Digital Diversity

Well it looks like the new version of Elements has arrived. The main additions look like improved automated adjustments, an improved organizer and a few new tools such as being able to re-compose photo’s without distorting key subjects. The latter sounds like content aware scaling from the full version of Photoshop which is when you can change the width and height of a photo as you would with the basic transform tool. The key difference being that this tool tries to detect the main subjects and not distort them. A handy tool if a little bit of  a gimmick.

By the looks of things it may be worth while getting if you use the organizer heavily or are more fond of the automated edits elements offers rather than the full edit mode. For me however it doesn’t seem to be a necessary update from version 7. Owners of version 6 and bellow may get more for their money from this latest offering.

From the official Adobe site

http://tryit.adobe.com/uk/photoshopelements/?sdid=DMHGK

‘Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 8 software combines power and simplicity so you can make your photos look extraordinary, share your life stories in unique print creations and web experiences, and easily manage and protect all your photos and video clips.’

Here are a few reviews I found

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/software/351859/adobe-photoshop-elements-8

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=3202535

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49303714,00.htm

Texture blending in Photoshop is when you use the layer blending modes to give an image or part of an image a texture. In this tutorial I will show you how to create the bellow image to give a person a stony/cracked appearance. This is a very clever technique to learn and it opened a lot of doors for me in my digital art.

You will need to understand how masks work, as well as adjustment layers, so it’s a good idea to read my tutorials that involve these beforehand.

The image we are going to create is of a man with a textured face.

The images I used for this tutorial are taken from a free stock library called stock.xchng.  You will need to download them both (or you can find your own to use)
(more…)

Chromatic Aberration and Purple Fringing are a common problem in cameras with anything but high class lenses. It is very common on fixed lens cameras of all kinds as well. Some will get rid of it on the JPEGs for you with in camera software but if you shoot RAW then this doesn’t help you. CA and PF are both fairly ugly and take something away from an image as it gives adds unnatural coloured outlines. However you don’t need to worry because they can be fairly easily removed using Photoshop.

So what is Chromatic Aberration and Purple Fringing?

These 2 phenomenons are basically the same. Chromatic Aberrations are the colour lines you get on the edge of high contrasting parts of an image. Purple fringing is the same except its purple.

How can you remove it? Well, with Photoshop of course.

Removing chromatic aberration in Photoshop CS

If you have the full version of Photoshop you can take care of small chromatic aberration problems with a handy built in tool.

Go Filter > Distort > Lens Correction. This will open op a new window with several tools at your disposal. Elements does have a version of this but it doesn’t contain the CA correction sliders.
(more…)