If you use Photoshop then you must be aware of its fine printing capabilities. People create images with Photoshop mostly for web design or printing purposes. Let’s discuss how you can print an image through the Photoshop interface the right way.

When printing through Photoshop there’s one thing you need to be aware of, the dots per inch (dpi). This refers to how many dots per inch of paper, your printer can print. If you want a clearer image then you want more dots per inch. The more dots a printer can print in an inch of paper the better the quality. Printers are clarified according to the dots per inch they print. A printer which prints more dots per inch is generally better and more expensive.

The most commonly used dpi value for image printing is 300 dpi. Meaning that the printer will print 300 dots per inch of paper. That is, if your printer can actually print in that resolution which is very likely, unless you own a really old printer.

You can set the dpi of an image through the Photoshop menu:

Image ? Image Size.. ? Resolution

In the Resolution input box enter the value you want for your image. Your version of Photoshop might not mention dots per inch but pixels per inch, which is the same thing.

Now let’s talk about the quality of ink for your image. This depends on your printer type. Inkjet printers for example can be cheap and they use jets of ink that they spray on paper. Ink quality is medium. Dye printers are more expensive than Inkjet printers and use a system to melt dots of dye that can generate over 16 million of colors. Ink quality is medium to high. Laser printers are very popular these days and they print in good quality. Ink quality is high. Last but not least there are the Thermal Wax printers that use blocks of wax that melt on the paper.

Now let’s say you want to print an image through Photoshop. Before doing anything else go to:

File ? Print with Preview

A dialog opens. Through that dialog you can set all kinds of properties for your image. For example you can define the position of the image on the piece of paper. You can specify the space you want to be left blank from top or bottom or you can let Photoshop center the image by ticking the “Center Image” check box. Read the rest of this entry »

Have an object with edges you want to isolate? This is one way to use the Background Eraser tool.

The Magic Eraser is often used to blast large areas that contain unwanted pixels. It certainly can be effective if you want to get fast results, but it is less than subtle. This works well when you want to eliminate big areas of color that you don’t need. It is not always as useful when you are working with areas that are more intricate. This is one of the reasons that Photoshop is so great. This program provides the user with lots of selection tool choices. Each tool has its own options that can be
customized.

Now, there are some kinds of selection jobs that work better with the Background Eraser than with the actual Magic Eraser. The Background Eraser is more versatile and gives you greater control over some of the more difficult tasks. For instance, if you are selecting intricately shaped objects, the Background Eraser may be the tool for the job. Let’s say you want to isolate your image in your picture by removing the sky. The sky consists of edges that may prove difficult to work with. Remove the sky along with the detailed edges using the Background Eraser tool. Some selection tools would not be able to handle the job because of the position of the crenelations and the arches of the towers. This makes it very tricky when you want to try to remove the sky that is hidden among all of that other stuff. Read the rest of this entry »

Always Streamline and organize your Layers palette by creating and labeling groups of related layers. Layers are powerful tools, but things can get confusing if you don’t keep them under control by labelling them and placing them in sets.

When layers appeared back in version 2 of Photoshop, designers wondered how they had ever managed without the facility to create artwork on multiple editable layers. Although we now take layers for granted, there are some useful management options that many users may not be taking advantage of. Working smarter with layers means labelling them for a start; this saves you having to scroll up and down the Layers palette, trying to guess where a particular element is stored.

Grouping related layers into sets, and colour-coding them, will help you to further streamline your workflow.

Creating Layer sets:

To quickly create a layer set, click on the chain icon link a group of related layers together. Open the Layers Palette menu and choose New Set From Linked. Layer sets can be opened for editing purposes and then collapsed to display a single folder icon, saving valuable screen space. Another way to create a layer set from linked layers is to click the Create a new set icon at the foot of the palette. When you create a new layer, colour-code and label it for easier access.

You can easily remove and reorganize layer sets. Right-click on a set’s icon to delete the set while retaining the individual layers.
Quick tip: if you are working on a project and you are working in minimised mode, this will help you not to cullter your workspace and helps keep all the layers out of sight, but immediately accessible.

Photoshop is an art to put it in the simplest form. It is a way for an artist to express him or herself as it can allow for the creation of an image which could never really happen or take place. Photoshop is a difficult program to learn. A novice user cannot just sit down and instantly be able to master the program in one night and create some stunning images. It takes years of practice and honing of skills in order to create a fantastic Photoshop image.

One reason to learn Photoshop is to simply express yourself. You may want to be an artist but you may not be able to sit there or want to sit there and paint on a canvas. Photoshop is the canvas of the future as it allows the freedom to do virtually anything you want with an image as long as you have the skills to pull it off and make it pure quality.

It is a form of expression because it allows a user to create an image any way they want and express it any way they want and then show it off to the world in a very easy and efficient way as that image can then be used on various mediums. A Photoshop user will create a style of his or her own and then use it whenever they please and with all of the options that the program offers, there truly are no limits to what can be done. Read the rest of this entry »

Brushes are the core component of many tools in the toolbox, and confident brush handling is essential for the effective application of these. You need to master brushes because this gives you many ways in which you can use and edit brushes will equip you with a whole new set of skills, and give you access to a wide range of powerful and creative time-saving techniques.

The Brush Preset picker will help you to find the right brush fast so make the most of it

With some Photoshop tools, such as the Clone Stamp, the Brush Preset picker is used simply to edit the tool’s brush size, softness and opacity.

Because the Clone Stamp’s function is to subtly replace one area of pixels with another, you don’t need its brush tip to be shaped like a rubber duck, for example!

However you can use the Brush Preset picker to arm yourself with a variety of creatively-shaped brushes, should your project require them. Working smarter with the Brush Preset picker means maximising its potential. If you’re not already familiar with this interface.

The Brush Preset Picker

Click on the Brustic to open the Brush Preset picker, and scroll down to see the default set of brushes.

Towards the foot of the list of default brushes you’ll find a variety of unusually-shaped brush tips, including brushes shaped like stars and blobs.

Click on the picker’s menu icon to access other, specialized sets of brushes. You can use the picker’s menu to display a thumbnail of the brush stroke, or set it to show the brush tip and name.

The numerical value indicates the brush’s initial diameter in pixels. You can customize this to suit your requirements. When you select a new set of brushes, you can either replace the existing default set or append the new set to it so you can use both. If you are using an ancient version of PS, you can also make use of photoshop 7 brushes.

This is a very generous collection of Photoshop brushes by a Czech guy — Ario Asten. The set includes 195 different brushes, ideal for DK and photo editing. Even though the set mainly concentrates on smudges, semi-transparent and somewhat grungy brushes, it also included lashes, blurry dots, and various smudged shapes. Unfortunately some brushes come in a very small resolution (like 15 pixels in diameter) which means enlarging them results in loss of quality, however others come in a huge format of over 500px.

Bottom line is, this is a very big and useful download that brings you almost 200 artistic and original brushes for rendering, creating effects, and polishing your art.

Download the brushes pack (.abr file)

This is yet another great action for adding glamorous look to an ordinary dull photo. Developed and offered freely by iScarlett on DeviantART. What does it do? It adds intensity to the colours (contrast), adds a bit of glow and lightens the image. As a result, any simple photo taken in domestic light conditions can be brought to a stage of professional photography.

It’s particularly useful because it applies same settings to ANY photo, which means you need not sit and reduce darkness or add contrast manually for each photo. The downside of the action, just like any other action, is that if your photo is originally too light, this action will add too much contrast and as a result the outcome will hurt the eyes.
The Skin Glow Enhancement action was made by the author in CS3, and has not been tested in earlier versions of Photoshop so I guess anyone with CS2 and lower version just have to try and see if it works.

Download and details about this release here.

Terms of use:

Use freely wherever you want; on templates, wallpapers, personal and commercial use are okay as long as you:

1. Don’t claim the image was created by you.
2. Don’t resell the image itself.

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Download the full version