Tytaniafairy wrote:
I love the masking tool because it makes it easy to fix minor problems plus cutting out and pasting other images . I also like the pen tool , it makes it easier to select eyes etc ...Andthe layer modes are far superior to other programs .

Masking is one of my fave's.

mikedimples wrote:
Control+J

Copies your current selection to a new layer, or duplicates current layer if no selection is active

That'll come in handy.  Thanks.

Exile Creations wrote:
shift+ctrl+alt+e makes a merged layer of all layers in your stack. I'll generally add an inverted mask to it and use only the parts of the layer that i need.

Yes. Its called stamp visible. I use that quite often.

Exile Creations wrote:
shift+ctrl+alt+e makes a merged layer of all layers in your stack. I'll generally add an inverted mask to it and use only the parts of the layer that i need.

+1   I love this shortcut.  Use it all the time.

Cody Winfrey Touch-Up wrote:
Bracket keys to change bush size is awesome, makes workflow a lot smoother.

Yeah, now that I use a wacom, I find myself rmb clicking and changing sizes. Brackets are easier though.

Good Egg Productions wrote:
The Diffuse Glow filter.

It's AWESOME.  It makes all of my photos look dreamy and makes the girls look like angels.

What planet are U on?

Mac is Lost wrote:

Yes. Its called stamp visible. I use that quite often.

I've used PS since v6.0 and the first time I ever heard of that was Saturday while reading one of these threads. Since then, I have looked hard in CS3, to find the menu command that would have given me the inkling that the command even existed.

Once I tried it, I started having all kinds of practical ideas where that would be handy.

Where is it?

KB9NDF wrote:
I've used PS since v6.0 and the first time I ever heard of that was Saturday while reading one of these threads. Since then, I have looked hard in CS3, to find the menu command that would have given me the inkling that the command even existed.

Once I tried it, I started having all kinds of practical ideas where that would be handy.

Where is it?

Don't think it exists. Just use the shortcut. Once you realize how useful it is, you'll be using it too much to bother with a menu anyway.

My favorite tricks are D&B with color and isolating an RGB channel for B&W photos.

My favorite tip is "Save all of your layers".

KB9NDF wrote:

Mac is Lost wrote:
Yes. Its called stamp visible. I use that quite often.

I've used PS since v6.0 and the first time I ever heard of that was Saturday while reading one of these threads. Since then, I have looked hard in CS3, to find the menu command that would have given me the inkling that the command even existed.

Once I tried it, I started having all kinds of practical ideas where that would be handy.

Where is it?

Option-Merge Visible or Alt-Merge Visible (Hold the option or alt key when selecting Merge Visible from the menu) will work if you don't like the multi-button approach. The 'Merge and stamp layers' page in Photoshop's help has more details.

Good Egg Productions wrote:
The Diffuse Glow filter.

It's AWESOME.  It makes all of my photos look dreamy and makes the girls look like angels.

Your pretty cute yourself Good egg!

Mac is Lost wrote:
I have looked hard in CS3, to find the menu command that would have given me the inkling that the command even existed.

Where is it?

There is no specific menu command, but holding down the alt key while clicking on merge visible does it. Play around with your alt, shift, ctrl, exc.... when using brushes and menu commands and you'll come across many differnet new tools.

Kevin_Connery wrote:
Channels as masks.

While I don't often need to mask out areas to correct, I do find it useful to use masks for enhancements, and the fact that Photoshop makes so many different pre-built ones is very very handy. Color-specific channels (RGBCMYab), tone-based (~CMYKRGBL), and any combination of them can be used to create perfectly registered masks for a whole bunch of tasks.

Like throwing one of those into Calculations as a mask to do a B&W conversion. Sometimes it works very nicely.

Kevin_Connery wrote:
Channels as masks.

While I don't often need to mask out areas to correct, I do find it useful to use masks for enhancements, and the fact that Photoshop makes so many different pre-built ones is very very handy. Color-specific channels (RGBCMYab), tone-based (~CMYKRGBL), and any combination of them can be used to create perfectly registered masks for a whole bunch of tasks.

Word.

I'll contribute, this is a simple & handy little action I made and use a lot. Just photographers and retouches alike can make good use of this. It diminishes ISO noise and minor artifacts without detail loss to an image.

Steps:

1) Convert to LAB Color Mode

2) Select Channel "A"

3) Despeckle Filter then Median Blur @ 4 pixels (You can go more, but be careful if you go too much you can "spill" color tone outside of the intended detail - if you feel you need more consolidation of ISO noise, just run the filter again)

4) Select Channel "B"

5) Despeckle Filter & Median Blur & 4 pixels again.

6) Convert back to your original color mode.

That's it, works like a charm

Cheers,
D.

P.s. My very favorite action is "PhotonPixel"

Good Egg Productions wrote:
The Diffuse Glow filter.

It's AWESOME.  It makes all of my photos look dreamy and makes the girls look like angels.

lol

Phil Drinkwater wrote:
"X" switches between foreground and background colour and brackets "[ ]" increase and decrease the brush size. That halves my retouch time when doing dodge & burn on a new layer...

Don't forget about "D". Which sets the colors to the defaults - black & white.

btdsgn wrote:
For adjusting brush sizes, I just like holding down the alt key and pressing the button on my pen while dragging. You can do the same thing by clicking your mouse as well. For me its a lot quicker than bracket keys.

i just set up the wacom pen buttons on the side of the pen to do brush size

my fav tool right now is clone tool set to lighten, reduced to 20-30 percent opacity

ezpkns retouching wrote:
Oh yeah, and if I'm on a job where I need to do the same thing more than 50,000 times, I create an action.

I'm more inclined to do so if I have to do it more than 5 times, but I'm lazy.

Photons 2 Pixels Images wrote:
Smart Objects.

You use a filter then go on to work on another layer. You then realize you need just a bit of tweaking on that filter. If you set a layer as a smart object and run the filter on that, you can go back and readjust the filter settings without messing up the rest of your work.

There are other reasons for using Smart Objects, but this is my most common reason.

OMG i love you...

i kept deleting the layer and re doing it trying to change it just that little bit