Commercial Photoshop retouching: in the studio PDF
Preview Commercial Photoshop retouching: in the studio
Commercial Photoshop Retouching In the Studio commphoto.indb 1 8/4/2005 3:45:51 PM commphoto.indb 2 8/4/2005 3:45:51 PM Commercial Photoshop Retouching In the Studio Glenn Honiball BEIJING • CAMBRIDGE • FARNHAM • KÖLN • PARIS • SEBASTOPOL • TAIPEI • TOKYO commphoto.indb 3 8/4/2005 3:45:53 PM Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio by Glenn Honiball Copyright © 2005 O’Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472. O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for most titles (safari.oreilly.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or [email protected]. Print History: Editor: Colleen Wheeler August 2005: First Edition. Production Editor: Philip Dangler Cover Designer: Mike Kohnke Interior Designer: David Futato The O’Reilly logo is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc. The Digital Studio series designations, O’Reilly Digital Studio, Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio, the cover images, and related trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps. Adobe Photoshop™ is a registered trade- mark of Adobe Systems Inc. in the United States and other countries. O’Reilly Media, Inc. is independent of Adobe Systems, Inc. Cover photos: iStockPhoto.com. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the pub- lisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. TM This book uses RepKover™, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding. 0-596-00849-X [C] commphoto.indb 4 8/4/2005 3:45:58 PM Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii 1. The Professional Retoucher’s Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Photo Retoucher’s Work Environment 1 The Workflow of a Typical Retouching Job 6 Becoming a Professional Retoucher 11 2. Shadows and Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Imagining the Light That Should Have Been 16 Creating a Simple Shadow 20 Creating Shadows for Complex Objects 29 Retaining an Existing Shadow in a New Background 33 Grounding Objects with Shadows 36 Common Shadow Mistakes 37 Keeping a Shadow Library 41 3. Corrections: Improvements on Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Correction Basics 43 Adding Texture to an Image 50 Neutralizing Images 64 Using the Clone Tool 59 Brightening Images 67 Changing Image Colors 70 4. Something from Nothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Creating Smoke or Steam 81 Creating a Smile 88 Creating Motion from Stillness 89 Extending Backgrounds 102 Shining Things Up 114 v commphoto.indb 5 8/4/2005 3:45:59 PM 7. Special Color Requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Creating Touch Plates 123 Merging Spot Colors into CMYK 132 Converting CMYK to Special Colors 133 Changing a Four-Color Image to Three Colors 136 Adding Trap 140 Changing the Overall Color 147 6. Merging Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Preparing the Pieces: Options for Selecting the Components 155 Preparing the Canvas: Your Position File 172 Putting the Pieces Together 173 7. Low Resolution on a Grand Scale: Making Low Res Look High Res . . . . 181 Understanding the Spec Sheet 182 Assessing the Situation 184 Improving the Existing File to Survive Magnification 187 Dealing with Specific Image Problems 194 8. Preparing Images for Newsprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Start by Understanding the Process 206 Preparing a CMYK Image for Use in Newsprint 211 Preparing a Color Image for a Black and White Newspaper 230 9. Preparing Images for Use on Packaging Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 The Image You Have Versus the Image You Need 234 The Spec Sheet 235 Preparing a CMYK File 239 Another Option: Creating a Special Color 249 Trapping on Special Packaging 251 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 vi Contents commphoto.indb 6 8/4/2005 3:45:59 PM Preface I retouch photographs for a living. Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio is a collection of techniques and advice for using Photoshop to retouch pictures in a professional environment. Of course, the techniques discussed can be applied to any image for any purpose, but the specific examples here are the types of things I might be asked to do for a client on any given day. It’s my hope that you can use what you learn here in your work at a pre-press shop, an ad agency, or an in-house design department. Or you can use them on your own images to really make them stand out from the crowd. My Assumptions About You I’m assuming that you want to create professional-looking retouched images in the most efficient and realistic way. When I say efficient, I mean that while Photoshop CS2 is a powerful application chock full of fancy tools, sometimes I find that the easiest and quickest way of getting the job done is with simple tools, a creative sensibility, and a technique honed in the trenches of meeting client deadlines. When I say realistic, I mean that although your images may contain fantastic or unreal subject matter, they shouldn’t look obviously retouched. I’m also assuming that you have a general familiarity with Photoshop. You don’t need to be completely up to speed with CS2, but you need to have a general idea of how to open files, find the needed tools, initiate basic com- mands, and use the tools in Photoshop with some comfort and confidence. You don’t need to have the latest, or even second-most recent version of Photoshop. While I have discussed a couple of features of CS2 where they are applicable, in general I am “old school.” And most of the techniques I use can be done with older versions of Photoshop. I should also mention that I use a Mac. Just so you know, I actually started off on a Mainframe computer running a proprietary computer language, then to a DOS-based PC, Windows, then Unix, and finally Mac. I assume if you use a PC, you are savvy enough to figure out that you can generally substitute the Control key for the Apple (Command) key. The key thing I’m trying to teach this book is the technique, not the specific shortcuts for tools. vii commphoto.indb 7 8/4/2005 3:46:00 PM Contents of This Book Contents of This Book NOTE This book is divided into nine chapters, each covering a general category If you need to get up to speed of client requests. If you have a client who wants you to fix the color of an with Photoshop, try Deke image, create something that doesn’t currently exist in an image, or prepare McClelland’s Adobe Photoshop an image for use in a special medium, you should be able to find a chapter CS2: One on One (O’Reilly). that helps you do the job. After a brief orientation to the studio of a profes- You really only need a general sional retoucher in the first chapter, the next five chapters cover general familiarity with Photoshop to types of image manipulation. The last three chapters give special advice on get started with this book, but how to prepare images for “unusual” mediums such as billboards, newspa- if you don’t even have that, Deke’s book is a great place to pers, and product packaging. Here’s a basic run-down of what the chapters start. are about: Chapter 1, The Professional Retoucher’s Studio Tries to give you a sense of what a day in the retoucher’s professional life might entail. In this chapter, I’ve sketched out the basic physical envi- ronment in which I work, the workflow of a typical retouching job, and some thoughts about becoming a professional retoucher. If you want to go straight to retouching images, start with Chapter 2. Chapter 2, Shadows and Light Discusses the basic category of projects that require manipulation of light. I’ll give you some techniques for understanding “imaginary” light sources, creating realistic shadows, and avoiding common shadow mistakes. Chapter 3, Corrections: Improvements on Reality Covers how to make corrections that really improve the power of an image. We’ll go over some basic correction techniques, discuss add- ing texture and shape to flat images, and cover some overall color corrections. Chapter 4, Something from Nothing Helps you understand how to approach those jobs in which you or your client wants to put something in the image that isn’t currently there. This might mean adding steam to a cup of coffee, adding motion to a sports car, or adding shine to a previously dull object. Chapter 5, Special Color Requests Discusses how to use special colors and manipulate colors to get the output you or your client are seeking. Here, we’ll go over creating touch plates, converting files in and out of CMYK color profiles, and chang- ing the overall color of an image entirely. Chapter 6, Merging Images Goes over how to create realistic, if sometimes fantastic, compositions. We’ll discuss the basic techniques of properly selecting the components of your composition, how to prepare your “canvas,” and how to put the pieces together so that the “seams” don’t show. viii Commercial Photoshop Retouching: In the Studio commphoto.indb 8 8/4/2005 3:46:00 PM Conventions Used in This Book Chapter 7, Low Resolution on a Grand Scale Covers the typical commercial retouching request of taking an image intended for a magazine or brochure and making it usable at poster or even billboard size. I’ll go over how to interpret a spec sheet for this kind of job, how to assess potential problem areas, and how to improve the file so that it survives magnification. Chapter 8, Preparing Images for Newsprint Discusses the particular problems and techniques for avoiding those problems when your image’s final destination is the local newspaper. We’ll start by getting an overall understanding of the particular needs of images heading for newsprint, then follow with specific instructions for preparing color and black and white images. Chapter 9, Preparing Images for Use on Packaging Materials NOTE Considers the particular retouching challenges and Photoshop tools There are also plenty of notes that can help you prepare an image intended for industrial packaging. and sidebars full of my observa- Here, we’ll go over spec sheets for flexographic presses, how to prepare tions from years of working in my retouching studio. the file for best results, and the particular solutions for avoiding pitfalls in this medium. Conventions Used in This Book As I mentioned, this book was written by a Mac user. But that doesn’t mean that PC users should be confused, because most menu commands in Photoshop are identical. Menu commands discussed in this book are sepa- rated by the → symbol; for instance, Image→Adjustments→Curves means choose the Image menu in Photoshop, then click on Adjustments, and then Curves. Plain text Indicates menu titles, menu options, menu buttons, and keyboard accelerators (such as Alt and Ctrl). Italic Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, file extensions, and pathnames. Comments and Questions Please address comments and questions concerning this book to the publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA 95472 (800) 998-9938 (in the United States or Canada) (707) 829-0515 (international or local) (707) 829-0104 (fax) Preface ix commphoto.indb 9 8/4/2005 3:46:01 PM
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