1.
1. DUPLICATING LAYER MASKS FOR OTHER
ADJUSTMENT LAYERS
 To save time when you need a copy of a mask from one layer to
another adjustment layer; when you’ve used the brush tool to
create a mask. Simply hold down the Option key on a Mac or CTRL
key on a PC, click on the layer mask and drag it to the adjustment
layer in question. This makes a copy of the layer mask without
having to redo the same again.

2.
2. ADD A CURVES ADJUSTMENT LAYER WITH A
DIFFERENCE
 Normally in the Curves
adjustment, you adjust points
on the curve line which affect
the image’s tonal range. The S-
shaped curve is a classic tonal
tweak for boosting contrast and
color saturation. However, if you
add a curves adjustment layer,
change the blend mode to Soft
Light and
reduce the Fill down to approximately 55% (the reduction amount will depend
entirely on your image & preference), this gives a similar boost to color and
contrast. For demonstration purposes, I have left the Fill at 100%, so that you
can see a difference as outlined within the white square.

3.
3. DODGE AND BURN
 Create a separate layer, change the blend mode (Mode) to Overlay and fill
the layer with 50% gray. Name this layer “Dodge and Burn”. The Dodge and
Burn tools are my go-to method for making selected areas of an image lighter
or darker. Dodge is for lightening and the Burn tool is for darkening an area.
Use a soft Brush and set Exposure to between 6-12%. In most cases, I leave
Range set to Midtones. If you find that you have overdone it in the specific
areas, just reduce the Opacity on the layer. The image on the right (below)
shows the areas where I used the Burn tool to darken his arm, his face, and
the bright spots in the background, and also where I lightened his back
shoulder.

4.
4. LAYER COMPS
 I find the Layer Comps
feature in Photoshop
invaluable. It is a useful guide
to the different editing stages as
a before and after comparison.
It is so easy to overdo it and get
carried away with over-editing
your image. This has five
stages from straight out of
camera, to the final image.

5.
 Cmd+Shift+Alt+E (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E on a
PC is the command to keep all the layers in a
Photoshop file and make a merged copy on top of
them. I find this particularly useful, especially at the
end of my editing process, where I apply some
sharpening or contrast by using a Topaz effect(plug-
in for Photoshop).
5. STAMP VISIBLE

6.
 This is found under File>Place. I normally work with
multiple images in the same document. Therefore, I
find using this method really handy as it imports the
image as a Smart Object automatically, which is
great for resizing the image without any
degradation.
6. THE “PLACE” COMMAND

7.
7. PATCH TOOL
 The Patch Tool was my
favorite of the Healing
Brush Tools in
Photoshop CS5. But
now that I’ve upgraded
to CS6, the Patch tool
has just gotten even
better. You can now use
the Patch tool to fill
using the Content-
Aware on a new empty
layer.
I prefer to set the Adaption to Loose. Make sure Sample All Layers has
been ticked. The Healing Brush also feels more intuitive to use than
before.

8.
8. CMD+T OR TRANSFORM
 I seem to use this shortcut a lot. If I’m working on
multiple images in the same document, I may need
to resize one or two of the images accordingly. As I
import my images using the Place command, this
means they are converted to Smart Objects, so the
resolution of the images isn’t affected when
transforming or resizing.

9.
9. CMD+T+WARP TOOL
 Similar to the above point, the Warp tool is great for fine-
tuning an element of an image, especially if you are working
on composites. In the image below, I was using my own stock
photo of Heron’s talons to replicate the Owl’s talons for the
purpose of realism.

10.
10. OPENING A SECOND WINDOW FOR THE SAME
DOCUMENT
 When you are retouching your image to get rid of dust and
blemishes and so forth, you may need to zoom in as much as
300% or more. Open another window for the same document
by Window>Arrange>New window for new_filename.PSD but
keep it at 25% (or fit to window). This way, instead of zooming
back out to see how the image looks and then zooming back
in to resume your retouching, just click on the second window
where you have the same document viewed at 25% (or fit).

11.
SOME OF IMAGE EDITING MY WORK
Before
After

12.
BEFORE
AFTER

13.
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SERVICE FOLLOW THE LINK –
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14.
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