Photoshop Tip {Layers}

My tip for today may seem pretty simple, and really, it is, but it’s not something that I caught onto for quite a while.  Working in layers.  It’s one of the best things you can do for yourself whether you’re a photographer or graphic designer (like me).  Every change you make to the photo you are editing could be forgotten after a few more changes; I often found myself coming up with a great effect on a photo only to have no clue what any of my settings were.  Or even accidentally saving over my original because I didn’t duplicate that layer or better yet, duplicate the image!

Here are some instances where  I find layers so important – and I’d love to hear more!

*Skin smoothing (this one’s a must so you can mask out what you do NOT want smoothed)

*Color Balance

*Adjustment Layers (since I found these I haven’t used the flyout menu options for Levels, Curves, etc!)

*Working on eyes (I always leave this layer separate until I save a final copy)

Photoshop Tutorial – Liquify Tool

Most of us at one time or another have used Photoshop. I use it on a daily basis. There are so many tools in PS that it can be overwhelming at times. One tool that I have been wanting to try was the liquify tool.

You can find Liquify under FILTER on the top menu bar of PS.

I have been intimidated to try Liquify, but found with a few tips its not so bad.

I started with this picture

While it’s a beautiful image to start with I wanted to make it even better. First I cloned out the part of the counter to the left of her using the clone stamp.

Then, I used Liquify on her back to make it a little more “smooth”  So, I selected Liquify from the toolbar when I had the image open. Sometimes it can take a few minutes to open depending on what size your image is, so be patient. After it was opened, I used a small brush on the parts of her body that I wanted to work on. The trick to the Liquify tool, is going slow and doing it in small increments. It did take a while but here is the end result

I do realize that I am NO expert with this tool, but I think it turned out o.k for one of my first attempts using it. If you have any tips on using the Liquify tool please leave a comment below.

Thanks everyone!!

-Melissa