Local Contrast Enhancement Using Unsharp Mask in Photoshop

September 19th, 2009 Peter Bergdahl 2 comments

Ok, so in this 3.5 minute video tutorial i’ll show you a super simple way to boost the local contrast without “overcooking” the global contrast in an image.

Here’s a condensed step-by-step guideline in written form:

  • Go to Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask
  • Set Amount to 20
  • Radius to 50
  • Threshold to 0
  • Click OK and you’re done!

You can experiment with Amount from 5-20 and radius from 20-300 pixels.

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How to Correct a Leaning Horizon Using Photoshop

September 17th, 2009 Peter Bergdahl No comments

In this 4.5 minute video i’ll show you two simple ways to correct leaning horizons using Photoshop CS.

Here’s a condensed checklist of the video.

Method 1:

  • Select Analysis -> Ruler Tool
  • Place the cross on the horizon, press left mouse button and place the line along the horizon. Release the mouse button
  • Go to Image->Rotate Canvas->Arbitrary
  • Press OK (rotation angle is already pre-set)
  • Crop the white edges around the image
  • You’re done

Method 2:

  • Select View->Show->Grid
  • Select Select->All
  • Select Edit->Transform->Skew
  • Grab one of the small rectangles and push it upwards to straighten the horizon
  • No cropping required
  • You’re done

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Camera RAW: Photoshop CS Tutorial

September 16th, 2009 Peter Bergdahl 2 comments

In this 9 minute video i’ll show you how easy it is to correct even severely over or underexposed images using Adobe Camera RAW.

Here’s a condensed checklist of the video

  • Set white balance either by selecting one of the pre-sets or by setting the color temperature and the tint manually. Alternatively use the White Balance tool in the upper tool bar (by selecting a neutral gray area)
  • Set the white point with the Exposure slider (right tail of the histogram)
  • Use the Recovery slider to recover lost highlights (if required)
  • Use the Fill Light slider to open up and give details in dark shadows
  • Use the Blacks slider to set the black point (left tail of the histogram)
  • Use the Brightness slider to change the mid tones (overall brightness)
  • Use the contrast slider to set contrast
  • Use the Clarity slider to set mid tone contrast
  • Use the saturation slider to increase/reduce saturation
  • Use the Clarity slider to set saturation (smart saturation)

That’s it, you’ll see how incredibly easy it is to edit and even rescue badly exposed images using adobe camera RAW.

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Color Correction Using Photoshop Levels

September 14th, 2009 Peter Bergdahl No comments

In this short 4 minute video I’ll show you how to improve color contrast and correct color casts using Adobe Photoshop Levels. It’s really fast and easy as you’ll see.

Here’s a condensed checklist to complement the video:

  1. Open the image
  2. Select Layer -> New Adjustment Layer -> Levels
  3. Give the layer a unique name or accept the proposed name
  4. Select the Red channel
  5. Position the black triangle directly under the histogram (not the triangle in the “output levels” section) to the start of the curve
  6. Position the white triangle directly under the histogram to the end of the curve.
  7. Repeat step 6 for the green and blue channel
  8. Click OK
  9. You’re done
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At Least I Know My Wife Loves Me

September 12th, 2009 Peter Bergdahl 1 comment

This is a dramatic and hilarious but true story that happened two days ago and my conclusion is that my wife truly loves me.

This is what happened.

I’m currently living in Vietnam and my wife is at the moment in the USA. On Thursday i got a high fever and a cough and my wife was worried that i contracted the swine flu. She insisted that i go to a doctor but i didn’t listen (as usual), just told her not to worry.

Around 7.30pm local Vietnamese time i went to bed and slept like a dead horse. My wife tried to call me at least 50 times but i left my cellphone in another room and didn’t hear it. She panicked and called her brother who lives in Vietnam and told him to immediately go to my home to make sure i was alive and he did.

The problem was that my wife’s brother and the guard at the house didn’t have a key to enter my apartment. They started banging loudly at my door and i woke up after a while.

But i though it was my neighbors making noise or some construction work going on so I tried to fall asleep again. The banging didn’t stop however and I got furious. How can they be so stupid and make this kind of noise at 11.00pm. Meanwhile both my wife and her brother was pretty much sure I was dead because I didn’t open the door (my wife was on her brothers cellphone all the time).

On direct command by cellphone from my wife in the USA, they knocked down the door and came in to the apartment but I didn’t realize it until I heard voices in my living room. I went up from bed, and was surprised to meet a Vietnamese guard and my wife’s brother when I walked in to the living room.

He looked so upset that I asked what was going on and then he told me the whole story.

So while I was first sound asleep and later furious about the noise they made, my wife and her brother was nearly sure i was dead and the noise i was furious about was them knocking down the door to rescue me.

Well, the door is fixed, my fever is nearly gone and in hindsight I can conclude that my wife truly loves me and will do anything for me ;-)

Let me know what you think about this story by making a comment.

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