Two Powerful Keys That Will Help You Combine Photoshop’s Selection Tools

A simple Rectangular Marquee selection. A second selection is added using the Shift key. A second selection is subtracted using the Option key. The intersection of two selections is created using both Option and Shift keys. There are so many times when you make a selection in Photoshop and...

Photoshop’s Marquee Tools Make Surprisingly Useful Geometric Selections

Photoshop offers two Marquee tools (Rectangular or Elliptical) for making simple geometric selections. They’re easy to use. Click hold and drag to define a selection. Hold the Option key to draw from the center of the shape. Hold the Shift key to constrain the shape...

The Difference Between Painters’ and Photographers’ Color Wheels

The photographers’ color wheel rendered by Apple. The painters’ color wheel painted by Johannes Itten.   In color theory, one of the primary uses of color wheels is to plot complementary colors. Painters and photographers use this information to create neutral colors. Painters mix complementary...

The Care & Feeding Of Your Authentic Vision

I create and curate a lot of content on creativity, art, and photography. Here I’ve collected some invaluable resources for finding, energizing, and deepening your creative vision. You’ll get a great taste for the content on creativity we offer in our Digital Photo Destinations Workshops. Seth Resnick @...

Easily Refine Any Photoshop Mask With A Brush

You can refine any mask in Photoshop with a brush. How? Choose any Brush tool and paint on it. The Brush, Healing Brush, Clone Stamp, Eraser, Gradient, Blur, Smudge, Dodge and Burn tools all have their uses. Whether simple or complex, layer masks are just...

How To Choose Which Photoshop Mask Color To Start With

Image before selective adjustment. Image after selective adjustment (dodging). It takes fewer white strokes than black strokes to make this mask. So, instead of starting with a white mask, start with a black mask. The layer stack. When you’re making masks in Photoshop, you can get...

Photoshop’s Quick Mask Combines All Selection And Brush Tools

Edit In Standard Mode (Press Q) shows selected areas inside an active selection outline.   Edit In Quick Mask Mode (Press Q) shows masked areas with a red overlay.   Quick Mask Options can be activated by double-clicking it.   Quick Masks appear temporarily in the Channels palette....

8 Useful Tips For Brushing Masks In Photoshop

Some tools in Photoshop make the marks for you, like the Gradient Tool and Paths. When it comes to masking, there’s no reason to fear drawing in Photoshop. Often, it amounts to little more than tracing. Plus, the History palette gives you an unlimited number of...

Painting The Simplest & Most Useful Masks In Photoshop

So often, it’s the simplest things that are the most often used and so the most useful. You may find that you use this very simple three-step technique for a majority of the masks you make in Photoshop. (I do.) 1 In the Layers palette,...

Seeing Color & Enhancing Creativity – Seth Resnick

“At B&H’s Optic 2018, photographer Seth Resnick discusses color, enhancing creativity, and processes you can employ to make better images and improve your photography. He stresses the importance of being aware of the details in your environment and mentally taking note of what you see...