I found an excellent skin airbrushing tutorial over at tutorialpulse.com. This is a detailed thirteen step tutorial which layouts exactly how to have smooth skin using Photoshop. Each step contains a detailed description as well as a high resolution image to explain the procedures. The full article can be found here.

There is also an option to download the source files for free. If you want more digital makeovers checkout the, Digital makeover series and remember to subscribe.

Today, 19/02/10, Adobe Photoshop is 20 years old. Photoshop has remained successful for the whole 20 years. It started as a black and white image editing program and now it has grown to a multi-product franchise with many different products in the Adobe family. As the years have progress Photoshop has develop new features with every new release and each time the interface get even better and more refined.

Over at the photoshopuser.com you can find details of an event which will take place to pay homage to this program. I believe Adobe are putting on an event to celebrate the 20 years since the first release of Photoshop 1.0.

When you take Photographs outdoors, the weather can be misty, cloudy and hazy which can have a dull effect on your Photographs. You can try manually adjusting the contrast, brightness and gamma of the image, but this can take some time to tweak. A quick method of fixing the contrast in Photo is to use the Auto Contrast feature. The auto contrast works by adjusting shadows and highlights values in an image and then set the darkest and lightest pixels to pure black or pure white. This makes the highlights appear lighter and shadows darker and improves the appearance of your photographs.

To use the Auto contrast feature, follow the steps below.

1. Open up an image you wish to edit in Photoshop. To quickly auto up an image, checkout quick tip 3.

2. Then select Image > Auto Contrast if you are using Photoshop CS4. If you are using CS3 you may have to select Image > Adjustments > Auto Contrast.

This is part 25 of the Photoshop quick tip series where you will learn how to convert an image into black and white. I have actually previously created a tutorial that show you how to turn an image black and white which can be found here. I will be briefly discussing these methods in this quick tip.

The first method involves changing the default RGB mode in a colour image to the greyscale mode. This is not the most common method of converting to a black and white image. If you are using Photoshop CS4 you will receive a message asking if you want to discard the colour information. You click the discard button if you want to follow through with the conversion.

The second method is the most common and can be done through the menu bar or using shortcut keys. The default desaturate keyboard shortcut is Shift + Ctrl + U, or the menu bar option is Image > Adjustment > Desaturate.

The third method is similar to the second as it desaturate the image, the only difference is that it takes more time. You again can use keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + U), or you can go through the menu bar by selecting Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation.

This is part 24 of the Photoshop quick tip series where you will learn how to close multiple windows in Photoshop. If you have several windows open in Photoshop you will receive a message asking whether you want to close down the window. This is not a problem if you have one or two windows, but if you have over ten windows open, this will be a very time consuming problem. When you close a window you get the following message.

There are two methods to close multiple windows. The first method is to hold down the Shift key then select File > Close on the menu bar. Or you can go directly to the menu bar and select File > Close All. This will close all the opened windows in Photoshop.

10. Cloak of Invisibility

Remove everything from the screen except for your file.

• F, F, F | Cycle through Screen Modes
• Tab | Remove Tools and Palettes
• Ctrl+H | Hide Extras (Grid, Guides, Slices, etc.)
• Ctrl+R | Hide Rulers

9. Quick Brush Jab

Quickly and easily customize a brush. This combo is a staple for digital painting.

• B | Brush Tool
• Right-Click and Select or F5 and Select | Open condensed or full Brush Palette
• or . or , or Shift+. or Shift+, | Cycle through brushes or jump to first or last brush
• [ or ]: | Shrink or enlarge brush radius
• Shift+[ or Shift+] | Decrease or increase brush hardness
• {Numeric Input} | Change brush opacity (e.g. ‘5′ = 50%, ‘55′ = 55%)

8. Quick Brush Jab Path Stroke

Stroke a path with a customized brush.

• {Draw Path} | Use any tool to draw a path
• B | Select Brush Tool
• Quick Brush Jab | Use the Quick Brush Jab Combo to customize brush
• Enter | Stroke the path with your customized brush

7. Gaussian Attack

Apply a filter, fade it and apply again. Good combo for fine-tweaking filters.

• {Apply a Filter} | Manually choose and apply a filter (warning: using the Lens Flare filter may result in a swift kick to the mouse balls)
• Ctrl+Shift+F | Fade the filter
• (Ctrl+F or Ctrl+Shift+F) | Reapply filter with or without dialog box

6. Shadow Maker

Create a basic shadow based on a chosen layer.

• {Select Layer} | Select the layer the shadow will be created after. The transparency of this layer needs to resemble the desired shape of the shadow.
• Ctrl+J | Layer via Copy
• Ctrl+[ | Move layer down
• D | Reset color defaults
• Alt+Shift+Backspace | Fill with black and preserve transparency
• Ctrl+T | Free transform
• {Transform} | Modify to your liking
• Enter | Commit

5. Layer Catcher

Select, group and mask layers. Often easier than using the layers palette.

• V | Selection Tool
• Ctrl+Click or Ctrl+Shift+Click or Ctrl+Shift+Right-Click | Select your layers
• Ctrl+G | Group Layers

4. OCD Layer Sort

Rearrange your layers quickly and easily. Great cure for you neuroticism.

• F7 | Show Layer Palette
• Alt+[ or Alt+] or Alt+, or Alt+. | Select a layer
• Shift+Alt+[ or Shift+Alt+] or Shift+Alt+, or Shift+Alt+. | Select more layers
• Ctrl+[ or Ctrl+] or Shift+Ctrl+[ or Shift+Control+] | Move layers down or up or send to bottom or bring to top

3. Ultimate Flattener

Merge All Layers (even those hidden). Quick way to flatten a file.

• Alt+. | Select Top Layer
• Shift+Alt+, | Select all layers between currently selected and bottom layer
• Ctrl+E | Merge the selected layers

2. Infinite Dupe

Duplicate and evenly distribute or transform items. Nice way to distribute something like nav buttons.

• Ctrl+T | Transform
• {Transform/Move} | Manually Move or Transform
• Enter | Commit Transform
• (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T) | Duplicate and transform relative to the newest item

1. Finishing Move – The Web Extractor

Extract a selection and save it for the web. Extremely useful when pulling individual elements from a design, such as buttons or rules.

• {Create Selection} | Select the area you want to extract
• Ctrl+Shift+C | Copy Merged to clipboard
• Ctrl+N | Create New Image based on selection size
• Enter | Confirm New Image
• Ctrl+V | Paste from clipboard
• Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S | Save for the Web