from other image editors by making options simplistic so that a creative mind that lacks technical expertise can create beautiful images after only a few minutes of tinkering. The numerous filters and image adjustment options that come built in to Photoshop make it an ideal starting ground to edit a photo or create an image from scratch.
Expandability is always a major factor in popular software and Photoshop is no exception. One of the most popular options Photoshoppers tend to do is create and share brushes. Brushes are the stencils and shapes of Photoshop that can play any part in a creation, from a few stars here to big gothic swirls emerging from the corners of the image.
It looks like Photoshop is here to stay and with constant revisions and upgrades, it only gets better. The universal standard appears to have been set, and with such a fantastic, easy to use, affordable and flexible product - why shouldn't it have been?
[edit] What's with all the different "flavours" of Photoshop these days?
Currently, the following flavours of Photoshop are available:
- Photoshop CS3 Extended has a few extra bells and whistles of particular interest to people processing video and 3D works, or in the area of CAD and manufacturing design, for example.
- Photoshop CS3 is the industry standard image processing package.
- Photoshop Lightroom is designed specifically for photographers.
- Photoshop Elements 6.0 is the current entry level image processing package from Adobe. Comparatively, it has fewer features than Photoshop CS3; however, as a product it is tailored more for the consumer market.
- Photoshop Express is Adobe's online image processing package. It is currently in beta but offers some online storage and online editting possibilities.Adobe Photoshop Express
[edit] Is it recommended that every graphic designer/ artist should know how to use Photoshop?
Definitely. Since photoshop is one of, if not the, most commonly used photo manipulating program. It can be used alone or to enhance effects made in other programs, even hand drawn art.
[edit] Who invented Photoshop?
Photoshop was the creation of PhD student Thomas Knoll, whom with the help of his brother John, recommended he turn it into a full-fledged image editing program.
In 1987, Thomas Knoll, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, began writing a program on his Macintosh Plus to display grayscale images on a monochrome display. This program, called Display, caught the attention of his brother John Knoll, an Industrial Light & Magic employee, who recommended Thomas turn it into a full-fledged image editing program. Thomas took a six month break from his studies in 1988 to collaborate with his brother on the program, which had been renamed ImagePro. Later that year, Thomas renamed his program Photoshop and worked out a short-term deal with scanner manufacturer Barneyscan to distribute copies of the program with a slide scanner; a "total of about 200 copies of Photoshop were shipped" this way.
During this time, John traveled to Silicon Valley and gave a demonstration of the program to engineers at Apple Computer Inc. and Russell Brown, art director at Adobe. Both showings were successful, and Adobe decided to purchase the license to distribute in September 1988. While John worked on plug-ins in California, Thomas remained in Ann Arbor writing program code. Photoshop 1.0 was released in 1990 for Macintosh exclusively.
[edit] Where can I find the absolute beginner guide to Photoshop?
You can find it here.
[edit] Photoshop Tips
Photoshop Tips [edit] Where can I find Photoshop tutorials?
Your wish is our command. Check out the Photoshop Website Directory, and of course, PSDTUTS.
[edit] What are some good online Photoshop how-to videos?
Boy, have we got a Photoshop video list for you!
[edit] Are there any useful Photoshop magazines around?
Yes, there are some Photoshop magazines around.
Currently in English, UK:
Currently in English, US:
PSDMag is available in several languages online.
Currently in French: France
Advanced Photoshop - I think this may be a translation of the UK publication.
[edit] What are some good Photoshop community in the web?
International are there hundreds of photoshop communities to find, and most of them is useful in one or more ways. This is a bunch of my all time favourites:
[edit] Are there any useful plug-ins for Photoshop?
Check this useful selection plug-in at Vertus Fluid Mask. According to them, it's the best edge cutting technology available.
[edit] Where can I find useful Pen Tool Tutorial?
There is a lot of useful tutorials out there. Here are some examples
[edit] Basic Photoshop Concept
Basic Photoshop Concept [edit] Which file format should I use?
One of the advantages of Photoshop is that it supports a wide range of standard image formats for almost any purpose you can think of.
.PSD - Photoshop Document The native filetype is .PSD (Photoshop Document), which you should always have a copy of if you ever intend to make any changes to the image, as all information such as layers, actions, editable type, and paths are saved. Files in this format are compatible with the other software in Adobes Creative Suite, which makes large cross-media projects easy to work with. Due to all the information about the image being preserved, PSD files often have large file sizes. Advantages
- Inter-operability with other software
- Fully editable version of image
- And of course, the namesake of PSDTUTS :)
Disadvantages
- When working with images with many layers or large dimensions, file sizes can become large. Not a problem for people with large hard drives, but designers working from laptops may find PSD files quickly eating up their free space.
Following are the definition of several Photoshop file format:
- The .PSD (Photoshop Document) format stores an image with support for most imaging options available in Photoshop. These include layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, Clipping paths, and duotone settings. This is in contrast to many other file formats (e.g. .EPS or .GIF) that restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable functionality. Photoshop's popularity means that the .PSD format is widely used, and it is supported to some extent by most competing software.
- The .PSB (Large Document Format) format is a newer version of .PSD designed for files over 2 gigabytes.
- The .PDD (PhotoDeluxe Document) format is a version of .PSD that only supports the features found in the discontinued PhotoDeluxe software.
You can use the TIFF file format which retains all of the PSD features and it occupies less size than the PSD, since you can apply LZH or ZIP compression. The main disadvantage is the opening and saving times, longer than PSD opening/saving times because of the decompression/compression that is performed each time a TIFF is opened/saved.
[edit] What is resolution?
The display resolution of a digital television or computer display typically refers to the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube (CRT) and flat panel or projection displays using fixed picture-element (pixel) arrays.
One use of the term "display resolution" applies to fixed-pixel-array displays such as plasma display panels (PDPs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), digital light processing (DLP) projectors, or similar technologies, and is simply the physical number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display (e.g., 1280×1024). A consequence of having a fixed grid display is that for multiformat video inputs all displays need a "scaling-engine" (a digital video processor that includes a memory array) to match the incoming picture format to the display.
Note that the use of the word resolution here is misleading. The term "display resolution" is usually used to mean pixel dimensions (e.g., 1280×1024), which does not tell you anything about the resolution of the display on which the image is actually formed (which would typically be given in pixels per inch (digital) or number of lines measured horizontally, per picture height (analog).
Screen resolution is measured in PPI (Pixels Per Inch). Print resolution is measured in DPI (Dots Per Inch).
You can find further info here.
[edit] How do I choose the most suitable resolution?
It really depends on what your artwork is for. For most print material, it is recommended to use at least 300 DPI (dots per inch) while a lot of screen-optimized artwork works fine at only 72 DPI.
If using a printing house or other outside printing service, it is important to confirm optimal resolution for printed material. You may be given the LPI (lines per inch) value if the printer uses halftone screens. DPI is then calculated at 1.5 to 2 times LPI.
[edit] Does that mean setting higher resolution will always result in better quality?
You do not have to set the highest resolution possible in order to obtain a good quality image. It all depends on the medium that you are going to use. If you plan to show your work in computer graphic, resolution of 72 DPI is enough. Meanwhile if you want to obtain a higher quality print, you need to adjust the resolution to minimum 300 DPI. The lager the print format, the higher the resolution it requires.
[edit] What are Vector files?
There are essentially two types of images that you can produce with Photoshop: Vector and Raster images. The main difference between these is scalability. Vectors are resolution independent, meaning they can be infinitely scaled up and down without adverse effects to their clarity. Raster (pixel) images on the other hand are dependent on their resolution (DPI, LPI) to produce the best clarity for their application. More often than not, a raster image can be scaled down with no loss in clarity but cannot be scaled up with the same result.
The Shape and Pen Tools will allow you to create vector shapes within Photoshop, however, it is also a common design practice to produce vector shapes in Adobe Illustrator or another vector-based drawing program and then import them into Photoshop as paths.
Vectors are commonly used in typesetting and logo design. Raster images are preferable for photo manipulation and producing more organic and realistic results.
[edit] Vectors Will Do Your Math Homework!
The reason vector images can be scaled without losing resolution is that they are based on math to calculated curves. The math based image can accommodate dramatic increases in scale and not loose its detail. Since raster graphics are based on pixel placement, dramatic increases in size will almost always harm resolution and clarity. When manipulating vector shapes using Photoshop you will notice a thin outline of the specified shape. At specific points along this path are tiny squares (or anchors). These anchors are the spots along the path that a user can specify what sort of curve the line will have. By creating curves along a path, an anchor point will have one or two "handles" connected to it. These handles control the curve on either side of the anchor.
[edit] Saving Vector Files
If you want the vector images preserved in your Photoshop image, you should either save as .PSD file (Photoshop's native file format) or as a .EPS file (combination vector/bitmap). These two file formats can then be used by other graphics programs (Quark, Illustrator, InDesign, etc..).
[edit] What are the differences between Color Fill and Opacity?
The color fill setting adjusts the opacity of the whole layer besides layer effects. The opacity setting adjusts the opacity of the whole layer, including the layer effects.
[edit] What are the advantages of using Smart Objects?
Smart objects are non-destructive, allowing for increased flexibility. Smart objects can be vector graphics imported from Adobe Illustrator, or composed of any number of Photoshop layers. A smart object is treated almost like a separate file, and can be edited independently of other parts of the file.
Double-clicking on a smart object will allow you to edit it and view all of its layers. After you commit the changes, you will be redirected to the document containing the smart object.
When not using a smart object, the effects of scaling down are permanent. With a smart object however, you have the option to scale bitmapped or raster images back up to original size without losing quality. Vector graphics imported as smart objects will be resolution independent.
This video on the Adobe website demonstrates the difference between placing a vector image from Illustrator as pixels versus a smart object.
[edit] Beyond Basic Photoshop Concept
Beyond Basic Photoshop Concept [edit] Photoshop Filter Effect
[edit] What is Photoshop Filter Effect?
Answer here.
[edit] What are the advantages of using Smart Filters?
One of the advantages of using the smart filters is that they are nondestructive to the original image. Any filter applied to a Smart Object becomes a Smart Filter. You can adjust, remove, or hide Smart Filters. You can apply any Photoshop filter as smart filters except Extract, Liquify, Pattern Maker, and Vanishing Points filters.
[edit] What is the function of Extract Filter?
The Extracting Filter can be a very useful filter giving you the ability cut out for example a female model. This filter is a great help when it comes to separting complex things like hair, because it will automatically separate the background and the hair. Also this way of cutting out objects is faster than the Lasso-Tool or the Pen-Tool. Yet some people prefer the other techniques. You can find further info here. .
[edit] What is the function of Liquify Filter?
The Liquify filter is a filter that comes with Photoshop for the purpose of distorting images in a variety of ways. This tool can be handy for minor touch-ups, making humorous images, or just goofing off. You can find further info here.
[edit] What is the function of Reduce Noise filter?
Answers here.
[edit] How do they derive the mathematical equations and calculations for the filter effects?
Answers here.
[edit] What is the main concept behind the usefulness of Magic Wand tool?
The magic wand, like the marquee and lasso tools, is a selection tool. The magic wand selects regions of a similar color, making it easy to cut backgrounds out of images, or even to take a single object from it. You can find further info here.
[edit] Photoshop Interface
Photoshop Interface
[edit] What are Guides in Photoshop?
Guides are light blue lines that help you line up measurements and elements on your canvas. Once you’ve activated the rulers around your canvas, all you need to do is click on the ruler and drag to pull a guideline down. These lines do not print.
You can find further info here.
[edit] How do I use a Layer Mask with a Smart Object?
It doesn't take a lot of work with Smart Objects to realize you can't link a layer mask to a smart object. Every time you move the smart object, the mask doesn't move along. If you move the mask, the smart object doesn't move. So... how do you work around this, and still leverage the benefit of layer masks? By placing the smart object in its own group and adding(or moving) the layer mask to the group. You can do this by clicking once on the Smart Object in your layers palette. Next, hit ⌘+G (Control+G on a PC) to move the Smart Object into its own group. If you had already added a layer mask to the Smart Object, just click and drag it up to the new group you just created (Be sure to click between the layer mask and the folder icon on the group to link the mask to the group). If you haven't created the mask yet, click once on the group in the layers palette, and click the "Add Layer Mask" button in the Layers palette to add the layer mask to the group. Now, whenever you want to move your Smart Object, just click the group it is in (that has the layer mask) and move it!
[edit] How to apply Smart Filter?
Your object must be a Smart Object. You can prepare them in two ways, let's take a walk: 1. draw some shapes using Rectangle tool, draw in two or more different shape layers 2. select the layers and from the layers panel contextual menu, choose "Convert to Smart Object", this will group the layers into one layer. 3. finally, go to the Filters menu and apply a filter, choose some filter you never use, like Gaussian Blur :D You will se that an icon is added to the right of the layer, two overlayed circles, this indicates that there is hope for the world and that your Smart Filter has been applied successfully. Close the panel. 4. another icon that has been added to the layer is an arrow. If you click it, it will display the Smart Filters list along with a layer mask to define where to apply the filters. You can edit at all times the filters you added here by double-clicking on them.
The other way involves a different step 2: instead of choosing "Convert to Smart Object" you can go to the Filters menu and choose "Convert for Smart Filters" and this will group into one Smart Object all the layers that were selected.
[edit] Where can I find Photoshop Shortcuts?
You can find it here.
[edit] Color Setting and Management
Color Setting and Management [edit] What is a Color Profile?
In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). Profiles describe the color attributes of a particular device or viewing requirement by defining a mapping between the device source or target color space and a profile connection space (PCS). This PCS is either CIELAB (L*a*b*) or CIEXYZ. Mappings may be specified using tables, to which interpolation is applied, or through a series of parameters for transformations.
Every device that captures or displays color can have its own profile. Some manufacturers provide profiles for their products, and there are several products that allow end users to generate their own color profile, typically through the use of a colorimeter.
The ICC defines the format precisely but does not define algorithms or processing details. This means there is room for variation between different applications and systems that work with ICC profiles.
[edit] What are color modes?
The Color Mode you’ve selected determines the color model Photoshop uses when dealing with your image. Color modes determine the number of colors and channels available to you.
Color modes can be selected through the dialogue box that appears when you create a new image, or via the menu under Image > Mode. It’s best to decide which color mode suits the job from the start.
Several form of Color Mode:
- Bitmap
- Grayscale
- Duotone
- Indexed
- RGB
- CMYK
- Lab Color
- Multichannel
[edit] What are hue and saturation means?
Hue is one of the main properties of a color described with names such as "red", "yellow", etc. The two other main properties are lightness and colorfulness. Hue is also one of the three dimensions in some colorspaces along with saturation, and lightness. Usually, colors with the same hue are distinguished with adjectives referring to their lightness and/or chroma, such as with "light blue", "pastel blue", "vivid blue". Exceptions include brown, which is a dark orange,[1] and pink, a light red with reduced chroma. In painting color theory, a hue refers to a pure color—one without tint or shade (added white or black pigment, respectively).[citation needed] A hue is an element of the color wheel.
Saturation is one of three coordinates in the HSL and HSV color spaces. Note that virtually all computer software implementing these spaces use a very rough approximation to calculate the value they call "saturation", such as the formula described for HSV and this value has little, if anything, to do with the description shown here. The saturation of a color is determined by a combination of light intensity and how much it is distributed across the spectrum of different wavelengths. The purest color is achieved by using just one wavelength at a high intensity, such as in laser light. If the intensity drops, so does the saturation. To desaturate a color in a subtractive system (such as watercolor), you can add white, black, gray, or the hue's complement.
[edit] What are the effects of adjusting color level?
Level of a certain image refers to the tonal range and color balance of it. We use the Levels Dialog Box to correct them by adjusting intensity levels of image shadows, midtones, and highlights. In Photoshop, the adjusment is guided by Level Histogram, a visual guide for adjusting the image key tones. If we adjust the color level, we are adjusting the black point and white point in an image.
[edit] What is a gradient color?
Linked to the mathematical concept of gradients, gradient color is the gradual blend of color which can be seen as an even gradation from low to high values.
[edit] What is Lab Color?
A Lab color space is a color-opponent space with dimension L for lightness and a and b for the color-opponent dimensions, based on nonlinearly-compressed CIE XYZ color space coordinates.
The coordinates of the Hunter 1948 L, a, b color space are L, a, and b.[1][2] However, Lab is now more often used as an informal abbreviation for the CIE 1976 (L*, a*, b*) color space (also called CIELAB, whose coordinates are actually L*, a*, and b*). Thus the initials Lab by themselves are somewhat ambiguous. The color spaces are related in purpose, but differ in implementation.
More Information: Lab Color
[edit] Why would I use CMYK Color mode?
CMYK stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow and Key (black). It is the colour mode best suited when you wish to print an image. RGB is best for content which is to be used on the internet or on your computer, and generally images which aren't intended to be printed. RGB uses red green and blue light to create an image on a black screen, whereas CMYK uses colour to subtract from the whiteness of paper. It is good practice to use CMYK when you are preparing a printed document simply because it prevents most nasty surprises you can get in the rendering of the colours once printed if you were to use RGB instead. There is a third colour system you can use for print called Pantone® Matching System. However, it's a lot more tricky to use- and really expensive to print compared to standard CMYK printing.
[edit] What are the color bits, e.g. 8 bits/channel means? When would I change it?
Color bits refers to color depth, a computer graphics term describing the number of bits used to represent the color of a single pixel in a bitmapped image. This idea can also be referred to as bits per pixel (bpp), especially when specified along with the number of bits used (eg. 8-bit, 16-bit). Higher color depth gives a broader range of distinct colors, so for example, 8-bit color can display a maximum of 256 colors at any one time.
[edit] Digital Photography
Digital Photography [edit] What causes Red Eye effect and how do I get rid of it in Photoshop?
Red eyes are caused when you take a photo in a low lighted room and when using the flash in line with the lens. It is simply when light bounces off the retina in the eye. The retina is covered in tiny blood vessels, making light bounce off it and making a red spot instead of the normal black pupil in photography. You can make sure you won't have red eyes on your photos by taking pictures without flash and by increasing the ambient lighting, reducing the shutter speed or opening the camera's aperture more which will adjust the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor. If you have a removable flash, you can also get it out of the line of the lens, or even better bounce the light off a surface such as a ceiling or a wall. If you didn't do all this, or if it didn't work as you wanted you can always use Photoshop's Red Eye Tool (J), in the same set as the Spot Healing Brush, the Healing Brush and the Patch Tool. There are two settings to adjust with the Red Eye Tool. The Pupil Size: Pretty clear, this will adjust the pupil size. The bigger the pupil's size on the photo, the higher you have to put the amount of the pupil size. Darken Amount: This will set how much Photoshop has to darken the red eyes. You can leave this most of the times on 50%.
[edit] What is a Contact Sheet?
A Contact Sheet will allow you easily preview and catalog groups of images by displaying a series of thumbnails on a single page. You can automatically create and place thumbnails on a page using the Contact Sheet II command in Photoshop.
[edit] What is HDR picture/ photo?
HDRstands for High Dynamic Range. With a HDR Picture you can capture a scene like your eye sees it, while the camera isn´t able to capture it because there are lots of shadows and bright lights. To make an HDR photo you take a still picture three times. One with low exposure on the camera, one with normal and one with high exposure and then you combine the photos to make one. Since the pictures were all taken with different exposures it picks up the different lighting. Thus, when you combine the photos it gives it a really interesting effect. There's a HDR image file format developed by Industrial Light & Magic, OpenEXR, which is licensed under the BSD license. You can get all the info on the OpenEXR site. There's a plugin for Photoshop on the downloads section to import OpenEXR images into Photoshop.
[edit] How do I create HDR picture/ photo?
To create an HDR picture, you need to take at least three pictures with exacly the same scene. In one picture you set the exposure to low, in one to normal and one to high. It works with three pictures, but if you have more pictures you get a better result. After you got all the photos, you can merge them to one, which creates a nice effect.
[edit] Are there any specific HDR softwares?
There are a fair few pieces of software that can produce HDR images; in fact, Photoshop CS3 carries HDR support. But the best stand alone program out today is Photomatix.
[edit] Add new questions here
[edit] Photoshop Easter Eggs
Photoshop Easter Eggs [edit] What is an Easter Egg?
An Easter Egg is wacky things commonly found in computer programs made by the programmer and is usually just for fun. And It is indeed fun to find and look at the easter eggs!
[edit] What are Photoshop easter eggs?
Well, there are couple of it found already.
- 1. Merlin the Wizard. Hold on Alt key and from the Layers palette menu, choose "Palette Options".
- 2. Adobe Red Pill.* Hold both CTRL+ALT, click on the "Help" menu and select "About Photoshop".
- 3. Photoshop Extra Secret!*
- Do the "Adobe Red Pill" easter egg and Print Screen it.
- Create a new document and paste the Adobe Red Pill screenshot.
- Use the Level Command (Ctrl + L).
- Drag the black arrow in the input level to the right. A face with a name and year will appear! Who is it? Google him out.
- Reset the level adjustment.
- This time drag the white arrow in the input level to the left. There comes two red footprints of Electric Cat!
*For Photoshop CS 3 only
[edit] Photoshop Code Name
Before a certain software is officially published, usually it is named with certain codename, e.g. Before Windows Vista is released, it is called Longhorn. Following are the codename of every Adobe Photoshop version including the latest yet to be published version:
| Version | Code Name | |
| 2.0 | Fast Eddy | |
| 2.5 | Brimstone | |
| 3.0 | Tiger Mountain | |
| 4.0 | Big Electric Cat | |
| 5.0 | Strange Cargo | |
| 6.0 | Venus in Furs | |
| 7.0 | Liquid Sky | |
| CS | Dark matter | |
| CS 2 | Space Monkey | |
| CS 3 | Red Pill | |
| CS 4 | Stonehenge |
