Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Photoshop

What do I want to do to this picture?

patnasty — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:40:57 -0800

I have a picture I want to modify in photoshop, and I'm sure there are relevant tutorials out there on the web, but I don't know how to describe what I want to do to it. Basically, I'd like to give it the illusion of depth -- make the back wall seem further away, and give it more of a sense of perspective, so you get more of a feeling of looking into a room, and less like you're looking at a flattened image of a room. Is there a term for that? Googling for photoshop and depth has turned up a lot of stuff about depth of field, but I don't think that's what I'm looking for. I'm not looking to make anything more or less focused, so much as alter the picture's perspective.

Also, I have the black + white original of the pic I linked to, so if it'd be easier to add the 3-D effect I'm looking for first, and then colorize it later, I could do that.

Is my Photoshop CS2 Pirated?

Babblesort — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:38:00 -0800

I just received a copy of Photoshop CS2 that I purchased via eBay. How can I tell if it's fake? I just received a copy of Photoshop CS2 that I purchased via eBay. How can I tell if it's fake? The seller was listed as being in South Carolina so I was surprised and concerned when my package showed up shipped from China.

The copy was advertised as unopened in original shrinkwrap and it looks like that is the case. But with the unexpected Chinese origin I'm concerned that it may be a pirated copy. Can anyone tell me any specific things to look for to validate its authenticity. Hologram printing or the like on the disc? Something else?

Help my teenage sister unlock the wonder of Photoshop

acorn1515 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:19:18 -0800

I'm getting a copy of Photoshop CS3 for my younger sister, who's always shown a lot of interest in graphic design. She's turning 16, what beginner's resources can I point her to? I read the answers to this question, posted several years back, but I'm hoping there may be some more up-to-date sites or books out there. Something targeted to a high school audience, with "funner" real-life examples is the dream.

I'll definitely be pointing her to the "You Suck at Photoshop" web series, even though that might not necessarily be the preferred tone for my baby sister. Photoshopping herself into pictures with Red Sox players is a bit more up her alley...

Help me get Adobe out of my boot sector!

Elminster24 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:17:18 -0800

How do I COMPLETELY uninstall Photoshop CS4 to allow me to reinstall it properly? I am debating wiping my master boot sector. I installed the trial version of Photoshop CS4 (on a Windows 7 64-bit machine) and the installer froze partway through so I powered down, started back up and tried reinstalling. However now it just does not install period.

My research seems to indicate that this is due to Adobe installing a nasty bit of code in the boot sector to prevent people from simply uninstalling the trial after it expires and reinstalling it. Unfortunately for me I never even got to use it.

I tried using RevoUninstall and then the Adobe Cleanup Script for PS CS4 and none of that worked. I have Dreamweaver CS4 installed and that still works fine but I tried doing a system restore to a point prior to installing any Adobe software and tried reinstalling and that didn't work either thanks to this little boot sector gem.

Any ideas on how to get completely rid of this so I can reinstall it from scratch? I have been debating wiping the master boot record per these instructions (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392) but I've never done anything like that before and am worried I won't be able to reinstall Windows properly with all my fun little Alienware extras.

So...question is how do I remove Photoshop CS4 COMPLETELY, and if there's no easy way to do that which I haven't tried already, how can I properly wipe my boot drive to remove their hidden key and get my machine operational again (I have my Windows 7 install disc and can get all the necessary drivers off the Dell support site).

Happy to answer any questions to clarify things.

.NEF file discrepancy

Hypnotic Chick — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:15:13 -0800

Why does my version of Photoshop open the Nikon D700 images I have stored but not the D90 images? I am currently using Photoshop CS4 (v 11.0 ) with an iMac (OS 10.6.1). I am trying to open the proprietary Nikon .nef files. I have no problem with the D700 files, but the D90 files are unrecognized by Photoshop. The Nikon D90 uses firmware version (A1.0, B1.0, L1.0), and I can't find any updates. The D700 was borrowed so I don't know the firmware version there. The files are stored on a WD My Passport and copied from the cameras SD card using the Dell Mini 9 lpia version of Ubuntu Linux.

Anyone have any thoughts?

How can I convert Microsoft Image Composer files into a usable format?

Lazlo — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:33:56 -0800

I have a bunch of old Microsoft Image Composer (.mic) files. Nothing in my current toolkit can handle the format. How can I view them and/or convert them to something useful? Google consensus seems to be I should torrent a copy of Image Composer -- which used to come with FrontPage, IIRC -- but I'd rather not risk downloading a trojan. I'm running Windows.

Thanks!

Saving a large photoshop file

cairnish — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:32:10 -0800

Photoshop CS3 for the graphically impaired. I'm struggling to create a banner print file. Two-by-eight foot banner. 200-300 dpi (ppi?). Somehow I'd like to end up with a file I can take to Lazerquick and have them print me a vinyl banner to hang from an outdoor pop-up canopy (and occasionally from a banquet table). I'm guessing 2x8 feet would work. Tartan background with our club name reversed out in white text. (I'm a design dullard.)

I started with a snippet from a tartan wallpaper sample. I've tried to clone that to approximately the right aspect ratio and then resample it up to 24 x 96 inches at 300 dpi (there's a little box at the top of PS that says either dpi or ppi - also tried 200), which is what Lazerquick and FedEx/Kink's tell me they want. After grinding the hard disk for A Very Long Time, and watching the iStat graphic chip temperature climb :-) I think I might have a usable file. If I save it as psd - no go, fails with file too big. I tried saving it in Large Document Format instead, and my poor iMac ground for another eternity and then gave up with a "Can't save - not enough disk space." Oh dear, I thought maybe a spare 100GB would be sufficient. Humph. I googled reports that PS7 had problems recognizing disk space, but from what I can see, I should be successful using PSB format.

So, uh, how do people print giant colorful banners? Is my problem that I'm trying to scale up a bitmapped wallpaper graphic? Do I need to hire someone to replicate the tartan in vector format to get the file size under control?

Why are my PDFs becoming heavyweights?

steeb2er — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:55:29 -0800

Why do minor changes to a PDF in Photoshop CS3 radically increase the file size (from 200k to 6.5MB)? I'm no graphic artist (as evidenced by this question), but I'm an intermediate user of Photoshop and frequently asked to make changes to existing documents. Right now, I'm trying to change the address on an old PDF to our new address. The old PDF is roughly 200kb before editing, but 6.5MB after editing. What am I doing wrong?

Here's my step-by-step:

1) Open PDF in Photoshop CS3
2) Create new layer
3) Use text tool to type out the new address (basic Arial font) over top of the old address
4) In background layer (the original PDF), use the paintbrush tool to cover up the old address
5) Save as PSD
6) Flatten layers
7) Save as PDF, without Photoshop editing capabilities

The doc is a full sheet, 8.5x11; It's a photo-heavy step-by-step guide, but the pictures aren't high-res or great quality. Photoshop CS3, Adobe Acrobat, Win XP SP3. If you need any other info or want the files themselves, I'll be glad to provide.

New slices from guides

four panels — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:32:51 -0800

Photoshop CS3 for Mac: Is there a way to create new slices from guides, without destroying existing slices?

Create scale animation in Photoshop?

aaronetc — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:48:44 -0800

I am trying to create an animated button in Photoshop CS4 which includes a logo scaling down and moving a bit across the animation. I've created two frames that I'll tween between, but no matter what I do, when I scale the logo it changes in both frames. I've turned on and off the three unify buttons and the propagate frame 1 checkbox, and I've scaled using Transform and with the move tool options, every time it scales in both frames. Moving it from one position to another works just fine. Can anyone help?

How to get connected and get working as a retoucher in Berlin?

freudenschade — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:27:52 -0800

Talented, creative, experienced (but mostly non-German-speaking) Canadian digital artist looking for postproduction/retouching work in Berlin. Got any leads or advice for my girlfriend? We moved to Berlin a couple of months ago, and after some much-needed down time, the job hunt has begun. We have visas that allow us to live and work in Germany for at least the coming year. Being fairly competent in German and focused in the tech/software/marketing world, I'm OK for leads for now, but my girlfriend could use some tips.

Background: She graduated from Sheridan College with a diploma in Applied Photography in 2004. Spent the last four years working for Dixon Film & Photography, one of the top advertising photography studios in Canada -- the past two of which were as head retoucher, working on national and international ad campaigns for big clients in partnership with top ad agencies. She's incredibly talented, and able to contribute to projects creatively as well as technically. Basically, she's a postproduction ninja. She just needs someone in the industry here in Berlin to take notice.

You can view samples of her professional and personal (fine art) work here: www.lunaland.net

So, creative industry Berliners (and others in the know), what can she do to make some more connections locally and find the right position? Full time would be ideal, but regular freelance is an option as well. Again, she doesn't really speak German, but it seems like it would definitely be possible to find work as an English speaker in the mostly English speaking creative/advertising industry.

Any and all feedback is definitely appreciated. Specific suggestions for related work (i.e. art direction) would also be great. Danke schön in advance!

Looking to up my presentation skills in NYC

kenzi23 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:04:30 -0800

I'm looking for a job doing presentation graphics (in law firms, possibly financial firms); this is about 30% of my current job at a law firm. I'm one of very few "experts" at my firm which isn't very technologically advanced in this area, so I'm afraid that my skills won't cut it in the outside world. I need advice on how to upgrade my skills. I want to upgrade my skills so that I can show a better portfolio and talk about those skills with more confidence.

I'm pretty strong in all the Microsoft Office products and how they integrate, especially in Powerpoint and Visio. I also am quite skilled and experienced in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

Since we don't really use Powerpoint to its full potential at my current job, I want to learn more advanced skills, and I feel like I need to improve my Excel skills to integrate better with Powerpoint. From the job listings I have seen, I think I should learn Flash, but what else is essential for a presentations job?

I'm in NYC so if you have any recommendations for places to get the kind of training I need, I would love to hear them.

Is there a "curves" function on Photoshop Elements 7?

tangyraspberry — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:49:07 -0800

Is there a "curves" function on Photoshop Elements 7? I just purchased Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 and cannot find the curves function.

How to apply a radial-subtle gradient to a 1px line Photoshop?

wildrain2008 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:26:44 -0800

How to apply a web 2.0 radial-subtle gradient to a 1px line Photoshop? Hi All, I'm a freshman Web/Graphic design student and am looking to achieve the following:

How to apply a subtle gradient to a line tool in Photoshop? In other words I see a trend in web 2.0 graphic-rich websites that use these horizontal rules that fade on both sides.

I have been able to achieve all effects with linear gradients. But am unable to master the radial gradient. It seems that if I start from center it blends the middle of the line instead of the outer edges.

Essentially I'm looking to learn to achieve two effects:

1: http://www.cobblestonecn.com/
- the top-most tab's bottom border fades on both sides seemlessly

2: http://onwired.com/
- the border of the green strip fades on both sides and also has a shadow under it to make a pop effect.

Are there good tutorials for both web 2.0 effects?

I know my way around Photoshop, but have not had experience with achieving certain effects.

Thanks in advance!

Photoshop Question: is there a way to get a count of pixels contained within any (irregularly shaped) selection/layer?

unmake — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:20:29 -0800

Photoshop Question: is there a way to get a count of pixels contained within any (irregularly shaped) selection/layer? For example, is there something in Photoshop which, when I select a circle with a 10 pixel radius, will tell me that the area of the selection is ~314 pixels?

If not, are there any other applications for this task?

Help me be the first to buy Photoshop

lukemeister — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:21:48 -0800

Is there a legitimate way to buy discount software for a high-school student? My son, a sophomore in high school, is enjoying a class that makes heavy use of Photoshop CS4. We'd like to get him CS4 for the computer he uses at home (Vista, 4 GB memory), but it's very expensive. I know there are discounts for college students. We'd rather not use 'warez' sites. Thanks!

Fireworks and Photoshop workflow issues

fauxtoes — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:04:06 -0800

Fireworks vs. Photoshop - which is better? (ok, that's obviously flamebait). How do I make a workflow argument for Photoshop in a production department entrenched in Fireworks? We're a web production department that primarily designs and builds web pages from Fireworks source files. I prefer to design in Photoshop, but I'm getting pushback from the production department. The argument being, that working with photoshop is fundamentally slower, not built for the web, and therefore has no place in our workflow.

I'm trying to build the case that we can, and should, have a capacity to work with Photoshop. I see opposition to Photoshop as a training issue that can be overcome. How can I sell the benefits of adding photoshop expertise to our repertoire?

Which PS Template for 16x9 DVD Menu

anonaccount — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:03:29 -0800

Ive created a series of 16x9 videos that I want to make into a DVD using Adobe Encore. My version has no templates for some odd reason. Which Photoshop Template do I use? PAL D1/DV
PAL D1/DV Widescreen
PAL D1/DV Square Pixel
PAL D1/DV Widescreen Square Pixel

?? and what's the difference between them?

Is it possible to read the plates in this photo?

damn dirty ape — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:40:14 -0800

Is it possible to read the plates in this photo? I played with color, contrast, sharpen, and a few plugins but cant see the plate number. I can see a 5 for the first digit, but thats about it. Im guessing that there's too much distortion and reflection to make out what it is, but perhaps a photoshop expert here can figure it out. FWIW, this is a photo of a thief getting away.

FauxtoshopFilter

mad_little_monkey — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:17:50 -0800

PhotoshopFilter: I'm looking for two things - recent photoshopped hoax pictures sent in by someone in the audience that the mainstream media has mistakenly printed or put on TV. Also any tips on detecting photoshopped photos would be appreciated. Even better if someone on the 'net outed them before MSM caught it. Sure - we've all seen the George Bush reading the upside down kids book, and the shark bites chopper guy. Anything else you have seen that recently has made it onto local television news, a news website, or into a local paper would be greatly appreciated, so would any tips on detecting photoshopped pictures. Photoshoppers are getting so much better than the MSM is at detecting them.

Can you "Save For Web" in Lightroom?

chocolatepeanutbuttercup — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:53:12 -0800

Best web photo prep software? Will Lightroom work? Asking for a friend: She is using Adobe Lightroom on a Mac and is familiar with preparing photos for print. Now she needs to be able to prepare photos for a webblog (usually jpgs at medium compression and at no more than 500 pixels wide.)

I looked (quickly) at Lightroom and couldn't figure out how to first, resize an image and second, control the compression. Perhaps it's possible and I just couldn't find it?

If Lightroom is not the answer, I was hoping to find a standalone version of something like Photoshop's "Save For Web" feature where you can see how much compression you're adding and what the end result will be. She could export her photos from Lightroom, pull them into some standalone program to prep them for the web and save them from there. Bonus points for open-source.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Photoshop includes?

xoe26 — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:05:27 -0800

I am a programmer trying to use Photoshop. When programming I often use 'includes' to pull in a file that is propagated across the application or website. Is there a similar feature in Photoshop that will allow me to create, say a navigation and then include it in different pages, thus when I change the navigation it will be updated in every photoshop file?

Ho to make photoshop save photos?

-harlequin- — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:02:23 -0800

How can I save JPG images in Photoshop CS so that a digital camera can read them? Cheap crappy software can do this easily, but no matter what file settings I use in Photoshop, I've never been able to get any of my digital cameras to be able to read any JPG that was written by Photoshop - I have to load and re-save them with other piece of software to get them to work. Surely there is a way to make Photoshop save JPG files that cameras can read? My impression is that (naming conventions and so forth aside) there is a JPEG standard that most or nearly all cameras read, rather than every camera having it's own random special requirements.

I want a way to start saving files in that standard, because I'll be using a camera as an image storage/display device, and want to load the memory card with images and graphics in addition to photos it has taken, but right now, I have to individually process each file to do this, or the camera won't read it, and it's driving me nuts.
(I also don't want to save as RAW or TIFF)

Thanks!

Photoshop-Shortcut Filter: How to toggle between layers w/out touching the mouse

alrightokay — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:40:12 -0800

Photoshop-Shortcut Filter: How to toggle between layers w/out touching the mouse - basically, I'm looking for and alt-tab option for layers within Photoshop. How can I toggle between the current layer selected and the previous layer selected? - kinda like alt-tab for layers within Photoshop. Google turned up a lot of results about shortcuts when within the layers palette but I'm looking for an alt-tab-simple shortcut.

I need to keep my mouse cursor in the same location on the image as I switch between layers - having to move from the image, to the layer palette is messing me up a bit.

Any Ideas?

Useful workspaces now that I have a huge extended desktop?

jtron — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:52:21 -0800

I scored a huge monitor for free! Tips for video editing/motion graphics workspace layout? So I scored one of those 21" CRT monitors that people used to pay thousands of dollars for and are now somewhat devalued. It's got a max res higher than I even use; I keep it around 1600x1200, and it sits next to my laptop.

Does anyone have useful tips on how they arrange windows, timelines, palettes, etc? I use Final Cut Studio and Adobe After Effects and Photoshop the most often.

If there're any other tips for living with a new ginormo-tron on one's desk, I'd appreciate those as well.

If it matters, I'm running OS X 10.5.7 on a first-gen MacBook Pro with 2 gigs of RAM and an octopus tangle of hard drives.