8/14/12

Photoshop Favorites

I have recently become a member of the Photoshop addicts.  I've only owned it a few months, but there are already certain techniques that I keep going back to.  One of my favorites is...

Gradient overlays:

moth on peach tree
The original--pretty cool, but when I added the blue and orange gradient overlay, I fell in love.

moth on peach tree gradient

light streaks

For an old-camera-light-leak look, use a linear gradient with at least five colors at various widths.  Set the layer mode to overlay.  Finally, add a black and white gradient mask to make the streaks fade at the bottom.

mercy in light
I rarely set a gradient layer to screen mode because it washes the picture out, but when you are looking for a sunny effect go with screen mode and lower the opacity to your liking.

Creamy light


{original}
I found this tutorial online, and I'm looking forward to using it more.


I decided to use this technique because the original look way too dark as a thumbnail for my profile pictures on Blogger and Pintrest.  I think it helped lighten it up without compromising the quality of the picture.

Tilt-shift/Iris blur

Photoshop has pretty advanced blur options (although you'll never get the bokeh you might get naturally).  I use a tilt-shift blur when I want to subtly create a point of interest.  Rarely do I use the iris blur unless it is very subtle (such as here).

Grunge brush and texture overlays from Shadowhouse Creations

Shadowhouse Creations has lots of awesome textures.  In fact, I think he is the king of grunge.  This picture has one of his old canvas textures set to overlay mode with the opacity adjusted.

He also has this amazing grunge brush set that I use all the time.  In this picture, I used it as a border.

Do you know of any great Photoshop tips?  I would love to learn more!  Just leave a comment or a link.  :)

Blessings,
Alyssa

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