Operation Manual

120 LESSON 4 Image Editing Basics
Selective editing with the Smart Brush
Sometimes the best way to enhance a photo is to modify just part of the image, or
to treat separate areas—such as background and foreground elements—differently,
rather than applying an adjustment to the photo overall.
e quickest and easiest way to do this is to paint your adjustments directly onto
the image with the Smart Brush tool. e Smart Brush is both a selection tool and
an image adjustment tool—as you paint, it creates a selection based on similarities
in color and texture, through which your choice of editing preset is applied.
1 Isolate the Lesson 4 images in the Media Browser. Select the un-edited image
DSCN0532.jpg , and then click the Editor button ( ) in the Task bar.
2 In the Editor, click Expert in the mode picker, if necessary. In Expert mode,
choose Window > Reset Panels. Click the Photo Bin button ( ) at the left of
the Task bar to hide the Photo Bin; then, choose View > Fit On Screen.
3 Select the Smart Brush ( ) from the toolbox. If the tool options pane doesn’t
open automatically at the bottom of the workspace, click the Tool Options
button ( ) in the Task bar.
4 In the tool options pane, use the
slider to set a brush size of 25 px
(pixels); then, click the colored
thumbnail to open the Smart
Brush presets picker. Choose
the Nature category from the
Presets menu at the top of the
pup-up menu, and then select
the Make Dull Skies Blue preset.
5 Press the Esc key on your key-board to close the preset picker. Starting above
and to the left of the taller girl’s head, drag across the sky. If your selection
expands too far, subtract areas such as the distant shoreline from the selection
by holding down the Alt / Option key and painting carefully back over them.
When you’re happy with the adjustment area, Choose Select > Deselect, so that
a new stroke will create a new adjustment, rather than add to the current one.
6 Starting at the left, drag to select the water. As long as the adjustment remains
active, your strokes will add to the current adjustment area. Hold Alt / Option
if you need to paint out submerged legs and the highlights on the girls’ arms.
7 If you don’t see tabs for the Layers, Effects, Graphics and Favorites panels at the
top of the Panel Bin, click the arrow beside the More button ( ) at the right of
the Task bar and choose Custom Workspace. Drag the Layers panel out of the
Panel Bin by its name tab, and then hide the Panel bin by un-checking its name
in the Window menu.
E
Tip: For images with
a subject that is back-lit,
like our lesson photo,
overall adjustments
will never suit both the
shaded subject and the
brightly lit background.
In such cases, using the
Smart Brush to adjust
differently lit areas in
the image separately
is the perfect solution.
E
Tip: You’ll use the
tool options pane sev-
eral times in this exer-
cise. If you prefer, you
can hide it as you work,
and then show it again
as needed by clicking
the Tool Options button
in the Task bar.
E
Tip: Press the left
bracket key ( [ ) to
decrease the brush size,
and the right bracket
key ( ] ) to increase it.
While you’re fine-tuning
the selection, use a
small brush and make
slow, short strokes.