Michael Brown

Michael Brown

Refine Edge, Part 1

Slide Duration:

Table of Contents

Section 1: Introduction
Introduction to Photoshop Elements

19m 3s

Intro
0:00
Course Overview
0:10
What You Will Learn
0:11
Key to Learning Photoshop Elements
1:29
Photoshop Elements or Photoshop?
2:23
Elements Can Do Almost Anything that Photoshop can for Enhancing or Retouching Images
2:24
Photoshop Elements Has Several Features that Photoshop Does Not Have
3:54
Elements is Very User Friendly in It's Layout
4:49
Elements 11 Has Also Incorporated Some Great New Features from Photoshop CS6
5:18
Bottom Line
5:43
Three Separate Programs in One Package
6:12
Organizer
6:13
Camera RAW
6:55
Editor
7:45
Four Simple Categories for Working on an Image
8:01
Corrections
8:02
Selections
8:30
Retouching
9:23
Manipulation
9:42
Demonstration : Using Elements to Work on an Image
10:03
Editing in Camera RAW
10:04
Removing Parts of an Image
11:55
Selection Mask & Adjusting Color
14:06
Adjusting Overall Saturation
17:02
Important Axiom
18:08
The Importance of Quality

19m 6s

Intro
0:00
The Mantra of Quality
1:02
'Garbage In, Garbage Out'
1:03
Setting Up Your Camera
1:50
Camera Settings: JPEG vs. RAW
1:51
Setting Your Camera for RAW Files
5:10
Some Tips on Taking Quality Photos
8:23
Fill the Frame
8:31
Check Your Focus
11:23
Camera Shake
12:39
Exposure
14:05
Shoot Several Shots of a Scene
15:48
Shoot Multiple Angles and Different Focal Lengths
16:51
Lesson Summary
18:40
Light & Color

13m 11s

Intro
0:00
Lesson in Light & Color, Part 1
0:46
What is Light?
0:47
Brightness & Color
1:24
Example of Exposure & Color
2:47
Lesson in Light & Color, Part 2
4:30
Transmitted & Reflected Light
4:31
Why is This Important in Photoshop?
6:27
Color Spaces
7:18
Visible
7:19
Prophoto
7:36
Adobe RGB & sRGB
8:22
CMYK
9:37
To Make This Simple
10:32
Setting Color Spaces
11:28
Setting Color Spaces
11:29
Lesson Summary
12:42
White Balance & Monitor Calibration

17m 21s

Intro
0:00
White Balance
1:45
What is White Balance
1:46
Examples: Lighting Situations
3:03
How Does White Balance Apply in Photoshop Elements?
8:00
Monitor Calibration
8:42
Monitor Calibration Overview
8:43
Calibrating Your Monitor for PC & MAC
11:22
Calibrating to a Printer
14:24
Section 2: Workspace
Overview & Tour

14m 59s

Intro
0:00
Principal Objective of This Course
0:24
Practical Working Knowledge
0:25
Main Work Areas Overview
1:31
The Welcome Screen
1:32
The Organizer Workspace
2:14
The Editor Workspace
2:55
Demonstrations: The Welcome Screen
3:40
The Editor Workspace
5:21
Toolbox
5:22
Tool Options
6:09
Open Recently Edited Items
6:48
Quick, Guided, and Expert Mode
7:12
Create Button
8:37
Panels & Adjustments
8:46
Photo Bin
9:14
The Organizer Workspace
10:00
Importing Images
10:33
Folders & Albums
10:50
Bottom Tools
11:47
Tags and Information
12:18
Create & Share
13:00
Ratings
13:14
Media, People, Places, and Events
13:19
Organizer, Part1: Import & Sort

25m 43s

Intro
0:00
The Organizer Overview
0:17
Objective
0:56
What We Want to Do
1:04
Getting Organized
2:06
Primary Features
3:34
Drop Down Menus & Media Window
3:35
Star Ratings
6:07
Folders, Information Panels, and Albums
6:35
Create & Share Menu
10:20
Bringing Your Images Into Organizer
10:56
Photo Downloader
10:57
Get Images From Existing Files or Folders
18:11
Searching for Missing Items
19:40
Organizing Your Images
20:25
Folders & Albums
20:26
Organizer, Part 2: Sorting, Rating & Refining Images

22m 12s

Intro
0:00
Sorting, Rating & Refining Images
0:07
Albums & Folders Review
0:08
2 More Ways to Add Images to an Album
3:00
Deleting Images
7:56
Sorting and Refining Your Images
10:47
Adding & Changing Star Ratings
11:41
Full Screen View
14:22
Two Up View Comparison & Filtering Images
15:35
Organizer, Part 3: Keywords, People & Places

12m 43s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Sorting Methods
3:53
Sorting by Keywords
3:54
Sorting by People
7:28
Sorting by Places
9:35
The Photo Editor Workspace

29m 5s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
Quick Edit, Guided Edit, and Expert
1:09
Photoshop Elements 10 Workspace vs. 11 Workspace
1:53
Setting Preferences
3:00
Color Picker & Step Back/Fwd
3:01
General Options
4:45
Allow Floating Documents in Expert Mode
5:49
Saving Files
8:02
Performance
9:14
Display & Cursors
10:45
Transparency, Units & Rulers, Guides & Grid
12:12
The New Interface Overview
14:02
The New Interface
14:03
The Menu Bar
15:41
The Options Bar
15:42
The Tool Bar
16:44
The Task Bar
17:28
The Photo Bin & Tool Options Bin
18:27
The Panel Bin
20:46
The Document Window
22:21
Options for Arranging Documents
24:35
The Tool Bar & Important Tool Shortcuts

15m 37s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Photoshop Elements 10 vs. Photoshop Elements 11
0:54
The Tool Bar
3:13
Primary Photoshop Elements Tools - Defined
3:14
Photoshop Elements 11 Tools and One Key Shortcuts
3:32
Important Tools and Their Shortcuts
5:09
Zoom Tool
5:28
Hand Tool
7:41
Move Tool
9:33
Selection Tools
11:00
Spot Healing Brush Tool & Rubber Stamp Tool
11:55
Sponge Tool
12:38
Brush Tool & Eraser Tool
12:54
Gradient Tool
13:11
Text Tool
13:15
Crop Tool
13:24
Brushes Shortcuts
14:24
Lesson Summary
14:56
The Menu Bar & Options Bar

18m 57s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
The Menu Bar
1:46
File Menu
2:08
Edit Menu
3:54
Image Menu
6:27
Enhance Menu
8:00
Layer Menu
8:45
Select Menu
8:56
Filter Menu
9:08
View Menu
9:18
Window Menu
11:09
Help Menu
11:56
Summary
12:11
The Options Bar
12:44
Open
12:45
Quick, Guided, and Expert Overview
13:34
Quick Edit
14:05
Guided Edit
16:03
Expert Mode and Create Buttons
18:02
The Task Bar, Photo Bin, & Panel Bin

17m 7s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
The Task Bar
1:46
The Task Bar Overview
1:47
Photo Bin
2:26
Tools Option
4:14
Undo & Redo
5:50
Rotate
6:12
Layout
6:45
Panels
7:40
Layer
8:13
Effects
8:40
Graphics
11:38
Favorites
12:35
More
13:17
Customize Panels
13:48
Lesson Summary
16:42
Section 3: Camera RAW
Camera RAW, Part 1

10m

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:09
What is RAW and What is JPEG Files?
1:22
JPEG Files
2:03
RAW Files
4:10
JPEG vs. RAW
5:11
Camera RAW
6:30
What is Camera RAW?
6:31
Why Use Camera RAW?
8:13
Camera RAW, Part 2

21m

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
Camera RAW: Tools
1:39
Tool Bar and Tools in Camera RAW
2:14
Camera RAW: Panels
5:15
Camera Calibration Panel
5:53
Basic Panel
7:02
Detail Panel: Sharpening & Noise Reduction
12:53
Saving Image
16:13
Opening JPEG's or TIFF in Camera RAW
18:26
Opening JPEG's or TIFF in Camera RAW
18:27
Section 4: Elements Basics
Image Size, Canvas Size, & Resolution

23m 59s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Image Size & Resolution
0:58
Megapixels
0:59
File Size
1:23
Resolution
1:42
Image Size
1:55
Changing Document Size Only, Maintaining Proportions
2:21
Re-Sampling
8:09
Re-Sampling to Maintain Proportions
8:10
Re-Sampling to Distort Image
13:46
Canvas Size
16:16
Canvas Size
16:17
Sizing for Print & Web
21:52
Sizing for Print & Web
21:53
File Formats

10m 57s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
The Primary File Formats in Photoshop Elements
0:44
PSD
0:55
JPEG
2:00
PNG
3:50
Formats for Saving
5:02
GIF
6:01
PDF
6:43
TIFF
7:43
Photo Project Format
8:42
Lesson Summary
10:12
Saving Your Images

18m 29s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Save & Save As
0:38
Save & Save As
0:39
Save for Web
8:21
Preset: JPEG
10:25
Preset: GIF 32
11:44
Preset: PNG 24
12:28
Save for Web: JPEG Settings
13:04
Lesson Summary
17:30
Value of Using Shortcuts

11m 56s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
Basic Categories in Photoshop Elements
1:11
Basic Categories in Photoshop Elements
1:12
Important Tools and Their Shortcuts
3:32
Key Shortcuts
4:08
Single Key Shortcuts
4:09
Two Keys Shortcuts
4:34
Using Shortcuts Demonstration
6:13
Using Shortcuts Demonstration
6:14
Lesson Summary
10:58
Image Sharpening

18m 17s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
What is Sharpening?
0:30
What is Sharpening?
0:31
Auto Sharpen
0:46
When and How Much to Sharpen?
2:58
Noise Reduction Before Sharpening
3:27
Sharpen Your Image When You First Open It
5:03
Do Not Oversharpen
6:16
Sharpening Methods
8:31
Adjust Sharpen
8:55
Unsharp Mask
11:35
High Pass Filter
13:25
Methods Summary
17:06
Image Enhancement: Quick Edit & Guided Edit Mode

11m 27s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Image Enhancement with Quick Edit Mode
0:24
Quick Edit Mode Overview
0:28
Sharpen
1:43
Exposure
2:11
Color
3:09
Demonstration 2: Flower
3:36
Image Enhancement with Guided Edit Mode
5:18
Sharpen
5:55
Levels
6:10
Enhance Colors
6:49
Recompose
7:25
8:51
Create Pop Art
9:40
Crop, Straighten, Correct Perspective & Distortion

18m 21s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Correct Camera Distortion
3:13
Distortion
3:14
Vignette
4:08
Perspective Control
5:03
Edge Extension
6:00
Correct Perspective
6:25
Perspective Transform
6:26
Distort Transform
7:45
Cropping
9:21
Cropping
9:22
Straightening
12:03
Straightening
12:04
Recompose
14:45
Recompose
14:46
Brushes

23m 6s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
Basic Brushes
1:23
Size & Opacity
1:24
Brush Shapes
4:33
Brush Settings
5:20
Hardness
5:21
Spacing
5:57
Angle
7:39
Scatter
9:03
Fade
10:23
Creating a Custom Brush
11:46
Creating a Custom Brush Demonstration 1
11:47
Creating a Custom Brush Demonstration 2
13:17
Creating Pattern Brush
14:20
Impressionistic Brush
16:57
Impressionistic Brush
16:58
Color Replacement Brush
19:03
Color Replacement Brush
19:04
Gradients & the Paint Bucket Tools

31m 19s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
The Paint Bucket Tool
0:46
Color & Pattern
0:47
Opacity, Tolerance, & Blend Mode
1:09
Paint Bucket Demonstration 1: Filling a Layer
1:27
Paint Bucket Demonstration 2: Creating a Sepia Tone
2:20
Paint Bucket Demonstration 3: Changing Color Using Blend Mode, Opacity, 7 Tolerance
4:15
Paint Bucket Demonstration 4: Adding Pattern to an Image
6:44
The Gradient Tool
8:53
The Gradient Tool
8:54
The Gradient Editor
12:50
The Gradient Editor Overview
12:51
Solid Gradient vs. Noise Gradient
14:20
Color Midpoint
16:37
Creating a Gradient
21:19
Gradient Map Feature
23:57
Gradient Map Feature
23:58
Using Gradients for Layer Masks
28:21
Using Gradients for Layer Masks
28:22
Exposure & Color Corrections, Part 1

27m 54s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
Mantra for Exposure & Color
0:49
Mantra for Exposure & Color
1:06
Auto Exposure/Color Controls
2:19
Auto Exposure/Color Controls: Demonstration 1
2:20
Auto Exposure/Color Controls: Demonstration 2
6:48
Manual Exposure Controls
9:12
Adjust Lighting: Brightness/Contrast
9:13
Adjust Lighting: Shadows/Highlights
11:40
Adjust Lighting: Levels
14:23
Manual Color Controls
19:25
Adjust Color: Hue/Saturation
19:26
Correcting in Quick & Guided
23:58
Exposure & Color Corrections in Quick
23:59
Exposure & Color Corrections in Guided
26:54
Lesson Summary
27:30
Exposure & Color Corrections, Part 2

22m 26s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Comparing Camera RAW Results with Editor's Manual Exposure and Color
1:01
Comparing Camera RAW Results with Editor's Manual Exposure and Color
1:02
Removing a Color Cast
4:45
Removing a Color Cast
4:46
Color Variations
7:24
Correcting Skin Tones
10:49
Correcting Skin Tones
10:50
Converting to Black & White
13:59
Converting to Black & White
14:00
Creating a Sepia Tone Image
18:14
Creating a Sepia Tone Image
18:15
Section 5: Selections & Layers
Introduction to Selections

24m 47s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Creating Selections
1:04
Creating Selections Overview
1:05
Principal Selection Tools & Options
4:40
Marquee Tools & Feather
4:41
Lasso Tools
5:34
Quick Selection, Magic Wand, and Selection Brush
6:30
Layer Masks
8:09
Basic Selection Shortcuts
9:02
Tools Shortcut
9:03
Add & Subtract Selection
9:51
Hide Selection
10:08
Deselect & Select All
11:02
Selection Demonstration 1: Landscape
11:33
Selection Demonstration 2: Commercial Composite
18:49
Selection Demonstration 3: Portrait
21:46
Basic Selections

23m 28s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Basic Selection Tools
1:05
Marquee Tool
1:06
Lasso Tool
6:20
Polygonal Lasso Tool
7:56
Magnetic Lasso Tool
9:57
More on Lasso Tools
11:01
Demonstration 1: Quick Selection & Magic Wand Tool
12:58
Quick Selection Tool
12:59
Magic Wand Tool & Tolerance
15:02
Quick Selection Tool, cont.
16:29
Demonstration 2: Quick Selection & Magic Wand Tool
17:40
Quick Selection Tool
17:41
Magic Wand Tool & Tolerance
19:08
Adding & Subtracting with the Lasso Tool
20:23
Adding & Subtracting with the Lasso Tool
20:24
Lesson Summary
21:54
Making Efficient & Flawless Selections

26m 20s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Feather
1:06
What is Feather?
1:07
Feather Demonstration
1:55
Selection & Feather Demonstration
7:18
Making Selection & Applying Feather: Water
7:19
Making Selection & Applying Feather: Shoreline
15:26
Selection Brush Tool

18m 33s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Selections & Masks
1:03
Selections & Masks
1:04
Selection Brush Demonstration 1: Landscape
4:36
Color Adjustment
4:37
Painting a Selection with the Selection Brush
6:24
Selection Brush Demonstration 2: Portrait
14:27
Using Selection Brush to View & Correct a Selection
14:28
Lesson Summary
17:44
Refine Edge, Part 1

16m 28s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Refine Edge Demonstration 1
1:35
Part 1: Making & Saving a Selection
1:36
Part 2: Refine Edge Dialogue Box
6:51
Part 3: Refine Edge View Mode
8:42
Part 4: Edge Detection & Smart Radius
10:10
Part 4: Compositing a New Sky
14:33
Lesson Summary
15:42
Refine Edge, Part 2

20m 4s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Selecting Hair & Correcting Clean Edge Problems
1:58
Selecting Hair
1:59
Smoothing, Contrast, Expand & Contract
5:39
Correcting Clean Edge Problems with Edge Detection
7:03
Shift Edge Demonstration
15:07
Making the Selection
15:08
Shift Edge
17:07
Lesson Summary
19:16
Layers & Adjustment Layers

20m 57s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Layer Basics
0:40
Layer Basics, Part 1
0:41
Layer Basics, Part 2
8:51
Layer Panel
9:48
New Layer
9:49
Adjustment Layer
10:17
Add Layer Mask
10:56
Layers Lock
11:14
Blend Mode
11:40
Opacity
11:51
Adjustment Layers
12:58
Adjustment Layers Overview
12:59
Example: Using Adjustment Layers
15:20
Layer Masks

25m 26s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Layer Mask Overview
1:04
What is a Layer Mask?
1:05
Why Use Layer Mask?
6:34
Create & Modify Layer Mask Example
6:49
Sharpen the Image
7:22
Assessing the Image
9:47
Selection of the Sky & Ocean
10:50
Cove: Selection & Color Adjustment
13:16
Ocean: Selection & Color Adjustment
16:46
Sky: Selection & Color Adjustment
19:23
Land: Selection & Color Adjustment
22:40
Lesson Summary
24:00
Section 6: Retouching
Basic Retouching: Tools & Techniques

27m 18s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Retouching Tools & How to Use Them: Part 1
0:43
Making a selection of the Sky
0:44
Applying the Gradient Tool to the Sky
4:38
Making a Selection of the Window
3:40
Applying the Gradient Tool to the Window
8:05
Retouching Tools & How to Use Them: Part 2
10:13
Color Variations
10:14
Adjust Color for Skin Tones
10:40
Spot Healing Brush Tool
12:08
Healing Brush Tool
14:33
Clone Stamp Tool, Part 1
15:53
Clone Stamp Tool, Part 2
21:58
Retouching Tools & How to Use Them: Part 3
25:03
Pattern Stamp Tool
25:04
Retouching People, Part 1

31m 42s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Basic Techniques for Retouching Skin
1:22
Image Overview
1:23
Retouching Spots on the Skin
5:48
Retouching Wrinkle Around the Eyes
9:10
Retouching the Smile Line
18:02
Retouching the Neck
20:55
Basic Techniques for Retouching Eyes
25:04
Basic Techniques for Retouching Eyes
25:05
Retouching People, Part 2

12m 49s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Retouching People Using the Liquify Filter
1:27
Retouching the Cheek
1:28
Retouching the Eyes
6:47
Retouching the Body
9:31
Retouching People, Part 3

24m 47s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
More Techniques for Retouching Skin
1:16
Retouching Teeth & Lips
1:17
Retouching Skin Texture
7:34
Adjusting Levels for the Neck Area
16:36
Non-destructive Body Contouring
18:56
Non-destructive Body Contouring 1
18:57
Non-destructive Body Contouring 2
22:01
Lesson Summary
23:02
Section 7: Photo Composites
Creating Photo Composites

22m 42s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:05
Selecting the Composite Pieces
1:11
Selecting the Composite Pieces Overview
1:12
Size & Lighting
3:20
Perspective & Color Match
7:22
Creating the Composite
9:23
Creating a Flawless Element Edge
9:24
Moving Layer From One File to Another
17:31
Moving the Rose Behind the Petals
18:31
Changing the Color of the Rose
20:24
Lesson Summary
22:03
Section 8: Text
Creating Type

22m 42s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Creating Type: Part 1
0:39
Type Tool Overview
0:52
Inserting, Deleting, & Moving Texts
4:02
Font Families
5:06
Font Styles
6:03
Font Size
7:05
Leading
7:32
Font Color
9:17
Alignment
9:23
Faux Bold, Faux Italic, Faux Underline, & Faux Strikethrough
10:53
Creating Type: Part 2
12:08
Orientation and Warping
12:09
Clipping Type to a Photo, Texture, & Pattern
14:19
Adding a Layer Style(s) to Text
18:02
Section 9: Filters & Effects
Filters & Effects

24m 20s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
The Filter Gallery
0:38
Filters Overview
0:39
Mosaic Tiles
1:17
Texturize
1:40
Craquelure
2:48
Bas Relief
3:34
Applying Blend Mode with Filter 1
4:16
Photocopy
5:19
Applying Blend Mode with Filter 2
5:44
Glass
7:20
Blend Modes
9:00
Blend Modes Overview
9:53
Effects
12:41
Vintage Photo
13:49
Monotone Color
14:44
Old Photo
15:28
Misc. Effects
17:48
Faded Photo
19:33
Lesson Summary
21:56
Photo Effects with Guided Edit
22:34
Section 10: Cool Features
Creating Black & White Photo and Using the Colorize Option

21m 16s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Creating Black & White Photo
1:50
Grayscale Mode
1:51
Desaturate with Hue/Saturation
3:51
Converting to Black & White: Example 1
4:41
Converting to Black & White: Example 2
8:25
Colorizing an Image
14:01
Colorizing an Image
14:02
Adding a Vignette
14:59
Adding a Border
19:22
Creating a 3D Photo Frame

23m 26s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Creating a 3D Photo Frame
1:14
Part 1: Creating the Matte Board
1:15
Part 2: Adding Shadow
6:31
Part 3: Adding Texture to the Frame
10:50
Part 4: Adding a Frame
14:12
Part 5: Adding a Signature
17:50
Lesson Summary
22:35
Creating a Photo Book, Part 1

12m 24s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:07
Preparing Your Photographic Images
2:00
Creating a New Album & Arranging the Images
2:01
Photobook Basic Layout Option
6:25
Photobook Basic Layout Option
6:26
The Photobook Workspace
9:12
The Photobook Workspace
9:13
Creating a Photo Book, Part 2

17m 24s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:08
Adding, Adjusting, & Modifying Images
1:06
Adding, Adjusting, & Modifying Images
1:07
Editing Types
6:55
Replacing an Image
7:55
Customizing the Photobook Appearance
8:50
Modifying Page Layouts
8:51
Adding Frames & Graphics
3:13
Saving & Printing Your Photobook
15:47
Saving & Printing Your Photobook
15:48
Lesson Summary
16:32
Creating a Photo Calendar

23m 26s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Preparing Your Images for Photo Calendar
1:23
Organizing Your Images
1:24
Calendar Layout Options
4:20
The Calendar Workspace
5:23
Adjusting & Modifying Images
5:24
Customizing the Photo Calendar Appearance
14:41
Lesson Summary
19:41
The Photomerge Feature

25m 54s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Overview
0:06
Shooting Images for a Panorama
2:06
Hold the Camera Steady
2:07
Overlap Your Images
3:23
Use the Same Exposure for Each Image
4:54
Apply Exact Same corrections to Every Image
5:24
Incorrect way to Shoot Images for a Panorama
6:03
Correct Way to Shoot Images for a Panorama
7:22
Photomerge: Panoramas
8:18
Panoramas Layout
8:19
Cylinder& Perspective
12:32
Spherical & Collage
14:34
Photomerge: Group Shot
16:08
Group Shot
16:07
Photomerge: Style Match
20:02
Style Match: Example 1
20:03
Style Match: Example 2
23:57
Lesson Summary
25:09
Section 11: Course Summary
Lesson Summary

9m 40s

Intro
0:00
Lesson Summary
0:06
Organizer, Camera RAW, & Editor
0:59
Corrections, Selections, Retouching, & Manipulation
2:02
Two Important Axioms
4:20
Demonstration Review
5:26
Personal Philosophy
8:31
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Refine Edge, Part 1

Lecture Slides are screen-captured images of important points in the lecture. Students can download and print out these lecture slide images to do practice problems as well as take notes while watching the lecture.

  • Intro 0:00
  • Lesson Overview 0:06
  • Refine Edge Demonstration 1 1:35
    • Part 1: Making & Saving a Selection
    • Part 2: Refine Edge Dialogue Box
    • Part 3: Refine Edge View Mode
    • Part 4: Edge Detection & Smart Radius
    • Part 4: Compositing a New Sky
  • Lesson Summary 15:42

Transcription: Refine Edge, Part 1

Hi, everyone--Mike Brown back with you with another lesson in Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 from Educator.com!0000

We've been talking, in the past couple of lessons, about the most important technique in Photoshop Elements, and that is selecting areas and isolating them to make corrections, and making them blend perfectly with the rest of the image, which allows you to take your images to an entirely new level, beyond just overall corrections, by fixing isolated spots.0006

In the last lesson, we talked about feather, which is the width and softness of a selection edge, and how you can use a very tight, smooth edge along a clean line to make a perfect transition there, or make a very wide feather to allow a very gradual blend into an area for a soft transition, so that all of your corrections blend flawlessly in your image.0032

In this lesson: adjusting selections with Refine Edge, which is a dialogue box that allows you a lot of control over the basic selection that you make.0059

We're first going to do a quick review of feather; then, we're going to take a look at the Refine Edge dialogue box and show you how to modify a selection with Refine Edge and how to use Refine Edge.0071

This is magic...to select fine details, such as hair, which was an impossibility up until Adobe Photoshop Elements 11--a really cool feature.0083

Let's get started!0095

Here is a photo, right here; we're going to just do a quick selection of the sky.0098

This is you think of it: obviously, the Marquee tools are out; obviously, you're not going to use any of the Lasso tools to try to go along that edge; it would take you too long.0103

So, it puts us down to the Selection brush (which you're not going to paint that edge with--it takes too long; you might do a little correcting); we have the Quick Selection tool or the Magic Wand.0112

The Quick Selection tool, if you remember, looks for contrast based on color, and the Magic Wand searches for areas of similar color.0124

Let's try it with the Quick Selection tool first.0133

We adjust our brush size--you want to go down to a fairly small brush size, and stay in the area beyond the edge; you don't want to touch the edge.0136

We're looking for sky, so we'll just take and drag along the sky, and you notice what happened: it dropped down inside the mountains.0143

Let's take a closer look and see what happened.0152

It happened because there were clear transition areas here, because of the darkness and the blue; clear over here, because of the white and the blue; but right in this area, as the mountains went from no snow to a very, very light dust of snow, the edge is ill-defined.0156

So, it dropped down, and then it went for the next area.0175

We could try Option/Alt, make a slightly smaller brush, and drag back through that area to see if we can get everything else corrected.0179

It might work; pull up into here; in fact, I think that is doing a pretty good job.0192

We drag back along there, and generally, we have a good selection.0203

But, we could have done it better; in this case, it's pretty obvious that the Magic Wand that looks for areas of similar color--the sky is very similar; slight gradient; so, we'll take the Magic Wand with a low tolerance.0208

High tolerance, to me...in the past, they only let you go to 64, and that would select almost everything.0221

About 20--roughly in that area--is a good place to start.0229

We'll see what happens: click in the middle of the sky, and look: the band of color is almost the entire sky--just a little bit was missed.0233

Now, it's automatically on the add, so if I click here, it expands down; click here--it expands up.0241

Let's zoom up and take a close look at the edge: it got a little inside, so we'll switch to the Quick Selection tool, drop that down (it's on minus), and see if we can pull that area out of there.0249

Again, it's that same spot where that transition was a little edgy.0263

Not bad--we have a pretty good job; let's look at it with the Selection Brush as a mask.0268

We can see a little raggedness right in there, but we'll correct that.0274

Let's come out to a selection, and what we want to do...0278

First of all, let me look at that mask, and let me show you the edge; it's pretty harsh; you can see it, and it just needs (especially right up in here--you see it) some feather.0281

So, we'll go back to the selection; we know what it's like; let's hide the selection--Command/Control+H; and you see, it's a smooth edge.0295

Let's go--we have no feather on this one; you notice we have no feather here--we have Refine Edge; we also have Refine Edge here; we have feather here, but that is applying the feather before you make the selection.0302

We already have the selection, so what do we do?0317

No problem: we just go up to the Select menu, come down, and there is feather.0320

This is after-you-make-the-selection feather adjustment.0327

We're going to punch in one pixel of feather, and take a look at that under the selection brush as a mask, and there you see that we have a nice, smooth 1-pixel edge that pretty much looks like the edge of the mountain where it meets the sky.0331

Pretty quick corrections on there, and 1-pixel feather...so that gives you an idea, if you remember, of how the feather works.0355

We did a selection; we added and subtracted a little bit; we tried two different tools, and we did some feather and got a really nice selection.0363

One thing to remember: now that you have worked all this time to make the selection, don't lose it!0370

Go to the Select menu; go to Save Selection, and name it: we're going to name it Sky with Magic Wand 1 Pixel Feather.0376

Now, we know everything we did with that; we click OK; so, if at any time we lose that selection, we can go to the Select menu, Load Selection, and there is our selection.0392

Click OK, and it's back!0403

All right, so that is how to do a fairly easy selection; you have already figured that one out--just a review.0406

Let's move on to the Refine Edge dialogue box.0411

Here we have an image of a nice scene; we would like to select the sky, and probably replace that sky.0415

Let me open up (there we go--it's looking for a sky)--Sky Overcast--there we go--I have it.0424

I'm opening up another image here, and this is a sky that we're going to strip in to this image.0434

How do we do it? This is getting a little ahead, but I'll show you anyway.0442

We're going to need to select the edges of this image (and this is going to be a fun one, because--look at the edge of the trees!--we have blue sky through the trees...through the limbs...all up and down through here).0446

If we try our Quick Selection tool (bring the brush size up just a little bit) and drag it through the sky, it does an OK job only to a point.0458

It got a reasonable selection: let's go to the Selection Brush as a mask, and you can see.0479

It missed on the land; it missed on a lot of the limbs of the trees; but it did a generally good job.0485

In this case, we don't need to mess around much further, because we have the Refine Edge dialogue box, which appears with almost every selection tool.0492

There it is; there it is here; with the Lasso tools, it's there; with the Marquee tools, it's there; the only one that it doesn't show up directly in is the Selection Brush.0504

If you are in there and want to go to it, go to the Select menu; right below feather is the Refine Edge dialogue box.0517

Here you have it: first, we have options for view: marching ants, traditional, the overlay (which we're using--like the mask), on black (as...you see the actual image, but you see the protected areas in black; you see the actual image here, protected areas in white), a regular black and white mask, just a separate layer only (as the sky and the other layers in the image, but we have none, because it's a background).0524

We'll deal with it as our traditional overlay; we're used to looking at that.0554

There we have that; we also have a Show Radius and Original; we'll talk about that in a minute.0559

Now, there are several things that we can do here: the first thing we want to do is: for other images (we're not going to do it on this one; we'll demonstrate this elsewhere), here are your Adjust Edge features: smoothing, feather (once more--we could have feathered the other one right here), contrast, and Shift Edge (allows you to expand and contract--we'll deal with that in a minute).0563

Output, Decontaminate Colors helps you with hair and fine edges where it's indistinct on colors, to get the accurate selection.0589

You have the option to output as a selection, a mask, a new layer, a layer with a mask, a new document, or a new document with a layer mask.0598

We're dealing only with selection here.0606

Now, we're going to start by dealing with what is called the Edge Detection.0609

The Edge Detection feature looks for what is different between the area that you have already selected (and of course, this works best with uniform--either the object or the background--and in this case, the sky is perfectly uniform)...so, what it's going to look for is the difference between the blue sky and anything else that we tell it to look at.0615

That would be the ground over here or the trees or the open areas in the trees.0639

The way we make this work is: we turn on what is called a Smart Radius.0645

I'll show you that right away: with 0 pixels, there is nothing; as we up the number of pixels, you will begin to see a radius.0654

You see a clear area; that is the width of the area that the computer is going to use to determine what is selected and what is not, as its basis.0663

We're going to tell it to deal with more areas, because we're going to paint them.0677

That is where these two tools come in: this tool is your standard painting brush--a refine radius tool--it expands that radius detection by painting more clear area.0684

The eraser allows you to restore the original edge, so if you have a really smooth edge--I'll demonstrate this one in the next picture; let's just go ahead on here.0697

We're going to take the regular tool, and now that we have (you don't want to put a lot of radius in there, because we're going to add to it), we're going to starting painting in the sky and down into the areas that we want the computer to look, to see what is different between what has already been selected and what I'm painting on, and try to find the areas of sky.0709

We release; it thinks...and look what happened: it picked up (go back; let me...)...this is the area it picked.0735

It missed some in here, and let's try it one more time, with the Show Radius off.0746

I'm just going to paint down into the tree, and come back out, and let it think, and look--it found all of those blue areas.0752

It's just like magic--look at that--it's amazing!0761

Now, we're going to fix the ground; we just paint across the ground, and up into the tree, and the computer found the edge of the ground perfectly--unbelievable!0763

Do the same thing over here, in this section of trees; watch: magic, absolute magic!0774

Now, it cannot go and get everything; it probably won't get this down here, but it will do a pretty good job with everything.0779

Look at the edges, up there where just the fine-edged tree limbs are--absolutely amazing!0786

Every time I see this, it blows me away.0795

Here we go; we'll get down in here and pick up all of these little open spots--look at that--it's just remarkable!0798

It may not get down deep into that tree, but we'll pick up all of these other edges--really great job.0805

Go on down here; it picked up that.0811

Let's zoom out a little bit; we're going to paint through and pick up the ground, and this tree up in here--just painting it over, letting that computer do the work.0817

Look at that--look at that--absolutely amazing!0826

Let's go back down to the other end; we're almost done; paint right down across this tree area, and all of those open branches, and fix what the Quick Selection brush didn't get.0831

Look that--wow--just remarkable!0842

Every time I do this, I don't know how the computer can figure this out--I really don't.0845

Look at that--look at that--unbelievable!0850

It's phenomenal stuff.0853

We have that; we click OK; and it will turn it back into a selection for us.0855

We're going to go to the Select menu, Save Selection, and we'll call it Sky (if I can spell Sky right); we'll click OK.0863

Now, what I'm going to do is show you: here is a sky that I had; we're going to do Command on a Mac/Control on a PC, the letter A to select all, Command on a Mac/Control on a PC, the letter C to copy; go back to our image, and we're going to paste it in--this is kind of a preview lesson on compositing.0873

We're going to go to the Edit, Paste into Selection (that is this selected area); and watch what happens: there comes the sky!0899

We replaced the entire sky; Command/Control+D, and let's zoom it up and take a look around the trees.0909

Look at that--isn't that just amazing, how beautiful the edges are?0917

You cannot tell where that pasted-in piece has been replacing the original sky.0924

That is absolutely remarkable.0935

So, let's go back to our original thing.0939

We took a quick review of feather, and showed you, again, how feather applies, and how you can also access feather from the Select menu, right under here.0942

We looked at the Refine Edge dialogue box just a little bit--we're not done with that one; we're going to do this second lesson in Refine Edge.0957

We showed you how to modify a selection with the Refine Edge, by using the Edge Detection feature, and how to paste in a background when you have the Edge Detection that allows you to select complex edges perfectly--unbelievable!0965

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