The Magic Eraser selects and then erases pixels of similar tone and color. The tool is great for removing unwanted backgrounds when making composite or montage pictures.

The Tolerance setting determines how alike the pixels need to be before they are erased. High settings will include more pixels of varying shades and colors.

Select the Contiguous option to force the tool to select pixels that are adjacent to each other and choose Sample All Layers if you want to sample the color to be erased from a mixture of all visible layers.

The Magic Wand makes selections based on color and tone. When the user clicks on an image with the Magic Wand tool Photoshop searches the picture for pixels that have a similar color and tone.

How identical a pixel has to be to the original hue selected is determined by the Tolerance value (1) in the options bar. The higher the value, the less alike the two pixels need to be, whereas a lower setting will require a more exact match before a pixel is added to the selection.

Turning on the Contiguous option will only include the pixels that are similar and are adjacent to the original pixel in the selection.

The Magnetic Lasso is one of three Lasso tools available in Photoshop. Lasso tools make selections by drawing a marquee around the picture part to be selected. The Magnetic Lasso helps with the drawing process by aligning the selection outline with the edge of objects automatically.

The tool uses contrast of color and tone as a basis for determining the edge of an object. The accuracy of the ‘magnetic’ features of this tool is determined by three settings in the tool’s options bar.

Edge Contrast is the value that a pixel has to differ from its neighbor to be considered an edge.

Width is the number of pixels either side of the pointer that are sampled in the edge determination process.

Frequency is the distance between fastening points in the outline.

For most tasks, the Magnetic Lasso is a quick way to obtain accurate selections, so it is good practice to try this tool first when you want to isolate specific image parts.

The Free Form Pen tool is used for creating vector-based paths in Photoshop documents. Magnetic is one of the tool’s options located on the options bar ( 1 ).

With the magnetic feature turned on, the Pen tool aligns the path with the edges of contrasty picture parts automatically. Like the Magnetic Lasso tool the Magnetic Pen uses contrast of color and tone as a basis for determining the edge of an object. The accuracy of the ‘magnetic’ features of this tool is determined by the Width, Contrast and Frequency settings in the drop-down dialog of the tool’s options bar ( 2 ).

The new Loupe tool in Bridge 2.0 acts like an interactive magnifier. The loupe size changes with the size of the displayed preview image and works best with a large preview image.

To use, click the cursor on an area in the preview picture. A 100% preview of this picture part is then displayed. Click and drag the cursor to move the loupe around the photo.

To magnify a specific area of a picture select the Zoom tool and click and drag a marquee over the area to be magnified. When you release the mouse button the picture zooms into the area you selected.

Photoshop has four different marquee tools

- Rectangular (1), Elliptical (2), Single Row Marquee tool and Single Column Marquee tool. The Rectangular and Elliptical tools are designed to draw regular shapes around the picture parts to be selected and the Single Row/Column options are used for selecting a solitary line of pixels.

By clicking and dragging the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquees, it is possible to draw rectangular and oval-shaped selections. Holding down the Shift key whilst using these tools will restrict the selection to square or circular shapes, whilst using the Alt (Windows) or Options (Mac) keys will draw the selections from their centers.

The masks in Photoshop provide a way of protecting areas of a picture from enhancement or editing changes. Used in this way, masks are the opposite to selections, which are designed to restrict the changes to only the area selected.

Masks are standard grayscale images and because of this they can painted, edited, filtered and erased just like other pictures. Masks are displayed as a separate thumbnail to the right of the main layer thumbnail in the Layers palette (1).

The black portion of the mask thumbnail is the protected area ( 2 ) and the white section shows the area where the image is not masked and therefore can be edited and enhanced.

Photoshop uses masks as part of the application of adjustment and fill layers, as well as providing a specialized Quick Mask mode in which masks can be interactively painted onto a canvas.

The Match Color command is designed to allow users to match the colors from one picture (called the source) to another (the target). The feature is a great way of bringing a consistent coloring to a series of pictures by using one picture’s colours as the source for all others. The matching can also be applied from layer to layer in a single image or, as we see below, from a selection in one picture to selection in another.

In the example the aim is to change the color of the shirt on the little girl from its original orange to something that is more like the blue of the beads (1) in the source image. To make the change we need to isolate the part of the target image that we want to change, that is the shirt, and also be selective about the area of the source image that we will draw our color matching from.

The first step is to select the girl’s shirt and then add a little feather to the selection to soften the edge. Next a selection was made of the area of the beads picture that most represented the colors that will be used as a substitute. After switching back to the Target image the Match Color feature was opened. Using the settings in the dialog the bead image was chosen as the source and the checkboxes for using the selections for both target and source were ticked. And ‘Hey presto!’ we have a new color for the shirt based on the color in a separate image.

The Match Location feature adjusts all open pictures so that the same view (middle, upper right, lower left, etc.) of each photo is displayed for all photos.

The location setting that is matched is based on the setting of the currently selected document.

Photoshop provides a range of ways to view several images when they are all open in the workspace at the same time.

Added to the viewing modes that were available in version CS of the program is the Match Zoom and Location options.

The Match Zoom feature displays all open pictures at the same magnification. The zoom setting that is matched is based on the setting of the currently selected document ( 1 ).

In the Extended version of Photoshop CS3 it is possible to view the results of complex MATLAB processing in Photoshop. MATLAB is a computing language designed for high level image processing, analysis and presentation.

The Maximize mode is one of the many ways that open pictures can be viewed in the Photoshop workspace. By clicking the Maximize button (1) in the top right of the document window, you can switch the view from tiled mode to a single image surrounded by the gray work area background. The style of buttons that are used in this part of the screen changes depending on whether they are controlled by Photoshop or the operating system. The same option is available for the window that contains the Photoshop program.

Other options for displaying open documents include:

Minimize (2) - Reduces an open window to just a title bar but keeps the document in the workspace.

Close (3) - Closes the document. Multi-window mode (4) - Displays the document in its own smaller, movable window in the workspace.

The Minimize and Maximize options are also available from the pop-up menu that is displayed by clicking the Photoshop Features icon at the top left of the document window (5).

The Maximum filter, as one of the Other group of filters, grows or bleeds the lighter areas of the picture whilst reducing the size of the darker toned parts.

In making these changes, the filter analyzes the brightness of the pixels in a given area (radius) and increases the brightness to the level of the darkest pixel in the area.

The filter contains a single slider control that adjusts the radius ( 1 ) or size of the area used to determine the pixel brightness

value.

The Measure tool reports on the distance between two points on the Photoshop canvas. After selecting the tool you click and drag the cursor to create a nonprinting line from the starting point to the finishing point on the document.

The Info palette displays the position of the line’s starting and ending points, the distance between these points and the angle of the line created (1). The same information is available in the options bar of the tool in CS3.

The measure tool is located in a pop-up tool menu with the Eyedropper, Color Sampler and Count (extended only) tools.

This tool is very useful in establishing a blur angle for the Motion Blur target in Smart Sharpen filter or calculating the angle to free-rotate a photo with a crooked horizon.

The Median filter, as one of the Noise group of filters, reduces the speckle type noise in a picture by finding the middle pixel brightness across the selected radius and removing pixels that deviate greatly from this brightness.

The filter contains a single slider control that adjusts the radius ( 1 ) or size of the area used to determine the median, or middle, pixel brightness value.

The filter has a blur effect as well as a reduction in local contrast.

New for Photoshop CS3 Extended is the Count tool. The feature is used to manually, or automatically (based on selections), count objects within an image. The results are displayed in the tool’s options bar.

Built on the successful Acrobat Connect platform, the Meeting options in Bridge 2.0 provide the ability for users to set up and access online meeting rooms from their desktop. The subscription-based technology supports audio and video conferencing along with options for sharing application windows or whole desktops with the meeting attendees. Before you can use the meeting space you must first have an Acrobat Connect account. Different levels of account are available depending on usage and there is also an option for a trial account to test that the system meets your needs. Go to www. adobe.com/products/acrobatconnect/ for more details.

After setting up your account you can create a meeting from inside Bridge by choosing the Start Meeting option (1) from the Favorites panel. Add in your account information in the Start Meeting dialog ( 2 ) and then decide on the meeting details before finally sending out email invitations to join the meeting.

This type of virtual meeting has the potential to provide better creative collaboration amongst work teams and between photographer and clients when distance limits the ability to meet in person.

Photoshop uses three types of memory in the process of editing and enhancing your pictures.

RAM (Random Access Memory) -Temporarily stores program information and the details of any pictures you have open. This type of memory is extremely fast and is the memory most preferred by the program. Typical figures for the RAM size are 256 Mb, 512 Mb and 1024 Mb. You can allocate how much of your computer’s RAM is used by Photoshop by adjusting the Performance (CS3) or Memory and Image Cache settings in the Edit > Preferences dialog (1). Photoshop CS3 can address up to 3.5 Gb of RAM on Mac and 4Gb on XP64 /Vista64.

Hard drive memory - As the information is stored in RAM only whilst the computer is turned on, there is also a need for a permanent memory storage option as well. A hard drive is used for this type of long- term storage. Although much slower than RAM, it is the hard drive that we ‘Save’ our pictures to and ‘Open’ them from. Most computers these days have hard drives of between 80 and 200 Gb (80,000 and 200,000 Mb) on which to store your pictures.

Virtual memory - For those occasions when the Photoshop project you are working on requires more RAM than you have available you can allocate part of your hard drive as extra ‘Virtual’ RAM or in Photoshop speak

- a ‘Scratch Disk’. Set the location of your scratch disk via the Performance (CS3) or Plug-ins and Scratch disks section of the Edit

> Preferences dialog (2).

Note: Memory settings changes only take effect after restarting Photoshop.

The Photoshop menu bar contains five specialist menus of Image, Enhance, Layer, Select and Filter as well as the usual File, Edit, View, Window and Help headings common to most programs (1). Grouped under these special menu headings are the various editing and enhancement commands that are the real power of the program. Selecting a menu item is as simple as moving your mouse over the menu heading, clicking to show the list of items or menu ( 2 ) and then moving the mouse pointer over the option you wish to use. With some selections a second menu (submenu) appears ( 3 ), from which you can make further selections.

CS3 and CS2 provide the capability for customizing the visibility and color of the menu options in Photoshop. The customized interface can be saved and loaded at any time or even distributed to other Photoshop users. To customize the menus adjust the visibility and color settings (1 ) (for each menu item) in the Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus dialog and save the final interface. This option will become an entry on the Set menu of the dialog and when selected will display the interface that you have designed (2 ).

The Merge Down command combines the contents of the selected layer with the one directly beneath it in the layer stack. In the example, the Brightness/Contrast adjustment layer was selected ( 1 ) and merged down into the picture layer ( 2 ). Merging options can be selected from the pop-out menu in the Layers palette as well as the options in the Layers menu.

Multiple layers add to the overall file size and memory usage when editing. Merging layers reduces file size and hence memory usage. Be careful though as merging layers also reduces the ability to edit the content of the individual layers later. For this reason, pros often make a copy of the layered file first before flattening the picture.

The Merge Layers command combines the content of layers that have been multiselected in the Layers palette.

This command largely replaces the Merge Linked command that was used to perform the same function in previous versions of Photoshop.

To multi-select several layers click on the first layer and then Shift-click the last layer in the group. Multi-selecting layers and then applying the Merge Layers command is a good way to flatten a selected subset of all the layers that make up the document.

The Merge Layers option is only available in the Layers menu when multiple layers are selected.

The Merge to HDR feature combines three or more source images of the same subject that have been photographed with differing exposures.

In the case of a three exposure sequence the underexposed frame captures the highlights, the metered exposure, the midtones and the overexposed frame the shadow details. Typically the exposure difference between frames equates to 2 f-stops or EV settings. The Merge to HDR feature imports and arranges the pictures to create a High Dynamic Range (HDR) document that contains 32 bits per channel.

If the feature can’t automatically detect the exposure difference between source images from the camera’s EXIF data you will need to supply the details manually via the popup dialog that is displayed ( 1 ).

The version of Merge to HDR that ships with Photoshop CS3 includes improved ability to register source images where the camera has moved slightly. The interface for the feature has remained largely unchanged except for the inclusion of some settings that govern the response curve used for combining the source photos (2). Users can now choose to save and load specific response curves or select a more automated approach.

The Merge Visible command combines the content of all visible layers within the document into a single image layer. Layers can be hidden from view (made not visible) by clicking the Eye icon on the left of the layer in the Layers palette. In the example the visible type ( 1 ), adjustment (2), picture (3) and background layers (4) were all merged (5).

To make a copy of the merged visible layers, create a new layer and then hold down the Alt (Option for Mac) key whilst selecting the Merge Visible option.

Merging any layer with the background yields the background; merging with another layer creates a single layer.

The Metadata associated with a single image or a group of multi-selected images can be appended (added to) or replaced using the options listed in the menu that appears after pressing the side-arrow ( 1 ) in the top left of the Metadata panel in Bridge.

The content of the data that is amended or replaced is contained in a metadata template. The template is created by editing the metadata details displayed in the File > File Info dialog and then saving these changes as a new template ( 2 ) using the side-arrow menu located in the top right. The newly created template is added to this menu and can be applied to other images by selecting it here or in Bridge.

The Metadata panel in Bridge displays a variety of information about your picture. Some of this detail is created at time of capture or creation and other parts are added as the file is edited.

The metadata that can be displayed (1) includes File Properties, IPTC (copyright and caption details), EXIF (camera data), GPS (navigational data from a global positioning system), Camera Raw and Edit History. To display the contents of each metadata category click on the side-arrow to the left of the category heading ( 2 ).

The data displayed in this palette, such as the copyright, description, author and caption information, can be edited here or via the File > File Info dialog.

The range of content types that is displayed in the palette is controlled by the selections in the Metadata Preferences for Bridge (3)

The metadata options in CS3 and CS2 allow users to create and apply groups of metadata settings to individual or groups of files. The settings are created, saved and applied as a metadata template.

To create a template open an example image in Photoshop and then display the File Info dialog. Add your own details and information into the editable areas of the various data sections in the dialog (1). Next select the Save Metadata Template option from the pop-up menu that appears after pressing the sideways arrow at the top right of the dialog (2 ).

The new template will be added to this menu allowing you to easily append existing details in Photoshop by opening the picture’s File Info dialog and selecting the template from the pop-up menu. The same template can be applied to several by multi-selecting thumbnails first and then selecting the desired template from the list available in the pop-up menu in the Metadata panel in Bridge.

The template files that you create are stored in XML format and are saved to a Metadata Templates folder in Documents and SettingsUserApplication DataAdobe XMP for Windows machines (3).

The Mezzotint filter, as one of the Pixelate group of filters, recreates tone and color in a similar way to the way it is produced with etched printing plates. A series of strokes, dots or lines is used in a pattern to create detail and tone. Grayscale pictures are recreated in black and white strokes, and colored photos remade with a fully saturated pattern of colored texture.

The filter contains no single slider control to adjust the strength or positioning of the effect, rather a drop-down menu of texture types is provided (1). Each type (stroke, line, dot) creates a different pattern of texture and tone.

The Minimize mode is one of the many ways that open pictures can be viewed in Photoshop. You can do this by selecting this option from the pop-up menu ( 4 ) that appears after clicking on the Title bar in the top left corner of a document window. There is also a minimize button (1) in the opposite corner of the window. Selecting either option will display the picture as a title bar at the bottom of the workspace.

Other options for displaying open documents include:

Maximize (2) - Displays the picture the maximum size in the workspace.

Close (3) - Closes the document. Multi-window mode (5) - Displays the document in its own smaller, movable window in the workspace.

The Minimum filter, as one of the Other group of filters, grows or bleeds the darker areas of the picture whilst at the same time reducing the size of the lighter toned parts. In making these changes, the filter analyzes the brightness of the pixels in a given area (radius) and reduces the brightness to the level of the darkest pixel in the area.

The filter contains a single slider control that adjusts the radius ( 1 ) or size of the area used to determine the pixel brightness value.

After opting for a fully managed system in the Edit > Color Settings of Photoshop, opening a picture that doesn’t have an attached ICC profile will display a Missing Profile dialog. Here you have three choices about how to proceed and, more importantly, how Photoshop will deal with the colors in the file:

Leave as is - This option keeps the file free of a color profile. Not a preferred option. Assign working RGB - Attaches the profile that has been set as the default working profile in the Edit > Color Settings dialog.

Assign profile Assign profile - Assigns a profile from the list of those installed in your machine. Select the option that most suits your output needs and then click OK. Many photographers use the AdobeRGB profile for working with images destined for publishing and sRGB for those pictures that are to be used on screen.

Photoshop can create, edit and convert images to and from several different color modes. The mode of a picture document determines the maximum number of colors that can be stored in the file, the way that color is constructed within the file (color channels) and this in turn affects the size of the file. Generally speaking more colors and more channels mean a larger file size.

The mode options available in Photoshop are listed under the Image > Mode menu

(1). They are Bitmap, Grayscale, Duotone, Indexed Color, RGB Color, CMYK Color, LAB Color and Multichannel.

The same menu also contains options for altering the color depth or Bits/Channel of your pictures (2 ).

The Hue/Saturation control adjusts the color and vibrancy of color in a picture. In the default mode, Edit Master (1), these changes are applied to all the colors in the picture. The drop-down Edit menu allows the user to select a different range of colors to apply the changes to. In the example, the hue of the blue colors in the picture were altered to green. In addition to selecting a specific color to edit, the Hue/ Saturation dialog also provides the ability to fine-tune the range of tones included in the selection. Two color bars are displayed at the bottom of the dialog when a color range is selected in the Edit menu. The top bar shows the color currently selected; the bottom bar indicates the colors that the selected hues will be converted to. Between the two bars are four slider controls. The vertical white bars ( 2 ) define the edges of the color range and the triangles (3) are the edges of the fall-off from the color range. By click-dragging the white bars the size and scope of the selected range can be altered. This allows fine-tuning of the colors selected and substituted.

Existing selections can be modified in the following ways:

Border - Choosing the Border option from the Modify menu displays a dialog where you can enter the width of the border in pixels (between 1 and 200). Clicking OK creates a border selection that frames the original selection.

Smooth - This option cleans up stray pixels that are left unselected after using the Magic Wand tool. After choosing Modify enter a Radius value to use for searching for stray pixels and then click OK.

Expand - After selecting Expand enter the number of pixels that you want to increase the selection by and click OK. The original selection is increased in size. You can enter a Pixel value between 1 and 100. Contract - Selecting this option will reduce the size of the selection by the number of pixels entered into the dialog. You can enter a Pixel value between 1 and 100.

Feather - Use this option to soften the normally sharp edge of a selection.

Photoshop CS3 also includes the new Refine Edge (1) feature which combines settings for the options above and has the added advantage of also providing several preview options of the changes.

A mottled pattern caused when a patterned material is converted to digital using a scanner or camera.

The problem can occur when scanning photographs that are printed in a magazine or book or shooting images that contain fabrics that have a definite woven appearance.

Some scan software has a descreening feature that eliminates the pattern but this can soften the image.

You can also rotate the material to be scanned slightly in the scanner and straighten it up once scanned, which sometimes helps.

The Mosaic filter, as one of the Pixelate group of filters, simulates the look of a pixel-based picture that has been enlarged greatly.

The photo is recreated in large single colored blocks. The filter contains a single slider control that adjusts the Cell Size or ‘pixel’ block size.

The higher the value entered here the larger the blocks used to recreate the photo.

The Mosaic filter, as one of the Texture group of filters, simulates the look of a picture that is constructed of small pieces of broken tiles. True to the tile idea, each tile is surrounded by an area of grout.

The filter contains three slider controls. The Tile Size slider (1) adjusts the size of each tile fragment. The Grout Width (2) setting determines the size of the grout in relationship to the tiles and the Lighten Grout option (3) controls the brightness of the grout area.

The Motion Blur filter is one of several blur options that can be found in the Blur section of the Filter menu. This feature is great for putting back a sense of movement into action pictures that have been frozen by being photographed with a fast shutter speed. Used by itself, the filter produces pictures that are very blurred and often lack any recognizable detail. For more realistic results apply this filter via a feathered selection to help retain sharpness in some picture parts whilst blurring others.

The filter dialog contains a single slider, a preview window and a motion direction (angle) dial. The Angle dial (1) determines the direction of the blur and should be set to simulate the natural direction of the subject. The Distance slider (2) controls the amount of blur added to the picture.

The Move tool is used to change the position of layer content within the confines of the image window.

The Move tool has two extended features in the options bar that change the way that the tool works:

Auto Select Layer - Allows the tool to automatically select the uppermost layer when the mouse cursor clicks on it.

Auto Select Groups - New for CS2, this option allows the user to select all layers in a specific area of a picture by click-dragging a marquee around a canvas part that is common to the layers.

Show Transformation Controls -Automatically shows the bounding box

( 1 ) of the layer content that is currently selected. In this mode the corner and side handles of the bounding box can be moved to transform the layer contents.

In Photoshop versions up to CS2 the MultiPage PDF to PSD option that was located in the File > Automate menu was used to convert individual pages of a PDF document to separate Photoshop PSD files.

In the dialog of this version of the feature you could input the name and location of the source PDF document (1), the destination directory for the converted files

(4), page range (2), output resolution and color mode (3) as well as the base name (4) for the newly created documents.

In CS2 you can convert several PDF pages by simply opening the PDF file and then multi-selecting the pages to convert using the PDF Import dialog (5). This feature contains options that control the Resolution, Color Mode, Bit Depth and Crop area used in the conversion and a choice between displaying whole pages or just the images they contain (6 ).

The Multiply blending mode is one of the group of Darken modes that multiply the color of the bottom layer with the top producing an overall darker result.

When the top layer is black the resultant blended layer is also black. There is no change when the bottom layer is blended with a white top layer.

This blend mode is often used for creating fancy edge effects on photos and it’s also very handy for ‘washed out’ or overexposed images. Simply duplicate the layer and set it to Multiply mode.