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The creative tutorial home of image wrangler, Lesa Snider.

Step by step tutorials

Welcome to the home of the step by step creative online tutorial. Here you will find detailed, easy-to-understand steps accompanied by screen shots. These tutorials are liable to be about anything from my current project to something that drove me nuts trying to figure out. It is my hope that the things I can convey here will save you time and frustration.

If there's something that you'd like to see written up, please feel free to let me know

Mysteries of Unsharp Mask

What’s one of the very last things we do to an image before sending it to print or to the web? We sharpen it. What tool do we use? The Unsharp Mask filter, of course. Anybody know why? I didn’t, until I did a little investigating in the world of sharpening. This filter is named for the old-fashioned darkroom where photographers would, well, mask unsharpness by, "contact printing a film positive (the "mask") from a negative.

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How to add a page curl using Free Transform in Warp Mode Creative Curls Super Funky Edges
Painted Edges in Elements Secret Layer Masks
Creating a painted look with an edge mask Faux Finished Photo Edges Using another photo to create texture for your type Gettin' Grungy With It
How to Crop and Straighten Multiple Photos Get it Straight! Using blend modes and masking to lighten shadows Lighten Up!
How to sharpen individual channels Get Sharp! How to add Lab Pop Intensifying Color
How to recreate the effect of a popular new lens Blurry Background a la Lensbabies Fall Digital Scrapbooking Fun, Part 1
Shallow depth of field Shallow depth of field Demystifying Blending Modes A Stroll Down Blend Mode Lane, Pt. 1
Banishing bags 'n blemishes The Basics of Retouching People, Part 2 Recreating Apple's iWeb photo reflection effect Realistic Reflections
Creating a Circuit Board Face Use the Extract Filter for complex selections Selecting Frizzy Hair
Fun with Blend Modes How to create a grayscale image with just a touch of color Selective Color
Upsizing an Image with Minimal Quality Loss Changing the color of hair Digital Beauty Shop
Soft Edges Let Your Graphics Do the Talking
How to create a partial color photo in just two steps! Selective Color Photo Effect The Basics of Design
How to whiten teeth The Basics of Retouching People, Part 3 Finding Photoshop's hidden cropping grid Cropping to the Rule of Thirds
Retouching People How to fix an out-of-focus photo Filters To the Rescue!
Sensational Serigraphs, Pt. 2 Fabulous Feathers, Pt. 2
Placing an image within an image Simulating Pictures, Part 1: Flat Screens Using the Color Replacement brush to zap stubborn red-eye Serious Red-Eye Fixer Upper
Web navigation tips Joys of Optimizing JPEGs
Using vector shapes to add a watermark Protecting Your Photos Online, Pt. 1 Crop City!
Creating Favicons How to make your text see-through Hollow Text
Managing Photos with Bridge CS4, Part 1 Creating duotones with Elements' QuickFix mode Delicious Duotones
Digital Camera Belly Ring The Making of a Digital Camera Belly Ring Retaining a photo's aspect ratio while cropping Zoom Crop
Livin' La Vida Levels Fade to White
Color Shifting Made Easy Color Shifting Made Easy Picking the Perfect Palette
How to design business cards in Photoshop Using the Crop tool to increase canvas size

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