Photoshop How To

We’ve all had an otherwise beautiful landscape or cityscape scene ruined by a dull, blown-out, or boring sky without clouds. In the Photoshop tutorial below you’ll learn a simple sky replacement technique for turning those outtakes into money shots.

There are a number of interesting film-era camera effects that are popular among today’s digital photographers, one of which is the so-called “Lomo Effect” named after an old Russian film camera. The inexpensive Lomo LC-A was known for creating images with blurry edges, a sharp center, weirdly saturated colors, and plenty of vignetting.

Many photographers are unfamiliar with Photoshop’s powerful Sponge Tool, and that’s a shame because it’s a great way to punch up colors in an image while retaining a natural look. In the three-minute tutorial below you’ll learn how to make the Sponge Tool your friend.

Last week we explored the differences between Lightroom and Photoshop to help you choose the software package that best suits your needs. In the video below, image-editing expert Peter McKinnon explains why he says, “Every photographer should be using Lightroom.” 

Photoshop’s powerful Radial Gradient Tool can be used for a variety of applications. In the straightforward tutorial below, image-editing expert Blake Rudis explains why this oft-ignored tool is one of his favorites, and how you can use it to easily enhance both landscape and portrait photographs.

One of the most frequent questions we receive from those new to image editing is, “Should I buy Lightroom or Photoshop?” The simple answer is, “It depends.” For some photographers Lightroom is the best choice, while for others Photoshop makes more sense. And depending upon one’s needs, we may recommend getting both.

Photographs often have more depth and drama when there are shadows in the scene, but unfortunately the light doesn’t always cooperate. In the quick video below you’ll learn how to use Photoshop to create and manipulate a shadow so it appears totally real.