Thoughts on Photoshop

Overall, I really enjoyed using photoshop because of all the different tools one can use to alter an image and make it look as realistic as possible. I believe that photoshop is the best program of its kind because of all the tools one can use to adjust every detail of an image. I really enjoyed using the clipping mask because it was fun to replace on part of an image with another. The blending options were also very fun to use because you could turn simple text and give the effect of glass or plastic. The most important thing I learned from photoshop is that it is really important to layer your images, otherwise if you make a mistake, are your work could be lost. Some of the skills that I learned were how to use the gradient tools, how to use the magnetic lasso, how to use quick masking, and how to use smart filters.

18. Soft Filtering Skin Tone

In this activity, I retouched the person's skin to give them a glow while keeping their features in focus. I opened the picture in photoshop, made a copy, and I selected the filters tab and pressed convert to smart filters. The filter that applied to this image was Gaussian Blur. Next, I chose the screen option to make the filter look more realistic. I then chose the brush tool and erased the filter off of her features such as the eyes and mouth. Lastly, I adjusted the opacity to make the effect look natural.

17. Quick Masking

The purpose of quick masking is to select an area that would be difficult to select with the magic wand tool or the magnetic lasso tool. After I opened the photo in photoshop, I selected the quick masking tool, set the colors to default mode, chose the brush tool, and shaded the area I wanted to select (in this case, the teeth) and covered it with a red translucent mask. After I perfected the shading of the teeth, I chose select and inverse (dotted lines appeared around the area to indicate that I selected that area). Lastly, I used the gradient tool to add the rainbow effect on the teeth. 

16. Smart Filtering with Motion Blur

I altered this image to make it seem as if the horse was moving faster than in the original picture. To make this effect, I used several photoshop filters. I opened the photo as a Smart Object, applied the motion blur filter and adjusted the settings to get the intended effect. Next I used the brush tool to erase the filter from the photo. I used the brush tool on the man and the horse to make that stand out while the background stayed the same. The end result was the photo on the bottom.

15B. Displacement Flag

This assignment was exactly the same as 15A, but instead of using a brick wall, I used a photo fo Brad Pitt. Using photoshop, the first thing I did was find a flattering picture of Brad Pitt (which wasn't too hard to find) and a picture of a flag (in this case, I chose the French Flag). I created a new file in photoshop and pasted the picture of Brad Pitt and the flag (I applied a hard light to the flag). Afterwards I made a copy of the brick wall and unsaturated the image. I applied a filter to the brick wall copy and saved the image. Lastly, I applied a hard light again and adjusted the opacity to make the image look more realistic.

15A. Displacement Flag

Using photoshop, I made an image of a painted flag on a brick wall. The first thing I did was find a textured picture of a brick wall and a picture of a flag (in this case, I chose the Brazilian Flag). I created a new file in photoshop and pasted the picture of the brick wall and the flag (I applied a hard light to the flag). Afterwards I made a copy of the brick wall and unsaturated the image. I applied a filter to the brick wall copy and saved the image. Lastly, I applied a hard light to the flag and adjusted the opacity to make the image look more realistic.