[ Evolved's Quick PS Tips ]

[Evolved]

I will be updating this periodically with beginner/intermediate photoshop tutorials. Many of you may already know about the techniques that I post. If you do, good; if you don't, great!

[Evolved]

Perfectly Rounded Edges & Custom Edges:

Have you ever wanted perfectly rounded edges on an image? Are you tired of using the lasso tool, or eraser to get it just right? There's an easier way.

Original/Final

1. Open your image in Photoshop
2. Make a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N) below your image
3. Click on your Shape Tool
   
4. On your top tool bar select Shape Layers, and Rounded Rectangle Tool (adjust the radius as needed)
   
5. Draw on the bottom layer using the shape tool, with the settings you just selected. The shape that you draw will be the final size/shape of the image.
6. Now, click and highlight the top layer (the one with your picture/image).
7. Press Ctrl+G

[Evolved]

Quick edit of a photo

This is a technique that I use to quickly edit photos, to add more vibrant colors, better contrast, and a softer feel. I found some random ugly chick on www.sxc.hu and decided to use her... lol

1. Open your image in photoshop
2. Make a copy of your image, and place it above your original image layer
3. With your top layer selected add the filter Filter>Noise>Dust & Scratches (adjust the filter to where it looks something like this)
4. With your top layer selected add the filter Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur (adjust the filter to where it looks something like this)
5. With the top layer selected add the filter Filter>Noise>Add Noise (adjust the filter to where it looks something like this)
6. With the top layer selected click Layer>Layer Style>Blending Options...
7. Change the "Blend Mode" to "Hard Light"
8. Merge the Layers (Layer>Flatten Image)
9. Adjust the Levels (Ctrl+L) and Hue/Saturation (Ctrl+U) to your liking.

You're done.

Original


Final


Side Note: If you find a good technique that you prefer and want to be able to use it again in the future, you can save an action script in Photoshop and reuse the same series of filters/effects by simply doing the following...

1. Open your Actions Window (Alt+F9)
2. Create a New Action
3. Name it whatever you want, and keep the other default settings
4. Click "Record" (after you click "Record" Photoshop will begin recording any action you take. Whenever you are finished using your technique, simply click the stop button.)

Now, whenever you want to use that same series of effects, you simply click on that action script!