Photo Editing 201

Photo Editing 201

After building a solid foundation in Photo Editing 101, it’s time to learn essential tools and techniques that will guide you through your passion.

* This tutorial is part of Photo Editing 101-301

Elevate Your Images

Subtle Compositing

Composting can be done in many different ways, and often times the best composite images are also the most subtle. In the example to the left, we balance an image that was a bit “left-heavy” by adding trees to the right side.
Edit Nondestructively

Cutting objects out of their backgrounds can take a long time and require tedious selection work with tools like the Pen Tool. There are other ways to cut objects out of their backgrounds that are more simple – the trick has to do with blending photos. Learn how to quickly bring multiple photos together.
Add Interesting Colors

As an artist, you are allowed to take certain “artistic liberties” with your photos, provided they achieve a positive result. Learn to play with color and push your images to the edge by adding gradients & coloring highlights and shadows.
Export & Deliver

After editing images to perfection, it is time to export them and deliver to a client or upload them to the web. Learn exporting workflow to make sure your images display properly no matter where they end up.

In-depth Editing

In Photo Editing 101, you learned the basics of photo editing, focusing mostly on workflow & Lightroom. In Photo Editing 201, learn in-depth retouching, color correction, & compositing in Photoshop.
Follow Along

Photo Editing 101 includes 45 RAW Photos (16-bit) so you can follow along with the instruction and learn at your own pace. RAW images provide the greatest amount of flexibility when editing in Lightroom and Photoshop.
Photoshop & Lightroom Workflow

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Most images will require editing in both Photoshop & Lightroom. Learn how to import, organize and catalog images through Lightroom. Then move into Photoshop for more advanced editing.
What Makes a Great Photo?

Photo Editing has one purpose – to elevate your images to their highest potential. That is why we focus on teaching you what to look for, and how to fix common problems that any photographer faces.

Complete Editing Workflow

Photo editing can be overwhelming. Learn the entire process from capture to export as we walk you through a professional workflow that will help you organize, edit, and get creative!

Move Objects

If something isn’t in the right place, it can add visual tension to a photograph. In the example to the left, we move part of the wall up to clear more space and give the photo more room to breathe.
Change Composition

Learn how to stack multiple photos together to add more space to a photograph and change the composition at any time.
Dodge & Burn

Learn how to add beautiful highlights to skin and tone shape and contour through dodging and burning. Also learn the subtleties of color dodging to give the skin a “glow” effect.
Fix Exposure & Color

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In a perfect world, every photo you take will be perfectly exposed and colored correctly. For most of us, we need a little help in post production getting things right. Learn to adjust exposure and color to give your images the impact they deserve.

Learn Multiple Lighting Setups

Photo Editing 201 includes 45 RAW photos from 6 photo shoots, each with its own distinctive lighting setup. At the beginning of each chapter we discuss the lighting that made each one of these images possible.
Strobe & Natural Light

Learn the differences between continuous and natural light and how to combine them in multiple ways to create different effects in your images. Bonus: Learn special techniques like dragging the shutter.
Camera Settings Explained

Enjoy the little details? Learn what cameras, lenses, and settings were used on each shoot via the on-screen pop-ups. No information left behind. If it has to do with photography or editing, it is covered here.
Multiple Color Variations

Quickly create many variations on your photos, give your clients more than what they expect. Use Virtual Copies to view and edit your variations at once.