selections

It's Friday, but seriously, deeple, get your entertainment and education at the same time as you enjoy this video which I pilfered for your enjoyment from the companion DVD of Deke's Photoshop CS4 Channels & Masks One-on-One book.

In this lesson, Deke introduces you to the Calculations command which can be a little tricky, but oh-so-very useful and important to understand. As Deke notes:

Now I won’t sugarcoat it, Calculations is not easy—in fact, it might be Photoshop’s single most difficult feature to master. But it is the command that’s going to increase the quality of your masks.

When you're done, you can return to your less edifying Friday festivities. Happy Weekending, Deeps. Read more » 

Hey, Kids. I'm hiding in my room after my fifth day of Macworld festivities (and by festivities, I mean business meetings, talking to book lovers in the booth, and supporting my beloved authors). My boots are kicked off. I'm looking for a cocktail. And I'm noticing that the hotel internet is back online, so I'm going to take the opportunity to post another video for you.

This is from Lesson 3 of Photoshop Channels and Masks One-on-one, which by the way is here at the show and not only looks amazing but smells good (if you like fresh ink!). Tired as I am, (and I still have the O'Reilly experts appearance at Macworld in a mere 50 minutes), I'm gonna steal Deke's description from the book for you rather than try to write my own:

People often mistake simple tools for simplistic results. But in the hands of a capable and informed artist, Photoshop’s relatively mundane selection tools can produce out-of-this-world results. To prove my point, I walk you through the creation of a fast but furious composition, created using nothing more than three images, a couple of color adjustments, and the two marquee tools, rectangular and elliptical.

 

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