1 A PANORAMA ALIGNMENT GLITCH
In most cases, the seams created by Photomerge are very successful, but sometimes it may have “issues.” This panorama was made from three horizontal images taken in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And no matter how many times I’ve tried to get Photomerge to blend these images, it always creates an alignment glitch at the top of the locomotive, just above the windshield. In this section of the article, we’ll create the initial panorama—glitch and all—and then explore a few different ways to try and fix the problem.

2 CREATE THE PHOTOMERGE
To experience the steps from the beginning, launch the Photomerge process. In this tutorial, we’ll launch it from Adobe Bridge by selecting the three thumbnails and choosing Tools>Photoshop>Photomerge. In the Photomerge dialog, leave the Layout set to Auto and make sure that Blend Images Together is checked. Click OK.

3 INITIAL EVALUATION
At first glance it might seem that the most straightforward way to tackle the problem would be to edit the layer masks that Photomerge has created. The problem with this approach, however, is that there are three layer masks and each one is precisely aligned with the other two. Although it’s not immediately apparent in the blended result, there’s also a problem created by the auto blending, which has changed tonal values in the sky to match the layer masks. Editing these masks will reveal this tonal mismatch and create additional problems.

4 TURN OFF THE LAYER MASKS
To see the potential problems created by the auto blending, Shift-click on each of the layer masks to temporarily disable them. You can see an obvious variation in the sky tones just above the cab of the locomotive (in this illustration, the image was darkened with a curve to make these tonal changes more visible). The tonal variation in this area is in the exact shape of the same area of the layer masks for the Train Middle and Train Right layers.

5 PHOTOMERGE, TAKE 2: NO BLENDING
Before we try any complicated patching or cloning repair jobs, let’s see if we can coax a better result from Photomerge. Close the first image without saving it and return to Bridge. With the three thumbnails selected, choose Tools>Photoshop>Photomerge. In the Photomerge dialog, leave the Layout set to Auto but uncheck the Blend Images Together option. Click OK.

6 TAKE 2: REARRANGE LAYERS
For this image, Photomerge has definite ideas about how the layers should be arranged. But one obvious way to try and fix the problem is to simply rearrange the layers so that Train Right is above Train Middle. Hopefully, this will address the problem of the alignment error on the roof of the locomotive. In the Layers panel, rearrange the stacking order of the layers so that Train Right is the top layer, Train Middle is in the middle, and Train Left in on the bottom.

7 MANUALLY ALIGN LAYERS
Even though we turned off the blending in the Photomerge dialog, there are still a couple of automated features left for us to try. To nudge these features in the right direction, we’ll manually align the layers. Make the Train Right layer active. Double-click the Zoom tool to zoom to 100%. Select the Move tool (V) and use the Up and Left Arrow keys on the keyboard to nudge this layer up and left until the “A” in the word RAIL aligns with the same letter on the middle layer. This will also align the top of the train.

8 CUSTOM LAYER TRIMMING
The letter “A,” which we just aligned, could conceivably still cause some problems, so let’s fix that. Make sure the top layer (Train Right) is active, choose the Lasso tool (L), and set the Feather value in the Options Bar to 0 px. Make a lasso selection around the letter “A” in RAIL and press Delete (PC: Backspace) to delete this chunk of pixels. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to deselect.

9 MODIFY THE LEFT SIDE
Now let’s inspect the left side of the image. Creating a seam through the back of this older train car makes no sense. It’s better to choose a less-complicated seam: on the far side of this car in the background of the image, where the newer RAIL RUNNER cars can be seen in the distance. Use the Lasso tool with the Feather set to 0 px and make a selection of the part of the Train Middle layer that overlaps onto the Left side layer. The right side of this selection should be placed in the distance through the new train cars (see illustration).

10 MORE CUSTOM LAYER TRIMMING
Make sure that the middle layer—Train Middle—is active and press Delete (PC: Backspace) to delete the selected pixels. (In the illustration we hid the bottom layer—click on its Eye icon—to clearly show what areas were deleted.) Deselect.

Now zoom in for a closer view and make the Train Left layer active. Use the Move tool (V) and the Down and Right Arrow keys to align the layers along the seam in the background where the train cars converge.

11 AUTO-ALIGN LAYERS
In the Layers panel, click on the Train Right layer. Turn this layer’s Eye icon off and on several times and you’ll see how the locomotive isn’t aligning with the same areas on the underlying layer—this is what’s causing the alignment glitch.

Make sure the visibility for all three layers is turned on then select all three layers by clicking on the top one and then Shift-clicking on the bottom one. Choose Edit>Auto-Align Layers. In the dialog that appears, choose Auto for the Projection method and click OK.

12 AUTO-BLEND LAYERS
Now when you turn the top layer off and on, you should see that the locomotive is much more closely aligned with the layer underneath. Make sure that all three layers are still selected in the Layers panel and choose Edit>Auto-Blend Layers. In the small dialog that appears, choose the Panorama option and make sure that the Seamless Tones and Colors box is checked. Click OK. This time, the blend is successful and the alignment glitch on the top of the locomotive is no longer present.

13 RAIL RUNNER DEBRIEFING
As a final step, use the Crop tool (C) to crop the transparent areas surrounding the image.

Most of the time Photomerge works great but for those times when it doesn’t, the techniques that we’ve covered in this tutorial are some things you can try to get a better panorama merge from multiple images. For some images you may need to go even further to touch up alignment problems, for example: using the Clone Stamp (S), the Healing Brush, or creating patch layers. All are good skills and techniques to be aware of when these issues arise.

HOW TO GET GOOD MOVING WATER IN HDR

14 A SOLID NEUTRAL-DENSITY FILTER
One of the most common questions I’m asked about HDR photography is how to deal with the strange artifacts that commonly appear in moving water. I use a solid neutral-density (ND) filter to cut back several stops of light: Less light coming through the lens means the camera must use a much slower shutter speed than would normally be feasible in daylight conditions. With long shutter speeds of one second or slower, rushing water is rendered as a smooth, silky blur. Not only does this look cool, it also hides the usual HDR artifacts that often appear in moving water.

15 CREATE THE INTIAL HDR IMAGE
Let’s explore how good water can look with an HDR image made from four exposures taken in Camden, Maine. I shot the images using a 5-stop, solid ND filter with shutter speeds ranging from 1/4 second to 2 seconds.

In Bridge, select the four source exposures and choose Tools>Photoshop>Merge to HDR. When the Merge to HDR dialog appears, make sure that the Bit Depth is set to 32 Bit/Channel and click OK.

16 CONVERT TO 16 BITS
After the merge is done, choose Image>Mode>16 Bits/Channel to bring up the HDR Conversion dialog. For the Method, choose Local Adaptation from the drop-down menu. Set the Radius to 16 px, the Threshold to 0.50, and adjust the Toning Curve and Histogram curve as shown in the illustration (if you don’t see the curve, click the down-facing triangle to show it). Click OK to apply the conversion.

17 ADD SHADOWS/HIGHLIGHTS SMART FILTER
Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the Background layer and choose Convert to Smart Object from the menu. Then choose Image>Adjustments> Shadows/Highlights. In the dialog that appears, click the Show More Options checkbox to reveal all of the sliders and set them as shown in the illustration. This will help to balance out the tones between the bright sky and water and the rest of the image. Click OK when you’re done.

18 FINAL CURVES ADJUSTMENTS
Open the Adjustments panel, click the Create a New Curves Adjustment Layer icon, and slightly increase the contrast as shown in the Overall Contrast illustration. Add a second Curves layer and adjust the curve as in the Darken Sky illustration. Open the Masks panel and click the Invert button to invert the mask to black. With this layer mask active, use the Brush tool (B) to paint with white at 30% Opacity in the sky, trees, and rocks to darken those areas. As you can see from the detail view of the stream, the slow shutter speeds make the water look great with no visible HDR artifacts.

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I recently returned from a trip to Hawaii with lots of new photos. In this article, I’ll cover how to integrate the images and Lightroom catalog information from a trip or a location shoot into your main Lightroom catalog back home. We’ll also take a look at synchronizing Develop settings, launching a panorama merge from Lightroom, and essential “round-tripping” techniques for moving files between Lightroom and Photoshop.

1 [CATALOG TRAVEL STRATEGIES, METHOD 1]
There are two ways to work with your images while you’re traveling and I’ll cover both in this article. First, if your laptop is your main computer, you can add any new images you take on your trip to your main Lightroom catalog. Then once you return home, all you need to do is transfer the image files to the primary hard drive where your image archive is stored (more on that below). To ensure that your files are protected when you’re on the road, you should have at least two copies on separate hard drives.

2 [CATALOG TRAVEL STRATEGIES, METHOD 2]
If your laptop is used only for travel and isn’t your primary imaging computer, then an easy way to keep track of your images while you’re traveling (or on a location shoot) is to create a new catalog just for that trip (File>New Catalog). Once you return home, this separate catalog can be integrated into your main Lightroom catalog, and in addition to your images, any work you’ve done in Lightroom, such as virtual copies, collections, ratings, keywords, Develop module settings, etc., will be preserved.

3 [MOVE FOLDERS USING THE LIBRARY MODULE]
If you’ve used Method 1 as described above, once you return home you need to move the images from the external hard drive to the primary drive where your image archive is stored. The easiest way to do this so that Lightroom sees the move and keeps track of where your images are is to move them within the Library module. To do this, open the Folders section in the left Panels area of the Library module and drag the folders to the correct location on the primary storage drive. You can only move one folder at a time.

4 [UPDATE FOLDER LOCATIONS]
If you choose to move the image folders outside Lightroom, or have inadvertently done so, then you’ll see a question mark next to those folders, as well as on the thumbnails of the images in that folder. This means that Lightroom can’t locate the folder. Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the folder icon and choose Find Missing Folder to re-establish the link between the catalog and the folder. In the subsequent dialog, navigate to the actual location for the folder, highlight it, and click Choose.

5 [IMPORT NEW CATALOG INTO MAIN CATALOG]
If you’ve used Method 2 as described above, and have created a separate catalog for all of the photos you created while on your trip, then you can import this catalog into your main catalog. From the File menu, choose Import from Catalog. Navigate to the location of your Lightroom catalogs, select the one from your trip or location shoot, and click Choose.

6 [CHOOSE LOCATION FOR CATALOG IMPORT]
In the File Handling section of the Import from Catalog dialog, choose Add New Photos to Catalog without Moving if you’ve already moved the image folders from the travel hard drive to the primary storage drive (as described in Step 3). If you want Lightroom to move the images for you, choose Copy New Photos to a New Location and Import. Click Choose to specify the folder where you want the photos copied (in the case of this example, this is my 2009 folder). Click Import and Lightroom will create a copy of the folder that the images are currently in.

7 [MAKE TIME ZONE ADJUSTMENT]
I rarely remember to change the date in my camera to the local time zone when I’m traveling, and if I do, then I usually forget to change it back to my home time zone when I return. Fortunately, Lightroom has a fix for this. In the Library module, open a folder of images that need a time zone adjustment. Choose Edit>Select All, and then Metadata>Edit Capture Time. Select the Shift By a Set Number of Hours (Time Zone Adjust) option, and in the New Time drop-down menu, select the correct time difference adjustment.

8 [ROUND-TRIPPING WITH PHOTOSHOP]
Although you can use Lightroom to apply a lot of adjustments to your images, for some tasks you still have to use Photoshop. To make this transition easier, Lightroom provides several menu commands that lead to specific Photoshop features. In the rest of this tutorial, I’ll cover a scenario for using Lightroom to launch a panorama process and “round-tripping” the files from Lightroom to Photoshop and back again.

9 [PANORAMA PREFLIGHT: GLOBAL ADJUSTMENTS]
Several of the images from my Hawaii trip were photographed specifically to make panoramas. Before the panorama is assembled, however, global (overall) adjustments are needed. For this image of the view taken from Makapu’u Point looking up Oahu’s windward coast, the file was brightened with the Exposure slider, Clarity and Vibrance were increased, contrast was boosted with a Tone Curve, and changes were made to the Luminance section of the HSL controls to brighten the foliage colors and darken the blues. (Note: You can download the DNGs from www.layersmagazine.com to follow along. Only one of the images has been adjusted as described above.)

10 [PANORAMA PREFLIGHT: SYNC SETTINGS]
Once the adjustments have been applied to one of the panorama source images, they can be applied to others in the series if the exposure of the different shots is similar, as was the case for the two files in this Hawaii panorama. With the corrected image thumbnail selected in the Develop module, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) on the second image of the panorama series to add it to the selection, then click the Sync button on the lower right. In the Synchronize Settings dialog, check all the settings that apply (Local Adjustments settings such as the Brush should probably be unchecked), and click Synchronize.

11 [LIGHTROOM TO PHOTOSHOP: MERGE TO PANO]
With the source thumbnails for the panorama selected, choose Photo>Edit In>Merge to Panorama in Photoshop. When the Photomerge dialog appears you can choose the type of layout for the merge. If you’re unsure, leave it set to Auto. For scenes with obvious near-to-far relationships, Perspective works best, and for landscape panoramas such as this example, I usually choose Cylindrical. Make sure that Blend Images Together is selected. Click OK to create the panorama. (Note: Panoramas can also be launched from Bridge by selecting the thumbnails and choosing Tools>Photoshop>Photomerge.)

12 [STRAIGHTEN HORIZON WITH RULER TOOL]
Once Photomerge has created the panorama, you can decide if you want to keep it or return to Lightroom for further fine-tuning of the RAW files. In this image, the horizon isn’t straight. To fix it, use the Ruler tool in Photoshop (grouped with the Eyedropper) and draw a line along the tilted horizon. Then choose Image>Image Rotation>Arbitrary. The angle measured by the Ruler tool is already entered in the Rotate Canvas dialog, along with the correct direction needed to create a level horizon. Click OK to apply the correction.

13 [APPLY NONDESTRUCTIVE CROPPING]
If you want the image shape to be more of a standard rectangle, the next step is to crop the panorama. Use the Crop tool (C) to define a rectangular crop box around the image, then click the Cropped Area: Hide radio button in the Options Bar, and press Return (PC: Enter). This will allow you to undo the crop at a later time if you decide to go with the original “organic” Photomerge edges. (This only works if your image has layers with no Background and isn’t re-sized.) To restore the hidden cropped areas, choose Image>Reveal All.

14 [APPLY ADJUSTMENT LAYERS]
Overall, I was pleased with the way the image looked, but it still needs some tonal fine-tuning in Photoshop. Select Curves in the Adjustments panel and set the layer blend mode in the Layers panel to Screen without making any changes to the curve. In the Masks panel, click the Invert button to change the Curves layer mask from white to black. Then use the Brush tool (B) and paint with white at 30% Opacity over the lighter areas of the mountain. At this point, Save and Close the file and return to Lightroom.

15 [ADD PANORAMA KEYWORDS]
Since this image, as well as the two original files that created it, is either a panorama or panorama components, let’s add the keyword “panorama” to these files, as well as any other files in this folder that qualify as pano source images. This makes it much easier to find potential panorama images in your catalog in the future. To do this, find the Keywording panel in the right Panels area of the Library module and enter the keyword “panorama.”

16 [BRING THE PSD FILE BACK TO PHOTOSHOP]
The layered PSD file is now a part of your Lightroom catalog. At this point you can apply further edits in Lightroom, or reopen the current file into Photoshop and work on it there. To do this, select the thumbnail of the PSD file and choose Photo>Edit In>Edit in Photoshop CS4 (you can also get this option by Control-clicking [PC: Right-clicking] on the image or thumbnail). A dialog will appear giving you three options of what data will be brought into Photoshop. Let’s take a closer look at these choices.

17 [EDIT IN PHOTOSHOP OPTIONS]
Edit a Copy with Lightroom Adjustments: Lightroom edits you have made to the PSD file will be applied to a flattened copy (i.e., no Photoshop layers) and opened into Photoshop. Edit a Copy: Does what it promises—opens a copy of the file into Photoshop with all layers preserved (but no Lightroom adjustments are visible). This is useful if you want to take the file in a different direction than the original PSD file. Edit Original: Preserves all the layers but no Lightroom adjustments are visible. This last option is what I use most of the time.

18 [EDIT AS SMART OBJECT]
A fourth option appears in the Photo>Edit In menu: Open as Smart Object in Photoshop. This works well for RAW files where you want to embed the original RAW file within a layered PSD file. Once the file is open in Photoshop, you can double-click on the Smart Object layer thumbnail to open up the Camera Raw dialog. But for a file that already has layers, it doesn’t open up an embedded file with all of the layers preserved, which is how this would function if you made a group of layers into a smart object in Photoshop.

ALL IMAGES BY SEÁN DUGGAN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

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1 CHOOSE YOUR PHOTO

Pick a portrait that offers good contrast—a photo that’s very dramatic and dark probably won’t work as well. I’ve had the best success with straight-on head and shoulder shots, but again, feel free to experiment with all types of photos. For the best results, choose a photo that has a light background (or select the background around the person and make it lighter).

©ISTOCKPHOTO/JOAN VINCENT

2 CREATE VARIOUS TEXT BRUSHES

Create a new document (File>New) in a size that’s smaller than your photo: the specifics don’t really matter. Press D to set the Foreground color to black. Use the Type tool (T) to type several different words in various fonts and sizes (in this case we used a person’s name). One at a time, draw a selection around each word with the Rectangular Marquee tool (M), and from the Edit menu, choose Define Brush Preset. Name each brush in the Brush Name dialog and click OK.

3 SELECT THE SHADOWS AND MAKE A LAYER

Switch back to the photograph. From the Select menu, choose Color Range. From the Select drop-down menu in the Color Range dialog, choose Shadows and click OK. (In our example, nothing in the background was selected. If parts of the background are selected in your photo, see the next step for removing those selected areas.)

Then, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected pixels onto a new layer. Press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected pixels onto a new layer. Click back on the Background layer in the Layers panel.

4 SELECT THE MIDTONES AND MAKE A LAYER

Go back to the Select menu and choose Color Range again. From the Select drop-down menu in the Color Range dialog, choose Midtones and click OK. If (as in this example) some of the background is selected, use the Lasso tool (L) with the Option key (PC: Alt key) held down to circle the areas you don’t want selected. Then, press Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J) to copy the selected pixels onto a new layer.

5 FILL THE LAYERS WITH BLACK AND GRAY

Click the Eye icon next to the Background layer in the Layers panel to hide that layer from view. Click on the midtones layer and from the Edit menu choose Fill. Use 50% Gray, check the Preserve Transparency box, and click OK. Then, activate the shadow layer and use the Fill command again, except this time use Black with Preserve Transparency checked. You should have a very basic portrait made from black and 50% gray.

6 FINE-TUNE THE RESULTS AND MERGE DOWN
If necessary, show the original Background (click where the Eye icon used to be) and use the Brush tool (B) to paint with black on the shadow layer, gray on the midtones layer, or use the Eraser tool (E) to completely remove areas. (Note: For gray, click on the Foreground color swatch, enter R:128, G:128, and B:128 in the Color Picker, and click OK.) In this example, we added a little more definition to the ears by painting with gray on the midtones layer. Once you’re satisfied, click on the top layer (the shadow layer) and press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge it with the midtones layer.

7 ADJUST BRUSH SETTINGS AND PAINT SOME TEXT

Click the Create a New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Press D to set your default colors. Press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill the new layer with white. Choose one of your custom brushes from the Brush Picker in the Options Bar, and in the Brushes panel (Window>Brushes), click on the words “Brush Tip Shape.” Adjust the Spacing so there’s space between each word. Under Shape Dynamics, vary the size and rotation of the brush. As you paint on the white layer, experiment with the Shape Dynamics. Repeat with your other custom brushes. For now, just get some “text paint” on the layer—we’ll continue painting in a moment.

8 COPY THE PORTRAIT
Create a new layer and drag it above the black-and-gray portrait layer. Press Command-Delete (PC: Ctrl-Backspace) to fill it with white. This will provide a white background behind our image. Hide all the layers except the black-and-gray portrait layer, and then click on that layer to make it active. Press Command-A (PC: Ctrl-A) to Select All and then Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to Copy.

9 PASTE INTO A LAYER MASK
Show all layers and activate the layer with the painted words. Click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a layer mask. Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and click on the layer mask thumbnail (this will hide the painted text and show just the mask). Press Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste the copied pixels onto the mask. Press Command-D (PC: Ctrl-D) to Deselect. Press Command-I (PC: Ctrl-I) to Invert the mask (your mask should look like a negative of the black-and-gray pixel image that you pasted).

10 CONTINUE PAINTING, VARYING BRUSHES
Activate the painted text layer (not the mask) by clicking on the layer thumbnail, and continue painting using the different custom brushes you created. You can also continue to experiment with the brush settings for Size, Spacing, and Shape Dynamics. (Although you don’t need a pressure sensitive pen for this technique, it sure helps!)

11 ADD A LAYER WITH RANDOM TEXT
The painted text will only appear inside the white and gray areas of the mask. To add a bit more randomness to the portrait, add a new layer above the painted text layer. Then use the same text brushes to add a few words here and there outside the boundaries of the mask.

12 PAINT ON THE MASK IF NECESSARY
If there are areas where you’d like text to appear in the portrait—or there’s text showing where you don’t want it to show—click on the layer mask and paint with a round, soft-edged brush: use black to hide the text, white to show the text, and shades of gray to make the text somewhat visible.

13 VARIATION: ADD A GRAIDENT OVERLAY
Here’s a simple variation: Add a Gradient Overlay layer style to the painted words layer. Just click on the Add a Layer Style icon (fx) at the bottom of the Layers panel and select Gradient Overlay. In this case we clicked on the Gradient thumbnail, and selected the Blue, Red, Yellow gradient in the Gradient Editor. Click OK to close the Gradient Editor, then select Screen for the Blend Mode and click OK. Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and drag the word “Effects” in the Layers panel on top of the “extra words” layer to copy the same layer style to that layer.

14 VARIATION: USE TEXT BLOCKS WITH THE MASK
Use the Type tool to click-and-drag a text box around the entire image. Get a large amount of random text (we used www.blindtextgenerator.com) and paste the text into the text block. Hold down Option (PC: Alt) and drag the layer mask from the painted text layer onto this new type layer to copy the mask. Then, either hide the painted text layer, or use both the painted layer and the new type layer—the possibilities are endless!

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Disappearing Act

Let’s face it: no matter how carefully you try to compose your image, in some photos there’s something in the shot that just has to go! In this tutorial, we’ll review some key techniques for removing elements from a photograph using cover-up layers and the new live brush preview for the Clone Stamp in Photoshop CS4.

1 [CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW]
The Clone Stamp and the Healing Brush are both great for retouching and, in some cases, removing smaller objects from an image. But for larger items, especially in areas of more complex detail, you often have to use another approach that involves copying sections of the background onto separate layers. In order for this technique to work, there needs to be enough “extra” background information that can serve as a patch to cover up the unwanted object. Both the Clone Stamp and the Healing Brush can be used to fine-tune rough edges after the main cover-up layers have been created.

2 [SELECT THE AREA TO BE COVERED]
In the image of the girl walking through rain puddles, our goal is to remove the white fence post. It’s a bit distracting and the image will be more pleasing without it. Fortunately, there’s plenty of background that we can use to cover the post. It’s also slightly out of focus, which will make it easier to blend over the post. Use the Lasso tool (L) with a 2-pixel Feather in the Options Bar to drag a loose selection around the fence post. It’s okay to have irregular edges, as this will help camouflage the cover-up. (Note: You can download this image from www.layersmagazine.com.)

3 [MOVE SELECTION TO GOOD DETAIL]
With the Lasso tool still active, click inside the selection, hold the Shift key down, and move the selection over to the left to an area of background detail that will provide good image information for covering up the fence post. The use of the Shift key will constrain the movement of the selection to keep it aligned horizontally with the original position. In some images, such as this one, this is not that critical, but in others it may be important to have precise alignment of the data you’ll be copying.

4 [CREATE THE COVER-UP LAYER]
To create the cover-up layer, choose Layer>New>Layer via Copy, or use the handy shortcut Command-J (PC: Ctrl-J). Select the Move tool (V) and, holding down the Shift key again to constrain the movement horizontally, move the new cover-up layer back to the right until it covers the fence post. So far, so good. Now we need to zoom in for a closer look, adjust the positioning so that the fence wire matches up as well as possible, and touch up other areas with the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush.

5 [FINE-TUNE THE LAYER ALIGNMENT]
Double-click the Zoom tool to view the image at 100% (you can also choose View>Actual Pixels). It’s clear that the fence wire does not line up perfectly in some areas. Make the Move tool active (V), and use the Arrow keys on the keyboard to nudge the layer in 1-pixel increments until the wire mesh is better aligned.

6 [ADD LAYER MASK TO REFINE EDGE]
With the cover-up layer active, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel (it’s the third icon from the left). Choose the Brush tool (B), press D to set the default colors, and then X to exchange them to place black in the Foreground color swatch. In the Brush Picker in the Options Bar, choose a 45-pixel, soft-edged brush. Double-check to make sure the layer mask is active. Now check for any hard, obvious edges on the cover-up layer and brush over them to add black to those areas of the layer mask and hide or soften those edges.

7 [CHECK FOR REPEATING ELEMENTS]
The cover-up layer is now working quite nicely; however, because we copied a section of the background, we now need to double-check to see if there are noticeable repeating elements. In this case, there are¬ some grass patterns at the base of the fence that are obviously the same in two places. This needs to be retouched to hide the fact that it’s the same chunk of grass. You can choose to retouch either the cover-up layer or the original place from where the data was copied. For this example, let’s retouch the cover-up layer. Click the layer thumbnail to make it active instead of the layer mask.

8 [RETOUCH REPEATED ELEMENTS WITH CLONE STAMP]
Choose the Clone Stamp tool (S), set the Sample drop-down menu to Current & Below in the Options Bar, and Option-click (PC: Alt-click) to sample some of the dark green grass. Now retouch the lighter yellow strands of grass to hide the fact that it’s the same image information as elsewhere in the image. In Photoshop CS4 the Clone Stamp cursor will show you a preview of the data that you’ll be stamping, which makes it very easy to correctly align the data you’re cloning with existing image information. For this photo this is not that critical due to the slightly out-of-focus background.

9 [REMOVE OTHER ELEMENTS]
As a final step you can use the Clone Stamp tool to remove the short white pipe near the upper center of the image. Keep the cover-up layer active so the retouching can be added to this layer and separate from the Background layer. Because the Sample drop-down menu is still set to Current & Below in the Options Bar, you’ll be able to clone the information from the Background layer to the cover-up layer.

10 [SHOOTING TIPS]
So the key is to look for background detail that can be copied onto cover-up layers. When photographing, if you notice something that needs to be taken out, be sure to take extra shots containing good source material that can be used for a cover-up. For wedding group shots, take a shot of the background with no one in front of it. That way you can use it as source material in case someone needs to be removed from the group (hey, it happens!)

ALL IMAGES BY SEÁN DUGGAN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

Web design is one of those areas that, when done right, you just know it. The finished site looks refined and well done—it pops! There are a number of ways that you can achieve this by polishing off your design in Photoshop. Here we look at some of the ways to do just that.

1 [LAY OUT THE FUNDAMENTALS]
Before you go about making your website pop, you must first have your fundamentals in place. By this stage you should have done the research, laid out your website appropriately, and done most of the basic design work—but you haven’t applied the polish. In the following example, we’re going to look at some techniques used for a chocolate delivery website; however, these same techniques can be applied to any website.

2 [CHECK ALIGNMENT AND SPACING]
Alignment and spacing in website design creates order, organizes the page, and groups parts of the website for easy navigation. In the screenshot above you can see the guidelines in place ensuring everything is aligned (the grid is from www.960.gs). Notice how the logo and all of the text is left aligned? Also take note of the even spacing around the boxes and text. Use guides in Photoshop to ensure all of your elements are aligned. To add a guide to your document, drag it from one of your rulers (press Command-R [PC: Ctrl-R] to turn rulers on).

3 [APPLY ANTI-ALIASING TO TEXT]
Something that’s often overlooked when designing for the Web is anti-aliasing text. For those who don’t know, anti-aliasing is the technique of minimizing distortion artifacts. There are a few ways to minimize this distortion in your text but the best way is to make use of the anti-aliasing options in your Options Bar (or Character panel). You can choose between None, Sharp, Crisp, Strong, and Smooth. Experiment to see what works best, as different fonts and sizes will yield different results; however, the Sharp setting usually prevails in most cases.

4 [ADD A 1-PIXEL STROKE]
Something that really makes a difference in making a website pop is the use of a 1-pixel stroke inside borders and lines. Take a look at the zoomed-in screenshot above—see the inner purple line that runs alongside the inside of the box on the right? These stroked borders really add that extra crispness to the design as it provides extra contrast to the surrounding elements and gives the design more depth. You can add two strokes by selecting the object, choosing Edit>Stroke, and applying the 1-pixel stroke to the Inside. With your selection still in place, go back to Edit>Stroke and apply your second stroke to the Outside.

5 [ADD SUBTLE GRADIENT EFFECTS]
Gradients are popping up everywhere in Web design and for a reason—they add depth and real aesthetics to the design. Unlike print design where gradients seem flat, onscreen they make a design come alive. Notice the slight dark to light purple gradient in the screenshot above? Also take note of the slight transparency. These effects give the design a new dimension, making the image come off the screen, so to speak. Use Gradient Overlay in the Layer Style dialog to create these nice subtle (emphasis on subtle) effects.

6 [ADD SUBTLE DROP SHADOWS]
Use subtle drop shadows in conjunction with the gradients and stroked borders. Once again, these shadows add a new depth and dimension to your design as it makes the different elements on the page play against each other and pop out at you. Notice in the screenshot above that the logo, text, and boxes all have subtle drop shadows applied to them, which break them away from the other elements. You can use the Drop Shadow layer style to achieve these effects—but make sure you use them in moderation.

7 [HIERARCHY & CALL TO ACTION]
When someone first visits your website, what is the first thing they’re going to do? Is there a clear hierarchy of what to read or do first? What is the purpose of the site? These are all questions that you should have considered at the start of the project; however, now is a good time to go back and reflect on these decisions. Can you adjust the colors, size, or position to achieve better results? Notice in the screenshot below that the call to action on the UKE website is the “Pick a Basket” button, which is placed conveniently after the main opening slogan.

8 [COLOR CORRECTION & SHARPENING]
In Web design, photos, icons, and images are usually quite prominent, so you should ensure that they’re of the highest quality. Check the color balance, sharpness, and contrast of each image and make certain that it balances with the rest of the page and other images. A good way to do this is to make use of Levels, Unsharp Mask, and Curves in Photoshop. A quick search at www.layersmagazine.com will yield results on how to do this—these functions go beyond the scope of this tutorial.

Less Is More

In Web design, the old saying goes, “less is more.” After completing your website design, have a break and come back to it. Then ask yourself these questions to see how you can further improve your site:

1. Is there anything that I can remove, fix, replace, move, change or edit?
2. Does one element take up too much space or draw too much attention?
3. Are there too many colors?
4. Is the site balanced?
5. Is there consistency?
6. Can I make use of more white space?

When you set out to design your next website, you can also ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I have the basic fundamentals in place?
2. Can I improve my alignment or spacing?
3. Have I used the appropriate anti-aliasing?
4. Can I sharpen my images or text with strokes or borders?
5. Can I give more depth to the page by using gradients or drop shadows?
6. Is there a clear hierarchy with a call to action?
7. Are all of the images color corrected, balanced, and sharpened?
8. And last of all, ask yourself—does the website pop?

Before

After

ALL IMAGES BY JACOB CASS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

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