Top 15 Photoshop Tools Every Photographer Should Know

Photography Tips

Photoshop is a magnificent tool that can help you save time and money by editing images in an efficient manner. Unfortunately, the learning curve for post-processing programs is a little steep. Que photographer Jeff Cable and his photoshopping skills. In this video, Jeff lectures on and demonstrates the top 15 tools that you need to know for quick and easy editing:

Jeff actually ends up talking about more than 15 tools to use in Photoshop, but here are some of the tools he covers in the video:

• Straightening – For those ever-so-slightly crooked pictures
• Exposure – This contains the highlight and shadow sliders allowing you to fine-tune your exposure
• Contrast – To give your photo a more realistic and punchier look
• White Balance – To help correct colors in your scene
• Sharpening – Particularly useful when importing RAW images since there is no in-camera sharpening
• Luminance – For smooth noise reduction
• Graduated Filter – For lightening or darkening top/bottom of the frame
• Cropping – For cutting out unwanted objects or getting closer to your subject
• Record Script – This tool will let you record editing action and play them back on other images for quick edits
• Spot Healing Brush – To get rid of imperfections such as small skin flaws, unwanted strands of hair, and small reflections.
• Content Aware Fill – For filling in blank spaces to look like the surrounding part of the image
• Layer Mask – To edit without destroying the original image
• Cloning – A much more exact tool used when the spot healing brush doesn’t work
• Vibrance – For altering colors while not affecting skin tone
• Custom Brush – Great for creating specific brushes, watermarks, and logos
• Clarity – Sharpens and darkens the image

Using Content Aware to fill in patterns in the image