BEFORE and AFTER (An Exercise Project)

Gus Hallgren said:

Easy to understand "Quick Mask" and other tutorials on Robert Otoole's APTATS-1 instructional CD at http://www.birdsasart.com/aptats.htm



Gus

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Thanks for the mention and the credit Gus! I appreciate it. Nice work also.

Robert

Jeni Williams said:

Why aren't some of you guys in S.A??? This is precisesly what I'm trying to learn but find it difficult without seeing it first!! Age related thingy you know.........

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A few things here. It is rare that anybody invents anything new in photography or in Photoshop. I had never heard of Quick Masks until Robert O'Toole mentioned them to me, oh, about three years ago... And at the time I was good friends with some folks who turned out to be Photoshop heavyweigths... As is usual, I was slow to listen and a slow learner. I remember Robert sitting patiently with me explaining how to use Quick Masks. With a bit of practice, I became competent. When I realized that I was using one or more (or many!) QMs on 95% of my images for a variety of tasks, I asked Robert to create a tutorial with screen captures so that folks could learn what he had taught me, and, so we could both make a few bucks. Thus APTATS was born. Big on acronyms, I came up with "Advanced Photoshop Tips and Techniques Simplified." Robert is not the world's greatest writer so I spent a good many hours honing his text, making sure that it was clear and understandable. Though it was a minor collaboration Robert was the brains behind the project.

Finally on to Jeni. APTATS is available through BIRDS AS ART. It contains five detailed tutorials on how to use Quick Masks. But the best part of it is that once you have the basics down, you will find yourself uising them for dozens and dozens of chores. There is a link on the home page and we routinely send a great variety of products to six continents. I rarely speak the words Quick Mask in a sentence without mentioning Robert O'Toole.

Will these tutorials only work inCS or will they work with Elements also?

carole wiley said:

Will these tutorials only work inCS or will they work with Elements also?

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Hi carole,

Well ASAIK Elements does not offer Quick mask or layer masks. Sorry I dont have elements so I cannot give you a complete list.

I would recommend a CS upgrade, some of the missing features are really worth the upgrade cost.

Robert

Well google found these CS3 features missing in Elements 6:

* CMYK and LAB color modes
* More tools and features that work with high-bit (16-bit and 32-bit) images
* Combine multiple exposures to create high dynamic range (HDR) images
* Channels Palette
* Recording custom Actions (for batch processing)
* Adjustments: Color Balance, Match Color
* Layer Masks, Layer Comps, and Quick Mask mode
* Smart Objects, Smart Guides
* Lens Blur Filter
* Vanishing Point Tool
* Pen tool and paths palette
* Some adjustment layers (curves, color balance, selective color, channel mixer)
* Editing History Log
* Text on a path, advanced text formatting
* Advanced Layer Style manipulation
* Advanced Color Management
* Advanced Web features (rollovers, slicing)
* Customizable tool presets, keyboard shortcuts, and menus
* In the features and tools that are shared, the Photoshop version usually offers more advanced options for fine tuning and control.

Hope this helps.

Robert

I also use the Quick Mask technique on a daily basis. The APTATS CD is a great investment. It has hundreds of uses, for indoor and outdoor portraits as well. We need more APTaTS CD's.
Best,
Howard

Mr. O'Toole has been working on APTATS II for way too long. Perhaps someone could give him a kick in the butt for me. The Average Blur Color Balance alone will be worth the price. Thanks BTW Howard for you more than kind words.

Okay, I guess I will have to upgrade to CS just to get the APTATA tutorials, this quick mask thing seems like it would be quite handy.

Add a water reflection

Hi Folks:

Will add a water reflection to this image.

Uncle Gus

This is image with water reflection added . . . . .

This is how I did it . . . . First, I created a Java Lake Applet here: http://unclegus.150m.com/IndexOZ3.html
When you click on this link, if you don't have Java on your system you will be asked if you want to d/l Sun Java, click "Yes". It will do no harm to your system, and if you don't like it, you can reverse the installation.

Then I viewed the Java application rippling away, and captured the image using Hypersnap. http://www.hyperionics.com free trial available. Hypersnap is the fastest and easiest way to take screen captures from Windows screen

That simple . . .

Uncle Gus

BTW: You can add Rain, Wind, Thunder, Lightning, and a boat moving across the rippling lake if you are adventurous ~ http://unclegus.150m.com/IndexOZ1.html

Wow, Uncle Gus, you did great! Thanks for sharing this!

Arthur Morris said:

Finally on to Jeni. APTATS is available through BIRDS AS ART. It contains five detailed tutorials on how to use Quick Masks. But the best part of it is that once you have the basics down, you will find yourself uising them for dozens and dozens of chores. There is a link on the home page and we routinely send a great variety of products to six continents. I rarely speak the words Quick Mask in a sentence without mentioning Robert O'Toole.

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Thanks so much, I have already ordered Aptats ( arrived yesterday) and am now just waiting for your Book and CD too! Also got John Shaw's CD on CS3 as per your advice in a Bulletin.
Am sure that will help. - I'm just impatient to learn everything that I see!
I got CS3 end May, before that never used anything apart from Red- eye and cropping
(Microsoft Picture Manager) from a P/S camera so with having started "proper"photography in March, am finding everything like a double - whammy between the eyes at the moment.
I want to do everything, get frustrated because I don't know how.... BUT I will get there.
(Just please excuse all the questions in the meantime)

Read everything you can get your hands on Jeni, including the educational resources section on this site! There is a ton of information.

Thanks Jackie, I do. Just suffering from brain overload. Maybe need to sit back and learn one thing at a time.

Hi Jeni:

You have ordered all the right stuff. However, IMHO, Arties "Digital Basics File" PDF http://www.birdsasart.com/digitalbasics.htm can be on your computer tomorrow as it
is a fast download. Another bonus with "Digital Basics" is that updates for free, and Artie's
described "Workflow" is worth the price of admission by its lonesome, and you get tons of
good tips as well. The CD is great, over 900 pages, but might overwhelm you at first.

Take it easy, one day at a time.

Uncle Gus

Thanks Oom Gus, that was the first one I bought. It's what I've been using to do the editing so far.

carole wiley said:

Okay, I guess I will have to upgrade to CS just to get the APTATA tutorials, this quick mask thing seems like it would be quite handy.

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Carole,
A quick note: CS4 has just been announced and should be available shortly (most online retailers will let you pre-order). So I wouldn't bother with CS3 at this point.
Chris

Hi Chris; Adobe took orders for CS4 last week, and it will be delivered or downloaded October 14th. Remember before you remove CS3 to "De-activate" it from your system so it can be installed again if necessary. It is said the CS4 is a big upgrade. Uncle Gus

Hawk Owl

This type of Owl is always high in tree, very seldom, can you see him at eye level, day was crappy, overcast and had to use 1.7 exposure comp to get details of Owl to come out but hated background.
Saw this thread and sent this in as example:
Using white paintbrush to slowly go along edge of owl and tree I wanted to keep in shot...I do this so as not to lose any edge details.
Using magic wand to mask, the hit Select - Modify - Contract by 1, copied it.
Selected a background I wanted to use, performed a gussian blur and pasted photo of Owl in.
Cropped to size
Using clone tool cleaned up edge of bird and tree (small bits of old background )
Sharpened....adjusted brightness and contrast....Done

B&A Bluebird

Here is my before and after.

I gave it a vertical crop, I selected the birds body and lightened it the reason I selected the body is because if I did not select it the log in the BG would have looked brighter also and that would be distracting.
I gave it some contrast,sharpened it, and finally added some saturation.

I am sorry but you will have to click on the attachment if you want to see the photo