Practical Photoshop November 2020

PHOTOSHOP 2021 UPDATES EXPLAINED ▮ Get to grips with all the latest Lightroom and Photoshop tools CREATE THE SPOOKY COVER ▮ Make a smoky bat effect for Halloween with simple skills GET CREATIVE WITH LAB ▮ Use LAB mode to control and boost your colors WATER BALLOON PORTRAITS ▮ Learn how to shoot and edit fun watery portraits LIGHTROOM SKILLS ▮ Tone your videos in Lightroom with simple controls DOWNLOAD THE PROJECT FILES To download this issue's files, type the following link into your web browser on your PC or Mac: http://bit.ly/pho_116 FIND US HERE… http://bit.ly/practweet http://bit.ly/pracface Also available on: http://tiny.cc/4dw9ky http://tiny.cc/rew9ky http://tiny.cc/8ew9ky…

The headline new feature in Photoshop 2021 is this AI-powered tool. You can now automatically replace a sky. Either choose a new sky from the set supplied by Adobe, or select one from your own image library instead. Slick, quick and intelligent, the new tool can isolate skies even when seen through intricate foreground details like trees and bridges. It also automatically tones the foreground to match the sky you choose. Replacing a sky is nothing new, but now it’s quicker and easier than ever. Let’s look at the key features… 1 CHOOSE A NEW SKY Go to Select > Sky Replacement to begin (you can also use Select >Sky to kickstart your own adjustments if you prefer). You’ll see a list of skies to choose from on the right. Click through…

Neural Filters are one of the most interesting Photoshop updates to appear in a long time – not just for the amazing and amusing things they can do, but also for what they represent. Adobe’s ultimate goal with Neural Filters is to reduce the amount of time you spend on editing tasks by automating processes with machine learning. It’s a broad remit that encompasses all kinds of tasks and effects. There are initially two fully featured Neural Filters: Skin Smoothing and Style Transfer. Then there are six beta filters that are still in development but available for you to try and, if you like, offer feedback. Among the Style Transfer Filters is one that lets you automatically color your black-and-white photos. The machine learning tools analyze the image, identifying the objects…

If you like to make patterns, then this new feature will offer instant gratification. One of the main challenges with patterns has always been in visualizing how it will look once defined. Now Photoshop does the visualizing for you by offering on-the-fly pattern previews. It means that you can zoom out from your base shape and see a preview of it as a continuous repeated pattern. Any changes you make to the shape are instantly updated across the entire screen. It’s a big improvement that elevates pattern-making, making it more accessible and more fun for everyone. WATCH THE VIDEO https://bit.ly/3dI3JOd…

1 BRIDGE BETTER WITH VIDEO The image-browsing program Bridge now integrates with Premiere and Media Encoder as well as Photoshop and Camera Raw. You can now scrub through video previews in Bridge and select several clips to open as a sequence in Premiere. You can also export videos to Media Encoder to re-encode with a right-click. 2 LIGHTROOM CC WATERMARKS As well as adding text watermarks to your images, you can now overlay your own graphics and logos, allowing you to stamp your images to help prevent theft and demonstrate ownership. The feature is found under Custom share options on macOS and Windows, and Export As share options on mobile and web. 3 LIGHTROOM CC/CLASSIC COLOR GRADING Color grading of your photos in Lightroom (and Camera Raw) has taken a big step forward with the…

In this tutorial we’ll show you how to warp smoke into any shape you like. With Halloween this month, we’ve opted for a spooky bat shape, but you can choose any shape. We’ve supplied a range of smoke images, but why not shoot your own? (See our smoky portrait tutorial from issue 110 to find out how). If you prefer to watch and learn, then follow along with the accompanying video. 01 DROP IN A SHAPE To begin, go to File > New, set a size and choose Contents: Black then click OK. Drag and drop the bat image – or any other shape you like – into the image. If you need to resize it, press Cmd/Ctrl+T to enter Transform Mode and use the box handles to resize. Go to the…