Lab Color and Levels - Making Colors Pop

You can make colors in an image pop in a variety of ways in Photoshop. The easiest is to turn the image into Lab Mode and use Levels. Learn this little trick and you will be able to do it too.

I have opened this free stock image.

The same image after turning into Lab Color and applying the Levels trick.

The tutorial is here

Other tutorials are here

Curves Adjustments Layers Secrets

You must have used Curves and Curves Adjustment Layers. There are some secrets in using this powerful tool in Photoshop. Curves should not be used in an arbitrary manner, but there are ways to use it correctly. You can work on selected portions of an image with Curves, but you must know how to do it.

This is a free stock image.

The same image after correction with Curves Adjustment Layers. You can do it too. Learn the secrets of using Curves with full control.

The tutorial is here

Other photoshop tutorials are here

Content Aware and Protect skin tone

Content Aware is a feature of Photoshop CS4 and above. Among the many uses that Content Aware can be used is for resizing in an unusual way after checking the 'Protect Skin Tone' icon. It works better than crop.

Here is a free stock image. Note that there is a lot of space at the left and a bit at the left. The easiest option would be to crop it.

I have used the Content Aware with Protect Skin tone to resize the image. It is very simple and can be done in a few steps.

The tutorial is here

Other photoshop tutorials are here

Adjustment Layers - Desaturated Look

You can give a deliberately desaturated look to images in Photoshop, while some color still remains. It is a question of using Adjustment Layers and Blend Modes. It can be done quite easily.

This is a free stock image.

The desaturated or muted color effect.

The tutorial is here

Other photoshop tutorials are here

Adjustment Layers for tweaking complextion

If you want to tweak the complexion of the subject of an image without affecting the Background, the best way is to use Adjustments Layers. These are non-destructive layers which allow you to mask out certain portions and concentrate on others.

This is a free stock image.

The same image after applying the tweaks with Adjustment Layers.

The tutorial is here

Other photoshop tutorials are here

Adjustment Layers and Blend If

Sometimes small tweaks to an image make all the difference. The best way to do this is to use Adjustment Layers. You can fine tune color and tone quite easily. To make sure that the effect is not overdone, use the Blend If in Blending Options for advanced blending.

This is a free stock image.

The same image with the tweaks applied.

The tutorial is here

Other tutorials are here

Spotlights to bring out details

Sometimes details are lost because of deep shadows in an image. Sometimes the image itself is too dark. You can correct it very quickly by turning on spotlights created in Photoshop. The process is easy and can be done in any version of Photoshop.

This is a very dark and shadowy image of Durga.

The same image after turning on the 'spotlights'.

The tutorial is here

Other photoshop tutorials are here